Heal By Writing Your Book with Amy Hallberg

[00:00:00] Hey ho, dear ones. This episode is about healing and writing and specifically about healing by writing your book. And I talked to an absolute expert on this subject, writing mentor, Amy Hallberg. And she and I, we’ve known each other for a long time. We first met in Master Life Coach Training with Martha Beck, and we share a lot of stories.

[00:00:29] Specific stories about our interactions with her, with Martha herself. And, you know, this episode is for you, whether you feel like you have a book inside you or not, it’s really about using the writing process and sharing your vulnerable stories and writing through your vulnerable stories in a way that not only enables you to heal.

[00:00:55] But really serves, deeply serves those people who are meant to receive your stories and benefit from them because I promise you they’re out there in truly profound ways. So, why don’t we go ahead and just get right to it in today’s episode. Amy and I explore the connection between writing a book and the journey towards healing.

[00:01:19] Why this process can be so powerful and how to get started if a book is calling your name, even if it’s only a tiny whisper. We’ll end on an invitation that will have you healing through writing, whether you plan to write a book or not, in ways that’ll heighten your creativity. And deeply serve the people who are meant to receive from your stories.

[00:01:41] So please stay with us until the end.

[00:01:47] Welcome to soul guide radio, a podcast for soul guided leaders, influencers, and entrepreneurs here to bring about change on a massive scale. We’ll explore how you can activate your big soul mission, amplify your spiritual gifts, and clear the energy blocks weighing you down so you can gain unstoppable momentum in life and business.

[00:02:12] I’m Allyson Scammell, your host and soul guide.

[00:02:20] Hello, soul guide circle. That is the name of this global community of soul guided leaders and entrepreneurs. In the Soul Guide Circle, we are using our spiritual gifts to grow prosperous heart led businesses that are on the leading edge of consciousness. Find a link to join our closed Facebook group at allysonscammell.com

[00:02:38] or in the show notes. Today we’re talking to Amy Hallberg. Amy Hallberg is the author of Tiny Altars, a Midlife Revival and German Awakening. Tales from an American life. She is a podcaster, story coach, book writing mentor, and the founder of the Courageous Wordsmith Community for Real Life Writers.

[00:03:01] Amy guides writers through their narrative journeys from inklings to beautiful works. A lifelong Minnesotan, graduate of Carleton College, and mother of two grown twins, Amy lives in the Twin Cities with her husband and two cats. Amy and I really, truly, deeply connected over this Really powerful topic that I know you’ll receive so much from.

[00:03:23] So please enjoy.

[00:03:36] Amy Hallberg, welcome to soul guide radio. Hi, Allyson. Thank you so much for having me. Oh my gosh, this is gonna be so much fun. So just to let folks know, Amy and I met, oh my gosh, seven years ago, 2017. Oh my gosh. That’s just like so weird. Before you had a podcast? Before I had a podcast. Oh my gosh. And my daughter, who is now seven, going into eight, right, was 14 months old.

[00:04:05] She was a baby. And your twins were like the work team, right? Yeah, now they’re seniors and they’re becoming seniors in college, yes. Oh my gosh. So we did Master Life Coach training together and then we’ve just been connected ever since and I love that. To me, you know, I just feel like it’s important to say this.

[00:04:26] I really do believe that. on these journeys that we’re in, we meet people at the time that we need to meet them. And that was a moment where I, like, I had no idea why I needed to meet you, Allison. Like, it’s taken until now to like, look back and go, Oh, well, of course I needed to work with Allison on this particular thing.

[00:04:43] But at the time I, like, That was a jump into the deep water sort of experience for me. I felt completely confused and I didn’t know why. You were like, Oh, Amy, you’re actually my ideal client. And I was like, why? I am a, but, but it’s true. Like working with you has been really important. To the work that I’ve done.

[00:05:05] And so I’m so excited to be here and to share that with everyone. Oh, I love it. And you have been such a sole client and it’s been great being your peer and working with you a little bit as a coach throughout the years. And I’ve loved seeing you grow and blossom and you have such a beautiful writing style.

[00:05:24] Just before we hit record, I was saying, well, let’s brainstorm titles because It’s part of my creative process. I need a working title or I can’t go forward. The title can change, but I need a working title. And that anchors me in. And I was like, how about this, that, and the other thing. And then you said, how about heal by writing your book?

[00:05:44] And I was like, that’s it. I love it. It’s perfect. So let’s start there. I wanna start with, and I’ll, I’ll ask you about your story, your stories with your books, but I wanna start with asking you about my good friend. Mm-Hmm. A peer of mine. Mm-Hmm. She has a lot of followers on social. She’s a really, really fantastic spiritual business.

[00:06:10] She’s a peer and a friend, but someone I look up to, she was pitching her book. She wants to get a book published, I think it’s her first one, and she was pitching her book at. Like Hay House and some of the more spiritual publishing houses. Probably sounds true. Yeah, and they passed on her because She didn’t have enough followers on social and she’s like legitimate following and she’s a much bigger following than I do and that got me feeling so down.

[00:06:39] And now this we’re talking about healing by writing your book, but let’s just start about because I think a lot of people think like, oh, it’s so hard and self publishing is hard and getting a publisher is hard. So why should I even heal by writing a book? Because it’s all just difficult to get our book out there.

[00:06:55] But like, what would you say to me as someone who wants to write a book and potentially get it published by someone else? We’ll get it published. What do you, what do you say? First of all, Allison, I can’t wait until you’re writing that book and I want my hands on that book. Oh, thank you. But second of all, so this is the thing that people ask me.

[00:07:13] So I am a book writing mentor. That’s what I do. And you know, I mean, I have the life coach training and editing training and lots of other training. And I taught German for, bazillion years and some Spanish in there too, right? So like, I come to it from like the, the building the story angle. That’s where I come to it from.

[00:07:30] People will, I’ll meet people and they’ll say, Oh, how do I publish? I’m like, don’t worry about the publishing. This, this publishing is the thing we get scared of the most, right? But publishing is the very last part of it. And the truth is, I don’t have a big following at all, but I have two published books that have been well received by the people who have read them.

[00:07:54] Now I’m not a New York Times bestseller by any means. That’s not even something I even looked at. But and this I got by working with you, Allison, like I did, like I had a lot of nerves around like publishing, like that’s like a very exposed thing. And you were like, Amy, you don’t have to have everybody read your book.

[00:08:15] There are people who are supposed to read your book. And they will find your book, and they will read your book, and those are the connections to follow, not the masses of everybody because everybody won’t like your book. If you go to Barnes Noble, there are like 10, 000, I don’t even know, like you can’t even count all the books in Barnes Noble.

[00:08:32] I used to work there, it was a great job. You can’t read all the books. You can only read the books that are for you. So, first of all, you just don’t have to do it the traditional way, try to get, and publishing is very consolidated. So, there used to be a bunch of publishing houses. It’s, it’s a very, very small consolidated place if you want to go traditional publishing.

[00:08:57] Yeah, for me, it was actually opposite. I’m if you don’t mind that I just share how I got published. It’s a very strange path. So I was a German teacher. I wanted to be a writer. I didn’t. And my German teaching job was German. You know, there’s, there’s languages that come in and out of fashion. And so new administrators came in and said, we don’t really want German.

[00:09:22] And so they weren’t really supporting my program. And I felt that strongly. And at the same time, I had all these people telling me you should be writing, you know, Oh, Amy, you’re such a great writer. And people coming to me advice on writing, like I’m a German teacher, right? I’m not an English teacher. And so literally invitations were falling into my lap to do these writing programs, start writing.

[00:09:42] And so I just started writing and you have to write the book. I know you could write a proposal and get somebody to do it and whatever, but from my experience, you write the book and it will find its way to the publisher, the path, however it is. Now, this is just my experience, but this is my experience.

[00:09:59] So, so then, you know, I somehow ended up in a writing mentorship, an apprenticeship at a place called Loft Literary Center in Minneapolis. It’s a, it’s a beautiful place. And I had a mentor. And so I was like, I always knew that I wanted to work with writers, so I was thinking, well, I’ll start writing groups.

[00:10:16] And I reached out to a former colleague who had taught English at my school, and she’d moved on to be a mom, and she was like, Oh, Amy, I’m so sorry, I can’t, I can’t possibly be in your writing group because right now I’m publishing a book. Right now. And I’m like, okay. And then she was like, you know, and I just kept running into her, and And then she was like, well, I’m publishing a second book.

[00:10:36] And then she was like, actually, now I’m the marketing manager at my publisher. And so when I quit my job, I reached out to her and I said, Hey, can I publish through your publishing company? It’s a place called Wise Inc. Creative Publishing. It’s in Minneapolis. I would recommend it to anybody listening because it’s supportive publishing, but I own my copyright.

[00:11:04] And I paid for that, but it’s my book and I got to control how that book turns out and yet I also had a lot of professional help to get it done. Now, I quit my job and I already had a publisher. That’s amazing. But having that publisher, then I had to get the book into place and that’s when you met me.

[00:11:25] You know, so it’s like, like, right? So, It’s kind of like birthing children, you know, we try and try, I want to have a baby and I want to plan it for this date because that’s when it’s convenient on my schedule and the children come in the way they want to, and when they want to, and they’re not the children you envisioned and they just come through and somehow they find their way into the world and we don’t have to manage all of the details.

[00:11:51] We don’t have to manage all of the details. My second book is self published, but only because I knew how to find the people to support me to do a really quality job because my book deserves that. Yeah. So that was a long answer, but no, it was beautiful. It’s teeing us up nicely for the topic, which is healing through writing the book.

[00:12:12] And certainly if you listeners went out and Took a different various and sundry courses on how to write a book or how to get published. Everybody’s going to have their own opinion. There’s going to be different approaches. Yeah. I agree with Amy. And I, and especially in the context of healing, My recommendation would be just get writing, worry about the publishing later, because whether you get your book published or not, writing what you’re called to write, that’s coming from the heart, that your higher self is saying, this needs to get on a page and a book is static, right?

[00:12:52] It’s not like a social thing that’s fluid and changing. Like a book and, you know, even like a podcast episode, like these things are static, so like, they don’t change. Of course, you can revise them, but the basic essence of it doesn’t change. And so when you get that calling to write something static like that, or something that’s not changing and morphing quickly, like a social post.

[00:13:17] It’s really special, and if you’re getting that higher self calling, there will definitely and most certainly be healing that wants to happen, and the writing is such a beautiful medium for healing to take place. I want to push back a little bit. Can I push back a little bit? Oh yeah, sure. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[00:13:37] Okay. You say the book is static, and it’s true. It’s words on a page, right? But, you get those words on the page, and then you move through them. And it’s, it’s, and, and, and the thing that’s fascinating about it is, yeah, it’s, it’s static in the same sense that you print them up and those are the words that remain.

[00:13:58] But the stories I tell, and then what people get from my stories, they are not the same thing at all. And, I think this is the important part that I want to go back to the healing. Before, so it, it becomes sort of this thing, this kaleidoscope that other people can look at and they can take their own healing from your story.

[00:14:17] It’s a paradoxical. Okay, I’m going to repeat this word. It’s a paradoxical thing. I want to tell you, Allison, that’s one of my tells when I trip on something, then that’s a statement that I should repeat two or three more times. I’m nice. So I want to, I want to repeat this. Follow your breadcrumbs. Yes.

[00:14:32] Right, right, right. So that’s one of my little psychic tells is I just tripped on it. So it’s a paradoxical thing that when you ground yourself so fully in your story that people can like it’s embodied, right? Reading it, it’s very embodied. The reader can relax and then they don’t have to be worrying about you.

[00:14:58] And it transfers on to them. And so your healing that you’ve done, it’s almost like, like a little, like you, you, you live into the story and then you release it. And once you release it, it takes on wings because the readers, they read it and you’ve grounded them fully in that story. And then they start to heal their stories.

[00:15:17] It’s like, it’s, it’s a transmission of healing for readers, but you cannot do that for readers. If you are not selfish. about it. And people will, you’ll read stuff where it’s kind of like you don’t, it kind of feels a little hollow because you can’t, you can’t, they kind of keep you at arm’s distance, right?

[00:15:38] They don’t really let you, and I’m not saying share all your tawdry details. I’m not saying that at all, but I’m saying let us feel fully what it is you are feel fully. And the only way you can do that is by letting yourself feel it. Okay. Which is incredibly painful. And that brings me back to you, Allyson.

[00:16:02] Beautiful reframe. Yes. Yes. And when I use the word static, I just meant like, once it goes to print, you typically can’t change it. So it’s like, it’s like a big deal. Like, you know, it’s like, it’s huge. Yeah. You know, you’ve done it twice. Yeah. Yes. So, but you’re 100 percent right on everything you just said.

[00:16:20] Okay, so let’s say a listener is being called to share a vulnerable story, share a story that feels scary, feels resisting. As the healer in me would say, there’s healing that wants to happen and the book is guiding the writer to the healing. How does that process work for you? Well, the first thing you need to understand is that the first stories you put down may or may not be the final stories that come out.

[00:16:54] Like, the process of writing that book will change you, the stories will change, and you will work through the healing of those stories. And this was one of my biggest challenges. I mentioned that I was a little confused when I met you in master coach training. I hadn’t been a life coach very long. You know, like some of the people were sort of seasoned life coaches and I was like, I’m the A student.

[00:17:18] So like I, you know, did well in life coach training and moved straight on in and like it was totally out of my depth, right? And I would talk about these painful things that were coming up and they’d say, well, but that’s a story. And I’m like, yeah, exactly. That’s a story. And, you know, like, and then we would do mindset work and Byron Katie, you know, I know you’ve talked about Byron Katie many times and mindset work is beautiful in its place.

[00:17:42] But it’s not meant to wash away the stories that are coming up that there are these beautiful jewels that are meant to heal. And so I had a lot of shame around that then and a lot of like, Oh my gosh, I can’t tell these stories and these stories make people uncomfortable. So the first thing I would say is know that you get to tell those stories.

[00:17:59] Those stories get to evolve and the writing of them. We’ll change you and heal you and as you heal, the stories will evolve. So that’s the first thing. And the second thing is just as everybody is not your audience for your final product. Everybody should not be in the room with you when you’re doing your most vulnerable.

[00:18:23] Writing, you should not be in the room with the people who are going to be like, Ooh, you misspelled that word there. Or what did you mean here? Or what? You want people who help you to sort of work through, you don’t want people who are imposing their stories onto you either, because you don’t know what exactly it is that you’re meant to be learning.

[00:18:42] But if I’m helping you and I’m like, Oh, let me tell you the lesson from your thing. Well now I’ve just bypassed it and I prevented you from being in that place and feeling it And healing it. Right? I’ve talked about this a million times to you, Amy, and I’ve shared my story and my near death experience on your podcast, but that’s definitely my most, like, sort of raw, vulnerable experience.

[00:19:07] Out there store unconventional story and so my biggest fear around it was how people would perceive me like, Oh, Allison lost her rocker. Okay, Allison thinks this happened. But what really happened to her is like she was out of it or whatever. And I had to do a lot of healing around trying to control how people perceived me.

[00:19:31] Right. And such a losing battle, right? Yeah. And then had you put that out too soon, you would have traumatized yourself and made it that much harder to, and your story is really important. That’s I mean, it’s for you first and foremost, but then it is for other people. Had you done that, you would have thwarted something that was really important to put out there.

[00:19:53] Right. Right. So honoring ourselves that like Noel. You know, and, and it’s kind of central to what you do now, right? I mean, totally. Yeah. No, and I think out there Yeah, and you you read mentioned a great point in all of this is the divine timing So starting the writing doesn’t mean that’s when you’re sharing, you know Even let alone publish or not publish but sharing with a partner sharing with your social media following sharing with whomever So there’s writing and then they’re starting to share To the inner circle, starting to share to the outer circle.

[00:20:29] There’s definitely a divine timing to all of that. I think that when I very first shared my narrative experience near death experience story. I was to a live audience and it didn’t go terribly, but it didn’t go great. Can I back you up? I was actually in the room when you shared it at that master coach.

[00:20:48] You shared it. Oh my gosh. That was the first, first time. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. No, I mean like you did have several steps beyond that, but like, that’s true. I have shared it. I did share it at master coach training. That was actually the first time. Right. And I shared it to Martha Beck, she was in the room listening, um, and she like, you know, like whatever, Amy and I, well, whatever, Margo and you’re like, she’s famous.

[00:21:14] She’s a big deal. Yeah. She’s a big deal. Right. And she’s famous. And she was, I really appreciate how she received my story. Like she received it really, really well. Like I, she gave me a lot of confidence to be able to share that story. She could have reacted ways that would have really wounded me. Yeah.

[00:21:35] And she didn’t. And I really appreciate that. And I want to say, like, for the record, like, so when I met Martha and we were able to share some writing, she looked at my chapter, you know, gave me some feedback. And when I sent her to the chapter back, so we worked on some writing with Martha, she was like, Nope, this is good.

[00:21:52] So there’s a chapter in my book. That, like, I took Martha’s feedback, my German Awakening book, I took Martha’s feedback, and it’s there, as pretty much she, like, approved it. And then she said, what are you gonna do? Like, you know, like, I’m in this life coaching thing, and she’s like, I think you need to start a community, and you need to write with people, and show them sort of, like, the backstage of, like, how, and I was like, You know, even though I was really far away from what I’m just starting to live into now, it was like having somebody hold that vision for you and be like, Hey, here’s this thing you can do.

[00:22:25] Hey, your story is a real thing, you know, like. Isn’t that amazing? Martha Beck told you and me that our stories had legs and that, that buys you a lot of courage to keep writing. You’re like, Oh, I don’t know. I don’t know. And your little inner troll is screaming, but, but you know, Martha Beck seems to think that I can have a writing community.

[00:22:44] You know, yeah, it’s, I mean, badly at Martha’s house. I just want to say that I behave really badly. No, you told me that I need to do mindset work every day for the rest of my life because I’m crazy. Like I behaved so badly, but it’s still like, Oh, but she still told me go start a writing community. And I’m like, Oh my gosh, that’s a real thing.

[00:23:05] And it was what I wanted. Like, like, like she named it before I even had courage to name it. That’s amazing. That goes a long way. Yeah. It does. You know, I just wanted to say, just to the listeners who know Martha Beck, like Amy and I, we’re, we’re both trained from Martha Beck Life Coaching and Master Life Coaching.

[00:23:22] And we’re so lucky that we did that Master Coach training when we did, because we had so much access to Martha, like phone calls. We all got one on one coaching from her. We got to hang out with her on her ranch. I’m only saying this from the perspective of we were lucky, I think. But, but I wanna say that then can I say that this is something about divine timing and I had, I had a reading when I was, my aunt, my aunt who has passed on, I wrote about her in my first book, a little in my second book, a lot.

[00:23:51] And she made me get a reading with her psychic, her preferred psychic, some lady in a flea market in, in Fort Myers that I’ve never met who did a, a handwriting analysis. And she gave me a little piece of advice and it was. Opportunities will fall into your lap. Take advantage of the opportunities. And it was just a little nugget of information, right?

[00:24:13] And so, literally, these writing opportunities would fall into my lap, and rather than me going, Oh, no, who am I to whatever? I had it in my mind. A door’s opening walk through because the door is going to close. And that’s very much my experience, right? Like I had no business being in that master coach training, like I didn’t, I wasn’t qualified according to what they said, but I applied anyway because the in the invitation dropped into my lap, the money dropped into my lap and so like I did it and it is that like it’s there are doors that are for you and you alone.

[00:24:45] If you are meant to write this book, doors will open and you can either think your way out of it or you can say yes. And don’t worry about the, will I get published? You just move forward into it. And you know this, Allison, we don’t necessarily know, we think we know where we’re going, you know, but in a good story, you think you know where you’re going and you’re not going to end up there.

[00:25:09] Right. Right. It’s not going to happen. So, so you follow, you know? Yeah. And I think like, it’s like, it’s, it’s a layered approach in terms of like introducing the healing. And you typically won’t have to heal if it’s not a story that triggers some sort of painful emotion. If, you know, I always talk about the emotional compass and your, your emotional compass tells you if you’re on track or off track.

[00:25:36] If you have a story that only triggers high vibrational emotions and then the pathway to publishing that book only triggers high vibrational emotions and you don’t have these stories like I’ll never get published, it’ll fail. What if people don’t like it? You know, all those kinds of. Thoughts a lot of us have when we’re about to put something out in the world.

[00:25:59] You probably don’t have any wounding, but if there’s any part of you that feels called to a book and there’s resistance there, big or small, there’s healing that wants to happen. And as I said earlier, the book is calling you to help you heal. So let’s talk about like how for me, it like, you know, getting back to my NDE and how.

[00:26:21] Like, when I first went to share it, it was like, pain, nerves, it was intense. Yeah. It was intense. And it made you probably angry and probably like all the, all the maelstrom of emotions all back up again. Yes. And then I worked through those, healed, released, went through my healing processes, which I teach in Soul Blueprint.

[00:26:45] Yes, you do. Yes. I’m loving that. I’m like, oh, ding, ding. Well, yes, it’s all there. Yes. Amy is now enrolled in Soul Blueprint, and I’m so lucky to have her. And so we’re learning all about healing in Soul Blueprint. And then I told it again, and it wasn’t so hard. And then I told it again, and it wasn’t so hard.

[00:27:02] And now, as I’m telling it more and more. It’s not so hard and it gets easier and easier because I’ve done the healing. Yeah. Do you find it works like that in a sort of layered process? Absolutely. I mean, I want to take it back to Martha Beck for a moment too, by the way. Because she’s famous and people know her and she’s known for being hilarious in her writing like she has this very, very to the point but hilarious self deprecating, but also very self confident sort of style.

[00:27:31] Right? And can I just say there, Amy? Like, I’m kind of picky about the personal development and spiritual coaches, the writers and I like Martha Beck’s writing. She’s a really, she’s a really good writer. She’s a really good writer. Yeah. And, and, and honestly, if people are going to work with me before that book gets published, it’s going to be really good writing.

[00:27:56] But I think it’s really important to know this, Martha Beck told us herself that the funny cons last. Like, so the thing she has noticed, do you remember that? Yeah. I remember what she told us about that. I also remember, um, there’s many things that I remember, but that one, like she doesn’t, she writes the funny in last.

[00:28:15] So if you know that, you know, like people will judge on their first reading. They’re first drafts, and your first draft isn’t meant to be published. It’s just to get it onto the page. Another thing Martha said was it’s a lot harder to get from zero to something than it is from something to something better, right?

[00:28:32] That’s not her wording on it, but, but she said something along those lines. You just start writing it. You just start feeling it. There will be things you write. If it’s if it’s as personal and as as emotional as you think it is, then there’s gonna be big gaps where you think it’s obvious, like why I feel this way should be obvious and people like, well, but why are you responding that way?

[00:28:54] Because you and I just to just to go back to that retreat, you and I had the same retreat experience. And what I took away from it was I, I came away pretty much dissolved into a puddle of goo and you came away with like this great sense of purpose, right? It’s the exact same experience. So, when you’re telling that story, people are going to want to know, well, but why are you doing that?

[00:29:17] And you have to think about it and you have to let them, you know, and then there’s some vulnerability around it too, like, There are two chapters in my German Awakening book that were really hard to write, and they took layers and layers and layers to write because they were so painful for me. And now I’m good.

[00:29:35] Like, like, like, that’s not, that’s not painful to talk about at all, because I’ve written it, written it, written it, written it, written it. And people And you did the healing. Right. Yeah. Right. And those are the ones that I’m like, Oh, should I even put them in there? It’s so cringeworthy, like, it’s so cringeworthy.

[00:29:51] And those are the chapters that people have thanked me for writing. But that’s where I go back to because I did the healing on it. And I was able to fill in those gaps, and they’re very, very, like, it took a long time to deliver those stories, but they are very well developed, and that’s what happens in the healing as you develop that story.

[00:30:13] And so it takes on almost like this patina, and it takes on these, these overtones that you never intended. Like Martha did, right? I mean, I’m not Martha Beck, and I’m not saying that. But what I’m saying is, if you know that you don’t have to deliver this finished product, that it is actually the layers that makes the story beautiful, and then what you take away and what is left and all that, it’s, it’s, it’s a process.

[00:30:34] And it gets to be fun. And it’s not about publication, although that will come. It gets to be fun. Fun. And then after you publish, then there will be more healing, but it won’t be the places you thought it was because you’ll take care of those things. There will be other stuff to heal. Sure. Healing is not part of the path.

[00:30:51] Healing is the path. So absolutely. I’d like to just, we will be wrapping up here soon, but before we wrap up, I do want to talk about, you know, when we’re talking about writing healing in a book, we’re usually talking about some sort of painful or vulnerable story. And I’d love to just spend a second on how important it is to share those stories because yes, we need to heal from them and our audience needs them so badly.

[00:31:19] Cause sorry to keep going back to Martha Beck. Can we talk about me? Oh yeah. Talk about Martha. But no, no. And then I want your perspective. Yeah. Martha wrote the book expecting Adam. She wrote the book about expecting Adam. And in that book, she wrote about hearing voices and that was written. Like when was that written in the light?

[00:31:42] Late 1990s. I mean, that’s one of her earliest books. It’s one of her earliest books. It’s old. And she was talking about hearing like spiritual voices consciousness before most people were writing about it. And that kind of stuff would have been like, Whoa, what is that? She’s hearing voices. Is she going nuts?

[00:31:58] Right. But because she had the courage to write about that when people weren’t talking about it, like really weren’t. I read that. Right. And I had heard voices, and I was like, Oh my God, here’s Martha Beck, this recognized New York Times bestseller, she hears voices, she talks to angels, like, she’s talking to consciousnesses, and so am I.

[00:32:22] I have permission now to talk about it. Like, it was so important to me. Now it doesn’t matter. Now I don’t need Martha Beck. But right at the early part of my journey, I needed that. And had she not told that vulnerable story, then I would not, I would have been stuck back then. Right. And I love that book. I read one of her books and she said, I work with coaches and I was like, I’m going to go meet Martha.

[00:32:45] I like, I like, I read it and I had that knowing, like it wasn’t a, Oh, I think it just came to me. Her leaving the saints, which she hates that book, by the way, she doesn’t want you to read it, but it’s her, it’s her story of, of religious, like coming up against her religious. Upbringing. And that’s, that’s been a story for me, right?

[00:33:02] So, yeah, one thing you’re right. She has voices. What I want to say, and I’ve worked with you enough now, Allison, to know, like, I don’t hear voices the way you do. You talk about this, right? We have different spiritual gifts and languages. Yep. Right. I am a reader. I read, I’m a language person, and so I literally believe that they give me language, they hand me language.

[00:33:27] They, you know, like people, like, I don’t hear the things, I, I get words. And so, literally, I have had people tell me, like, Like, I went to this thing where I didn’t know I was there, I had just published my first book, and it turned out that the people on stage were a black couple who ran a performance company in the Twin Cities, and they were talking about their business, and I was like, I don’t even know why I’m here, I’m just here because There was an invitation on Minnesota Public Radio, I showed up, and somehow, like, nobody let me leave the room, like, I’m trying to get out of the room, and like, after the thing, I’m like, talking to this person, that person, and I’m talking to this black woman, who’s a beautiful, accomplished, she’s performed all over the world, And I say, Oh, I wrote a book and I told her about my second book.

[00:34:16] And, and, and it’s, it’s, I had been started to be told, I didn’t want to do this, Allison. I don’t want to be the white woman talking about racism in Minnesota. But she said to me, you know, like I told her, I said, Oh, I wrote this book about Germany, but actually what I want to talk about is how, how we in America have similar things going on that we need to face.

[00:34:37] I didn’t want to write that book. Okay? Like, I don’t want to be that person. And she hit me. Like I said, I said, I said, Oh, who am I as a white woman really to be telling the story? And she hit me and she said, tell the story. Now, I don’t want to, I don’t want to look at my religion. I don’t want to look at the fact that there’s racism baked right on in there and that I’m very privileged.

[00:35:00] I’m not wealthy by the standards of, but you know, like I’ve had these privileges accrue to me because she told me to do that. And because I listened. I live in Minnesota, Allison. When George Floyd was killed right about this weekend, I was paying attention. I was already writing the second book. And because I had already written content that I would use to frame up, to tee up that story specifically of George Floyd, because I have been on that corner so many times, I can’t count it before that any happened.

[00:35:37] And so I’m sorry, I even interrupted you earlier because I felt so strongly that this needs to be part of the podcast, this conversation of, because I was writing the book, I had they, and by they, my team invisible or whatever, whoever’s guiding me, however you want to label that, right? My team was pointing me and, oh, look over there, look over there.

[00:35:59] You hear voices, I have things revealed to me. in things that just sort of drop in my lap. That’s how my intuition works, right? Because I was following that, because opportunities fall into your lap, pay attention, which my aunt psychic told me, I was writing the book already so that when George Floyd happened and white women in Minnesota with some degree of privilege need to be telling that story, I already had this book waiting like, like a, like a piece of jewelry and like this was a piece that was just waiting to be set into it.

[00:36:36] So you don’t have to know where your story ends. You need to know where you’re kind of think where you’re going, you know, but in the telling of it, the stories will come to you that only you can tell and that need to be told. And so. I think I’ve said this before, and I’m really sorry, but I’m going to get super emphatic.

[00:36:55] If you have gifts that are for you, yes, they are for you to enjoy. But if you do not, oh, who am I to do this? You are actually robbing the world of something that you are meant to share with them. So it’s not selfish to write a memoir. You know, oh, the first letters of memoir are me. That’s so selfish. No, it’s actually selfish not to do that work to heal yourself.

[00:37:20] First, and secondly, to share it with the people who need to hear it.

[00:37:29] Love, love, love. Oh my gosh, Amy, this has been so brilliant. I have loved it and I didn’t expect like all the twists and turns, but it was all so perfect. I would love for you to leave our listeners with an invitation. Okay. This one is fun. This is super easy. It’s called Shiny Objects. Okay. And all you do is you just let yourself make a list of, uh, seven, 10, 12, I don’t know, a list of like shiny objects, things that are speaking to you and shiny objects.

[00:38:09] I use that term intentionally, right? Because people, it’s a pejorative term. Oh, the shiny objects. And it’s a way to dismiss things like, you know, being psychic or, Okay. Or I have a story to tell, or any of the things that the, that the world doesn’t want us to do because they don’t want us to pay attention to these nudges, right?

[00:38:27] So it’s go on a shiny object hunt and just make a little list of things that just kind of get your attention. And then at a certain point, sit down with a timer for 10 minutes, anything on that list, you know, like once you’ve got. You know, I like 27, 27 is a great number because you can’t overthink it, then your linear brain is like busy counting instead of gatekeeping, you know?

[00:38:55] So let’s say 27, you just make a list of shiny objects and then at an appointed time that you set with yourself for 10 minutes, sit down, set a timer, pick one of those little shiny objects and just write about it. Who? What? When? Where? Why? The senses of it. The embodied sense of it. And just see what comes out.

[00:39:17] And don’t, don’t edit. Just right on through. When you’re done, you can look back at it, but don’t edit it out. Just wait. Brilliant. I love that. I’m going to add this to my, I have a little project process for collecting stories for podcast episodes and emails, and I’m going to add this to my process. So, so, so good.

[00:39:43] All right, Amy, tell our listeners, how can they find you to connect to you? They can find me on my website, which is amyhulberg. com. When you get there, you can find all my various things for working with writers. I have my own podcast that Allyson is going to be a guest on in a bit. I have my books, Tiny Altars, A Midlife Revival, and German Awakening, Tales from an American Life.

[00:40:08] And, um, Thank you so, so much, Allison, for having me on. It feels like a culmination, you know, like, like it’s commencement season, you know, it feels like you and I started walking a path. This feels like a really beautiful culmination of a lot of work that we’ve done together. So thank you so much for having me on your podcast.

[00:40:25] Oh, my gosh. I feel that, too. What a perfect, perfect words from the wordsmith to describe where we are and how we’re wrapping this up. And Amy, thank you so much for sharing your wisdom today on Soul Guide Radio.

[00:40:52] I want to thank you so much, dear listener, for tuning in. I am so grateful for you each and every week. I always get the feedback, Allison, I binge your podcast. Your podcast is my go to. I always get what I need. When I push play and I’m here for you for that, I’m here to serve you deeply. Let me know what you receive from soul guide radio.

[00:41:13] Give me a rating and review. I will read your words on the air and or send me a DM to Facebook or Instagram. And it would make me so happy to receive your thoughts, reflections, and feedback. And as always, until next time, may your soul guide the way. Hi, dear ones. Listen here. The soul blueprint certification program is a roadmap to becoming a more powerful coach, healer, writer, artist, or entrepreneur, and then earning more money.

[00:41:47] It’s the only certification program that reveals how to. Activate your five unique spiritual gifts so you can create massive soul aligned success in life and business. Learn more and enroll at allysonscammell.com/soulblueprint. Or if enrollment is closed, you can join the soul list. So you’ll be the first to know when the next cohort is opening up and you’ll also be eligible to receive special high value bonuses again, that’s allysonscammell.com/soulblueprint

Timestamps:

00:01  Intro

02:41  Meet Amy Hallberg

06:44  Should you write a book?

09:00  Amy’s writing journey

12:26  Meanings & interpretations

16:23  Writing, sharing & divine timing

20:34  Martha Beck

23:33  Open doors & healing with the flow

27:17  More Martha Beck & knowing your why

29:23  Sharing vulnerable stories

37:31  Invitation & conclusion