on inspiration: your teacher's teacher

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Story Time.

The Rabbit Hole.

Referencing Alice in Wonderland seems like one of the most unoriginal things one can do, but I can't help it. We can all understand the imagery of tumbling down, down, down and one thing leading to another all based off of a single moment of curiosity. Right?

Last year, I had three hours to fill as Pinot was at a groomers appointment. It was on the other side of town and bla bla bla I found myself in a neighbourhood we wouldn't otherwise necessarily spend that much time in, you know?

Okay, focus. Three hours. Weird 'hood. Rabbit hole.

I was sitting in a sunny window seat of a cute juice cafe (unrelated to the story but lol's side note, it is the kind of juice place that runs out of juice??? The cooler that was once beautifully stocked with fancy, colourful juices was empty on my second visit? It's like a cupcake shop not having cupcakes? Or a bookstore not having books but just pushing puzzles and scented erasers instead???). Anyways, this day they had juice. They also had delicious macro-bowls, with portions so huge they warrant an hour stay while you wait for your dog to be groomed.

Okay, juice, bowl, you get it.

While I enjoyed my vegetable situation, I began to listen to a podcast. On this particular podcast they were featuring a self-help author I had never heard of. For most people this would be kind of normal, not knowing a best-selling self-help author, but for me it was a bit weird. I live in that genre. I have since I was a preteen.

I don’t know why, it just feels soothing to have someone spill their guts and give you some advice, even if it’s in the form of ink and paper.

Anyone who knows me can probably guess that it was Glennon Doyle's Podcast, We Can Do Hard Things (WCDHT), which she hosts with her wife Abby Wambach and her sister Amanda Doyle. The famous self-help guest was Martha Beck (episodes 66 and 67 if you are interested).

Essentially, the interview was so fucking good that I scrambled to find some surface for note taking (my phone is not one of them... I needed something for flowy, unedited longhand). The only surface I had was the back few blank pages of a book on Greek and Roman mythology I was reading. Sure, I could have paused the pod and waited until I was home with my handy dandy notebook (someone tell me you got that Blue's Clues reference?) but the sense of creative urgency was too strong. I had to commit the crime. I had to deface the book. Martha Beck had too many good things to say. There was too much gold to go undocumented. right. now.

So, Martha drops her gold, blows my mind, and all between huge bites of tahini broccolini and slugs of overpriced juice, Glennon credits a lot of her professional success and early writing to Martha.

This unlocked something for me.

I had used this theory in the yoga world, so why hadn't I thought to apply it to the writing world?

Follow your teacher’s teacher.

That's it.

Except, it's not it because your teacher’s teacher will have a teacher. Her teacher will have a teacher and so on.

So here is this particular map of teachers:

Phew.
The thing about this particular rabbit hole is that all of these writers were:

  • Prominent in the late 80's early 90's

  • Female

  • A couple of them are queer/lesbian

  • Had gone through wicked struggle

  • And are all legendary, powerhouse creative beings

Martha Beck references Julia Cameron, Julia Cameron has a forward written by Natalie Goldberg and somehow, I was tumbling down a research and reading rabbit hole of one inspiring woman to the next.

Why had no one presented me with a list of these genius women and their work years ago?! Everyone has heard of The Artist's Way?! It is so popular, once it was on my radar, I even saw a meme about it, poking fun at how every struggling actor in LA has it tumbling around the back of their Toyota Prius.

Perhaps they came to me now because I had so much time to delve deep and learn from them?

But, Universe, one note: it was kind of overwhelming to receive them all at once. Next time can you sprinkle the geniuses on me one-by-one instead of dumping them on me in a span of mere weeks?

While I was making my way through some of these books, I posted about them and I got some messages affirming that they were, indeed, gold. At first, I felt a resounding sense of BETRAYAL (just kidding) but I felt a sense of WHY DID YOU ALL NOT TELL ME ABOUT THESE EARLIER!?

So, two things:

1) It might sound obvious but if you are inspired by someone, find out who inspired them. Boom. Another teacher.

2) Things are classics for a reason. Go back in time a little bit, especially for some reason the early 90's, because there is so much gold to be found that is still relevant today. Plus, you get a little boost for going out of your way to find it and you get a false sense of discovery because it isn't necessarily what your modern-day peers are consuming.

Here is the list of the Rabbit Hole books from the aforementioned badass women that I have either read, made my personal bible or am working through. Either way, highly recommend.

1) To absolutely nobodies surprise, the first book that really set it all off was Untamed by Glennon Doyle (you have probably already read this, it was basically the book of the Pandemic).

Glennon was inspired by:

2) Finding You Own North Star by Martha Beck

Martha was inspired by:

3) The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron

4) Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott

5) Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg

I am sharing this with one clear lesson and one clear message: follow your teacher’s teacher. A teacher is anyone who inspires you, no matter how briefly.

That one afternoon of salad-eating-podcast-listening has led me to several invaluable books, notebooks full of notes, motivation to pick up a pen myself, and even a writing workshop hosted by Anne and Julia next fall.

Allow yourself to fall down the rabbit hole. You’ll be better for it.

Deep in inspiration,

ty