Clients often experience a wave of relief after their first counselling session.  Their burden is shared and they feel joined on their journey.  That old saying, a worry shared is a worry halved rings true.

Sometimes, you don’t recognise how burdened you’re feeling until the load eases, as I experienced recently.   I’d been working on Ms Forgotten Australian’s biography for over four years and had come to the end of my skills, capability, and motivation. I knew I had to do more but had no idea what to do. I roamed in endless circles while procrastinating, or sat forlornly at the computer achieving nothing.

Easing the Burden

Then I met Jacki Ferro, co-author of Alice’s Daughter: Lost mission child. I was drawn to her warmth, her knowledge of social justice issues, her experience of community development and her respect for others.  Then, oh bliss, I discovered she was an editor of memoirs and biographies through Raw Memoirs.  I needed Jacki to help me so I handed her my manuscript.

Fear and Vulnerability

I experienced waves of fear and vulnerability, as clients do when they come to counselling.   How could I hand my precious manuscript to a stranger? Could I trust her? How would she understand what I wanted to achieve? Did she have tools to guide me?  Would I learn from her? Sometimes, could she just give me the answer and tell me what to do, because I was exhausted by it all?  Would she think I was stupid? Would she be kind?

Even before I had the answer to those questions,  relief swept over me. I became energised and productive.  Passionately involved in the project again.  I was no longer alone.  Somehow I just knew she would walk beside me in the way I needed.  And she has.  Her editing has enriched the manuscript beyond my expectations, and I am so grateful.

Reaching Out

Then I was, at least temporarily, silenced and unable to proceed with publishing. That wasn’t enough to stifle me, not now that I had found this new vitality and motivation. Still hopeful that someday I’d publish, I decided to explore self-publishing.  Who could I ask?  None of my colleagues, friends or family had self-published.

So I posted on the Tarragindi Facebook page. Maybe my local community could help so I asked if anyone out there had self-published. Leon Bambrick responded to my plea and we met for coffee. Having grown up in Rockhampton, Leon was familiar with St Joseph’s Orphanage Neerkol, and had some understanding of the horrors Ms Forgotten Australian experienced while there.

This interesting and supportive man gave me an hour of his time and a world full of encouragement. He has self-published his father’s memoirs, and is about to launch another self-published book,  Chose Your First Product: 4 Easy Steps to Find and Validate a Humble Product Idea.  A third book is on the way…. and I anticipate many more in the future.  As an added bonus, I discovered, through Facebook stalking, he’d been blogging for years at Secretgeek.  Without a nerdy bone in my body, I enjoyed his post teaching children about Hexaflexagons!

What a gift Leon was, and I’m still hopeful there are other authors in the community that I have yet to meet.  Let me know if you live nearby and have either self-published or published through traditional means.  I’d love more coffees and chats.

So now my burden has eased, I know where to go for help and new friends have joined me on the journey.

Let me know how you’ve eased your burden.

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