I think we sometimes forget just how powerful words can be. They can move people to laughter or tears, empathy and understanding. There have been times in my life where I let words cause fear and anxiety.

When I was 22, I heard the one word that literally turned my life upside down — cancer. That’s an incredibly powerful word. Nobody wants to hear it and at 22, I was not prepared for that word. No matter how much I was reassured by doctors that my form of cancer was easy to remove and treat, I struggled with fear. I let that one word overpower all of the other words I was hearing.

At 33, I was a new mom. My daughter was 18 months old and I had just gone through a separation. Then I heard that word again — cancer. Damn it! My daughter was just a baby and I had a whole other level of fear and anxiety around that word. Even though this time it had spread a little further into the lymphnodes and shoulder muscle, I was assured it was nothing to worry too much about. Surgery and radiation would take care of it. But again, I let that one word overpower all of the other words I was hearing.

While, yes, my cancer was “easy”, the mental game I played with myself was hard. But those experiences formed much of who I am and how I’ve looked at the world.

Authors know the power of words. They understand that what they have to share is important. Other people can benefit when an author shares their experience through their words. For some authors that’s enough. For others, there’s a much bigger space they want to fill as they coach or counsel or teach others using their message.

I’ve worked with several authors whose experiences shaped their world so much that they felt compelled to write their book. It’s for these reasons that I get excited creating and developing an author website. It is always an honor to create a place on the internet for them to showcase their work in words.