Meghan is one of my very first internet soul connections. A handful of us gals (some from the US, UK and Canada) met in Seattle for the first time in the flesh after a year of connecting deeply through our blogs and emails back when it all began for us in 2005. It was an intimate gathering at a friends house and I can vividly remember Meghan sharing with us her dream to write a story she knew she had ruminating within her. When she spoke of it, I could feel the energy in the room pulsate. I knew it would come to life at the right time for her (and those reading it) and I knew it would have a message that would touch lives in a way that is everlasting and healing.
Her book is finally here and I invited her to share about it on my blog because I wanted all of you to feel what I felt listening to her almost 10 years ago, curled up on a couch, knee to knee, soul to soul.
photo credit: susannah conway
Meet Meghan Genge...
When I find a book I love, I carry it with me through my day so that at any free moment, I can keep reading. I call these ‘gulping’ books, because I consume them so greedily! A few years ago I read The Alchemist for the first time and it was a gulping book. I remember reading it quickly, but having the vaguest sense of unease at the end. It was an amazing, life-altering book, but I felt like it wasn’t quite MY story. I wanted to read the woman’s version.
I originally started blogging to meet my soul mates and what I found was that I wasn’t the only woman who was searching for a connection with myself, my spirituality, my femininity, and to other women. I wasn’t the only one struggling with food and feelings of not-good-enough and grief and kinship. I wasn’t the only one looking for a campfire to sit beside, or a grandmother to tell me stories. I’ve always been drawn to the magical, the whimsical, the delightful and the mysterious. I wanted a book that would speak to all of these parts of my soul.
So what was a girl to do? And then a tiny voice in my heart whispered: write it.
A few days later I came out of a meditation with a voice, an opening line, and an entire story in my head, and Unfurl was born. If you read Unfurl, you will see that there is an author’s note at the beginning. It explains that when I was writing Unfurl, I felt l was writing it for someone specific. The more I hear back from women who have read it, the more I realize how many of our stories are similar – how many of us are looking for more – and how connected we really are.
Unfurl is the story of Melissa Owens. Melissa has everything she ever thought she wanted, so she can’t understand why she is now longing for more. The problem is that she really doesn’t know what that ‘more’ is. The other problem is that the longing has turned into an ache that has begun to get painful. With a few signs, and a little help and encouragement, Melissa takes a leap of faith that sends her on a magical, yet somehow familiar path.
Unfurl is about looking at who we are as whole and powerful women. It’s about the stories and the baggage that holds us back. It’s about roots and wings and connection and food. It’s about untangling grief and facing procrastination and listening to our hearts. It’s about letting go, and it’s definitely about believing in magic.
If you want to know more about or listen to the first chapter, please look here.
