Self-coaching journal prompts for when you’re ready to really DO THE THING

By Andrea Schroeder / July 2, 2024 / creative entrepreneur, daily practice, journaling

My coaching style is VALIDATION FIRST. ENCOURAGEMENT ALWAYS. Let’s find the absolute gentlest way for you to make the thing happen.

I am not an “ass kicking” kind of coach.

AND...

Sometimes the most validating and affirming thing you can do is face the thing you least want to face.

SO: Let’s talk about all the things you are NOT doing that you know you should be doing, if you want to get the results you want.

I know! This is brutal.

But your future self will thank you.

Self-coaching journal prompts for when you’re ready to really DO THE THING:

1. List the things that you are NOT doing that you know you should be doing, if you want to get the results you want.

No excuses, no stories, no leaving anything off this list. Just write them all out.

2. Once you have that list, for each thing: write beside it how it feels to acknowledge that you think you should do this thing to get what you want, and yet you are not doing it.

3. As you do this, notice the resistance, excuses, stories, etc, that come to mind.

4. What’s the truth?

I would bet that it’s NOT true that you SHOULD be doing ALL of these things.

But avoiding the reason why you’re not doing them makes you stuck.

Creative Dream Incubator Coaching Membership members:

Come to the forum to share your thoughts or start a conversation about whatever you're working with.

Get your next Dream Book lesson or get a weekly journaling + alchemy kit.

Go the Library of Creative Dream Alchemy to find a practice that fits for where you are or use the Dream Lab if you're not sure where to start.

Check out the calendar of upcoming calls. Make a plan to join us live or catch a replay.

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I am wiling to get uncomfortable in service to my dreams

By Andrea Schroeder / July 1, 2024 / daily practice, healing, inner work, journaling

Note: this post is from my daily Creative Dream Practice and includes links to the tools I use which are a part of the Creative Dream Incubator Coaching Membership. You need an active membership to access those tools. You are always welcome to join right here!

This is the mantra I got in this week’s Dream Book journaling + alchemy kit: I am willing to get uncomfortable in service to my dream.

Use the meditation for the weekly mantras to dig in deeper to the mantra, or put your hands on your heart and take five deep slow breaths and repeat to yourself:

I am willing to get uncomfortable in service to my dream

Notice where this lands in your body, what thoughts and feelings get sparked.

There is no right or wrong way to react. But your actual thoughts and feelings can tell you something about what you need right now.

My response: Ha ha HA!!!

I’ve now gone a whole week without internet in my home.

I used up my cell data before the internet was completely out, when it was just dropping a lot and I decided to tether my laptop to my phone for Zoom… ASSuming that I could just buy more data if I ran out.

The my internet stopped working completely and I found out that it’s some complicated thing that needs a technician who is backed up and I just have to wait my turn. Then I found out my phone plan doesn’t allow me to buy more data, I just get a $50 overage charge and it’s cut off until the next month.

Not a disaster or anything but definitely uncomfortable for a person who runs an internet business.

BUT I already go to coffee shops, or the park, in the mornings, and both places have wi-fi. My sister and parents volunteered their homes for doing Zooms call and any other item eI need wifi. I discovered the coffee shop next door to me doesn’t turn off their wifi when they close at night so I could walk over and check email standing on the sidewalk in the evenings.

But I couldn’t be at home, and work the way I usually work. I did stuff and saved up my “needs wi-fi” tasks and then would go do them all at once.

And I couldn’t scroll. Or watch something on Netflix. And I discovered how much I’ve been using scrolling and Netflix to distract myself from my divorce.

So yes, my path has had some discomfort on it this week and this mantra makes me LAUGH.

Because I’ve been more focused on the opposite, letting my comfort matter.

Is it this way with every mantra? That we need to find the right BALANCE that works in the moment?

I’m already somewhat overwhelmed with the divorce and effort of re-building my life. I had really brutal week of what I call the “Perimenopause monster PMS”.

And then suddenly I had this extra discomfort of not being able to do my work the way I am used to doing my work.

And I was trying to keep up with the reels I’ve been posting on social media. I was sitting in the library, and Instagram was being weird, which it often is, but I couldn’t get my captions to display right and usually what I do in these cases is delete it and start over but I’m in a library and don’t want to keep talking to record it and everything felt too hard and I was like…

Stop.

Just be with how you are. You are not in a place to put reels on Instagram every day. It doesn’t matter.

I was trying to hold myself accountable for my goals and was it just last week that I wrote this post about “don’t be an asshole to yourself in the name of accountability” and there I was kind of being an asshole to myself.

So yes I am willing to get uncomfortable in service to my dreams, in the ways that we do have to face the hard things…. AND...

I am willing to bring comfort into the process by whatever means I can access!

If that means slowing down and giving myself more time or making my steps smaller and less stressful or asking for help or… whatever means I can access!

This is so important on both sides. Avoiding the discomfort of the hard stuff does keep us stuck. But not tending to our tender selves in the process is destructive to all parts of us.

If you want to work on this with me:

If I am willing to get uncomfortable in service to my dream feels good and encouraging, hold it with you today. Look at problems, questions, stucks and obstacles through this lens and see what ideas it brings.

If it brings up some discomfort - that’s your stuff to work on today. To do that work, in the creative dream incubator coaching membership we’ve got the un-sticking station and the library of inner work practices. If you’re not sure what practice to use, you can email me, or post in our forum, let me know what’s going on and I will make some suggestions for tools you can use.

Creative Dream Incubator Coaching Membership members:

Come to the forum to share your thoughts or start a conversation about whatever you're working with.

Get your next Dream Book lesson or get a weekly journaling + alchemy kit.

Go the Library of Creative Dream Alchemy to find a practice that fits for where you are or use the Dream Lab if you're not sure where to start.

Check out the calendar of upcoming calls. Make a plan to join us live or catch a replay.

I am wiling to get uncomfortable in service to my dreams Read More »

Make art. Be IN your creative magic. [Weekly Dream Status Report]

By Andrea Schroeder / June 28, 2024 / daily practice, Manifest Your Dream Life

Note: This is a post about my daily practice with my Creative Dreams - I often link to the tools, courses and processes I use which are available to Dream Book members. If you're not a member, find out more + join us here.

🦄⚡️Creative Dream Incubator Weekly Coaching Call is today!!

Hope to see you there - or catch the replay over the weekend! This week I'm switching the format a little - with a visualization for what we'd like to call in for the next week, so you can choose to focus on visualizing OR doing the journaling sheet/planning OR both!

Call details are here, the reply will be on that page a few hours after we're done. And after the call I'll start a thread in the forum to share your plans for the week and as a space for accountability and support.

If you can't be there live but have a question or there's something you are struggling with, send me an email this morning and I'll discuss it on the call and offer you some suggestions for things to do.

🦄

On Fridays I do my Dream Status Report which is a series of prompts I use every week to help me have more clarity, momentum and groundedness on my path. You can do them with me (Dream Book members: come post yours in the forum!)!

Click here for the Dream Status Report journal prompts ✨NOW WITH PRINTABLE JOURNALING SHEETS✨

✨CLICK HERE✨ to download the printable journaling sheet with these prompts.

I know doing the same prompts every week can be annoying sometimes but this is magically clarifying. The repetition helps you go deeper into the process and makes it easier to LEARN from your process as you go, and the apply those learnings right away. This weekly practices helps me learn so much more, even when I'm just stumbling around trying to find my next steps.

Here are the prompts:

PART ONE: (sometimes these can stay the same for months at time, sometimes they change often)

My dream is:

I want it because:

When I have it I will feel:

PART TWO:

Invite your dream in (using the Dream Lab practice) to help you with the rest of the prompts.

PART THREE:

My goal/wish/intention for this New Moon is:

Last week’s focus was:

What happened in the last week?

What am I learning/How do I feel about this?

What do I need now?

What does my dream need now?

Taking all of this into account, my focus for the next week is:

My Dream Status Report for this week:

PART ONE:

My dream is: I want to get an RV or camper van and travel… WITH MY CAT BEAR!!!! Create a comfy cozy home on wheels, and write + make art on the road while we have adventures. AND... there is a sense of stability I had when I was married that I don't feel now which I want to create for myself, in a new way - still lots to explore with that one. AND I want to do lino block prints! First on fabrics to make my own clothes and then... I want to see where this goes.

I want it because: It feels so sweet and makes me happy. And the block print dream feels like it will expand and energize my whole life. I feel like I am growing SO MUCH right now and my life needs to grow to reflect that.

When I have it I will feel: I think I will feel so happy, free and thrilled with my life. And also more stable and grounded.

PART TWO:

Invite the soul of your dream in (using the Dream Lab practice) to help you with the rest of the prompts.

It shows up as a rainbow, like a drawing of a rainbow. It feels colourful and confident.

PART THREE:

Last week’s focus was: Focus on inner + dream work.

What happened in the last week?

My internet died on Monday! It had been dropping occasionally, then it got worse, then it just stopped working. The repair process seems a lot more complex than I would have thought... I am still waiting for an appointment with this specialist.

So, yes I did realize how much I mindlessly scroll social media and it feels amazing to not be doing that. AND getting my work done is so complicated. I also discovered that my phone plan doesn't come with an option to add more data, I just get a big overage charge if I go over, so I can't just use my phone for things.

I'm so lucky that my sister lives nearby and I can go to her place for Zoom calls and whenever I need the internet. The coffee shop near me doesn't turn off their wifi at night, so I can walk over there and check my email in the evening. I am figuring out how to structure my work so I do all-the-stuff-except-uploading and then go to coffee shops or my sister's for uploading.

It feels weird to feel disconnected. AND it feels like this can be a purposeful time of connecting to ME. It still seems crazy that it's taken this long, but I think it could be like 2 weeks before this is fixed.

Other than that - pretty good week! I did focus more on inner and dream work and filled pages in my journals.

What am I learning/How do I feel about this?

I am having what I call the peri-menupause monster pms so I am crabby and tender. I feel tired. I don't want to keep having so many lessons and things to learn.

What do I need now?

Rest. Looking back on all of the re-arranging I did to work without internet this week, it makes sense I feel crabby, tired and in need of a break. I want to focus on relaxing and making art this weekend.

What does my dream need now?

The dream is ARTWORK of a rainbow for a reason, it's saying to make art! Be in my creative magic.

Taking all of this into account, my focus for the next week is:

Make more art! At first I thought this was a "weekend focus" but maybe all of next week, make art a bigger part of my days.

Creative Dream Incubator Coaching Membership members:

Come to the forum to share your Dream Status Report or start a conversation about whatever you're working with.

Get your next Dream Book lesson or get a weekly journaling + alchemy kit.

Go the Library of Creative Dream Alchemy to find a practice that fits for where you are or use the Dream Lab if you're not sure where to start.

Check out the calendar of upcoming calls. Make a plan to join us live or catch a replay.

Make art. Be IN your creative magic. [Weekly Dream Status Report] Read More »

Vibe check

By Andrea Schroeder / June 27, 2024 / daily practice, healing, inner work, journaling

Something that's been on my mind:

You can’t stay in the vibe of “I WANT TO _____”

Even though you DO legitimately want to _____

You have to be in the vibe of “I AM ______”

But you can’t STAY in that vibe if you’re ignoring/avoiding/resisting all of the feelings about how hard this this. About how you do want to _______ but _______.

So you do have to sometimes be with how much you want to.

And you do sometimes how to be with how scared you are that you can’t.

In order to really BE IN the vibe of KNOWING and TRUSTING that you ARE doing this... at other times.

You can’t STAY in any of these states!

Being aware of where you are, and what you patterns are around where you tend to be, is so helpful.

I don’t think you can genuinely, fully, magically, powerfully get into the vibe of I AM if you’re not giving yourself space to be in all of the other states, too.

What are the practices that help tip the scales towards spending more time in the I AM vibe? (The Creative Dream Alchemy Library of Dream Work Practices can give you some places to start)

How can you make more time for them?

Creative Dream Incubator Coaching Membership members:

Come to the forum to share your thoughts or start a conversation about whatever you're working with.

Get your next Dream Book lesson or get a weekly journaling + alchemy kit.

Go the Library of Creative Dream Alchemy to find a practice that fits for where you are or use the Dream Lab if you're not sure where to start.

Check out the calendar of upcoming calls. Make a plan to join us live or catch a replay.

Vibe check Read More »

Loneliness and desire

By Andrea Schroeder / June 26, 2024 / daily practice, healing, inner work, journaling

For the most part, I’m doing really well with my divorce. I’m meeting new people, joining new groups, trying new things, and marinating in the magic of living alone and not making any compromises.

And then sometimes, yes it’s lonely.

And sometimes the loneliness becomes more like this big sharp pain of longing for something that is not there, and I don’t see any way to get it.

It feels so helpless so I try to avoid the feeling...

But then this one time I was experiencing that sharp pain and decided to try to sit with it.

Try to figure out what my loneliness wanted even though what I wanted to do was just find a way to run away from it somehow.

Sitting with it was like visiting a part of me who is in quicksand. I was at the shore, wanting to help, but my lonely sell grabbed me and started pulling me in. I was holding onto the shore for dear life when a wiser self somewhere piped up and said “Let go”

Holding on felt impossible anyway, so I let go. Expecting to drown in quicksand…

But as soon as I stopped resisting it, it wasn’t quicksand anymore.

It was an energy field so powerful it held me and my lonely self up. It felt powerful like a forcefield and we were floating in it.

Floating in what though?

It didn’t feel like loneliness anymore.

Ohhh.

It’s my desire for connection and intimacy.

It’s powerful but also kind of formless.

Like - it’s still in the process of becoming.

It’s so hard to LONG for a thing but also not quite know what you want it to look/be/feel like.

This happens with lots of dreams.

And it makes it easy for doubts and fears to pop in and take over.

But when we can sit in the power of our own longing… wow that is something.

That sharp aching loneliness was gone. I felt expansive and trusting and settled in knowing that now is not the time to call this in.

I am going to practice sitting in this. And especially when loneliness creeps in I want to come back to this meditation, and move into this powerful field of longing.

Creative Dream Incubator Coaching Membership members:

Come to the forum to share your thoughts or start a conversation about whatever you're working with.

Get your next Dream Book lesson or get a weekly journaling + alchemy kit.

Go the Library of Creative Dream Alchemy to find a practice that fits for where you are or use the Dream Lab if you're not sure where to start.

Check out the calendar of upcoming calls. Make a plan to join us live or catch a replay.

Loneliness and desire Read More »

Some thoughts on working through the hard parts

By Andrea Schroeder / June 25, 2024 / daily practice, healing, inner work, journaling

This is from last week:

I’m completely overwhelmed. I did an un-sticking station session but I feel like I am just going through the motion with that... Not really in touch with my feelings.

There is this part of me who 100% believes in me and 100% believes in my dreams.

This part of me is trapped by the parts of me who are panicking and overwhelmed.

Like if I was to drawn a pie chart of how much of me feels which way - the panic and overwhelm would take up the whole pie chart and the part of me who believes in myself would be squashed underneath it.

I think usually the part of me who believes in myself gets squished small in the pie chart - not squashed completely underneath it. This is a new feeling.

Looking through my journal I remember how in touch I was with that part of me a few days ago and it’s so disappointing to not feel it today.

So what do I need?

Probably just some time.

Probably ACCEPTANCE that this is how I feel today.

Probably some self care and nurturing of the part of me who DOES 100% believe in me.

Now it's this week and I am reflecting on this.

It's SO HARD to be in an uncomfortable place and know that you need to just... be there. Accept things you don't want to accept. Feel feelings you don't want to feel.

And it's SO EASY to feel like if you're in that place today, then you'll be in that place forever.

But BEING WITH is a way of WORKING THROUGH. (note to self)

And this week, well today anyway, I don't feel any of this. I feel calm and trusting. I feel proud of everything I've done so far with my dreams, and I feel equipped to keep taking steps. I am feel really grateful to be exactly where I am with everything.

Triangle Dream Compass

This really is how it works!

This is the compass of Creative Dream Alchemy.

Inner work LEADS to outer work. IF YOU SHOW UP FOR IT. Avoiding the inner work does slow everything down.

And the thing is, it FELT LIKE everything was all slowed down last week, but I was actually processing and percolating and shifting.

So, looking back, if I could teach myself one thing it would be to try (practice!) to have more faith in this, when I hit the next rough spot.

Creative Dream Incubator Coaching Membership members:

Come to the forum to share your thoughts or start a conversation about whatever you're working with.

Get your next Dream Book lesson or get a weekly journaling + alchemy kit.

Go the Library of Creative Dream Alchemy to find a practice that fits for where you are or use the Dream Lab if you're not sure where to start.

Check out the calendar of upcoming calls. Make a plan to join us live or catch a replay.

Some thoughts on working through the hard parts Read More »

I have the power to change

By Andrea Schroeder / June 24, 2024 / daily practice, healing, inner work, journaling

This is the mantra I got in this week’s Dream Book journaling + alchemy kit: I have the power to change

Use the meditation for the weekly mantras to dig in deeper to the mantra, or put your hands on your heart and take five deep slow breaths and repeat to yourself:

I have the power to change.

Notice where this lands in your body, what thoughts and feelings get sparked.

There is no right or wrong way to react. But your actual thoughts and feelings can tell you something about what you need right now.

This one really LANDS for me today.

First of all - there is no "I SHOULD change" or "I would be a better person if I changed this or that"

It just feels like having the POWER to CHOOSE change - in ways that feel good to me.

Life is always changing. We are alive. We do always have the power to change AND there are times when accessing that power feels like too much.

Right now I DO feel I have the power to change.

And it feels so helpful to remember that.

Oh! I can just CHANGE. I don't have to deal with this situation in the ways I always have, and get more of results I've always gotten. I can always change.

It feels magical and freeing.

ALSO, looking at sticky situations and dreams that feel stuck...

What changes when I look at it through the lens of "I have the power to change"?

This feels exciting to explore as my mantra this week.

If you want to work on this with me:

If I have the power to change feels good and encouraging, hold it with you today. Look at problems, questions, stucks and obstacles through this lens and see what ideas it brings.

Creative Dream Incubator Coaching Membership members:

Come to the forum to share your thoughts or start a conversation about whatever you're working with.

Get your next Dream Book lesson or get a weekly journaling + alchemy kit.

Go the Library of Creative Dream Alchemy to find a practice that fits for where you are or use the Dream Lab if you're not sure where to start.

Check out the calendar of upcoming calls. Make a plan to join us live or catch a replay.

I have the power to change Read More »

Focusing on Inner Work and Dream Work [Weekly Dream Status Report]

By Andrea Schroeder / June 21, 2024 / daily practice, Manifest Your Dream Life

🦄⚡️Creative Dream Incubator Weekly Coaching Call is today!!

🦄

Click here for the Dream Status Report journal prompts ✨NOW WITH PRINTABLE JOURNALING SHEETS✨

✨CLICK HERE✨ to download the printable journaling sheet with these prompts.

Here are the prompts:

PART ONE: (sometimes these can stay the same for months at time, sometimes they change often)

My dream is:

I want it because:

When I have it I will feel:

PART TWO:

Invite your dream in (using the Dream Lab practice) to help you with the rest of the prompts.

PART THREE:

My goal/wish/intention for this New Moon is:

Last week’s focus was:

What happened in the last week?

What am I learning/How do I feel about this?

What do I need now?

What does my dream need now?

Taking all of this into account, my focus for the next week is:

My Dream Status Report for this week:

PART ONE:

When I have it I will feel: I think I will feel so happy, free and thrilled with my life. And also more stable and grounded.

PART TWO:

Invite the soul of your dream in (using the Dream Lab practice) to help you with the rest of the prompts.

My dream shows up as a football field. So weird! But it feels something like... I have the foundation, the field is built, I can play here (?)

PART THREE:

Last week’s focus was: Focus on inner + dream work.

What happened in the last week?

Yes I focused on inner and dream work AND I often felt behind in outer work. Definitely not feeling balanced between all of them.

BUT some friends came to visit so I had a few days to visit with them and that was amazing AND threw off my schedule so I can see why I feel behind.

Overall, I feel pretty good. I took some solid steps, and I feel clear about my next steps. Good week!

What am I learning/How do I feel about this?

There is a LOT going on in my Dream Book, like I shared this week. I still feel like this is a really rich time of growth, healing and shifting perspectives while building my new life.

Weather wise, and with the solstice, summer is here. I feel grateful for this, I mean I know the heat will be too much soon but right now I feel that "yay it's summer" feeling, lol. I'm making my favourite salads, enjoying the fresh local veggies, and going to the park in the mornings instead of a coffee shop.

What do I need now?

There are still lots of things to do, but I feel like I have what I need. Just keep taking steps.

What does my dream need now?

The message I get is "field of dreams" and I know that that's baseball and this field is football and maybe that doesn't matter. It's like - build it and they will come?

It feels very solid and real. I have the space - I can play now.

Taking all of this into account, my focus for the next week is:

I want to keep the same one: Focus on inner + dream work. With my friends visiting, this was a short week, so keeping the same one makes sense.

Creative Dream Incubator Coaching Membership members:

Come to the forum to share your Dream Status Report or start a conversation about whatever you're working with.

Get your next Dream Book lesson or get a weekly journaling + alchemy kit.

Go the Library of Creative Dream Alchemy to find a practice that fits for where you are or use the Dream Lab if you're not sure where to start.

Check out the calendar of upcoming calls. Make a plan to join us live or catch a replay.

Focusing on Inner Work and Dream Work [Weekly Dream Status Report] Read More »

You usually can’t just sit down and do the thing

By Andrea Schroeder / June 20, 2024 / creative entrepreneur, daily practice, healing, journaling

Most mornings I go for a walk or bike ride to a park or coffee shop, have a coffee and sit with my journal.

I need the exercise and fresh air for my mental health and to wake up my body and brain, and then I need the journaling and (even in a coffee shop since I use noice canceling headphones) I will do a Creative Dream Alchemy meditation, to get into ALIGNMENT.

This morning it’s raining and there are a bunch of things happening and I decided to stay home. I fed the cat, made coffee, and sat down at my desk with my laptop.

I CANNOT DO THE THINGS I NEED/WANT TO DO.

That is the thing about dreams.

We often CAN’T do them from our current state of consciousness. So if we don’t do the practices that help us shift our consciousness - we’ll never be able to do the “dream things”.

BUT if we make those practices DAILY PRACTICES then we can really bring the magic.

And, even when you have made these practices DAILY PRACTICES for years and years, some days come, like today, when you forget it all, sit down at your desk expecting to do a certain thing, and then find yourself unable to do the thing.

So - it’s journaling and meditation time for me.

Our dreams are always calling us into our next-level self.

What are the things that help you move towards that version of you?

FOR ME it's the daily morning exercise and journaling/meditation in a coffee shop or park routine but it's probably something really different for you. It doesn't have to be mornings. It doesn't have to be every day! Just something that helps you shift out of current-self perspective and into dream-self perspective.

Creative Dream Incubator Coaching Membership members:

Come to the forum to share your thoughts about this or start a conversation about whatever you're working with.

Get your next Dream Book lesson or get a weekly journaling + alchemy kit.

Go the Library of Creative Dream Alchemy to find a practice that fits for where you are or use the Dream Lab if you're not sure where to start.

Check out the calendar of upcoming calls. Make a plan to join us live or catch a replay.

You usually can’t just sit down and do the thing Read More »

Trying to follow through, but depression and resistance are getting in the way

By Andrea Schroeder / June 19, 2024 / creative entrepreneur, daily practice, healing, journaling

Last week’s Dream Status Report brought me: focus on inner work and dream work.

(Hey! Did you see that the Dream Stutus Report Prompts have new journaling sheets? I really love this one)

I am also remembering my commitment to do Dream Book EVERY MORNING, and how I have strayed from that.

I always stray from it… doing Dream Book gives so much clarity and confidence that I drift away from it to focus on outer work - implementing all of the great ideas. This makes sense!

But then coming back to it always feels so healing and needed.

So here I am, coming back to it.

And I am noticing that it WASN’T just that I was focused on the outer work - I was in resistance, too. There was something to explore that I wasn’t really ready to look at before.

So today in my Dream Book I started a new page: How To Do This With Depression.

It feels important to me to not pathologize depression. I think there are a lot of reasons why depression is a good, healthy natural response for me to have.

And today I feel accepting that I am depressed! It’s interesting to notice how much I didn’t want to see it. How much I was trying to pump myself up to feel good...

But now that I see it, it feels like a gift.

I feel like I have moved through SO MUCH STUFF in this divorce process, and I am mostly focused on building my new life, and I just want to let go of everything from my marriage… but it’s not that easy.

I have hurt feelings and sadness that sometimes feel so sharp I can’t breathe.

And so depression comes in… heavy, sticky and foggy.

I've been soooo frustrated by how much this has slowed me down...

But now I am seeing how it fills my whole body with this heavy sticky fog and actually protects me from the sharpness. It slows me down, which I was finding SO ANNOYING before but now I appreciate that it is giving me this space for these sharper feelings to process in a safer way.

I appreciate my depression and want to care for it.

WHILE ALSO taking care of the post-divorce life I am building.

Before it’s kind of like these two things were fighting each other, so this morning I made this Dream Book page about doing this WITH depression.

Not just that I AM depressed.

But that depression and dreams can work together.

They both want what’s right for me. They both offer healing and authenticity.

This feels like such a gift.

So this morning I am not at my usual coffee shop. I went to a different part of town, so that after this I can stop at the conservatory with butterfly garden, and take a little walk through there.

Adding these nourishing and joy-sparking thing to my day feels essential for doing this WITH depression.

Also, this thing where I focus on working on my Dream Book FIRST - EVERY DAY even when I have “things I need to do”.

Doing this WITH depression means TAKING GOOD CARE OF MYSELF while I go. Making self care a priority along with measurable progress on my dreams (which is a form of self care BUT we can get into over-working with it too).

Anyway, just making this page, and giving myself space to BE WITH it has already made me feel completely different about this.

Creative Dream Incubator Coaching Membership members:

Come to the forum to share your thoughts about this or start a conversation about whatever you're working with.

Get your next Dream Book lesson or get a weekly journaling + alchemy kit.

Go the Library of Creative Dream Alchemy to find a practice that fits for where you are or use the Dream Lab if you're not sure where to start.

Check out the calendar of upcoming calls. Make a plan to join us live or catch a replay.

Trying to follow through, but depression and resistance are getting in the way Read More »

Looking back over the last few months of working with Intentions

By Andrea Schroeder / June 18, 2024 / creative entrepreneur, daily practice, healing, journaling

I was looking through the intentions I have been setting on our last few new moon intention setting calls. (We do an intention setting every month right before the new moon in the Creative Dream Incubator Coaching Membership, or you can do this on your own with the New Moon Intention Setting Kit)

I started with intending for ____ to happen WITHIN THE NEXT MONTH.

It didn’t happen.

At the next call, after reflecting on how the month went, I decided to intend for ___ to happen. (No timeframe)

It didn’t happen and it felt kind of wishy washy and unsatisfying.

Then, the next call was frustrating for me. I went into it with no clue for what to do, and a lot of feelings about how badly this intention was going, but during the meditations and journaling I found my next intention:

I intended to TRUST that _____ is happening.

Ahhhh. Much better. Trust is a hard one, but over that month I worked on it and a few things shifted. My frustrations around not already having what I want started to soften.

The next month again I went into the call not knowing what I wanted to focus on, and during the meditation and journaling I found my next intention:

“I AM making this thing happen”

And it LANDED in my body in such a powerful way.

And I know that “we know” you “should always” frame intentions as I AM statements, frame them as positive and be confident that it’s already happened and yadda yadda yadda. I know that's "the rule" but I deliberately didn't make myself do that...

Because that shit doesn’t actually work most of the time.

What works is to BE IN your process with it.

What I shared here is FOUR new moon calls, so a three month time span.

And yes OMG how annoying that it took me THREE FREAKING MONTHS to land on the intention that really feels right.

But this is the work.

Sometimes it's easier for me. Sometimes it's harder. It depends on what you're working on and what's happening in your life.

Set the intention for what you want. Stay with it. Follow through. Be with what happens next. Process your feelings that come up. Listen to yourself. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. This is why we do the new moon calls the way we do, by repeating this process every month you WILL get there.

Our next New Moon call is July 3. If you don't have an intention you're working with right now you can do the June call now! It's never too late.

Creative Dream Incubator Coaching Membership members:

Come to the forum to share your thoughts about this or start a conversation about whatever you're working with.

Get your next Dream Book lesson or get a weekly journaling + alchemy kit.

Go the Library of Creative Dream Alchemy to find a practice that fits for where you are or use the Dream Lab if you're not sure where to start.

Check out the calendar of upcoming calls. Make a plan to join us live or catch a replay.

Looking back over the last few months of working with Intentions Read More »

I am becoming who I am meant to be

By Andrea Schroeder / June 17, 2024 / daily practice, healing, inner work, journaling

This is the mantra I got in this week’s Dream Book journaling + alchemy kit: I am becoming who I am meant to be

Use the meditation on this page to dig in deeper to the mantra, or put your hands on your heart and take five deep slow breaths and repeat to yourself:

I am becoming who I am meant to be

Notice where this lands in your body, what thoughts and feelings get sparked.

There is no right or wrong way to react. But your actual thoughts and feelings can tell you something about what you need right now.

This one makes my heart feel bigger.

What if I was meant to be divorced? That our life together was meant to be AND it was not meant to be for the rest of our lives. And there is more good stuff ahead of me...

And all of the healing, the way a divorce brings up so much stuff it really is a beautiful opportunity to free yourself.

As I keep sitting with it, it starts to feel a little scary.

I'm trying to be with the fear, but it's moving around. It's like maybe "who I am meant to be" is somehow bigger than what I feel comfortable with. But then it slips around like... no I can trust my own purpose, right? I can trust my inner callings, can't I?

And now my heart feels uncertain.

I notice when I think of "who I am meant to be" I am thinking of external things - things I do or have or create.

So I bring it in.

YIKES!

Suddenly MEANT TO BE feels sticky to me.

Like someone outside of me telling me who I SHOULD be, what I SHOULD want... which is what our world is always doing which I rebel against.

I don't like it.

I feel how important it is to CHOOSE and CREATE.

I am becoming who I CHOOSE to be.

My life is becoming what I choose to create.

So - I'm not sure about this one.

I'm going to use I am becoming who I CHOOSE to be as my mantra for this week.

If you want to work on this with me:

If I am becoming who I am meant to be feels good and encouraging, hold it with you today. Maybe make a list of the amazing ideas you want to act on next.

Creative Dream Incubator Coaching Membership members:

Come to the forum to share your thoughts or start a conversation about whatever you're working with.

Get your next Dream Book lesson or get a weekly journaling + alchemy kit.

Go the Library of Creative Dream Alchemy to find a practice that fits for where you are or use the Dream Lab if you're not sure where to start.

Check out the calendar of upcoming calls. Make a plan to join us live or catch a replay.

I am becoming who I am meant to be Read More »

[Weekly Dream Status Report]

By Andrea Schroeder / June 14, 2024 / daily practice, Manifest Your Dream Life

🦄⚡️Creative Dream Incubator Weekly Coaching Call is today!!

Click here for the Dream Status Report journal prompts ✨NOW WITH PRINTABLE JOURNALING SHEETS✨

✨CLICK HERE✨ to download the printable journaling sheet with these prompts.

Here are the prompts:

PART ONE: (sometimes these can stay the same for months at time, sometimes they change often)

My dream is:

I want it because:

When I have it I will feel:

PART TWO:

Invite your dream in (using the Dream Lab practice) to help you with the rest of the prompts.

PART THREE:

My goal/wish/intention for this New Moon is:

Last week’s focus was:

What happened in the last week?

What am I learning/How do I feel about this?

What do I need now?

What does my dream need now?

Taking all of this into account, my focus for the next week is:

My Dream Status Report for this week:

PART ONE:

When I have it I will feel: I think I will feel so happy, free and thrilled with my life. And also more stable and grounded.

PART TWO:

Invite the soul of your dream in (using the Dream Lab practice) to help you with the rest of the prompts.

Same as last week, I see myself in my loft holding a small unicorn, but it's bigger than it was last week.

And it sends a very clear message: you have more inner/dream work to do than outer work. Focus there. BECOME the version of you who HAS this thing.

PART THREE:

Last week’s focus was: Can I take care of my dream as though it's a kitten or a baby and it's growth is inevitable?

What happened in the last week?

I continue to be on a big journey with trust! Trust is always a part of creative dreaming but I am realizing how much it's a part of divorce too, or any time when something falls apart, how we need to trust as we re-build.

What am I learning/How do I feel about this?

I was depressed most of this week. This was disappointing especially after having a few really "good" weeks. I continue to explore how I want to be with the difficult times. I don't know if it's the divorce, the changes in my life, the way our political and economic systems are collapsing around us, climate change, all the war and genocides... it actually feels like a shift in my perimenopausal experience... but also I don't need a reason to be depressed, I feel how I feel and that's valid.

AND I had a really fantastic therapy session this week, I feel so proud of where I am, and all the ways I have supported myself and all the ways I am building the life I want.

What do I need now?

What I do need, I see because today I feel pretty clear and "up", is a list of "ways to handle depression" that I can turn to when I am "down". Make decisions about that from a clearer-thinking place, instead of my poor overwhelmed, heavy, foggy brain having to figure out what to do. And because I do think perimenopause may be playing a role here, I'd like to start tracking this better to see if maybe I need to talk to my doctor more about this.

What does my dream need now?

It wants me to remember that I have more inner/dream work to do than outer work. Focus there. BECOME the version of me who HAS this thing.

Taking all of this into account, my focus for the next week is:

Focus on inner + dream work.

Creative Dream Incubator Coaching Membership members:

Come to the forum to share your Dream Status Report or start a conversation about whatever you're working with.

Get your next Dream Book lesson or get a weekly journaling + alchemy kit.

Go the Library of Creative Dream Alchemy to find a practice that fits for where you are or use the Dream Lab if you're not sure where to start.

Check out the calendar of upcoming calls. Make a plan to join us live or catch a replay.

[Weekly Dream Status Report] Read More »

You don’t have to be an asshole to yourself about accountability

By Andrea Schroeder / June 13, 2024 / creative entrepreneur, daily practice, healing, journaling

On one of our coaching calls a member had said she had this new accountability partner, and they would meet and share their goals, and then meet again to say which things had been checked off the list.

And this person had a lot happening in their life, and some priorities kind of shifted as life tends to do and this new opportunity happened which she gave time and attention to, and so when she went back to the accountability partner, she had not checked off every item on her list and her partner was like “Tsk Tsk You didn’t get it done”

And we talked about how much more helpful and encouraging it is to do it the way to in the creative dream incubator coaching membership - where we acknowledge what you DID do. Surviving a difficult month is AMAZING even if nothing gets checked off the list, you know?

And following your own flow and taking ANY step is something worth cheering for, even if you didn’t take the steps you had planned.

These forms of accountability that are “you must do exactly what you said you’d do, when you said you’d do it, or you are a failure” are short-sighted and can kill your creative spirit - the thing you actually need to make a dream come true.

And yes, of course, check in with yourself about why you don’t do the things you plan to do. Without shaming yourself, peek around and notice - is resistance holding you back? Are you avoiding something uncomfortable? Do you still want to do these things and if so - what kinds of practices will make it easier/gentler for you to do them?

You can keep working on it. It’s ok if it takes the time it takes. You are not a robot!

AND OMG this is so important: Your dream is NOT all about the outer work!

That’s what these forms of accountability don’t take into account.

There is healing and growth that happen that are not always visible. But if you stay in the process over time - suddenly you see. Oh! I was BUILDING THE FOUNDATION! NOW I can check these things off the list because I have the foundation I need.

So, DO NOT JUDGE YOURSELF for the things you want to do, and don’t get to.

Be gentle. Be supportive. Notice what you DID do. Encourage yourself to not give up.

Find ways to look deeper at where you may be holding yourself back from doing what you want to do (you can use the Creative Dream Alchemy Library of Inner Work Practices to help with this).

And do not ever call yourself a failure for “not following through”.

Creative Dream Incubator Coaching Membership members:

Come to the forum to share your thoughts about this or start a conversation about whatever you're working with.

Get your next Dream Book lesson or get a weekly journaling + alchemy kit.

Go the Library of Creative Dream Alchemy to find a practice that fits for where you are or use the Dream Lab if you're not sure where to start.

Check out the calendar of upcoming calls. Make a plan to join us live or catch a replay.

You don’t have to be an asshole to yourself about accountability Read More »

A little note from my journal that wanted to be shared:

By Andrea Schroeder / June 12, 2024 / creative entrepreneur, daily practice, healing, journaling

Hey! Did you see Project Miracle is now open for registration?!?

If you're in the Creative Dream Incubator Coaching Membership - you already have access to this right here.

But if you're NOT a member - now you can get Project Miracle for just $33 USD!

Get the details and grab your spot here.

A little note from my journal that wanted to be shared:

Every time I put one piece into the puzzle, I realise there are like 10 more pieces than I thought in the puzzle.

So, each step I take towards the finish line actually moves the finish line further away from me.

I’m still really proud of all of the steps I have taken!!!

But today I need to acknowledge that this is fucking exhausting.

Creative Dream Incubator Coaching Membership members:

Come to the forum to share your thoughts about this or start a conversation about whatever you're working with.

Get your next Dream Book lesson or get a weekly journaling + alchemy kit.

Go the Library of Creative Dream Alchemy to find a practice that fits for where you are or use the Dream Lab if you're not sure where to start.

Check out the calendar of upcoming calls. Make a plan to join us live or catch a replay.

A little note from my journal that wanted to be shared: Read More »