It's T-Minus six weeks until the launch of my first book, Tea and Cake With Demons, and honestly, I couldn't be more psyched. And nervous. And joyful! And overwhelmed.
Really, I'm feeling all of the feels.
My first thought when I held the actual, tangible book in my hand was that it is so tiny. It's the size of a regular book, of course, but I don't think I fully registered that I had poured 2 years of my life into making something that's smaller than a shoe box and the weight of an empty soda can.
I think part of the disconnect for me was that this book felt enormous because it was just SO DANG HARD to write. The finished product might be a portable paperback, but it was intangibly massive and dense.
I tried everything that I could over the course of the writing process to get this book on paper. Including:
🔮 I sang-screamed guttural animal noises in a dark Brooklyn warehouse with two dozen witchy strangers at something called Voice Cult . My hairdresser recommended that I do this to unlock my voice and yes-- it was as bizarre and as wonderful as it sounds.
Thanks Gigi!
🦔 I burrowed away in a cabin in Upstate New York for weeks at a time so that I didn't have to be bothered by distractions like showering and just wrote and wrote and wrote and wrote in my stinky hermit pajamas.
🧀 More than once I laid on the kitchen floor eating a block of Trader Joes smoked provolone. Because cheese is delicious. Because I couldn’t write. Because even though I couldn’t write I was also not trying to fall into a vortex of Netflix and YouTube— which would have derailed the whole process.
✨Side note: cold linoleum floor feels really soothing on my body when I'm overwhelmed -- who knew? Do you have any unconventional self-soothing techniques like that?
The one thing I didn’t expect is that the moment I wrote a book about self worth and self-doubt, all of my self-doubt would rise to the surface.
Imagine this… you’re under deadline and there is a digital countdown clock that’s taken up residence in the back of your head, keeping you acutely aware of how little you’ve done in the days that remain before your big project is due.
Perhaps you can relate. Perhaps you also know that speedy, weightless feeling of anxiety zipping around your chest. It's not fun.
Thank goodness for my meditation practice, or honestly -- I would have been cooked. Like Memorial Day weenies on the grill. 🌭
I actually got this daunting thing done by taking my own advice -- and some of the central advice of this book -- which, go figure. The writing process itself became my practice.
I invited my demons to tea. And gouda. On the kitchen floor. In all my smelly glory.
So what exactly are these demons that I talk about in the book and what does it mean to invite them to tea?
More importantly -- what is YOUR prominent demon material?
If you're curious, I made you this short video (below) that includes an exercise to pinpoint some of your fiercest demons -- quickly and on the spot.
Thank you for sharing in this process with me. I'm excited to announce more goodies and giveaways in the coming weeks as we launch this book into the world. ❤️
