“Knowing who you are is one of the most important parts of managing your stress response.”
For me, that self-knowledge shows up in how I write. I’ve always been someone who likes to tie things up with a bow — to run a thought through to its conclusion, to let it bloom fully, and then offer it finished.
That’s been my style with blogs and papers: tell a story, teach a lesson, close the circle.
But narratives do not define fiction, and narrative fiction is different than narrative non-fiction.
The Discomfort of Loose Threads
This morning, I spent hours researching, writing, reframing, and asking questions — pushing myself into new shapes as a writer and working with scholarly writing, blogs, and my latest book.
I got frustrated. I wanted to walk away.
But then I remembered: this is the process. This is the journey.
It feels uncomfortable because it’s open. Loose-leaf. Threads dangling. And for someone like me — who loves clarity and resolution — that’s unnerving.
But it’s also exciting.
Because what I want to do with The Mirror of Narcissa is not just tell a story, but hold it up to the light, let it kiss the air, let it breathe on its own, and weave a series that connects backward and forward through time.
That kind of work doesn’t happen overnight. Truthfully, it doesn’t even happen immediately. My own personal journey took 12 years to connect the dots from my earliest memories to my seeking.
This will take time, too.
A Garden, Not a Single Flower
Writing a blog or paper is like offering a flower in bloom — tight, complete, beautiful on its own.
Writing a novel is like tending a garden. And when I have never planted before! Or, have I?
🌱 Some flowers bloom early.
🌱 Some take all season.
🌱 Some die back and return in another form.
My job is not to tie every petal. My job is to cultivate the soil and let the cycles unfold.
That shift in perspective changes everything.
Questions to Carry With You
As I sit in the openness of this process, I’ve found it helpful to ask questions not only for myself as a writer, but for anyone living inside the tension of “unfinished” things.
- Which thread wants to be pulled today?
- What question am I (or is my character) holding right now?
- What scene feels alive, even if it doesn’t fit yet?
- Where is the tension between what I want to resolve now and what the journey needs to hold open?
- If this moment were a blog post, what bow would I tie? And if it’s life (or fiction), how can I leave the ribbon untied — just for now?
These questions aren’t just for writers. They’re for anyone navigating transitions, relationships, healing, or change. Sometimes the deepest growth comes when we swallow a little pride and allow things to stay unfinished a little longer, or reach out for help!
The Sacred Flip
What usually comes through first is the fear-based, mind-based reaction — what I refer to when teaching as the first clearing.
But if we stay with it, if we don’t run away, something shifts. We can then move into our heart. And from there we can feel the truth.
It’s a living sanctuary.
That’s the Sacred Flip: turning from fear to love, from mental reaction to embodied knowing.
In writing, in healing, in life — this is where the real journey begins.
Author’s Note: Why I’m Slowing Down
This reflection helped me become more comfortable because I finally saw where I genuinely am. The truth is, I’m caught up. I already know the ending. I’ve walked this path before, gathered its lessons, and carried them with me into the present.
But if I want to share it with you, I can’t just rush to the destination. I have to go back to the beginning. I have to step inside the journey again — not for myself this time, but for you, the one who may be taking these steps for the very first time.
That means slowing down and honoring each moment and walking with love, clarity, and precision, not only for the me who once needed that guidance, but also for you — the reader, the seeker, the fellow traveler — who may need it now.
Because stories aren’t just told forward. They’ve lived backward, too. And in that re-living, we find the courage to keep going, together.
With grace and presence,
Kellie J. Wright
Transformation Guide | Author | Speaker
Creator of Internal Journeys™ and Internal Narcissus™
Host of the From Light to Christ™ Podcast
“Truth and beauty are only a flip of the switch away.”
www.kelliejwright.com
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Internal Narcissus: From Darkness to Light (Workbook)
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