
I am an avid reader and journaler. I always have been. My mom taught me to read at home when I was very little and by the time I started kindergarten I was reading Little House on the Prairie books and Nancy Drew books. It was difficult to get my nose out a book…it was my escape, my idea of fun and something to this day I never tire of doing.
Along the way I took up the process of writing and journaling, largely because it is how I process and learn. When I was a student the way I committed things to memory to prepare for tests was to rewrite the information in my own words. If I write it down it was embedded in my head. Eventually I started journaling to process my life and emotions…this has remained a key part of spiritual and emotional health. Because I experience so much loss, taking care of senior dogs, greif is something that I write about alot.

I have always felt that my journaling was a very private thing for me. Over the years as friends have reached out for support and comfort when they lost their pets I have leaned on my own writing to help them. I never felt comfortable directly sharing my writing though…major imposter syndrome. Imposter syndrome is something I have experienced throughout my life…even when I worked in finance and had qualifications up the hind end…I had moments of imposter syndrome. As an artist I have felt it too.

I guess I am a late bloomer in life, but now in my 50’s, I am finally finding the courage to shirk the imposter feeling and publish some of my writing. The conclusion I have reached…and where I have found courage to escape imposter syndrome is by focusing on what I believe my biggest strength is and that is my desire to do things at a very high level. By which I mean my attitude towards anything I do is that if I am going to do it…I’m going to do it at the best of my abilities. I also never see anything I do as “finished”…as soon as I am done with something…a painting, a handmade journal, a poem…I don’t linger in a feeling of accomplishment but rather get flooded with more ideas of how I can do it differently or better for next time.
I am starting my publishing endeavor small, with some of my poems. I will admit the process has been fun. Learning how to copyright them is easier than I thought it would be. I have already been contacted by a few publishers to publish a collection. I am publishing them for now as cards but at some point want to put them in to a book with photos of all of the beautiful dogs I have lost over the years.
Eventually I hope to write a book on pet loss focused on tackling one of the most difficult issues with pet loss and that is the guilt that often comes with euthanizing a beloved pet. This is something that I have worked really hard to process in my own life.

I am going to start posting some of my poems with my blog letters. This is the first one I published. It is made in to a card at my Etsy Shop and has been selling well for me. All of my shop sales support the Misfits veterinary bills and other expenses. Don’t forget to visit our shop for your holiday shopping for pet lovers! We have ornaments, artwork, cards, gift tags and more. Everything in my shop is made by me.
Our new shop, Court Street Journals, is open on Etsy. We received our first sale after being open only a few days…one of my Edgar Allen Poe bookmarks was my first sale. The moment I heard the chaching for the new shop I was so excited…and then within a few second the imposter syndrome hit and I laid in bed thinking about it for a long time…lol…the upside of the curse of imposter syndrome was as I laid there worrying I also came up with a lot of great ideas for new products, branding and packaging. Please check out our new shop for your holiday gifiting!
That is all for now! Have a wonderful Friday and may you find many blessings in all this new day has to offer.
Nancy & The Misfits
Our new shop Court Street Journals
Our Buymeacoffe Page if you want to buy a the Misfits a treat