Welcome to the Studio Desk
Your Space, Your Systems, Your Story Made Calm
Welcome to the Calm, Clarity & Order Blog — where organization meets intention, and creativity becomes a ritual. Here you’ll find articles on decluttering and styling your home, streamlining your business systems, and building a meaningful writing practice. Whether you’re clearing a closet, mapping a workflow, or shaping your memoir, you’ll leave with practical steps and fresh inspiration to make your life feel lighter and more intentional.
Burnout Isn’t Laziness: A Gentler Approach to Business Growth
If you’ve been calling yourself lazy lately, pause. Let’s reframe.
Burnout often looks like procrastination, exhaustion, or emotional detachment — but it’s your nervous system waving a flag. It’s a response to prolonged stress, not a character flaw.
Unmasking Myself: A Midlife Autism Journey Through Burnout and Self-Discovery
For over 40 years, I thought I was just “bad at coping.” I thought I was too sensitive, too tired, too scattered, constantly trying to keep up in a world that never seemed to match the way my brain worked.
Why Write a Memoir? 5 Powerful Reasons to Tell Your Story
Writing a memoir isn’t just about retelling what happened. It’s about honoring your story, making meaning of your past, and discovering your voice. Whether you’re hoping to leave a legacy, inspire others, or reclaim your narrative, your lived experience is worth putting on the page. In this post, I share five powerful reasons why now might be the perfect time to begin writing your memoir.
Writing Your Memoir: What To Do When You Hit an Emotional Wall
Writing your memoir can stir up deeply buried emotions; and sometimes, those emotions stop you in your tracks. When you hit an emotional wall, you don’t have to force your way through. In this post, I share gentle, trauma-informed strategies to help you keep writing while honoring your emotional capacity.
6 Beliefs That Might Be Holding You Back from Writing Your Memoir
Have you been dreaming of writing your memoir but keep getting in your own way? You’re not alone. In this post, I gently unpack 6 common beliefs that might be holding you back from starting, and share how to shift them so you can finally begin telling your story with confidence and clarity.
Does Your Book Have a Vision Board?
If you're a visual thinker, creating a vision board for your novel or memoir can be a powerful way to stay inspired and organized. In this post, I walk you through how I used images, character profiles, and story beats to bring my book to life, and how you can do the same.
The Story Behind the Poem: “Lost in Oz”
What happens when the beliefs that once shaped your identity begin to unravel? In this post, I share the personal story behind a poem that explores faith, deconstruction, and the journey to rebuild a sense of self after spiritual loss.
Why Your Memoir Needs A Soundtrack
Did you know that music can help unlock forgotten memories and deepen your emotional writing? In this post, I explore how creating a soundtrack for your memoir can bring your story to life, activating your senses, stirring emotion, and guiding you back to key moments you want to capture on the page.
3 Things a Memoir Is Not
Think memoir is just for celebrities or seasoned writers? Think again. This post clears up three common misconceptions about memoir writing and invites you to claim your story, just as you are.
25 Summer-Themed Writing Prompts To Jumpstart Your Writing Ritual
Feeling stuck in a writing rut? These 25 summer-inspired prompts are the gentle nudge you need to get back into flow. Whether you’re journaling, writing poetry, or starting a memoir, let the season of sun, memory, and movement stir something new on the page.
It’s Okay to Rest
I’m tired today. In the middle of recovering from burnout, I’m learning to pay attention when my body says enough. Even when I sit down to write and the words won’t come. Especially then. This is your reminder that rest is not a detour, it’s part of the path.
Yes, You Can Absolutely Call Yourself A Writer
You don’t need permission to claim the title. If you write, published or not, you are a writer. Here’s the story of how I finally believed that, and why I want you to believe it too.
The Story Behind the Poem: “Here, in My Words”
People often mistake my stillness for coldness. But being autistic means my emotions live deep beneath the surface—far from the assumptions made at a glance. Here in My Words is a poem about peeling back the armor, expressing what’s too easily overlooked, and showing up fully—on the page, if not always in person.
How to Start Writing When You Don’t Know Where to Begin: Gentle guidance for easing into your creative flow
Staring at a blank page can feel paralyzing, but you don’t have to have it all figured out to begin. In this post, I’m sharing 10 gentle, judgment-free ways to ease into your writing practice. Whether you're free-writing, mind mapping, or simply starting in the middle, there's no wrong way to begin. Writing doesn’t have to be perfect, it just has to be yours. And if you’re craving deeper support, I’ve created a cozy Writer’s Retreat Kit to help you reconnect with your voice and write from a place of calm.
The Story Behind the Poem: “Unwelcome”
In the quiet aftermath of my divorce, depression crept in like an unwelcome guest, uninvited but relentless. Some days, I couldn’t move. Other days, I wrote through the fog just to remind myself I was still here. In this post, I share the story behind my poem “Unwelcome” - a reflection on what it means to sit with pain, and how writing became my way of surviving it. If you’ve ever felt the darkness arrive unannounced, this is for you.
When the World Stopped, I Wrote: A Memoir, a Missed Train, and a New Beginning
In March of 2020, I was supposed to take a solo writing retreat to Quebec City. A train ride, a quiet room, a notebook—just me and the words. But like so many plans that year, it never happened. What unfolded instead was something unexpected: I found a way to retreat inward, right where I was. This is the story of how a cancelled trip helped me create something even more meaningful.
The First Poem I Wrote After 20 Years: A Return to Myself
After a nearly 20-year hiatus from poetry, I found myself in the depths of emotional despair, disconnected from myself and my creativity and unsure how to move forward. Then one day, I picked up a pen. What came out wasn't planned, polished, or perfect. It was honest. This post shares the very first poem I wrote after all that time, and how writing became a ritual of self-rescue, faith, and healing.
The Ritual of Writing
After nearly twenty years away from the page, the first poem I wrote came pouring out of me like a prayer. It felt otherworldly—like something sacred had cracked open inside. Since then, writing has become my ritual. A space to be vulnerable, honest, and whole. In this post, I share how writing became a spiritual practice, and how it might become one for you too.