Several years ago a stranger approached me (via email).
She wanted to meet for coffee.
She wanted to talk to me about creativity and writing and the world of children’s literature and…creativity.
When you’re an author you often get requests like this.
And by-and-large my fallback is no.
I mean, can you imagine what it’s like to be approached by strangers who just want to ‘meet’ you?
It’s kinda creepy!
However, there was something about this person. Something I intuitively sensed was ‘good’, maybe even important for my personal growth.
I wrote back and subtly grilled her.
It turned out, by the weirdest circumstance, we shared a common acquaintance— someone I genuinely looked up to.
The stranger now had ‘social proof’.
On the strength of that, and because my intuition was pushing me, I said yes.
We agreed to meet in a hipster café in inner Melbourne (a public place in case I needed to cry for help) and even though I was thinking ‘WTF are you doing, Jen?’ I kept moving with the plans.
The day of the meeting came.
My stomach churned.
What if this stranger wanted to convert me or lure me into to a freaky cult?
Maybe she was selling Amway?
I pushed through my doubts and fears, put on my lippy and headed out the door.
That meeting changed my life.
We became firm friends.
The kind of friends who push each other to grow and evolve.
The kind of friends who support each other’s dreams and ambitions.
The kind of friends who are comfortable to (lovingly) call each other out when needed.
There’s a yin and yang to our friendship, an energy that shifts and changes depending on who needs what; she can be yang, I can be yin. And vice versa. We’re not stuck in any particular energy pattern, rigid role or stilted way of relating.
That’s true friendship. A healthy relationship.
At that first meeting, she asked me, Jen, if you could give only ONE piece of advice, what would it be?
Well, erm…
It’s taken me seven years to think of an answer!
And that answer?
Get around good people.
That’s it.
Get around good people.
The kind of people who will support you, inspire you, push you, validate your dreams even if they don’t understand them.
The kind of people who will make you feel seen.
Looking back over my career as a bestselling children’s author and online entrepreneur, I realise that other people have held the key to my success.
My energy, my work ethic, my creativity, has always been buoyed along by the kindness, talent, enthusiasm and BRAVERY of good people.
Of course, it’s not always easy to find such people.
Especially in real life!
And it’s definitely not easy to email strangers and invite them out. (Let’s face it, that tactic rarely works.)
But when we’re true to ourselves, when we commit to our inner expansion with focus and passion, the universe has a way of dropping opportunities (and good people) in our path.
That’s how synchronicity works.
Invisible guides seem to orchestrate things on our behalf.
Aside from my beautiful IRL friends and peers, Leonie Dawson has been another of my GOOD PEOPLE.
My Bloody Good People!
I can’t imagine where I’d be without this brave, funny, super creative, wildly intelligent woman waving the (unicorn) flag for me.
Showing me that YES, you can jump out of the box too!
YES, you can dream bigger too.
And YES, you can act on those dreams too!
This week on Youtube I started a new playlist. It’s my ‘In Conversation’ playlist.
To kick off this new playlist, I spent an entire hour yapping with LEONIE!
Join in the fun!
If you’ve got glorious, kooky or audacious dreams, if you long to express yourself more freely, even if you just want to ride a wave of ‘can do’ energy for a while, watch this interview.
Get around good people, darling!
That’s how you make things happen.
That’s how you live your best life.
Hey!
Thanks for having coffee with me.
I owe you!
Love
Jen xo
PS You guessed it. MORE good people! They’re everywhere. You just need to know where to look!
Yeah!