What I’ve come to believe is that the most important story you’ll ever hear is the one you tell yourself. Every day I have an opportunity to live a better story. And you do, too.
No drum roll is necessary, but I did have a successful twenty-five-year career in administrative office management and business development, after which I decided to “re-story” my life.
ReStorying my life didn’t come naturally. I’m from a Midwest Hoosier middle class family and was sort of an only child with siblings. My sister and brother were so much older than I that it felt like being raised in a house of four adults and one kiddo—me. It was great. I graduated from Indiana University majoring in English Lit with a drama minor (similar to a drama queen but much healthier). Having spent my first thirty-five years in Indiana and weathering the kidnapping of my older two children by their father in 1977, I moved to Austin with my second husband and three kiddos in ’82 and a host of other family members. Picture the Clampetts moving to Beverly Hills and you’ll catch my drift.
Since 1995, I’ve immersed myself in reflective writing by facilitating writing workshops, weekend retreats, and ReStory gatherings, helping people reframe the way they see themselves. And here’s the great thing about this passion for writing-based personal growth and life enrichment: I’ve been able to learn and grow right along with those taking my courses. The process definitely reframed my life and, as a bonus, informed and was the foundation for my writing life.
My teaching career began with facilitating “Your Life Is Your Art! You Are the Artist” workshops based on Julia Cameron’s masterful book The Artist’s Way. Having kicked journaling into high gear through the practice of “morning pages,” I discovered the best material for my blogs comes to me when journaling. Imagine that.
In 2003, Story Circle Network, an organization that supports and promotes women writers telling their stories, boosted my writing life by introducing me to mentor Christina Baldwin, a leader in the field of journaling and author of several books on journal writing and The Circle Way. I attended Christina’s 2005 week-long retreat “Self as the Source of the Story,” putting pen to paper and creating the synopsis of You’ll Never Find Us: A Memoir, the story of how my children were stolen from me and how I stole them back. I created Jeanne Guy Gatherings in 2008, facilitating groups and expanding my own writing career.
Story Circle Network has provided me one writing avenue after another. I have gratefully served the organization by assisting with the creation of a new website, by presenting workshops at conferences, facilitating weekend writers’ retreats, acting as a Sarton Awards judge, and participating in the Austin Reading Circle. SCN has generously published my essays in multiple anthologies and journals and highlighted my blogs:
- Contributor, Inside and Out: Women’s Truths, Women’s Stories, 2017
- 2nd Place Award Recipient, When You Least Expect It, Common Ground Essay Contest, 2017
- Contributor, Story Circle Network Anthology, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2025
- Star Blogger, Story Circle Network February, 2015
My first book, Seeing Me: A Guide for Reframing the Way You See Yourself Through Reflective Writing, was released November 2015. This gem is a self-awareness eBook co-authored by photographer, David Rackley using the ReStory Reflective Writing Process™.
In 2019, it was time for me to take a hiatus from teaching, and finish the memoir. All hail She Writes Press for wanting to publish my book and for keeping a fire under me to get it done. You’ll Never Find Us, A Memoir, was published August 17, 2021, winning several prestigious awards in 2022.
If you need to know, here’s the skinny on my community service (it’s pretty boring so you might want to skip this paragraph): As a graduate of Indiana University, Leadership Austin, and Seton Cove’s Leadership Pilgrimage, I’ve had the pleasure of serving on several civic boards including The Crossings Retreat Center Program Advisory Board, Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce, Pflugerville Chamber of Commerce, Zach Scott Theatre Center and Seton Cove Board of Directors. I am a current member, having served as past president and vice president, of the National Story Circle Network Board of Directors, former member of Writers’ League of Texas, and remain a member of the radically loving St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church.
Mother to three married (and very cool) children and three fabulous granddaughters, I live in Langley, Washington on Whidbey Island with my husband/retired architect Robert Guy. Pia, our cat, reminds us daily that there is no such thing as a cat owner.