Inspiration is a gift. Sometimes it comes after days of hard work, lifting me and lighting the way. Other times, I find inspiration from those who have walked the path before me. When running dry, I can always count on Joni Sensel to inspire me. Her newest book encourages me to get outside and rekindle my creative spirit. Joni has agreed to pop by and share some inspiration with all of us today.

Joni Sensel is the author of more than a dozen non-fiction titles for adults, five novels for young readers, and two picture books. Her inspiring workshops and webinars offer unique activities that deepen our connection to creativity and to nature.

I encourage you to visit Joni’s website, where you’ll find more about her books, workshops, webinars, and discover a treasure trove of Wildly Inspired Resources.

“A spirited and inspiring book for anyone struggling with creative blocks.” — Kirkus Reviews

Wildly Inspired welcomes everyone into nature’s bounty, where we can discover our own creative treasures every season of the year.

Some lucky Dreamwalker will win a signed copy! See entry details at the close of our conversation.

Janet: Thanks for taking the time to chat with me today, Joni. Your book offers outdoor activities to nourish creativity throughout the seasons. I thought we might focus on fall since that’s where we are now. Your chapter “Fall Inward” introduces autumn as a liminal, change-oriented time that also serves as a harbinger of loss. A season that offers the creative soul time to reflect. Can you tell us more about how you use nature’s cues to inspire and enrich your own creativity?

Joni: I was raised to be close to nature, with camping, exploration, and learning the names of things. And I love to walk, run, and hike. So it’s been natural for me to dream about story ideas as I walk, take “story problems” on runs to solve, and let stories unfold in my mind while I’m moving my legs outdoors.

It wasn’t a big step to start thinking more carefully about all the ways I rely on nature for my writing or other creative practices… and whether some of those ways might help others, too.
I realized I often look for signs, images, symbols, sensory details, and more in nature that, in one way or another, end up in my work.

Janet: Yes. I also look for inspirational signs and symbols when I’m out in nature, Joni. I’ve had some magical encounters recently — an osprey circling overhead — that felt like a blessing.

I loved the activity in the Fall Inward section called “Decipher Wild Writing” with the cool photos of Wild writing left by tree worms and such. I like to run my fingertips along the “worm writing”. It’s like a secret kind of braille. Can you tell us a little more about that part of your book?

Joni: I’ve always loved the idea – real or imagined – that the world sends us messages, if we’ll only pay attention and learn to speak the same language. (I suspect I might qualify as schizotypal, which is sort of schizophrenic light – not meaning to make light of serious mental illness, but because I can’t shake the impression that there’s meaning in things that other people of a more materialistic bent wouldn’t accept, and that we might have a personal relationship with nature.) So I see things like worm scrawls or rows and rows of flicker holes in trees and wish I could speak that language to get the secret message. And pondering what those messages might be is as good a way as any to spark creativity and “hear” what our subconscious might be saying to us–about our own lives and challenges, or about those of characters and writing projects.

And yes! I don’t care if signs like your osprey are just us deciding they have meaning to us personally when they objectively don’t. Writers make meaning, period. That’s just one example. Why not?

Janet: Thanks! The osprey is the talisman for my latest novel. I was sitting in my backyard, journaling about my frustration over how little time I have to work on the novel, when the osprey circled over my head for about a minute, calling out with its piercing cry. I was floored.

Joni: Did it seem like it was telling you, “Of course you have time?” or “Get on it, Janet?” Or what?

Janet: Yes. I felt like the osprey was telling me. You will make the time. There will be time. And the story is worth it.

Joni: Ooh. Chills. I’m right in the middle of a delightful writing spree that feels like a similar validation from the universe, so I get it.

Janet: That’s great to hear, Joni. On with the writing spree! Do you have any other favorite fall activities you’d like to share with the Dreamwalkers from Wildly Inspired?

Joni: One of my favorites–a practical one – is to dig deeper into secrets. Fall is a time of hidden things revealed: tree limbs, bird nests, potatoes dug from the soil. And secrets are a really powerful tool for writers. Characters who have them, keep them, reveal them, react to them… so much character development and plot twist goodness. I might go so far as to say every character in fiction should have one, whether it comes out on the page or not, just because it gives us, the writers, so much to work with in terms of motivation and conflict. Plus, of course, we all keep secrets from ourselves or others about our own doubts as writers.

Janet: I agree. I certainly have “secret doubts” about my ability to write. Ah… I just said that here on the page, so the secret is out. Ha! Nature accepts our secrets, too. We can laugh, cry, scream in the wind, and the wind takes it with complete acceptance. Do you want to talk about this intimacy with nature and its connection to grieving as you do in Wildly Inspired?

Joni: Honestly, I don’t know where to start when it comes to nature and grieving – or emotions in general. For me, the landscape and nature seem to provide a sort of neutral sounding board. Listening, as you mentioned, and absorbing… providing a big, long-term perspective… without ever pretending that bad things don’t happen and that life isn’t sometimes hard. We all feel pain. Even the trees.

Janet: Yes. Nature accepts us as we are and accepts it all as it is. Outside in the woods and wild, we are free. I love the outings in Wildly Inspired that lead to creative moments and moments of wild wisdom, Joni. I can flip through and find just the right exercise to lift my mood whenever I need a boost. The book’s a good traveling companion.

Joni: Thanks. I want to encourage any creative person, which is all of us, to intentionally spend a little more time in nature. Even if the activities in my book don’t resonate for you, there is a ton of science about how being outdoors and in contact with nature, even in small ways, does great things for us psychologically (and physically!) that can only enhance our creativity. Many people are aware of that. But not many realize that nature can also help them solve specific challenges in a project… if they try something new and open a new perspective with a little help from the ants, the plants and the sky.

Closer contact with nature also helps us remember that most everything cycles. Creativity, too, which is why I used the seasons to structure the book. I’d love all of us to remember that rest is an essential part of the cycle. Too many of us try to produce work (or promotional activities, or networking…). All. The. Time. It’s not good for us, the earth, or our work. Remember to let the well refill sometimes. As the weather turns cold and damp, we’re increasingly in a good season for rejuvenation.

Janet: Beautiful, Joni. I’m inspired to get outside more. I need that deep, surprising nourishment. And yes, to rest. Or as my dragons say, “Resssst”

Pick up a copy of Wildly Inspired. Rest, Read, and Rejuvenate.

You Can Also Enter to Win a signed copy!
Wildly Inspired is a perfect gift for you or your favorite adventurer.
Just email me on my contact page. Answer the question, “What’s your favorite fall weather?” And you’ll be entered to win.
*Entry Deadline December 9th, 2025.
*Winner will receive an email confirmation on December 11th, 2025.

Thanks, Dreamwalkers, for joining our conversation. Please feel free to comment below.

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