Idea Overwhelm

By Andrea Schroeder / June 11, 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.

I love how this is working out!

Yesterday I shared my mantra for this week: I am full of amazing ideas. And I mentioned how having a lot of ideas can get overwhelming and talked about what I have been doing to be less overwhelmed and more structured with all of my ideas...

This is a post I had ready to go for today, which I wrote a few weeks ago, when I was in that process.

I just felt my whole body go into overwhelm.

It’s almost like it was happening in slow motion. Starting with my mind getting overwhelmed and then this sense of discomfort filling my whole body.

And now - all I want to do is run away from what I am doing, the thing that made me overwhelmed.

Which was - organizing my LIST OF IDEAS into TASKS and ROUTINES.

I’ve been working on this for over a year. And so much of it is going well AND this summer there is so much I want to add to it and I literally can’t hold it. My mind and body cannot hold it.

So I am noticing this sensation in my body.

This complete inability to hold all these things. The desire to run away as far as possible.

And I am noticing a growing sensation of frustration because THESE ARE THE THINGS I WANT TO BE DOING so of course I need to be able to hold them in some way.

Then it all turns into a jumbled mess inside me.

But I know one thing clearly: containers.

If, in my kitchen, I had flour and sugar and baking soda and eggs, coffee, milk and all the things… just loose everywhere in the cupboards and on the counter… I wouldn’t be able to make anything.

And it would be a frustrating experience every time I even went in there.

Everything needs a container.

Each of my ideas for what I want to do needs a container. An appropriate container that meets the needs of the thing inside it, like how my milk jug is waterproof and fits inside the fridge.

What I am doing right now, is sitting in the jumbled mess of container-less ideas and it is VERY overwhelming and it will never not be overwhelming. Like, I can’t say “Oh I’ll come back to this when I feel more clear-headed” because I could be at my most clear-headed, that doesn’t change that this is a jumbled mess that I literally can’t do anything with.

I am missing a step.

I have to take each idea, and figure out what kind of container it needs.

OK, the overwhelm in my body is calming down.

Going back into that jumbled mess, with the goal of just LOOKING AT (not doing, or attempting to do) ONE THING AT A TIME, to think about how to organize it… this feels doable.

(Looking back at this post from a few weeks ago, I feel so grateful that I did this. Because my ideas are in perfect containers now and I am doing the things and enjoying the process)

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.

Idea Overwhelm Read More »

I am full of amazing ideas

By Andrea Schroeder / June 10, 2024 / daily practice, healing, inner work, journaling

This is the mantra I got in this week’s Dream Book journaling + alchemy kit: I am full of amazing ideas

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 full of amazing ideas.

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 me smile.

I really am full of amazing ideas.

And lately I have all these experiences of really deeply feeling how each step matters. Each step adds up. Each thing I do helps me learn and grow and take a better step next time. I trust this.

Building a "new life" after divorce feels like A LOT and yet... all I can do is keep taking little steps.

And it's so reassessing to think of how I AM full of amazing ideas, and that even if what I am doing now doesn't pan out like I hope - there is no shortage of other things to try.

It's easy for creative people to feel overwhelmed and bogged down by having too many ideas.

One thing that helps me feel good about so many amazing ideas is STRUCTURE. Like having places to store my ideas so they're not whirling around in my mind. The Project Page in Dream Book, and the prompts in the Dream Plan Kit for processing ideas. I start there, and then put everything into Notion, my project management app where I have slowly been getting everything organized/structured in a way that works for my brain, and is really making it easier for me to do the things I want to do.

If I AM FULL OF AMAZING IDEAS feels good and encouraging, hold it with you today. Maybe make a list of the amazing ideas you want to act on next.

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 full of amazing ideas Read More »

Can I take care of my dream as though it’s a kitten or a baby and it’s growth is inevitable?[Weekly Dream Status Report]

By Andrea Schroeder / June 7, 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.

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!)!

🦄⚡️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.

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've been gathering ideas and supplies and getting ready to start and feeling SO excited about it.

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.

As I breath in creativity, light and knowing...I see myself in my condo. (I am doing this with noise canceling headphones in a coffee shop) This feels so GOOD.

My dream shows up as a tiny unicorn in my hands. It's alive, not a toy, lol. It seems like it's beaming with happiness.

It feels like - yeah it's really small, but it's here! It's alive! and it BEAMS with happiness. This is magic.

PART THREE:

Last week’s focus was: Trusting myself, trusting my dream.

What happened in the last week?

Yeah, I have been on a big journey with trust.

I've felt a lot of panic and anxiety these last months. And I have been practicing TRUST. And this last week that trust really deepened, like it feels SOLID. I trust my dream and I trust myself to show up, and keep showing up, and taking the next steps.

This comes up so much on our calls, how much our culture makes it hard to be true to ourselves. It feels like I've been working on deepening my trust in the bigger picture, that life itself supports me in being who I am. I don't think it's as magical as I did 20 years ago, that the law of attraction is the only force acting in the universe. Our culture is full of systems that we, humans, have built and are acting on us in every moment. Individuality is one of the values of dominant culture, and I think taking the individualist approach to manifesting our dreams is off. I don't just want to free MYSELF to live my dreams, I want to impact the culture to change. This is actually a much deeper trust I think... to see the ways dominant culture impacts us, to name them and shine a light on them so that we have a chance of changing them.

This is what artists do, we influence and create culture.

Anyway, this may not make a lot of sense but I am feeling the magic of deepening my trust.

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

I still feel like I am in a HUGE learning curve in terms of the inner work I need right now, the way my divorce has thrown things at me that I know are mine to deal with but it's just SO MUCH all at once. So... I feel everything, lol. I am learning SO MUCH.

What do I need now?

I've done so much to build/re-build systems/routines in my life and in my work. ALL the self care. ALL the creative space. I feel it all coming together, like THINGS FEEL MORE STABLE than they have since the start of the pandemic. I'm really proud of all of the steps (and even the mis-steps!) I have taken to give myself the foundation I need.

Right now, I just want to enjoy this. I have consistency and momentum in parts of my work, creative and personal life that I haven't had in a REALLY long time.

What does my dream need now?

The little unicorn in my hand is happy to speak:

I'm here! I'm alive! I'm small, take care of me so I can grow.

It also feels like - assume it's growing, another form of trust. Like if I had a kitten or a baby I would take care of them KNOWING they were growing. Not wondering if it would happen, lol.

Can I take care of my dream in that way? WHOA that feels like a good thing to explore.

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

Can I take care of my dream as though it's a kitten or a baby and it's growth is inevitable?

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.

Can I take care of my dream as though it’s a kitten or a baby and it’s growth is inevitable?[Weekly Dream Status Report] Read More »

I’ve wandered too deep into the inner work

By Andrea Schroeder / June 6, 2024 / daily practice, healing, inner work, 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.

I often talk about how, when I first started my business, I had to have daily un-sticking stations with my fear that I couldn’t do this.

Our dreams are TERRIFYING sometimes.

And it can feel impossible to engage with a thing that terrifies us.

But we know that NOT engaging will destroy the dream.

So we can feel stuck there.

And I share my story often as a way to hopefully encourage people that - yes, you can keep showing up with ALL of you. The parts that are terrified AND the parts that want the dream.

And as we know, ignoring/avoiding something because it scares you means you are letting your fear run your life. This won’t lead anywhere good.

I feel like I’m back in that place sometimes now.

Divorce is brutal. Some days I feel so sure of the new life I am creating and I am enjoying the freedom of it. Some days I feel like all of my solid ground is gone and I just don’t know what to do.

I found this in my journal:

I think I have wandered too deep into the inner work.

I’m terrified.

That's a valid way to feel.

Our creative dreams (and recovering from divorce and building a new life IS a creative dream!) do ask us to look at our STUFF.

And that can be terrifying,

And we get stop, and say "This is terrifying" and then take care of ourselves.

This is part of the work too.

It's not all about BUSTING THROUGH this stuff.

At each step, you know what you need. Sometimes you need epic self care to soothe the things that get stirred up. Sometimes you need to take brave steps.

Always you need to listen to what feels true and right for you right now.

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.

I’ve wandered too deep into the inner work Read More »

Finding that thing I need next

By Andrea Schroeder / June 5, 2024 / 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.

Last week I was sharing the process of getting back into my Dream Book, and how terrifying and vulnerable it was to check in with my process in this way.

Then on the weekend I took my Dream Book out for coffee and…

It was easy.

I opened it up and I KNEW WHAT I NEEDED TO DO NEXT. Which is exactly the point of Dream Book.

I saw this mess of ideas.... so I organized then into a LIST.

This felt like a bonafide miracle.

Because A LIST is something I can work with, and for so long I’ve just had… ideas floating around.

And, of course, the feelings that got sparked by the ideas which were so uncomfortable they made it hard to see the ideas clearly enough to be able to act on them....

BUT THIS IS A PART OF THE PROCESS.

I really want to normalize all of this stuff.

The ways we feel like we’re failing when really we’re doing next-level stuff and none of it is straightforward and the process is not linear and we’re all actually doing amazing because WE’RE STILL HERE WORKING AT IT.

The way sitting with your thoughts about what to do next can make you cry in frustration because none of them feel do-able.

The way your own ideas can scare you!

That's all a part of it...

I feel SO RELIEVED to be in this place this morning of having some clarity about my next steps… but this is not a BETTER place to be than where I was when I felt lost.

It’s ALL a part of it, we can’t skip some parts.

Feeling lost and frustrated, making space for those reactions... I don't LIKE these parts, but I know they are inevitable for this work because our dreams push us beyond what we know, they ask us to heal and grow beyond our comfort zone and the only way to stay comfortable all the time is to stay crouched inside our comfort zones.

So if you feel lost right now, please pat yourself on the back. It means you’re growing beyond what you know. You can’t get lost if you stay where you’ve always been.

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.

Finding that thing I need next Read More »

My dream is a snake queen

By Andrea Schroeder / June 4, 2024 / 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.

I met with my dream this morning (in the Dream Lab) and it was so unusal.

My dream showed up as a golden treasure chest, with a golden snake coming out of it - like standing upright on it’s tail. A very tall snake, wearing a golden crown.

It felt esoteric and powerful and it made me feel like a queen.

And I had no clue what to do with it. So I just meditated, holding this image in my mind.

Sometimes working with our dream we are acclimating to it in ways we don’t consciously understand. Receiving images and ideas from our own consciousness is a part of this work, even when we have no clue what is happening.

Unless you feel really inspired to look up a meaning, I don’t think it’s necessary. You are digesting it somewhere inside you.

Remember there are three paths to making a dream real and you need to go down all three.

Dream Work. Inner Work. Outer Work. (from Creative Dream Alchemy)

Outer Work is pretty logical/linear - I mean NOT completely at all. But there is a solidity to it. You can see things happening.

Dream Work is the opposite. And it can feel like nothing is happening when everything is happening.

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.

My dream is a snake queen Read More »

Nothing can stop me

By Andrea Schroeder / June 3, 2024 / daily practice, healing, inner work, journaling

This is the mantra I got in this week’s Dream Book journaling + alchemy kit: Nothing can stop me.

Put your hands on your heart and take five deep slow breaths and repeat to yourself:

Nothing can stop me.

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.

At first, I think about all the things that CAN stop me.

This mantra feels objectively untrue.

But then I remember that this morning when I was looking through things I noticed that I self published The Creative Dream Playbook at the end of October 2023.

One month after my husband very suddenly left me. Two weeks after my step-son went into the hospital and the doctors were saying we would likely not make it. (Though now, seven months later, he's out of the hospital and doing well!)

I didn't write and do the artwork for the whole journal in October! But I did self publish it, as in ALL BY MYSELF which is a really big deal. It was a lot of steps to take, most of them VERY annoying, and even with all of that stress and grief, I got them all done.

So now I'm like... maybe nothing can stop me?

If NOTHING CAN STOP ME feels good and encouraging, hold it with you today.

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.

Nothing can stop me Read More »

Trusting myself, trusting my dream.[Weekly Dream Status Report]

By Andrea Schroeder / May 31, 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:

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've been gathering ideas and supplies and getting ready to start and feeling SO excited about it.

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.

(Working with the one specific dream which feels like the most important to focus on right now - STABILITY in terms of my work and life routines, managing business tasks and making money, settling into my new life - I want to say settling into my new "post-divorce life" but I think the actual divorce is a way off still)

My dream shows up as a mountain with stairs up it, a very elegant and majestic staircase. Similar to last week's staircase.

It feels like - it's all here for you, just take it one step at a time. So reassuring.

PART THREE:

Last week’s focus was: Bring a majestic quality to my work with my dreams.

What happened in the last week?

I shared yesterday that I wasn't sure how to bring that focus in, and explored it a little which brought me to:

I just looked up the definition. Removing all definitions associated with royalty we have:

impressive stateliness, dignity, or beauty. "experience the majesty of the Rockies"

Ohhhhhh.

That strikes a chord about VALUING myself and my work.

I talk a lot about the vulnerability of pursing a dream.

What about the DIGNITY of it?

What I had REALLY felt is TRUSTING. I had been feeling some panic and pressure and that shifted into trust this week.

I feel like this has been a theme for MONTHS but... I keep taking steps, learning things, and applying those learnings to my next steps. This is building SUCH a good foundation, in terms of the structure and support I need to be able to show up in the ways I want to show up.

Like - I have been needing to CREATE the structure I need, without knowing what that structure should be. So it's been a lot of going in circles but those circles are actually bringing me somewhere.

And this is all tied to how the pandemic impacted me! Still! the loss of my creative routines and structures at that time, coupled with being in the worst of peri-menopause, and the overwhelm in general about the state of the world... it' been SUCH a journey to figure out how to feel like I have solid ground beneath me.

I know people don't associate stability with dreams but we need solid ground to dream from!!!! Creating this for ourselves is a part of our dream work.

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

I feel relieved. Like I am on this climb up a mountain with my dreams right now, but I DO have some stability beneath me where I am.

At my dream's request, I have been doing a lot more meditation and doing yin yoga every night which has been so good for me, I feel so much more connected to myself. Having those beautiful relaxing evenings makes my mornings better, morning is always my most creative/sharpest brain time, and lately my mornings feel better than ever. So grateful for this.

What do I need now?

Keep doing all the self care things that have me feeling so connected to myself. Keep building the structures/systems I need for stability.

TRUST myself. TRUST my dream. It's happening, one step at a time.

What does my dream need now?

When I ask this question I see the stairs kind of light up. Lights moving up the stairs. Like - it's showing me to keep going up the stairs.

It's all here for you. You can trust this.

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

Trusting myself, trusting my dream.

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.

Trusting myself, trusting my dream.[Weekly Dream Status Report] Read More »

Following Through

By Andrea Schroeder / May 30, 2024 / 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.

In last week’s Dream Status Report (the ones I post here every Friday) the message I got from my dream was… to bring a MAJESTIC quality to my work with my dream.

This felt amazing in the meditation.

And I don’t know how to translate this into anything outside of the meditation.

This happens sometimes with these alchemy meditations! It doesn’t mean something is wrong, it’s just a thing to explore.

When I think majesty I think royalty and this is not something I have positive associations with.

But I know my dream is not about that - ruling over people and amassing wealth for yourself.

It means majesty as in…. well it’s a feeling, I can’t describe it. And that’s a part of the problem…

I just looked up the definition. Removing all definitions associated with royalty we have:

impressive stateliness, dignity, or beauty. "experience the majesty of the Rockies"

Ohhhhhh.

That strikes a chord about VALUING myself and my work.

I talk a lot about the vulnerability of pursing a dream.

What about the DIGNITY of it?

This is good stuff to bring into my practice.

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.

Following Through Read More »

When I connect with my dream, I feel lost

By Andrea Schroeder / May 29, 2024 / 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.

Today my practice is WEIRD:

When I connect with my dream and it's like “Yeah that would nice but I have no flipping clue what to DO”

And this response actually leads to so much emotional distress.

This is why, culturally, we belittle dreams and dreamers. To avoid being in that emotional distress.

It's sad that most people believe that it’s “just a fantasy” when you have no clue what to do….

Because actually it’s an alchemical invitation.

Answering the call of the dream will change YOU, not just your life.

It only STARTS with not having any flipping clue what to do, you can either use that as a sign to give up, or as an opportunity to go deeper.

But that is not the post I meant to write today. That just kind of came out...

What I meant to write is that today:

I'm trying to use the Dream Lab to connect with my dream, I can’t quite do it.

I feel lost and I don’t know what to do. Not knowing what to do leaves me feeling helpless and scared that I will NEVER figure out what to do.

But if one of you who is doing Dream Book said this to me, I would first remind you that this is ok, this is a part of the process and doesn’t meant you are doing anything wrong or that your dream has died or anything.

And then I would ask “Where are you, in Dream Book? What’s the last thing you were working on?”

Well, as I shared yesterday, I had started that page about deserving to believe in myself and my dreams.

Then I would ask “How would it feel to keep working on that? Or would you rather look at what the next thing on the list is? Or is there a page you’ve already done that would be good to revisit?” At this point I would ask different questions depend on the specifics of their dream.

For me, in my specific situation I would say “You need a projects page with just the (current and potential) projects that relate to this particular dream. Let’s get them all on one page and then we can take a look at “I don’t know what to do”.

I start to resist this advice because I have everything organized in my project management app.

But I know what I would say to me, lol.

"You FEEL lost. This doesn’t mean you ARE lost. But writing it BY HAND and taking the time to think about everything as you write it in gives you a chance to process, and see it all from a different perspective."

Your dream is NOT a to do list!!!!

A project management app is great, and vital even for what I am doing, but there is ALSO an alchemical aspect to this that gets missed in there.

You need to put this in the Dream Book, too. It will look/feel different in there.

Feeling lost about your dream is an INVITATION to go deeper.

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.

When I connect with my dream, I feel lost Read More »

I started my new Dream Book

By Andrea Schroeder / May 28, 2024 / 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.

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.

I’ve got my brand new metallic gold Leuchtterm 1917 brand “master slim” journal.

(One of our members emailed me that this one was on sale on the Canadian site, in the metallic colours and I LOVE a gold journal! and I didn’t think I needed a new one but it turns out I did, lol)

I am starting a brand new Dream Book.

Yes, I’ve been starting and re-starting Dream Book since fall. Between the sudden separation/divorce and my step-son being in a life-threatening situation, it’s been hard to hold onto my dreams.

And my dreams changed… over fall and winter I was dreaming of “a healing liminal space” and then when spring arrived I felt a little lost… ready to not be so much IN the healing but also… where am I now? What do I want?

Starting and re-starting Dream Book IS GOOD. It’s like this churning process for working through things.

This is not a race! It’s an entirely non-linear process.

Though I have parts of me who are like “Jesus Andrea, you are the teacher! Get it together! You should be able to move through the program!” and I laugh and say “Clearly I am the teacher and not YOU because if you understood Dream Book at all you would know I am doing it perfectly”

I am in the process, no matter what it looks like. (So are you!)

Though, parts of me DO feel satisfied to see I am making some kind of measurable progress with this new journal starting to look like “a Dream Book”.

BUT, filling in the first page, the Dream Page, I had this wave of… Do I deserve this?

And I could explain all the reasons why YES WE ALL DESERVE IT and I thought about making a page with all of those reasons but instead I did this:

I made a page just for writing: I deserve to believe in my dreams. I deserve to believe in myself. I am writing it over and over, in bubble letters, which take me some time to write.

So it’s this very slow, meditative thing and I love it. Writing something over and over is a great way to process. You can shift your beliefs this way - just make sure to BE WITH the thoughts and feeling that come up, don’t just try to force yourself to “be positive”.

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.

I started my new Dream Book Read More »

The whole universe supports my dreams

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

This is the mantra I got in this week’s Dream Book journaling + alchemy kit: The whole universe supports my dreams.

I recorded a video of this post - I'll be sharing it on Instagram this morning, if you'd like to listen to me say it 🙂

Put your hands on your heart and take five deep slow breaths and listen to me.

The whole universe supports your dreams.

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.

It’s so easy to feel like the world is against your dreams and in a lot of ways - it is. Extractive capitalism based on white supremacist values, especially the late stage capitalism we’ve been sliding into since the 80s, absolutely is against a lot of your dreams.

But the culture we currently live in is not the universe.

The whole universe supports your dreams.

Your dreams are a part of you. They are a part of your authenticity, your purpose and potential. They are not things outside of you to chase, they are your own soul shining a light on the path.

This is what you are here for.

The whole universe supports your dreams.

If that feels good and encouraging, hold it with you today.

If it brings up some discomfort - that’s your stuff to work on today.

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.

The whole universe supports my dreams Read More »

Bring a majestic quality to my work with my dreams [Weekly Dream Status Report]

By Andrea Schroeder / May 24, 2024 / daily practice, Manifest Your Dream Life

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

Hope to see you there - or catch the replay over the weekend! (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.

Click here for the Dream Status Report journal 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:

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... I have a new creative dream which I am still not ready to talk about. 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.

I also want to do lino block prints! First on fabrics to make my own clothes and then... I want to see where this goes. I've been gathering ideas and supplies and getting ready to start and feeling SO excited about it.

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.

(Working with one specific asset of this dream which feels like the most important to focus on right now)

I see a throne at the top of a staircase. It feels massive, grounded and powerful.

PART THREE:

Last week’s focus was: Remember my creative magic.

What happened in the last week?

This was a good week full of steady steps towards more of what I want.

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

I am learning, AGAIN, about how we have to really HOLD the confidence and faith and magic of dream FOR SO FREAKING LONG. I am learning what this means to me in my life now, how it feels on a daily basis. I am learning the self care I need to do that makes this easier.

What do I need now?

Last week I wrote about how I needed a solution for my yoga mat - I was losing having this REALLY SIMPLE yoga practice on the rug beside my bed, but sometimes my skin rubbed the wrong way on the rug, and I wanted my mat AND my cat scratches it so and it would be destroyed if I left it out AND I didn't want to complicate my practice and didn't have anywhere closely to keep the mat where the cat can't get it.

These little things really do get in the way sometimes.

In the end, I put the yoga mat in this top shelf in my closet, and took the clothes that were there and put them on the floor... not ideal, I still need to find a place for those clothes but now it's easy to get my mat out and put it back.

I'm thinking about these little things, that should be so simple, sometimes just trip us up, and how easy it is to stop doing something like yoga because the mat storage feels awkward.

And now, how that solution caused a different problem and I don't know where to put these clothes...

But I will figure that part out to

So I'm mostly thinking about how, step by step, we can figure things out. Our dreams just have A LOT of steps.

Which is back to that "doing the work of staying confident and trusting over a LOOOOONG period of time".

What does my dream need now?

My dream is sending me the quality of MAJESTIC. Which is not a quality I work with often, or even ever?

But I am interested to explore it, I see how it makes my dream seem so stable and powerful.

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

Bring a majestic quality to my work with my dreams.

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.

Bring a majestic quality to my work with my dreams [Weekly Dream Status Report] Read More »

ALL of your dreams deserve support

By Andrea Schroeder / May 23, 2024 / 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.

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.

+++++++++++

The majority of people who pay for coaching are using coaching for their business goals.

It makes sense - it’s an investment on your own income so you’re likely to get that money back, and more.

BUT

It also feeds into the capitalist machine, to only invest in the parts of you that make money.

And it skews the ways we grow as people, to focus so much on the parts of us that are profitable under our current system. (Just think! If we had different political and economic systems different parts of us might be more profitable!)

But no matter how you look at it - the parts of you that are profitable actually aren’t more relevant than your unprofitable parts.

ALL parts of you are worthy of support.

ALL of your dreams are worthy of support.

And I know how hard this is, in this economy! My husband left me very suddenly, during record inflation, right when my mortgage and condo feels also increased dramatically - and my cost of living tripled overnight. I get it.

AND

If we only invest in the dreams and ideas that seem profitable… who do we become?

And as our political and economic systems are falling apart… which parts of us can be a part of building better systems for the future?

And most importantly: WHAT MAKES ME REALLY FEEL ALIVE AND HOW DO I BRING MORE OF THIS INTO MY DAYS?

Just a few things I’ve been pondering, as I’ve been working on creative and activist projects that have nothing to do with my work. I am SO LUCKY to do work that does make me feel alive and feels meaningful and magical… but still, work can’t be my WHOLE THING.

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.

ALL of your dreams deserve support Read More »

The posts I share here are biased

By Andrea Schroeder / May 22, 2024 / daily practice, healing, inner work, 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.

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.

+++++++++++

Some days I do my Creative Dream Practice, I meet my dream and journal and meditate and feel in alignment…

and then I just go my stuff.

I don’t write a post to share about it because there's not much to say.

It’s the days when I feel lost that I write more, because writing helps me find my way through AND I feel we need to normalize that we feel stuck OFTEN on the way to a dream. And that FEELING stuck is fine - just keep showing up and working with it.

So, don’t worry about me!

I’m sharing a lot of the harder stuff because I think this is more valuable to share. I'm actually having lots of good, creative days 🙂

With that said, here’s today’s post:

I just feel heavy and foggy today. I had a bike ride and coffee and journaling and I can’t shake this feeling.

So, taking heavy foggy into the Un-Sticking Station:

It shows up right away and says: I’m not heavy or foggy I am sad.

Oh, sweetheart, I’m so sorry. Here, let’s get you a cushy blanket and some tea and cookies. A big pillow to lean on. There’s so much to be sad about, this is so valid.

My sad self bursts into tears. I offer her Kleenex.

What can I do?

I kind of want to pull you under here, you know? Let’s just BE SAD ALL DAY.

OK, that feels like resistance speaking, not sadness.

I know, right? Interesting.

Can I talk to JUST sadness, with no resistance hiding behind it?

Hmmmm, sadness WITHOUT resistance. That’s interesting.

Are you able to separate yourself from resistance?

Resistance seems to LOVE to glom on to sadness and use it, like a curtain to hide behind.

That is interesting. AND annoying because right now I can’t separate them.

Sadness, do you want me to do these things I wanted to do today?

Oh yeah, I do. I think that doing these things help us not be sad.

And then there is this little whisper of “But it’s too hard, let’s not do it today”

Which invites the question: Are things harder for me to sort through because of the divorce OR are my life-long companions, resistance and self-doubt, using the divorce as a diversion, so they can take over?

Probably both.

Also, does it matter?

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.

The posts I share here are biased Read More »