Finding my own authentic narrative took a long time, but I eventually did through exploration, risk-taking and practice. And you can too. Now my dream job is to help you write your story, whether you are an individual, a business or another type of organization.

Journaling is one of the easiest ways to get in touch with all those thoughts rattling through your head. With the iPhone and other digital tools, it’s easy to capture thoughts or insights as they occur. So the old-fashioned way of hand-writing journals, which I still love to do, has new formats that can be adapted to everyone. (I wrote about Journaling by iPhone here.)

WHEN I TRAVEL, I keep notes, schedules and occasionally drawings in a journal. Later I might decorate it with markers, colorful Washi tape, stencils and paper cut-outs for illustration.

WHEN MY FIRST GRANDDAUGHTER WAS ON THE WAY, I started a handwritten journal to her from 3,000 miles away as I imagined her – and myself as a grandmother – before she was born

WHEN I HAD CANCER, I created a colorful (and sometimes scary) journal filled with facts, fears, messages, inspiration and, by the end of the book, all the hope I could muster at the time. The process of writing turned out to be creative healing journey. So I shared the benefits of my experience by giving journal writing workshops to other survivors.

DURING THE PANDEMIC, I spent weeks going through family letters that I “always intended to” explore, and discovered my grandmother, whom I never knew, through her voice in handwritten notes to her sisters, brothers and parents. I collected these into an unpublished memoir, along with old photos, for the rest of my family and the generations to come.

After all, when we aren’t around to write our own stories, our “memoirs” or the memories others have of us are what endure.