Learning how to care for my creative self, and all the other parts of my self, has been one of the most profound parts of having/choosing to do a lot of this journey on my own over the years.
And also not really on my own ... I think I've had moments of mentorship or professional/creative guidance throughout, just not specifically one mentor. I'm not even sure I'd want one. But I've had teachers, had peers who were one step ahead of me in an experience, and, like you, have had the books of others (Julia Cameron, SARK, Natalie Goldberg, Elizabeth Gilbert ....)
And I think that every time we put truths about our experiences out into the world, they find the people who are meant to find them in the time they're meant to find them, and I like thinking that each of those things, including this piece you've written here, are little missives of mentorship lighting the way.
You're a wonderful mentor to so many of us, even without any direct contact, lovely Amie.
It's hard to do things feeling unsupported, but I'm here to tell ya it's possible, you just gotta keep going. Never give in, not fully. Have a cry and keep creating.
Guess it’s time to get out of my fetal position and hype mentor myself into finally getting this book online that was finished a year ago! I don’t feel sick to my stomach at all in all my not knowingness of how this works🤢 but here we go! Thanks for being a trailblazer for those of us who feel the same way. 🙏🏾
Absolutely adore all of this. Yes, we're all swimming in this same creative sea, bumping into each other, saying 'ooops, sorry', and then upon occasion following another creative creature for a while cos they got some shiny ass shit that inspires us for a while! No idea why the sea analogy but hey ho!!! And, just to honour my own journey, I'm actually going to be starting to offer writing mentoring next month, so a very timely post! Love you and all you do Amie 💃❤️🔥🙏
Well said ... it is a terrifying and thrilling ride but we as CREATIVES cannot NOT take it! Almost 50 years in book publishing and I too had to forge my own trail. I have mentored over 100 new authors one on one and created a safe space for them. We just do what we can in the community we occupy and touch as many lives as opportunity presents itself. Good luck and Girl You Absolutely Have Got This! Go Forth BOLDLY!
Aime. Ive been following you on IG for years and your work has always illuminated my path - even if it was just a flicker. Now thanks to substack I am able to see a deeper side of you - a side that feels so akin to the journey I'm on. What was a flicker feels like a beaming lighthouse and I am just so glad I have your work to read; to guide me. I need your art more than ever now. Had you kept your words to yourself all these years, I and a whole host of other artists, would be lost. 🔦
Great article. And that's a tricky one - for you to have a mentor, you need someone who is further than you (at at least at the same stage) not just in the publishing process but in the self-development, tuned-into your own creativity and not trying to win the fucked up game process - and that is a pretty rare thing. As I have found as I go through trad publishing! I'm like - oh this business sent you mad, didn't it? 🤣 In the meantime, there's big magic by Liz Gilbert I guess! I do have a mentor but she's a reiki practitioner and shamanic teacher who writes but is not in the publishing world.
I’ve always worked with mentors/ coaches and when things really took off I also saw a therapist weekly and booked a session with a PR manager who walks her talk. She was fab. Happy to pass on deets. She wrote me a plan and it massively took the pressure off self promo. I also have learnt a lot interviewing authors about their books and their relationship with them. Books can burn folks out and I don’t know why that is… still leaning into that myself. 😅
I think mentorship is incredibly valuable for both the mentor and mentee. As a young or emerging creative, it can be overwhelming and scary. Having the guidance of a more established mentor can be the light that lifts up and carries the young creative through.
I believe the act of wanting to be a mentor creeps in for a more established creative. At some point, us as creatives have collected a bevy of experiences and it feels natural to want to help young creatives, almost like a karmic give-back, feeding the creative ecosystem.
As I’ve aged into my craft, I’ve felt compelled to mentor others, even if I don’t appear to have traditional success in my craft and the business surrounding it. I’m still an elder with wisdom and experience, and I feel it’s my (joyful) duty to share that with the young ones.
I would have liked to have a mentor when i was 25. That person would have shook the fear out of me and explained my rare gift to me. Then they would have pointed me in the right direction. Instead i listened to my fearing mom who did t know who i was and went down a path that was not at all who i was. I dont blame her- she did what she thought was best for me. She had no idea that i possessed something most do not. By the way, you didnt talk much about the person you’re mentoring. Why?
I really love your honest writing, Amie. One of the things I did at the start of this year is send a message to the universe to find me a mentor I truly vibe with. Waiting patiently for this person to show up and in the meantime, as you say, I have books, podcasts and my wise inner guru self ✨
Once again, you’ve hit on the points that made me feel seen. Fortunately unfortunately, I had a mentor that encouraged for my first book, in the form a work colleague. Otherwise I wouldn’t have self-published it.
I feel quite guilty that at the moment, as I don’t feel like I need a mentor. I’ve found my creative process, what I want to write about, etc. But what makes me guilty is that I don’t read other people’s poetry, even though I should. I don’t think (at least I hope) that it doesn’t come from a place of superiority, because I definitely don’t think I’m that level of good (though I can still recognise that I am improving over time).
Tbh, I don’t know was trying to say with this, but again, thanks for sharing this :))
Learning how to care for my creative self, and all the other parts of my self, has been one of the most profound parts of having/choosing to do a lot of this journey on my own over the years.
And also not really on my own ... I think I've had moments of mentorship or professional/creative guidance throughout, just not specifically one mentor. I'm not even sure I'd want one. But I've had teachers, had peers who were one step ahead of me in an experience, and, like you, have had the books of others (Julia Cameron, SARK, Natalie Goldberg, Elizabeth Gilbert ....)
And I think that every time we put truths about our experiences out into the world, they find the people who are meant to find them in the time they're meant to find them, and I like thinking that each of those things, including this piece you've written here, are little missives of mentorship lighting the way.
You're a wonderful mentor to so many of us, even without any direct contact, lovely Amie.
It's hard to do things feeling unsupported, but I'm here to tell ya it's possible, you just gotta keep going. Never give in, not fully. Have a cry and keep creating.
Guess it’s time to get out of my fetal position and hype mentor myself into finally getting this book online that was finished a year ago! I don’t feel sick to my stomach at all in all my not knowingness of how this works🤢 but here we go! Thanks for being a trailblazer for those of us who feel the same way. 🙏🏾
Absolutely adore all of this. Yes, we're all swimming in this same creative sea, bumping into each other, saying 'ooops, sorry', and then upon occasion following another creative creature for a while cos they got some shiny ass shit that inspires us for a while! No idea why the sea analogy but hey ho!!! And, just to honour my own journey, I'm actually going to be starting to offer writing mentoring next month, so a very timely post! Love you and all you do Amie 💃❤️🔥🙏
Well said ... it is a terrifying and thrilling ride but we as CREATIVES cannot NOT take it! Almost 50 years in book publishing and I too had to forge my own trail. I have mentored over 100 new authors one on one and created a safe space for them. We just do what we can in the community we occupy and touch as many lives as opportunity presents itself. Good luck and Girl You Absolutely Have Got This! Go Forth BOLDLY!
Thanks Chet and P.Q.
This is so relatable and EXACTLY what I needed to read today. THANK YOU!
Aime. Ive been following you on IG for years and your work has always illuminated my path - even if it was just a flicker. Now thanks to substack I am able to see a deeper side of you - a side that feels so akin to the journey I'm on. What was a flicker feels like a beaming lighthouse and I am just so glad I have your work to read; to guide me. I need your art more than ever now. Had you kept your words to yourself all these years, I and a whole host of other artists, would be lost. 🔦
Great article. And that's a tricky one - for you to have a mentor, you need someone who is further than you (at at least at the same stage) not just in the publishing process but in the self-development, tuned-into your own creativity and not trying to win the fucked up game process - and that is a pretty rare thing. As I have found as I go through trad publishing! I'm like - oh this business sent you mad, didn't it? 🤣 In the meantime, there's big magic by Liz Gilbert I guess! I do have a mentor but she's a reiki practitioner and shamanic teacher who writes but is not in the publishing world.
YOU have hyped me up in so many moments I've found myself curled up on my couch, thinking it's all pointless. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Loved this. Thank you for sharing your world.
I’ve always worked with mentors/ coaches and when things really took off I also saw a therapist weekly and booked a session with a PR manager who walks her talk. She was fab. Happy to pass on deets. She wrote me a plan and it massively took the pressure off self promo. I also have learnt a lot interviewing authors about their books and their relationship with them. Books can burn folks out and I don’t know why that is… still leaning into that myself. 😅
I think mentorship is incredibly valuable for both the mentor and mentee. As a young or emerging creative, it can be overwhelming and scary. Having the guidance of a more established mentor can be the light that lifts up and carries the young creative through.
I believe the act of wanting to be a mentor creeps in for a more established creative. At some point, us as creatives have collected a bevy of experiences and it feels natural to want to help young creatives, almost like a karmic give-back, feeding the creative ecosystem.
As I’ve aged into my craft, I’ve felt compelled to mentor others, even if I don’t appear to have traditional success in my craft and the business surrounding it. I’m still an elder with wisdom and experience, and I feel it’s my (joyful) duty to share that with the young ones.
Take a breathe, Amy. Keep at it. Keep writing good quality books. It’ll happen for you.
I would have liked to have a mentor when i was 25. That person would have shook the fear out of me and explained my rare gift to me. Then they would have pointed me in the right direction. Instead i listened to my fearing mom who did t know who i was and went down a path that was not at all who i was. I dont blame her- she did what she thought was best for me. She had no idea that i possessed something most do not. By the way, you didnt talk much about the person you’re mentoring. Why?
I really love your honest writing, Amie. One of the things I did at the start of this year is send a message to the universe to find me a mentor I truly vibe with. Waiting patiently for this person to show up and in the meantime, as you say, I have books, podcasts and my wise inner guru self ✨
I messaged you 😍
Once again, you’ve hit on the points that made me feel seen. Fortunately unfortunately, I had a mentor that encouraged for my first book, in the form a work colleague. Otherwise I wouldn’t have self-published it.
I feel quite guilty that at the moment, as I don’t feel like I need a mentor. I’ve found my creative process, what I want to write about, etc. But what makes me guilty is that I don’t read other people’s poetry, even though I should. I don’t think (at least I hope) that it doesn’t come from a place of superiority, because I definitely don’t think I’m that level of good (though I can still recognise that I am improving over time).
Tbh, I don’t know was trying to say with this, but again, thanks for sharing this :))