Conscious Footsteps #author Dion Elliott Jensen

Conscious Footsteps
An unravelling. 
A return to self.
A walk back to truth.

On paper, Dion Elliott Jensen had built a life many would envy.
A successful career. Financial security. A young family. A clear sense of who he was and where he was going.

He had the job, the money and the life he thought he wanted. Then he lost it all — and realised none of it was really him.

Then, in a single moment, it all disappeared.

His debut book, Conscious Footsteps, is structured as a series of reflective ‘walks’ exploring masculinity, fear, fatherhood, estrangement, love and the painful process of rebuilding a life after identity collapse.

‘This is not a manual. You won’t find checklists or ten-step formulas here. Just one life.
One story.
An unfolding journey through the edges and depths of being human.’

To connect with Dion ....
https://consciousfootsteps.com/
https://www.instagram.com/dionelliottjensen

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:02

Yes, good morning, Dion Jensen. Welcome to Yellow Shelf.

SPEAKER_00 0:06

Thank you. Thanks for having me.

SPEAKER_01 0:07

My pleasure. Congratulations. You've got a book that's out now. It's your debut book. Do you want to tell us all about your new book, Conscious Footsteps?

SPEAKER_00 0:17

Yes. So it is called Conscious Footsteps. It's a reflective memoir. It's more about unraveling the identities that we build for ourselves around success, our roles, and also expectations, but more importantly, return to who we really are. A little bit of a departure from how a book's traditionally written in chapters. I wrote it in the concept of walks. And the intention is not for the book to be read cover to cover, it's to read a walk. And then that's a literal invitation to go on a walk yourself and explore the themes that we explore within each walk themselves. So I go through ego, fear, love, identity, identity, loss, and most importantly the stories that we're told about ourselves. It's not a how-to guide. There's no 10-step formulas in there. It's just my one person, honest journey through loss, self-discovery, and authenticity. And I hope that it gives readers a pause and an opportunity to reflect and to reconnect with their own truth.

SPEAKER_01 1:18

And Dean, I'm glad you mentioned that because when I was looking at the book, that's what I did. I reflected on aspects of my life where either the best laid plans don't work out, you know, life throws you a few curveballs, health, all sorts of, you know, career-wise. So I certainly, it was a reflective for me, even though it's your reflective memoir.

SPEAKER_00 1:45

Yes. And I really wanted it to be that. I wanted um to create a space where everyone goes through change and everyone goes through what I would call a catalyst moment for them. And that catalyst moment can be a force pause, it can be health-related, it can be career related, it can simply be with how you identify with yourself. Um, and I didn't want it to be prescriptive. I wanted the language to be almost generic enough where I wasn't telling you something, I was more sparking something within you to have that self-reflective moment. But do it because it's a debut book. No one knows about me. So I think uh when you've got a famous author or you've got a celebrity, you have this unconscious bias that you apply to them because you know them from the media. Um, but the benefit of this being a debut book is you've got no idea who I am. So you're almost forced to apply it to a reference point, a reference point being yourself.

SPEAKER_01 2:43

Yeah. And Dion, do you want to share with us uh, you know, why write the book now and and maybe share a bit about you? Anything we need to know?

SPEAKER_00 2:52

Sure, sure. Well, I am a father. Um, I am a partner. Uh, I've been a husband to a wife and also to a husband. So I've had a really unique range of experiences in life. Um, but most importantly, the bridge in between a lot of those moments is what I've written about in the book. It kind of uh centers around the last 10 years of my life, but harks back to childhood uh in certain in certain parts. Um, and as a person, the way that I would process information is by writing in journals. And I had this wide range of journals that I would jot down in uh usually after a walk as I tried to process my emotions and my feelings. Um and during those times I went through a lot of depression and anxiety and really struggled um with finding my way through it to the point where um I even became suicidal at one point. Um, and it's my catalyst point to say if I can write a book, which is a compilation of my journals that would help someone navigate those really dark places in their life, then it would be worthwhile if it just touched one other person. Uh, and that was really the foundation and the moment where I thought, I'll turn it into a book.

SPEAKER_01 4:07

Well done. Dion, what about um what about the writing process? Like what we first time, first time writer. You said you mentioned you you journaled a lot, but what was that like being a writer?

SPEAKER_00 4:21

Um, it was very revealing. Uh, it forced me to confront a lot of parts of myself that I thought I'd healed from and that I had uh moved on from. Uh, often I found I was just really good at compartmentalizing, or I was really, really great at what I call bento boxing. We'll just put that emotion over there and we'll put this one over here and we'll close the lid and maybe never speak of it again. But when I came at this book with the intent of it can help somebody else uh as the learnings helped me, I couldn't leave those um those compartments covered. Uh, and it really forced me to kind of pull that cover back and say, what was this here to teach me? Um, and what is what is the learning or the revelation that I can take from that? Um, I should also say it was a really cathartic experience for me because I was forced to confront those places or parts of me, uh, they couldn't be stifled any longer.

SPEAKER_01 5:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 5:17

So I got a lot of additional healing from writing the book, uh, which I'm almost uh it's almost my little selfish benefit that I got from it in in looking to help others. I I accidentally also really helped myself. Uh and I love that for me, and I love then what that can provide for somebody else too.

SPEAKER_01 5:36

Yeah. Well, Dion, congratulations because I know the book's out. Um, if anyone's watching, if we're curious about the work, you've got a great website. I'll put some links in the show notes. But do you want to point anyone else in a direction of where they should get curious about the book and you?

SPEAKER_00 5:55

Yeah, I think you can get a physical copy from consciousfootsteps.com. Uh, you can read a bit more about me and also the premise of the book there. Uh, but if you'd like to buy a physical copy or a copy for your Kindle, just go to Amazon and search for Conscious Footsteps and it'll pop up.

SPEAKER_01 6:12

Awesome. Dion, I'll put some links in the show notes. Um, would you write again? Like, did you enjoy it? May not be a memoir, but did you enjoy writing? Um, is that something you'd think about in the future?

SPEAKER_00 6:23

Or yeah, yes, I loved the process of writing and I loved the outcome of it. And I've also loved seeing the influence and effect that it's had on others. So you're right, it won't be a reflective memoir in the future, but I'd really more like to um explore the concepts of living consciously and how it affects different aspects of our life. Um, I've come from a corporate background, uh, and I think there's a lot of benefit in the corporate world to leading consciously and leading teams and leading people and leading yourself consciously and brands. But then I also think within relationships and consciously loving, there's a lot of um a lot of opportunity there too. So a long way of saying yes, I'd love to write again and I will write again.

SPEAKER_01 7:05

Well, I selfishly asked that question because it's it's great to know that you know you can come back again and share any future books on Yellow Shelf. But Dion, in the meantime, thank you so much for joining us. Uh, all the best.

SPEAKER_00 7:17

Pleasure. Have a great day.

SPEAKER_01 7:18

Cheers.