025: The grace revealed through our mistakes
What I learned from losing the recording of a Live
It shouldn’t have happened.
So far, my system has worked brilliantly: I host a Substack Live as part of my Stories of Creative Courage series, then write up the conversation summarising the key points and sharing the video.
Except last week—after my conversation with the wonderful —I accidentally deleted the whole recording.
My system is not bomb-proof.
I went through all the emotions: fear that everyone (and especially GG) would think I’m incompetent; shame at having done it ‘wrong’; sadness at losing the footage of such a brilliant conversation that could be helpful to so many people.
It’s my biggest fear: appearing incompetent, messy or imperfect.
It’s not just discomfort. It shows up as pure terror. It strikes at the heart of who I am—or rather who I’ve made myself into—to survive and even thrive over the years. I spent so much time constructing an identity that gives the impression of doing everything flawlessly all the time.
It’s exhausting.
And I know I’m not alone. If you’re reading this, you might also relate.
Even after years of working with this pattern, the discomfort hasn’t gone away—as last week’s editing disaster proved. I still come out in a cold sweat at the thought of people seeing my errors or work that I deem ‘not-good-enough.’
Yet, I’ve come to see when these things happen that, despite the sheer, existential terror, there’s so much freedom and power in accepting it and admitting it.
When I wrote to GG, she was incredibly understanding. ‘The best thing about mishaps like this,’ she wrote, ‘is that we realize that things can go wrong and it's okay and it doesn't mean anything about our value or our competence.’ It reminded me of something powerful she said during our conversation—‘truth has its own poetry. Just speak the truth and it will be right. It'll sing because it's true.’
So, the full recording of our conversation has gone forever (and I spent many hours on Substack’s online help forum trying to figure out if it could be retrieved). Traces of the conversation, remain though. There is a screenshot of the two of us chatting. And there are a few clips in GG’s dashboard that were sent by Substack afterwards (mine were wiped but hers are still there). Living on beyond the conversation there are traces, too, of my connection with GG. It’s the first conversation we’ve had—but I know it won’t be the last.
But there’s something even more powerful at work.
In GG’s email to me, she pointed out an aspect of the situation I hadn’t considered.
‘You know what else? When I work with people who don't offer grace when mix-ups happen, that lets me know that is not someone I want to collaborate with going forward.’
There it is, right there.
Grace.
When we fully own and are prepared to express the parts we don’t want to be seen, we access grace. In fact, we embody it. Not just in, and for, ourselves—but for others. It opens the door to deeper connection. It offers spaciousness and permission for us to be just who we are, all of who we are: no performance, no pretence, no hiding.
Uncomfortable though it was to lose the recording, there’s a relief at not having to hide. It’s deepened my connection with myself. And it’s forged, I hope, a deeper connection with GG too, beyond the conversation we had (which already felt connected). It creates empathy and trust. It nourishes understanding. And in the end, it provides the potential for healing. As Brene Brown puts it:
If we can share our story with someone who responds with empathy and understanding, shame can't survive.
You can read a brief summary of mine and GG’s conversation below. And watch out for the rematch later this year! Because it was too powerful (and too much fun) not to do it again.
Community inspiration
This week—without question!—the spotlight goes to writer and creative coach . Although the recording and transcript have been lost, I wanted to capture some of the key points we covered in our conversation, during which GG shared her journey from a 12 year career of corporate ‘check-the-box’ living to discovering writing as a tool for healing, self-discovery and creative courage.
GG and I talked about:
how it feels to have a creative awakening and the importance of listening to what brings your soul alive and leaning into what lights you up
building creative courage while facing fears of visibility and rejection and GG’s experience that courage in writing or creativity is really courage for living life
how we can become attached to the identity of being a writer (writer with a capital ‘W’) and the importance of writing as a vehicle for understanding, self-awareness and expression, not an end in itself
how creativity can provide a path back to wholeness and integration
the ways in which living authentically is like a radio signal and that, when we hold the right authentic vibration, we attract the right people
You can find out more about GG and her work through her website ‘All the Many Layers’ and through her Substack here. She is on Instagram here.
GG is the author of two guided journals: The Self-Care Check-In and A Year of Self-Reflection Journal. You can find out more about these, and where to buy them, on the ‘Books’ page of her website here.
GG’s new book of essays, Story Work: Field Notes on Self-Discovery and Reframing Your Narrative is out in November this year from Broadleaf Books. Having spoken to GG, I know it’s going to be a phenomenal read! You can pre-order it in all the usual places and read more about it here on GG’s website.
Finally, thank you, GG for all the courage and grace you bring to the world.
Creative inspiration
Some resources:
Writing as a Way of Healing by Louise DeSalvo. Recommended by GG as a key book in her own creative journey, Salvo’s book demonstrates how telling our authentic stories—even the painful ones—becomes a restorative tool for finding our way to wholeness.
GG’s new book StoryWork: Field Notes on Self-Discovery and Reframing Your Narrative (pre-order available, details above)
GG’s range of on-demand courses and live interactive workshops, including the Creative Courage Writing Intensive (which she mentioned during our conversation)
Memorable quote of the week
Essence is who you were before the world told you who to be. I believe our original authentic essence is what eventually we want to come back to.
- GG Renee Hill, US writer and creative coach
What’s next in your creative journey?
As your guide into creative courage, I'm here to help you transform those invisible blocks—the fear and shame that live beneath the surface—so you can express authentically and freely.
Here's how I can support you:
Make an appointment for a virtual coffee (free). I hold 3-4 slots every month for a 20-minute chat so we can either get to know each other, or reconnect. This is for everyone! Perfect if you’re curious about meeting new people and making, or deepening, connections.
Book a 30-minute Creative Breakthrough call (free) to gently uncover the exact fear or limiting belief sabotaging your creative expression so you can finally share your work with confidence
Read my manifesto for creative courage (free). Follow my story in serial form about the core principles of my creativity, my journey into creative courage and why I founded Wordplay Coaching.
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Grace is a beautiful and underrated quality. Congratulations on bringing it into focus x