about me!
Writing is the ADVENTURE
Walking in someone elses shoes
Living lives you can only dream of discovering
Getting to know yourself
Hi I'm Cheryl or CWD for short...
I live in a fantastic country town in the gorgeous Western Australian outback surrounded by red dirt and gum trees.
I love travelling to all kinds of places near and far from home, and talking to people from all walks of life to hear their many wonderful stories. And I love writing, learning, and helping others grow in confidence to really find their passion in life and then figure out how to live it! And that’s where you come in! 🙂
To help you I founded DustyDreamerHQ, The Writer’s Help Desk Podcast, and the Dusty Stories Publishing Company, and there are a few ways we can work together.
I am also the author of several group publications, the novel The Rose – A Reality TV Romance and a collection of Behind the Scenes Short Stories under my pen name Zoe Shackleton. So if you enjoy a bit of reading in your downtime, check out my author site for your free download of my short story collection.
my 4 core values:
Freedom
Passion
Ambition
Connection
balance
Freedom
FREEDOM = to be yourself, to fully express who you are. To discover your hopes and dreams and actually fulfil them. To trust the process and trust yourself. To believe you can do it and take action.
Passion
PASSION = Powerful, don’t take no, your life is yours to make. Live life to the fullest, enjoy the journey as well as the destination. Never stop until you get what you dream. Never give up. Do what it takes as long as it takes. Be persistent and consistent.
Ambition
AMBITION = To dream big, to jump in the deep end and not know it all before you start, to try things you never knew you could enjoy. If I’m doing it, I’m all in, focused, and determined – ain’t nothing going to stop me from accomplishing my goals.
Connection
CONNECTION = Life’s not just about where you’re going and how you’re getting there, but it’s also about who you’re with. Surround yourself with positivity and optimism and the right tools to succeed, and you can get anywhere you want to go.
Balance
BALANCE = Life’s about doing the things you must + the things you enjoy + the things that breathe fire into your soul and make you feel alive. Have a plan, take steps in that plan, go with the flow, and give yourself space and time to grow, experience, learn, and live an abundant, full and healthy life. Sometimes life doesn’t go as planned, be kind to yourself, but keep moving forward even if it’s in a very small way.
My Story
I am a big dreamer, and self-confessed high achiever. Though I wasn’t always the one who had a direction myself my want to live a life filled with purpose, passion, abundance, and balance, has set me on a path of discovery and exploration.
One thing has always been clear I love people and I love to listen. I find happiness in learning about all the ingredients that make each of us so unique. I feel the problems people have like they were my own and I love figuring out the best ways to help.
Over time I have found ways and means of building the life I have always wanted – and no it’s not perfect all the time. But real life never is. Real humans are faced with challenges and obstacles every day. And it is our ability to continue to move forward that is truly what matters.
My question to you is – are you moving toward the life that you want?
Because a lot of people are so busy doing “all the things” that they forget to ask if they are doing what they want.
And if you know what you want… Are you making the small choices every day that help you live your dreams and make you grateful for being alive (even when things get hard)?
Moving in a direction is good.
But what’s the best direction for you?
I believe it’s one that feeds your soul not just your belly and fulfills your hidden desires to accomplish a goal you believe you’ll never be brave enough or good enough to even think about attempting. Building the life of your dreams means doing the thing that really matters to you, even though it’s scary to admit you want it. Even though you’re afraid, you’ll fail.
Life is about choices, and why wait for the “perfect” time to do the thing you love, that thing you’ve always dreamed of doing? Why move in a direction that isn’t aligned with the core of who you are?
The best direction for you is waiting to be discovered, waiting for you to be brave enough to admit you want it. Waiting for you to know you can have it – you just have to take it one small step at a time.
And this is what I want for you!
I want for you to be free to write your stories, to feel like you are the captain of your own ship – powerful and capable of deciding which winds of life you’ll yield to and which you will fight!
How you ask are you going to go from where you are to large and in charge? Well I’m going to teach you the skills that it takes to make it through the storms of life to finish that book and publish it!
I’ve done it myself, and I know from experience you can do it too!
If I had superpowers...
There are some things that just come naturally to everyone of us… here are my superpowers…
- Knowing how to listen and uncover the real issues holding you back
- Seeing the big picture & thinking outside of the box
- Being able to break your goals down into smaller pieces
- Being super organised and results focused
- Providing an endless supply of encouragement, optimism, and positivity (seriously ask anyone who’s met me)
- A never give up attitude
- An understanding of the challenge that change presents each one of us and methods to help
- Working with the unique gifts, talents, and strengths you have to achieve the impossible (well, you thought it was, until now…) You’ve got this! 🙂
