Journaling

I release the obstacles

 

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

This is the mantra I got in this week’s Dream Book journaling + alchemy kit: I release the obstacles.

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

I release the obstacles.

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

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

My reaction: it feels a little magic, like sparkles around me and these that I CAN do this, but then it feels annoying.

Then I become fascinated with now much OBSTACLE WORK has been coming up for me lately.

And then I'm like - but Andrea, you know that THIS IS THE WORK. I mean - you can't have a dream without obstacles, and so of course working with obstacles is a big part of how you move forward and you've been moving forward!

RELEASE and WORK THROUGH are related, sometimes they are the same thing - but sometimes not.

If you can just let a thing go, then by all means let it go! But it's not always that simple....

But what if it was?

I'm going to try holding this perspective.

If you want to work on this with me:

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

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

Come dream with us

 

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 release the obstacles Read More »

My relationship with resistance is shifting

I’m thinking of what I shared yesterday about feeling worthy and receptive to my dreams, and how vulnerable that felt.

When I fist stated working with that door, which became a fence, which became a curtain, there was this sensation of resistance.

The resistance was “OMG NO. This is all too heavy. There are too many layers. You cannot explore this. It will be so painful but mostly, this is all so heavy, so old, and totally immovable. So why bother?”

And I blitzed right past that response, in a way.

I feel like I gave a quick “Yeah buddy, I see you, that’s rough, I’m sorry but I’m doing what I’m doing”

Resistance is a sensation for me now, where it used to be a brick wall.

This is a gift of this work and I want to acknowledge that.

While you’re IN IT, it’s hard to remember the gifts, and it’s hard to recognize how far you’ve come because you keep looking at what’s next.

But YOU’VE COME SO FAR.

Come dream with us

 

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.

My relationship with resistance is shifting Read More »

You need to feel worthy + receptive to your dreams.

Some time back, in a meditation with my dream, my dream said:

YOU NEED TO FEEL WORTHY AND RECEPTIVE TO YOUR DREAMS.

And I was like “Well, I feel how I feel”

And my dream was like “NO! YOU NEED TO FEEL WORTHY AND RECEPTIVE TO YOUR DREAMS.”

And it felt like it waved a magic wand, and I suddenly ⚡️FELT⚡️ 100% worthy and receptive, just for a few seconds.

And then I saw it, how much that would change everything.

So I started working on it.

I divided it in 2: worthiness and receptivity and I did a group call on each - an alchemy meditation/community spell/healing circle where we could work on it together. (Membership members can get the replays here: worthiness | receptivity)

Worthiness is a constant underlying issue for me, maybe for most of us?

And receptivity can feel like so much work. Staying open is VULNERABLE AF.

But the two of them together are magic.

It’s monday morning, my schedule has been disrupted, so this is where I am starting today.

I’m not revisiting the meditations from those calls, just closing my eyes, taking a few breaths, and reflecting on what I have learned about feeling worthy and receptive to my dream.

My dream is there, as some kind of puffball with it’s hands on it’s hips, saying “GIRL! I know you know that there is no way to not be worthy of your dreams”

And I thought about how our dreams chose us, our dreams are our own soul showing us our path and so there isn’t any way we could not be worthy of that.

I thought about how our dreams show us OUR TRUTH.

And our culture works so hard to make us feel not enough so that it can sell us solutions, but also to keep us yearning to EARN enoughness - this keeps supremacist systems in place. And part of the nature of supremacist systems IS that sense of not being enough. Even when you’re at the top, you feel unworthy and afraid of losing it… it’s the nature of living in a culture that doesn’t affirm our worth. It’s a distortion.

So FEELING WORTHY is not about boosting yourself up to be declared “good enough”

It’s about recognizing an inherent truth.

This lands for me today…

But receptivity?

I feel a tiny door in my heart shut.

I give it a hug.

“Oh sweetheart, I can see why you would be afraid of this dream”

The door is now just a fence. And it’s crying.

Tell me what’s going on.

It’s so scary and overwhelming!

Oh yeah I know! Tell me more!

I’m so lucky to have what I have, asking for more feels greedy and like… what if that makes it fall apart? What if that destroys everything?

Yeah, that’s a big fear to hold. I’m so sorry you are carrying that. Do you want to try to put it down?

PUT IT DOWN??! WTF?

Well, actually, yeah. Put it down. Like, recognize that I am going after this so maybe just put the fear down?

Ummm, this is some shitty tough love. I don’t like it.

OK yeah, I usually have more patience and compassion when doing this work. It’s just - well, today my schedule is disrupted and I don’t have a lot of time…

So you’re trying to RUSH THE INNER WORK?

This little fence around my heart is incredulous.

Ummm, yeah I guess I was. I was hoping you would see how worthy we are of this dream, and how it helps us be more in alignment with our truth, and just… put it down.

The fence seems to hold onto the fear tighter.

Receptivity is so vulnerable.

I sit with this. The rest of my body does feel open and receptive.

I ask the fence “Do you feel worthy of this dream?”

It gets all shy.

Yeah, I know this confronts a lot of deep stuff. And I’m so sorry I tried to rush you. Your feelings are valid and I am so grateful that you share them with me. I want to know what’s going on with you!

Thank you. It’s just all a bit much right now.

OK, well I am not going to rush you. How can I help you?

The fence turns into a curtain, like a luscious velvet curtain.

I add: Also, I am so grateful that you are protecting my precious heart! You are so important!

The curtain swishes and sways.

We need to keep talking though, protecting my precious heart is about discernment, and sure - in the middle of a divorce it’s easy to think “Maybe I shouldn’t have married that person, maybe I shouldn’t have believed in that particular dream and so I will be very cautious about believing in other dreams” but that’s not how we want to be. And maybe the divorce is a good example of how a dream can fall apart AND I CAN BE OK. I can re-build even better…

The curtain perks up.

Yeah! You can feel that, right?

Oh wow it feels safe to dream.

There it is!

The curtain opens. My heart is there. Open and receptive.

Thank you curtain, and listen - when there is danger, you can close. You can turn back into a fence, a door, a huge impenetrable wall… you can become as protective as you need to. I don’t want to destroy you, I only want to practice discernment with you, and let the things in that are right for us. And this dream, this is right for us.

I am holding this today, the way it feels SO TENDER to be receptive to my dreams.

Come dream with us

 

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.

You need to feel worthy + receptive to your dreams. Read More »

The path won’t always be what you think it should be

The Dream Lab Playbook!

Two recent meditations from the Dream Lab:

(The Dream Lab is one of the things I use as an almost-daily practice)

First one: My dream shows up as this burst of expansion which is like wings in my heart that stretch out.

There is this “reaching out” sensation but also a sensation of “rooting in” and being more who I am.

The internet has been broken in my home since the weekend. (Yeah I wrote this one last week, it’s fixed now!!) What it felt in the meditation is… THIS IS GOOD. Re-wiring myself to be more wired to myself, less wired to look outside of me for distractions.

And it felt like divine timing.

Creative projects are calling.

Creative GROWTH is calling.

And it feels like - rooting more deeply inside myself is how I help EXPAND into my dream at this time.

Second one: My dream shows up as a sacred crown being placed on my head.

And suddenly I am radiant and IN my own radiance.

I feel so calm and peaceful and sure.

My dream is my growth, my creativity, my healing. It’s an in me, I GOT THIS.

Often when I share my Dream Labs they are more focused and helpful, I am sharing how much this can help me in a practical sense.

But lately it’s just… vibes, lol.

Which IS, in a practical sense, what I need. But it doesn’t feel like the clarity of “ok go do this” that I sometimes get from this work.

It’s always shifting.

We’re never doing it wrong.

Just keep showing up.

There are three paths to making your dream happen.

The outer work, the practical stuff and measurable progress is only 1/3 of the process.

The inner work, the ways we confront the places where we hold back is also 1/3 of the process.

Then the dream work, the ways we grow more into who we really are, accept and nurture our gifts, is also 1/3.

Literally just sitting here, feeling this sacred crown on my head, radiating my own magic - this is the work. Sometimes. Doing these practices DOES shift how we see things, DOES bring in new ideas, and DOES impact the outer steps we take, so that we can see more of that measurable progress we all like so much.

Come dream with us

 

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 path won’t always be what you think it should be Read More »

My time is now

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

This is the mantra I got in this week’s Dream Book journaling + alchemy kit: My time is now.

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

My time is now.

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

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

My reaction: This one brings me into the present in a way that feels grounding and expansive.

I LOVE feeling simultaneously grounded and expanded. Like I am stable and supported enough to reach out and grow.

I don’t have a lot to say about this one, I am just really enjoying this sensation.

I look forward to keeping this one on my mind this week.

If you want to work on this with me:

If My time is now feels good and encouraging, hold it with you today. Look at problems, questions, stucks and obstacles through this lens and see what ideas it brings.

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

Come dream with us

 

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.

My time is now Read More »

Intention is so scary and you are so magic.

Dream Book is a way of journaling that gets you to your dream.

It works.

And that’s why I avoid my Dream Book all the time, lol.

There are lots of reasons for this but what I am noticing right now is that this way of working with intention is so powerful that it becomes frightening.

All of the “what ifs” and doubts and uncomfortable questions and AM I REALLY READY FOR THIS? are RIGHT THERE. In my face. Facing it all IS the way through...

And resistance offers this comfy little cave to hide in. And who wouldn’t choose comfy over uncomfy?

But the time spent “hiding out” in resistance isn’t really wasted.

Stuff is incubating, processing beneath the surface.

Just getting the Dream Book out, looking at the table of contents, looking at the checklist of Dream Book lessons, figuring out where you are in it IS a way of engaging with your intentions.

The thing that comes up in response to that - a feeling, a discomfort, an idea… that’s the thing to focus on. That’s your next step.

So, for the last while, being in resistance WAS my next step.

Can I trust that I was doing my best to show up? Can I trust that things were working through beneath the surface?

I don't know.

I declared that in 2024 I am exploring my resistance and boy does it keep showing up.

But I DO know that now, in the last few weeks, I am opening my Dream Book and working in it much more regularly and it feels like MAGIC.

When I have a question, I make a page for it.... And within days I have an answer OR the start of an answer OR a new idea for how to get the answer.

This is a miracle!

The other day I made a new Dream Self page.

That's the one pictured above. When I look at my drawing, I don't see the scribbly mess that is there, I see HOW IT FELT in the meditation. I see magic. Drawing it out, even if you "can't draw" is so helpful! Try it!

The big thing that is different between her and me is that her heart is deeply rooted.

And this deeply rooted heart changes how she does things.

Most notably: she has entirely different boundaries around being overwhelmed. If there is a spectrum from completely debilitated by overwhelm to completely plugged into my inner magic and not at all overwhelmed, she lives on an entirely different part of the spectrum than I do.

I have struggled with overwhelm always, but especially since 2020.

And it seems like she doesn't struggle with it, not because she has better TOOLS but because she has better BOUNDARIES. (As far as I can tell, she uses all the same tools as me!)

This is such a cool thing to notice and explore.

Come dream with us

 

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.

Intention is so scary and you are so magic. Read More »

A love letter to my broken internet

It’s been a week and a half with no internet in my home!

Hopefully it will be fixed soon (all I know is that the technician is backed up and is getting to everyone in the order that they received our calls and I just have to wait) because running an internet business with no internet is awkward. (

And I found out I can’t add more data to my phone plan like I used to be able to! It’s just a $50 surcharge and then it’s cut off until next month. Yikes)

But on the other hand, not having internet in my home is magical.

Of course, I learned just how much I have been using the internet to distract me from the discomfort of divorce, and the state of the world, and my peri-menopause anxiety, and the stress of running a business about believing in a better future while the world is collapsing into chaos around us.

It did feel like what I assume a mild version of withdrawal feels like.

It did feel like “Wow, without my internet fix, this shit is really hard to deal with!”

AND ALSO

I’m so glad I am facing this all more directly.

I did say that 2024 I am doing this year-long project of exploring my resistance and that’s… well resisting exploring resistance is a part of exploring resistance, right?

But I did learn a lot more about how my resistance works this last almost-two-weeks.

And I got to spend more time in my… I don’t know what to call it.. state-of-being-more-connected-to-myself-than-to-wifi I guess.

After the stress of figuring out how to do my work, and the discomfort of re-arranging my work flow (not a small thing!) it was like this sense of magic and freedom opened up. All these chunks of time, alone at home, with no way of communication with the outside world, except the few people I text with.

It just feels like - this is what I need, as an artist.

And when I look at all of the stressors in my life right now: processing my divorce, re-gaining a sense of financial stability as a single person and with nightmare inflation and being self employed on the internet while the algorithms keep changing and culture keeps changing and everything that used to work doesn’t work….

Well, art is the answer to everything.

(For me, right now)

Art as a way of listening to my soul.

Art as a way of finding my truth.

And space without wifi does feel like a more creative space.

And once my internet is fixed, I want to hold onto this state-of-being-more-connected-to-myself-than-to-wifi.

I’m grateful it is taking soooo looooong for this to be fixed because this gives me a chance to get INTO IT.

I’m adding a page to my Dream Book about this version of me who STAYS in the state-of-being-more-connected-to-myself-than-to-wifi. To learn more about her and how to stay in this once the wifi is working again. 

I am embarrassed about this but I think this is the breakthrough I’ve been waiting for.

I’ve been wanting to be deeper in my creative process. More connected to my inner truth. Like living IN my magic in a more potent way.

I'm embarrassed that I didn't just notice that the internet was getting in the way of my process... I'm embarrassed because it took my internet breaking for me to do this.

But OF COURSE I've been in more resistance that I realize. I’m just in an overwhelming stage of life where it’s easy for resistance to kind of swoop in and take me away.

So, this experience of having my internet break gave me what I needed.

And (especially since I have established routines around getting to wifi twice a day, and have re-structured how I work so that I am not constantly feeling stressed and behind on everything) I feel patient about continuing to wait for this technician...

Come dream with us

 

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.

A love letter to my broken internet Read More »

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

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

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

AND...

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

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

I know! This is brutal.

But your future self will thank you.

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

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

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

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

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

4. What’s the truth?

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

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

Come dream with us

 

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.

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

I am wiling to get uncomfortable in service to my dreams

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

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

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

I am willing to get uncomfortable in service to my dream

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

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

My response: Ha ha HA!!!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Stop.

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

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

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

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

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

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

If you want to work on this with me:

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

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

Come dream with us

 

Creative Dream Incubator Coaching Membership members:

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

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

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

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

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

Vibe check

Something that's been on my mind:

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

Even though you DO legitimately want to _____

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

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

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

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

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

You can’t STAY in any of these states!

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

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

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

How can you make more time for them?

Come dream with us

 

Creative Dream Incubator Coaching Membership members:

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

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

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

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

Vibe check Read More »

Loneliness and desire

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

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

And then sometimes, yes it’s lonely.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Floating in what though?

It didn’t feel like loneliness anymore.

Ohhh.

It’s my desire for connection and intimacy.

It’s powerful but also kind of formless.

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

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

This happens with lots of dreams.

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

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

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

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

Come dream with us

 

Creative Dream Incubator Coaching Membership members:

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

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

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

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

Loneliness and desire Read More »

Some thoughts on working through the hard parts

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

This is from last week:

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

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

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

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

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

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

So what do I need?

Probably just some time.

Probably ACCEPTANCE that this is how I feel today.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Triangle Dream Compass

This really is how it works!

This is the compass of Creative Dream Alchemy.

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

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

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

Come dream with us

 

Creative Dream Incubator Coaching Membership members:

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

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

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

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

Some thoughts on working through the hard parts Read More »

I have the power to change

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

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

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

I have the power to change.

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

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

This one really LANDS for me today.

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

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

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

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

And it feels so helpful to remember that.

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

It feels magical and freeing.

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

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

This feels exciting to explore as my mantra this week.

If you want to work on this with me:

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

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.

Come dream with us

 

Creative Dream Incubator Coaching Membership members:

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

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

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

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

I have the power to change Read More »

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

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

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

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

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

That is the thing about dreams.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Come dream with us

 

Creative Dream Incubator Coaching Membership members:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

So here I am, coming back to it.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I appreciate my depression and want to care for it.

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

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

Not just that I AM depressed.

But that depression and dreams can work together.

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

This feels like such a gift.

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

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

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

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

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

Come dream with us

 

Creative Dream Incubator Coaching Membership members:

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

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

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

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

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

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