This morning I was drinking my coffee and enjoying the gorgeous pink and orange flowers that have taken over the space right outside my kitchen door.  I realized that in the few years since I nestled the first small plant in the ground, they have flourished. It’s no accident – gardening is one of my passions, and I lavish love and care on all the plants in all my garden. This patch of colorful blooms gets particular attention, because I see them every morning, and I always say a little prayer of gratitude for being able to enjoy their beauty.

Today it struck me that, like my flowers, things we care deeply about will expand if we just give them attention, appreciation, and room to grow. With my next session of Awaken the Writer Within launching this week, I’ve been thinking about what a wonderful gift it is to be able to share your passion with others through the written word. I remember how excited I was to reveal what I had learned from my conversations with Spirit when I wrote Talking to Heaven. Over a dozen books later, I am still sharing my passion and, based on feedback from my readers, healing and changing lives in the process.

My students sometimes struggle with determining the message they want to send out into to the world, but I always tell them “Start with what you’re passionate about.” If something excites you, then you’re going to be able to write about it effortlessly, in a way that will ignite a spark in someone else.

But, what if you’re not sure where your deepest passion lies? There are so many ideas in your head, things you spend time on and are knowledgeable about. It can be hard to isolate your story!

A little quiet soul searching can help. Ask yourself these questions to pinpoint your true passion and jot down anything that comes to mind:

1) What were the things you loved as a child?

2) If all of your needs were magically met, and you no longer had to work for a living what would be the first thing you do?

3) Is there an activity you enjoy, or something you love to learn about that makes time seem to fly by?

4) What do you know, that you think others will benefit from knowing?

Jot down at least three things that come to mind on a single piece of paper. Don’t judge them – it doesn’t matter if, at first glance, the ideas don’t seem practical to you. If you are fascinated by elephants or glaciers, but have absolutely no experience with them, write them down! Glance at your list throughout the day and picture the items when you meditate each day – but don’t force yourself to make a decision or rank your items. Let your soul’s wisdom take over.

It might take a day or even a week, but I promise, an idea will pop into your mind and you’ll say to yourself “Ah-ha! That’s what my book, or blog, or poem, will be about!”

Then, like the flowers in my garden, as you start to put words on paper, watering and fertilizing your ideas by sharing them with others, your passion will expand. Even before your work is completed, the process of creating will be helped along by encouragement and feedback from like-minded souls.

I created my writer’s course, Awaken the Writer Within, with the goal of empowering my students to launch their beautiful message out into the universe. They might weave their passion into a work of fiction, or write a documentary or self-help book. Students have submitted poems, children’s books, biographies – and each one has its own magic to heal and transform the writer, as well as the reader.