I’m so grateful to all of you for following along with my story the past few days as I got the cards ready to sell… and today I’m so happy to share that they’re here.? Click here to see them for yourself.
OMG!
Update #3: Meet the JOURNALING CARDS! Read More »
Following my new plan, today the question I got from the journaling cards was:
What are you learning?
Oh my this was a good question.
As I listed all the things I am learning I also started listing the things I wanted to be learning and the things it would be nice to be learning which led me to some new questions, including one which was super helpful: “How do I want people to feel when they encounter the journaling cards page on my website?”
That question got me right into creative flow with how to put the cards out there.
I started writing out what I want to say about the cards.? Then the idea came to me for how I want to design the page in a way that would support how I want you to feel when you encounter the cards on my website.
I did a bunch of artwork for that – to make the page match the look of the cards.? I even got it formatted and uploaded to my website.
I worked on the design for the page.
And planned out the video I want to make.? These cards REALLY want a video, where I can show you the deck.
BUT I want to feel grounded and confident and happy about sharing them, before I can record the video.? So I’m doing the other stuff first while increasing self-care so that I get to feeling that way sooner rather than later.
Right now I’m feeling optimistic and inspired and still a little overwhelmed.? I know I could push myself, and record the video anyway, and it would be fine but it wouldn’t have the same energy it will have if I wait until I’m REALLY feeling it.
Plus, being so introverted and sensitive, I’m not always in a good space to talk, so my videos really are better when I wait until I am in a more extroverted space (and practicing extra self-care can help me get into that space faster).
With my work, I am ALWAYS being challenged to move slower.? To wait until everything is aligned on the inside before acting on the outside.? To give things the time they need to grow.
I am not usually very patient with this, but I am getting better.
A part of me really, really, really wants to finish this this week – this part of thinks I should already be done so she’s just really in a hurry and keeps pushing me to work all the time at this.
But, why?
In the grand scheme of things, what difference does it make if I put the cards out there tomorrow or next Tuesday?
None.
The idea that I “should” get this done quickly is just impatience-wrapped fear.? It has no substance.
I am REALLY enjoying writing these updates.
Just like the weekly updates I write on Fridays in the Creative Dream Circle to share my ongoing process of living my dreams (and if you’re a Circle member I really want you to participate in those weekly sharing circles with me – that’s where the magic happens!) writing these updates every day is keeping me grounded in the process.
When I feel grounded in the process everything is clearer and easier – the path smooths itself out.
See you back here tomorrow…
Update #2: Finding Flow Read More »
This is from a deck of cards I’m working on for a Creative Soul Alchemy client.
It’s always amazing how the things I help others with are the exact things I need to help myself with.
So, after writing that post yesterday about my mission to share the process of becoming comfortable and confident and ready to put my journaling cards out there into the world, I sat down with my journal and the cards and picked this card:
What do you need right now?
Whoa.? I had been so focused on what the cards need that I forgot to think about what I need.
And as the only person who can give to the cards, in order for the cards to receive anything from me I need to be full so of course this is exactly the right place to start.
Space and permission to let this take the time it takes.? To not judge myself for not being able to do it faster.
That comes in like a giant wave of crisp fresh air.
I hadn’t realised how tangled I was in the idea that there is something wrong with me for not being able to do this faster, or for not already knowing how to do this.
Which is super ridiculous because how can I know how to do something I have never done?
I can figure it out, absolutely.? And I’ve done so many similar things that it will probably be pretty simple to figure it out.
But I need permission to start here, in the place of not having a fucking clue.
Recognizing that it’s ok to not know puts me in a different position.? From here I can see what I need next:
To remind myself that I am in the process of doing this new thing by not doing my usual things – as much as possible.
Which means, to still take care of the other things I need to take care of with my work, and to devote the rest of my work time to figuring this out.? And to get out of my usual routines as a way of signifying that I am moving into something new.
Then what came to me is that I need to ride my bike to the park with my journal and have journal picnic where I will brainstorm what to do next.
So I did that last night.
And things became a lot clearer.? I felt myself move from that overwhelmed feeling of “I don’t know how to do this” to that grounded and open feeling of? “I could do this, or I could do that.? I have a lot of ideas and I can figure out which one to go with.”
I don’t think it occurs to creative people often enough that “putting it out there” is just as big a job as creating the thing in the first place.? This part of the process needs a different way of thinking, a different way of working.? It needs your time and attention.
This is a problem that a lot of creatives have – we want to just breeze through this part.?
We want to hold onto some kind of fantasy that all we have to do is make the art? – that if it’s good enough it should sell itself.? Which is bullshit.
This part does take time and love and attention.? If you want to actually sell your work, this part is just as important as the creation part.? And in fact, this part – the marketing piece – can be as fun and creative as the creation part.
I have a lot to say about how the way you market your work can (and should!) be a light itself, a way of sending inspiration and putting your message out into the world.? The way your market your work can be a GIFT to the people who experience it, which I think is the best way to build a sustainable creative business.
But I do have a Creative Business Incubator inside the Creative Dream Circle with hours and hours and hours of videos on this so I will digress.
Most of us want to breeze through this part because to give it love and time and attention means to be present with how we actually feel about selling our creative work which is fraught.? It’s fraught for EVERYONE.
And the only way through that (with integrity) is to be with it – all of it.
See, I keep thinking that it’s going to get easier.? That I’ve been making a living with my creative work for so long that I should be used to this by now and it should be easy by now.
But it’s not.
And the faster I step back into the real story, that it’s not easy but it’s not impossible, the sooner I can start walking this path.
Your gifts, strengths and sources of power are hidden/trapped inside the fears, doubts, limiting beliefs, inner critics, etc.
Through healing and transformation you liberate them so that you can use them to build the path that leads to where you want to be – in this case, successfully and happily selling your creative work.
When you skip that part you wind up working against yourself.?
You either will find reasons to not put it out there or you’ll put it out there in ways that don’t really support it in selling the way it wants to sell.
So today I am anticipating spending as much time transforming my fears, doubts, limiting beliefs + inner critics (using the Un-Sticking Station inside the Creative Dream Circle) and using what I learn in that work to start implementing my ideas for putting the cards out there.
My plan is to start with a bike ride. I always work best if I leave the house and either walk or bike for a bit.
Then go to a coffee shop with my journal, cards and laptop.? Pick a card to help guide my next steps, journal about it, and then get to work.
I’ll see you back here tomorrow for an update.
Update #1: Let’s Do This. Read More »
The big thing on my to-do list this week is to release my journaling cards out into the world.
I’m excited about this!? I’m holding the cards in my hot little hands and I am IN LOVE with everything about them.? I’m ready to do this.
But I have no clue HOW to do it.
I mean of course I can just say “Hey, here they are”, give you a link to order them and be done with it but that doesn’t feel right.? After all the love, time and attention that went into the creation of the cards I want to send them off into the world in an appropriate way.
In order to do this, I have to work on my inner relationship with the cards, and with the purpose behind the cards, which is connected to my purpose and to my own evolution.
I want this relationship to be all clear and sparkling and love-fueled because this relationship builds the path that leads the right people to the cards – the people who will adore the cards, the people who the cards are here to serve.
Right now this relationship is a bit muddled up with my fears and self-doubt.
It’s different flavours of the same fears which come up every time you want to move towards any dream.
I’m really bored of talking about this stuff, and yet I know that not wanting to look at this stuff is a dream killer.? So here I am, telling the truth about what goes on behind the scenes.
I have all of these worries and fears and looking at them makes me uncomfortable so I want to avoid it. But avoiding my feelings means avoiding getting this work done which means avoiding putting these cards out into the world which I just can’t do.
So I’m going to use the cards to help me work through it.? I’m going to sit down with my journal every day, pick a card, and let it guide me through the process of putting this project out there.
And I’m going to use the Un-Sticking Station inside the Creative Dream Circle to un-stick the stucks.
Well, not just for accountability but also as a little story that shows that it’s hard to put your creative work out there into the world – but not impossible.
It’s a scary and complicated process and, for most of us, it happens behind the scenes.? Alone.? Hidden.
Since my job as a teacher and a guide is to help you move along that path that leads from where you are to where you want to be it feels important that I share the truth about this part of the journey and how I navigate it.
I don’t know how long this is going to take.? Often these things feel totally impossible, but then I have one good conversation with my fear and all the tangles get untangled and suddenly it’s fast and easy.? I’m hoping this will work out like that.
But maybe I’ll be blogging every day just to share how stuck I still am.
Either way, I’ll see you back here tomorrow.
Why you can’t buy my journaling cards (yet). And what to do if your dream gets stuck. Read More »
I do have a free art journal class that you can get right here, though I don’t teach any kind of art technique there, it’s all about the inner stuff of journaling.
But I know some of you want to learn how to make gorgeous art journals and there are many lovely people out there who do teach art journaling and can show you how to do really cool art stuff.? And I am happy to be collaborating with some of them.
The first one is How To Do A Creative Intuitive Healing Session in your Art Journal. It’s a series of videos where I explain, exactly what I mean by using art supplies to do inner healing and transformation.? I talk about how art-making is different from creative healing and how to approach your creative healing practice so that you get exactly what you want out of it.
Then I’ve got a visualization and playbook that lead you through the process of how to heal and transform ANYTHING.
You can use it to work with an inner critic that’s beating you up or a fear that’s holding you back or anything in your life that you would like to change.? And you can use it over and over again – in fact, the more you use it the better it will work.
This class will be available as a part of Tamara Laporte’s Life Book.? You’ll also get a bonus class from me, a half-hour video about how the magic of BEING PRESENT can help you find your unique creative voice.
Life Book is a year-long Art Journal class, where you get new classes from new teachers every week.? You get to learn, like, EVERYTHING about Art Journaling.
The questions I ask myself, the processes I use.
I filmed the process of creating a really emotionally-charged page, and then created a workbook that leads you through the process so you can learn how to move yourself THROUGH the hard thing.
See, I don’t think journaling should just be about documenting your life or visioning your dreams.? For me, the magic is in using the journaling process to actually CREATE your life – by transforming the bad stuff, activating your inner strengths and walking the path to your brightest future.? So that’s what I’m sharing here.
This class will be available as a part of Effy Wild’s Radiant Art Journals.
In Radiant Art Journals you get to learn from fifteen different teachers and to see how they approach their personal journaling practice.
Because there is no “one right way” to do this, learning a bunch of different ways really helps you find YOUR unique way.
New Art Journaling Classes Read More »
I’m a busy person.? How do I make time for my dreams?
On the surface, it can seem like you don’t have time for your dreams – but that’s not true.
You’ll see what I mean in this video:
Creative Dream TV: Time Management is NOT your problem Read More »
Every week I write an update and invite everyone in the Creative Dream Circle to share their updates.
It’s an update on walking the path to a dream, and on being in the process of transformation.
Being in the process is hard, sometimes.? Sharing updates is a way of grounding yourself in your process – plus it helps you notice things you wouldn’t otherwise notice.
Last week, in writing my update, I noticed that skipping my first-thing-in-the-morning journaling session is really, really bad for me.
Like, this doorway leads to the day I want to be having.? Other doorways – like skipping my practice and getting right to work – don’t lead to the day I want to be having.
So, I discovered this while writing last week’s update.
Then Monday came, and my inbox was overflowing.
And I thought, well, I’d like to just get to those emails first.? So my mind is clear and I don’t have any energy going towards “all these emails I need to respond to”.
And it won’t take that long, really…
Which is bullshit.
I know that it’s important for my self-care that I start my day with my creative journaling practice.? Any reason I have for not doing that is just a bullshit excuse.
I know this because later on in the morning, once I’d already had my bike ride and coffee and the day was bright, I opened up my journal and hit a huge wall of resistance.
I snapped my journal shut and put it away.
And I knew that I hadn’t skipped my first-thing-in-the-morning practice because I wanted to get to those emails.
I skipped my first-thing-in-the-morning practice because I was afraid of what I’d find when I dove in.
Some days it’s terrifying to open up a journal because of what you’ll find when you start writing.? You can feel it, sitting underneath the surface, and you’d like to leave it there, hidden, where you can’t really see it.
Except, of course, you’re carrying it. In your mind and your body and your energy field.
You look at the world through the lens of the things you carry, so when you leave it there, hidden beneath the surface, you’re letting it alter your possibilities.
You resist looking at the thing because you’re afraid of how it’s going to feel to face and you worry that you can’t change it anyway so why bother.
We all do this, on some level.
Committing to your practice is a commitment to live from your brightest possibilities, and a commitment to doing the work to get there.
It’s messy and hard and some days you just fall down and don’t get up but that’s ok.? Get up when you can.? Keep going one baby step at a time.? Come back to it.
Your practice is a container that holds this process of you being more and less committed, always inviting you deeper into it.
The real reason why you avoid your journal. Read More »
I got this great question about what to DO about insights and ideas – how to use them to actually CHANGE things in your life.
This is a place where a lot of people get stuck.? It’s relatively easy to HAVE an insight, and it’s a much more complicated process to actually USE that insight, to learn to live from it.
So that’s what I explain in this video:
It takes time to work through this stuff!
If you keep showing up all year long (whether that’s every day or every week or every month) and playing with stuff in the Circle – you’ll work through that path of integration.
So you’ve had a brilliant insight. Now what? Read More »
The “other video” I talk about is here, the first peek into my Grow Your Depth Journal.? I also did a video tour of my Nurture Your Brilliance journal, here.
So the whole point of Grow Your Depth, Nurture Your Brilliance (the class I’m teaching this year which you can still join today!) is to create a container than helps you hold your commitment to your creative personal growth practice.
For me, the main benefit of this work is in how I feel right now.? It makes me happier and more connected to myself.
Of course, when I’m happier and more connected to myself I’m more powerful and creative.
And when I’m more powerful and creative in my life good things happen.? Like:
If there is any change you want to see happen in your life, I promise you the path is INSIDE you.
A peek inside my Grow Your Depth journal Read More »
In my journaling practice, I keep encountering this part of me who has been working very hard for a very long time to create safety for me.
It sees every potential pitfall in life and tries to guard against them.
So while I’m skipping towards the things I want, this part of me is trying to pull me back because it believes that avoiding pitfalls is more important than chasing dreams.
Meanwhile my wisest and most heart-connected self believes that I do need to be moving towards what feels true for me – pitfalls or not.? In a universe that is always expanding I can’t contract myself and my life for fear of getting hurt along the way.
Plus – getting hurt along the way is often a part of the process, and a place where I learn a lot.? So it’s really not something to be avoided.
When I left my day job to be a full time dreamer, this part of me started working double overtime.
So I had to spend more time working with it, bringing in healing and love and calm to transform this part of me.? I didn’t want to obliterate it or pretend I didn’t have this huge knot in my stomach and slap a big “fake it till you make it” smile over it.
My aim was to love it and give it what it needed to settle down and be happy – to heal and transform it.? To take all the energy and power that the fear had and re-write it to do something more useful for me.
For me, dealing with this part of me was the hardest part of the change from employee to my own boss.? It mean facing my own worst fears and learning how to access more inner strength than I knew I had.
It’s definitely not as dramatic or intense right now, but as I have set new intentions for what I want to create in my life as I work through Grow Your Depth, Nurture Your Brilliance, this part of me has been re-activated.
So when this part of me popped up in my journaling recently I was not very happy.
I felt exhausted and overwhelmed at the thought of working with this part of me again.? I wrote in my journal:
Oh shit. This is going to be a Big Job.
But you know what?? It’s not.
In the journal classes I teach, I show how to work with symbols and essence and how doing this opens up new possibilities.? It’s a way of dropping the story and getting to the heart of what’s actually happening and then changing it – which then changes the story in the outer world.
I created symbols for the thing I want and for safety and then looked at how they play together.? This is where it got really interesting.
They didn’t play nice.
The thing I want actually CLOBBERED the symbol for safety.? It didn’t trust safety, which startled me.
And safety wasn’t too thrilled about having to hang out with the thing I wanted either.
And then the symbols showed me the truth: There’s nothing wrong with the quality of safety but trying to CREATE safety is what fucks me up.
(And so are you)
Trying to create safety means giving weight to the belief that I am small and separate from life, that the universe doesn’t care about me and that there are pitfalls to be avoided.
Obviously, in the physical world there are pitfalls to be avoided – that’s not what this is about.
This is about living from a sense of internal trust.
Trusting my dreams.
Trusting my self.
Trusting the process.
Trusting in meaning and purpose.
Trusting that there are no pitfalls to avoid because I can handle whatever comes my way.
Trusting that as long as I am allowing my intuition to lead me I’m always in the right place.
Trusting the mystery.
Trusting that I am safe allows me to relax into the process.
Trying to create safety holds me out of the process because I’m too busy trying to control the universe, which strengthens the belief that I am small and alone and powerless.? Not a recipe for creative dream success.
Back when I first left my job and was just getting settled in my new life as a dreamer I did need to coddle and soothe these fears – they were too big and agitated for me to just say “Hey, dude, chill out and trust the process”and working with them brought me the insights I needed to do the healing work that needed to be done at that time.
And that brought me to where I am now.
And now that I am on more stable ground a different approach is needed.
By meeting with the heart/soul/essence of how you’re feeling and bringing in love and healing it’s so much easier to see what, exactly, you need to move towards what you want.? (For Creative Dream Circle members – the video in the Un-Sticking Station leads you through this process)
There is no way to “be safe”. Read More »
I kind of don’t want to post this because it seems too cheesy and pollyanna-y but this is where I’m at.
It’s Sunday night.? I’ve got a belly full of my favourite pizza which I just ate in the park with my family for my birthday dinner.? I turn 41 on Monday.? (I’m thinking that having birthday pizza the day before my birthday may be a good tradition to start – so that I’ll have birthday pizza for breakfast.)
I’ve got my laptop in bed and the windows are open.? (Normally on my birthday it’s a bit too chilly for picnics and open windows at night and I am super grateful for this.)
My life feels fuller than I am used to which is sometimes overwhelming but mostly my heart is happy.? Life just feels like a great big celebration and I am so grateful to be here.
When I think about turning 41 all I can think of is wanting to go back in time and hug past-mes and let them know that it’s all going to be OK.?? That my creative work will one day be happily received by the world and I’ll be able to make a living doing things that make my soul sing.? That I’ll figure out how to live at peace with myself.? That I’ll learn how to really trust myself and take care of myself.? That all the love I need is right here.
And I want to hug all the past mes for doing the work that got me to this place.
And then I want to marvel about what could come next.
Life is so short, but so deep and I am grateful for another year.
I’m also grateful for YOU, reading this.? Thank you for being here.
I’ve been working on The Magic Journal Cards project for months now.? I LOVE these cards and want to give them my best and have really enjoyed working hard on them.
To make a long story short: I have a pretty big, heavy stack of artwork that I thought were the completed deck of Magic Journal Cards and it turns out this is just another draft.? (And I had already done quite a few drafts before I started this one!)
Which means I have to scrap this work and start over.
Which is exciting because these cards are pretty cool so the next set is going to be even better.? I am getting closer to the essence of what these cards want to be.
And it’s frustrating because it feels like three months of work going down the drain.
And it’s overwhelming because how/where will I find the time to re-do all of this work?
And it’s sad because I thought I was almost done and I’m actually really far from done.
I took this question to my art journal.
First, I wrote long and hard and HONESTLY about where I’m at with the project and how I feel about everything.
(This included writing about all these small irritations that I had been trying to avoid.)
Then, I connected with the energetic essence (AKA the heart and soul) of the project.? We had a good, long talk.
I have a lot of attachments to the work I’ve done so far.
But I have a even bigger attachment to doing the best work I can for this.
And this is what it came down to: I couldn’t feel good about putting them out into the world the way they were.
It wasn’t a “You’re not good enough” inner critic voice – though that was there too.? I took my inner critic into the Un-Sticking Station in the Creative Dream Circle and worked through it and transformed that fear and got to the truth underneath it: the work just wasn’t right for the project.
I really thought it was the right thing when I started.? It really felt like the right thing while I was working on it.? (And it was right, in a way, at the time – it was the thing that led me to know more about what the project needed.)
See – all those small things that were irritating me were signs pointing me in a new direction.? But I didn’t want to listen because I was so attached to the work I’d done and so sure that I was going in the right direction already.
I assumed they were just tiny inner critics and wanted to not let them slow me down.
But if I had carried on avoiding them their energy would have become prickly little bugs in the energy of the project.? It would have made the whole thing wonky – not just the creation of the cards, but the marketing and sales parts too.
Doing the work, being present with what’s happening beneath the surface, exploring your relationship with the project, learning more about what the project needs, transforming the ick that comes up in the process, re-doing the work.
Otherwise, all of your un-processed stuff does wind up in the final work, giving it a wonky energy that will keep it from completing it’s mission – to serve the people that you are creating it to serve.
For me, what it comes down to is that I am deeply committed to the project’s mission.? So I want to do whatever I can to support it in getting there.? And in the process I do wind up all tangled up in my own stuff sometimes.
Each time I work through this process with a project I come out more connected to my intuition and creativity and I trust myself more.
This is how you grow into your potential.
The cards have a new look – less art and less colour and more space.? The cards wanted to be quieter, which they think will help you use them to sink deeper into your own experience while journaling.
The old deck was a combination of prompt cards and inspiration cards.? The new deck is questions.? (The inspiration cards will be done as a separate deck – which might have more colour and artwork in them.)
While working on them, I feel free and clear.
While working on the first deck, I felt delighted a lot of the time.? And sometimes I felt frustrated and unsure.? Sometimes I felt exhausted.
Now, I just feel free and clear.? The process of making these cards is quite simple and fun – a sign that I’ve worked through the stuff I needed to work through.?? And I am delighted by how it’s coming together.
This is the ultimate aim of what I wanted to do with Grow Your Depth, Nurture Your Brilliance this year.? To be more present in my inner world, to meet my resistance and fears more effectively, to transform my inner patterns more quickly… to create more space for more of my creative brilliance to shine out into the world.
While the path does get frustrating sometimes, I’m pretty happy to be here.
How to know when it’s time to throw in the towel on a creative project. Read More »
Having an altar for your dreams is a way to give tangible form to your intangible dream while you’re working on bringing it to life.? It helps you focus your energy and attention to energize your intention.
Altars don’t have to be complicated or weird or anything.? You can be super creative and have fun with them.
You don’t even necessarily need a lot of space to create a powerful and effective altar.? The simplest altar I have in my home is a set of three magnets I keep on the back of my front door.
There’s a dragon (POWER!) who guards the threshold of my home, making sure that only things that are easy and sweet can enter.
Here’s a small altar I keep in my office, this is my altar for staying connected to my self: my joy and light and inspiration.
This altar sits on top of a long bookshelf.? I uses a tray to set the boundary of the altar, to contain the energy of it in this space.? (People often use cloths for this)? The doll that represents me sits behind it, like she is sitting at the altar.
This altar keeps one of my favourite decks of cards, Deepak Chopra’s Success Cards, some favourite crystals and a reminder from one of my own inspiration cards.
I switch this stuff up whenever/however I feel inspired to.
This is an altar to internal radiance that I keep in my bedroom.
There’s a Buddha statue surrounded by candles, with an egg I painted and collaged that glows golden and reminds me to connect with my internal radiance.
This is on my dresser, where I see it as I’m getting dressed every morning. Sometimes in the evenings if I’m reading in bed I’ll light the candles as an offering to the quality of radiance and a reminder to re-connected with the radiance within.
This is an altar on my bookshelf, reminding me of what I want in my home.
This one is super simple, just an inspiration card I made when I moved into the Dream Loft and an ornament that feels like the qualities that I wanted to invoke.
This reminds me of the magic of how it felt when I moved in and was so excited to have this space and to create what I needed within it.
It reminds me of how grateful I am to live in a space that suits my needs perfectly, which is something I don’t always consciously remember so it feels so good to have this altar remind me of that.
My largest and most interesting altar is more of a meditation altar – or sometimes I think of it as an “activity altar” because there are a bunch of things I do at it.
A meditation altar is an altar that you sit at to meditate.? It often has meditation tools: candles, incense, images of things you want to meditate on, meditation pillows, etc.
Mine tends to get pretty playful.
I keep a crystal mandala with something that represents the essence of my intention in the center – how I do this is always changing.? I use the crystals that I feel called to work with and arrange them how I feel inspired to arrange them.
My intuition sends me messages about what to get for these mandalas.? A few weeks ago I had a strong message to go to this specific shop on the way home to get some new crystals, and they had just gotten these amazing hematite arrowheads in, which were exactly what my crystal mandala needed.
The crystal mandala is the heart of the altar – it holds the essence of my dream.
Beside that is where I keep my singing bowl.
When I wake up in the morning, plus every time I come home after being anywhere plus any other time I feel like it, I stand at the altar and play the bowl while focusing on my intention.? I visualize the vibration from the bowl clearing out any energies that block me from my dream, then bringing me into energetic alignment with my dream.? I keep doing this until it feels complete.
I keep a deck of cards at this altar – different tarot or inspiration or divination cards depending on what I’m working with at the time – and choose a new card every morning and leave it face up for the day to remind me of it’s message.?? This is also a way to make sure I engage with my dream first thing in the morning, even on days when I’m not doing much with it.
If I’m going to be home for a while and it feels right to “activate” the altar that’s when I light the tea lights in the lanterns.
Focus on the energy and how it’s shifting as your relationship with your growing dream is shifting, by paying attention to how the altar feels to you.
If it doesn’t bring you joy or re-align you with your dream or do something positive for you in some way then something needs to change.
When you are first learning how to make an altar for your dreams you may just be guessing about what’s going to work.? This is good!? Experiment and explore – this is how you will learn what works for you and your dream.
Start by using whatever comes to mind and putting it together however it seems right.
Then notice what happens – how do you feel when you see it?
Over time, you start to connect with your altar more and more (which is really the inner process of connecting more deeply with the qualities of your dream) and then you start to “just know” how it should be.? But you don’t necessarily start out just knowing, getting there is a journey.
The more you enjoy creating and working with your altar the more it can help you connect with your dream.
Every time I see my altars they remind me to re-align with my dreams, that’s why I have so many tiny altars for so many different things – so that I am continually reminded of my intentions.
And working with them – moving things around and bringing new things in – is always fun.
I’ve noticed that whenever I start to feel overwhelmed in life, my loft starts to get cluttered.? So I take some time to tidy up, including re-arranging any of the altars that feel like they need some new energy.
This clearing and re-arranging always shifts me out of overwhelm and brings me back to center.
Get creative with it!? You can use literally ANYTHING that helps you call in the qualities of your dream.
You’ll be out somewhere and something may jump out at you and demand to be taken home and added to your altar.? A rock or a feather you find in the park, a crystal in a shop, a candle or sculpture or tool or anything that just feels like it brings the right energy to your altar.
Working with your altar is a great way to ground the changes you’re making as you’re doing the inner work of bringing your dreams to life.
How To Make An Altar For Your Dreams Read More »
A few weeks ago I stopped posting my weekly updates here on my blog – they’ve gone into some pretty personal stuff that I don’t want to share here, so for now I’m just posting them in our weekly sharing circles inside the Creative Dream Circle.
Instead, this week, I wanted to share an update on where I am with my Magic Journaling Cards.
It’s a little (?) weird but this is how I stay consistently productive and get at my best creative ideas.
The heart and soul of my project shows up as disks of delight that want to fly out into the world.
I start by trying to look at what’s happening with the energy between me and it – what is our internal relationship like right now – but I can’t see anything.
A tiny sparkling fairy flies out of the disks and whispers “You’re so close to the finish line your logical self is trying to take over to handle all the details – it’s distorting the energy flow, the way logic tends to do.”
My logical self appears, wearing a suit and carrying a briefcase.? “We have a lot of details to attend to here.? I need to take over and handle this.”
“Oh no” my heart interjects “Surely even you can feel how special this project is.? The energies need to be aligned – heart to heart to heart. My heart, the project’s heart, the hearts of the people who will use the cards.? All decisions have to come out of that alignment.”
My logical self has lost this particular argument so many times that she just throws up her hands and says “Fine then.? Just get it done.”
Heart takes over.? “We’ll start by invoking the qualities of the cards.”
Insight.
Expansion.
Wisdom.
Delight.
Growth.
Creativity.
Magic.
Glee.
Discovery.
The qualities fill the space, ground our conversation and gently start to weave everything into alignment.? And I see it now.? Me.? The Cards.? The people who are going to use the cards. Perfect alignment.
It’s a clear, focused energy between me and the cards.? Concentrated.
Well yeah – years and years of exploration and study concentrated into the deck.? That’s what a good deck should be!? Concentrated.
Then the energy explodes from the cards out to the people.? Each person receives it in a different way, depending on what they want/need.? Just what a good deck should be!
OK, so this is all great.? But what’s stuck?
The fairy giggles.? “Why, you, of course!”
“Ha ha.? Of course.? A little help please?!”
The fairy takes me hand and flies me over to the cards.? “Let them grow.? Listen to them.? Let them tell you how they want to be.”
That’s when I realise that I’ve been trying to control this one part (the part I was stuck about!) and actually the cards want to be different from how I wanted them to be.? The cards show me what they want, and it’s kind of perfect.
This one part – the way that I was seeing the cards for myself as I was creating them – has to go completely.? The cards are showing me that it was a ladder, it got me to where I needed to be and I don’t need it anymore.
Kind of mind-blowing.? I thought that’s what the cards WERE but it was just a ladder.? Kind of amazing how much work I put into building a ladder that I was just going to discard, but if that’s what it takes, that’s what it takes.
Once I see it this way, everything is clear and I can get back to work giving the cards what they need.
How I Talk To My Creative Projects Read More »
Imagine opening up your journal to find it filled with colours and patterns that make your heart sing and whisper helpful messages from the universe.
You’ll get a series of 21 videos where I share EVERYTHING I know about creating a wildly fulfilling mandala practice.
You’ll skip through all the hard parts of learning how to draw mandalas and discover the secrets of how to receive (and understand!) the message behind your mandala and how it can help bring you whatever it is you need right now: healing, comfort, insights or brilliant flashes of inspiration.
You know how amazing it is when you get just the right message at just the right time and the feeling is so electric the little hairs on your arms stand up?
I get that feeling ALL THE TIME from drawing mandalas and that’s exactly what I want to share with you in this class.
How To Draw AMAZING + ENLIGHTENING Mandalas. Read More »
