Three Words that changed everything

Anna Cley
3 min readDec 26, 2020

“Why do you want to hide your story from your readers?”

It was my first and only meeting with my editor. She had just reviewed my script as I was finally ready for the last stage before submitting it to publishers. She gave me a lot to think about…

I had a vision of “The Journey of the Heart”, Mylandra and Unique, in March 2014, as I traveled alone in the deep winter of Canada. At first “The Journey of the Heart” was meant to be a show, but then, last year, I realized it was time to finish the story and adapt it to a book.

It took me almost seven years to decide how to end the tale. I needed to allow my own story to unfold. In fact, something else my editor said keeps ringing in my mind:

“Allow the story to come to you.”

Deep stuff here!

After this meeting with her, I allowed. I allowed myself to get out of the bushes of my metaphors and I allowed the story to come to me.

After all, I spent a lifetime pushing through the boxes set by my surroundings and by society. Who was I really? I was truly myself only when alone in nature. There, I was.

Mule deer at the top of a mountain, Utah, November 2020

Finishing and rewriting my book was painful and beautiful. I kept cracking the cages I put myself into in order to fit in and find my place in the world. I broke free.

Something happened then. I became the artist I was always meant to be. I became me. And by sharing my passion and my love for life, extraordinary opportunities presented themselves to me. I was offered to create and co-create, to take a stand in several companies.

It did not stop there. Mid-November, I submitted my final script to three publishers. That same week, I received two offers, including a contract ready to sign. The week preceding my submissions to these publishers, I allowed myself to intuitively draw graphics. I did so in a meditative state, giving myself the mental freedom to create. I did not know then that any of my writing or drawings had any value, I was only creating out of my own fire. They loved it!

The moral of the story is that I only found my place when I stopped looking for it. I lived my passion and then, my place found me.

So if I can offer only three words for you to keep close to your heart in 2021, here they are:

DARE. TO. BE.

May this be your 2021 resolution.

Morning hike in the mountains, Utah, November 2020

To learn about “The Journey of the Heart”, visit TheJourneyOfTheHeart.com

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A special “thank you” to my editor Lauren DeStefano.

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