unexpected benefits of creative callings
unexpected benefits of creative callings
plus, a new author visit and book giveaway
Hi friends. Today I’m sharing my thoughts on five unexpected benefits of pursuing my creative callings. Also, read to the end to learn about our next author visit and book giveaway below.
“I want to prioritize my creativity” can also mean:
I want to heal.
I want to open my heart and mind.
I want to calm my nervous system.
I want to express my repressed emotions.
I want to make my authentic self more visible.
I want to serve, help, connect, contribute.
What else would you add to this list?
Earlier this summer, I offered the above for your reflection. The other day when I shared the timeline exercise I was sitting here thinking about how much I’ve grown as a human being by challenging myself to move through fear and build a new life based on pursuing my creative callings. It has been a slow and intimate journey.
First, I started writing to heal. Then, I wanted to write because it was something I had a natural inclination for and never got tired of learning about. I knew that writing could give me a career with fulfilling work. It turned out to be so much more than that.
I feel like our creative callings are these dangling carrots luring us out of our comfort zones and into ever-evolving versions of ourselves, gaining courage as we go. As I follow the carrot, there have been many unexpected benefits along the way.
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finding my voice
I don’t just mean my writing voice. I’m talking about my voice as a woman. The voice that is authentic and not artificial, not trying to fit in. Comfortable with who I am and where I stand, what I do and don’t know. I used to be so easily swayed because I typically assumed that if someone disagreed with me, I must be wrong, either in fact or in delivery. Especially if the person was louder and more confident than me. I’ve traced the roots of this back to childhood trauma growing up in a relationship with my mother where my reality was constantly disputed and invalidated.
Joan Didion said, “I write entirely to find out what I'm thinking, what I'm looking at, what I see and what it means. What I want and what I fear.” Writing and rewriting my story has given me reign over my reality again, including giving myself the permission I never got back then to own my voice and speak my truth.
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trusting my intuition
Early on, I was taking risks and pushing through fears with the belief that nothing would go wrong if I trusted my curiosity and stayed the course. I felt like I was being obedient to the gifts and passions the universe placed in me so everything should just work out. And when things didn't always work out, I found it harder and harder to trust myself. I didn't stop trusting God, but I stopped trusting my ability to receive divine guidance.
My instincts steer me wrong. This is what I told myself.
My past mistakes are an indication of future results. This is what I believed.
But this whole creative journey has been about healing my relationship with my intuition and learning to trust myself, even after countless mistakes lessons. It taught me how to recognize the language of intuition vs the language of fear.
Developing a creative process based on self-care that has time and again shown me how ideas become things—words, stories, books, partnerships, paychecks, and more—has redeemed my self-trust, intuition, and faith.
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delaying gratification
Having a creative practice you are devoted to teaches you how to delay gratification and remain committed through uncertainty and difficulty. I grew up getting easy As in school, then chasing quick fixes for success and money. So carving out my own lane as a heart-centered writer and author has taught me how to quiet my ego and return to the work each day with a beginner's mind. It’s taught me how to separate myself from the pace of the world and make sacrifices. To humbly embrace the learning curves and physical and emotional expansion required. And this attitude has resulted in more knowledge and wisdom than I would have ever gained if I continued chasing short-term comfort.
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setting boundaries
A big part of leaning into your creative potential is setting the boundaries needed to honor that space for yourself. You learn a lot about yourself and your relationships when you start really going after what you want, and not putting other people’s needs before your own.
It feels strange when you have gone your whole life only being okay when the people around you are okay, when you are meeting their needs, even ones they should be meeting for themselves. The clarity of voice and purpose that I have now has made me realize that I can't and don't want relationships where I have to be disloyal to myself to maintain them. That means that some of my relationships are changing and I’m no longer afraid to be driver of that change.
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vulnerability as a lifestyle
My capacity to be vulnerable and connect with that same energy in other people is one of my favorite things about myself, and yet it has also been a superpower that I was embarrassed by. Writing and coaching have given me the platform to nurture this gift and let it flourish.
How about you?
What unexpected gifts have come from pursuing your creative callings? What gifts do you hope come from pursuing our creative callings?
chat with us
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Author Visit w/ Chianti Lomax on September 18 from 6 - 7 pm et
open to all subscribers: register here
Our Author Chat series is a one-hour session with authors and creatives talking about their books, projects, creative process, and journey.
Next up we have Chianti Lomax, a sought-after international speaker, certified mindset coach, and leadership trainer who thrives at the intersection of mindfulness, technology, and transformative coaching. As a certified personal and executive coach, certified workplace mindfulness facilitator, and positive psychology practitioner, Chianti teaches doable habit changes to help increase our well-being and elevate the overall human experience.
In May of 2024, she debuted her new book, Evolving While Black: The Ultimate Guide to Happiness and Transformation on Your Own Terms. We will be chatting with Chianti about her creative journey, the book, and the role of self-care in her process. You can enter to win a copy of the book by leaving a comment below.
Book Giveaway:
Enter to win a copy of Evolving While Black: The Ultimate Guide to Happiness and Transformation on Your Own Terms. Leave a comment below sharing your favorite self-help book and you will be entered to win!
The giveaway closes on Tuesday, September 17.
drop in for some creative inspiration:
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September 18. Author Chat w/ Chianti Lomax // 6 - 7 pm et
join me for a workshop at the writer’s center:
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September 29. Turning Memories Into Transformational Stories // 1 -3 pm et
Ooh, that's a tough one...one of my favorite recent reads is Hidden Potential by Adam Grant. A quote that I loved, "Traveling great distances requires courage to seek out the right kinds of discomfort, the capacity to absorb the right information, and the will to accept the right imperfections."
Living a lifestyle of vulnerability! How much did each of your experience resonates with mine and so many other friend here ❤️