It’s been a rich month here for me, and I feel thoughtful as I leave it. On the one hand, my trust feels stronger. I feel much more capable of holding tension with the fears I feel around my new endeavors – capable of feeling a deepening peace about trust being possible and available and growable, even when I’m simultaneously feeling afraid. Optimism, on this front, makes such a world of difference when it comes to taking action to live beyond fear!

On the other hand, I feel aware of disappointment that my work here this month hasn’t magically dissipated the anxiety I’ve carried since starting this site. Shouldn’t one month of tending trust on this topic make me feel all zen about the newness I face here every day??

I chuckle at the ridiculousness of that, and remind myself again that this work is a life-long habit, that the process is my destination, that small inner shifts are hopeful in themselves, and also add up to big transformation. I’m not the person I was when this month began, and what happened here has played a huge role in that change.

I hope that in the new things you may be dreaming about or already embarking on, you’ve experienced big or small shifts toward trust. Thanks so much for your presence here this month, and for all the ways your words and silent participation shape the conversation!

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Below are some wonderful resources for growing trust at the start of new things. If you know of other resources we need to hear about, please share in the comments below!

General:

• The Wishing Year Noelle Oxenhandler chronicles a year spent wishing for three things (“a house, a man, my soul”). She’s a natural cynic of the power of wishing, and includes some wonderful research on the topic, so even the most skeptical may find hope in these pages. I loved this book!
• Mondo Beyondo Jen Lemen and Andrea Scher co-facilitate this online course designed to help name and unlock your dreams. My worldview was transformed by this course, and the fruits of that shift are all over my own work today.
• Finding Your Voice Jen Lee recently released this multimedia course. Jen is gifted at helping people recover their voices and stories, and this process is integral to both trust and clarity at the start of new things. Highly recommend!

Writing:

• Writing from the Inside Out This book by Dennis Palumbo articulately names the fears that so often accompany and thwart the writing life, and offers wonderful, trust-inducing tools for working past them.
• The Productive Writer Sage Cohen is a soul friend of mine, and offers practical help in this book to anyone wanting to up their productivity at the page. She’s a gentle, trust-inducing soul who makes living past fear seem not only possible, but likely. Highly recommend!
• Writing the Life Poetic: An invitation to read and write poetry Another book by Sage Cohen. A must-read for anyone whose new thing is a wish for more poetry. Super practical, soulful, and beautiful read.

Creativity:

• Taking Flight: Inspiration and Techniques to Give Your Creative Spirit Wings Kelly weaves her own story of conversion, mid-life, from social work to full-time art into this practical book about embracing a creative life.
• The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron. This is a classic, and uses the term “artist” broadly. It’s designed as a 12-week recovery program, and was an enormous awakening for me in 2005. Highly recommend as a do-it-yourself or in-company read.
• Flying Lessons: Tips and Tricks to Help Your Creative Business Soar This is an ebook series by Kelly Rae Roberts. I took her ecourse by this same name, and found it so helpful! She isn’t running the course right now, but these ebooks contain all the course content.

Audio:

• What to remember when waking by David Whyte. This audio series is an amazingly trust-inducing resource for anyone, and especially those on the cusp of a new life season.
• Getting Unstuck, by Pema Chodron. The title sums this series up well. I leave these CDs, always, feeling more hopeful, grounded, and trusting.
• Working with fear, by Bridget Pilloud. Another wonderful resource for working with fear. Free.

Coaching:

• These 8 coaches are all such great resources for anyone seeking help. Their websites and one-on-one coaching, both, may be just the help you need.

Resources from this site:

• Click here to see an annotated list of posts from this month at Trust Tending, all related to starting new things.

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Again, if you know of additional resources we need to hear about, please share in the comments below!

I’d also love to hear about any shifts you’ve been experiencing in your trust this month, or stories you’d like to tell about starting something new!
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