In the heat of our fabulous Writing the Body workshop I forgot to wish the fabulous and amazing @Cate Fitt a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!! 🎉🥳 Is this 81, Cate?? You are such an inspiration and I'm so happy you are a part of Writing Fire!

Hello fire 🔥 writers, Writing about or from our bodies provides an infinite treasure trove of stories, prompts and buried truths. I'd love to see you this afternoon from 2-330 pm EST for Writing the Body, the second of the Surrender Your Weapons series! Let's explore the mystery and unbury the treasure together!

I hope you will join me this afternoon at 1 PM EST for Skip the Small Talk, a chance to burrow down straight to the heart of the matter, even if at the outset we have no idea what that is! Rules of the Halfway House for Writers #5: SKIP THE SMALL TALK. If there’s an elephant in the room, don’t spend too much time describing the wallpaper behind the couch it’s sitting on. You don’t need to waste your time or anyone else’s pretending everything is fine if it isn’t. Writing doesn’t have to be a cocktail party where everyone looks glamorous delivering witty one-liners. Get to the meat and potatoes. Don’t fill up on candied mints and forfeit the meal. Writing the truth in this way may feel awkward and messy and vulnerable but it’s a good way to bypass the fluff and cut out the fat. Readers yearn to connect with the truth. Practicing telling the emotional truth is a good way to write, and to live.

Hi fire writers! I'm so excited to announce that my partner Shey Khandro and I are offering the Sacred Pause: a Meditation and Writing Retreat in the Deep Midwinter at the urban monastery, Richmond Hill, Jan 22-24! Registration is now live. We would LOVE for you to join us.

Hi Fire Writers! ✍️Join me this morning for Right Now I Am at 11 AM EST! This workshop is also free and open to the wider community outside of Skool if you want to invite a friend! They can sign up with this link right here :) 👋I'm thrilled to welcome the wonderful @Shey Khandro to our Writing Fire community. So happy you're here with us, Shey! 💗 This morning I published a piece on Substack called A Cure for the Poison. I wonder if you can relate?? _______________________________________________ After a few months of experimentation, starting next week, we will begin to have a more consistent workshop schedule! 👄 Every Monday: Skip the Small Talk with Valley from 1 - 2 PM EST. Join Valley in a safe and sacred circle to skip the small talk, dig deep, get real, write the truth, and show up as we truly are. ⚔️ Every Wednesday a different theme from Surrender Your Weapons with Valley from 2 - 3:30 PM EST. (No class 10/21!) ⏰ Every Friday: Right Now I Am with Valley from 10 - 11 AM EST. Right Now I Am is a snapshot of the present moment, a holy dumping ground, how we show up as ourselves right here and right now. Come as you are; every emotion we have is fuel for the fire. Thanks for showing up, y'all! Can't wait to write with you again. VJ💘 (some of my fave pics of the week including the fog rising off the river this morning, the rainbow staircase at Shelf Life Books RVA, and Cosmo reclaiming his roots as a wolf! 🐺🤣)