tiny shifts to joy.
ONE YEAR OF NOTICING, PRESENCE, AND CREATIVE RENEWALYou don't need self-improvement; your creative well needs a refill. This email course prompts you to notice small joys—just 1% more each day. As tiny sparks replace fear and stress, your creative flow refills. There’s nothing to keep up with: this practice meets you where you are.
Is this you?
You have a creative soul, but your attention is stretched thin. The energy to write, tell stories, or make art is precious.
Yet when you find the time, overwhelm, self-doubt, guilt,or perfectionism make it hard to begin, return to, or finish your projects.
Still, small joys call to you:
hearing a child’s curious question,
passing a van that reminds you of your quirky neighbor from long ago,
getting a waft of fresh-baked bread where you least expected
—and you feel the ache to slow down and be more present to these inspired moments.
Imagine how different your creative life would be if you experienced:
Mornings with intentionality, not that familiar dread of being behind from the start.
Days with micro-moments of wide-open spaciousness.
Evenings like a soft exhale.
This isn’t wishful thinking.
This is groundedness.
This is what’s possible when you shift your attention away from stressors and onto what lights you up—just 1% more each day for a year.
Many participants experience Tiny Shifts to Joy as a yearlong noticing-and-journaling practice that calibrates their inner spark.
They used to push hard for greater output. They assumed their “broken” mindset needed fixing. They blamed themselves for their creative challenges—until they discovered this pressure-free, performance-free practice.
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When you accept the invitation to notice each day with care, it connects you to shiawase 幸せ, a Japanese word that blends happiness, meaning, and bone-deep peace—a great big “Ahhhhhh.”
Shiawase is generative.
And this feeling doesn’t come from hustle and accomplishments; it arises through alignment.
The solution: a gentle, steady practice
Small shifts to attention add up over time and compound into something remarkable: focus, emotional bandwidth, and involuntary rejuvenation.
What this yearlong experience offers.
A doable journaling rhythm.
A relaxed weekly practice that helps you write what’s on your heart and mind with less pressure, anxiety, or perfectionism.
Clarity from slowing down.
As you rush less, you begin to see patterns, truths, and insights that have long been trying to emerge.
More presence.
Tiny daily noticing shifts your attention toward what feels alive, quieting the noise and generating positive energy.
More trust in your voice.
As you write repeatedly from tiny moments, you’ll access a fierce gentleness that allows you to say what’s true and stand tall.
Awareness of what matters.
Shifting your attention 1% at a time helps you recognize the so-called trivial details that nourish and illuminate your writing.
Growing ease.
Paying attention differently will subdue the productivity scorekeeper within, so joy and creativity can flow from being.
How exactly does Tiny Shifts to Joy work?
Every Sunday for a full year, you’ll receive a short email from me with:
A small story or reflection
An invitation to shift your attention just 1% toward what lights you up every day
Simple prompts to journal about:
a) tiny moments of the past week
b) what has the potential to take you out of presence, and
c) your intention for the coming week.
You can participate in two ways, and both honor the same philosophy:
small shifts, repeated with care, become something quietly powerful.
Option 1: The Core Practice
You’ll receive all weekly emails and prompts for twelve months—a steady companion that builds a writing (or art-making) rhythm, one moment at a time.
Ideal if you want a quiet, self-guided way to ground in shiawase and deepen your creative well.
Option 2: With Coaching
Each week, you send me your reflections, and I’ll send back a thoughtful, personalized response, usually on Wednesdays. I’ll be your steady witness and facilitate your practice in being present.
All you need is a working email address.
Ease matters, so there are no meetings to schedule. No extra groups to join. No unfamiliar tech platforms to sign up for and no extra passwords to memorize!
This option is perfect if you want long-term support and accountability.
Whichever option you choose, your daily time commitment is as little as 30 seconds, and the weekly journaling takes no more than 20 minutes.
Three reasons why this practice works:
Tiny shifts compound. A one-year, 1% reinvestment of your attention toward joy softly yields creative dividends.
This practice is sustainable; it doesn’t require Herculean effort, big blocks of time, or ask you to be a different person.
You come home to yourself: repeatedly returning your mind to what lights you up sets you up for a robust creative life.
Your investment.
Your creative refill begins with a single commitment: to pay attention to sparks, week by week, moment by moment.
Choose the level of support that fits your season:
Tiny Shifts to Joy — Core Practice
A quiet, affordable way to build a writing habit that nourishes you.
Weekly story + prompt delivered to your inbox
Three reflection questions to guide your noticing
Builds presence, clarity, and steadiness
Perfect if you want structure and consistency without coaching
$97 for the full year
That’s less than $2/week for a grounded and quietly ground-breaking creative practice.
Tiny Shifts to Joy — With Coaching
A year of personalized guidance and gentle accountability.
Everything in the core practice
52 asynchronous, mini coaching sessions via tailored email replies
Steady, yearlong companionship as you deepen your writing practice and creative rhythm
Ideal if you want encouragement, clarity, and connection along the way
$797 for the whole year
That’s about $15/week for ongoing 1:1 support and a gently transformative program. Monthly payment plans available.
A note on the two paths.
Tiny Shifts to Joy is intentionally priced to lower the barrier to long-term, sustainable creative care. Whether you choose the core practice (a steady, self-guided year of noticing) or include coaching (a year of personal guidance and gentle accountability), your practice will deepen.
FAQs.
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This practice is for anyone who wants to write—or journal consistently—but struggles to find calm, time, or clarity in a full life.
Many participants are sensitive, thoughtful people with busy weeks and vivid inner worlds. You do not need to consider yourself a “real writer.” If you notice small moments and want to tend to them with care, you belong here. -
No. Tiny Shifts to Joy is built on the belief that your voice is already enough. You don’t need to be published, polished, productive, or confident. You just need curiosity and a willingness to notice tiny moments.
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This program is entirely asynchronous, meaning no meetings or calls to worry about. You’ll receive prompts and optional coaching via email, making it easy to participate at your convenience.
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Most participants spend 5–15 minutes on the weekly reflection, sometimes more if they feel inspired. This is intentionally a low-pressure rhythm: small inputs, gentle compounding impact.
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Core – $97/year
Weekly email with a short story and prompt
A simple three-question reflection ritual
No deadlines, no pressure, no meetings
With coaching – $797/year(or monthly)
Everything in the Core offering
PLUS weekly one-on-one email coaching from me
Personalized reflections, guidance, and gentle accountability
Support for imposter-syndrome challenges or creative blocks.
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No. Life gets full. Some weeks you may write a lot; some weeks you may write a single sentence. Nothing breaks. The practice is resilient; you return when you can.
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You can pick up again at any time. There is no “behind” here, only returning. Many participants take breaks and ease back in when life allows; the course is designed to support imperfect, human rhythms.
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Yes. Everything is delivered asynchronously via email, and we welcome participants from all time zones.
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The 2026–2027 cohort begins February 15 and runs for a full year. You’ll receive one email each week for 52 weeks. If you opt for coaching, you can send your final reflections through March 15, 2027, and receive a personalized response.
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Tiny Shifts to Joy pairs beautifully with other creative work because it doesn’t add pressure or big assignments. It supports your current writing life by strengthening presence, attention, and creative energy.
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Much more transformative than you think. I’m known for short, potent communication. In my reflections, I name the theme, the common thread, and the underlying pattern I see. My suggestions will be gentle, digestible, and usually enough actionable insights for a week. But if you’ve run into a big block, we can explore private Zoom coaching sessions go get you the support you need.
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No, although it can feel grounding and supportive, Tiny Shifts to Joy is not therapy. It’s a creative noticing practice rooted in writing, reflection, and presence. Coaching support focuses on creativity, clarity, and attention.
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Most participants finish the year with:
A steadier writing rhythm
A deeper sense of presence
A well of tiny moments to draw sustenance from
More calm, clarity, and inner spaciousness
A creative practice that feels doable and personal
A renewed trust in their voice
You won’t “fix” your life. Instead, you’ll learn to be present to—and powerfully write the story of your life from—the small moments that shape it.
Why work with me?
If you're here, you likely carry a vivid inner world beneath the weight of busy days and demands. I know this struggle—I spent decades trying to stay connected to my spark.
When I stumbled on how potent tiny moments are, how they create powerful writing and a meaningful life, I had to let my fellow creative souls in on my discovery.
A bit about me:
I was born in Japan and raised in the U.S., a cross-cultural life that shaped how I view the world. I’m a mother of two young adults. And though I wasn’t named after the Sufi poet, people delight in seeing overlaps to “the other Rumi,” and I enjoy basking in the anointed light.
And my background:
I’m the author of three books of tiny, true stories exploring belonging, memory, motherhood, and the small luminous details of everyday life
I edited the real-life story anthology What Is Love?
My micro-essay “Where Our Palms Touch” appeared in The New York Times (Modern Love).
I’m an experienced coach and developmental editor for personal narrative writers seeking clarity, structure, and steady guidance.
“Their attention to detail and commitment to quality truly stood out. We’ve already recommended them to others.”
Former Customer“Communication was top-notch and the final outcome was even better than we imagined. A great experience all around.”
Former Customer“Every detail was thoughtfully executed. We're thrilled with the outcome.”
Former Customer
Your longing is enough to say yes.
Whether you enroll in Tiny Shifts to Joy or find another path forward, I am already invested in your creative renaissance.
Please feel the permission to hustle less, give shiawase 幸せ a chance, and relish the power to be the author of your (creative) life.
Life is without guarantees, but you can hold everything that comes your way—the sorrows, the tender rage, the responsibilities—and never lose touch with sparks of joy.
And if you’re in, hooray!
I’ll remind you, over and over, that you’re a lighthouse and a positive ripple effect-generator that you and the world have been waiting for.
We begin on February 15, 2026.
