Rebecca Winn
Rebecca Winn is the author of One Hundred Daffodils; Finding Beauty, Grace, and Meaning When Things Fall Apart (Grand Central/Hachette), a memoir that chronicles her psychological, emotional and spiritual journey to self-reinvention at midlife after a significant life upheaval. Incorporating a deep dive in Jungian psychology and global spiritual practices, Winn learned to trust the wisdom of the divine in nature, as her sanctuary and sage teacher.
Born in Dallas, Texas and raised in Europe, Rebecca’s family moved to Italy when she was in 1st grade. They lived in Rome for 4 years, then moved to Scotland, and finally to England, landing in a village so tiny it is officially a hamlet.
With a degree in fine art from the Meadows School of the Arts at SMU, Rebecca considers herself an artist first. She is a multiple-award winning landscape designer, with 6 top awards in landscape design, over 30 in floral design and over 300 in horticulture. She has owned a high-end, boutique landscape design firm for over 20 years. Her Facebook blog, Whimsical Gardens, has over 600,000 followers and celebrates the beauty, magic and wonder of the earth.
One Hundred Daffodils has been featured in Spirituality and Health magazine, was chosen as a Must Read selection for April on Minnesota Public Radio, and as a Kerri Miller Book Circle Selection - one of only six books chosen each year as a gift to the top donors of Minnesota Public Radio.
Twitter: @RebeccaOWinn
Instagram: @RebeccaWinn.writer
Favorite Non-Reading activity
Deep, inspiring conversation with interesting, intelligent people. I love to connect with people, one-on-one in a meaningful way. I can do big parties, but my preference is high quality, individual time spent with one or two other people.
Vacation Druthers… City or Rural destination? Why?
C. All of the Above. I grew up in Europe and love to travel. My ex-husband was a great travel partner, and we took lots of wonderful 4-6 week long trips that allowed us time to truly sink in to the place we were visiting. I’ve never been drawn to the, “If this is Tuesday, it must be Belgium” kind of travel. Darting in, grabbing a photo op at major landmarks and then dashing back out is not really travel, as far as I’m concerned.
Since my divorce, I have learned to travel alone, which I have also learned to love. Of course, it is wonderful to share these experiences with another person, but there is something deeply satisfying about allowing yourself the time and opportunity to experience other cultures, people and places exactly on your own terms. I also find one meets a lot more people when one travels alone, which is super cool!
Have you ever experienced Imposter Syndrome?
Yep. All my life. There is a constant struggle within me between my dreams and aspirations, and my fears and insecurities. And the higher the stakes, the worse it gets, of course. For example, right before One Hundred Daffodils sold, I had signed with an amazing, highly respected agent who wanted me to use Mary Oliver’s Upstream as a comparable for my book in my proposal. When I saw that, I thought to myself, “You have GOT to be kidding me! I would never in a million years have the hubris to compare my writing to Mary Pulitzer-Prize-Winning Oliver!” And I was not able to write another word… for months. The Mean Girl in my head was loud and vicious, screaming at me that I was completely unqualified to write this, or any other book, and it was a complete and total joke — no… I was a complete and total joke — if I thought I could use Mary Oliver as a comparable. But there was a tiny little other voice inside that kept whispering back, “Maybe you’re wrong…. Maybe you’re wrong…”
I made myself sit down and work on that proposal through the acute anxiety and deep Imposter Syndrome, every day for two months. A few self-sabotaging derailments, and a lot of courage later, I submitted the proposal. Within a week it had gone to auction and sold to a Big Five publisher, with the Editor-in-Chief of the hardback division as my editor. My Mean Girl is still in there, but she now has a powerful antidote I like to call The Truth.
Do you have another artistic outlet in addition to your writing? Paint? Dance? Draw?
My degree is in Fine Art, and I owned a multiple award-winning, boutique residential landscape design firm for over 20 years. I still paint periodically. Usually in oils, sometimes in watercolors, never in acrylics. Painting for me is a very intense experience. Much like writing, when I am painting I am completely immersed in it, and can do very little else. I also still do some design, which keeps me in art much of the time.
I also dance. I’ve done a few flash mobs which are super fun. I enjoy all kinds of dance, but mostly these days I do ecstatic dance (which dance as a spiritual practice, and unrelated to exotic dance as some people mistakenly assume.)
What brings you great joy?
Creation. Both my own, and that which surrounds us and has its origins in the mystery. I am in a constant state of creating, whether it is in my garden, in my kitchen, in my studio or in my life. I find the act of creating, and the connection to, and appreciation of, all creation to be the most profound of spiritual practices. It simultaneously expands us and brings us deeper into our interior life. Creation is the divine in a form we can touch, hold, and know.
