How a Marketing Idea Begins

I started ‘marketing’ as a young child when I went door to door selling all occasion cards for 50 cents a box. The thrill of seeing people smile never left me. I assumed they really liked the cards. It never occurred to me that they smiled because I was a cute ambitious 5-year-old.

As I look over my life span I realize the joy of making others smile was the beginning of a life in service to others. I moved on to serve as a waitress, a caregiver for handicapped children, a nurse in long-term care and hospice, and eventually as an ordained pastor and hospital chaplain.

However, the years I was at home as a single mom with a disability and few financial resources gave me an appreciation of the strength required to let others serve me. I learned how to serve by being served.

About ten years ago, with another flare-up of MS, I found myself once again on the receiving end, physically and financially.

It wasn’t easy, but I am grateful.

For without these periods of enforced pausing in life I wouldn’t have slowed down enough to write. I began by journaling and then added haiku. I wrote old-fashioned letters by hand and literally reams of drivel.

Then one day I shared a piece of my writing with a neighbor and she smiled. I mean really smiled! It was the same smile I received when I was five years old — a signal to a deep inner part of me, an affirmation, a prophetic call…I knew I would write. 

But how? Where? When?

 I started a blog, thereflectivepen.com, sharing my reflections on living a life with purpose and meaning.

 I started talking with people and learned that the desire to write seems as integral as the desire to eat and they asked the same questions. 

I have only simple answers to the profound questions of how, when, and where.

The how of writing is with a pen (or pencil) or, if you prefer, a keyboard and computer screen. Write anything that comes to mind…a description of the items within 6 feet of where you are sitting, a rant about increasing food prices, a gratitude list of your blessings, or a letter to a grandchild. There is no right or wrong! It doesn’t have to be profound. It will never be submitted to be graded. Goodness knows, 90% of what I write is pure drivel. But writing is a little bit like driving across the country. You can’t get there without leaving your driveway and hitting a few bumps and roadblocks. 

Where you write depends on where you are. Literally. Some of the world’s best writing was written in the attic (Anne Frank) or on horseback (John Wesley). 

When you write may be the biggest roadblock to writing. I did not write for many years because I thought I needed to know how, and I was always looking for just the right place to write, or the best topic, or even a better pen. 

If you ever thought you wanted to write there is only one good time. NOW. 

I cannot point to a large library of published works or any awards for creative literacy of my making. I have not made money with my writing nor have I become well-known for my prose. 

What I have done is break through the walls of resistance that were keeping me from being all I was created to be. I created a blog where I have published over 150 articles. I am writing a memoir as part of my legacy to my family.

My mental health has never been so robust because ‘someone’ is listening. That someone is Lucy, my journal, where I pour out the things that might put me in conflict with people I love. 

And I jump out of bed every morning excited to express a creativity that I waited a lifetime to discover. 

These are only a few of the questions that led me to start this website. I will be bringing you not only ideas, inspiration, and encouragement to follow your dreams but access to the ways and means to do so. This site will be more like taking cards door to door to serve others and watch them smile.  

I can be reached at ardis at ardismayo dot com if you would like to discuss what you would like to see in my ‘box of cards.’ I would love to chat with you about what is keeping you from writing. The best way to do that is to join my mailing list from my website and I will send you 17 Tips to Jumpstart Your Journaling. 

Also, if you need a bit of a boost, join my Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/thereflectivecollective and get a prompt every day to prime your writing pump.

One of the best mentors for writing is Julia Cameron. She has a wonderful two-volume starter set  of her classic The Artist’s Way, now on sale at https://amzn.to/3CA2OMv

And not to be missed is this free “Action Habits Challenge” from Connie Regan Green that is foundational to building a writing (or any other) habit. You can get your free copy at https://ardischeers.me/ActionHabits

Sign up and be the first to hear of good stuff from Ardis!