Story of the history of how I got here and where it’s all going:

This endeavor started out specifically after a conversation I had with someone dear to me.  This person was in the second year of a post-break up situation and carrying the deep sadness of rejection.  Unanswered questions. Unfinished conversations. Mysteries here and there that will never be solved. And they still won’t be.  The pain was visceral: blushing cheeks, hot tears and a strained speaking tenor. Pain was everywhere and traditional avenues for relief not taking hold or at least not holding enough.  I knew not to solve this. I knew to listen deeply, to hold space. I also longed as well for a place they could safely “put” this– a place for this person to park, lift up or file it in its complete unedited expression.  And it hit me: how about writing a letter to this person? They balked, saying “I’m not going to send a letter, that’s too scary!” And I immediately responded “No, not a letter to SEND, a letter to capture it all.  A letter to say all the unsaid feelings you have in your heart and a full-out litany of questions you have like ‘Why did you leave without an explanation? What did I do or say?’ and so on.  THAT kind of letter, the one with EVERYTHING in it that still resides in your heart.” To this day I am not certain that letter has been written, but in that moment the whole experience and its powerful implications were written on my heart.  “What if,” I thought, “What if all of us has one such letter in our heart?  Sure, maybe there are more than one, but what if every human on the planet has one unfinished story, discussion, situation that will never be able to be resolved but that still takes up space in our hearts?”  That is why you are here right now, reading this.  Because we all do! We all have at least one such letter (story, truth) in us and the range of these unfinished stories within and amongst us is vast.  

A teacher who never will be able to reveal that it was him that set up a special fund for students who didn’t have the money for field trips the year that you couldn’t have gone without that happening.  

The lover with whom all you could share about the break up was that it was you.  Where you couldn’t share with her that you had no idea she held a huge value around something that you hold differently and you didn’t feel like you had the right to judge her and make them wrong for it.   That creating relationship with that present in the space between you involved betraying yourself. That to even speak using these kinds of words and phrases would have instantly caused your eyes to glaze over and your attention to drift away into some other space that offered more comfort.

The “I love you” you didn’t get to say to Dad because he died of a sudden heart attack.  

The letter to grandma sharing all that is going on with the kids because, well, she is not here to witness after her long battle with cancer.  

The letter to a stranger on the subway who you slipped a piece of paper into their back pack that said “You Matter.”    

Write these letters.  

Share them here, anonymously.

This is the book Letters to the Universe.    A book replete with shared experiences, “ah ha’s”, “you too?”  “I thought I was the only one who…” and “That could have been me.”   A community where we can dive deeply into our own and others’ experiences common to those of us who call ourselves human beings.  A collection of tomes that are sacred writings of your heart and of your life that are real.

Why a book?

We can talk to our best friends, a therapist, a coach, a mentor, a lover, our parents, a person of faith, a journal–all of these can be and are viable options and outlets for these unfinished stories residing in our hearts, AND I want to invite you to share them for this project:   first and foremost, for your heart’s release/relief; second, for the readers of this book because I believe many of us are going to see and feel connection and comfort in these stories, these real unfinished stories that get to stay that way in a safe, shared place. Here’s a newsflash:  some stories in our lives get to stay unfinished!  Not every single component of our lives has resolution.  I truly believe that in the continuum of life this needs to be a viable, real and sacred possibility.  

I cannot wait to meet your letters and the stories revealed through them.   Thank you for holding our shared humanity as a value and bless you in advance for helping me make my  dream about this book come true!