Meeting with the soul of the Creative Dream Incubator

By Andrea Schroeder / November 5, 2024 / creative entrepreneur, daily practice, healing, inner work

Today I am meeting with the soul of my business, using the meditation from the Creative Business Incubator course. I want to ask it about this new project idea I have for 2025.

This did NOT go AT ALL how I thought it would!

I ask it about my project idea and I just feel like it says… You have already decided to do this on your own.

That feels uncomfortable. But... OK I see that. AND. I do want to collaborate with you. I feel I have been, but in ways I don’t see or understand.

Yes, I have been collaborating with you. I have different needs and preferences than you do.

Does this idea take your needs and preferences into account?

It’s more important right now to take YOUR needs and preferences into account. You’ve had a difficult time, and you need what you need to feel like you’re back on solid ground.

Oh. What I am looking for from you is a guarantee that this will give me the outer results I want.

Yeah, that’s not what I am here for.

I sit with this.

It’s not like I don’t care about your needs, as I said. It’s just that… this isn’t what I am here for.

What are you here for?

To BE the Creative Dream Incubator. To be a force for midwifing dreams into existence on this plane.

OK but… and I understanding right… you are not from this plane?

No, I am from the plane that the dreams come from.

Oh, you are helping from that side, too.

Yes, you don’t understand all that I do.

Is what I am doing getting in the way of what you are doing?

Sometimes, yes. But that’s due to the differences in our planes.

Oh, it’s like I couldn’t always do what you need because that would not take my needs into account in a way that would be destructive to me.

Yes, exactly. We work well together. Me on this plane, you on that plane. Everyone’s dreams in this plane. Everyone in that plane.

OK but what about the external outcomes I want? Where do I go for support on that, if not to you?

To get the external results you want you need to use your resources. I am one of them.

Am I using you properly as a resource?

I think you should be more honest about why you are doing this meditation and what you want from me.

Hmmmm. Shit.

You can do this.

Well I appreciate that I don’t feel like you are shaming me, you are just stating that I am maybe a little conflicted inside about what my goal is here….

I am doing this because I want your blessing for this new idea.

You don’t need it. You are an independent, free and creative person. Follow your ideas.

I am doing this because I want you to tell me HOW to do this in a way that guarantees that I get what I want from it.

Yeah, I’m not a genie or a magic wand.

Right.

What you want to get from this is 100% valid though. I support this. It’s just - you’re looking for validation and guarantees from me, I can’t give either of those.

Ok I can validate this idea. I do like that I checked with you to see if it seems like a terrible idea to you.

(And then I remember a meeting I had with my business about some classes I was teaching that paid really well but my business was like “I won’t stop you but no I don’t like it” and I see how those classes didn’t do anything FOR MY BUSINESS but I enjoyed doing them and they did make me good money that I needed - so it was right for me to do them AND it was right for the soul of my business to not be into them. We have different needs, we don’t have to agree on everything)

This isn’t like those classes, right?

Right, I’m happy you are happy about this. It’s not like I think we need this particular thing. There are lots of ways for me to shine my purpose into the world. You are the one doing the creative and practical work, so those parts need to be interesting to you. This idea seems like it fits the bill.

I am still a little perturbed by how the soul of my business is not being more reassuring. And recognizing that this is coming from the part of me who seeks external validation, who wants something/someone outside of me to make me feel safe, secure, like everything will be ok. These things are all my job.

Is there a way that you, the soul of the creative dream incubator, would change this idea if it was all up to you?

Oh that’s a good question! Sitting back, looking at what this project hopes to accomplish and how it fits in with what is already happening in the membership… yes this feels needed, there are other ways to do it but there is nothing wrong with this way.

You came here looking for my blessing on this?

Yes, and to kind of disaster-proof my process with this as much as possible.

I don’t think it will be a disaster. It might not be as successful as you hope, but it might be more! This idea seems solid, you are reflecting on past wins and loses, what kinds of approaches have and have not worked for you, what feels needed and relevant now… both for you personally in your process with how you will deliver this AND in terms of business stuff.

OK I feel reassured. There are no guarantees. But I am going to give this my best shot.

And I feel like I FELT the part of this that feels important for the soul of my business - the essence/quality that it would add to the Creative Dream Incubator membership - and I will hold onto that as a special part of this project.

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.

Meeting with the soul of the Creative Dream Incubator Read More »

My creativity is without limits

By Andrea Schroeder / November 4, 2024 / daily practice, healing, inner work, journaling

Every Monday I get a new Creative Dream Mantra from the journaling + alchemy kits that are a part of Dream Book. This week I got: My creativity is without limits

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 creativity is without limits

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.

If My creativity is without limits feels good and encouraging, hold it with you this week. 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.

Your creativity actually IS without limits. Both in terms of whatever art you want to create and in terms of how you create your life and what is possible for you.

The places where you FEEL limited are pointing you to the things you need to work on.

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.

What comes up for me:

First I notice that I drew this with two hands holding a broken heart... I remember thinking about the healing power of creativity when I was drawing this. And now here I am, with a heart that is broken but healing.

I've been doing so much journaling lately - painting and drawing and processing my feelings. It feels SO healing. Divorce is so intense, and it's such an incredible opportunity for healing. Sometimes I feel overwhelmed by this but lately I feel really grateful to be where I am.

And I am feeling that LIMITLESSNESS of creativity. Not like it's pushing me to want to "be bigger", just enjoying this sense that there is nothing in my way.

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 creativity is without limits Read More »

Election Stress

By Andrea Schroeder / October 31, 2024 / Creative Dream Q+A, daily practice, healing, inner work

Creative Dream Q+A time! If you have questions to add to this series, let me know! If you prefer to watch/listen I'll post a video of this on Instagram and Facebook today.

I’m Canadian, I am not in the US but election stress is coming up a lot on my group calls.

And a lot of countries are politically stressful right now. The state of the world is brutal and this stress impacts us and we need recognize that and take care of ourselves accordingly...

AND we have to hold onto our ability to hope for a better future.

If we can’t see a better future, we can’t participate in creating it.

Creative Dreaming is a practice, a skill, a muscle that gets stronger the more you use it. This is the time!!

And I know it’s hard.

But it’s actually our only option.

We have to find whatever little ways we can to hold onto the light, to hold onto a sense that there is a future worth working for.

Adjusting to some new medication, I am in the heaviest depression I have ever experienced. And this morning I had headphones on and I’m listening to A Beautiful Chorus to try to fill my brain with something optimistic and beautiful, and my cat was watching me and he looked like he was ready to play, so I started dancing.

At first it felt ridiculous, like here I am just feeling so heavy and depressed, dancing in this really exaggerated way to entertain my cat, but a few minutes in, I started to actually feel good. My cat is running around the room, just loving this and I’m dancing wildly and at the end of the song I stop, out of breath, and I could feel my blood pumping, I could feel ALIVE.

That’s why I go for bike rides too. I’m not feeling all that alive unless I intentionally create that sensation for myself.

Creative Dreaming is a practice. Being optimistic about the future is a practice.

It’s really hard right now and it’s more important than ever that we keep practicing.

And when it comes to politics, we need to practice TOGETHER. Democracy needs the participation of the people in order to survive. Voting is not participating, voting is bare minimum.

Using some of your time, energy, money towards creating the future you want to see can help with the stress. Doing what you can to change things always feels better than just sitting there waiting for disaster to strike.

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.

Election Stress Read More »

Making an Un-Sticking Station

By Andrea Schroeder / October 30, 2024 / daily practice, healing, inner work, journaling, Manifest Your Dream Life

I had "Dream Book time" and didn't know what to do - like nothing was really "in process" so I was kind of stumped.

(Once you've done the 2 years of Dream Book lessons, you get the "Dream Book oracle" which shows up in the menu in the sidebar on the Dream Book page - clicking it will take you to a random Dream Book process or lesson)

So I went to the Dream Book lesson checklist - since this is a new Dream Book I am still at the beginning with it. My next thing was: The Un-Sticking Station.

This page is meant to give you space to start exploring using the Un-Sticking practice to get unstuck... of course I use this practice all the time so I don't really need this page. But I wanted to create an Un-Sticking Station page to explore my relationship with Un-Sticking, in relationship specifically to the dreams I am working on now.

It's important to follow these bits of inspiration or insight that come up as a part of our process, "Oh I would like to..." Whatever it is, DO THAT. Find out where it leads!

You Build The Path By Walking means any step counts.

So, I don't know where I am going with this. I was listening to my intuition about what I wanted to put here, with he circle and the items around it (heaviness, sadness, this never works, self doubt + obstacles) and then the lines between them... and suddenly the Un-Sticking Station felt like a hammock or something... it would HOLD ME. Hold me in the truth - being present with these obstacles WHILE ALSO being present with the deeper truths of what I am capable of.

This feels good. And very much unfinished.

The other page is purple now because I was putting purple in a different journal, too much paint plopped out of my tube, and I try to keep the paint as thin as possible in these journals, so I was looking for another page to put the extra on, and this felt right. (I have a lot of paint pens which can write over paint so I can still journal on this page)

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.

Making an Un-Sticking Station Read More »

I’ve been having a hard time with my Dream Self

By Andrea Schroeder / October 29, 2024 / daily practice, healing, inner work, journaling, Manifest Your Dream Life

I started a new Dream Self Page in my Dream Book for "being deeper in my creative and spiritual practices". I want to feel more creative and alive and I don't really know what this looks like yet.

This feels like an important part of my other dreams and also like a dream in itself, so I wanted to explore this version of me who is really DEEP in the practices. This version of me seems to NATURALLY get into her practices and not get distracted by other things the way I have been lately.

I started the page by giving in a title and put the date in the corner and... nothing.

I was a little annoyed with myself for putting the date in, because then I could see how long it had been without me coming back and doing anything with it.

At the two week mark, I started journaling about how it felt that I am so stuck with this. That this dream self seems so far away from me. I felt like I had failed... but then I journaled about how hard it's been to adjust to this medication I am on and how really - I AM DOING MY BEST.

And then I started thinking about how it doesn't matter what it looks like - I am doing AMAZING because I am showing up. It's fine to just bitch in your journal about how stuck you are, and doing so is so much better than avoiding your journal because you are stuck.

Then I started working on the Dream Self and it was amazing, it felt like I was really getting in touch with his part of me.

Then I started a list of things that can help me be this version of me more often.

And I noticed that I am doing a lot of these things, and there are ways I can be better at supporting myself, and new things to add to the mix.

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’ve been having a hard time with my Dream Self Read More »

I take bold action in service to my dream

By Andrea Schroeder / October 28, 2024 / daily practice, healing, inner work, journaling

Every Monday I get a new Creative Dream Mantra from the journaling + alchemy kits that are a part of Dream Book.

This week I got: I take bold action 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 take bold action 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.

How it lands for me:

First, it feels like an invitation. Then I immediately reflect on: am I being BOLD enough?

But really, ANY action is BOLD when it comes to your dreams.

And often, any action, even the tiniest little thing, actually FEELS bold because you're stepping out of "what is" and creating space for "what could be"

So, yes, I am being bold enough. We all are.

And then, I feel this wave of supportive energy. Like my actions are building a foundation that I can relax into.

Is relax the right word?

Like - I can trust myself to keep doing what I need to do, because I AM doing what I need to do. I am taking bold action in service to my dream. So this is bold action in service to my healing and self care, too.

It feels like an invitation and encouragement to KEEP GOING.

How does it land for you?

If I take bold action in service to my dream feels good and encouraging, hold it with you this week. 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. To do that work, in the Creative Dream Incubator Coaching Membership we’ve got the un-sticking station and the library of inner work practices. If you’re not sure what practice to use, you can email me, or post in our forum, let me know what’s going on and I will make some suggestions for tools you can use.

Creative Dream Incubator Coaching Membership members:

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

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

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

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

I take bold action in service to my dream Read More »

I set a clear intention but then the opposite happened

By Andrea Schroeder / October 24, 2024 / Creative Dream Q+A, daily practice, healing, inner work, journaling, resistance project

Creative Dream Q+A time! If you have questions to add to this series, let me know!

This came up on a group coaching call recently. And I said that this is something I had been meaning to write about on my blog because it happens SO often.

So imagine that you are here, where you are. And your dream is there, where it is. Between you..... are some outer and inner obstacles.

If you’re not facing your dream directly and committed to taking steps towards it, then you’re not really aware of those obstacles. I know you’re aware of some of them, and you’re like “Yikes! I don’t want to deal with that!” and so you’re not taking any action. But you’re actually NOT all that aware of what these obstacles are actually all about, you’re seeing them from a distance.

When you face your dream directly and begin to take steps towards it - you are actually moving yourself right into the obstacles. You don’t take one step and land in your dream, you take a step and land in the obstacle because that’s what’s between you and your dream.

Sometimes you land in the obstacle you knew about, sometimes you land in an obstacle you didn’t realise was there. Either scenario can be jarring. And it feels like the obstacle came to you but actually you went to it. You’re the one who made a move.

Being up close with this obstacle is progress towards your dream.

Avoiding the obstacles IS avoiding your dream.

Resources from the Creative Dream Incubator Coaching Membership:

The Obstacle Is The Way Through: alchemy meditation for transforming your obstacle

The Un-Sticking Station: the classic way to "un-stick" any stuck, or obstacle

Dream Plan Kit: to work on a plan to overcome the obstacle

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 set a clear intention but then the opposite happened Read More »

Unsticking Anxiety

By Andrea Schroeder / October 23, 2024 / daily practice, healing, inner work

This is from a few weeks ago when anxiety was my biggest obstacle.

There is some medical stuff going on causing this and it's already getting better and hope we will get it sorted in the next few months AND here I am in the meantime, with anxiety as a HUGE obstacle.

So I am taking it to the un-sticking station practice.

Hello, Anxiety.

Anxiety is a little round, I don’t know… like a circle stuffed animal but with arms and legs. Big fuzzy eyebrows.

I hug it and it softens a bit.

But my body feels uncomfortable.

Then I imagine the stuffed animal gets really big, and now it’s hugging me, and this is a little bit soothing.

Does anxiety want to comfort me?

Now my head hurts.

I want to feel creative and free. I want to do all these things I want to do. You are making this all really hard, like painfully hard - why?

In the medication I am crying, sobbing, asking anxiety to explain this.

It’s just a stuffed animal, sitting there.

And that's all that happened.

SITTING WITH an obstacle is always better than avoiding it. But sitting with it one time doesn't necessarily change it.

It's a practice, so we keep practicing. Over time YES sitting with the obstacles absolutely changes them. You can use the Un-Sticking Station, or The Obstacle Is The Way Through or other Inner Work practices. Doing ANYTHING AT ALL with it is always better than doing nothing.

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.

Unsticking Anxiety Read More »

I wrote this in my journal + wanted to share…

By Andrea Schroeder / October 22, 2024 / daily practice, healing, inner work, resistance project

I got to this part so I must be ready for this step

After I wrote it, it felt like a miracle.

Of course I did write this about a step I DID NOT feel ready for but... OMG YES. Why am I here if I am not ready for this step?

AND OF COURSE: Taking a rest, doing some research, asking for help… these are all valid next steps, especially when you get to a part where you’re not sure what to do with.

But… you got to this part because you are ready for this part.

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 wrote this in my journal + wanted to share… Read More »

I believe in myself

By Andrea Schroeder / October 21, 2024 / daily practice, healing, inner work, journaling

Every Monday I get a new Creative Dream Mantra from the journaling + alchemy kits that are a part of Dream Book. This week I got: I believe in myself

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 believe in myself.

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.

How it lands for me:

I did the Your Self Doubt Is Not Yours You Deserve To Believe In Yourself class last month because of self doubt that kept coming up for me in my practice.

(Membership members can get that class here, it's also available outside of the membership, here)

Self doubt is something I keep experiencing and the more I work with it the more simple it becomes... self belief is a choice. But you have to keep making that choice.

So, right now, repeating I BELIEVE IN MYSELF to myself feels like a balm.

But a few months back, it felt stressful because there was so much for me to explore. And it's not like I had never explored self doubt in my life before that! So of course it feels frustrating to feel like "Oh here I am AGAIN with this self doubt bullshit" ...

...but it's not exactly the same bullshit, lol.

It's more like NEXT LEVEL SELF BELIEF is calling, and to answer that call, there are things to look at.

This happens SO OFTEN with Dream Work, in order to call in a thing, we need to work with it's opposite, too.

How does it land for you?

If I believe in myself feels good and encouraging, hold it with you this week. Look at problems, questions, stucks and obstacles through this lens and see what ideas it brings.

Creative Dream Incubator Coaching Membership members:

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

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

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

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

I believe in myself Read More »

Do I have to __ if I want to succeed at _?

By Andrea Schroeder / October 17, 2024 / Creative Dream Q+A, daily practice, healing, inner work, journaling, resistance project

Creative Dream Q+A time! If you have questions to add to this series, let me know!

If you want to succeed at then you have to .

The question I got was… Do I have to do video to succeed? I am better at connecting in person.

And the short answer is always no.

You don’t have to do what other people say. When it comes to your dreams, you are the only one who can build the path. Your ways of doing things are always best.

When it comes to unsolicited advice, always feel free to just reject it and never think about it again.

You didn’t ask for it, you don’t need to spend any time thinking about it. Especially if it’s advice that you don’t like, you can end up wasting a lot of energy being kind of upset about someone telling you to do this thing that you don’t want to do.

Don’t waste your energy on that, save your energy for building your path to your dream. Show them they’re wrong, that you didn’t need that unsolicited advice, you did it your way.

But if you did ask for advice, before you reject it, it’s good to understand WHY that was the advice that was given.

So, for example, if a business coach sees that people who do video have a better job at connecting with people to grow their businesses, then they may encourage you to do video.

So, if the video is meant to help you connect with people - what are you doing to connect with people instead?

It’s not enough to say - I don’t want to do video. You have to identify what you will do instead.

The person who asked me this question said that they connect better in person - so they need to look at how they are doing that, how to do more of it, and how to get better at it.

If you want a different result you generally have to take a different action. And often that different action is going to be uncomfortable at first. And sometimes, we reject advice because it makes us uncomfortable.

When you do that, you are letting your fear of your feelings control your life.

To make your dream happen, you need to be in control of your life - you as in your creative, intuitive and brave self, not your fearful self.

So for this person who asked about video and said that she connects better in person - if she’s not doing anything to seek out opportunities for in person speaking engagements and networking, then something is stuck there and her next steps are to look deeper.

Resources from the Creative Dream Incubator Coaching Membership:

Alchemy process for hearing your intuition to figure out if you are just avoiding discomfort or if it's true for you to not do the thing you don't want to do.

Dream Plan Kit to work on your plan for how you will make this thing happen!

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.

Do I have to ____ if I want to succeed at ___? Read More »

My dream won’t show up

By Andrea Schroeder / October 16, 2024 / daily practice, healing, inner work, resistance project

I was having an anxious morning and didn't know what to do, so I went to the Creative Dream Alchemy Library to find something to do, and chose Dream Work. (Inner Work would have been good too, but there isn’t a way to choose wrong, doing anything is better than doing nothing).

Once in the Dream Work section, I chose the Dream Lab meditation.

I put pillows on the floor and got really comfy and really got into it…

And my dream just wouldn’t show up.

The meditation did soothe my anxiety, I felt calm from being in the field in the meditation.

But my dream was just... not there.

This is from a few weeks ago. Then last week I did the dream lab meditation in our Friday weekly call, and again - my dream would not show up.

On Friday, eventually I saw something in the meditation... me, from the back, and far away. Like I couldn't reach myself.

My dreams feel far away right now.

This has been so uncomfortable but I finally realized... this is GOOD.

My dreams are taking space to shift, grow, change, become who they want to be next.

Which means... I am taking space to shift, grow, change, become who I want to be next.

Pursing a dream is an alchemical process. You have to let it grow and change you. You have to let the dream itself grow and change.

The work is always only to keep showing up.

It doesn't matter what the outcomes are.

And it doesn't matter how many times I say that, I really prefer certain outcomes!! I prefer clarity and confidence and feeling like I am moving forward in measurable ways.

But you're not IN THE PROCESS if you only allow some parts of it.

So, I keep showing up. Even if that just means sitting in the fog and contemplating what might happen next...

I mean, if I am honest, and we should always be honest in our practice... I do know what's next. I know what's calling me and I have not been answering.

Art is calling. And I feel too heavy and tired to answer.

Maybe it's the side effects of this medication I am on, which means I'll feel better by or before early December and it will be easier to get into it then if I kept showing up in the meantime.

Maybe it's resistance, which means I just need to keep showing up and be with what's there. Maybe even make the worse art ever in my journal to help spark some flow.

Maybe it's depression, which means if I keep showing up that's actually really good for me.

I don't have to know why I feel too heavy and tired to answer this call.

I just need to keep showing up - that is how I answer the call, it just doesn't look like how I think "answering the call to make more art" should look and the older I get the more it sinks in - nothing looks like what I think it "should".

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 dream won’t show up Read More »

My morning routine

By Andrea Schroeder / October 15, 2024 / daily practice, healing, inner work

I light incense and/or a candle.

I sit in front of my altar, which is a bookshelf that is in the process of becoming an altar to my new dreams. (I wrote a blog post about creating an altar to your dreams here, and then did a 45 minute video on creative dream altars inside the membership)

I speak what I am doing: Lighting incense to clear the way, to dissolve anything in me or my space that would keep me from being who I really am today. Lighting a candle to light up the connection between me and the soul of the Creative Dream Incubator (or some days, the soul of my dream).

I speak of how powerful and creative I am, and of what I am creating now.

I thank the universe and the medicines for their support in this, for helping me be who I am.

I feel this is helping me be more grounded in myself as I go into my day.

I used to get up and quickly get moving - walking or biking to a coffee shop with my journals. I loved that ritual AND it’s not feeling right, for who I am now and who I want to be next. So, I am learning about a slower start to the day.

And then I do my Dream Book practices. Today - it’s the Dream Self meditation and seeing where that leads me…

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 morning routine Read More »

I am a portal of possibility

By Andrea Schroeder / October 14, 2024 / daily practice, healing, inner work, journaling

Every Monday I get a new Creative Dream Mantra from the journaling + alchemy kits that are a part of Dream Book. This week I got: I am a portal of possibility.

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 a portal of possibility.

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.

How it lands for me:

I am using the meditation for the mantras today, and sharing my thoughts as I go...

This mantra is an invitation and a reminder to BE who I AM. I'm not resisting the mantra, but some parts of me are a bit afraid.

This mantra is teaching me how POWERFUL I actually am, because I forget all the time.

Ohhhhh! How might this mantra help you with your Dream Work this week? felt like an important question, so I paused the meditation to sit with it longer.

I am really feeling the magic of how all of our obstacles and "stucks" are actually portals for transformation. That option is always there. We are more than our 3D bodies, we can heal, grow and transform in ways that appear like magic. WE are the miracle.

It's so easy to get bogged down in all of the WORK of making dreams happen, going into my week remembering that I AM A PORTAL OF POSSIBILITY would help me to not get bogged down. I've been thinking (dreaming?) about making lino carvings of some of my mantra drawings, maybe I should carve a lino of this one and hang a print above my desk.

OK back into the meditation...

Oh WHOA. Taking the gifts and lessons and putting them in my heart feels WILD. Like an energy and "mental state" upgrade.

This is a practice I want to keep practicing this week.

If you want to work on this with me:

If I am a portal of possibility feels good and encouraging, hold it with you today. Look at problems, questions, stucks and obstacles through this lens and see what ideas it brings.

Creative Dream Incubator Coaching Membership members:

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

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

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

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

I am a portal of possibility Read More »

What if I will never have the time + energy for my dreams that I used to have?

By Andrea Schroeder / October 10, 2024 / Creative Dream Q+A, daily practice, healing, inner work, journaling, resistance project

I put out a call for creative dream questions and this one came in. If you have questions, let me know! I want this to be a series, maybe weekly, maybe random, we'll see. I recorded this so you can watch it or read it:

It’s so sad and hard to be in this place. For many reasons, just the simple facts of aging or illness or changing life situations, it’s not uncommon to find ourselves in a place where we don’t have the energy we used to have and it can be really terrifying because… our creative dreams still matter. So it can feel like we are losing a part of us.

And when it comes to our creative dreams, because they come from such a deep and vulnerable place in us, the fears around them can feel amplified.

So here is what I suggest when you’re in this situation:

First: Validate your feelings, even if you may feel like your fears are exaggerated, validate how this actually feels. Give yourself some time with these feelings, make space to be present with these feelings as sensations in your body. What do these hurting parts of you need?

This is probably connected with other feelings about what has happened that has caused you to have less energy than you used to. There is probably some grieving that needs to happen, and not giving ourselves space to grieve keeps things bottled up and pressure-y. Grieving relieves the pressure. Grieving really is a part of creative dreaming, in a lot of ways.

You need to give yourself whatever time and space you need to do that processing and grieving. It will probably need more time and space than you think it should.

While you are processing and grieving, keep asking yourself what you need.

Learn to get really good at taking care of yourself.

If you are doing all of that, you will naturally come to a place where the question shifts from “how do I go back to have the energy I used to have” to “how do I move forward, with what I have now?”

When we are young, when have never experienced serious illness, when we have never had shit really go wrong in our lives - we do have this fountain of energy to devote to our dreams.

When I was in my 30s I put so much effort into tending to that fountain, trying to make it flow as fast and furious as possible.

Now in my 50s, going through a divorce, really struggling physically and mentally with perimenopause, I do grieve the loss of that energy. And I did start treatments with my doctor with the hope that I could go back to who I used to be.

But the more I have allowed myself to grieve the losses and process the feelings, the more there is this new path opening up for me. New ways to approach dreams that honour where I am.

Work smarter not harder can be applied in so many ways. Work smarter not faster is a good one.

What qualities have you gained in this situation that has left you with less energy, and how can these qualities help you with your dreams?

Without negating the difficulties of what you have faced, and so this question is better asked after you’ve had space to grieve and process - What are the strengths and opportunities of being where you are?

Creative dreaming never happens in a vacuum and always happens in the world as it is, in our lives as they are. Creative dreaming is a way of responding to the world and to our lives. It comes from a deep, powerful and wise place in you. If these dreams are alive in you, now in your life as it now, then there is a way. Always remember that the way is just about the inner healing and growth as it is about the outer work.

It’s complicated!

Creative Dreaming is literally bringing new realities to life.

It’s complicated and I’d love to support you in the work in the Creative Dream Incubator Coaching Membership.

Let’s make magic together.

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.

What if I will never have the time + energy for my dreams that I used to have? Read More »

healing

Oh. What I am looking for from you is a guarantee that this will give me the outer results I want.

Is there a way that you, the soul of the creative dream incubator, would change this idea if it was all up to you?

Every Monday I get a new Creative Dream Mantra from the journaling + alchemy kits that are a part of Dream Book. This week I got: My creativity is without limits

What comes up for me:

If we can’t see a better future, we can’t participate in creating it.

We have to find whatever little ways we can to hold onto the light, to hold onto a sense that there is a future worth working for.

Creative Dreaming is a practice. Being optimistic about the future is a practice.

This week I got: I take bold action in service to my dream.

How it lands for me:

How does it land for you?

Resources from the Creative Dream Incubator Coaching Membership:

So I am taking it to the un-sticking station practice.

Does anxiety want to comfort me?

And that's all that happened.

Every Monday I get a new Creative Dream Mantra from the journaling + alchemy kits that are a part of Dream Book. This week I got: I believe in myself

How it lands for me:

How does it land for you?

If you want to succeed at ______ then you have to ______.

When it comes to unsolicited advice, always feel free to just reject it and never think about it again.

But if you did ask for advice, before you reject it, it’s good to understand WHY that was the advice that was given.

It’s not enough to say - I don’t want to do video. You have to identify what you will do instead.

When you do that, you are letting your fear of your feelings control your life.

Resources from the Creative Dream Incubator Coaching Membership:

I put pillows on the floor and got really comfy and really got into it…

My dreams feel far away right now.

The work is always only to keep showing up.

Art is calling. And I feel too heavy and tired to answer.

Every Monday I get a new Creative Dream Mantra from the journaling + alchemy kits that are a part of Dream Book. This week I got: I am a portal of possibility.

How it lands for me:

If you want to work on this with me:

So here is what I suggest when you’re in this situation:

If you are doing all of that, you will naturally come to a place where the question shifts from “how do I go back to have the energy I used to have” to “how do I move forward, with what I have now?”

Work smarter not harder can be applied in so many ways. Work smarter not faster is a good one.

It’s complicated!

If you want to succeed at then you have to .