Hello, friend.

I am so glad you found me. I am a bestselling author of self-help books, a mama to two sweet girls, and a Japanologist by training. I am also a trained yoga teacher, Reiki Master, and curious explorer of the world. My husband calls me ‘rebel with a dictionary’, I have long been a beauty seeker and a chocolate lover, and I just cannot shake my obsession with Japanese stationery. I am also a writer mentor - more than 35,000 people have taken my writing classes.

My latest book KOKORO: Japanese wisdom for a life well lived just missed out on the Sunday Times Bestseller list by 25 books! Such is life… But I am thrilled at the way it has been received by readers, describing it as ‘life-changing’, ‘awe-inspiring’ and ‘the most profound book I have ever read’. It is a meditation on impermanence and a guidebook of sorts for navigating major life transitions. I hope you will read and love it.

Welcome to my Substack ‘This is it.’, so named because life is short and precious, and I think it’s worth making the most of every single day. Everything here is FREE so please do subscribe now via the button below and enjoy my essays at your leisure.

Why subscribe?

Here on Substack I share things I don’t share anywhere else, including what it’s really like to write books and call it work (often blissful, sometimes painful, always a juggle!), and reflections on doing what you love in a world that wants you to do what makes other people money. You can see an example of this in Confessions of a Self-Help Author and When Living The Dream Looks Like a Tracksuit and a Warmed Up Fish Pie from Tesco.

I often see things through a lens of all I have experienced as a Japanologist and through years of living and working in Japan, and share that here (such as in this essay on The Life-Changing Magic of Writing Haiku).

For more inspiration, you might like to dive into one of my books. My latest book KOKORO: Japanese wisdom for a life well lived is out now.

Everything on my Substack is FREE so please do subscribe and share with any friends who might enjoy my work.

Beth Xx

PS You can also find me on Instagram @bethkempton and you can find all my courses on doing what you love at dowhatyouloveforlife.com

PPS Some lovely folks have been asking how to pay to support my writing. Currently everything on my Substack is free, but you can pledge to support me if I ever turn on paid, and of course you can buy one of my books! Find a full list here. I hope you love them!