I’ve been creativly blocked like CRAZY

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Tomorrow I’m hosting a Virtual Treasure-Mapping Tea Party.

For the past few days, I’ve been completely tangled up. ?I’ve spent about 20 hours writing and re-writing the plans for this tea party and it’s still not right.? I’ve spent all the rest of my hours thinking and stressing about it.

These events are primarily about energy work play.? Shifting the energy in the relationship between you and your dream, to make it easier for you to make your dream real.

So when I’m planning them, it has to FEEL right.? Like the event is a container that can hold that kind of transformation.

But it wasn’t feeling right.? And I didn’t know why.

I started to doubt myself.? But this was happening beneath the frustration and stress I was feeling about not being ready for an event that was rapidly approaching.? So I didn’t realise that was the real problem.

I started listening to the voice that said:? A THREE HOUR Playdate?? That is RIDICULOUS!? Who has TIME for that?? MAKE IT MORE USEFUL!

I started working against myself.

This is what most creative blocks are.? YOU doing something that stops YOUR creative flow.

Creativity doesn’t stop flowing on its own.

Doubt, fear, listening to inner critics, trying to change what’s coming through because you think it’s not good enough, trying to control the process, lack of trust in your creative genius – this is what stops creativity from flowing.

And that’s where I’ve been the last few days.? Fun times!

Last night I had a good long meditation.? I brought myself back to my truth.

Then I looked at what had been happening over the past few days.

And when the voice came back: A THREE HOUR Playdate?? That is RIDICULOUS!? Who has TIME for that?? MAKE IT MORE USEFUL!

I giggled.

Yes, no one has time for a three hour playdate with their dream.? That’s why it’s important.

A commitment to a monthly playdate with your dream shifts the inner relationship with you and your dream, opens up possibility, creates opportunity and dissolves obstacles.

The art of MAKING time for a three hour playdate with your dream is the art of bringing a dream to life.

And that’s what I am here to teach.? How to creatively play your way to your dream.

And that booming voice started swirling around.? Like it still believed that it is right.? But it also sees that this IS what I’m here to do, and it doesn’t know know to handle these two opposing facts.

So I tried to help it.

Andrea: Listen, I KNOW that most people in this world will not make time for a three hour playdate with their dream.? You’re right that if I make it more practical and shorter, more people may sign up.

Voice perks up a bit: I am right!

Andrea: You’re right about that, yes.? But then I would have diluted my teaching in order to get more people to sign up.? And that’s just not where I want to be.

Voice: Oh, right.

Andrea: I know you were trying to help.? You want things to be easier for me and I appreciate that.? But let’s remember that happened at the last one of these events… magic!? And let’s remember how important it is that I trust myself, and that I trust what I know.

A big part of bringing a dream to life is letting go of this-is-what-people-are-supposed-to-do so you have more room to hold YOUR truth.

creative journaling

I woke up this morning bursting with ideas.

I could see that supporting others in the revolutionary act of MAKING time to PLAY with their DREAM is big, important work.

I know what I’m doing.

It’s ok to trust myself.

As long as I am being as true to truth as I can be – I can’t get this wrong.

And now I’m off to un-tangle all the tangles and re-plan the plans for tomorrow’s Dream-Growing Tea Party.

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The end of the Treasure Map.

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I am treasure-mapping my way to growing my business, and sharing the honest actual story, AS IT HAPPENS, as I fumble along this path with creativity, heart and soul.

If you want to follow my adventure:
1. What no one tells you about marketing + creative business

2. Be open to the adventure of being where you are

3. The Path to creative business success.

4.? A plan emerges from the treasure map

5. Why I?ve been stuck, plus exploring EASE and JOY

6. How Ease is the ticket and what that means

This is part seven.? The last part.

What is the treasure?? Feeling good (and creative and inspired and elegant) about how I promote my work.

The funny thing about a journey like this:

Being where I am now, it’s hard to remember where I was when I started.

The things I discovered along the way are so OBVIOUS now it’s hard to remember not knowing them, which is a sign of transformation.

I know I wanted to bring more of my creativity and authenticity into how I promote my work, and step up my game a bit.? For so long my focus in my work has been on creating transformative products and I wanted to shift my focus to promoting my work.

But not, like, you know – promoting promoting..

Promotion in a really authentic, creative, inspired and elegant way.

Promotion as a thing of light in itself.? So people can get something useful and inspiring out of it without ever even becoming a client of mine.

What I’ve come up with is Dreamtastic Creative Journals.

It’s a 2 prong (free!) e-course, with material that gets you started using your creative journal as a tool for creating amazing things in your life, and an ongoing creative journaling project to support you in cultivating and sustaining your unique creative dream journal practice.

On a personal level, this helps me make a deeper commitment to my own practice, and to sharing my practice, which is good for me.

On a professional level, this can get more people engaged with my work which may lead to more brave Creative Dreamers joining me in the Circle or purchasing my premium dream-growing journaling kits.

Biggest gift in all of this:

I’ve developed a real appreciation for where I am.? When I started this journey I was looking ahead, like I usually am.? Focused on everything I still want to do instead of at everything I’ve already done.

As a creative person I am ALWAYS going to be looking at what I want to create next, that’s normal.

But it’s ALWAYS better to do that from a space of being over-the-moon happy with where you are right now and what you have already created.

My life is amazing.? I have so much freedom and spaciousness.? I get to dream and create and inspire as my job.? I get to work with amazing inspiring people from all around the world.

And I am leading a Creative Genius Playtime Retreat in San Francisco in 2 months with one of my creative heroes!

I have a lot to be grateful for and I feel kind of ridiculous that I wasn’t being actively grateful before.

These days I am grateful to be actively grateful for where I am.? And grateful to my Treasure Mapping Journey for showing me the way.

Area of Ongoing Confusion:

Creating a free course that kind of overlaps with two of my paid courses is a little confusing at times.

I don’t want the free course to feel like a free course.? I want it to be full and whole and inspiring and totally beautiful on its own.

I also don’t want to re-create the materials that are in my paid courses, and give them away for free.

A few weeks ago, I sent out an email asking for people’s questions about creative journaling, so that I can make sure to tailor this new course to what people want.? Over 50% of the replies were asking for things that are what I already sell.

I’m not sure what to do with that right now – but I am sure there is an elegant, creative solution.

There is a way to do Dreamtastic so that it’s a valuable and gorgeous resource – for my clients and for non-clients and potential clients.? So I imagine that it kind of sort of plugs into my other work for people who want to go deeper with it, but also works on its own.

My creative process is more of a journey than a straight line.

That is something that consistently got me into trouble in design school, as we had hand in sketches and idea boards that showed the natural progression of our idea and my progression bounced and boogied all over the place before arriving at a surprising destination.

Twenty years later, I’m still bouncing and boogieing around, working on something that I can’t quite see just yet, but I can feel it.

Last week in my post about how your dreams make you cranky when you don’t give them what they need, I shared that I was committing to spending 2 hours/day writing about creative journaling in support of this course.

Of course, not all of this writing is making it into the course – I want the course to be simple simple simple.? I’m focusing on creating the EASIEST possible way to help you get started.

But spending 2 hours/day writing (sometimes on my laptop, sometimes in a journal) is helping me remember everything I know about creative journaling.

I have been teaching creative dream journaling for 6 years!

I’m thinking back to my first class and smiling on the inside.? Even though in 6 years I have done a lot to refine my approach – the magic was still all there in that first class.

Creative journaling is magic because it connects you to your inner magic.? It makes your soul smile.

Creative DREAM journaling is even more magic because it directs your inner magic to help you bring your dreams to life.

I can’t wait.

As I said earlier,? the things I discovered along the way are so OBVIOUS now it’s ridiculous.

OF COURSE I should be putting more free Creative Dream Journaling resources out there!? OF COURSE this is the perfect way to promote myself and get my message out to more people.

So I am feeling really, really good.

And I’m feeling complete with this Treasure Map.

creative journaling, treasure map
The finished treasure map!

I am declaring this journey a SMASHING SUCCESS.

Thanks to this journey, I feel more aligned, more sure, more energized, more inspired and more clear.

I am BEAMING with joy about Dreamtastic Creative Journals.

Which means I am BEAMING with JOY about how I am going to promote myself from now until the end of the year – how amazing is that?(!)

Treasure Mapping is the BEST way (for me!) to run my business.

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You’re Invited: A virtual tea party (with journals + art supplies) that grows dreams.

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We’ll meet in a Worldwide Circle, on the phone.? Bring your journal, a cup of tea and your dream.

We’re going to transform obstacles with the power of your gorgeous creativity.

Make maps and discover amazing new things about what our dreams need RIGHT NOW.

Create space for what is ready to be born.

It’s a play-filled and deeply supportive way of connecting with your inner wisdom.

And it’s startlingly affordable.

The Creative Dream HOLYday is three hours of focused, live (on the phone – with time off between calls to explore + play on your own), guided adventures in Dream Incubation, Obstacle-Busting and Deep Magic Activation for people who want to lead creatively abundant lives ? and do ?impossible? things, with ease & joy. Every day.

The Creative Dream HOLYday is just one of the MANY dream-growing obstacle-busting goodies you get in the Creative Dream Circle.

It’s happening September 3.??Join the Circle this week and you can be all settled in and ready for the MAGICS on the 3rd.

This is the place to be if you want to make Big Amazing Things Happen in your world, powered by heart and soul and play.? I hope to see you there!

PS everything from the HOLYday is recorded, so if you can’t be there live you can still play along in our private forum.

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When Your Creative Dreams Make You Cranky

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I write a lot about how beginnings can be hard.

You have to face fears and doubts and uncertainty and find a way to do it anyway – without forcing yourself to do anything you’re not ready to do, or pretending that putting yourself and your ideas out there isn’t terrifying.

It’s a delicate thing.

What I have found is that the more time I can spend energetically attuning to the thing before starting the actual work, the better.? So that’s what I’ve been doing for the past few weeks.? Attuning to the thing I want to bring to life.

And this seed is definitely ready to sprout.? It’s pushing through the soil.? In this case, the soil is me so it’s a little uncomfortable.

I’m starting to feel cranky and overwhelmed and I want to hide.

So I wanted to share that.

And say that feeling cranky and overwhelmed and like you want to hide is actually a sign of Creative Dream Incubation.

That dream is stirring and needs your attention.? And you’re in that delicate place and not feeling ready.

Which is where the cranky-overwhelm-hidey feeling comes from, from having a dream that is ready to grow and not doing anything with it.

Creativity has to be cultivated. Unused creativity is not benign, it matastizes. It?turns into grief, judgement, sorrow, and shame. We are divine beings and we are by nature creative. – Brene Brown

In other words, your Creative Dreams are doing you a favour when they make you cranky.

Because if you want until you FEEL ready, you’ll never start.

By making it increasing uncomfortable to not be doing the thing, your dream is calling you into action.

I took my crankiness to my journal where it immediately transformed into clarity and direction.

Creative Journaling is the most magic tool I know for navigating the (sometimes bewildering) path to your dream come true.

My journal always knows what I need.

This thing I’m starting that is making me cranky today?? I’m creating a free Creative Dream Journal e-course.? It’s called? Dreamtastic Creative Journals and it’s in 2 parts:

  1. An e-course to help you get started with how to use your creative journal to bring your dreams to life.
  2. An ongoing project for staying in the process.

And for the next week, cranky or not, I commit to writing about creative journaling for 2 hours a day to help this project come to life.

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On doing something that you don’t think you can do.

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I’m setting out to do something I’m not sure I can do.

So I wrote out a few things I know are true, to help light the way. Hopefully they are helpful for you too.

impossible

1. If you apply your creativity and your intuition and work and it and give it time: you can do anything.

2. The stuff you think you can’t do is the best stuff to do.? If you know you can do it, it means you’ve already done it and there’s no adventure in it.

3. Being in the adventure of doing something you haven’t done before and aren’t sure you even can do pushes your creative edge and grows you in all the best ways.? I know it’s hard now, but you’ll be so grateful you did it.

4. If you are NOT doing things that you don’t think you can do – you’re stagnating, you’re staying in already-been-done-ness.

5. You wouldn’t have the desire to do it if you weren’t capable of it – that desire is a new part of you being born, the part of you that can do it – once she figures it all out.? It’s ok if the figuring it all out part is messy.

6.? Floundering.? Mis-steps.? Having it take more time than you want it too or look different than you thought it would.? That’s all ok.? Giving up is not.

7. Changing course is different from giving up.? Dreams change as you work on them. Flow WITH the inspiration and you’ll get somewhere amazing.? Try to control the outcome and you’ll get somewhere pretty sad.


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Creative Soul Alchemy

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Creative Soul Alchemy is the art of transforming fears, self-doubt, inner critics and outer obstacles into insights, magic and dreams come true.

Creative

Your creativity = your YOUness.? Your brilliant inner spark.

Yes we play with creative journaling and glitter paints and stuff, but it?s not about that kind of creativity.? It?s about your ability to create your world (and your self!).? You?re a master artist.? Your life is your masterpiece.? Let?s make it amazing.

Soul

Power. Wisdom. Love. The source of it all.

Attempting to do any of this without the magic + power of your soul is like tying your shoelaces to each other and then wondering why you fall flat on your face every time you try to move forward.

Alchemy

Awareness. Healing. Growing into who-you-really-are.

TRANSFORMATION: obstacles into opportunities, inner critics into allies and doubts into Creative Dream Superfuel.

Bring Creative, Soul and Alchemy together and you’ve got yourself some dream-growing life-altering magic.

I use the word?magic?a lot, because when you plug Creative, Soul and Alchemy together, the results look (and feel!) like magic.

But it’s not magic, it’s the natural result of integrating your creativity and your soul with your power and your desire.

When I first started approaching my inner work in this way, I wondered if I was cheating.

It felt too simple and fun to be effective.? But over time I’ve learned that we can play our inner work MUCH more effectively than we can work on it.

If this sounds interesting to you, I do have a free class that shows you the basics of Creative Soul Alchemy.?

It’s called Give Your Dream Wings, and you can get it right here.? It will show you how to use Creative Soul Alchemy to start growing your dream, in only 10 minutes a day.

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Treasure Mapping Continued: How Ease is the Ticket And What That Means

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I am treasure-mapping my way to growing my business, and sharing the honest actual story, AS IT HAPPENS, as I fumble along this path with creativity, heart and soul. If you want to follow my adventure:

I have to admit I didn’t know what to do with this and it got frustrating.

Ease is the ticket.? Ticket to what?? Do I need to figure out what it’s a ticket for, or do I need to figure out where to find it?

More than once, I wished my Treasure Map would speak in English instead of in Riddles.

I did the only thing I could think of: I explored ways to bring more ease in – everywhere.? What is the most ease-filled way to get groceries?? Where can more ease fit into my day?? What happens when ease is my guiding light?

And I learned a lot of cool things but was no closer to understanding what Ease Is The Ticket meant.

One morning I did yoga and then meditated on Ease Is The Ticket.

I looked back on the journey so far and all the other squares on the map.? Once I linked them together I could understand ease a little more clearly and then in a flash of light it all came together.

It’s like the plan is a train trip.

And there are 2 different tickets: Work Hard and Ease.? Even though it looks like they both get you onto the same train trip the journey is different with each.

And at some point the Ease car detaches from the rest of the train, rolls into a secret passage which is invisible to everyone who doesn’t have the Ease ticket and ends up at an entirely different destination.

Ease has to be my approach.

Not because easy is better than hard – sometimes things are hard and that’s ok.? And it’s not like I should be able to get what I want without working for it, or anything like that.

Ease has to be my approach simply because the path with the most ease is also the path with the most genius.? Things feel easy because the are in alignment with genius.

So: Creative Genius is the ticket.

But Creative Genius is a hard approach to take because it gets complicated – understanding what really is your genius, and how that is different from what you wish was your genius, and where you shy away from your genius and where you’re listening to what other people are telling you your genius is….. a little complicated.

Ease is simple.? (Shhhhhhh….. Ease is like a secret shortcut to genius.)

So, with every decision I have to make as I work, I ask myself: which direction is the direction of ease?? And then that’s where I go.

And, slowly, things are coming together.

Tangible, workable ideas are coming to me out of these inner explorations.

This is something that I want to be really clear about: this inner work stuff does lead to actual outer work.? There is a flow there that translates into Dreams Come True.

Focusing just on the outside stuff doesn’t work.

Focusing just on the inside stuff doesn’t work.

It’s that flow, starting inside, flowing outside in it’s own time, that does work.

On Friday I hosted a Facebook party where I answered people’s questions about creative business.

A few themes that came up:

  • Your INTUITION has your answer.? Pay attention to how things feel and follow the juiciest feelings (even when this is the opposite of that “The Experts” say to do).
  • EVERYBODY fumbles.? There is no way to build something totally new without some trial and error.? The one way to do something without ever fumbling is to do a paint-by-number follow-the-plan kind of thing, where you’re not really creating.
  • If you are a coach/healer/helper-person-of-any-kind: Be your own best client.? So often coaches are not doing the things they’re telling their clients to do.? Walking your talk is always the smoothest path to success.

I’ll be going back to my Treasure Map this week to see what it has for me next and I’ll report back…

PS: YOU GUYS!? EXCITING NEWS!

I’m going to be a part of the 2014 21 Secrets LIVE (Streaming Video) Art Journaling Workshop!

You can get in on the earlybird discount this month only.

Clickity Click Click to read all about it!

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Live Q+A/PARTY today!

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Today! Creative Biz Facebook Party!

It’s happening at 2pm Central (click for to see what time this is in YOUR time zone).

We?re meeting on the Creative Dream Incubator Facebook Page (make sure to follow that link and ?like? the page so that you can participate in the party!).

When the party starts, I?ll post a photo of a unicorn and the party will happen in the comments on that photo.

At the party you can:

  • meet creative kindred spirits
  • share links to your business (if you have one)
  • ask me anything you like about creativity, soul + business (I’ll be answering questions live for 30 minutes).

Hope to see you there!

And remember: TODAY is the last day of the fantastically epic Don?t Lose Your Shit Sale.

Each product helps with either productivity and organization, health and wellness, general business improvement, or some combination of the three.

This entire sale will be going POUF by the end of the day (today being Friday, August 9).

Clickity click-click to read all about it.

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How to Not Freak Out About Money

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Money seems to be the #1 problem for creative solo-preneurs, and the #1 barrier that keeps creatives from starting their own business.

Money isn’t about money.?

It’s about your inner relationship to your creative power, your ability to take care of yourself and create your world.? It’s about energy.? It’s about trusting the process of life.?

I’m sure you already know this.

The trick is to REMEMBER IT.

If money is about an inner relationship, then when money problems arise, you’ve got to go to that source to smooth them out.

Money problems are a sign that something in that inner relationship needs your attention.

Not making enough money in your creative business does NOT mean that you’re not good enough, or no one cares about what you have to offer.? It just means something needs to change.

You find out what needs to change by looking at what’s happening in that inner relationship.

This is hard to DO because of how SCARY money problems are.

Energetically it feels like your very survival is at stake when money problems arise.? And sometimes it is.

It can also hit some very painful self-esteem issues, it’s easy for personal worth and net worth to get all tangled up together.

Money issues often hit several emotional hot spots at once, which is what makes dealing with it so hard.

But when you get it right?? It is sooooo so so so so so so RIGHT.

Making the money you need for the life you want doing the things you love most?? THAT’S THE BEST.

Which is why it’s worth it to work on your inner relationship with money, even though it’s scary and hard.

My Creative With Money Kit leads you through the whole process of not just making friends with money, but building a creative soulful partnership with money (from the inside out) so you can work together to bring your dreams to life.

Obviously, that’s a big job.? And sometimes, because it’s such a big job, starting can be scary.

So, if you’re not quite ready for the full journey of getting?Creative With Money I thought I’d give you a simple way to simply START working on your relationship with money.

Hold a weekly (imaginary) meeting with money.

Nothing fancy – just a quick 5-10 minute check-in.

The thing that I say the most often to my clients is: This is going to get weird.? And the weirder it gets, the better it’s going to work.

Your creativity is GENIUS.

Your imagination is GENIUS.

Your brain is GENIUS.

You USE that genius by PLAYING with it.? So let’s play.

Hold an imaginary meeting with money.??

Imagine a table, with two chairs.? You’re sitting in one, money is sitting in the other.? You’re facing each other.

While you’re doing this don’t force anything.? Trust the imagery and ideas your amazing genius brain is bringing you.

Notice how money appears – big/small, nice/mean, clear/fuzzy… how money appears is full of clues about what’s going on in your inner relationship with money, and as you keep having your meeting, it will probably start to appear friendlier and more helpful over time.

Notice what kind of room you’re meeting in – it’s full of clues, too.? Notice how your meeting space changes over time (it will probably become lighter and more spacious).

Notice how easy or hard it is to talk to money.? Even if it’s hard, say hello.? See if you can get a conversation going.

The process of learning how to talk to money and partner with money in your inner world to bring your dreams to life is a long (and sometimes strange!) process.

When you hold these meetings – anything can happen.? Maybe money won’t stay in his seat, or he’ll refuse to talk to you.? Maybe you won’t know what to say.? Maybe you just won’t be able to understand each other.

The point is not to have the meeting go a certain way.? The point is to establish regular contact.

This way, when money problems come up, instead of freaking out you can hold an emergency meeting.

You can look for clues in how money appears and what’s happening in the room.

And you can meet money as an ally in finding a solution, rather than experiencing money as the problem.? <— That changes everything.

No matter what happens for you, if you keep holding meetings every week, and keep being as present as you can with the energy of money – things will start to shift.

  • You’ll start to see your patterns more clearly and you’ll know what to do to change them.
  • You’ll get brilliant ideas for ways to bring more money in, or to do more with what you already have.
  • As you become more present in your inner relationship with money, you’ll become more relaxed in your external relationship with money (suuuuuuch a relief!)

I know if you’re reading this, and have never tried anything like this before, you’re all WHAT?!? right now.

It can be tempting to believe that you’ll relax about money when you have more of it – so focusing on externals and GETTING MORE MONEY seems like the only solution, and having imaginary meetings seems ridiculous.

But, well, how’s that working for you so far?

Changing things on the outside rarely changes things on the inside.

If you read my blog you know all about my conversations with my inner critics and fears.? This is like that.

Shifting your internal patterns, one little bit at a time, by consciously interacting with them – with heaps and heaps of creativity and love.

This is the kind of thing that often requires a guide, when you’re starting out. And of course if you’re interested – I am happy to be that guide for you.? If you want help navigating this process, all my best advice/processes/tools for this are in the?Creative With Money Kit.

With the tools in the kit you’ll be well on your way to using your creativity, imagination and spirituality to develop a gorgeously abundant relationship with money – and a strong enough connection to weather any financial storms that come your way.

This week only, Creative With Money is a part of the epic Don’t Lose Your Shit Sale – awesometastic offerings from 30+ experts wrangled into one mind-bogglingly valuable package worth $1,500 that costs only $97.

Each product helps with either productivity and organization, health and wellness, general business improvement, or some combination of the three.

Click here to read all about it + get in on the sale.

Otherwise, you can get Creative With Money on it’s own for $88.

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Why DREAMING + PLAYING are more important than PRACTICALITIES.

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We all seem to get to this place where we think it’s time to stop playing, and to start working.

Like it’s time to focus on the practical action steps.? To get real.

Like creativity and spirituality and exploring brave new (inner) worlds are awesome and all, but at some point you’ve got to start being a grown-up about your life.

At some point you need to-do lists and practical plans and well, you know – work just has to come before play.

This is bullshit.

PLAY has to come before WORK.?

The amazing discoveries that can only come through play inform your work and make it sparkle in a way that makes work-first work look boring and dull.? (Do you think your fabulously sparkling work might sell better than your boring dull work?)

CREATIVITY has to come before PRACTICALITY.?

The amazing wisdom that is accessible to you through your creativity will shake up and light up your plans in ways that are so brilliant they’ll make your practical thinking brain reel with jealousy.

If you put work before play and practicality before creativity, life gets dull.

You lose out on being in the flow of your unique creative genius.

And no matter how “successful” you become, you’re not going to be happy. ?If you define what success actually means to you I’m positive it will be about much more than how much money you’re making, or how many to-dos you’ve ticked off your list today.

Except it’s SCARY

You live in a world that tells you that work comes first, that you can count on the practicalities.

Even though, well, is it working for you?

For myself and my clients I’ve seen it happen time and time again: putting practicalities first puts you on that horrible hamster wheel of frustration of working-so-hard-while-not-getting-to-where-you-really-want-to-be.

Still, it’s hard to go against that kind of conditioning.

But that’s exactly what you’ve got to do – if you want to create REAL success.

Dreaming, playing, exploring your inner world… this is the path to real success.? Grounded and lasting and happy success.

It’s not that work isn’t a part of it.? It’s just that when you put these things first – work flows like magic.

You’ll have better ideas.

You’ll get more work done in less time.

You’ll be happier.

Win – win – win.

PUT YOUR WORK DOWN.? GO PLAY.

 

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Time Management is a waste of time.

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You’ve got to have stellar time management skills to succeed as a creative solo-preneur.

THIS IS A MYTH.

Here’s the truth:

You’ve got to have stellar ENERGY management skills to succeed as a creative being.

Developing stellar energy management skills is all about self-care, be-friending-of-the-self, discovering + activating your creative genius so you can do what you want to do from a place of true creative and spiritual power – all the stuff of Creative Dream Incubation.

Time is both limited and unlimited.

Limited in that you can’t actually create more time, so any time you try to manage the time you’ve got, you’re dealing in lack, trying to make the most of your measly slice of the pie.

Unlimited in that all you ever actually have is this moment, but this moment is infinite and contains infinite possibilities.? So even though you’ve only ever got this moment, this moment is plenty.

Energy is Unlimited.? But kind of complicated.

As a Highly Sensitive Person managing my energy seems like a pretty complex thing, but really it’s just about understanding what is good for me, and then doing that.

I don’t function at my highest creative potential when I’m not properly nurturing my energy.

I can easily get twice as much done in a morning, as I can in an afternoon.

The later I go to bed, the less I’ll be able to accomplish the next day.

If I go to bed after midnight – I simply will NOT be functioning from my creative genius the next day.? The energy won’t be there for that.? And sometimes it may take a few days to get back into my creative flow.

If I have alcohol I am putting my creative genius to sleep for at least 24 hours.

Etc, etc, etc. I discovered that I am an HSP about 15 years ago.? Since then I have learned a lot about what I need to flourish – it started by not trying to do what “everyone else is doing” and embracing the fact that if I want to be able to access my creative genius, I have to take care of myself.

This is the trick: When you function from your Creative Genius you don’t need anywhere near as much time to get shit done.

Plus, obviously, when you work from your Creative Genius your work is better.? You’re not just getting shit done, you’re making magic.

As a creative solo-preneur everything is easier when you are consistently doing your best work.

And you can’t access your best work if you’re not doing what you need to do to nurture your energy. ?You just end up running on a treadmill of to-do lists that you’re never going to catch up on.

The way off the treadmill is to focus on energy-nurturing instead of time-managing.

  1. Make a list of the things that fill you up. For me, this list includes: beach days, creative journaling, sewing, aromatherapy, mineral spa days, crystal healing meditations.
  2. Make a commitment to do some of those things every day.? No exceptions.

The fill-up is the most important part!

How far would you get if you kept driving your car and never stopped to fill it up?

Time management is all about trying to make the most of your empty tank of gas.

Energy management is all about filling the tank with the highest quality fuel and keeping it full, so your engine purrs happily all the way along the path to your dream come true.

 

 

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It’s possible. I promise.

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We live in amazing times.? Closed doors have been opened, the playing field has been leveled.

We live in a time when any creative person can turn their creative joy into their livelihood.

Maybe, technically, this was always true.? But not really.

When I graduated from university, with a degree in fashion design, I wanted to be an artist.

My fourth year of university had been a time of creative flourishing for me.? I was expanding creatively while exploring the world of textile art.? And my work showed a lot of promise.? I made the top 10 list for Designer of the Year.? And I remember my surface design teacher asking me to not give up, to find a way to keep doing the art I was doing.

And I told her I would.? And I did.? I mean, to the best of my ability.? And I’m only 39, but still – but still the world was very different than it is today.

To sell my work I had to approach galleries.? I had to spend hours and hours and hours preparing to present my work to each gallery.? And then, even when they did want to represent me – everything about it was entirely under their control, which meant my career was under their control.? As I kept showing my work I did start to build up a very small following, and was lucky enough to start to get some commissions but still, it was a long, hard road.

The traditional gallery system serves gallery owners far more than it serves artists.? This isn’t news.

The internet has changed that.? As creatives, we can market and promote ourselves, build our own audience and be empowered in our creative careers.

In fact, the internet has made it so easy that with $100 or less you can set yourself up to sell your art online.

This is good. And bad.

While there used to be too many barriers to entry, now there sometimes too few.

It’s MUCH easier to set up a blog and an etsy shop than it is to master your art.? This means it’s possible to set up your online art business before you’ve really developed your work.

Which means you put it out there too soon, before you really know what you’re saying as an artist.? And your potential customers don’t buy because they also don’t really know what you’re saying as an artist.? And you give up and decide that you’re not good enough.

But really, you just needed more time to find your creative voice.

It’s possible.? I promise.? But it may take more time than you want it to.

Spend more time creating.? Don’t start to sell your work because you want to start making money from it.? Start to sell your work because it really honestly truly feels like it’s time to share it.

And when it’s time, spend more time learning about business than you think you need to.? Remember that anyone can set up a blog and an etsy shop.? If you want to succeed you’ve got to go deeper.

And as I’ve already talked about, once you get the hang of marketing – bring your creative genius to it.? Play with it.? Have fun growing your business!

Learn from as many different people as you can.

I’ve had a lot of different business teachers/coaches.? It’s really helpful to get different perspectives and ideas.

That’s why I’m so happy about the Don’t Lost Your Shit sale.

$1500 worth of business products for $97?? This is what I mean about how it’s getting easier and easier to bring your creative business dream to life.? There is so much help available!

Most importantly: Don’t Give Up.

It doesn’t happen overnight.? But it will happen as long as you don’t give up.

It’s important to seek out different teachers and mentors to get different kinds of help.

And to create support systems for your dream.

Because it’s not going to be easy and you’re going to want to give up and it’s important that you don’t.

Why is this important?

All of my adult life I have felt driven to create a meaningful soulful creative life for myself.

I was never able to find a job that really fit that.

Some came close, but I needed the wild creative abandon that I can only get from being my own boss and crafting my own unique flavour of success.

It’s NOT about BUSINESS.

It’s about creating a life that is true to who you are.? And the simple reality that money has to come into play there somewhere and somehow.

While some time and energy are needed to figure things out and to create the structure of your business, ultimately you don’t have to spend any more time than you want to doing “business stuff”.

You can built it in a way that fits your skills and preferences.

You can leave out the parts you don’t like.

You can hire out the parts you don’t like.

There are a lot of options.

The main thing is to be true to yourself.

This is what I’m “working” on right now: DELIGHTING IN DOING THINGS MY WAY.

Even when, especially when, this is different from how “The Experts” say to do it.

And it feels GOOD.

creative journaling

I am so grateful that my life is so GREAT FULL!

And a huuuuuge piece of that is my work.

Getting to do the creative work that lights me up and feels congruent with my purpose and truth and soul.? Sharing my creative essence with the world.? Working with people that inspire me like crazy.

There were many many many many many many times along the way when I was sure I wouldn’t get here.

I am so grateful that I didn’t get up.

 

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You’re invited: Creative Biz Facebook Par Tay!

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Next week only, my Creative With Money Kit is a part of the epic Don’t Lose Your Shit Sale – awesometastic offerings from 30+ experts wrangled into one mind-bogglingly valuable package worth $1,500.

Each product helps with either productivity and organization, health and wellness, general business improvement, or some combination of the three.

 

To celebrate, I’m writing about Creative Business every day next week, and then on Friday we’re having a Creative Biz Facebook Party!

 

You’re invited: Creative Biz Facebook Par Tay!

On Friday, August 9 at 2pm Central (click for to see what time this is in YOUR time zone).

We’re meeting on the Creative Dream Incubator Facebook Page (make sure to follow that link and “like” the page so that you can participate in the party!).

When the party starts, I’ll post the photo above of the unicorn and the party will happen in the comments on that photo.

You can:

  • Share links to your creative business, or tell us about your creative business dream!
  • Meet + chat with other inspiring creative business owners.
  • Ask me your questions about turning your dream into your business, or anything to do with creativity + business.? I’ll be there until 2:30 answering live!

It’s going to be superfun!

For now: Like the Creative Dream Incubator Facebook Page? so that you can participate in the party next Friday.

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Let’s play!

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This week I’m kind of quiet, for 2 reasons:

1. I’m on the computer less and JOYing more, in preparation for our Creative Dream HOLYday with JOY happening on August 3 in the Creative Dream Circle.? (HOLYdays are creative play, transformative energy healing and creative dream manifestation mojo all rolled into one.)

2. When I am working – I’m working on something super-special that’s happening here (on my blog) next week.? (It starts Monday and you’re going to love it – especially if your Creative Dream includes making a living from your creative joy)

Mandala Drawing
Creative JOYing

Creative Dream HOLYdays are also known as How To Fill Your Life With So Much Magic It Actually Sparkles.? It’s a 3 hour tele-retreat/playdate that we do in the Circle.

HOLYdays have transformed my life in more ways than I can describe.

I always come out of them with a giant, lasting energy shift and a big goofy smile on my face.

It?s the best energy healing you could ever receive AND you get to play all the way through it!

If you can be there live you can even get coaching/advice/help from me while we?re on the phone!

If you can?t be there live everything is recorded and we?ll be playing with the material all month long.

Whether you attend live or work with the recordings, it’s a fun and easy way to experience an energy healing/shift that will help you move forward with your dreams with more EASE and JOY.

Let’s play!

If you want to play with me at the Creative Dream HOLYday with JOY, join the Creative Dream Circle.

Otherwise I’ll see you back here next week…

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Treasure Mapping Continued

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I am treasure-mapping my way to growing my business, and sharing the honest actual story, AS IT HAPPENS, as I fumble along this path with creativity, heart and soul. If you want to follow my adventure:

 

And this is my map as it is today:

creative journal

It’s got 2 new steps since last time I shared it.

Funny, hey?? The next step was: All The Magic Is In The Inner Path.

Being able to see the outer path (which is what my last post about this was all about) only led to the reminder that all the magic is in the inner path.

And that clear plan I created in the last post?? That was just what I needed to get to the next part in the journey.

Sometimes a clear plan is just to help you feel more about feeling confident, sure and ready to move forward – it’s not necessarily something that you end up actually doing.

This is pretty common in Creative Dreaming, because each step you take alters the whole path.

I like having a plan, it helps me feel safe and sure.? But I rarely follow them all the way through.

Obviously, in business you’re supposed to have a Clear And Solid Plan Full Of Proven Success Strategies and then follow it to the letter to guarantee success.

Blech!? I’d just as soon get some stupid job than run my business that way.? Treasure Mapping is more complicated and infinitely more rewarding.? (Also more creative, honest, true, free and fun – all the things that matter to me most)

To explain where I am now, I’m going to go back a few weeks ago, when I was drawing a Mandala in my journal.? I was drawing away when my Mandala spoke to me.

Mandala Drawing

GROWTH can be COMFORTABLE and FUN.

Huh.

So much of my work is about making inner growth SAFE so that the kind of radical transformation we really want is POSSIBLE.

COMFORTABLE and FUN felt a little foreign, and a little exciting.

As you know, the past few weeks I’ve been re-focusing my creative energies and channeling them into creating more engaging + inspiring promotional stuffs, instead of creating a new product.? Audience-growing.

Audience-growing is an uncomfortable thing for me.

When I decided to move my in-person creative-spiritual work online and turn it into more of an I-can-quit-my-day-job business, I understood that I had to build up an online audience in order to do that.

I created a free e-course, advertised and promoted it, and quickly grew my email list to about 2,400 people.

With 2,400 people enjoying my e-course it was not hard for me to find coaching clients.? And the clients I was getting were such lovely people that I felt like my whole email list was full of lovely people, so this size of a list was comfortable to me.

But the thought of having it grow was NOT comfortable.

And so my list stayed stagnant for about 3 years.

People came and went and the overall number stayed at 2,400.? Even though I understood that I could grow my business faster if I grew my list faster, the thought of emailing 2,500 people made me very uncomfortable.? 2,400 was definitely my limit.

And then I decided it was time to grow it.

We did some work around VISIBILITY in the Creative Dream Circle in late 2012, early 2013.? Exploring it, making friends with it, finding ways to collaborate with it.? (The recording from that class is still available in the Circle, so if you want to explore visibility, join us!)

I’ve totally changed my inner relationship with visibility.

Today my email list is over 3,100.? And more than 7,700 different people visited my website in the last month, visiting over 20,000 pages.? I am pretty visible!

(Last month I only had about 3,400 different people visit my website.? The big thing that made a difference this month was my Mandala post which currently has 1.5K Facebook likes and brought in about 3,000 new people just in a few days)

Earlier this week I started feeling anxious.

Tuesday I actually had a panic attack, which has not happened in at least 10 years (since I discovered The Art Of Extreme Self-Care).

Wednesday I woke up feeling good but found I was getting more anxious as the morning went on, so I grabbed my journal and my to-go journaling kit (which thankfully also includes some very soothing essential oils and treats) and went to the park.
Creative Journal Picnic

Where I made a new friend.

He was so darling!? He stood there for a good long time, then I guess he decided he trusted me enough to come out of the hole.? He lounged in the sun in the grass while I started journaling.

Then a plane flew overhead.

I wondered if he’d freak out or if he is used to airplanes, since he lives to close to the airport so this must happen a lot.

He moved closer to the trees and flattened his body against the ground.

He made himself small in the face of danger.

Nature tells us to make ourselves small in the face of danger.? So making yourself more visible, which is like making yourself bigger, goes against nature.

But it felt like there was something more for me to see in that, and I thought about it for the rest of the day.

And then I said: You know what?? That’s not true for me anymore. I mean, there are lots of legitimate reasons to be afraid of visibility.? And all fear is legitimate and deserves to met with love and compassion.

But I’ve already done SO MUCH work on this.

And so what if more than 7,700 different people visited my website in the last month.? Just like the plane flying overhead wasn’t a true danger to the prairie dog, this is not a danger to me.

While that might seem obvious to YOU, that did not feel obvious to ME just a few months ago.? I do have a LOT of personal experiences of visibility being scary, uncomfortable and dangerous.

The prairie dog showed me just how much I have gotten over that.? And how much I am ready and able to create whatever sense of safety I need for myself, without having to be in hiding.

 

creative journal

I saw that I really am ready for growth to be EASY.

So that’s what I’m working on now.? I’m using the creative soul alchemy techniques I teach in the Circle to shift my energy and align align my whole being with EASE, and fill my relationship with my dream with EASE.

This is when I got the next message from my Treasure Map: Ease is the Ticket

I just got this message yesterday, so I don’t know what it means yet.

I am looking forward to exploring it and I can already see that this dovetails perfectly with JOY.

JOY is our theme for the August Creative Dream HOLYday.

HOLYdays are a 3 hour tele-retreat/playdate that we do every month in the Circle.? They are also known as How To Fill Your Life With So Much Magic It Actually Sparkles.

HOLYdays have transformed my life in more ways than I can say – HOLYdays are THE BEST.? I always come out of them with a giant energy shift and a big goofy smile on my face.

I highly, highly, highly recommend YOU joining and playing along – this one is happening on August 3.? It’s the best energy healing ever and you get to play all the way through it.

If you can be there live you can even get coaching from me while we’re on the phone!? If you can’t be there live everything is recorded and we’ll be playing with the material all month long.

What happens to my plan when I Let Joy Be The Fuel?? What happens once I’ve got my Ease Ticket?

That’s what I’m exploring next.

I’m planning daily meetings in the CrazySmart Wisdom Council in the Creative Dream Circle where I can get, well, CrazySmart Wisdom about this.

I’ll be looking for clues as I prepare for our JOY HOLYday.

And I’ll report back next week.

If you’re enjoying reading about my adventure I want to encourage you to join the Creative Dream Circle, so YOU can access all of these amazing creative playful transformative tools.

Plus you can get advice and coaching from me once a month during the HOLYdays and I’ll be cheering you on every day in the forum.

Let’s make YOUR dream REAL!

?To find out if the Circle is right for you, start with the (free! and amazing!) Creative Dream Initiation, right? here.

 

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