I can't believe it — in the blink of an eye a few weeks has passed since I last sent you a digital postcard!

Not writing to you has made me realise how much I love writing.

Despite being on a writing learning journey that looks like this!

I appreciate the forcing function of writing for greater self-awareness, self-reflection, self-assessment, clarity, learning, and creativity.

If I said these words 30 years ago, even 1 year ago, I would have laughed out loud and dismissed them. I'm on the spectrum when it comes to Dyslexia. Let's put it this way, at 19, one of my teachers said when I was writing my Oxford University application, I don't understand anything you're saying.

I cried when she acknowledged my reality. Not because I was upset. Out of pure relief. Finally, I understood, why articulating my thoughts in a linear written form was not inherently easy for me. The hours of extra work I put in to work around this was real and at times exhausting. Naming it meant I could get the future support and resources I needed, which I did fortunately receive at university.

I had navigated my way through school by applying what I learnt in the book I discovered by chance at 13 years old — Use Your Head by Tony Buzan.

Tony is the inventor of Mind Maps — a visual and kinaesthetic process for:

1. Chunking and categorising what you are learning into key concepts.
2. Seeing and understanding the structure and relationships between key concepts.
3. Synthesising and summarising what you are learning.

In his book, Tony also taught key learning skills, such as how to speed read and master your memory.

Little did I know the mind mapping and learning skills I developed and have continued to develop as an adult would not only save me during my school and university days, but become a powerful meta skill in my adult years, and a key foundation for MySnapshot.

My persistent practice of the skills developed my confidence and changed my self-identity.

My personal transformation of going from mildly engaged to curious in my classes at school, and seeing improved results in my homework and exams, changed the way I saw myself and what's possible when I put in the practice. I went from "meh" to asking myself "what do I want and how do I make that a reality?".

It could take me longer than others to achieve similar results, but I trusted in my process and did not compare myself to others. The hooours to rework my Oxford University application paid off, fortunately!

These words by Russ Harris, psychotherapist and Action & Commitment Therapy expert sum up my experience well:

In March, I posted this tweet about the importance of 'practice practice practice' when it comes to writing. I quote a moving excerpt on the power of writing from the Ben Putano's excellent book Great Founders Write. I recommend checking it out, it's applicable to everyone.

Charlotte Crowther | MySnapshot 🕸 @CharlotCrowther Just got @BenjaminPutano's book on my Kindle! These words inspire and ground me from the chapter 'Practice Practice Practice': 2:43 PM • Mar 30, 2023 1 Retweets 9 Likes Read 2 replies

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I share my learning journey, joy and celebration of my unexpected identity shift as a writer to share the power of learning and taking action.

I started my Meta Learning Newsletter in February 2022 and never imagined I would see this day!

I invite you to keep going in whatever you're learning or grappling with. Every step is a step, and they add up.

King's Coronation & Dom from Traverse.link

There's been a number of exciting events and international visits over the last few weeks. Here's two photos, I'll share more in weeks to come!

Thanks for reading!

Have a great week, and if you enjoyed this week’s newsletter, please reply to this email to let me know :)

Charlotte

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