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Cora Pacheco – Sacred Creative Stories of Transition

August 18, 2020
Cora Pacheco

Having left her paralegal role and with some newly freed up time, a woman seeks to engage more deeply with her personality, creativity and intuitive skills and self as a guide for the future.

Cora Pacheco joined the Sacred Creative Collective for community and support in going deeper on her intuitive practices. She was seeking clarity on where these important skills could take her in a new phase of life. Building on personality insights, Cora traversed realms of archetypes and shadow work to deepen her intuitive knowledge for herself and for others.

I asked alumni from the Sacred Creative Collective to share their experiences and how group coaching contributed to self-understanding and future directions. Cora took the time to reflect on her journey in life and the Sacred Creative Collective via these interview questions. I am grateful to Cora for sharing her wisdom and learning. Cora’s journey shows how working with a coach and a group can help us embrace the creative and intuitive sides of our personality in a deeper way and without fear.

Enjoy and may Cora’s story inspire your own intuitive search for wisdom!

Can you please tell us a little about yourself and your transition journey? What led you to want to make a deeper, more creative shift in your life?

Five years ago when I was 50, I left my profession as a paralegal prosecutor to stay at home as a full-time caregiver to my children, one of whom has a developmental disability.  I was burned out and needed to focus on priorities.  Then, two years ago, in a serendipitous development, my daughter moved in with her much-loved and fun support worker.  Suddenly, my life changed again, and I had time to rest, re-group and decide what was next.  I had delved into abstract painting already but I wanted to set some goals and have some accountability, as I find it difficult to keep myself motivated and moving forward with projects.  Sacred Creative Coaching came at just the right time for me to explore some goals and how to move forward. 

intuitive learning

What are some of the challenges you have faced when it comes to living in alignment with your creative desires and aims?

As an INFJ, (which I discovered whilst delving into Personality Stories with Terri), I need quiet time alone to recharge and a personally attuned process which helps “set me up” for creative work.  It seems that I need a lot of free, open time (during which I can read inspirational material, pull some tarot cards or delve into my personal astrology, for example) in order to inspire my creative juices.  For me, it’s easy to let my responsibilities take over and just not find the time to be creative or, as is often the case, I remain in research and learning mode without much output.  I have come to realize that self-expression and creativity are important components in my life, but I do seem to need help with keeping myself on track and focused. 

Can you please describe your focus now and how you are working more in line with what is sacred and creative for you?

I have developed my morning routine which includes coffee time, reading, journaling, sometimes including dreamwork, and sometimes pulling tarot cards for myself. I’ve noticed that I need to be inspired and then I feel I can create something or share something; for example, a tarot reading for the collective, on my Instagram page.  I also aim to get out for a walk every day, sometimes in nature. After completing the Sacred Creative Collective program, I started a business as a tarot reader, as I was enjoying delving into the card meanings and using my intuitive abilities to deepen my spiritual practice.  This was a big step for me, fully “stepping out of the spiritual closet”, and letting myself be seen.  I created a website for the business, known as Eagle and Star Tarot and spend time writing occasional blogposts and Instagram posts for the business. 

intuitive learning

What helped you to develop your skills and new/renewed focus?

Over the last few years, I’ve taken several courses, including obtaining a certificate as a Positive Psychology Coach from the Wholebeing Institute, and courses in tarot.  I also did the Personality Stories with Terri, as already mentioned.  During the Sacred Collective Coaching program, one of my goals was to deepen my knowledge of tarot.  One of the things I realized as I went through the collective coaching process and working with Terri, as funny as it may sound, is that it’s ok to like what you like, even though others may find it weird or unappealing.  It also helped me to explore some of my limiting beliefs and shadow tendencies, like people pleasing, which keep me from moving forward and stepping fully into my personal power. 

intuitive learning

What does creative transition look like in your life now and what are you proud of?

My creative transition has been about recognizing that I actually am a creative being (we all are!), and that being creative in some form, whether it’s doing abstract painting or writing a blog or Instagram post, is good for and necessary for me.  I’m proud of myself for being someone who is curious and a lifetime learner and for taking the time to work on my personal development through the courses and coaching that I’ve taken. 

What are your next steps?

My next steps are to continue working on building my community on Instagram at Eagle and Star Tarot, sharing insights and readings, as well as growing my business as a reader.  I also want to continue doing things that I enjoy such as walking in the woods, day-tripping and hopefully more travel. 

intuitive learning
Cards from The Wild Unknown Tarot deck

Thank you for sharing your sacred creative story with us, Cora!

And for the images curated from your intuitive journey, story and business.

If you would like to shape your sacred creative life with the help of a coach and the camaraderie of a community, I would love to support you. You can find out more about the Sacred Creative Collective here.

The Sacred Creative Collective is current open for enrolments with an early bird opportunity until midnight Saturday 20 February 2021 AEDT.

Find out more + enrol in the Collective

If now doesn’t feel like the right time, get on the waitlist to hear about the next round of the Collective. We’d love you to join us! Places are limited. Get on the Waitlist to be the first to know. You also get Exclusive Early Bird access and save!

Join the Waitlist for the Collective!

You can connect with Cora on Instagram and via her website: Eagle and Star Tarot.

Cora Pacheco

Wholehearted Events, Media + Podcasts

September 8, 2021

Events

We celebrated the publication of Wholehearted: Self-leadership for women in transition and the Wholehearted Companion Workbook with launch events in the week of 6 September. We chatted books, writing, creativity and wholehearted self-leadership with people across the world.

I was joined by special friends:

  • Penelope Love, author of Wake Up in Love, publisher at Citrine Publishing, writing mentor, editor and Wholehearted Stories author. Penelope has been on the journey of writing and publishing Wholehearted with me for the long-haul especially as editor. We talked about the role of editing in getting books published, what editing brings to a book like Wholehearted and the power of writing partnerships.
  • Kerstin Pilz, of Write Your Journey, writer, writer for wellbeing coach, host of tropical writing retreats, yoga teacher, currently writing her memoir: Falling Apart Gracefully. Kerstin is also a Wholehearted Stories author. Kerstin has also been a long-term supporter on the Wholehearted writing journey including as retreat host in Vietnam for a retreat I attended while writing Wholehearted. We talked about the value of writing retreats and incubation in the writing process. Plus, we’ll talk about the need for retreat in tough times and how such times can help us grow.
  • Beth Cregan, Teacher, Storyteller, Writer, Founder of Write Away with Me and is writing a soon to be published book on teaching writing. Beth is my early morning writing buddy and we’ve written together as we write our first books. We talked about the role of co-writing and support in the writing process as well as the value of writing routines to get books written.
  • Lynn Hanford-Day is a visual artist specialising in sacred geometry, Islamic patterns, mandalas and yantras at Sacred Intuitive Art. A Wholehearted Stories author, her story From Breakdown to Breakthrough features also in Wholehearted as it related so strongly to my journey. We talked about how creativity and art can help us heal, grow and adapt and how art fits with wholehearted living.
  • Meredith Fuller is a psychologist, psychological spokesperson for the media, author, playwright and theatre creator. We connected via psychological type and AusAPT and we both value and integrate psychological type in our work. A fellow tarot lover, Meredith wrote the first review of Wholehearted for TAGG and has shared Wholehearted with clients. We talked about the value of psychological type and personality insights in making change, how tarot can help and the value of Wholehearted for coaches, clients and psychological support.

Create Your Story Podcast

I’ll be sharing excerpts from the launch events and these conversations in my new Create Your Story Podcast soon, kicking off in the week of 25 October. Plus, I’ll be doing in-depth interviews and episodes with each of these special guests as we talk books, writing, publishing, creativity, life challenges and how we can create our story in the most positive of ways.

Media + giveaways

Wholehearted Press Release

Wholehearted Media Kit

Review of Wholehearted on TAGG by Meredith Fuller – published 6 September 2021

Review of Wholehearted on The Frangipani Collective by Corinne Rodrigues – published 20 September 2021

Podcasts

The Book Writing Process – Shine Online with Ellie Swift Podcast – released 7 October 2021

W4W Women Podcast September Heart of Writing – Living Wholeheartedly with Pamela Cook – released 10 September 2021

The Gentle Living Podcast #24 Majors Personality Type Inventory as a Way of Navigating Life Transitions with Becky Corbett – released 1 September 2021

introversion intuition personality and story

Introverted Intuition: Learning from its Mystery

June 30, 2021

Introverted Intuition is my dominant function as an INTJ personality type. I’ve been learning more about it through my personal journey and as a practitioner in psychological type. I share my insights to guide your own journey, whatever your personality preferences.

Introverted Intuition and your type

If you identify as an INTJ or INFJ personality type, Introverted Intuition is typically your dominant function; if you identify as an ENTJ or ENFJ, it’s your auxiliary function; for ISFP and ISTP types, it’s the tertiary function and for ESFP and ESTP types, it’s the inferior function. And it plays out in some way for all types. If you don’t know your type, it’s not a huge issue; if the words ‘Introverted Intuition’ speak to you, chances are they are natural preferences for you or areas on your radar for development.

Introversion and Intuition

Focus on introversion and working its strengths has surfaced in recent times especially as a result of Susan Cain’s book, Quiet: The power of introverts in a world that can’t stop talking. This has been powerful, helping introverts feel more understood and aware of their gifts; however, understanding how introversion and intuition play out together has had less attention. True to type, much of my learning about Introverted Intuition is from my intuitive, personal experiences. I’ve also found valuable insights through reading and research on the function to help make sense of how its mystery works.

What Carl Jung says

Firstly, though, I went back to Dr. Carl Jung for insights as the source, given he conceptualized the eight functions based on his work with patients. Jung’s wise thoughts have helped me to understand my experience of Introverted Intuition.

In a video interview, Jung describes the life of the Introverted Intuitive (Ni) type as ‘a very difficult life…although one of the most interesting.’ This is strangely comforting. He says the key challenge is that there is ‘something funny’ about intuition as we don’t normally consciously know how it works.

In this same interview, Jung defines Introverted Intuition as ‘a perception by ways or means of the unconscious.’ Being linked with introversion and the inner world, these perceptions are unique to the individual and not common to all. This makes it hard to explain these insights in a comprehensible way and creates a sense of mystery. He explains that Introverted Intuitive types tend to keep their insights to themselves because no one would understand.

So what is Introverted Intuition?

So how does this play out in a practical sense? Introverted Intuition works primarily via symbols and images. It involves being aware of abstract ideas and tuning into the language of dreams and the unconscious. It functions especially through an ability to see connections and associations. Through the filter of your inner world, you attach your own meaning to these symbols or images. You can’t always see how you got from A to B; you only know the result of the sequence.

Dario Nardi has applied neuroscience to see how the neocortex of the brain works for different personality type preferences. In his book, Neuroscience of Personality, he describes how people with Introverted Intuition as a dominant function enter a whole brain, zen-like state when asked to envision the future and when focusing on a single question without distraction. The Introverted Intuitive particularly accesses this state when working on a new problem.

The Introverted Intuitive function has been described as ‘Visionary Insight’, by Mary McGuiness in her book You’ve Got Personality and as ‘The Seer’, in Gary Hartzler and Margaret Hartzler’s book, Functions of Type: Activities to develop the eight Jungian functions.

Ways Introverted Intuition manifests – my learnings

Here are some of my practical learnings about Introverted Intuition and how it can manifest:

Poetry and other intuitive writing

As an INTJ, Introverted Intuition appeared early in my life via poetry. This is the perfect vehicle for Introverted Intuition to play out its magic, given it is based on symbol and imagery created in quiet space and time. Any stream-of-consciousness writing is a valuable way of tapping into what’s going on at a deep level and to resolve contrasting positions. You can work with poetry and other creative writing to perform magic not possible in real life – like bringing people back into your life, if for a moment, or resolving hurt or disappointment. And this can help move you through hard times and into a new stage of life.

Envisioning in the workplace

Working on the big picture and creating the long-term vision of what might be is something I enjoy. My auxiliary function, Extraverted Thinking, ably supports me in this. Day to day in my work role, I read the strategic landscape pretty well to know what might come up as an issue. I don’t always know why, but I often intuitively know the next thing to concentrate on as an action or project. It helps me bring together the larger vision process with identifying the next steps. It’s valuable to find the quiet time to coalesce these aspects and I’ve learned to rely on this and listen to it as a leader.

Tarot and oracle practice

Working with tarot and oracle cards has become a deep personal practice. The framework of tarot and oracle symbolism is a way of working with the unconscious in a practical and structured way. Engaging with tarot and oracle cards regularly helps to tune into intuitive guidance as a form of ongoing narrative. Finding a symbolic language that works for you can help to enter the core strength of introverted intuition that offers such deep wisdom and insight.

tarot practice

The challenges and balancing of Introverted Intuition

There are challenges in being introverted and intuitive. You can get drawn into your own world too much. You keep things to yourself. The ideas you come up with are often hard to communicate to others.

To balance the extremes, it’s useful to bring in some of its opposite functions, especially Extraverted Sensing (Se) and Extraverted Intuition (Ne), including:

  • accepting that some things just are what they appear to be;
  • spending time outside in nature to ground all that inner work in reality;
  • focusing on timeframes and what is practical; and
  • shaping visionary thoughts into a structure or framework

Ways to work with Introverted Intuition

Whatever your type and dominant function, you can learn to integrate introverted intuitive approaches into your life to help with creativity, visionary insight, connecting associations and seeing the whole.

Here are some practices for developing and applying Introverted Intuition in your life based on my own experiences fleshed out with concepts from the book, Functions of Type: Activities to develop the eight Jungian functions by Gary Hartzler and Margaret Hartzler. This book has excellent practical examples of activities to develop all the eight Jungian functions.

Ideas for developing Introverted Intuition include:

Work with symbols and the connection between ideas:

  • Notice the symbols that recur for you and work through their connections and meaning.
  • Write about the connections, tapping into stream of consciousness writing as a way of accessing the unconscious meanings for you.
  • Work with tools and media that have symbolism and imagery as their focus e.g. tarot, oracle, poetry, art, mandalas.

Envision how things could be:

  • Journal to envision how things you desire could be – your dreams, your plan, your work life.
  • Flesh the vision out in your imagination so you can see what it looks and feels like.
  • In business contexts, step out of the every day for a higher level view of the future.
  • Let images of how it all could look like in 1 year, 2 years, 10 years come to you.

Work on viewing things from a range of perspectives:

  • In a meeting or online group or in your family, see things from the perspectives of others and hold those perspectives simultaneously to see a more holistic view.
  • See how these multiple versions or viewpoints can come together into something new.
  • See how you can bring together diverse products and services into something unique.

Look behind the obvious to the more hidden meaning:

  • In a coaching or mentoring situation, listen to see the hidden meaning behind words and behaviours.
  • Reflect back what you are seeing sensitively as a platform for further insight.
  • Practise identifying what is not being said in situations such as television interviews and meetings.
  • Try to get a more holistic perspective and practice your skills of reading the unspoken.

Introversion and intuition working together can result in vision, positive solutions, and innovative insights. It’s valuable to learn how to work with its mysteries whether it is a strong preference or a less natural one. I hope these insights are valuable for flexing your introverted intuitive muscle for more holistic perspective and inspired creativity.

You can learn about Extraverted Intuition here: Extraverted Intuition – Imagining the Possibilities

Read more:

Introverted and extraverted intuition – how to make intuition a strong practice

Shining a quiet light – working the gifts of introversion

Intuition, writing and work: eight ways intuition can guide your creativity

Read Wholehearted: Self-leadership for women in transition

Want to learn more about personality, creativity and self-leadership for positive transition to the life you desire?

Head over to read about my book Wholehearted and the accompanying Companion Workbook now.

Available in paperback and ebook from retailers listed here:

Wholehearted

Companion Workbook

Wholehearted praise – what people are saying

July 7, 2021

Reader praise for Wholehearted: Self-leadership for women in transition and the Wholehearted Companion Workbook published on 6 September 2021 by the kind press. Available in paperback and ebook worldwide now.

Order Wholehearted here
Get Chapter 1 to read now free!

What people are saying about Wholehearted

Sage Cohen

Navigating transition can be challenging. It can also be an opportunity to embrace creativity, calling, and authenticity. Terri Connellan’s Wholehearted shows us how. This panoramic journey of inquiry and insight invites readers into the discipline of self-leadership and guides us in reclaiming our passion and purpose. Read this book and come home to your wholehearted self. You will be initiated into sacred pathways and practices that help you uncover and trust your true shine.

Sage Cohen, author of Writing the Life Poetic and Fierce on the Page, writing catalyst, strategic storyteller

Pamela Slim

We need more guides like Terri who have traveled the path of transformation. She knows the exact thing to say, and the steps to suggest, for women who are tired of settling for a half-lived life. 

Pamela Slim, author, Body of Work and The Widest Net

Every once in awhile the right book lands in our hands at the perfect moment, offering a much-needed lantern to illuminate our path in dark times. This is that book. Beautifully written, insightful, and wise, Wholehearted is a gentle yet empowering guide for women navigating major transitions in their lives, work, and in the world around them.

Victoria Smith, teacher, mentor, artist—themojolab.com

Angelina Bennet

So many of us go through life with our eyes closed, running the program, doing what we think life expects of us. Wholehearted shows us how to get in touch with our own unique identity and craft a life that feeds our souls. Terri’s open and honest personal accounts, combined with her expert knowledge of personality theory and tarot, make Wholehearted engaging and insightful. Get ready to open your eyes and see what you discover!

Dr Angelina Bennet, Chartered Occupational Psychologist and Director of I Potential Ltd

Meredith Fuller

Pioneering in her capacity to conceptualise self-leadership, Terri Connellan provides a cogent way forward for women of all ages and life stages. In a time when many feel lost or dis-spirited, this book can change lives. Integrating ancient and new knowledge, she accompanies the reader with processes, advice and ideas to ensure self-efficacy in our complex world.

Meredith Fuller, psychologist and author

Blending tarot, memoir and self-leadership tools and techniques, Terri Connellan’s Wholehearted is a soul-centred manual for women in any stage of life transition looking to fuse the lessons of the past with a more fulfilling, creative and connected future.​

Louisa Deasey, author of Love + Other U-Turns and A Letter From Paris

Wholehearted is a comprehensive, woman-centric guide to owning your power and becoming the leader you’ve been waiting for. A beautiful blend of personal experience and intensive research to gently guide you in your journey towards self-leadership. Inspiring, motivating and illuminating. A thought-provoking, interactive guide to becoming your best self.

Pamela Cook, author, co-host Writes4Women podcast

Katherine Bell

Reading and working through Wholehearted is like spending time with a kind and generous companion who takes your hand and says, “I’ve walked this path, let me help you find your way”. For those who have temporarily lost heart it is an essential resource, instilling courage and hope in navigating a journey towards wholehearted and creative expression in our work. Anyone interested in leadership will also find a treasure trove of guideposts, as here is a wise woman who understands that leadership must essentially start with the self.

Katherine Bell, Higher Education administrator and leadership scholar

Beth Cregan

Wholehearted is an inspiring and generous story of Terri’s Connellan’s desire to create a purposeful, meaningful life. This book sets you on a quest to claim your ‘onlyness’—the unique blend of style, skills and strengths that only you can offer the world. Like breadcrumbs scattered along a forest path, Terri shares the wealth of resources and practical skills she used to find her way back home. But this isn’t a book you read from the sidelines. Filled with reflective exercises, journaling prompts and mini assignments, you now have a roadmap for rethinking your life and navigating the journey that awaits you.

Beth Cregan, teacher, storyteller, writer and founder of Write Away With Me

Lynn Hanford-Day

Terri Connellan inspires me with her story of turning her unlived life and dreams into the reality of living a wholehearted life. This is a book for lovers of psychology, synchronicity, and intuition. Terri offers soulful and practical reflections on her major life transition, sharing her vulnerability and the passions that sustained her while she came to terms with significant losses. I loved the combination of personal life story woven with learning prompts and wisdom for the reader to reflect on and to apply in their own lives.

Lynn Hanford-Day, artist and coach

Clare Ayers

Wholehearted is a very well-written book dealing with an issue that every one of us experiences multiple times throughout our lives – transition! What makes Terri’s book stand out for me is that she is taking us on a journey with her. Not only does Wholehearted teach good wisdom and insights, it is Terri’s own personal story and journey that is incredibly powerful and impacting. It adds so much more integrity and depth to this subject. I like how she deals with transition from a holistic perspective and also a personality perspective. While I have differing spiritual beliefs and practises to Terri, I was able to reframe her practises and learnings into my own framework. Then having the workbook alongside takes it to another level of not only being head knowledge but also being life changing. Thank you, Terri, for your gift to the world. 

Clare Ayers, Leadership and Personal Development Coach, founder of People Matters ‘unleashing your full potential’

Kirsten Pilz

Wholehearted is a unique book, part memoir, part practical resource, that should be on the nightstand of anyone seeking to travel the difficult path of transitioning into a more purposeful, self-determined and creative life. It takes enormous courage and trust in yourself to stray from the conventional path towards embracing self-leadership. Let Terri be your guide to becoming the captain of your own ship. She has traveled the path and she has collected a wide range of strategies and tools—from tarot cards, to journaling and psychological frameworks of personality types—that she shares in her book and accompanying workbook.

Kerstin Pilz, Phd, writer and coach at writeyourjourney.com

Wholehearted: Self-leadership for women in transition and the Wholehearted Companion Workbook are published by the kind press. Get your copy now to inspire your transition into what you desire!

Order Wholehearted here
Get Chapter 1 to read now free!

Thank you to all advance readers for taking the time to read Wholehearted and providing such valuable and heartfelt feedback.

Books transition wholehearted stories

Beginning the Journey of a Wholehearted Life. Audio excerpt from Wholehearted

September 4, 2022

Terri Connellan shares insights on beginning the journey of a wholehearted life with an audio excerpt from Wholehearted: Self-leadership for women in transition, Chapter 1.

Subscribe on: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Amazon Music | YouTube | Stitcher | Podcast Page |

Welcome to Episode 20 of the Create Your Story Podcast on Beginning the Journey of a Wholehearted Life. It’s a solo episode celebrating the first anniversary of Wholehearted’s publication. And other significant life and Quiet Writing anniversaries and a birthday (mine)! I share insights to support and guide you in your own journey of change and transformation to a life that resonates and aligns with what’s important to you.

You can listen above or via your favourite podcast app. And/or read the notes and links below. Here are the highlights and the full transcript is below.

Show Notes

In this episode, I share about:

  • The first anniversary of publishing Wholehearted & the Companion Workbook.
  • The sixth anniversary of leaving full-time work and starting Quiet Writing.
  • The beginning of transition journeys.
  • How uncertain and unsettling they can feel.
  • The beginning of my own transition journey to a more fulfilling life.
  • Steps and processes that can help in navigating major change.
  • What can help us in the beginning stages of a making a significant change.
  • How my Wholehearted books can help guide you if you are going through major change.
  • How to get your copy of Wholehearted and the Companion Workbook.

Transcript of podcast

Introduction

Hello and welcome to Episode 20 of the podcast. It’s the 2nd of September, 2022 as I record this and an important time for me as I head into some key anniversary times.

It’s six years since I left full-time work and began to carve out a new, more creatively focused, fulfilling life.

Plus it’s six years since I started Quiet Writing as a website, business, community and concept.

And it’s one year on the 6th of September, my birthday, since my books, Wholehearted: Self-leadership for women in transition and the Wholehearted Companion Workbook were published by the kind press and shared with the world after five years of writing.

These books were crafted from the heart of a deep and transformative time of change. My whole life focus and work changed. I learnt that change is external but the real work is in the transition piece. How we respond, integrate, shift our mindset, skill up in new ways, live with intention and find systems, structures or frameworks to guide and support us through change. For me these included: creativity through writing, intuitive tarot and oracle work, psychological type personality frameworks and becoming a coach. 

I share my personal journey of transformation and transition. And what helped me to navigate moving through such uncertain times in Wholehearted.

So I thought it was fitting for these milestone times to share the first pages of Wholehearted with you in a different way, in audio form. It has also been a valuable way for me to honour and revisit these times through voicing them again. I hope that hearing my words in this way helps you in some way especially if you are navigating challenging and changing times. And these times are not one off. I know I’m going through another big time of transition and change. They’re iterative, and these skills can help you over and over again in new ways as you move through.

Get your copy of Wholehearted

You can get a copy of the transcript of this audio, Beginning the Journey, the first part of Chapter 1 as a download by heading to quietwriting.net/wholehearted-chapter-1. Or head to quietwriting.com/podcast to find a link to the blog page for this episode, Beginning the Journey of a Wholehearted Life and all the key Wholehearted book links.

If you would like to purchase a copy of Wholehearted and/or the Companion Workbook in ebook or paperback, head to books2read.com/wholehearted where you can find links to all digital stores easily.

Wholehearted and the Companion Workbook

I hope you enjoy listening to the first part of my Wholehearted book, hearing about the beginning of my journey to more fulfilling, creative living. I’ve really enjoyed revisiting my own words at this special and tender time of anniversaries and celebratory milestones.

Thank you for being with me on the journey, whether here since the beginning or connecting for the first time. It means the world to me.

I’ll be sharing some more solo episodes over the coming weeks and months. They are centred around the key themes of my work: creativity, personality, self-leadership, transition and wholehearted living. I look forward to sharing insights to support and guide you in your own journey of change and transformation to a life that resonates and aligns with what’s important to you.

And now, let’s head into Chapter 1 of Wholehearted!

Get your free copy of the transcript of Chapter 1 of Wholehearted as read on this podcast here: https://www.quietwriting.net/wholehearted-chapter-1

Terri Connellan

About Terri Connellan

Terri Connellan is an author, creative transition coach, accredited psychological type practitioner and podcaster. Her coaching and writing focus on three elements—creativity, personality and self-leadership—especially for midlife women in transition to a life with deeper purpose. Terri works with women globally through her creative business, Quiet Writing, encouraging deeper self-understanding of body of work, creativity and psychological type for more wholehearted and fulfilling lives. She lives and writes in a village on the outskirts of Sydney surrounded by beach and bush.

Terri’s links to explore

Books:

Wholehearted: Self-leadership for women in transition: https://www.quietwriting.com/wholehearted-book/ & quick links to buy: books2read.com/wholehearted

Wholehearted Companion Workbook: https://www.quietwriting.com/wholehearted-companion-workbook/ & quick links to buy: books2read.com/companion

Free resources:

Chapter 1, Wholehearted: Self-leadership for women in transition: quietwriting.net/wholehearted-chapter-1

Personal Action Checklist for Creating More Meaning + Purpose: https://www.quietwriting.net/checklist 

36 Books Creative Influence Guide: https://quiet-writing.ck.page/36bookspdf

Coaching and writing programs:

Book your free Self-leadership Discovery call: quietwritingcoachingappointments.as.me/schedule.php

Work with me: quietwriting.com/work-with-me/

The Writing Road Trip with Beth Cregan: quietwriting.net/writingroadtrip

Connect on social media

Instagram: instagram.com/writingquietly/

Facebook: facebook.com/writingquietly

Twitter: twitter.com/writingquietly

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/terri-connellan/

Wholehearted Book Club Notes

September 3, 2021

Discuss Wholehearted at your local book club and work with these Book Club notes below. You can also download them as a pdf here:

Wholehearted Book Club NotesDownload

You can also get your free copy of Chapter 1 of Wholehearted here: quietwriting.net/wholehearted-chapter-1

Invite Terri to speak with your book club or association, including virtually. Just contact me.

A reader’s introduction to Wholehearted

Wholehearted: Self-leadership for women in transition is a personal recount of one woman’s journey about shifting from being a long-term government employee towards enjoying a richer, more self-directed and creative life as an inspirational life coach. It comes together as a wise mix of memoir, practical strategies and positive self-leadership resources for women going through major change in their lives.

A Wholehearted Companion Workbook published concurrently is for those who want to go deeper with applying the self-leadership resources practically in their own lives.

Terri Connellan

Photo credit: Lauren Abi-Hanna

Bio:

Terri Connellan is a certified life coach, writer and accredited psychological type practitioner who specialises in creativity, personality and self-leadership especially for women in transition to a life with deeper purpose. Terri works globally through her creative business, Quiet Writing and Wholehearted is her first book, published by The Kind Press.

Book links:

Wholehearted: https://www.quietwriting.com/wholehearted-book/

Wholehearted Companion Workbook: https://www.quietwriting.com/wholehearted-companion-workbook/

Praise for Wholehearted: Self-leadership for women in transition

________

We need more guides like Terri who have traveled the path of transformation. She knows the exact thing to say, and the steps to suggest, for women who are tired of settling for a half-lived life. 

Pamela Slim, author, Body of Work and The Widest Net

So many of us go through life with our eyes closed, running the program, doing what we think life expects of us. Wholehearted shows us how to get in touch with our own unique identity and craft a life that feeds our souls. Terri’s open and honest personal accounts, combined with her expert knowledge of personality theory and tarot, make Wholehearted engaging and insightful. Get ready to open your eyes and see what you discover!

Dr Angelina Bennet, Chartered Occupational Psychologist and Director of I Potential Ltd

Blending tarot, memoir and self-leadership tools and techniques, Terri Connellan’s Wholehearted is a soul-centred manual for women in any stage of life transition looking to fuse the lessons of the past with a more fulfilling, creative and connected future.​

Louisa Deasey, author of Love + Other U-Turns and A Letter From Paris

Further Advance reader praise can be found HERE.

Essential themes and questions for discussion

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TRANSITION + TURNING POINTS

Terri shares her experiences of moving into a time of transition and knowing when there is no turning back. This is often accompanied by a turning point moment when it becomes very clear that change is happening. Change is external and transition is the internal journey of how we navigate and make our way in terms of mindset and practices. There is often a middle ground of transition which can feel uncertain and chaotic, but where new opportunities and creativity can flourish.

  1. How does the framing of change as external and transition as internal help response to changing environments?
  2. Where have you experienced a time of transition in your life (it might be now)?
  3. What were the turning points when you knew that change was happening? How did that feel?
  4. What footholds and practices helped you begin to move through?
  5. Did you experience that uncertain, chaotic middle ground? How did that feel?
  6. How did you begin to navigate this changing time inwardly?

SELF-LEADERSHIP

Self-leadership means leading ourselves first and takes first principles and ideas from leadership so we can feel comfortable in our skin and with how we choose to live. It involves building conscious self-awareness, self-knowledge, self-direction and making choices. It means stretching ourselves, dealing with self-sabotaging and being active rather than passive in our lives.

  1. How does self-leadership relate to leadership?
  2. How might concepts of self-leadership apply in your life?
  3. What does it mean to lead ourselves first in practical terms?

IDENTIFYING YOUR PASSIONS

A starting point in times of change can be reconnecting with our passions and what makes us unique. These can often get left by the wayside as women as we put work and/or others first in our lives. Connecting with our passions and what we value and love to do helps us get clearer on who we are and what matters.

  1. Why is it important to get back to our passions at times of transition?
  2. What are your key passions and enduring loves over time? (Think: how you want to spend your time, where you feel most alive, what you want to learn more about, what calls you.)
  3. How do they connect and blend in special ways to make you unique?
  4. How can you reconnect with and make time for your passions?

PERSONALITY + PREFERENCES, YOUR NATURAL GIFTS

Knowing how we are wired, our natural preferences and gifts and our personal style can help us navigate change with self-knowledge. Building this knowledge more consciously can be a valuable support in times of transition especially when that shift is over an extended period.

  1. Why is knowing our strengths and how we naturally operate so important to tap into when making change?
  2. What do you know about your strengths and preferences now?
  3. What are your natural gifts?
  4. How would you describe your personal style in two words?
  5. What else would you like to know and learn to help you manage change and make stronger transitions internally?

BODY OF WORK OVER TIME

Body of work is a useful concept for taking the longer view in our lives. It offers us the perspective of patterns, themes and skills in our life’s work and to see how they can be combined and developed in new ways. Terri shares the key themes in her body of work (p74). Moving through times of transition, looking at our body of work helps us identify the key threads that tie our story together.

  1. Why is body of work a helpful perspective in times of transition?
  2. What are the key ingredients and themes of your body of work over time?
  3. How can they help you navigate a new path with strength and insight?
  4. Think of key life transitions like: leaving paid employment, becoming a parent, retirement, becoming self-employed, starting a new job, becoming a carer. How can your body of work and skills learnt over time support you as you move into new phases of life?

WHOLEHEARTED SELF-LEADERSHIP SKILLS

In Chapter 6, Terri shares 15 wholehearted self-leadership skills that emerged as central supports in her transition to a new, more fulfilling life in line with her desires.

  1. How did the 15 wholehearted self-leadership skills emerge as a focus?
  2. Which of the 15 wholehearted self-leadership skills speaks to you most now?
  3. Why is that – what support do you think it might give?
  4. How might you build this skill more consciously into your life now?
  5. When will you start?

VALUING + BUILDING INFLUENCES + CONNECTIONS

Terri explores the importance of valuing our influences and consciously building our connections in new ways in times of transition including online.

  1. Why is it valuable to review our influences and connections in times of change?
  2. What influences and role models are important in your life?
  3. How might you build connections in new ways now including online?

WORKING WITH THE SHADOW SIDE

Terri highlights various ways we can explore the more shadowy sides of life as part of our journey in Chapter 8. The shadow sides explored include: shadow careers, opposites in our personality, learning from grief and other challenging times, envy, working with polarities and choosing to feel whole or less than whole.

  1. Why is it just as important to look at the shadow side of life as it is the lighter and positive sides?
  2. What have you learnt from the shadow side of life experiences?
  3. How did they help you to become more integrated and whole?
  4. Which of these shadow side elements jumped out to you as an area to explore further?

GUIDES FOR THE WHOLEHEARTED PATH

Two key guides for wholehearted living are highlighted: synchronicity and learning to become fluent in the language of coincidence and signs; and being grounded in the everyday.

  1. Why do you think these two areas—synchronicity and grounding in the everyday—emerged as key guides for wholehearted living?
  2. What experience have you had of synchronicity and how did this guide your path?
  3. How did you learn the language of symbols and signs and to listen within more intently and with wisdom?
  4. How do you ground yourself in the everyday?
  5. What practices and choices would help to do this more?

SELF-LEADERSHIP AND LOVE AS THE HEART OF WHOLEHEARTEDNESS

The final chapter of the book emphasises self-leadership and the many choices we have each day and that love is the heart of wholeheartedness.

  1. A key aspect of self-leadership is choice and making the most of what we have with our lives. How does the concept of self-leadership fit with mindset?
  2. From this list provided on pages 225-7 of choices potentially available to us, which top three jump out to you as areas to focus on in your self-leadership and transition journey?
  3. Where does love and centring what you are passionate about over time fit with your transitions and self-leadership in life?

The Wholehearted Companion Workbook: https://www.quietwriting.com/wholehearted-companion-workbook/ offers a deeper self-leadership and self-coaching guide you can work on as individuals or as a group. It tracks through the main book chapter by chapter with practical examples and prompts to apply the learning and insights in your life.

Free resources:

Get Chapter 1 of Wholehearted:Self-leadership for women in transition now: https://www.quietwriting.net/wholehearted-chapter-1

Personal Action Checklist for Creating more Meaning and Purpose – a free resource to help you get started on more wholehearted living: https://quietwriting.lpages.co/10-tips-mp-checklist/

Author and book images

Wholehearted Book
Wholehearted Companion Workbook
chillpreneur

Key excerpts from the book:

‘So following that critical turning point in July 2016, I began a journey of transition back to a life that more fully reflects me. For three decades, work had taken over and important pieces of me were missing in action.’

‘I made the crossing of this unknown sea from government employee with a regulated framework and defined job description to self-employed intuitive creative making wise choices and knowing where my practice and attention need to go next. These practices have also been an excellent way to trust my own processes and not worry about what others think.’

‘Being wholehearted is finding the self-leadership to be the explorer of your heart and to own that unique journey. It means not being captive to the smallness, meanness or insensitivity of others. Or your own shoulds. It means keeping the landscape big, the canvas open, the opportunities expansive and our hopes and dreams as real as when we first thought of them, and finding a way to navigate through them to our new way of being—the one we have imagined.’

‘I committed thirty years to my organisation and at the end of it, it just felt like a waste of time. It was not a total waste, I knew in my heart of hearts, but the lack of valuing of people is endemic and I think it’s a hole in the heart of the world that I can address. I decided I would write and reflect my way through and find a way to craft a business helping people transition from an organisation or lifestyle that no longer loves them into another future that they love with their whole heart.’

‘Writing daily as a creative practice, working on larger creative non-fiction pieces and progressing towards crafting a novel, is central to my business. If I am not authentically and creatively me—writing day in and day out, showing up, and making time for the longer pieces I have outlined or the ones there in my heart—it is not genuine. I am only able to help others with their creative lives and careers through my own writing and coaching practice of living this every day.’

You can download your pdf copy of Wholehearted Book Club Notes here:

Wholehearted Book Club NotesDownload

And welcome your questions about Wholehearted! Just pop them in the comments.

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