Welcome to the blog hop

By Elyn Aviva

Hello! This is my first blog hop—and probably yours as well. You may be asking: What’s a blog hop? Is it related to a bellhop? Or a sock hop? Maybe a bunny hop? Not. A “blog hop” provides an opportunity for me to introduce you to several excellent bloggers and to share something about my writing process.

By the way, I usually post on one of two blogs: www.powerfulplaces.com/blog, which I share with Gary White and which also includes guest bloggers; and www.YourLifeIsATrip.com/home/author/elynaviva.

First, many thanks to my dear friend and writing inspiration, Judie Fein. She invited me to “blog hop” along with her. Here she is, looking glamorous—an amazing feat, given that she is always on the go, traveling to intriguing places and writing about them with her inimitable insight and humor. I suggest you “hop” over to her blogs and/or better yet, purchase one of her books.

Judith Fein is an award-winning international travel journalist who has contributed to 105 publications. She blogs about transformative travel for the Huffington Post and Psychology Today. An acclaimed keynote speaker and workshop leader, she recently gave a TEDx talk in Mexico on Deep Travel:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GErjagMyrYk&feature=youtu.be

Judith is the executive editor and co-founder of the popular blog site that has more than 125 writers, YourLifeisaTrip.com. She lived in Europe for close to a decade and spent several years in Morocco and Tunisia. She is the author of two popular books: LIFE IS A TRIP: The Transformative Magic of Travel, and the newly released THE SPOON FROM MINKOWITZ: A Bittersweet Roots Journey to Ancestral Lands. For many years, she has been an emotional genealogist, tracking the family stories and behavioral traits that have been handed down to us (www.EmotionalGenealogy.org). Judith’s website is www.GlobalAdventure.us.

My Writing Process

1) What am I working on/writing? I have just finished a major book project: Where Heaven and Earth Unite – Powerful Places, Sacred Sites, and You. This is a richly illustrated series of conversations I had with Ferran Blasco, a master of geomancy (dowsing, earth energies) and a deep spiritual practitioner. I am in recovery mode from this project but slowly beginning to get glimmers of a new writing project. Although I usually write short essays about transformational travel, I have the faint whiff of an idea for another novel about sacred quest—this one having to do with the Grail. Or maybe I’ll write an interview with myself about why I can’t stop going to powerful places! (To see some of my other books, check out www.powerfulplaces.com and www.pilgrimsprocess.com.)

2) How does my work/writing differ from others of its genre? In general, I write about pilgrimage, quest, and transformational travel—not just visiting places but going to places in a way that offers the opportunity for meaningful experience. My academic training as a cultural anthropologist (Ph.D. dissertation on the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage), my background in comparative religion (I have a Master of Divinity degree), and my exploration of different spiritual paths (Sufi, Western Esoteric, to name a few) give me a varied perspective and a grounded approach. I am habitually both a participant and an observer, experiencing a place as fully as possible, open to the unexpected, recording and analyzing what’s happening, and putting it in a larger context.

3) Why do I write what I do? I am drawn like a magnet to sacred sites and powerful places, to places where Heaven and Earth unite. I feel compelled to share with others the amazing multidimensional nature of our relationship to this planet, the cosmos, and ourselves. I want people to know that there is more to travel than just going somewhere and checking it off a list. The world is full of fascinating places to experience—including yourself, wherever you are right now.

4) How does my writing process work? I start with an experience—something that happened to me, somewhere I have been—something that I think is important to share with others. I develop a glimmer of an idea, almost as if I have turned a dimmer switch on low. I periodically revisit it, waiting until it “lights up” or “ripens” (pardon the mixed metaphors) into a visual image or an introductory sentence. Then I start writing. Usually at first I simply put down words, creating a rough draft. This will get rewritten many times as I work with images to make the story vivid and immediate, and as I listen to the words and what they convey. I spiral back and forth, exploring my own experience and gaining insight into it through writing about it. Often it is through this process that what really happened begins to reveal itself.

Introductions

(Drum roll.) It is with great pleasure that I introduce you to two blogs/three bloggers, whose work I admire.

First, gifted EnergySoma healer and blogger Karin Schlüter. She does really good work!

Karen writes: “I was born in The Netherlands in 1954. I moved to Glastonbury in 1997. I have five fabulous children, six grandchildren, and a beautiful husband. And a cat. I knit. I find inspiration in nature and I recharge myself by walking, yoga and meditation, and inner work.

“I give healing/coaching sessions. I offer on-line and “in real life” trainings in Deepening Consciousness, retreats for women, and workshops. Over 900 clients have found their way to these healing sessions and workshops on personal/spiritual growth. I teach spiritual healing in the UK, The Netherlands, and in the USA. I live in Glastonbury, UK, and in The Netherlands. It’s a curious exercise, living in two countries! This is my website, with a link to my blog: www.karinschluter.nl.”

Next, let me introduce Jake and Hannah Eagle, whose wisdom is truly life-changing. I know this because Gary and I have vastly improved our relationship because of their work.

BIO: Jake Eagle, psychotherapist and award-winning author, and Hannah Eagle, classical homeopath, are co-founders of Reology. They are paying forward by sharing a remarkable set of teachings passed along to them by their mentors, John and Joyce Weir. At the heart of their work you will find both the belief and the tools required to make relationships easy. They are sharing with people from all around the world a new way of being, thinking, and speaking. The purpose of which is to create a kinder and gentler world—starting with ourselves. Link to their blog: www.reology.org

Welcome to the blog hop