A universal gathering of faith + miracles

By Andrea Schroeder / February 29, 2024 / daily practice, journaling

Today my creative dream practice is too boring to write about. YAY! I did some journaling, have a list of things I want to do today, and am just... doing them!

So instead of sharing anything about that, I wanted to share a story from earlier in the month.

We had this "winter heat wave" in early February and I took the long way to the coffee shop - a 45 minute walk instead of 30. It felt magical to have such a warm morning walk.

This longer way also takes me down a much busier street. At one point, this man parked his car in the parking lot of a grocery store as I was walking past and RAN out of it down the sidewalk. I was watching him closely, wondering...

Is that grocery store open so early? I don't think so!

Is he watching for ice?! There are so many ice patches on the sidewalks, I hope he doesn't fall! (I'm walking so slow and careful)

Then, he ran right past the grocery store, now I'm wondering... Where is he going in such a rush?

I giggle to myself thinking maybe he is RUNNING SO FAST to get to the new cat cafe. He really needs to pet a cat. But no, the cat cafe doesn't open until later and he runs right past it.

I decide he must be going to the little cheque cashing/cash advance place on the corner. Maybe he needs quick cash and he's late for work.

He runs right past the cheque cashing place and now I am really invested. Like, how far is he going to run?

He goes into a building I thought was vacant and I when I get to it I see a sheet of paper taped to the door that says something like:

Universal Gathering of Faith and Miracles. Tuesday mornings.

I still had 15 minutes of my walk to think about this.

I was so invested in his journey, why?

Was it to show me - I should always RUN to get to a miracle?

Was it to remind me that the miracles are gathering?

I think they are.

Dream Book 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.

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A universal gathering of faith + miracles Read More »

Which part of you feels too small for your dream?

By Andrea Schroeder / February 28, 2024 / daily practice, Journal Prompts, journaling

The February Marketing as a Creative + Spiritual Practice call is today! Dream Book members - get the call details here. Everyone else - join us here!

These are the journal prompts I got in this week’s Journaling + Alchemy kit (from Dream Book):

What part of you feels too small for your dream?

What does this part of you need?

AHHHHH yes these are the questions I need right now.

In a practical sense, “my dream” is the dream I shared of getting a camper van or RV and traveling with Bear but that would mean a bunch of things sorted out in my life to make this happen including money.

(Dream Book members see the call: Having A Stable Relationship With Money While The World Is Unstable)

And, right now, my dreams include BEING IN the transformative healing vortex that is getting a divorce.

So… it’s all of this that I am thinking about as I ask this question. Which parts feel ready? Which parts don't? Why don't they?

We almost always have parts of us that feel too small for our dreams.

This is because our dreams are here to GROW us. Like an elm seed isn’t meant to stay an elm seed forever, it’s meant to become a seedling and then a tree.

But of course growth feels scary for so many reasons. So parts of us will resist growth even when we know for sure it’s leading to what we want!

For most people, all of this is unconscious.

For people who are deeply engaging with their dreams, it’s more conscious.

And it’s hard to engage with this fear because… fear is scary!

But. Sitting with it is SO GOOD because there ARE ways to take care of the parts of you that feel too small for your dream, and doing that will open up new possibilities for what you can do.

AND, more often than not, if you really sit with this part of you you'll find that they DO want what you want, they're just afraid of some part of it. And once you have all parts of you on board, it's so much easier to move forward.

Dream Book 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.

Which part of you feels too small for your dream? Read More »

I have everything I need to do anything I want

By Andrea Schroeder / February 26, 2024 / daily practice, healing, inner work, journaling

Dream Book

This is the mantra I got in this week’s Dream Book journaling + alchemy kit: I have everything I need to do anything I want

OK wow as I am writing this, I am listening to this song. So perfect! (Success, expanded version, by Beautiful Chorus)

This is another one of the mantras that I believe is usually true.

Often we’re looking at what we wish we had, in terms of supports for our dreams, instead of using what we DO have.

I wrote this mantra in my journal with my weekly business check-in and my list of things I want to do. And it all felt so good when I wrote it. This mantra is such a healing balm for me... and yet...

I had not had a week go this OFF in a while, lol.

Like, none of the things I planned ended up being what happened.

And when I look at my list, and read this mantra, it’s like WTF?

And it feels like… trust the process.

Weekly planning is so good! (Dream Book members check out the: Creative Genius Planning Sessions and Dream Plan Kit)

AND forcing ourselves to follow through on every plan is not good.

So some weeks turn out like this.

I think it’s important to notice - are there particular tasks that ALWAYS end up undone? What’s going on there? (Take it into the Un-Sticking Station to explore it.)

But if once in a while your whole list is just a disaster? Maybe just accept that this is a part of the process? And ask:

Am I sure these are the right tasks?

Where/why am I resisting doing these things?

What would help make it easier to get this stuff done next week?

Dream Book 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 everything I need to do anything I want Read More »

I am a healer, visionary + witch

By Andrea Schroeder / February 22, 2024 / daily practice, journaling

And if you are reading this - you are too.

Do you know how many people read what I write can’t make any sense it?

You get it because you are a visionary, healer + witch too.

I want to acknowledge how powerful it is that you keep showing up.

The path to a dream is LONG. And you are doing it!

I share my daily steps here, sometimes I go in circles, sometimes I am stuck, sometimes I have brilliant insights, sometimes it’s incredibly boring, sometimes just really weird.

And we all know - this is what it’s like.

But somehow we all have the idea that… it’s easier for other people and it should be easier for us. The path should be linear. Every step we take should make sense. We should be more productive and cheerful. We should be moving faster.

None of that is true.

You’re still here.

You are doing amazing.

I’m cheering for you.

If you need help figuring out your next steps - let me know! Tell me what’s going on and I can suggests tools + classes from Dream Book to work with. Or if you’re not in Dream Book, join us here!

Dream Book 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 healer, visionary + witch Read More »

Dreams do fall apart sometimes. That doesn’t mean you were wrong to pursue them.

By Andrea Schroeder / February 21, 2024 / daily practice, healing, journaling

I keep noticing this about my divorce - I am frustrated with myself for marrying the “wrong” person.

I’m asking - how did it feel so RIGHT to marry him when obviously it was a big mistake? Why didn’t I know better?

And these are all such un-helpful questions.

But underneath them is this big raging fear that I’ve been needing to sit with:

Can I trust the way I make decisions?

Because it DID feel SO RIGHT to marry him and this is where that led me so… do I stop doing things that feel SO RIGHT out of fear that everything will blow up in my face?

Now - all FEELINGS and REACTIONS to feeling are VALID and all but they are not TRUE.

And while I’ve been sitting with this feeling because it keeps coming back to me I know that actually I didn’t do anything wrong.

A lot of traumatic things happened to my partner before and while we were together. And his increasing reliance on alcohol to cope with that trauma changed him dramatically and altered what kind of relationship was possible.

None of that is on me.

AND just because it did all blow up in my face, does that mean I shouldn’t have done it?

Is it a GOAL or a DREAM of mine to never have things go wrong?

Because YIKES! The kind of control you need to try to exert over the universe to avert all disaster is not appealing to me at all.

So.

If I am listening to my own truth, accepting that things happened the way they happened is the only way.

AND

This is hard.

This isn’t just about my divorce.

I’ve worked with SO MANY PEOPLE who followed their dreams and it made a huge mess in their lives.

This does happen. It IS a thing.

There is risk in following a dream! Not because dreams are inherently risky, but because our culture doesn't support us in being our true selves. Our culture rewards conformity, the people who conform the most AND have the most intersections of privilege are going to be the safest.

Following a dream is a risk and doesn’t always pay off.

I mean there is lots to be said about how failure is inevitable, it teaches us and helps us along the path, and we need to normalize the idea that things WILL fall apart and we WILL create something new from the ashes.

But most people feel alone in this, because no one is talking about it.

Everyone is out there sharing little quotes about healing and courage and following your dreams and no one is sharing quotes about being in the mess that’s left when it all blows up in your face.

But this is a part of it.

Nothing is forever. Relationships. Businesses. Careers. Our health and our lives!

So, these questions that are coming up for me about CAN I TRUST THE WAY I MAKE DECISIONS? CAN I TRUST MY DREAMS? are not actually questions, they are fears.

Totally valid things to feel.

I am sifting through a LOT of different conflicting feelings right now. And I want to validate and FEEL them all… but not let them make decisions for me.

Your dreams may blow up in our face and make a huge mess in your life and this does not mean that you did anything wrong.

Shit happens!

You are a creative genius and you can make magic out whatever life throws your way.

Dream Book Resources:

When your dream falls apart

Two processes for working with disappointment + the whole inner work library

Dream Book 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.

Dreams do fall apart sometimes. That doesn’t mean you were wrong to pursue them. Read More »

I woke up with a new dream

By Andrea Schroeder / February 20, 2024 / daily practice, healing, journaling

I woke up this morning feeling AMAZING. Suddenly I had a dream: getting a little camper van and going on trips with Bear. (This is brand new, there is lots of research to do, maybe a camper van or an RV or a trailer, I don’t know!)

Writing and making art and having little adventures. Traveling AND being at home!! (Or, a tinier version of home)

It felt sooooo goooooood. Magical and light, setting of little sparks in my heart.

Dreaming is a function of healing. Just like healing is a function of dreaming.

I’ve been in another really hard part of my divorce process.

Since our separation I’ve been grieving the dreams and plans I had for my future with him, and how so many of them don’t feel right or seem possible on my own or with someone else.

And I haven’t had anything to replace any of that with.

And I haven’t WANTED to have anything to replace any of that with because taking the time to be with the loss and be in the unknown is vital for healing and healing is vital for creating a better future.

So, waking up with a brand new dream that feels so warm and light in my heart is really everything.

It’s bittersweet because it’s a reminder of what I lost and all the ways my former partner let me down.

But it’s mostly a bright light showing me that my best life is still ahead of me.

Having a THING I REALLY REALLY WANT feels so good!!!! YAY CREATIVE DREAMS!

That’s the end of this post, but… I am writing so much right now, so I wanted to share something I had written previously that I hadn’t shared:

The dreams I was working towards have died. The life I was planning with my husband is over.

So what now?

I don’t know.

When we first split up, I instantly dreamed of a healing cocoon and did what I could to turn this transitional time into that.

And now, I’m stepping out of the healing cocoon and it’s a shock out here. I don’t know where to go. I don’t know what’s next.

It’s not like me to not know what I want, so that feels disorienting. But I don’t want to rush and pick something. I want to really dig in here and explore what feels possible now.

So I’m going to set up an art picnic, right here where I am.

Make some art. Figure it out.

Some prompts:

What do I wish for?

What am I dissatisfied with?

What do I want more of?

What do I want less of?

What are the little things that bring me joy?

And some Dream Book resources:

Dream Finder Coaching Circle

The Biggest Dream

Dream Book 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 woke up with a new dream Read More »

I trust my magic

By Andrea Schroeder / February 19, 2024 / daily practice, healing, inner work, journaling

I trust my magic

This is the mantra I got in this week’s Dream Book journaling + alchemy kit: I trust my magic.

HOLY CRAP this is exactly the mantra I needed.

I've also been using "I am a powerful witch"

This keeps coming up on our calls lately and I am feeling it in my practice - the need to dig in deeper to the Dream Work, to help counteract how hard Inner Work and Outer Work are right now.

I've been journaling more lately, and one thing I am doing is just writing out all the things I want, like affirmations. "I am now open to receive...." "I feel powerful enough to ...." "I know I am ready to..." things like that.

Throughout the day I remind myself… I trust my magic. I am a powerful witch.

It’s helping.

We do need to remind ourselves of who the fuck we ARE sometimes.

As I keep sharing on our calls - all the ways that dominant culture fail us has been on my mind a lot.

Not that I want to sit around pointing fingers and not taking responsibility for my own life, but because I see the impacts every day, on all of us.

As I connect with my new dreams for the second half of my life, I have this growing feeling about how we all deserve better.

Life is sacred. It’s a gift.

Our culture degrades this gift in the name of greed.

None of this is new.

But it all feels more urgent to me.

I TRUST MY MAGIC has been helping me NOT feel helpless in the face of the state of the world, and instead look for ways to be a part of the future I want.

Dream Book 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 trust my magic Read More »

I am moving in the right direction

By Andrea Schroeder / February 12, 2024 / daily practice, healing, inner work, journaling

I am moving in the right direction

This is the mantra I got in this week’s journaling + alchemy kit: I am moving in the right direction.

DIRECTION is SO MUCH MORE IMPORTANT than speed! And yet we all get discouraged at how long things can take.

I started weightlifting (again) in December. Between the holiday season in December and then January hitting kind of hard - I took about a month off and started back at it late in January.

But this week I’ve been noticing my shoulders, arms and legs are starting to look different.

And it’s like “what?! I’ve barely done anything!” I am only even aiming to go twice a week, which means some weeks I only go once. I’m not trying to do body building, I’m just trying to counteract the loss of muscle that happens at this age, because getting those muscles back helps my energy and mental health so much.

So I am taking tiny steps but I AM MOVING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION.

And as long as I keep taking tiny steps - they do add up and move me towards where I want to be.

AND

Nothing is guaranteed, in terms of outer outcomes, of course!

But - how does it feel to say to yourself “I am moving in the right direction”?

And there some places where this is uncomfortable?

What are those places telling you?

Dream Book 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 moving in the right direction Read More »

I got out of my way!

By Andrea Schroeder / February 7, 2024 / daily practice, healing, journaling

For the last few years (??!?!) the soul of my business has been sending me this one message consistently.

And I thought I understood it. And I thought I was acting on it.

And I WAS acting on it - in the best way I could.

But my actions were not really getting the results I wanted. Things were not clicking into place like the soul of my business insisted they would.

Which is so frustrating. But I kept trying.

One of the principles of Creative Dream Alchemy is “It takes the time it takes” and we all get frustrated with this, we can all feel like things aren’t happening as fast as we want them to…

But often, when we do finally have the breakthrough we needed, we realise that WE were the ones in the way, the whole time.

But THEN we realize that even though it was on US to change - that we couldn't make the change until we could make the change.

That showing up and trying and not having it go well, over and over and over, is what brought us to this place where it all comes together.

So that’s where I am today.

But it does’t feel shaming, like I should have done better two years ago.

It feels like an amazing journey, like who cares how long it took I FIGURED IT OUT.

If you can't control the universe and don't know how long it will take for things to work out for you, but you CAN control whether or not you keep showing up - how can you find ways to do the work that are generative and interesting so it's easier to not give up?

Dream Book members: I have this 10 minute video on how to make it easier to stay on a looooong path to a dream.

Dream Book 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 got out of my way! Read More »

New Moon Call Tomorrow! And the New Moon Intention Setting Ritual Kit is here!

By Andrea Schroeder / February 6, 2024 / daily practice, healing, journaling

I don't have a regular post for you today - I've been completely focused on finishing the New Moon Intention Setting Ritual Kit.

I started out wanting to make some printables of prompts we use on the New Moon Calls.

And then I decided to make it a whole thing to use on it's own, for people who are not in Dream Book - a journal that leads you through a simplified version of the mediations we use on the live calls every month.

I love this so much!

We've been doing the New Moon calls for years, and I've been refining the meditations over time and it's become such a beloved practiced, I am thrilled to be able to share it in this way!

Read all about it here.

Dream Book members: you can download it here.

Dream Book 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.

New Moon Call Tomorrow! And the New Moon Intention Setting Ritual Kit is here! Read More »

My creative genius is bigger than the obstacles

By Andrea Schroeder / February 5, 2024 / daily practice, healing, inner work, journaling

This is the mantra I got in this week’s journaling + alchemy kit: My creative genius is bigger than the obstacles.

This is one of the few mantras that I believe is true for everyone.

We don't have to pretend we don't have obstacles or ignore our actual feelings about them. Obstacles are scary! And frustrating! They can make us ANGRY.

AND we can be brave enough to FACE and CHANGE to obstacles, and our creative genius (our inner creativity, wisdom, power, courage and authentic way of being) can absolutely help us do this.

But the point of the weekly mantras isn't to learn a specific thing, it's to explore your own reactions.

Each time I do these kits, I get a different reaction.

This week it's ANGER.

And a bit of surprise about how angry I am.

I feel angry about how much of the new age/holistic healing/life your best life industry is (still!) DISempowering people when it comes to this.

I feel angry that people are STILL preaching this idea that we should just "rise above", good vibes only, change your thoughts to change your life... instead of cultivating the courage to just fucking FACE the hard parts.

Because we are SO powerful when we stop avoiding and start BEING WITH.

Because I 100% believe that each one of us is bigger than the obstacles. So there is no need to spiritual by-pass or learn hard, heavy and unconsciously into privilege as a manifesting technique.

So, I feel angry about this because I see so many people being led down paths that won't bring them what they want.

But the biggest anger is about much this approach to Living Your Best Life focused on individual gain while leaving the oppressive systems we live inside unchecked and as powerful as ever. The ways the colonization of Indigenous spirituality continues to do harm.

And, as I have started to reflect more on my life because I'm in this big season of change AND facing the start of my 50s and feeling surprisingly unprepared for a whole new decade, I actually feel a lot of regret for the times I spent in these communities.

Regret is a hard one for me.

And it can easily make me angry and then reactionary and I'm trying to not go that way with it.

I'm trying to sit with it and find out more about what this is calling me to do.

Dream Book 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 creative genius is bigger than the obstacles Read More »

I am a living growing ball of chaos, magic and contradictions. I am not a robot.

By Andrea Schroeder / January 30, 2024 / daily practice, healing, inner work, journaling

This is an old photo of my old workspace, but the creative mess really matched how I am feeling.

It’s a sleepy morning. I open my journal and feel wildly grateful for the Dream Book journaling kit because I have some structure and a helpful question to start with, instead of a blank page.

This is so good!

Two minutes later I am on my phone, googling tinted moisturizers.

It’s partly resistance.

But another part is that I am trying to have a specific kind of day, doing a specific kind of work, and that’s just not where my energy is at. I’m trying to get myself to where I want to be, rather than be where I am.

Monday mornings I want to (?) (should?) do planning and strategizing and I am really not feeling it. Especially after a weekend of relaxing, a slower start would make more sense. Like - unfocused creative work. Journaling, writing, or working on artwork that is already planned.

If you are a regular reader then you know - this is not a new dynamic for me!

And I SOLVED this dynamic by moving my weekly planning to Friday.

And it took a few weeks for me to really get into it, but once I got to a place where I was consistently planning on Fridays everything was working better.

And now here we are, back at stage one. Arriving at Monday morning with no plan and no head for planning. So of course I’d rather just google tinted moisturizers than figure out how I am going to do the things I want to do.

I don’t share these things for sympathy.

I honestly don’t want sympathy or empathy or anything.

This is just my process. I’m fine with it.

I share these things to say: THIS IS WHAT THE PROCESS LOOKS LIKE.

I am a person who has successfully supported herself with her creative dreams for the last 13 years.

And this is what that looks like some days.

This is completely natural and ok and I am still going to get to where I want to be. Maybe I won’t get there today, but that’s fine.

We have this sense that if we can’t get our shit together and keep it together when we’ll never succeed with anything.

But this is just not true.

I can know better and NOT do better. And I can just keep showing up and working on it.

The process is messy.

And I am well aware that I could be more organized about how I run my business.

I could run it like an actual business, lol.

But I’m a mentor, writer and artist. I’m really good at these things and I also - these are the things I want to do.

I don’t want to be a CEO. I don’t want to set up a whole business that has so much structure that I always know what to do on any given day because it’s been planned out months in advance.

My definition of success includes space to flounder.

A lot of growth and new ideas come from the floundering.

And it feels so important to me lately that we ACCEPT and CHERISH and HONOUR our process as it is.

That little voice that is always criticizing my way of doing things (”You aren’t organized enough!” “You’re too slow!”) has been getting quieter. The internalized rules about “how things should be done” feel less relevant than they ever have.

I love this.

Dream Book 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 living growing ball of chaos, magic and contradictions. I am not a robot. Read More »

It’s easy for me to have what I want

By Andrea Schroeder / January 29, 2024 / daily practice, healing, inner work, journaling

This is the mantra I got in this week’s journaling + alchemy kit: It’s easy for me to have what I want.

This is a hard one!

In the message I send out with this one I talk about how much this one has PUSHED me.

Remembering that with these mantras we are never trying to force ourselves to feel a certain way or pretend to have a belief we don’t genuinely have. We are exploring, learning more about ourselves and how to bring ourselves more of what we want and need.

It’s easy for me to have what I want. I mean it would be amazing to feel this way all the time.

And we have to recognize that, in the culture we live in with intersecting systems of privilege and oppression, the more intersections of privilege you have the easier this one is to believe because invisible systems really are making it easier for you to get what you want.

So if this one feels really hard for you, that’s not necessarily on you.

Recognizing where dominant culture makes it harder for you to receive what you want is not “playing the victim” or “being negative” - it’s having clear sight.

And with clear sight you can see the path much better.

AND of course we might have places in us that believe that it's "just too hard" to go after the things we really want, and it's our work to detangle those beliefs.

So this is a tricky one.

One question it brings up is - how do we open up more space for receptivity?

I did a receptivity call last year - the replay is very helpful! I do a mini version of that practice most mornings before I get out of bed. We can practice and learn to BECOME more receptive, we’re not just stuck where we are with it.

What do you think?

When do you feel like it’s easy for you to receive what you want?

And when DON’T you?

And what could you do about that?

Dream Book 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.

It’s easy for me to have what I want Read More »

Holding space for something new to be born in your life is fucking brutal

By Andrea Schroeder / January 25, 2024 / daily practice, healing, inner work, journaling

Being optimistic enough to have a dream and go after it is brutal some days.

Your dream will break your heart.

It will ask you to be braver than you think you can be.

It will push you to face all the things you’d rather avoid.

It will ask you to keep going when you want to give up.

The days where it all feels impossible are not the days when you’re failing.

Those are times of healing, reckoning and growth.

This is the work.

As we get this new year started, there can be pressure to already know your goals and plans for the year. To already be on the way to SUCCESS!

But maybe that’s not the season you’re in.

Dominant culture expects us to always be on, always be productive.

Most healing and personal development are expecting you to be a constant upward trajectory, manifesting everything your heart’s desires, 24/7.

THIS IS ABSOLUTE BULLSHIT.

I just want you (and me!) to recognize how brave you are for having a dream.

For seeing a way of creating a better future, and believing in it.

For showing up, and taking the little steps.

This is magic.

And a part of making any dream happen is being with all of the stuff that comes up when your dream does break your heart.

Sitting with it. Feeling your feelings. Tending to the tender places.

This work is ongoing.

It’s so easy to feel like “Oh I’ve dealt with that” or “I should be further along at this point” but the work is ongoing.

The other day my therapist asked me “Do you think you’ll be DONE some day? Like, no more feelings? No more learning or growing? Are you trying to figure EVERYTHING out RIGHT NOW?”

Yikes.

It’s so easy to forget that this work is ongoing.

Most of the people I work with in Dream Book have been doing this work for decades. Lots of them are healers, coaches, therapists and mentors. They are so smart! They have great tools! They help other people overcome huge stuff every day and… their own work is ongoing.

Just like my work is ongoing.

This will be discouraging at times but please don’t give up.

The work is ongoing.

Your dream is how your soul calls you toward your true self and this is a life-long journey.

Dream Book members: if this work feels fucking brutal for you right now - remember the Creative Dream Alchemy Library of Inner Work Practices!

Dream Book 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.

Holding space for something new to be born in your life is fucking brutal Read More »

A convoluted conversation with resistance where resistance makes me take my own medicine

By Andrea Schroeder / January 24, 2024 / daily practice, healing, inner work, journaling, resistance project

Hi resistance. I feel so lost today.

Resistance is a little sleepy and confused (like me, actually). You’re reaching out to me about this?

Well I’m not sure who else to reach out to?

I mean - your wisest self, bravest self, most energized self, most creative self… there are lots of yous who are equipped to help with this. I’m an interesting choice.

Yeah. But you’re who came to mind, so - I feel lost today. What do you think?

Is LOST really the best description? If BEING WITH helps us MOVE THROUGH and staying vague and not present is a way to make everything harder… which are you doing when you say you’re lost?

The second one. More specifically I feel anxious, and tired, and spacey, and like why bother doing anything anyway when everything is so hard?

What’s hard?

Silence.

Because I saw you getting ready for the day. Picking out clothes, packing your stuff for the coffee shop, excited about your projects. I see your life, and how things are actually going really well for you. So what’s hard?

I just feel like I’m in quicksand this morning.

Which is what resistance feels like.

Yup. This feels so convoluted because I feel like I am me, and you are my resistance - only I’m the one in resistance? But this is what I mean about how I feel today. Everything is all screwed up. I can’t even talk to my own self without it being all convoluted.

Oh honey. She gives me a hug and I start to cry. Your feelings are valid, you know. Everything I said about things going well, that’s all true, and it doesn’t mean you won’t have a lot of uncomfortable feelings anyway.

Yeah. Ugh. Now my back is hurting, I hate this chair.

Resistance rubs my back.

OK obviously I miss having a really affectionate partner. I don’t get hugs and backrubs and this sucks.

Yes, sweetie, that sucks.

Ok acknowledging that feels better. It feels so tangly because I also don’t want a partner right now.

Yeah for sure! So where are you at now?

I guess the work I want to do feels HEAVY and BIG and I feel weak and small in comparison. Oh I guess heavy is the wrong word. It feels out of reach.

And isn't this exactly what you help people do? Do the things that feel out of reach?

Yeah.

So what are the tools you would suggest for this situation?

Oh wow, resistance is going to make me take my own medicine.

OK here are the tools I would suggest:

Making your trust in your dream bigger than your fears.

Dream Self process

Dream Lab to ask the dream what you should do today.

Alchemy Process for working with overwhelm

Alchemy process for getting answers from your dream

Alchemy process for acclimating to your dream

I mean there are more actually but any of these would work. Though of course we should mention the video for when you’re in resistance.

"So what are you going to do?" Resistance asks.

Alchemy process for getting answers from your dream

My question is: I want to feel energized and creative and I want to be doing things! You know a huge part of my dream right now is simply acting on all of this inspiration but my progress is soooo sloooooow. How do I get there?

All of my anxiety and tangled feelings are here with me in the meditation. Feels good to include them and not try pretend to be somewhere I’m not.

The field of creative dream alchemy feels like spring. A meadow full of flowers, soft light. My mood shifts so much through the grounding and connecting parts.

My dream shows up as a blue bird. Like a cartoon super bright blue birds. Oh there are a whole bunch of them! Maybe I’m Snow White? They fly around me. But as they do, they are guiding me out of the meadow, onto a path in the woods.

The birds are flying and moving. In circles often, but also they are getting somewhere. In the part of the meditation where I talk about how the dream shows up in the meditation I get it - my dream is showing me to JUST GET MOVING.

Laying in the field of flowers is great and important and we should do it every day AND ALSO let’s get on the path and get moving, let’s do that every day too.

I have to pause the meditation often, to be with my own experience without my voice in my ears.

I give my question to the birds and they can’t quite hold it. It’s too heavy. There is this struggle and it’s like - I can’t be fully connected to my dream AND be in this question.

The question starts to lighten up and I look more closely and see some bees are there, pouring honey on it.

It’s getting sweeter and lighter.

Now the birds can carry it. And they put it at the top of a very tall tree.

And I get this whole new idea: A notebook of SELF CARE PROTOCOLS.

Like: if I wake up feeling lost: this is what I do.

When I feel anxious: this is what I do.

Etc.

I mean, I have had SO MANY versions of this so many times in my life.

I need a new one for where I am now.

I sit with this and realize - I am still operating on some pre-pandemic protocols. The thing where getting up and GETTING MOVING helps me get into the mindset I want/need to be in for my work. My pre-pandemic self almost always had the ability to get myself moving no matter how lost or heavy I felt on any given morning.

What if I be sweet to myself, and recognize that who I am today today doesn’t have that ability?

Like sure, do that when I can because it works for me!

But on the days when I can’t - what’s the protocol then? I need clear plans or else my mood takes over planning my day and that will never go well.

I’ve been sitting with this question and only one idea is coming to me: make art. Make myself a latte, and a smoothie or whatever food I feel like, put on comfy clothes, get my art box and big sketchbook journal, put on soothing music, lay on the floor and make art. Express my feelings.

OK this feels embarrassing.

I mean - this is nothing I don’t already know about myself.

BUT/AND

Some days we can’t access the things we know.

Some days we can’t be our “best selves”.

And since I am in the process of planning calls for 2024 - I am going to do one on creating self care protocols for those times when you are not at your best.