Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Lesley S. King. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Lesley S. , thanks for joining us today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?
For nearly twenty-five years I made a living as a travel writer. I loved the job. It took me to a cooking school in Provence, France and to an ecolodge in Costa Rica, among many other posh and beautiful places. However, my body grew tired from all the travel and I had a deep desire to write about the inner world rather than outer places. Meanwhile, the whole travel-writing world was shifting. Because of the internet, magazines and guidebooks, from which I made my living, were closing down. I knew I had to pivot.
I took a course that taught me how to write and promote my own books. I wasn’t yet sure what I would write, but one day I had a sparkling insight that said, “Your content is now!” I realized that I didn’t need to know the whole picture, I just needed to do what I loved most each day and let my creation evolve from this live-wire creativity. So I created a WordPress blog and began writing short essays about my daily experiences. At that time, they were dramatic. My house flooded, a neighbor sued our little community for which I was the leader, and my mother neared the end of her life.
I began posting on social media, and people started reading and sharing what I wrote. It was scary and exciting, and always a great opportunity to learn. I still wrote some magazine articles and coached writers, but I put more and more energy into this new creation, believing that if I followed my heart and leaped in, I would be supported.
After a few years of this writing, I compiled the essays into a book I named, All In for Love. The book turned out to be about how I leaped into this creative endeavor and succeeded. Over time, I had built a loyal following, so when I published the book, it did well. Now, I no longer write magazine articles, but focus on this work. I continue with the same matrix, writing blog posts and then turning them into books. It is so fun for me to work with a designer to create a beautiful cover, to fill the book with the highest inspiration I can come up with, and then send it out into the world. I just published one called I Am Love, and the cover was so beautiful that it went viral for a few days, which was deeply gratifying.
The biggest lesson I learned from this is that my best creativity comes not from some dramatic vision of the future, but from creating daily and letting that creativity build into something beautiful. Often people think they have to have extraordinary goals, but really, the best goal is to just show up every day and do our best work. Living in the now allows for inner guidance in every moment, creating our most fulfilling outcome.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
When I was in my early twenties, three of my most cherished loved ones died. I was adrift in grief with no spiritual anything to relieve it. At the time, I was working in advertising and not fulfilled, so I knew I had to make a change. I had grown up in a family that drank a lot, and I knew nothing else, so I started attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and quit drinking. I also realized that I had to shift my work, so I embarked on an MFA program in creative writing.
These life shifts allowed me to begin seeing myself in a new light, and so I began to change. I knew I wanted to travel and write. So after graduate school, I got a job teaching college writing for an American university in Korea. I spent the next year working and traveling all over Asia and was so alive and engaged that I knew I wanted to continue with this endeavor.
When I returned to my home in New Mexico, I taught college for a few years and then took a leap and started writing for smaller and then larger publications. And over the years, that led to my work writing my own books.
This writing provides inspiration for my readers. Through my essays and poems, they see the power of living intentionally, of taking risks to manifest their highest dreams. Rather than step- by-step instructions about living one’s highest ideal, my writing stresses contacting the divine within, and letting that power be the transformer. I have a deep relationship with spiritual teacher, and this inspires me, so I write about the inspiration this gives me.
What sets this work apart is that I know I still have much to learn and am transforming daily, so I don’t come across as someone who has it all wired. Instead, my writing is vulnerable. It’s about how I struggle but always find a deeper truth in challenging experiences. This honesty is what most appeals to my readers. I am not some high-brow coach. Instead, I am simply a seeker of the highest truth and love, and I share that journey with my readers.
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
The goal that most defines my creative journey is connecting to the true self within and living from that place. All the traveling I did for decades took a toll on my body, so I had to learn how to listen within, to hear my highest truth and then act from that place. For so many years, I worked at the whim of editors who would assign where I traveled. Though I had a lot of freedom to write what I wanted about those destinations, they paid for and directed where I went.
When I set out to write for myself, I felt such wonderful freedom. However, I still operated at breakneck speed with the goal of getting as much done as possible. This made healing very challenging. Slowly, over time, I started listening more to my body’s messages, and they told me to slow down, to enjoy my days. I learned to feel in my heart when an activity wasn’t right and decline it. I also learned to listen for the inward cues that said something was really working and move in that direction.
Basically, I found my agency in a world that so often asks us to deny it. Now, I feel free to decline or accept invitations in my personal and work life. I’ve become calmer, more loving to myself, and thus to others. I spend most days joyfully following my heart wherever it leads.
Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?
There’s a wonderful resource that I now use any time I have to make a decision. I wish I would have known it when I was young, but am happy to have it now. When I need to make a decision, I first write down all my criteria. For example, when I decided to buy a house, I listed all the things that were most important to me: north of town, so I could be near my mother, whom I cared for, radiant floor heat, views, a porch, and quiet. They were very specific. Once I had my list, I prioritized it, beginning with what was most important to me: north of town, and then I placed the others in order.
Just days after I made this list, my dream house appeared in the newspaper. I went to see it and knew it was my perfect house.
I have used this tool to help me decide whether or not to take on projects in my work, to buy an electric car, and even to find the perfect dog for our household. Most importantly, I use it to set priorities in my life. For example, my goal of living as spiritually, as kindly, as possible always sits at the top of my list, so I know whatever I’m doing, that priority leads. It makes life very simple and fulfilling.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.lesleysking.com
- Instagram: @lesleysking
- Facebook: https://Facebook.com/lesleysking
- Linkedin: https://linkedin.com/in/lesleysking
- Youtube: @LesleySKing
Image Credits
Portrait by Heidi Ivy
The landscape photos are by me. I use them in my blog and other writing projects.