Today, my dearest, I’m delighted to introduce you to a wonderful woman I met on Instagram (yes, those lovely squares 😊). I felt an instant connection with Giulia because so many of her stories resonate with me – having lived abroad, or left the corporate world among others. She’s not only an excellent writer, but shares her insights and thoughts as she navigates what she refers to as ‘her forest’ and invites you along. Meet Giulia Mazzola – who’s all about intentional writing, intentional creativity, and tapping into your intuition and inner voice.
For our readers here, could you tell us a bit about who you are and where you live now?
Hello! I am currently living in Houston, Texas in America after relocating here at the beginning of 2020. I currently work as a freelance writer and translator after leaving a corporate finance job 4 years ago. I left this corporate job in London to be able to live with my husband and to rediscover what was important to me.
I have moved multiple times over the years, within countries and across borders. I have lived in Beijing, Edinburgh, Taipei, London, Aberdeen and now Houston so I have had to learn how to adapt on the move and without a grounded home base. Moving around regularly is a core part of my life and is why I made the decision to develop a life that prioritised freedom and flexibility.
Losing my identity from leaving a finance job and moving out of London feeds the core of my writing. I write about the journey of rediscovering myself and how I have been learning to live an intentional, creative life after this. And so I write for those that still feel a little lost, that ache for something else – those that are seeking magic but aren’t sure where to find it yet.
What an incredible life! How have these experiences shaped your journey and what you do now?
This is what led me to living intentionally as I realised how very lost I had felt working in this other job, chasing an identity that had been passed to me from society as a vision of success but that didn’t feel like a true fit. The first few years after leaving my corporate job I existed in a state of distraction and confusion. I felt blank. I had spent so much energy conforming to what I believed I should be that I had nothing left to nourish my soul, and I wasn’t even sure what I even wanted at that point. I had no idea what was bringing me joy or what would bring me joy. It happened so very slowly though, that I didn’t realise until it was too late. There were so many aspects of my life that I loved, that I wasn’t aware that I was feeling stifled creatively or that even if I was making choices, they weren’t truly my own. I was making choices from a place of fear and insecurity rather than a soul-centred space.
I was still being swayed by society expectations and my own story I’d built up for myself on what success looked like. So the first step that I had to take was to unravel those stories that I’d constructed. This took far longer than I expected and it was not a fully conscious process from day one. I distracted myself as much as humanly possible in the first year out of my job with travel, planning my wedding and many courses!
It was only when I moved to Scotland to live with my husband that I was forced to slow down and take stock of what I was doing. I was forced to get comfortable with being by myself and confronting all the thoughts I’d been pushing aside. This is when living with intention and learning to listen to my intuition entered my life, when I had to really look at what I was allowing in, what I was choosing to do with my time and how I was going to continue going forward. It was the first time I actually gave myself the mental space to do this.
It wasn’t an easy process and it is only through looking back that I can recognise how valuable that time was. At the time it just felt very confusing and I felt very lost, desperately searching for some kind of answer. But each day that I continued to practice living intentionally brought me closer to my soul’s desires that had been dormant for so very long.
What does a typical day look like in your life?
It took me quite a bit of time to develop a routine that really nurtured me. I remember the first few months working from home I kept trying to stick to office hours and would park myself at my desk, regardless of my workload! This has changed massively since then.
I start my day very intentionally – with breakfast and journalling. This is the cornerstone of my lifestyle. My journalling practice has been a very solid anchor for helping me process my thoughts and feelings and for uncovering my inner voice. Part of my journalling practice also involves tarot cards. I do a daily draw to help connect with my intuition and to guide my journalling for that day. Essentially my tarot cards guide what I pay attention to. It is my gateway to my inner voice and has been transformational in my journal practice to be able to really dive deeper. This flows over to my plans for the day.
What advice would you give to someone who wants to live more intentionally and creatively but has no idea where to start?
The thing that helped me the most was beginning to journal. It is the cornerstone of all the other intentional creativity I have introduced into my life. It allowed me to create a daily ritual that was a moment that was all mine. Over time I have layered in other helpful nuances – my tarot draws and also journalling in conjunction with my menstrual cycle. Each day I write what day of my cycle I am on that day and that also allows me to take into account my moods and energy that is most prevalent during the inner season in which I’m living. Journalling every day also helped me write my way out of my creative and energetic slump. It gave me hope and helped me fall in love with writing again.
It is such a small but purposeful action, that slowly over time it can become your most powerful asset. It helps unblock your current thought processes and also allows you to be able to look back and see what patterns are there for you to uncover. For me it was really the combination of tarot and journalling that helped create so much space for more creativity and intentionality to come through.
What according to you, is intentional living and why is it important to you?
Intentional living to me means living with curiosity. It means inviting curiosity into why you do the things you do, why you think the way you think and really examine your choices so that you are adding joy to your life – not running on autopilot. I don’t want to keep having moments where I wake up to my life and suddenly realise what is going on. That is not to say I won’t ever have those moments again, I think we all encounter those moments time and time again. I just want to minimise them so that I am sure I am living my life and guiding it so that even when things go wrong, I can say I chose it and it is mine.
Connect with Giulia:
If you’d like to follow or connect with Giulia, head here or click on any of the images above to find her on Instagram.