In preparation for the RejuveNation Collaboration IV, I’m glad to spotlight Carol Celeste as part of the “Getting to Know Your Presenters” Blog Series.

Check out this special Q&A with Carol and then click over to her speaker page on the RejuveNation Collaboration website to learn more about her upcoming presentation.

Q. Tell us a little bit about your story: how did you get involved in the work you currently do?

Eight years ago I was working as a freelance writer but time spent caring for my elderly mother meant less time for steady work. An opportunity to work at less structured times came through a writers’ list when someone wanted to sell an online business teaching personal essay writing and licensing therapeutic writing workshops. I had teaching experience and knew the healing value of writing so this was the perfect arrangement for my situation and a way to spread the benefits of life-writing to others. Writing to Heal, Writing to Grow^SM became mine.

Q. What about your role provides you with the most energy?

Watching people engage in self-exploration and witnessing the improvement in their writing skills rewards me in many ways. I feel like I contribute to better health for others and see the joy writing brings them as they express their lives, either solely for personal therapy or to share with others and even publish. I know how the act of writing helps us, and welcome a chance to share that knowledge. That gives me joy and energizes me to continue.

Q. What do you do to balance all that you have going on? So being an entrepreneur can be BUSY, busy stuff! With work, family, social life, travel, fun, and your own health… how do you find time for it all?

As a freelancer with an online business, my schedule is flexible. I arrange work tasks to fit around events that I cannot control. I start each day with exercises, breakfast, word puzzles and basic morning hygiene. Much of my day is spent writing which reduces stress and contributes to good health so I gain that benefit automatically. I add off time to my calendar. My biggest challenge is limiting net surfing for new information on expressive writing for my newsletter (and anything else that interests me). Self-discipline is crucial.

Q. What 1 to 2 self-care tips can you share with our readers today? Something that is unique to you and your work; something that will have our readers understanding the types of things you’ll be teaching them in the RejuveNation Collaboration talk you will be giving us.

Everyone has stories to tell and writing them yields physical and mental health benefits. If you set aside time for writing each day, even 15 minutes, you may experience those benefits yourself. And it isn’t just the formal expressive writing done in clinical trials that improves health. Some of those trials show other types of writing improve health. My presentation “Writing for Wellness” at RejuveNation Collaboration covers the ways that writing aids good health and what benefits it yields.

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Again, be sure to check out Carol’s speaker page and learn more about her presentation. And if you haven’t done so already, register for the RejuveNation Collaboration, which starts Monday, October 21st.