10 Things Most People Don't Know About Personal Growth Author Jill Jepson

Yesterday we had a wonderful interview with Jill Jepson, author of the personal growth/writing book, Writing as a Sacred Path: A Practical Guide to Writing With Passion & Purpose. Today, Jill is back with a great guest post telling us ten things people don't know about her. Enjoy!

10 Things Most People Don't Know About Personal Growth/Writing Author Jill Jepson

1. I’m in love with science. I spent my entire childhood wanting to be an astronomer. I gave it up in high school and have always had a pang of regret about it.
2. I can be funny. I’m too shy to make a lot of funny remarks out loud, but they’re there. In my head, I’m hilarious.
3. I can go into a trance watching jellyfish. They are like stunningly beautiful creatures from another galaxy.
4. I believe in ghosts. At least, I believe in the possibility of ghosts. I know this is odd because I’m a strong believer in science and think most ideas about the supernatural are loony. But I’ve had too many unexplained experiences to dismiss the idea that consciousness survives physical death.
5. I write really bad poetry. I write fiction and nonfiction well, but not poetry. Nobody knows this about me because my poetry is so bad I throw it out without showing anyone.
6. I spent seven years of my life studying Japanese, Chinese, and Hindi, which is one of the main languages of India, where I lived for three years. Some people know this about me, but I don’t talk about it very much (and I’ve forgotten much of what I used to know about those languages), so there are people who’ve known me for years who are astonished to learn that I can actually read Chinese characters and carry on a Hindi conversation.
7. I’m afraid of dead fish. I’m not going to even try to explain this.
8. I used to work as a model in Japan. That was a long, long time ago, before the processes of decay set in.
9. I once spent the night in a jail in Afghanistan. I wasn’t in trouble, I was just traveling around the country and there was no place to stay, so the police said I could sleep in a cell. It was a truly creepy experience.
10. I’ve got enough skeletons in my closet to populate the city of Detroit.

Jill Jepson is a traveler, professor, and transformational life coach, and the author of three books and over 60 articles. She holds a Ph.D. in Linguistics from the University of Chicago as well as degrees in writing, psychology, social science, and Asian studies. Using her extensive travels to places as diverse as Guatemala, Syria, Siberia, and Afghanistan, her writing explores spiritual traditions, history, culture, personal growth, and the writing process. Through her business, Writing the Whirlwind, she offers coaching and online workshops for writers, activists, and others. You can visit her website at www.writingthewhirlwind.net.