My coach Joshua Townshend Zellner describes the creative process as a three-part cycle: Create, Release, Relax. Some people get stuck in one part of the cycle and never complete the other two. Some love the creative process but can’t get their projects, whether they be books, art exhibits, symphonies or performance pieces over the finish line—they never complete them or release them into the world. Others release half-baked work prematurely. And many artists, including yours truly, are able to repeatedly create and release but find it challenging to relax. (I’m sure this will be the subject of a future blog post).
As I approached my official pub day—November 9th—I knew that after ten years writing The Burning Light of Two Stars, a year relentlessly planning and managing every step of its production, marketing and launch, that I would need help stopping my momentum to fully embrace the “release” part of this cycle. Could I let go of this project that had consumed me for so long? Could I fully release it into the hands and hearts of its readers? This story was about to become theirs. My transition from writer to author would once again be complete.
Fortunately, last week, because I wasn’t sleeping well and my body was on hyperdrive, I had the good sense to go for a massage with my dear friend Evelyn Hall who, in addition to being a marvelous bodyworker, is a ceremonialist who’s been inviting groups of women into ritual observance for decades. Evelyn holds sacred space with reverence, always creating a holy environment for healing, bonding and transformation. One way she does this is by facilitating ritual bathing ceremonies, where an intimate group of women gather for three rounds of sweating and singing in a sauna, using heat, song, special herbal salts, and essential oils to purify, let go and rebalance the body.
The night I showed up for my massage, Evelyn told me that there was an open spot in the ritual bathing scheduled for the following Monday night—the night before my official pub day. I couldn’t say yes fast enough.
So, the night before The Burning Light of Two Stars was officially birthed into the hands of readers everywhere, I showed up at Evelyn’s yurt with five other women, none of whom I’d met before. And the synchronistic thing was that one of the other participants was wildly, abundantly nine months pregnant, waiting for her baby to be born. So, two of us in that small circle were about to give birth and that became one of the themes of our ceremony.
Birth is also a theme in this beautiful introduction to The Burning Light of Two Stars, crafted by my wonderful virtual assistant, Jen Petras. Thank you, Jen, for this beautiful book trailer:
The Burning Light of Two Stars is available in paperback, eBook, and audiobook wherever books are sold. There are links here to buy signed copies, bulk copies, and to support independent bookstores with your purchase. You can also read the first five chapters for free.
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