Mm as usual this resonates. Back in 2021 I thought I was doing the best at saying goodbye in a way that brought me and the community I served closure. I made statements and in those statements I made promises. And then things drastically changed after one level of exiting and I had to keep on exiting in an unexpected, undeclared way. The half-closure has been something I've grappled with (and continue to grapple with) since then. Even yesterday at Costco a member of the community I left noticed me and then asked me if I was Lisa. Which I'm not, I'm Bonni. I was so shocked by the emotional sting of being a faded memory. It threw off the entire rest of my day. Anyway. Closure. Half closure. Happy goodbyes mixed up with the sad bits. It's all so complicated and I appreciate the nuance and validation you're bringing to my story through yours.
That experience sounds really difficult, even the Costco incident. I’ve been there and it hurts. I’m learning that if I want closure I have to create it myself and up until Emily‘s book, I haven’t known how. Sometimes the sad bits you speak of seem like crushing boulders to carry. I hope you find peace and joy as Emily‘s words and experiences companion us through these rooms 🤍
I love how you intentionally invited others to be present to the ending with you, even as it didn't look entirely how you may have hoped to mark the closing of that chapter.
As someone who has been part of the hope*writers community, I am grateful for the voice and perspective you always brought to that space. Holding you in prayer as you approach release day, and I am eager to read the book!
Thank you for entrusting us with a bit more of the story. I joined H*W at the beginning of the pandemic and loved it, the community and really you created a warm, hospitable place. It was so hard with the shift when you left, never the same and I had just become a lifetime member. I learned so much and also knew it was a stepping stone. I still followed you into new spaces and began to watch you blossom in those spaces, which gently ushered me into a new and welcome lane change of my own spiritual formation. I’m so grateful for your heart, your courage, your honesty and the content you share. I’m praying about pursuing training as a SD, in part thanks to you. Thank you Emily and keep writing, speaking, leading. You’re a gift to the world! 💛
I resound with the leaving a workplace that you invested so much time and energy in, something you’re “good at” but not something you’re supposed to keep doing forever — and then an exit being so much less than you’d want it to be in terms of closure (and let’s get real, being perfectly understood — a real luxury).
Also wild because I was in an interview process for a manager role three summers ago with hope*writers — I was one of the last two and met with Carla and your dad. I was so impressed with the process, speed, and clarity in communication and was really hoping it would work out. It could have been cool to work together for a hot min! 😏
As an OG HopeWriter and then team member I’m so grateful you said your initial hello to hw back in the day and I loved learning from you and working with you. It must have been a harder decision than even these words convey and it was for sure a strange and difficult liminal time. I’m so glad you have wonderful peeps around you and are embracing all the new hellos.
The most helpful thing after the hardest times of walking out of a room is to remind myself that I made the right decision. Now I know how important it is to name each one and to bless and release it. The hardest thing I’ve ever done has been to try and make peace (make sense of) a room whose door was slammed in my face. I *so* related to your conversation with Sharon McMahon yesterday (NRT Episode 317). Thank you.
Emily, as a longtime member of H*Ws (2016 when there were only a few hundred and the monthly membership was $15) I know I speak for so many when I say I would have loved the opportunity to say a proper goodbye and send you (and Gary!) off with the honor and closure you deserved. The atmospheric shift when you left was jolting. I have since left the group.
So, I hope you don’t mind if I say it here: Thank you for the years you dedicated to the writers of that community. Thank you for starting it and for breathing life into it. Thank you for office hours and recorded training and for answering questions. Thanks for the short time you had a H*Ws podcast! (It was my fave) Thank you for conducting outstanding interviews for Tuesday Teaching. And please tell Gary thank you for fathering all of us with wisdom and d patience while he was there.
May God richly bless you and the work of your hands.
So much gratitude coming your way as I wrap myself up each time I read your comforting words as I begin again, even when it feels more like in liminal limbo thank actually beginning again as in forward motion! But these times shall indeed pass. They always do. But the tension of loss and gain are unusual traveling companions and it never seems to make sense. Faith is trusting that all will be well. Can’t wait to receive your book. So timely. By the way thank you for your often heard references to Ted Loder. I am immersed in his books and his words simply cause my soul to be hugged. Blessings to you EPF and your journey onward.🤗❤️
I have always found those big significant good-byes to be hard to navigate and incredibly painful. Excruciating, actually heartrending. Because I've learned from experience, repeatedly, that life will never be the same again.
Hugs from afar as you deliver your heart (via the book) into the hands of so many readers who need your wisdom. XO
Mm as usual this resonates. Back in 2021 I thought I was doing the best at saying goodbye in a way that brought me and the community I served closure. I made statements and in those statements I made promises. And then things drastically changed after one level of exiting and I had to keep on exiting in an unexpected, undeclared way. The half-closure has been something I've grappled with (and continue to grapple with) since then. Even yesterday at Costco a member of the community I left noticed me and then asked me if I was Lisa. Which I'm not, I'm Bonni. I was so shocked by the emotional sting of being a faded memory. It threw off the entire rest of my day. Anyway. Closure. Half closure. Happy goodbyes mixed up with the sad bits. It's all so complicated and I appreciate the nuance and validation you're bringing to my story through yours.
That experience sounds really difficult, even the Costco incident. I’ve been there and it hurts. I’m learning that if I want closure I have to create it myself and up until Emily‘s book, I haven’t known how. Sometimes the sad bits you speak of seem like crushing boulders to carry. I hope you find peace and joy as Emily‘s words and experiences companion us through these rooms 🤍
Thank you so much for taking the time to write this out. ❤️
You are brave and help others to be brave. Thank you for that, Emily!
I love how you intentionally invited others to be present to the ending with you, even as it didn't look entirely how you may have hoped to mark the closing of that chapter.
As someone who has been part of the hope*writers community, I am grateful for the voice and perspective you always brought to that space. Holding you in prayer as you approach release day, and I am eager to read the book!
Can I just say, you’re very cool. Your words are a balm to so many souls. I’m really glad you share them with us. Thank you!
🤍 thank you for sharing this, Emily.
Thank you for entrusting us with a bit more of the story. I joined H*W at the beginning of the pandemic and loved it, the community and really you created a warm, hospitable place. It was so hard with the shift when you left, never the same and I had just become a lifetime member. I learned so much and also knew it was a stepping stone. I still followed you into new spaces and began to watch you blossom in those spaces, which gently ushered me into a new and welcome lane change of my own spiritual formation. I’m so grateful for your heart, your courage, your honesty and the content you share. I’m praying about pursuing training as a SD, in part thanks to you. Thank you Emily and keep writing, speaking, leading. You’re a gift to the world! 💛
I resound with the leaving a workplace that you invested so much time and energy in, something you’re “good at” but not something you’re supposed to keep doing forever — and then an exit being so much less than you’d want it to be in terms of closure (and let’s get real, being perfectly understood — a real luxury).
Also wild because I was in an interview process for a manager role three summers ago with hope*writers — I was one of the last two and met with Carla and your dad. I was so impressed with the process, speed, and clarity in communication and was really hoping it would work out. It could have been cool to work together for a hot min! 😏
As an OG HopeWriter and then team member I’m so grateful you said your initial hello to hw back in the day and I loved learning from you and working with you. It must have been a harder decision than even these words convey and it was for sure a strange and difficult liminal time. I’m so glad you have wonderful peeps around you and are embracing all the new hellos.
The most helpful thing after the hardest times of walking out of a room is to remind myself that I made the right decision. Now I know how important it is to name each one and to bless and release it. The hardest thing I’ve ever done has been to try and make peace (make sense of) a room whose door was slammed in my face. I *so* related to your conversation with Sharon McMahon yesterday (NRT Episode 317). Thank you.
Emily, as a longtime member of H*Ws (2016 when there were only a few hundred and the monthly membership was $15) I know I speak for so many when I say I would have loved the opportunity to say a proper goodbye and send you (and Gary!) off with the honor and closure you deserved. The atmospheric shift when you left was jolting. I have since left the group.
So, I hope you don’t mind if I say it here: Thank you for the years you dedicated to the writers of that community. Thank you for starting it and for breathing life into it. Thank you for office hours and recorded training and for answering questions. Thanks for the short time you had a H*Ws podcast! (It was my fave) Thank you for conducting outstanding interviews for Tuesday Teaching. And please tell Gary thank you for fathering all of us with wisdom and d patience while he was there.
May God richly bless you and the work of your hands.
♥️
This is why I know this book will help so many, because you’ve walked it. And your words are like a trusted friend. Thank you Emily!
I have preordered the book through Amazon. May I still get the free gifts?
Of course! Just go here to enter your order number and email so we know where to send them: https://emilypfreeman.com/how-to-walk-into-a-room-book/
So much gratitude coming your way as I wrap myself up each time I read your comforting words as I begin again, even when it feels more like in liminal limbo thank actually beginning again as in forward motion! But these times shall indeed pass. They always do. But the tension of loss and gain are unusual traveling companions and it never seems to make sense. Faith is trusting that all will be well. Can’t wait to receive your book. So timely. By the way thank you for your often heard references to Ted Loder. I am immersed in his books and his words simply cause my soul to be hugged. Blessings to you EPF and your journey onward.🤗❤️
Thank you. For overlooking my typ-o. Again. 😉
I have always found those big significant good-byes to be hard to navigate and incredibly painful. Excruciating, actually heartrending. Because I've learned from experience, repeatedly, that life will never be the same again.