Josh Langley's Blog, page 9
February 15, 2019
It all started from a cheap typewriter
At the top of the stairs is unit No. 6, 600 William Street Perth. I was 25 and it’s the little one-bedroom apartment where I called home back in 1999
On a whim, I bought a typewriter at one those boxing day sales, one that had a screen so small it only showed one line at a time, but it allowed me to put down words that had been swimming around my head for years.
It sat on the table in the tiny back room and with a scotch by my side, I wrote short stories and came up with crazy hair brain schemes and ideas. I used sticky tape to plaster the pieces of paper to the wall, making a kind of flow chart of ideas. (It was a painted brick wall, so the sticky tape came off easily!)
I didn’t call myself a writer back then. I just had ideas and they wanted to come out. My little typewriter was the best way at the time. Tap, tap, tap, tap…
I guess you’re the same. You have ideas too and they have to come out somehow.
Find whatever way is calling you at this moment and let it happen.
As entrepreneur Jonathon Fields says, ‘Creativity builds up, if you don’t let it out, you’re gonna blow’.
November 21, 2018
What really happens on a book tour.
Is the life of an author like what you see on the movies and read about in celebrity magazines? What really goes on behind the scenes of a book tour and how much does a small (aspiring to be big) time author really make?
I’m going to take you behind the scenes of my recent (and still ongoing) book tour for Find Your Creative Mojo and share a few of the sordid details and some of what you don’t see on social media.
[image error]
The poster boy
I’d always dreamed of doing a book tour like those big authors or bands and having a faded old poster stuck up on a laneway brick wall with all the tour dates. Yeah it was a bit of a rock and roll dream, but why the hell not? The band I started when I was 13 only played 2 gigs in my lounge room and then we decided we were dreadful, so we broke up. I had to for-full the rock and roll dream somehow. I designed the posters myself using the professional photos that I had taken by amazing photographer, Jon Gellweiler. He made me look more rock and roll than I ever could.
[image error] [image error]
Unfortunately I didn’t make it to a laneway, but instead found myself on a bookshop pin up board and the men’s toilets next to a promo for Pizza night at The Firestation Bar in Busselton.
The hit list
I created a hit list of bookshops who’d previously supported me along with libraries and other places so I could do the companion “Find Your Creative Mojo” author talk. As most people know, I love to talk. I then roped in my partner Andy Macleod and Allison Patterson from Big Sky Publishing to help get the word out there with a flurry of emails and phone calls. It sounds better when you’ve got else someone saying ‘Hi, I’m representing award winning author Josh Langley and wondering if you’d be interested in…” than me ringing them and saying, ‘Um Hi, um, I’ve written a book and um, I’d like to .. um err..’.
Boffins Books in Perth kindly declined an offer for a book signing, however I was over the moon, when Dymocks at the Galleria Morley said yes. I’d made the big time! I was going to the big smoke!
[image error]
The Media Hustle.
It’s lucky that I’ve worked in radio and have lots of contacts, so I worked my little black book and wrangled interviews on ABC South West, Triple M Breakfast South West, Spirit 621, ECU radio, 1080 6IX and 882 6PR. I got newspaper coverage in The South Western Times, The Preston Press, and The Collie Mail and I was featured on internet based interview show Two Skinny Lattes. I had 3 haircuts, bought a new black T shirt and practiced my spiel over and over. You never get used to being on show, it’s one awesome hell of an adrenalin rush.
The social media freakout.
My normal anxiety about posting on social media went through the roof, having to now balance letting people know what was going on while not boring them to death with constant images of the book, the book on bookshops shelves, me holding the book, other people holding the book, the book on coffee tables and the book in another number of positions. Balance, balance, balance!
The final line up included.
Launch at Mojos Bunbury with Collins Booksellers Bunbury
Author Talk at Greenbushes CRC
Book Signing at Dymocks Galleria Morley
Books in Bars event at The Firestation, run by Dymocks Busselton.
Author Talk at Capel Library
Appearance at Collie Show*
Victoria Street Artisan Fayre* (Dec 1)
Book signing at Samsara World in Clarkson (Dec 8)
Workshop at Bunbury Summer School (Jan 11)
Author Talk at Margaret River Library. (April 4)
*not exclusive Mojo events
Did anyone come?
Yes. Thank god. Some events had lots of people, like my talk at Capel Library and others a handful. The feedback from the Capel Library talk was awesome and from that event I was booked to be a quest speaker at Capel Men’s Night.
“Thought your presentation last night was excellent.” – Pat Taylor
“My daughter, Caity, and I attended your presentation at the Capel Library last night – which was fantastic, we both thoroughly enjoyed it!” – Meg
“Josh is an inspirational speaker and a wonderful writer – we loved having him at our library event…will definitely book him again” – Karen (Capel Libraries)
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What have I learned?
Stories engage people and stories sell books. When I was able to tell stories about either the Mojo book or the kid’s books and how they’ve changed lives, it directly resulted in a sale. I sold 30 books at the Capel Library event alone. If it’s just me sitting outside a book shop signing books, then you can only rely on family and friends to save you from looking lonely and pathetic. While I won’t turn down book signings in future, I’ll concentrate on finding ways I can tell stories of the books and inspiring people, as that’s why I wrote them in the first place. And as people know, I love telling stories.
Most awkward Moment?
Even though it was awkward, it was still quite fun, but realising I’d have to shout at the Books In Bars event, as there was a 40th birthday celebration right next to me. In fact the whole night was a great learning experience. Not only did I have to shout, I had to deliver my talk with a bunch of nonpaying randoms ogling on, I was also positioned right next to the toilets so I had every Tom, Dick and Harry pushing past, wondering what the hell I was doing shouting at them. Every experience is there to make your a better person!
[image error] [image error]
Even though it wasn’t part of the official tour as I was booked to do kid’s talks, the other awkward moment was sitting in a nearly empty hall at the least fun end of the Collie Ag Show. No fairy floss or bumper cars in the old Badminton Hall. The closest I got to a crowd was the bunch of older people rushing the stage as gardening guru Sabrina Hahn started to talk. Afterwards she was kind enough to have a photo taken and consoled me by saying that at least my kind of audience didn’t fall into a medicated induced afternoon nap complete with snoring and drooling.
[image error] [image error]
Most ‘Yay’ moment.
There were two. One being the great turnout and feedback from the Capel Library Event. Secondly, meeting all my readers and making new ones. Also catching up with long lost friends and people that came from far and wide. Without people to read my books, I’d just be a writer, not an author. So thank you.
How much did I earn?
I still have to write radio commercials and run our business.
Big thanks
I want to say thank you for the people that booked me and hosted an event, I’m ever so grateful, to the people that came to say Hi and buy a book – I love you! And finally to my partner Andy for being my hired help, bouncer, cheer leader, ideas person, counsellor, best friend and future husband.
FIND YOUR CREATIVE MOJO IS AVAILABLE AT ALL GOOD BOOKSTORES.
plus
AUSTRALIAN Online sellers.
[image error]
[image error]
[image error]
INTERNATIONAL (free delivery)
[image error]
KINDLE
AVAILABLE AT ALL GOOD BOOKSTORES.
plus
AUSTRALIAN Online sellers.
[image error]
[image error]
[image error]
INTERNATIONAL (free delivery)
[image error]
KINDLE
Sex, drugs and empty Badminton Halls. What really happens on a book tour.
Is the life of an author like what you see on the movies and read about in celebrity magazines? What really goes on behind the scenes of a book tour and how much does a small (aspiring to be big) time author really make? Disclaimer, no sex and drugs were had on tour..
I’m going to take you behind the scenes of my recent (and still ongoing) book tour for Find Your Creative Mojo and share a few of the sordid details and some of what you don’t see on social media.
[image error]
The poster boy
I’d always dreamed of doing a book tour like those big authors or bands and having a faded old poster stuck up on a laneway brick wall with all the tour dates. Yeah it was a bit of a rock and roll dream, but why the hell not? The band I started when I was 13 only played 2 gigs in my lounge room and then we decided we were dreadful, so we broke up. I had to for-full the rock and roll dream somehow. I designed the posters myself using the professional photos that I had taken by amazing photographer, Jon Gellweiler. He made me look more rock and roll than I ever could.
[image error] [image error]
Unfortunately I didn’t make it to a laneway, but instead found myself on a bookshop pin up board and the men’s toilets next to a promo for Pizza night at The Firestation Bar in Busselton.
The hit list
I created a hit list of bookshops who’d previously supported me along with libraries and other places so I could do the companion “Find Your Creative Mojo” author talk. As most people know, I love to talk. I then roped in my partner Andy Macleod and Allison Patterson from Big Sky Publishing to help get the word out there with a flurry of emails and phone calls. It sounds better when you’ve got else someone saying ‘Hi, I’m representing award winning author Josh Langley and wondering if you’d be interested in…” than me ringing them and saying, ‘Um Hi, um, I’ve written a book and um, I’d like to .. um err..’.
Boffins Books in Perth kindly declined an offer for a book signing, however I was over the moon, when Dymocks at the Galleria Morley said yes. I’d made the big time! I was going to the big smoke!
[image error]
The Media Hustle.
It’s lucky that I’ve worked in radio and have lots of contacts, so I worked my little black book and wrangled interviews on ABC South West, Triple M Breakfast South West, Spirit 621, ECU radio, 1080 6IX and 882 6PR. I got newspaper coverage in The South Western Times, The Preston Press, and The Collie Mail and I was featured on internet based interview show Two Skinny Lattes. I had 3 haircuts, bought a new black T shirt and practiced my spiel over and over. You never get used to being on show, it’s one awesome hell of an adrenalin rush.
The social media freakout.
My normal anxiety about posting on social media went through the roof, having to now balance letting people know what was going on while not boring them to death with constant images of the book, the book on bookshops shelves, me holding the book, other people holding the book, the book on coffee tables and the book in another number of positions. Balance, balance, balance!
The final line up included.
Launch at Mojos Bunbury with Collins Booksellers Bunbury
Author Talk at Greenbushes CRC
Book Signing at Dymocks Galleria Morley
Books in Bars event at The Firestation, run by Dymocks Busselton.
Author Talk at Capel Library
Appearance at Collie Show*
Victoria Street Artisan Fayre* (Dec 1)
Book signing at Samsara World in Clarkson (Dec 8)
Workshop at Bunbury Summer School (Jan 11)
Author Talk at Margaret River Library. (April 4)
*not exclusive Mojo events
Did anyone come?
Yes. Thank god. Some events had lots of people, like my talk at Capel Library and others a handful. The feedback from the Capel Library talk was awesome and from that event I was booked to be a quest speaker at Capel Men’s Night.
“Thought your presentation last night was excellent.” – Pat Taylor
“My daughter, Caity, and I attended your presentation at the Capel Library last night – which was fantastic, we both thoroughly enjoyed it!” – Meg
“Josh is an inspirational speaker and a wonderful writer – we loved having him at our library event…will definitely book him again” – Karen (Capel Libraries)
[image error] [image error] [image error] [image error]
What have I learned?
Stories engage people and stories sell books. When I was able to tell stories about either the Mojo book or the kid’s books and how they’ve changed lives, it directly resulted in a sale. I sold 30 books at the Capel Library event alone. If it’s just me sitting outside a book shop signing books, then you can only rely on family and friends to save you from looking lonely and pathetic. While I won’t turn down book signings in future, I’ll concentrate on finding ways I can tell stories of the books and inspiring people, as that’s why I wrote them in the first place. And as people know, I love telling stories.
Most awkward Moment?
Even though it was awkward, it was still quite fun, but realising I’d have to shout at the Books In Bars event, as there was a 40th birthday celebration right next to me. In fact the whole night was a great learning experience. Not only did I have to shout, I had to deliver my talk with a bunch of nonpaying randoms ogling on, I was also positioned right next to the toilets so I had every Tom, Dick and Harry pushing past, wondering what the hell I was doing shouting at them. Every experience is there to make your a better person!
[image error] [image error]
Even though it wasn’t part of the official tour as I was booked to do kid’s talks, the other awkward moment was sitting in a nearly empty hall at the least fun end of the Collie Ag Show. No fairy floss or bumper cars in the old Badminton Hall. The closest I got to a crowd was the bunch of older people rushing the stage as gardening guru Sabrina Hahn started to talk. Afterwards she was kind enough to have a photo taken and consoled me by saying that at least my kind of audience didn’t fall into a medicated induced afternoon nap complete with snoring and drooling.
[image error] [image error]
Most ‘Yay’ moment.
There were two. One being the great turnout and feedback from the Capel Library Event. Secondly, meeting all my readers and making new ones. Also catching up with long lost friends and people that came from far and wide. Without people to read my books, I’d just be a writer, not an author. So thank you.
How much did I earn?
I still have to write radio commercials and run our business.
Big thanks
I want to say thank you for the people that booked me and hosted an event, I’m ever so grateful, to the people that came to say Hi and buy a book – I love you! And finally to my partner Andy for being my hired help, bouncer, cheer leader, ideas person, counsellor, best friend and future husband.
FIND YOUR CREATIVE MOJO IS AVAILABLE AT ALL GOOD BOOKSTORES.
plus
AUSTRALIAN Online sellers.
[image error]
[image error]
[image error]
INTERNATIONAL (free delivery)
[image error]
KINDLE
AVAILABLE AT ALL GOOD BOOKSTORES.
plus
AUSTRALIAN Online sellers.
[image error]
[image error]
[image error]
INTERNATIONAL (free delivery)
[image error]
KINDLE
September 26, 2018
Why staring out the window is good for mental health and productivity
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This is the chair I sit in and stare off into space. I put on some ambient chill music, sit back and let my mind shift down a gear and meander slowly, taking the scenic route through my imagination. I could be ‘out’ for 5 minutes or thirty minutes.
I get an instinctual urge to do this. It comes from somewhere in my bones, deep within my very being.
I spend a lot of time in my head thinking about stuff. I’m writing commercials, running my business, writing books, doing book promotion, emailing, planning, organising, strategising and of course there’s a fair bit of worrying thrown in as well.
I know if I ignore the urge to slow down and stop, I can get burnt out, anxious and broken. It’s happened before, and it wasn’t pretty. I’ve learnt to listen to my inner guidance.
I have my chill space, I use it regularly and don’t feel guilty. I’m of no use to anyone when I’m stressed and strung out. After my daydreaming time, I’m refreshed, enthused and inspired to do something. Ideas seem to come effortlessly.
The daydreaming or resting period is the first part of what I call the ‘creative cycle’. A natural rhythm that we have inside us and if we follow it, we’re healthier, happier and more creative human beings.
But I know most people will put any up obstacle they can about why they can’t sit and just stare out the window.
‘I’m too busy, I don’t have the luxury like you have, I don’t deserve to treat myself to any ‘space’, I’d get too bored, what a waste of time when I could be posting my opinions of Facebook.’
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Making time and space for yourself isn’t selfish, it makes logical sense. Your brain needs space to unload, unpack and wander around like a child in a field of daisies. It can’t be in thinking mode all the time. Our western view that we must be busy to make progress is a pariah on our soul. So stop it.
Sit down and stare out the window. You’ll feel much better for it and be more productive.
September 5, 2018
This Photo is a Lie
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I originally took this photo of a broken-down elevator to use as a metaphor for how we feel about life and ourselves, however seeing it was a little blurry, I went to reshoot it.
When I went back, there was a security dude standing next to it.
‘Can I take a photo of the sign?’
‘No.’
‘Just a quick one, it’s for an art project.’
He shook his head.
I stood there in mild disbelief.
He paused and, as to let me on a little secret, walked up to the sign and pressed the middle of it. A little white triangle lit up underneath, and the familiar ding of a lift sounded and the doors opened.
‘It works fine, there’s nothing wrong with it,’ he informed me. ‘We just don’t want the general public to know it works, so they don’t try and use it. Its only for us.’
I smiled.
I got a visual metaphor alright, an even better one than I originally thought.
We’re all told we’re broken, born full of sin, incomplete people and even ‘out of order’. We’re told we need fixing, we need to repent, we need saving, we need a new car, new night cream, a better job, a beach ready body, to be a better parent……
Society, education, religion, media, social media and advertising are all vying to keep us feeling inadequate and down on ourselves so they can shape us into what they want or so we can be sold something.
When in reality we’re actually fine.
We’re normal human beings encompassing the whole gamut of being human. We grieve, we feel sad, we get stressed, we have issues, we get angry, we scream at the sky in desperation for answers, we eat too much pasta and cheese and at times we can’t get out of bed. It’s part of being a person living on planet Earth.
You are already fine, you are already enough. You are not ‘out of order’.
So press that button, step in and ride that goddamn elevator to wherever the hell you want.
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Want more inspiration? Preorder Josh’s new book and find your true voice.
August 16, 2018
How I got my first book published …and what I learned.
Back in 2011, I was in a meeting with my boss when my phone rang embarrassingly in my pocket. Realising I should have switched it to silent, we both waited awkwardly until it rang out. Thirty seconds later, the familiar ding of a message came through.
After the meeting, I looked at the number, it was from Queensland. Who would be calling me from there? I played the message back and started shaking.
‘Hi Josh, this is Diane from Big Sky Publishing. We’re really interested in your manuscript; can you call me back.’
After a few deep breaths, I dialled her number. ‘We love the concept of the Frog and The Well book, we even think there could be an opportunity for a series of books like these’, Diane told me. The rest of the day was a blur.
My rather ambitious experiment to see if I could get a book published with my quirky philosophical stick figures had paid off.
Only a few months before, I’d noticed that I was getting good reactions on my Frog and The Well Facebook page (now Josh Langley Author) and my blog, and I had the crazy idea to make them into a book. Why the hell not? Not being in the publishing industry, no-one told me how hard it was to get published. Ignorance is bliss.
The pitch
I researched how to pitch to a publisher and stumbled across the pitch that Bradley Trevor Greive had written for his first best seller, The Blue Day Book. I used that as a template and gathered a list of potential publishers. I stapled together a bunch of cartoons to give an idea of how I saw the book looking, printed off the pitch and headed to the post office. I then got on with life.
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My original manuscript
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Screen shot of part of the my book pitch for Frog and The Well
I was rejected by Fremantle Press, Allen and Unwin and literary agents Curtis Brown. I celebrated this achievement with a glass of cheap champagne, because that’s what you do when you’re brave enough to put yourself out there. Then on my 4th submission, I got that call from Big Sky Publishing.
The timing was right. Normally publishing military and historical titles, acquisitions editor Diane had been looking for something unique to take on, something different to add to the stable of Big Sky titles. Then I came along with a manuscript for a very quirky book and the rest they say is history.
My original manuscript side by side with the published version
Seven years and six more books later, I’m still with Big Sky Publishing and this year I won the ABIA Small Publisher’s Children’s book of the year.
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Believe in your work but hold the dream gently in your hand.
Texting while driving is a matter of life and death, but submitting to a publisher is not. We think our identity is in our work, but it’s only an expression of us. Enjoy the process of making something and then let it free to see what happens. When you put too much of your own expectation on your work, you only hold it back from being what it potentially can be. I never anticipated all that has happened since Frog and the Well was released and I’m truly grateful it’s gone way beyond my initial expectations.
Believe in your work but hold the dream gently in your hand.
I dive deeper into what I call the ‘Creative Cycle’ and talk about how my life changed since Frog and the Well in the my new book Find Your Creative Mojo How to overcome fear, procrastination and self-doubt to express your true self which comes out in October. You can preorder now.
Meanwhile, keep writing, keep creating, keep pushing through. The rewards are awesome!
July 30, 2018
My top 5 favourite books I loved as a kid
I know a lot of people read vicariously as a kid, but not me. I was more inclined to ride my bike and go on little adventures around my suburb, venturing all the way to the railway line so I could watch the trains rattle past. So when I did pick up a book, it had to really engage me and make a lasting impression. I think that has subtly shaped the types of books I write for kids now.
So here’s my top 5 books that have made a lasting impression on me as a kid.
5. The Tale of Samuel Whiskers – Beatrix Potter.
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No book scared me more as a child than this one. A chilling story about an inquisitive young cat who gets captured by a family of rats living in the walls and ceiling of his home and who then decide eat him…… alive. Luckily he’s rescued by his mother who then beats him for being naughty and going where he shouldn’t. Inspiring stuff.
The house I was living in at the time was infested with rats and as an inquisitive boy myself, I knew what would happen if I ventured where I shouldn’t. Mind you I did get my hand caught in a rat trap when I was reaching into the cupboards to steal some biscuits when I was 6. That hurt.
4. The Adventures of Blinky Bill.
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I wanted to live my life vicariously through Blinky Bill and all his adventures. He was cheeky, brave, sneaky and playful; all things I wanted to be. Dorothy Wall’s character inspired me to come up with my own adventurous little boy character when I wrote stories in Year 4. I innocently called him ‘Herpes Zosta’ after hearing my mum mention the term once. Strangely none of my teachers ever asked me about it. Google it if you’re interested.
Now whenever my partner and I go off somewhere new, I say ‘We’re off on a Blinky Bill adventure’.
3. Richard Scarry – What Do People Do All Day?
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We had about 2 or 3 Richard Scarry books when I was growing up, yet by the time I was old enough to read them, my old brother had ripped out some of the pages so I never got to knew what some people did all day! I love the way Scarry would make the busy scene flow across the pages using only the illustrations and there was always so much to look at. So much detail. Every time I’d read it, I’d find something new, a little character hiding behind a bin or a rabbit in a doorway. And you always had to find Lowly Worm! Magic stuff.
2. Where the Wild Things Are – Maurice Sendak
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A true classic. And again it was all about adventure and escape. A little known backstory is that it’s rumoured his publisher wanted the book to be about horses, but Maurice said he couldn’t draw a horse so he opted for ‘Wild Things’. I’m glad he did. Horses are quite boring in my opinion.
When I read about Maurice Sendak’s personal life a few years back, I ached for his pain and longing. He was gay and had lived with his partner for 50 years up until his partner passed away in 2007. He later revealed that he’d kept his sexuality secret from most people and he never told his parents, he said, “All I wanted was to be straight so my parents could be happy. They never, never, never knew.” Maurice Sendak died in 2012 and donated $1 Million dollars to the Jewish Board of Family and Children’s services in memory of his partner, Glynn, who had worked there.
I get a little emotional every time I read or hear about his story.
1: Rhyme Giggles, Nonsense Giggles – William Cole and Tomi Ungerer.
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My Gran gave me this book when I was about 6 and I’ve had it ever since. Yes, this is my original copy – it’s over 40 years old! I can still recite some of the rhymes, like “I love to go to lectures and make people stare, by walking on their heads and messing up their hair!’. The entire book appealed to my weird sense of humour and Tomi Ungerer’s illustrations looked so simple and I think they have subtly influenced my own style.
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I’m honoured to write books for kids and I know I don’t hold a candle to the people who have dedicated their lives to the craft, but I can’t follow the same path. I forge my own style and I have my own message to share. I want to make books that I hope to have the same effect these books had on me.
Happy writing.
July 22, 2018
Photos from a rainy day.
A rainy day trip to Perth yielded some fantastic photo ops.
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Don’t Touch
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Downpour outside Bookshop
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Waiting
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Protest in the rain
July 15, 2018
The glorification of amazing.
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We all seem fixated on amazing and mind-blowing achievements.
Facebook is full of them.
The 69 year old Grandmother who shreds AC/DC on some talent show or the little boy who puts his disability behind him to single handedly scale the Empire State Building in a wheelchair holding a coconut in his mouth. (Ok I made that up, so don’t try and Google it)
We share these videos in a hope to inspire ourselves and others. However most of us will most probably never reach the same dizzying heights of amazingness and are relegated to simply keep on scrolling, scrolling and scrolling.
Life on dull repeat.
We live our lives vicariously through other people’s amazing achievements.
While I don’t want to negate these incredible feats, I feel there are other achievements that are far more important and far more relevant to our lives.
I want to acknowledge the tiny acts, the quiet breakthroughs, the everyday triumphs.
The woman who slowly emerges from years of depression with a knowing that everything just might be OK.
The shy and awkward kid who finally makes a friend at school.
The moment someone finally plants out the spring onions that had been sitting in a glass on the kitchen window sill for 2 weeks.
The day someone gets the courage to venture outside and walk around the block instead of sitting on the couch watching reality TV.
When the stressed-out business person joins a choir and finds their creative voice for the first time.
When the angst teen, overwhelmed by so many confusing thoughts, suddenly hugs his mother and asks for help.
The guy who, at the age of 50, decides to go to University for the first time and aces his assignments because he’s finally loving what he’s doing.
When someone says to a grieving widow, ‘I don’t know what to say or do, but I’m here’.
When the person who was told to ‘give up on art’ by their high school art teacher 30 years ago, decides to pick up a paintbrush and starts to play around.
These moments aren’t going to be a viral sensation on social media, they’ll hardly make a newsfeed. But they’re real, they brave, they’re self-empowering, they’re inspiring. They’re happening in real life right now. Your life. You are the one having the tiny acts of achievement, the quiet breakthroughs, the everyday triumphs.
You don’t need to shred AC/DC on a talent show or climb the Empire State Building with a coconut in your mouth to be amazing. You are the brave one who is overcoming your fears, procrastination and self-doubt on a daily basis.
Let’s celebrate that.
July 12, 2018
Geraldton Visit and Telling Tales in Balingup
In June, I packed the car and headed north with Andy and took the #beingyouisenough tour to primary schools in Geraldton.
Then in the middle of the July school holidays I road tested the new presentation based on It’s OK to Feel the Way You Do at Telling Tales in Balingup Children’s Festival. Braving freezing temps, wild dragons, rouge princesses and fairies, I talked to kids about feelings, emotions, played charades and we all drew some fab pictures of things that make us happy (even the parents).
