Emptying the brain

my writing style has formed

I have always been a writer. I distinctly remember writing stories when I was 5 years old. My stuffed animals would be my characters, and I would write down an adventure about them. As I grew older, my words continued to form stories and share knowledge with others. Today, I even have a self-published book and a international co-authored book that I’ve been sharing stories through people through the years. I’ve always written stories. Even before the horses. Although, there were horses always featured in my stories.

When I started this Substack, I was craving long-form writing. I was tired of the short captions on social media. I craved writing longer pieces. I also craved an audience to share those pieces with. The name for my Substack “Your Nervous System is Calling” came to me in an intuitive thought. I was thinking about naming this publication something horse-related, because at the time I was writing captions on social media about the evolution of equine wellness in the horse industry, as well as sharing my horse first perspective which I wrote about through 13 equine truths in my self-published book titled “Some Equine Truths”. I thought that my Substack name should have been something horse-related. But, the name “Your Nervous System is Calling” came to me intuitively, and I took the chance to follow it. Without any plans, I named my Substack and never looked back. “Your Nervous System is Calling” is a name that I have had a deep dive with. I have been so inspired by my publication’s name. It has pulled so many words and stories out of me.

I think that’s the magical part about it. Instead of naming my publication to reflect my hopes and dreams for the words that it will house, I’ve done it differently. I picked a name that represents a writing adventure for me. An adventure that I get to sit down with weekly, and write my heart out about what it means to me. And, I haven’t grown tired of it yet. This publication is a home for words of stories from when I was crisply burnt out; words about what to do after you’ve survived and healed from burnout; and words about chasing your deepest dreams and why it is the most important thing you can do in this lifetime.

What I’ve learned throughout writing these words for my Substack is that your nervous system is always calling you back. Back to where you need to be. Back to the dreams you had as a child. There is no coincidence for why you had those thoughts and dreams when you were so young and still new to the world.

Our nervous system is connected to our dreams because the stronger our neural pathways are, the more ready our bodies and minds are to hold the success of our dreams.

In writing this Substack, I’ve been so curious about how the changes in my nervous system impact the rest of my life. By understanding my nervous system’s capacity, from being burnt out to healing to growing her capacity, I’ve been able to create a life that supports my nervous system by keeping her safe and healthy and happy.

My writing style has formed over the last three years, especially when I was writing to my readers (you) weekly. I challenged myself to write once per week. Seems easy right? Well, if you know anything about me, it’s that my life has been chaotic for the last three years. Writing weekly helped me form discipline, and to play with intuition, and form trust with my writer identity.

The game was to write once per week and publish it. It didn’t matter what day of the week or time I sat to write. It only mattered that I wrote. My subject matter was inspired by whatever I felt like I was moving through that week. Either a feeling that I wanted to unpack, some wisdom that I wanted to document for myself and others, a intuitive writing prompt that I wanted to explore, or sometimes I would sit and let myself become surprised by the words that would be written onto the pages while I was writing them. Such an adventure!

This game became the focus of my creative work. Always working through chaotic moments and burn out to make sure that I had some time and energy to write my weekly piece for my Substack. And, it changed my life. I have grown so many skills and relationships from this simply trust in a publication name and devotion to its life online.

I would classify my writing style as “emptying the brain”. There’s writers out there on Substack who work on pieces for a couple weeks or months before publishing, and I admire that. I tried it a few times, but I cannot just sit with a piece to continuously edit it and form it for publishing on my Substack. I can write those kinds of pieces, although they’re for something more long-term like a book. For my Substack, my writing style is more like emptying my brain onto the pages. There is always some weight lifted off my shoulders after finishing and publishing a Substack article. I became excited, and still am today, to carve out one time per week where I get to sit and write about what’s on my mind.

Sometimes it’s a thought that I want to dive in deeper to explore, and sometimes it’s the thoughts that I didn’t know were in my mind that need to come to the forefront of my mind for some thinking and clarification. The accumulation of doing this weekly for two years helped me process some difficult moments, and put my mind at ease about them. I do not carry these stories in my mind. They pour out onto the pages and stay there.

And, I think that’s where the magic of my words come from. Everyone who reads my words notices it, even me when I read words from my past. I sometimes truly cannot believe I wrote words that feel so powerful and captivating. However, from understanding my writing style now, years later, I can see why my words connect with readers so deeply. It’s incredible to witness. The words come from a deep place, and they connect in a deep place in others. I feel so lucky to provide that connection for others.

I’m happy that I found my way back to these pages after the adventurous couple of months that I’ve had at the beginning of 2026. I am excited to keep sharing stories, and exploring our nervous systems together.

If you have any words of mine that continue to sit with you in your nervous system, please share them in a comment with me. I’m always curious to hear how readers feel and keep my words with them.

Thank you so much for Being here,

D