This summer marks the 20th anniversary original publication of my literary memoir, FBI GIRL. Years before its debut, when I was 17-years-old, my mother gifted me on my birthday with a brand new electric typewriter along with her greeting, highlighted by her lipstick-sincere-darn it-smile: Someone’s going to write a book about this family!
My typewriter was bequeathed a mission. But it would be decades before I hit the drawing board vis a vis my mother’s words. I was devoted to my unfolding heroine’s journey, off to live in world capitols, enjoy a career in media, pursue graduate degrees, moving around the country, keeping the trains running at home, so to speak.
FBI GIRL, my coming-of-age saga, was published soon after I received my doctorate in Jungian-oriented Depth Psychology. In writing my memoir, and in doing my graduate work, I developed a deep appreciation regarding how we arrive to the world with innate talents and how we “encounter” these gifts in our early years. That is, a vital impression imprints upon our soul when we’re young. Meeting people on my travels, I’ve inquired what inspired their path, hobby or passion. So many shared how in their youth they felt an inkling, a fascination, a mystery that in time beckoned an ever deeper curiosity. Awe and wonder are intrinsic to our formative years; these early influences shape us. They last forever.
We all have our “First 14 Years Stories.” Gaston Bachelard, the French philosopher, calls this early landscape our “first time” when our heart experiences the world in such a way, that we are forever hardwired with that remembrance as it shapes our imagination, our worldview, our life path. It remains a beacon pointing the way home.
My new podcast, “Original Belonging: Through-threads of life’s first 14 years,” explores this journey and is live on the airwaves. In this artfully-produced, six-part series, I share my personal stories and host conversations with creatives, visionaries and leaders who weave the through-threads from their inspiring, formative landscapes. Such stories spark “Ah Hah!” moments. These stories are portals into our soulful essence where we experience deep connection with our true natures.
Original Belonging, produced in collaboration with award-winning media midwife, Ahri Golden (ahrigolden.com) is available where-ever you find your favorite podcast shows. Take time to revel in the beauty of these intimate stories and consider your innate gifts of original belonging! The world awaits this joy.
