The Creative Touchstone Sessions

Making unshakable meaning
as you walk towards your dreams.

When would you need a Creative Touchstone Session?

I specialize in thresholds.

What I mean by that is that I meet people in their in-between state and support them there.

Maybe you are at your edge. You’ve reached the edge of all you’ve known as a maker, and you stand at a new corner of your creative dreams. What you’ve left is still in sight, but you haven’t quite reached where you’re headed. That in-between place can be both magical and terrifying.

The specifics of the threshold will be a bit different for everybody.

Maybe you have just finished that manuscript or book proposal. You’re now sitting there in this sea of research about agents, and you are gathering your nerve to send out that first query letter. 

Maybe you’ve already got the publishing contract, and you have just gotten your editorial letter from your editor. 

Or maybe you’ve been in the business for a while. You have a lot of books under your belt, but you have this new genre that you are trying out, and you can just feel this newness—both giddy and frightening—rushing at you for wandering into new territory. 

Or maybe this is your first book. You’ve made other things you’re proud of—online courses, or a podcast, or your own business, and though you’re committed to the call, the transition to book-writing makes you feel wobbly and uncertain.

Or maybe you have already self-published a book, and you didn’t quite have the experience that you hoped you would have. And you are just now building up the courage to go back to your desk and try again. 

All these sound really different, but I promise you that they feel the same. 

They feel like you are standing at a door, this threshold, and you feel like you can not go any farther because the door is locked. 

Maybe the door is locked, maybe it’s not. 

What I can promise you is that I don’t have the key. It’s you that has the key. 

And maybe all you need to find it is another pair of hands and another pair of eyes, somebody who has been there, at whatever phase that you’ve been in, to help you find it. 

 
 

A little more on Shelby Bach.

You can read the full bio here, but here are some quick highlights:

  • 25+ years of writing experience.

  • 2 years working in the editorial department in major New York publishing houses (and several more working freelance for the same houses).

  • Author of the Ever Afters, a complete four-book series, published by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.

  • The founder of the JourneyPen Project.

Add-Ons

  • Soul Story Adornment Pieces

    You may want a physical reminder of our time together, something that can help you anchor in the fresh meaning made through the process. If so, Shelby can create a one-of-a-kind, custom Soul Story Adornment necklaces or bracelets for you following the one-on-one session. (Limited to those in US & Canada only. The price of shipping is included.)

    Explore the Soul Story Portfolio.

  • The JourneyPen Voice Letters

    If you think you’ll want contact with Shelby between the two sessions and/or after the second session, you might consider purchasing a JourneyPen Voice Letter. This offering is a recorded message, which you think of as a podcast made specifically for you, one you can listen to again and again—whenever you need a pep talk. (Each recording is between 10 and 15 minutes long.)

    Learn more about the JourneyPen Voice Letters.

FAQs

  • To help you know what to expect, here is what happens for every Touchstone Session:

    a) You book your appointment through this website.

    b) I’ll send you a questionnaire.

    c) You fill it out at least 24 hours in advance of our appointment, which gives me time to review it.

    d) We meet together over Zoom.

    • You bring your situation and your optimism. I bring my experience and my thoughts based on your questionnaire, which we use as a jumping off point.

    • Unless you would really prefer that we didn’t, I record the session so that you can review + rewatch later. That way, you don’t feel like you need to take notes.

    • We collaborate to unpack what is troubling you so that you feel more supported as you take this big step.

    e) After we finish up and say goodbye, I reflect and consider everything we’ve discussed.

    f) Then within a week of the session, I send you a JourneyPen Voice Letter. You can think of it as a podcast episode of your very own you can listen to whenever you need a pep talk.

    g) If you’ve chosen to buy a bracelet or necklace, I make one based on what we’ve discussed in the session, and I send it to you.

  • Yes. It’s best if you know what kind of change is at your feet and if you understand what kind of touchstone we’ll be exploring.

    If you haven’t yet reached that self-knowledge, then this offering isn’t yet the best fit for you. Instead, you might be better served by a Clarity, Creativity, and the Cosmos Sessions and/or one of the other offerings at the JourneyPen Project.

  • The Touchstone Sessions are best suited when you already know what change is at your feet. You understand the bigness of the step you’re taking, and you want to collaborate with me to unpack what’s happening under the surface. We may use some astrology, but it’s not central to our discussion in the same way. Together, we craft fresh meaning as an unshakable foundation for your next steps so that you feel rooted and supported in your change.

    The Clarity, Creativity, and the Cosmos sessions are best suited when you’re in a murky middle of some kind. We look at astrology—your natal chart and the transits currently unfolding at the sky—to shed light on the themes at play. Since creativity is the practice of making meaning, and astrology is one way of making meaning, we inevitably talk about creativity. This usually includes talking about the hidden ways creativity may be showing up in your situation.

    More on the Clarity, Creativity, and the Cosmos sessions here.

  • Yes, you definitely need to be eighteen or older.

    If you’ve gotten to know Shelby Bach through The Ever Afters, and/or if you’re still a student, that’s fabulous—this offering probably won’t serve you as much as others will.

  • Communication between you and Shelby is limited to the questionnaire before the session(s), emails about scheduling, and the one-on-one Zoom session(s). Additional communication between you and Shelby is provided only through the JourneyPen Voice Letters, which is available as an add-on. Textual support, social media messaging, email, and other forms of communication are not included.

    There are two reasons behind this:

    1) The one-on-one sessions are designed to provide support while also nurturing your creative independence. You are supported in making your own meaning in the session so that with the unshakable meaning you’ve made, you feel supported and nourished—even when you’re alone at your desk in the midst of your own creative process.

    2) All JourneyPen offerings are also designed to allow Shelby space and capacity to continue creating on her own. Writing books, crafting classes, and creating other content requires time, energy, and other resources, which doesn’t allow her to be available outside of the containers she already offers.

  • You might consider The Planetary Path. It’s a two-session offering, which combines the Clarity, Creativity, and the Cosmos and the Touchstone Sessions to integrate your past, including your recent astrological transits, and build a path to your future.

    More on that offering here.

  • I’m considering offering a multi-session mentorship container in 2023, but that long-term mentorship will only be available to those who have already worked with me before.

    That way, we’ll both already know if we’re a good fit for long-term work.

  • You might consider signing up to receive financial support from the Community Harvest Fund. You can learn more about that Fund here.