Content warning: Animal surgery and pain.

On June 28, my dog Nala had minor surgery to remove a small tumor from her lip.

She also had four teeth extracted (she's an older gal at 10 years old). 😢

Before I took her in, I assumed the bump on her lip was nothing to worry about.

Then the doctor called me during the surgery.

"The tumor is ulcerated and hard, which isn't a good sign," he said. "We're going to send it to the lab for analysis."

Immediately, my brain jumped to the worst-case scenario: Nala has cancer.*

I got off the phone with the doctor and had a full meltdown. I called my dad and cried, barely able to tell him what happened.

When Nala came home that day, she was exhausted, confused, and in a lot of pain (thank goodness for pain meds).

Good thing she had her cousin Fiji, a blonde terrier, to keep her company:

Seeing Nala vulnerable and hurting shattered me like windshield glass.

Flash forward two weeks, and Nala is back to her normal snuggly self––begging for table scraps and giving generous kisses to my 4-year-old niece, Hannah.

The doctor called me last Sunday and said, "The tumor's benign. Nothing to worry about!"

Of course, my entire body relaxed. Waves of relief and joy flooded my heart. Nala was safe.

Here's what I learned from this:

The extreme sadness, fear, and worry provided a stark contrast to the deep love I feel for her.

Negative emotions contrast the positive ones, and they can't exist without each other.

I can't love Nala (or anyone) fully without risking the deep wounds that come with loss: grief, anger, sadness, and pain.

That brings me to the point of this letter to you:

Living a JOYFUL life requires embracing everything.

The pain. The love. The happiness. The fear. The anger. The wounds. The healing. The birth. The death.

That's why I love leading the Write for Joy! 5-Day Challenge.​

Not so you can "crush" your writing goals or make writing 100% painless.

I host this challenge to help writers like you embrace all of it.

Embrace the frustration, the pleasure, the flow, the procrastination, the perfectionism, the creative muse...

ALL. of. it.

So I'll ask you, Reader:

Want to spend 5 days co-writing and learning in a community of joyful writers?

Want to get words on the page and write every single day using generative, soul-diving prompts that open your creative channels?

Want to embrace all the elements of your writing practice so it doesn't feel like such a slog all the time? So it feels lighter and freer?

​Then sign up for the Write for Joy! 5-Day Challenge here.​

I can't wait to see what you'll create.

Write on,
Renee

*PS – Of course, there are terrible and painful things going on in the world that are worse than my dog getting cancer. Even though this was hard for me (Nala's my furry BFF!)––and my pain was real and valid––I'm still blessed. Things can always be worse.

PPS – You'll feel even more joy if you invite a friend to take the Challenge with you.

💌 Forward this email OR text them this link so you can participate together!