courage for what's next
mid-year check-in prompts + last call for the creative courage writing intensive
Hi everyone,
I just got back from a walk, and I’m savoring the peace and calm I feel in this moment. I don’t know what the day will bring, but this morning I started with love and a reminder that I am guided and can handle whatever comes.
How are you feeling? How are you finding pockets of time in your day to escape the noise and center yourself?
Last night we gathered on Zoom for a mid-year check-in to reflect on the creative intentions we set at the beginning of the year and how we’re feeling about them now.
We used prompts from the Life as a Creative Process series, which explores the mindsets and practices that help us stay connected to our inner artist through the evolving seasons of life.
This series takes an inside-out approach, focusing on the internal forces—beliefs, habits, fears, and longings—that shape how we show up creatively in the world.
The creative process is always in motion.
Whether we’re consuming, connecting, resting, reflecting, or producing, we are shaping our inner and outer worlds with every choice we make.
Creativity isn’t just something we do; it’s a way of being. The Life as a Creative Process series invites you to work with that energy more intentionally and align your creative life and efforts with what matters most.
Last night, through reflection and discussion, we took stock of where we are, how we’re tending to our creative needs and callings, and how we can realign with our deeper why.
If you’re a paid subscriber and missed the session, you can access the video here. And if you're a free subscriber, I want you to have these prompts too. You can download the guide here.
🕒 Today is the last day to register for the Creative Courage Writing Intensive summer cohort.
The Creative Courage Writing Intensive is offered twice a year, and this summer it will take place on every other Thursday from July 10 - September 18 from 6 - 8 pm et.
If you are feeling a growing urge to write and express yourself authentically with less doubt and inhibition…
If you are returning to your creativity after a long pause and want to reconnect with your voice…
If there is a story you need to tell, but you don’t know what it is or how to begin…
If you are in a season of transition, dancing in that space between no longer and not yet…
…this experience will help you write your way through it.
What are you seeking courage for right now?
Lately, I have been in a liminal space—learning how to float in a different atmosphere. I need the courage to relax into the unknown and trust that I am held, guided, and supported.
I am leaning into that surrender, but it’s not easy. It’s asking for a deepening that requires presence and patience and faith.
Anyone else experiencing this? How are you responding to it?
I’ve been here many times before. When I gave up my corporate job (and identity) to pursue writing. When my dad died. When I stepped away from hustle culture to prioritize my health. When I stopped living outside of my means to keep up appearances. When I decided to stop being submissive to harmful norms and narratives in my family and relationships. When my son moved out unexpectedly at 19. To name a few!
Each time, I had to let go of what I thought I knew and meet myself in a new way.
This time, I am responding by pouring into myself—asking for help, somatic therapy, taking classes, expanding in quiet and unseen ways.
If you’ve been following along with the Life in Transition series, this will sound familiar. We’ve been exploring the necessity and uncertainty of change, the space between chapters, and the sacredness of getting lost again and again, gaining wisdom every time.
You might be in a season of transition, too, if:
You’ve gone through a major life shift—divorce, becoming a parent, caregiving, loss, a career shift, or a big move—and feel like your old sense of self no longer fits.
You’re wrestling with old narratives or internalized beliefs that no longer serve you.
You’re navigating burnout and want to realign your work with your values and creativity.
We will be exploring these themes and more in The Creative Courage Writing Intensive.
Approaching life as a creative process has taught me to rely on authenticity, curiosity, and a growth mindset to carry me through each new challenge, and this is the energy I instill in my clients.
Here is how the intensive works:
Over the course of the workshop, we will explore the inner work of personal storytelling and the creative expansion it makes possible.
Participants will learn a 4-step process for developing ideas and bringing them to life, and come away with a sustainable creative strategy that keeps you in tune with your creative flow through the ever-changing rhythms of life, work, and transformation.
There are six live sessions in total—four instructional sessions and two open sessions dedicated to group coaching, Q&A, and personalized support. The workshop is intentionally paced with two weeks between each session to create spaciousness and allow time for reflection and creative incubation. This rhythm supports deeper integration of the material, enhances retention, and helps prevent information overload.
There is homework, but the goal is not to see it as something extra you need to do. Think of it as a practice in building a nourishing creative habit that is energizing and sustainable, not something that adds stress to your life.
Together, we’ll explore storytelling techniques and uncover the personal themes that resonate most with the season of life you’re in.
As the capstone of this experience, each participant will create and share a personal narrative that reflects how they are reclaiming their story and choosing courage. This piece will serve as both a milestone and a compass—a brave beginning to a deeper creative life.
Ultimately, this workshop is an invitation to live more creatively and intentionally. As you integrate your insights and stories, you’ll begin to notice how this deeper connection to your creativity shapes how you show up for yourself and others.
Feedback from past participants:
“The Creative Courage intensive helped me develop a story about a difficult experience that I’ve been trying to write about for years. The supportive creative practices GG shared, as well as the safe space she creates in the group, enabled me to access a more honest and vulnerable part of my writing voice.” — Melissa Waggenspack
“GG is a calm and warm guide - she has a way of leading you back to yourself, and the way that she does it is through the art of writing. I recommend GG to anyone searching for 'what else' - this work will help you return to yourself.” — Zachary Anderson
“Having just completed my second round of the Creative Courage Intensive, I am incredibly grateful for GG's approach to supporting not only writers, but also soul seekers of all kinds. Her way of teaching, her frameworks for harnessing creativity, and her gentle and vulnerable way of holding space for everyone in her programs is so unique, warm, and inspiring. I'm incredibly grateful to GG for giving me the support, but even more so the confidence, to own my work as a writer and a human who wants to grow and make my life something that I love being in!” — Beth Anne Fisher
“I’ve taken GG’s Creative Courage course a couple of times and each time, I come away with something new and a courageous piece I didn’t know I had in me. If you’re looking for a way to bring out your courage in your writing, this is the course for you.” — Ashleigh Vaughn
🌿You can read more reviews and learn more about the intensive here. Registration closes on Thursday, July 3 at 11:59 pm et.
🌿If you're interested but the timing isn’t quite right, I invite you to sign up for my offerings newsletter. It’s the best way to stay in the loop about upcoming opportunities—whether it’s 1:1 sessions, group programs, workshops, or intensives. You'll get early access, exclusive discounts, and deeper insight into the coaching side of my work.
When standard registration for Creative Courage closes, a self-study option will be available, which might be a better fit for you. Be sure to join the list so you don’t miss it.