The First of May-BE

I’m coming to you from a glorious hyperfocus. One where all the stars felt aligned, and I thought “I know what to do in May!” — or at least I knew what would bring me a bunch of dopamine and maybe it’ll work for you. Ok I’m getting ahead of myself.

Do you have any particular earworms — songs that get stuck in your head, playing on repeat? One of mine is a line from a Coldplay song:

“Look at the stars/see how they shine for you”

Interestingly, I don’t actually like Coldplay. To the point where I don’t think I know any more lines of that song which frankly isn’t the way that my brain usually works at all. About the only thing I can remember is song lyrics.

I know I like stars though. I wear a star necklace every day, gravitate towards star-themed decor, and then there’s the stickers.

Are you a stickers person too? I used to be, then I “grew up”, then realised I really hadn’t grown up and also why would you, and so now I have a healthy sticker collection.

Occasionally I even stick them on things.

I also know I’m not the only person who’s still in love with writing yet ghosting my novel. So here I am trying to raise the vibes, let’s say. I want to reawaken my curiosity. Shake off the inertia, move out of freeze. Perhaps as a gentle intro into a more regular writing practice in the future. Maybe that’s something you’d like for you too.

Here’s what I’m going to try. Looking for gold star moments over the whole month of May, little glimpses of possibility for my writing. Everything I notice, every snatched moment to write, gets a gold star. Any time I read a line in a book that makes my heart do a small jump in recognition, pulling on a thread in something in my own work. Just every time I feel a spark of writing joy.

The first time I got paid—a lot of money, unexpectedly— for writing was a bundle of cash in a card that said “One Million Gold Stars” on the front. The money’s long gone, but the message still lingers.

I’m not waiting for outside validation any more though. I’m going to give myself all the gold stars.

So how can you play along?

There’s a fillable pdf below. Print it off, shove it in your pocket or your notebook, alternatively if you’re more digitally-inclined it’s fillable too. You could also use the Notes app on your phone.

Notice joy. Sparks. Glimmers.

Those things you think: I should remember this, or I should write that down. Doodle a little star, or scribble down a word.

Just keep an eye out for the little gold star moments. I’d love to hear what you find.

There will be some bonus co-working sessions, an online zoom community chat and workshops for subscribers this month, as part of the fun!