For those of you who follow my Facebook page and Instagram, you would have seen that the inspirational author Paulo Coelho, whom I deeply admire, tweeted an article I wrote the other week.
I was absolutely floored when I saw it, and I have no clue how he managed to even stumble across it, let alone be so impressed by it that he sent it out to his 8.5 million followers.
That was a true validation right there that I am on the right path with being authentic to myself, that I'm following my hearts desire, particularly as I have been faced with some criticism over my writing.
"We are told from childhood onward that everything we want to do is impossible. We grow up with this idea, and as the years accumulate, so too do the layers of prejudice, fear and guilt. There comes a time when our personal calling is so deeply buried in our soul as to be invisible. But it's still there" - Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist
It's amazing how when you send out your hopes, dreams and desires into the universe, what transpires. And how intuition plays a huge part in guiding you towards what your heart really wants.
Take writing for the Huffington Post.
That was purely my gut telling me to do it. I was sitting on the couch late one evening and for some strange reason, the thought randomly popped into my head. "I want to write for the Huffington Post".
"Learn to recognize omens, and follow them"
― Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist
So I sent them a quirky email introducing myself. Then they sent one back asking me to submit something. So I did. And they wrote back and told me they don't accept diary style writing, and that my blogs were far too long.
So I sent them my IVF article. And they wrote back saying it was interesting, but needed to back up my claims, particularly because it was a controversial piece.
I almost gave up then. It was getting too hard.
But my determination overruled and I went searching for the references I used, even though I had initially wrote that article quite a few years ago. I found all of the information and submitted it back to them, and I waited.
A few hours later, they wrote back to me, thanked me, and let me know that because I had credible resources to back up my claims, and because it was such an interesting article, they have decided to not only accept me as a contributing author to their blog platform, but also run that article as a feature on their front page first thing Monday morning.
What a result. My tenacity paid off.
So I had a friend a few weeks back ask me what's the point in contributing to the Huffington Post, after all, I don't get paid for it. I said it's for notoriety and exposure, and that you never know who's reading it.
And lo and behold, this is where Paulo Coelho discovered my article. Via the Huffington Post.
So there's an answer to that question right there - you never know who's reading your writing. It may well be one of the best-selling authors of all time.
Whilst I would love to be generating an income from this passion of mine, I am not doing this for the financial reward. I am doing it because I am compelled to do it. Because this is my hearts desire.
"And, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it."
― Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist