What happens when you journal
is in your highest good
Our circle of wild souls journaling, during my first Wild Soul Retreat 2025
I wish I could describe how challenging it was to allow my Substack to go public. Not because of outside resistance, but because of inner resistance. That critical in-your-head voice that often says stuff like:
“You’re not good enough.”
“Who would want to read this?”
“They will laugh and judge you.”
“No one wants your vulnerability.”
And on and on and on. And I did it anyways. My closest friends and parents were my first subscribers, and as I watched the numbers grow, I decided my main audience would narrow in on one tiny person (my sweet H.) who will someday leave home, and then maybe, if I’m lucky, read this and discover a bit more about her momma’s How to be Here. (What I wouldn’t pay to know these kinds of things about my own mother.)
In October, I led my first Wild Soul Retreat in this luxurious lodge surrounded by rustic cottages, on the French River. I taught these wild souls how to know and access our unconscious mind, how to sit with and in stillness, and how to come back into our bodies. I watched as they journaled through carefully chosen prompts. I even sparked some attraction to poetry for some. Thank you to Rilke, Rumi and Mary Oliver for their universal and timeless words.
When I read the feedback forms, I learned that many of these wild souls felt a pull to journal, regularly. Some found it easy, some challenging and nearly all discovered that a presence sparked in them, a new aliveness, an opening to something bigger than themselves. I’ve learned from great past and present minds, to call it opening to one’s soul. There is a growing body of research on journaling and writing expressively. Proof that it changes us and for those who write regularly, they report less doctor’s visits, less inflammation in their bodies, and significantly less pain - both emotional and physical. Imagine that. Our health improves because of journaling.
That’s why I created my new offering, a monthly, virtual WILD SOUL JOURNALING CIRCLE, exclusively for my paid subscribers. This is where you may sit quietly for an hour and receive coach-led prompting to guide you deeper into your unconscious mind, where you may access intuition, age-old wisdom and memory to give you back the perspective you didn’t know you had.
All essays and poems will continue to be available for anyone and everyone. My new paywall has been activated only for accessing this circle. And, as you may know, I am stepping boldly into my writing and coaching roles, as this is where my career path is taking me. Why? Because, this is where my soul sparks joy and meaning and delight.
I love this already, even though I’ve just begun. And yes, the voices are still here, but they are sometimes quiet. Because once we step into action, hire help, and decide to make something happen, we make it happen. All we must do is decide. It isn’t enough to want. I have also decided this:
My fear is never enough to stop me. Not when the desire is bigger than the fear. “You have to want something more than you’re afraid of it,” says Dolly Parton.
I hosted a pilot project circle on the final Wednesday of October. It was magical for me, and I know it was for the eight people who trusted me with their time, as we gathered in our virtual circle, for journaling prompts and deep, sacred connection and communion with our souls.
So, effective now, your paid subscription gives you automatic access to my monthly circle, which is scheduled for the every LAST Wednesday of the month at 7:45 pm ET. This month’s circle is Nov 26th. Every final Monday of the month you’ll receive a private Zoom link and instructions. We will meet for 60-70 minutes, beginning with a short intro, a guided meditation, and then we will write silently to journal prompts. I will leave a few minutes for any Q&A at the end. In the years I have been contributing to writing groups, I have realized that at our soul’s core, we have an internal voice needing to be put to paper. My journaling circle offering is for anyone and everyone who has a pen and paper and wants to learn more about why you do what you do and how to awaken to your soul’s deepest yearnings.
I hope to see you there. I am really looking forward to seeing your faces regularly. And once again, thank you to those of you who have already said yes!
All my best,
Jaclyn xo
I’ll see you in the next publication for an excerpt from my memoir manuscript.
The Wild Soul Retreat was magical. I highly recommend it 👌
Great news! I will register.