I had a dream of sewing up ALLL of my fabric stash this winter.

No, I won't get there. But  I sewed up A LOT of my fabric stash and it’s down to a manageable size and I have a ton of new things, so even though I still have some fabric left I am calling it a win!

This is a 100% polyester I got for very cheap many years ago and never knew what to do with it. I don’t generally want to wear polyester… but when I made a few hoodies this winter I realized that this polyester would be perfect for a zip up hoodie - especially fantastic for cycling on cooler spring days.

When it came to the zipper, I pinned it in and noticed, before I sewed, that it was upside down. I thought “who cares?” and sewed it in. Then I tried it on and found out I CARE that it’s upside down because this way it doesn’t zip from the bottom up, it zips from the top down, LOL!

So I took it out and re-did it right side up. Tried it on. PERFECT!

Then I got to the finishing part and snipped off the end of the zipper - totally not thinking.

Then I tried it on again…. zipper no longer zips because I CUT OFF AN ESSENTIAL PART.

I did have a moment of “total overwhelm meltdown”.

But I quickly let it go. It’s just a zipper. I’ve sewn it twice already, I can do it three times.

The next day I was therapy and we were talking about being a sensitive creative person in this toxic world (my therapist actually used the phrase “steaming pile of bullshit” 🤣) and I told her the story of the hoodie zipper and how easy it was for me to accept mistakes and mis-steps in the process of making a hoodie, and I wish it could be that easy in my life.

At the end of therapy when I checked my phone to book our next appointment, I had a text from my sister.

WITHOUT EVEN ASKING HER, since she was out with my mom near the fabric store, she picked up a new zipper for my hoodie and had left it outside my condo.

I felt so seen and supported in my creative process.

There really is magic everywhere. And especially in this galaxy hoodie!

So now every time I wear it, I remember that kindness and thoughtfulness AND I remember the question: how can I be easier with myself for my mistakes and mis-steps?

 

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.

Every Monday in 2025 there will be a new journal prompt in the Year of Hope classroom in the Creative Dream Incubator Coaching Membership.

​Get this week's journal prompt here.​

I'd love to hear your thoughts! Leave them in the comments at the bottom of that page so we can discuss this as a group. The discussions already have been so good! Practicing hope in community is MAGIC.

From my Year of Hope journal:

I realized what has been making it SO HARD to get into a creative practice in the way I want to: GRIEF.

Grief that had kind of frozen into heaviness.

And the heaviness was so frustrating to me, because it was keeping me from where I wanted to be, so I wasn't engaging with it Un-Sticking Station style...

Until I did. And that's when I realized it was grief.

And that's when I started to see how many things I am grieving at once.

And no wonder I am tired and things feel heavy.

BUT

This awareness has melted some of the mountain... so I didn't have to climb out from under it, it's more like my relationship with it is shifting.

 

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.

When I started out with the Creative Dream Incubator in 2010, and the world felt simpler and I felt happier - the goals was to help more people have more of the things they dreamed of.

This is soul work. The work of excavating our true self from all the layers of junk that got piled on us as dominant culture pushed us to conform to who it thinks we should be. And then the work of nurturing our truth and letting our true selves flourish.

But this work, when done from within the context of dominant culture, can become all about “manifesting the perfect life”.

This work, when done without any real examination of the values of dominant culture and how they impact how you see your desires and needs, only cements you deeper into conformity.

Rich is better than poor.

Abled is better than disabled

Thin is better than fat.

Happy is better than sad.

Most new age, new thought and holistic wellness communities stay true to these values.

If you’re poor, disabled, fat and sad - you’re doing everything wrong. If you’re rich, able, thin and happy - you’re doing everything right. There is one standard, one ultimate way to be and everywhere that you miss that mark points to where you are doing something wrong.

So what happens is that our genuine soul excavation work becomes tainted by the ways we unconsciously hold onto the values of dominant culture.

I think this soul work is actually meant to help us DISMANTLE the systems we live in and create a better culture. I think that is the goal. Because the values and systems of dominant culture don’t reflect ANYONE’s soul truth. They reflect fear and greed. They are driven by an unwillingness to look within.

Most new age, new thought and holistic wellness communities collude with dominant culture and support people in believing that they’re doing actual soul work when they’re just using every privilege they have to make their own lives as comfortable and enjoyable as possible.

And we all get infected by this.

Of course we do! These values are the air we breathe and the world we live in.

So it’s helpful for me to keep coming back to the question: WHAT IS THE GOAL?

Are you trying to manifest your best life to prove that you are worthy within dominant culture’s definition of what that means?

Are you trying to be your most authentic self?

Your happiest self?

Your wealthiest self?

Your most socially acceptable self?

WHAT IS THE GOAL, REALLY?

 

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.

This is from about 3 weeks ago, I just found it in my notes and realized I hadn't shared it.

There are two things that I have identified as next steps that are easy for me to do today.

I am not doing them.

I journaled about it and found… I am not doing them because I want to jump out of my skin.

I keep distracting myself from these tasks not because I don’t want to do the tasks, but because world events have me on edge, and in order to do these tasks I need to be present and that feels too hard.

So I need to sit with this “I want to jump out of my skin” sensation.

Bringing it into the Un-Sticking Station - it shows up as ants in my pants, lol.

So, hey there, I Want To Jump Out Of My Skin, I find it hard to sit with you but I am going to try.

I Want To Jump Out Of My Skin is no longer ants in my pants, it is a sobbing child me. She’s terrified and I wrap her up in a hug.

I’m so sorry all of this is happening. It’s terrifying. This madman is threatening to take over our country and there isn’t anyone out there to save us. It’s like no one knows how to handle him. I’m so terrified of the big picture, the impact this will have on the most vulnerable people and the impact on the climate because he wants to extract everything he can from our beautiful country. And of course I worry about my own livelihood, how can I make a living inside a trade war?

And I feel stuck in a freeze response.

I hug the little girl tighter and then realize… this is not her problem. Like, I need to be my grown-up self and keep my grown-up self in the driver’s seat.

I try to bring myself into the present. 

I hum. This is a good quick nervous system reset.

My strategy for these times has been Epic Self Care. Nutrient dense meal prepping every week so it’s easy to be nourished. 1 hour walking every day minimum.  Playing music I like to dance to so I dance around the house. Remembering to drink enough water. Yoga. Early bed time. I stocked up on sleepy gummies to use when needed. Journaling, art making and processing. Being consistent about making plans with friends.

It’s like… I am doing ALL THE THINGS and they are not enough.

Suddenly I feel a sense of spaciousness.

I have space to take care of myself. This is something to be SO grateful for.

We are going to respond. We as in Canadians. Trudeau has been looking alive again and making great speeches. Individual Canadians are intensely getting into buying Canadian, and realizing how much we DON’T buy Canadian in general. Like so many of our Canadian brands have been bought by American companies but we still think of them as Canadian.

In some ways, world events can help us see the shadows and make positive changes.

OMG did I just find something to be grateful for about the trade war?

OK this is good! I feel like I am starting to stay present instead of getting overwhelmed and having freaked out inner children take over.

Now - these two tasks - can I do them?

I want to go have lunch. Am I really hungry or is this another distraction? Probably both.

There is a question emerging here: How do I hold the stress of the world when it’s really falling on me AND do the work I feel inspired to do?

I feel like the decision to prioritize art making in my daily life is a big part. SPACE TO PROCESS. Which I haven’t really had today because I have been making more space for distracting myself than processing.

Well that’s a clue!!!

As I said, this is from about 3 weeks ago.

So I have been working on that part... when I notice myself distracting myself I make art instead.

I don't always have the energy for that, so I am also looking for some simpler craft projects to have at-the-ready.

But, by stretching out my art/meditation/journal practice in the mornings I am so much less stuck! I am moving slow AND getting tasks done!

I am not "trying to stay positive" about the state of the world. I am focusing on all the good I am seeing, the ways people are coming together and thinking about the big picture - all life is sacred. Fascism, destruction and greed can't win in the long term. I want to believe in us!!

The Year of Hope project is helping - PRACTICING being more hopeful and processing all the stuff that comes up in the process.

It's not easy but I'm doing it.

 

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.

Lately I’ve been sharing the big obstacles I’ve been getting stuck in, and moments that feel like I already have everything I want, and this weird thing where I keep forgetting what my dream even is… and it can seem pretty chaotic and all over the place.

This is why I feel like the only way to share ANYTHING about creative dreaming is to share EVERYTHING. Or close to it.

Because this is what it IS.

The Inner Work and Dream Work and Outer Work of pursuing your creative dreams is ALL OVER THE FUCKING PLACE.

You will believe in yourself 1000% one day and then feel like everything is sure to fall apart the next day. This is what it IS to really pursue a creative dream.

My creative dreams have financially supported me for the last 14 years. They are STURDY. 

And they are also chaotic… Or they can seem that way…

I think they are DEEP and RICH and ALIVE.

Awkward and amazing.

And this is the only way I want to live my life. 

Join the Creative Dream Incubator Coaching Membership and be awkward and amazing with me!

If you're already a member come into the forum and let us know what you've been up to with your dreams!

 

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.

Every Monday in 2025 there will be a new journal prompt in the Year of Hope classroom in the Creative Dream Incubator Coaching Membership.

​Get this week's journal prompt here.​

I'd love to hear your thoughts! Leave them in the comments at the bottom of that page so we can discuss this as a group. The discussions already have been so good! Practicing hope in community is MAGIC.

 

From my Year of Hope journal:

Hopelessness thrives in isolation.

This was in my mind from conversations we've been having in the Year of Hope classroom.

The ways we've been sharing our thoughts on hope are really helping me incubate the hope project more richly.

And then I had some people over for a "snack potluck" - just very casual "bring yourself and a snack to share if you can" and it was such a lovely afternoon and I've been thinking of how much that helps to bolster hopefulness.

We can ✨practice✨ our way into a more hopeful state of being. Just like we practice our way into confidence, creative movement, healing, etc, every day in the Creative Dream Incubator Coaching membership!

 

 

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 just noticed: THIS IS EXACTLY HOW I WANTED IT TO BE

I am writing/drawing things that are NOT anything I ever want to share anywhere.

But it feels like I want it to feel.

I spent a few hours just following my creativity.

Painting. Drawing. But mostly journaling and sitting with my thoughts and feelings and letting them out in front of me and then looking at them and noticing things.

And that lead to new things… ideas I want to explore more deeply.

And this is how my mornings have been for the last few days!

**THIS IS IT***

This is what I wanted from a creative practice.

Eventually I know that some ideas will come out of this that I want to make into sellable/shareable art - like turning something from my journal into a lino print. And another project I am not ready to mention.

(I am still in a steep learning curve about lino printing! But I am loving it!)

But most importantly, I wanted to get into the habit/routine of starting my days with this way of engaging with my creativity and my inner world.

It was such a struggle to get to this place and I am so happy to be here now!!!!

 

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 want to go into this saying: ALL FEELINGS ARE VALID. And feelings are often fleeting. And any particular feeling cannot tell the whole story of anything.

And we have a Creative Dream Alchemy Library of Inner Work Practices to help us work through uncomfortable and difficult feelings.

I’ve been exploring my distractions and self doubt.

The anxiety that’s come with perimenopause and the anxiety that’s come with the state of the world.

There is a part of me who is BURSTING WITH JOY at the opportunity of being alive. And being an artist. And being so sensitive and able to experience so much.

And that part has felt so buried for so long. Like, it comes out in little bits but the stucks take over so easily.

Midlife is a hard time of life. Divorce is hard. Watching democracy fall apart next door while our neighbour declares an economic war against us, and threatens to take us over completely, while my city is in the absolute worst economy of my lifetime, is hard.

The other day I walked downtown after work, to meet a friend for her birthday dinner. It was an almost 1 hour walk, and I left with enough time to sit down and rest for a bit before I met her.

But there were no seats in the mall downtown. The mall I’ve been going to my while life which always had benches everywhere…. The benches have been removed, there is seating in the food court along with plenty of security who will usher anyone out who isn’t buying anything. This is how my city is handling the problem of having so many unhoused people - to make indoor public spaces hostile to them when it’s in the -30s outside.

The world is breaking my heart.

And has been in so many ways for the last five years.

This is the rise of fascism. 

AND I see so many people taking care of other people.

I see so much hope and beauty and love. And I know this is how we will get through this - by taking care of each other.

We cannot give in to despair.

But we also can’t pretend we never feel it.

The amount of inner work it takes to feel hopeful in this world is astounding.

(I LOOOOOVE what we're doing in the Year of Hope!)

And.. coming back to where I started… I feel SAD about how much time I have spent stuck.

I think this is a sign that I am ready for my next level.

It’s time for the balance of “being IN the stuck/distraction/resistance” and “being IN my creative magic” to shift towards magic. 

Right now, that means being more DISCIPLINED about doing the things that help even when I don’t feel like it.

 

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 keep forgetting what my dream even IS.

My dream is to BE the artist that I know I AM.

Which is something I am still figuring out, by having a commitment to be deeper and more present in my creative practice. Without focusing on WHAT I am creating, I just want to create more.

I do have a sense of what I would like this to look like - like a few years from now as a body of work develops. But I also want to keep an open mind and let it change.

But then the amnesia sets in.

On our Co-Dreaming/Co-Working call on Friday, which I start with a meditation for meeting the soul of your dream and listening to it…. in the meditation I could not remember my dream. Then the soul of my dream showed up as a tear from and said “Andrea! Get it together! Make a plan!”

Which is also what had come to me in doing my Dream Status Report last week. (Which I started but have not done much with but it’s only Monday as I write this and I want to work on that this week.)

So - it feels like my dream is asking me to remember it better.

The amnesia is fog that sets in...

And then it’s encouraged by self doubt, insecurity, fear about what could happen if this goes well, fear of failure, fear of never figuring out HOW to do what I want to do, panic about what that could mean, shame that I have so many layers of uncomfortable feelings, frustration that this isn’t all easier and then anger, which feels like a sign of system overload.

So the amnesia might just be a little fog but it gets weighed down by all of that.

This is part of the work of Creative Dreaming.

It doesn’t mean I’m doing something wrong or that this dream isn’t viable or now is not the time. It just means that this is the work.

Just like whatever you are facing right now, the thing that makes you think that maybe now isn’t the time or this isn’t the right dream…. that’s just your work.

Creative Dreams come with Inner Work and Dream Work as well as Outer Work.

When you can identify the Inner Work and Dream Work that your dream needs, the Outer Work gets a lot easier.

I can help!

My free guided journal You Are The Magic gives an introduction to this.

Inside the Creative Dream Incubator Coaching Membership, the Dream Book program will guide you through the process of mapping out the Inner Work, Dream Work and Outer Work you need for your dream.

And we have the Creative Dream Alchemy program with libraries of practices to use for Dream Work, Inner Work and Outer Work.

You CAN do this!

If the Outer Work feels stuck, focus on Inner Work and Dream Work and you'll see things shift.

 

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.

Every Monday in 2025 there will be a new journal prompt in the Year of Hope classroom in the Creative Dream Incubator Coaching Membership.

​Get this week's journal prompt here.​

I'd love to hear your thoughts! Leave them in the comments at the bottom of that page so we can discuss this as a group. The discussions already have been so good! Practicing hope in community is MAGIC.

Last week I shared a question from my journal: What if IT IS A PART OF MY MAGIC to be completely debilitated by fear, self doubt, etc, at times?

And I have A LOT of thoughts about the answer to that question and want to give that more time before sharing.

Last week I also shared a really satisfying un-sticking station process and in the membership forum, someone shared how much they related as they had a similar stuck. And in working through their stuck they realized.... I wouldn't have had the fear about the thing IF IT WASN'T IMPORTANT.

That is one of those ideas that get tossed around really easily in personal growth circles. And it can feel profound to hear it...

But it's so much more profound to experience it for yourself. To come to that conclusion, about your own situation, from doing your own inner work.

It does something to do, you have the experience yourself. It changes you in a way that listening to an expert tell you the same thing just can't.

This is why having an ongoing practice, and continuing to engage when we get stuck, is so healing. It's a consistent source of miracles!!!

We see it all the time in the membership, people suddenly seeing something in a new way or having a new option suddenly present itself where there were NO options before. If we just dig in, and keep showing up, we create the way through.

So, keep going.

 

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.

From my Year of Hope journal:

I am really confronting the ways I have become more distracted since 2020, giving myself a lot of grace and looking at where I can make different choices.

The Year of Hope classroom is here -  this is a no-pressure program! Dip in and out as you like, I am LOVING reading the comments, thoughts and ideas in there. Practicing hope in community really is magic!

 

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 GRATEFUL and RELIEVED to have a stuck that feels straightforward and not in any way related to existential dread.

So let's go into the Un-Sticking station!

I’ve been trying to do a thing, a marketing task, and I’ve been putting it on my weekly list for a long time.

The last few weeks I’ve made real attempts to sit down and do it, and each time I do I feel SUPER UGHHHGH.

So, I wrote it onto my list for this week and said to myself “This is fine! Things take the time they take! You are not failing to get this done, you are being super brave and in the process of getting it done”

OK but I feel like I’ve failed.

That’s a valid feeling! What else are you feeling about it?

I feel like any reasonable person would have gotten this done by now.

So you feel unreasonable?

No, I don’t feel unreasonable exactly, I feel like I can’t be taken seriously as a business person if I can’t do this task.

That’s intense!!

Is it?

You do so many tasks! You’ve had a business that has supported you for 14+ years. You do your work in alignment with your values and needs. What else would you need to do to be taken seriously?

This task.

You really mean that? If you just do this one thing you could be taken seriously as a business person. And as a side question: Do you WANT to be taken seriously as a business person? That’s not something I’ve ever considered as a dream?

Oh shit. This is getting so tangled. Maybe this is an existential dread kind of stuck after all.

What feels tangled?

The fact that I can’t seem to do this particular task, which feel like such a BASIC thing a business needs to have.

So you feel like a failure for not having done it yet?

Yes.

And then that feeling like you’re a failure makes it really hard to do the task, right?

Yes! I can’t enjoy doing it because of this voice that says I should have done it months ago!

Oh sweetie, that sucks! Let’s invite that voice in maybe?

Yeah, ok.

Hello, voice that says I should have done this months ago and as a result I am a failure and that any attempt to do it now must be weighed down by the shame of failure.

(this voice is a tiny monster)

It’s interesting that you are such a typical “monster” but… so tiny! So, do you really feel like we need to be THIS weighed down by shame?

The tiny monster looks frightened, like he didn’t expect to be questioned.

I offer him a cookie and a hot chocolate. I am so tempted to call him a cookie monster but that doesn’t feel like the right move.

Listen, I genuinely want to understand why you are doing this, and how we might be able to work together because it seems like we all want to get this task done.

It’s embarrassing that we can’t done it and that we are going in circles like this, having imaginary conversations and eating imaginary cookies, instead of just getting it done!

Yeah, I get that. AND. Have you noticed how you impact me when you try to make me feel shame for not having done it yet? It makes me unable to do it at all. Like - you play a role in this inability to get this task done. And I think you are doing this because this task is NOT as simple as you want it to be. It’s vulnerable. And I wonder if you are afraid of the vulnerability of it.

The little monster puts his hands over his head to hide.

Yeah, listen little buddy, I don’t want to upset you. This IS vulnerable and vulnerability is scary and putting out work out into the world is NOT usually a simple task!

He peeks out…. You mean it’s ok that I feel tangled?

It’s not just ok it’s great! It means you’re human! And sensitive! These are good things!

You’re right, I just wanted to not feel how scary this feels.

Thank you for sharing that little guy! 

And now he’s a baby in a high chair having a snack and giggling.

This little monster was not the only thing making this hard!!! This has roots in a lot of places, like feeling enough and fear about financial security as the world falls apart and not wanting to be misunderstood and just all the ways that marketing our heart work gets tricky.

But, where am I now?

Can I do the task?

I have no idea! So let’s go try and report back….

[OK I just spent A WHOLE HOUR working on this… and I feel excited to keep going.]

 

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.