Menna Van Praag's Blog, page 36

putting myself to the test

This weekend I took a rather extraordinary journey. We were going to Oxford on Saturday night to visit lovely friends, so I volunteered to drive – in the dark, on dual carriageways, at 70mph, round 20+ roundabouts. Artur wasn’t too sure… & I admit, I was ever-so-slightly terrified even as I suggested it, but my test is coming up soon and I wanted to give myself to the challenge. It’s 80 miles from Cambridge to Oxford and my shoulders were up by my chin all the way, my palms sweaty on the wheel, my breath held, but amazingly we made all in one piece. Tonight I came home again and it was so easy. I was relaxed, chatting, having fun, driving smoothly – even overtaking at 70mph! A total transformation in 24 hours. After this, I figure the test will be a piece of cake

Passion!

“Passion is energy. Feel the power that comes from focusing on what excites you.” – Oprah Winfrey

I’m filled with passion today. I spent the day writing up ideas for my workshop, filling pages with insights and inspiration. At times, I got so giddy with excitement that I’d burst into giggles. It’s a little surprising to me, how passionate I feel about teaching, what delight it gives me to communicate my great love of words and writing with people who share my passion. It’s funny too, how I never imagined that teaching would be my thing – it wasn’t even on my radar when I wondered what would bring me joy. Writing: yes. Reading: that too. Teaching: not so much. Which just goes to show, goals are all very well & good but it’s still a good idea to always remain open to all the possibilities life might provide that you haven’t even thought of you…

pic: my desk today – it was the perfect cold, rainy day for all the things I love: writing, cake, hot chocolate & cuddly jumpers

A tribute to a brave & brilliant man :)

Today the soft autumn sun settled over Cambridge. So, instead of staying in to write, I went out to soak up the loveliness. Ambling along King’s Parade, I encountered a chap singing outside St Mary’s Church. He had a wonderful voice and was singing with all his heart and soul. I love street musicians and find them especially inspirational – even if they aren’t particularly brilliant, their courage is. I equate it with me sitting on the pavement reading my books aloud which, frankly, fills me with horror. So I always find inspiration in their bravery. This chap – Will Robert – had gone one step further and was selling CDs he’d written and produced. I bought one and it was wonderful. It reminded me of when I self-published my first book. It takes such courage to do something like that, to believe & invest in yourself before anyone else believes or wants to invest in you. So, I stood and listened and applauded.

Pic: punters on the river Cam today, outside Trinity College.

a thank you to my readers…

I’m the delighted recipient of many emails from readers, writing to tell me lovely things about my books and often their own lives. I’m always touched, sometimes deeply. A few days ago a woman wrote to tell me that, when she reads what I write she feels good being exactly as she is. This brought tears to my eyes since this is what my own journey has been, from constantly criticising myself to (after discovering a way of being called Instantaneous Transformation) liking myself just as I am. And so this is what I write about. The plots and characters change but the theme is always a variation on the same: the transformational power of love and self-acceptance. To me, this is essentially what everything is all about, it’s what makes life beautiful.

Pic: I saw this ad on the tube & it made me smile

A lovely surprise

Yesterday I was sitting on a train to London, gazing out at the sun-splashed fields, thinking of nothing, when something unexpected happened. A new character dropped into my head. She was sitting in a church, watching a wedding she hadn’t been invited to. She intrigued me, so I got out my notebook and started to write… And, to my great surprise, I discovered the beginning of a new book. Happy day. Whenever I finish a book I always have a little fear that I’ll never be able to write another one. I certainly wasn’t expecting to find something so quickly and easily. Which just goes to show two things. One: our thoughts are meaningless. Two: it’s often when we stop striving for inspiration that we find it.

Leonard Cohen in Concert!

Tonight I saw Leonard Cohen in concert!!! He was hypnotic, beautiful, amaaaazing. I’m so glad I gave myself the gift of going. It was a wonderful, unreasonable thing to do & I did it. Years ago, I never acted on my desires. I’d feel the tug of my heart towards something but ignore it, until my unhappy heart shrank and shrivelled up so I couldn’t feel it anymore. Nowadays I act on my desires and my happy heart expands – the more unreasonable the desire, the better!

Courage, courage, courage!

Yesterday I was interviewed by a wonderful women who asked me about my journey to publication. As I told her, I remembered all sorts of funny things I’d forgotten. Like how I went from bookshop to bookshop, asking them to sell my self-published books. How I baked chocolate flapjacks as bribes for them to put the books in their windows. How I had rejection after rejection. How I had breakthroughs, in the form of a gorgeous Border’s bookseller who loved Men, Money & Chocolate so much she sold a copy to virtually every customer she served. The years to publication, and beyond, have been full of delights and disappointments, successes and rejections, and many, many moments when I just wanted to give it all up and crawl under a rock. And so, when she asked what trait an unpublished writer needs to become a published one, I said courage. Courage above style, courage above substance, courage above talent. Which is why there is plenty of published silliness out there and plenty of unpublished brilliance. So, I say, if you want to be a writer – or anything else for that matter – courage is what you need, above all!

Pic: enjoying an enormous and extremely delicious ice cream in Funchal this afternoon

Enthusiasm for Life

Every morning my son wakes with boundless enthusiasm, arms flung wide to greet the world. Every night he fights sleep, arms still flung wide, grabbing all the final moments he can before he at last tumbles into unconsciousness. Life is fresh for him, everything is endlessly fascinating, he squeals with delight when he sees a cat, a dog or a flight of stairs. He loves walking up and down stairs, mastering his balance, amazed by what his body can do. I notice, slowing down this week, stepping out of my usual busyness, that I’m having many more moments like this. This morning we went to the beach again and stood in the water for a long time, waves lapping at our feet, doing nothing, saying nothing, just enjoying the warm breeze and the cool water… Simplicity and joy all rolled into one, long beautiful moment.

Dreams & Reality…

Do you believe that your state of mind and heart creates your day-to-day reality? I do, but only because I see it time and again in my life. Years ago I had a far-away, in-the-clouds, somewhere-over-the-rainbow dream of becoming an author. But I never believed I’d really achieve it because I never really believed in myself. Then I went to a workshop & it transformed me & my life. I went to a few more, then wrote a little book, now translated into 26 languages. I went to a few more workshops and wrote a few more books. Now, what was once a seemingly impossible dream has become an easy reality and yet nothing changed but me. I invite you to join me for the next workshop: The Art of Listening, in Hamburg, 4th-6th Oct. And I invite you to my first in-person workshop: Writing Stories That Sell, in London, 28th Sep. I only have a few spaces left but, if you have a seemingly-impossible dream of becoming an author, then I’d love to see you there!

Pic: O & I on the beach this morning

What Is Happiness?

What is happiness? For me, today, it’s feeling good just being me – exactly as I am, not prettier or thinner or cleverer. It’s feeling good doing what I’m doing – regardless of what I have or haven’t achieved. It’s feeling good with what I have – a lot more and a lot less than many. It’s feeling good about this day, just another ordinary, extraordinary day. It’s feeling good for no reason at all…

pic: O is in love with all Portuguese cats, fortunately they all seem to love him back