Rachael Wolff's Letters from a Better Me
About the Book
Letters from A Better Me: How Becoming an Empowered Woman Transforms the World is a transformational guide igniting the powerful women inside us that we’ve suppressed for too long. Through heartfelt and personal letters, readers discover how holding onto anger, fear, hate, and separation traps us in an ongoing cycle of destruction. The journey begins with taking a trip into our own darkness. We take off our blinders. We then gain the tools to accept ourselves where we are. Finally, we shift into action and become the positive change we want to see. The letters shift negative self-talk and blame into true empowerment. Empower Yourself, Change the World!
Erin Khar: How did you come up with the concept for the Letters from a Better Me?
Rachael Wolff: In 2016, I wrote an open letter on my blog about judgment. I signed it, “A Better Me.” From there, I started writing more and more. I’ve been writing letters for so long, both to others and myself, they are the place I feel most vulnerable, honest, committed, and intimate. Letters are personal. When I write letters, I write from the heart—committed and invested in every word. They are my way of connecting emotionally and being accountable and responsible for the words I put out into the world. When I write them to myself, they become a contract to be a better me. Letters are how I broke the most self-destructive patterns in my life. I wanted to share them, along with the other tools I picked up along the way that got me to stop self-abusing and find true empowerment.
EK: What’s the mission of the book?
RW: I believe our perspectives are our prisons and our freedoms. A better me is our inner wisdom that knows the difference. A better me is that part of us that decides to move out of the places that we don't like being by taking steps in a different direction, whether it be in thoughts or actions. The mission of Letters from A Better Me is to take the reader on the inward journey of perspectives through awareness, acceptance, and action that helps us to move us into that inner wisdom so that we can take the next steps with confidence knowing that we are living in connection to the empowered energy within us. The healthier we are inwardly, the healthier all the relationships we have with our outer world will be.
EK: Tell me a little bit about your writing process? Do you have any rituals? Do you listen to music or do anything before sitting down to write?
RW: My writing process differs depending on what I’m writing. There are two things I always do: I walk and connect with nature daily, and when I sit down to write, I pray. When I’m writing from a place of pain, I have to do a lot more to ground and center myself (I write about those practices in the book). When I’m writing, I listen to music that carries a rhythm and flows like whatever emotion, situation, or place I’m writing about, such as an accelerated heartbeat, because that’s what fear does. This helps me to stay in the pain and remain present. When I’m writing about self-abuse, after I’m done working, I will write gratitude lists, things I love about myself, and lean on the love around me. I take more breaks when I’m writing from those places. When I’m writing about my spiritual journey, I meditate. I will sometimes close my eyes and type whatever comes out; other times, I listen to music that makes me feel AWE (that moment that takes your breath away). Whatever space I want my reader to be in, I need to write from that place. I use whatever means I can to trigger me to go there and stay there while I write.
EK: What is the worst piece of writing advice you’ve received? What’s the best?
RW: The worst piece of advice I ever got was, “Just get it done.” I write from the heart. Even in school, I found a connection in everything I wrote. When I submit my work, I know it represents me. That is how I deal with any negativity or criticism that comes my way. The absolute best advice I ever got was to study and write poetry. With that advice, I took an independent study of poetry in my senior year of high school with a teacher who I knew wouldn’t take it easy on me. Learning rhythm and flow has made the process of writing magical to me. If I don’t feel the flow of my fingers and the rhythm of the verse, neither will the reader. If I could pass on one piece of advice, it would be to stay open to learning. When we become fixated on the right way, we miss opportunities to gain perspective and get better.
EK: What are you reading now?
RW: I’m super excited because I just started One Hundred Daffodils by Rebecca Winn. As a nature lover and someone who finds my solace there, this book has been calling my name since I first heard about it.
About the Author
Rachael Wolff grew up reading self-help, personal discovery, and spiritual writings. She also spent years working in and around 12-step programs, starting at age 14. In the ‘90s, she became a national sales trainer. After having children, she became a pre-school teacher and enjoyed learning how minds develop. When she became a single mom, she went back to school. She graduated from Eckerd College with a Bachelor’s Degree in Human Development and a minor in Anthropology, focusing on Cultural Anthropology. After receiving her degree with an award in “Excellence in Human Development,” she used her own 30 plus years of personal and spiritual development, along with her education to become a transformational coach. She started writing the blog, FromALovingPlace.com, in January 2016. Wolff does speaking engagements, 35-Day A Better Me Boot Camps, and series (blog & video).
Her love for letter writing cleared the path for her to write Letters from A Better Me, which started as blog entries and now is a journey of transformation.
