life as a creative process Q&A session

join us tomorrow at 2 pm et

Photo by Bram. on Unsplash

Hi friends,

Lately, I’ve been thinking about choosing between love and fear and I’ve been thinking about faith and what strengthens it. More specifically, I have been meditating and journaling more often, revisiting books¹ that reinforce my spiritual perspective, spending time with loved ones, and cultivating the courage to change the things I can.

I’ve also been transmuting fear into love through my creative practice. Setting daily intentions to be flexible and resilient, to bend and not break. Remembering that I am here in this body to have a life adventure and experience both joy and pain there was never any guarantee that the journey would be all light and no darkness.

I am not here to just look after me and mines and be comfortable. There is a calling to help, serve, and heal—to choose love. I may not be able to find meaning in the hate and division that has overtly taken hold of this country, but I do find meaning in continuing to choose hope and joy in spite of it.

I recently shared a writing exercise on Instagram called Talking Back. The idea is to take a quote or excerpt and use it as a journaling prompt to “talk back” to the writer or to expand on their words. Below I am offering some quotes that trigger reflections on adversity, love, fear, and creativity that you can use as journaling prompts:

“Things falling apart is a kind of testing and also a kind of healing. We think that the point is to pass the test or to overcome the problem, but the truth is that things don’t really get solved. They come together and they fall apart. Then they come together again and fall apart again. It’s just like that. The healing comes from letting there be room for all of this to happen: room for grief, for relief, for misery, for joy.” ― When Things Fall Apart by Pema Chödrön

…

“It takes courage to look at the darkest aspects of humanity straight in the eye, and to choose to keep your heart open.” ― Xavier Dagba

…

“Life is pure adventure, and the sooner we realize that, the quicker we will be able to treat life as art: to bring all our energies to each encounter, to remain flexible enough to notice and admit when what we expected to happen did not happen. We need to remember that we are created creative and can invent new scenarios as frequently as they are needed.” ― Maya Angelou

Life as a Creative Process - group coaching and Q&A

Tomorrow, March 23, from 2 - 3:30 pm et, I am facilitating a Zoom session to go over the eight concepts and exercises from the life as a creative process series, answer questions, and do some live coaching to reflect on the intentions we set in the first quarter of the year.

We will be sharing our efforts, progress, setbacks, wins, losses, all of it. And we will refer to the series as a way to troubleshoot and find solutions.

The session is open to paid Substack subscribers and Inner Story members. If you have been following along but are missing the guidance and community that could help you take your creative journey to the next level, I invite you to join us for the session. You can RSVP here.

(If you are unable to become a paid subscriber but feel that you would benefit from attending this session, send me a DM and I will send you the link to register, no questions asked.)

As a reminder here are the eight steps of the series:

• Introduction - A reintroduction and review of my creative journey.

• Week One: Soulful Intentions - Instead of fixating on specific outcomes, soulful intentions focus on how we want to feel and the values we want to embody. Soulful intentions are about progress, not perfection. They allow you to adjust your expectations through life’s changes and evolutions. They allow us to incorporate habits that don’t just check off boxes but truly enrich our lives.

• Week Two: The Deeper Why - If we want to align our actions with our soulful intentions, we need to integrate all parts of ourselves and consider their motivations. Getting clear on your why - and the different factors that affect it - will give you the courage and conviction to make choices and develop habits that align your parts to cooperate with your values.

• Week Three: Creative Embodiment - Soulful intentions are not to be rushed. They are not to be determined by an intellectual strategy and then executed. They are seeds that need daily attention and nurturing in order to bloom. They need slow, devoted love. Soulful intentions need to inhabit our whole essence, not just our minds, but also our bodies.

• Week Four: The Power of Vulnerability - We are all creative beings and our willingness to be vulnerable and honest about who we are fuels are creative callings. The action steps you choose to align with your intentions create ripple effects across all areas of your life. Are you ready for that? Are you ready for the soul-baring steps you will take as you follow your heart? By avoiding vulnerability, we suppress our creative power.

• Week Five: The Power of Habit - Now that we have nurtured the energy of our intentions on the inside, it’s time to take action and give it shape on the outside. This is how we show Life that we are ready for what we are calling in. This involves establishing sustainable creative practices that nurture us mind, body, and soul. Having a trusted creative process — that is built on life-affirming habits — will give you the courage to act in alignment with your intentions and build a creatively fulfilling life.

• Week Six: The Art of Self-Observation - It’s time to observe yourself and take stock of what’s working and what’s not. Self-observation might just be the most important step as we are changing our relationship with failure. Instead of an all-or-nothing approach that doesn’t leave room for error, we take the creative approach of setting intentions and observing our efforts to craft a life that is not defined by limitations, but by our capacity to learn and grow. With this mindset, progress is inevitable.

• Week Seven: The Magic of Community - Humans are wired for connection. While writing may be a solitary act, we don’t have to do it alone. One of the best ways you can nurture your creative practice is to involve yourself in communities where you connect with people who have similar values and goals. Creative communities are magical when they hold us accountable to a process—not a specific goal. In community, you build courage, exchange ideas, feel safe to take risks, receive feedback, and more. All to the benefit of your creative well-being and development.

• Week Eight: Commitment That Sticks - When we devote time, energy, and resources to a creative calling, we do it with no guaranteed outcome. This is the risk that comes with any leap of faith. Faith requires belief. Commitment that sticks comes from faith. Creative faith is both a force and a practice, a combination of belief and effort. The steps in this series will lead to insights that support you in navigating the unfamiliar paths you are bound to face, not knowing specifically where they will lead but trusting that the journey will enrich your life and make your creative visions more accessible.

¹ Seat of the Soul by Gary Zukav, When Things Fall Apart by Pema Chödrön, The Power of Now by Eckart Tolle, The Untethered Soul by Michael Singer, Wake up to Love: Meditations to Start Your Day by Nikki Walton, The Wisdom of Anxiety by Sheryl Paul