Journaling Your Badass Story with Merle Saferstein

While taking a break from her career as a lifelong educator Merle Saferstein was offered a series of opportunities that led her to discover the importance of leaving her legacy.  Working with over 500 Holocaust survivors and having kept journals her entire life, Merle was inspired to help others leave their legacy through journaling.  She is a pioneer in the field of legacy journaling. She's a professional educator, speaker, author, and we can learn a lot from Merle's personal story and about the art of journaling. Merle has been journaling for 48 years and has amassed a collection of 380 journals, the majority of which are the basis for her Legacy Journal books, Living and Leaving My Legacy Volumes 1 and 2. After 26 years as a Holocaust educator, where she worked with hundreds of Holocaust survivors, helping them to leave their legacy, she retired and created Living and Leaving Your Legacy through classes, workshops, and lectures. She has guided thousands of people in Sacred Legacy work, writing for wellness and journaling. Her short story collection Room 732 pays homage to the historic Hollywood Beach Hotel.  Merle lives in Miami, Florida with her husband of 56 years and has two children and two grandchildren.    What You Will Hear in This Episode:  3:15 Merle’s personal journey 6:50 Expanding from education to writing and public speaking 10:21 Journaling and its benefits 17:06 Journaling promoting wellness  20:34 Journaling advice and challenges 26:52 Using journaling as a tool   Quotes “ Just as I believe legacy work is a gift we give ourselves, I believe journaling is as well.” “ I remember things and I do believe that I remember them because of the fact that I wrote them down.” “If you don't even know where to start, then just start with Right now I'm thinking, or right now I'm feeling. Just get to exactly where you're at in that moment, and just let your pen go, and don't censor what you write.”   Mentioned: Room 732 Living and Leaving My Legacy Merlersaferstein.com IAJW   eConnect with Bonnie https://bonniemarcusleadership.com/ https://web.facebook.com/bonnie.marcus/  https://www.linkedin.com/in/bonniemarcus https://twitter.com/selfpromote https://www.instagram.com/self_promote_/ Gendered Ageism Survey Results Forbes article 5 Tips to own the superpower of your age IAMMusicGroup Purchase my book Not Done Yet on Amazon:    If you enjoyed this episode of Badass Women Podcast, then make sure to subscribe to the podcast and drop us a five-star review.