This week was amazing.

I started (last Friday afternoon) with a epic 35 km (22 mile) bike ride along the river, then through a park, a forest, a meadow and a marsh.? I even saw a herd of bison.

Back when I decided to sell my car and not get a new one because it didn’t feel right, I didn’t know what I would do come summer.? I looked forward to walking instead of driving in fall and winter and spring, but the thought of walking for several hours a day in the summer heat did NOT sound fun.

Getting this bike didn’t just solve the problem of how to get around enjoyably in the summer, it opened up a whole new world for me.? Which is what ALL creative dreams do.

So, the epic bike ride set the stage for an amazing week, which included hosting a free creative journal class: Get Your [creative] MAGIC On.

And lots of tiny creative adventures.

 

Over the past week I have done a lot of things that needed doing, that I had been procrastinating for a long time, mostly because they were annoying and I didn’t want to do them.

Having a whole bunch of annoying tasks piled up and waiting for you doesn’t feel very good.

And while doing annoying things is annoying, there is also a tinge of feeling really good about finally doing the thing and then the amazing feeling of having the annoying thing DONE and behind you.

In fact, I’ve only got one more such task (renewing my passport, which becomes more important by the day as I do want to get away this winter) and then I will have NO annoying tasks waiting for me.

So that feels really, really good.

One of the annoying tasks was selling my old stuff.? My old iPhone and MacBook had been sitting un-used for a long time.? A few months back I started by clearing all of my stuff off of both and restoring them to their factory settings.? But I kept delaying putting them up for sale.? I finally did that this week.

Now that they’re sold I’m noticing how much more SPACE there is.? I mean a laptop and a phone don’t take up a lot of room but each time I saw them a part of me remembered that I was procrastinating on selling them which was starting to take up more and more emotional space.

(Just like now, every time I remember that I can’t just pick up and leave the country because my passport is expired – it creates an energetic stuck.)

It’s nice to have a small wad of cash sitting in the Dream Loft, instead of that laptop and phone.? (My sister and I have a Sister Shopping Day planned for today, so I’m taking my wad of cash to IKEA and the fabric store)

That feels like where I’m at with this dream, too -? a lot of the tasks are done and behind me.

Building a business is a big job!? I’ve been at this, in one way or another, for 18 years.

Of course, that includes a lot of years of being a starving artist and experimenting with different ways of how to make a living as a creative person.? While I don’t believe there is an easy way, I also don’t believe you have to take 18 years.? My path had a lot of detours and curlyques.

I’m at a point now where the pieces are in place and my business works – it feels stable and steady.

I’m enjoying my work, I feel fulfilled and inspired and happy and I have space to do the non-work things I want to do and I’m happy with my income.?? I also want to recognize that this is huge and amazing and I am very grateful to be here.

I also want to be looking at what’s next.

And, if you’ve been reading my updates you know, I’m kind of done with looking at hitting a specific number of members in the Circle being my what’s next.? I’m not feeling inspired by that.? And I love the way the Circle is growing and it doesn’t feel like that needs so much attention.

So, when it comes to my business and my dreams: what does need my attention?? Or what wants my attention?? Or what do I want to be giving my attention to?

What’s what I’m exploring now.

Which is funny that I mentioned my expired passport in the first part of writing this because one of the things I want to explore is how to travel more as a self-employed person.? I’ve been able to go away once a year so far, which I think is awesome, and I’d like to increase that.? I’ve also shyed away from even thinking about longer trips because of how I am impacted by jet-lag.

I’m remembering that it took me 2 weeks to feel human again after coming back from Istanbul.? I remember that every time I think of going back (which is something I really want to do, I love Turkey) and I just don’t know how that is going to work with being a self-employed person.

When I had a job it was ok to be a bit of a zombie once in a while, but I need to be 100% on for my coaching sessions.? But what do I do about income if I take a whole month off from coaching?? That’s the kind of stuff to be sorted out, I know there’s a way I just don’t know what it is.

“I just don’t know how that’s going to work” can hold up a dream forever, if you let it.

It’s always kind of amazing when I have a client come to me with that exact issue, and if I help them hold a light to the situation (and gently keep the light there even when their inner critics are screaming at them to turn it off) that we can start to find all sorts of ways that it can work.

There are always ways, but you have to stay present with the questions long enough to get at the answers.

So that’s what I am going to do next.? Shine that light and keep it shining and take a look at how I want my life to change as my business continues to grow.

I’ve also been shifting how I do my work and how my business functions behind the scenes, to increase capacity in all areas. Kind of the digital equivalent to selling old things that were collecting dust in the Dream Loft and making space for new better-suited-to-me-now things.

This is going astonishingly well!? I spent a lot of time earlier this year feeling stressed out about capacity and resistant to stretching it, because it felt like stretching ME.? But, I am finding the opposite is true.? With the right tools, capacity can grow without me being or feeling stretched.

In fact, I actually feel more spaciousness and more cared-for-ness.

How amazing is that?? That is a pattern that has been slowing me down for many years.? It feels like that’s a big part of why growing the Creative Dream Circle doesn’t feel like a big huge deal anymore – the systems are in place and all I have to do it let it keep growing.

So this is opening up new worlds of possibility which I want to explore next, things like writing a novel and learning about how I can support art therapy initiatives in war zones.

I’m feeling super creatively engaged with my life and excited about what comes next.