I joined a CRAFTIVISM group, which I was SO excited about while also feeling not sure how, exactly, I could contribute.

And you know - it can be uncomfortable to join a thing NOT KNOWING how you could contribute or participate. But the organizers were so warm and welcoming and had an attitude of “We’ll listen to everyone’s ideas and figure this out”. They were open to hearing ideas and growing the group together.

So, I went, and worked on an embroidery of a Palestinian flag. The group wanted to collect handmade items to raffle off to raise funds for relief efforts in Gaza.

The flag was beautiful but I was feeling kind of like - why bother? It’s so small in the face of the intensity of the bombs falling. And also feeling like - well it feels good to gather with people and do SOMETHING. And I had gone to some of the rallies, but sitting together and crafting is really more my speed.

But still, I had this sense that embroidering a flag, with really fine threads because that’s how I embroider, so it takes a loooooong time, is not quite how I want to do my craftivism. Like hours and hours of work for... how much money could this possibly raise? That there must be something more impactful I could do.

I say that to highlight - we often feel this way about wanting to do a thing.

We can see a way we could do it, (I embroider A LOT so I had all the stuff on hand to make this flag) but that’s not necessarily the BEST way we could do it.

It’s uncomfortable to take the POSSIBLE step instead of waiting for the opportunity to take our BEST step, but it’s in taking the possible step that we actually get to a place where a better step becomes possible.

Because now I am starting to see new ways of engaging with crafting as a form of activism - ways I could not have seen if I hadn’t starting by just doing a thing that felt possible.

BECAUSE I joined in and start doing stuff, I saw other stuff I could do!

And then when the Craftivist group decided to do a CRAFT BOMBING in one of my favourite parks downtown, I knew exactly what to do.

I got a bunch of cheap broadcloth and sewed these big flags...

I made two flags, which took way less time than the one (small!) embroidered flag I had started with.

This is VERY messy - I cut and pasted the fabrics (with a glue stick) like collage. Then did a quick zig zag to sew them down, this is not actual quilting, which would also take a loooong time to do.

So this takes less time and is more impactful.

BUT I don't know that I would have done this, if I hadn't started with that small possible step, you know?

I think using our creative gifts to support our values and support the work of creating the world we want to live in is some of the most powerful work we can do. It was so great to see everyone's creations as we put them up all over the park and I can't wait to see what we do next.

 

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 was hoping the hardest part of my divorce would be right right when he left, and then it would get easier in time. Of course life doesn’t work that way, there are ups and downs. Nothing is linear!

And a part of me is like - this isn’t about your creative dreams! Don’t write about it here! OMG don't be so embarrassing!

But the work of showing up for your creative dream practice DOES include how you navigate life’s challenges.

There is this tug-of-war between your current life and your dreams.

And sometimes current life takes over. Sometimes this is for really good reasons and sometimes this is for incredibly shitty reasons.

And the work is to keep figuring out - how do I practice my creative dreams, even here?

And remembering that creative dreaming as a practice includes so many things.. healing, creativity, courage, growth.

Lately I’ve had a TON of resistance to the conflicting feelings I have about my ex and our situation. The conflicts are just too big for me to carry - I don’t mean conflicts with him, I mean conflicts within me about my different feelings.

We did a call on Working With Conflicting Feelings because this isn’t unusual when it comes to dreams...

But I don’t want to do that.

I want for my conflicting feelings to just disappear on their own without me having to sit with them or work through anything....

Luckily, after sitting with this for a few minutes with my journal open, my desire to work THROUGH things outweighed this resistance to NOT work through anything.

I drew a little diagram of me and wrote all of my feelings where they are in my body. This helped me get a new perspective and find a little acceptance.

Then I laid down and breathed for a while. Which gave even more perspective and acceptance.

We don't have to SOLVE things, just making a little space to BE WITH them can help them dissipate enough that our creative dreams can win that tug-of-war.

 

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 was taking a bath and thinking about why things have been feeling SO HARD. I’ve been really anxious, and having a harder-than-usual time of managing my anxiety for the last few weeks.

And you know what? Sometimes it's like I forget how fucked up things are. I'm trying so hard to just go on in my little life I forget about these brutal times we are living through.

I have not recovered from the pandemic, in terms of my mental health and cognitive functioning

AND I’m in perimenopause, which has been hard for me. AND now we can add on top of that getting a divorce that I hadn’t seen coming. And at the same time navigating my step-son’s sudden life-threatening illness. AND record inflation! Becoming single didn’t just double my cost of living, my mortgage was renewed (yikes!) and condo fees went up considerably too. Along with everything else increasing.

So that’s four pretty major things, all happening on top of each other. Or colliding with each other. JUST IN MY OWN LIFE.

But what about when I peek outside my life? We've never had wars and genocides be LIVE STREAMED like this before. This is traumatizing all around. And the brutal police response to protests in the US.

I keep seeing people complaining in my city about how all the homeless shelters are full of asylum seekers and there's no room for Canadians. I really don't think it's radical to say - everyone deserves a safe space to live. And having these conversations in the backdrop of so many empty buildings downtown since most offices never went back to 100% in-office work AND so many businesses closed....

Our political and economic systems continue to fail. It's such a long, slow, traumatizing and expensive collapse.

This is the world we are dreaming in.

I wonder why I am anxious?

There are moments when I feel such incredible peace and trust it’s amazing.

And most of the time I still believe that a better future is inevitable - both for me in my life and for all of us collectively.

AND managing anxiety takes more work right now.

I don’t believe that putting our creative dreams aside is a good plan.

I have the new dream I have talked about - getting an RV or camper and traveling with my cat Bear. This feels like TOO MUCH to contemplate actually DO in the near future, but dreaming of it happening a little further down the road is SO sweet. And I need sweetness. And the question: How do I set myself up to make this work financially? feels expansive whereas the question: How do I make more money to survive record inflation that is actually just un-checked corporate greed? feels panicky.

Creative dreaming is nourishing and generative.

And we need more nourishing and generative when things are hard!

I also have this other dream I haven’t shared details of yet. But that’s something that I do plan to start doing this year - taking baby steps anyway. It feels creative and expansive and energizing to think about and plan for.

I am so excited to get everything in place to start taking those baby steps.

This excitement and enthusiasm can coexist with the hard stuff, and bring more joy.

We deserve more joy. Always. But especially in the hard times.

If I put this new dream off until I felt ready - I would just be delaying joy.

MUCH NEEDED joy.

And our creative dreams can show us new possibilities for how to live.

Creative Dreams open doors that we can't see from where we are right now.

So, if there is something you are putting off, can I please encourage you to dive in now?

Weekly Coaching Calls started last week! Get the replay here. Make a plan to attend next week, or to watch the replay over the weekend.

Or if you're not a member of the Creative Dream Incubator Coaching Membership - join us here!

We can do 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.

This is the mantra I got in this week’s Dream Book journaling + alchemy kit: I am a dream magnet.

I did the guided meditation that goes with it.

I'm noticing all these uncomfortable feelings I have, step-parenting was always this complicated thing, but step-parenting while getting divorced is very WTF. Breathing deep, letting my feelings be what they are. Thinking about why I am doing this... I remember when I used to FEEL like a dream magnet more often. I want that back.

Ok I LOVE the part where I am radiant with the light of my inner knowing. I'm leaning against a pile of pillows, so comfy, and this feels so expansive.

HOLDING the mantra feels so good, like a healing in my heart. It makes me more aware of the things that have making everything hard: I haven't fully recovered (in terms of cognitive function or mental health) from the overwhelm from the start of the pandemic, then there's perimenopause which is WTF, then there is getting a freaking divorce and re-arranging whole life and future with all this grief, then the financial stress of living alone during inflation, when my mortgaged renewed at the current rate, and condo fees went up along with everything else.

Yeah, no wonder I am overwhelmed...

AND...

I AM a dream magnet. I've got this. (DREAMS not just as in the big life changes but also: healing, feeling good, enjoying my daily routines, etc.)

This mantra is an invitation to trust the process of life.

 

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 having a really bad day.

I am doing ALL THE THINGS to feel good and none of them are working.

There is a thing I want to do, and when I check in with myself - YES I still want to do it. AND this bad mood floats over everything, covering it in doom.

I have breathed. I have meditated. I took ashwaghanda. I put on calming perfume. I didn’t journal because that felt too frustrating. I got dressed and took a bike ride to my favourite coffee shop, and got my usual (mini veggie quiche (I get here a few minutes after they come out of the oven and they are amazing) and a coffee). I am listening to uber-calming music in my noise-canceling headphones.

My dreams need me to work through this or rise above it so I can do the thing I want to do today. I need me to work through this or rise above it to enjoy my day.

Ok I just sat here, sipping coffee and watching people walk by for a few minutes and that actually does feel al little better.

Trying to keep my breathing a little deeper than usual.

I wanted to be my MOST enthusiastic and trusting self to do this thing I want to do today.

My questions are:

1. Do I need to find this version of me, can I just do it as my crabby self?
2. What would help find my most enthusiastic and trusting self?

1 - I would like to try, because I don’t completely trust my crabby self. I may overlook details or just bring a lacklustre vibe to the whole thing.

2 - I can try to  do an Un-Sticking Station style meeting but invite in my most enthusiastic and trusting self.

Not sure how this will work, but let’s see?

Hello, my most trusting and enthusiastic self (MMTAES)

Oh honey - she gives me a big hug. Sweetie. Darling. You’re not feeling it today! Are you sick?

I don’t think so. I think it’s stress  from my loved one having surgery this week - they are at home recovering but now that it’s done it’s like my stress is more noticeable - and also some uncomfortable things I am processing about my divorce.

Well sweetheart that sounds like a lot.

Yes. Thank you. Yes, it is a lot AND I really want to do this thing, you know? I am not trying to avoid how hard this all is, and I have been tending to all the things that need tending and this is one of those things. Taking this step.

I see that. And I think it’s obvious - I hope it’s obvious to you, it is to me - that you WILl be your most enthusiastic and trusting self again. There are good times ahead of you it’s just, yeah, right now, this is a lot. And this weather! Like WTF! It IS depressing.

Yeah. Yesterday the sun came out for thirty minutes and I felt changed, lol.

MMTAES hugs me again. Darling, you are doing amazing.

Thank you. AND… can you help me? Do you see that I am not trying to avoid my feelings by doing this thing, that this thing means a lot and I will feel better with it done?

Yes, darling, I see that.

ALSO, this is the kind of step that DOES stress me out. I mean right now it feels like my life is so stressful that this kind of thing is nothing. BUT in the past, when the whole world felt easier, I remember feeling this way prior to doing things like this.

So part of this is your way of taking this kind of step. Part of this is that EVERYTHING is so much more complicated right now because of things in your life and the way the world has changed.

So let’s start with the basics: How do you want to feel?

Enthusiastic about this thing I am doing. Trusting that it will go well.

What do you mean by “go well”?

That it will feel good to me to do it and it will be well received.

Hmmmm yes there is a tangle there around “well received” because I am not quite sure what that means.

The thing I am doing is ANNOUNCING the new Creative Dream Incubator Coaching Membership. I’ve already shared it with Dream Book members and it was well received there! I’ve talked about it out in public and have gotten good feedback there too.

A part of “well received” is that I want more people to join. But I understand that won’t happen IMMEDIATELY, I mean it likely won’t. And I have so much I want to change about how I talk about it and invite people into the work because… BECAUSE OF HOW FUCKING STRESSFUL AND DIFFICULT THE WORLD IS RIGHT NOW…. we need more support. Giving up on our creative dreams takes us down a dark path and we need more light.

Oh. That touched on it. Something shifted inside me. Some enthusiasm woke up.

Like, I am the example today of why we all need more support to do the things we feel called to do.

And I have this offering I have developed that DOES HELP. The work is still hard, but I offer that people don’t have to be alone with it and I can help hold that enthusiasm for them because I do believe in everyone’s dreams….

Another shift inside me. Not just enthusiasm but confidence.

OK I feel ready to work on this.

…a little while later…

This “thing I want to do” includes a lot of steps. I started taking the smallest ones. WHOA.

My energy shifted.

Enthusiasm and trust poured in.

Excitement even showed up.

I am doing this thing!

(This was my un-sticking around announcing/launching the Creative Dream Incubator Coaching Membership which I did earlier this 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.

All of the meditations I share are Alchemy Meditations - meditations where we are changing something into something else.

Like: 

our love and enthusiasm for our dream -> inspiration and motivation for our next steps

our fear about our next steps -> confidence and a feeling of being ready

That kind of thing. Alchemy meditations are about exploring, healing, growing and  creating.

(I added a section in the map that lists ALL of the guided meditations, right here)

There is also meditation where you just…. sit with yourself.

I am finding, especially as SO MUCH IS CHANGING FOR ME I need more time to be in that kind of meditation. It’s a way of grounding and acclimating to where I am.

Also, we can trust that meditation without any kind of focus or intention WILL bring us what we need. That we, as in our current-every-day-consciousness-self, don't have to choose our focus, we can let a larger part of us choose, which is what happens in this kind of meditation.

Sometimes, with alchemy meditation or any kind of manifesting or healing techniques, we can be coming from a very head-focused or ego place. Like, we decide what we need then try to give that to ourselves.

Meditation without focus can bring us what we ACTUALLY need, which is sometimes VERY DIFFERENT from what we think we need.

This is similar to journaling! In Dream Book, I talk about how the Dream Book journaling is all very focused on moving towards your dream, and I encourage you to ALSO “just journal” as much as possible. “Just journaling” meaning - sitting with yourself, on the page.

OF COURSE we love doing things with focus and intention, we love to choose where we are going and how we are going to get there. We are creative beings, this is natural!

In the practice of sitting with ourselves, we release that sense of “being in control” and choosing where we are going. We open ourselves up.

Having a balance of both, or shifting back and forth between them, is so good!

Since my husband left me, and then we had a huge medical situation with one of the kids, I’ve been reacting. 

I’ve been trying to heal and process. I’ve been VERY VERY FOCUSED on healing, feeling better and moving my life forward. I’ve been processing everything from the end of my marriage very deeply. I’ve learned and grown and my perspective has shifted so much I don’t always recognize my past self.

So, right now, I need A LOT of “sitting with”. In both meditation and journaling - sitting with myself, letting go of control, opening up to the moment and seeing what comes without intentionally choosing my focus.

 

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’ve been sitting in the absolute MESS OF SHIT that comes up for me when I think about how I want to do the things I want to do next.

All of the fears. The unknown. The doubts. The “why bothers”. The way I really want to do this thing but I’ve never done it before so I just don’t know how BUT I do know I don’t want to just follow someone else’s path, I want to create my own way BUT, again, I don’t know how.

Feeling all the feelings that are sparked in this.

Thinking all the thoughts that come to mind.

Journaling. Getting it all out so I can try to see it from different angles.

And then… and this only happens EVERY TIME SOMEONE STAYS WITH IT… it’s like the bottom just drops out, and I land somewhere new where I can see something new.

That’s where I am this morning.

Actually I landed last night while trying to fall asleep, this new idea just floated in and was so excited it was hard to get to sleep.

And suddenly I have this new direction to go in and a SHIT TON of inspiration and motivation to GET MOVING in this new direction.

So many coaches and helper-people out there try to FORCE these moments. Like - give you their insights about your journey to spark this magic.

But it doesn’t work that way.

Because it’s YOUR journey. So YOUR perspective is the most important one. And your PROCESS of getting to the insight actually matters. Having it handed to you DOES dull the magic.

Being in the mess of your emotional and mental reactions to your process is an alchemical process. It brings you what you need.

So, as a coach, I don’t hand out insights on a silver platter.

I make space for you to join me in the mess, I have up string lights so you can find your way around to alchemize your stucks and obstacles into gifts, medicine and fuel.

Because this is better.

And you are worth this BIG magic.

So if you're in the mess - stay with it.

 

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.

This is the mantra I got in this week’s Dream Book journaling + alchemy kit: Life is happening FOR me, not TO me

This is one of these mantras that comes with a GIANT CAVEAT. If it doesn’t feel hopeful, don’t use it.

It’s very easy for this to turn into a way of blaming YOU for the ways the world has failed you. It can erase the impacts of systems of oppression. It can make you feel like the most horrific things that happened to you were your fault.

AND, only when it feels right, it can help re-frame difficult things and put you into a more empowered place.

I have been thinking along these lines about my divorce, which I did not choose, or see coming, but now, with 8 months hindsight, I am starting to say - yes, this happened FOR me.

There are parts of me who are still “FUCK THAT, no this didn’t happen FOR me” and that’s valid.

The part I am exploring is the part of me that feels curious about this, and curious to explore the ways this divorce benefits me.

When it feels right, it’s SO helpful.

It’s alse SO helpful to look at our dreams-that-just-stay-stuck-no-matter-how-hard-we-work through this lense.

Not to deny the hard parts or invalidate your feelings about the hard parts. Just to make some space for the part of you who can find the gifts in it.

Life is so multi-faceted. And dreams are WILDLY multi-faceted.

There ARE ways that it absolutely sucks that you don’t already have the thing you want and maybe there are also ways that it’s good that it’s happening exactly how it’s happening?

 

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.

Once in a while I think… I should check in with this “year long resistance project” I am doing, and then I feel a LOT of resistance to that idea, so I don’t.

The start of this project was amazing, the commitment and determination I felt was so energizing. That energy helped me explore more deeply and come up with really good little changes to make (little as in DO-ABLE) that made a huge difference.

I am nowhere near as resistant now, as I in January.

And, I am still going through a divorce. Now I understand why it’s called “going through” a divorce. It’s a lot to go through, and a lot of it has nothing to do with the relationship, it’s just a big life change. So some days I am going through as in struggling to get through and some days I am going through as in moving along the path.

And it’s all connected.

My sensitivities. The ways I get overwhelmed. The ways I respond when I am overwhelmed.

I’m starting to feel like I’ve been in a nervous system freeze response since the start of the pandemic, and I am coming out of if now.

So, some of my resistance is nervous system overwhelm. Which needs rest and restoration.

And some of it is my own fears and self doubt trying to stop me. Which needs presence, focus, intention, healing, and ACTION.

Life is so complicated. Our creative dreams ask us to be more alive, more engaged with all parts of our lives and this just makes a complicated thing more complicated.

AND more meaningful and fulfilling and joyful.

AND… am I writing all of this to avoid actually looking at my resistance? lol

Thinking about resistance is kind of like thinking AROUND resistance and the only way out is THROUGH.

So, resistance, let’s talk.

Resistance shows up as a snake.

Slippery, hard to hold onto (and ewww I don’t actually want to hold onto it) and changes it’s skin continually.

I spread a blanket out on the ground, and put out a picnic.

Let’s talk.

The snake is enjoying a cup of tea and a cookie. But it’s skin keeps changing, I can’t tell what it is.

I’m not one thing.

Sometimes I protect you. Sometimes I hold you back. Don’t try to understand me, focus on knowing your relationship with me.

So…

Be more still.

Really listen to myself.

HOW DOES IT FEEL?

Does it feel like I need to rest?

Does it feel like I need to do the thing I am resisting?

Does it feel like I need to do something else?

There are so many layers to our feelings.

So many ways our conditioned patterns pop up and interfere with us knowing our truth. And then whole new layers of conditioned patterns pop up and interfere with us acting on our truth, once we finally know it.

This is a work in progress.

 

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 do a New Moon Intention Setting Call every month, which is open to all Dream Book members. There is also the New Moon Intention Setting Ritual Kit for people who are not in the membership.

When it comes to my new moon intention setting, some months I know exactly what I want to do next, and some months I have no clue.

But I DO IT every month. And in the process of reflection and meditation - it feels like the right intention finds me.

Our last new moon intention setting call was on April 5 (I try to do these a few days before the new moon so that people have a chance to use the replay before or on the new moon)

I just looked through my journal and… ever since that day I’ve been drowning in the opposite of my intention.

This is how it works sometimes.

I’m not failing.

Sometimes life just lifes.

Sometimes, more often actually, setting an intention clears the way for us to see what needs to change in order to have the thing we want.

And that can get really ugly.

Which is where I am right now.

And I’ve been here so many times I am not un-nerved by it. I was relieved to open my journal this morning, revisit my new moon intention journaling, and notice how I had the exact opposite of it.

Oh, ok, so THIS IS THE WORK.

I mean I tell this to people every day, and it’s still humbling each time I see it for myself. This is the work.

Most “next steps” in outer work, most changes we want to see in our lives, require “next steps” in inner work, to go deeper.

This is NOT because we are fucked up and need to change to be good enough to have our dreams!!! Because we are deeply and significantly impacted by the culture we grow up in, and our culture is a flaming trash bin. White supremacy, the patriarchy, colonialist capitalism - these systems are bad for all living things and they’ve impacted us all.

So, in these times, you need to get MORE curious about where you hold back from the things you want, you need to be MORE compassionate with the parts of you who don’t believe in you or your dreams.

You are not wrong for the places where you hold back.

You are not wrong for HAVING inner work to do, to get to where you want to be.

This is where I am today. Noticing how the inner work just got more clear.

The prompt I am working with:

How can I support ALL PARTS OF ME in being ready to do this thing I want 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.

I’ve been showing up for my Creative Dream Practice, doing the alchemy processes, working with my dream… but not in the actual book that I had made for Dream Book.

Sometimes this happens.

Sometimes it’s resistance - because having it all ORGANIZED in the way we do in Dream Book gives you a sense of clarity and direction that can be scary at times.

Sometimes it’s not resistance, you’re just in a place on the path that’s less linear and structured.

Anyway, I opened up my Dream Book and it made sense - I could see why I hadn’t opened it in a while.

In the fall I had made pages for my new dreams, for the liminal space I figured I would be in for a while. Space for healing and self care and adjusting to the shock of my husband leaving. Dreams of giving myself the fall and winter to be in a cocoon of healing, and emerging in the spring ready to create my new life.

Not that I wanted to dictate the timing of my healing process, I wasn’t going to force myself out of the cocoon on any particular date - it’s just that’s how it felt to me at the time.

And now here I am, emerging from the cocoon. I mean, kind of.  I'm feeling inspired and motivated. I know so much more about what I want my new life to look like.

So here am - opening my Dream Book to get myself organized.

That doesn’t mean these past months I have been “off track” or anything.

I was just in a non-linear part of the path.

It’s ALL a part of it.

Even the times when you're just 100% IN RESISTANCE and not showing up - that's a part of it too. There is so much to wrestle with, and so many ways to work with our dreams.

 

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.

This is the mantra I got in this week’s Dream Book journaling + alchemy kit: I am capable of more than I know.

This is one of those mantras that has usually been true.

AND

Some of the times when I have MOST felt it are the times when I was actually the LEAST capable.

Like, there is a delusion that can set in and it can help us overcome a lot of shit.

Like "Oh I'll just put my art on Instagram and it will sell immediately!" and we use that courage to take a bunch of super brave steps.... and in the process we begin the journey of learning JUST HOW MUCH we have to do to actually sell the art.

It can feel like you've been defeated but actually, that courage and confidence helped get you to a place where you see how much you have to learn, which IS what will get you to a place of being able to do the thing.

So, I take some hope then, in the fact that I'm not sure how capable I feel right now.

And this mantra feels like a balm, reminding me of my truth.

We are always capable of our creative dreams. Our creative dreams CHOOSE us for a reason.

We won't always FEEL capable.

Learning to show up consistently. Having ways of working with your dream that work for where you're at (ie Dream Book!!). Making Creative Dreaming a HABIT. This all really helps us move through the feeling-less-capable times.

 

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.

 

This is the mantra I got in this week’s Dream Book journaling + alchemy kit: I am ready for my breakthrough.

It’s a little spooky how these mantras have been so RIGHT ON for me lately. Either bringing me the lessons/awareness I need, or just being the exact vibe I am already in.

I am ready for my breakthrough.

I feel like I HAD the breakthrough, but I am in this space of adjusting to it, and the adjustment feels HUGE.

I am ready for my breakthrough. This feels like a bit of a balm for the parts of me who are like “Am I though?”

The breakthrough is around how I want to describe Dream Book… and actually going back to my decision to re-name the membership to Dream Book and making a different decision.

It’s like how a few years ago I moved my bedroom downstairs and put my workspace upstairs. The upstairs loft is my favourite part of my condo and it felt so good to give that space to my creativity.

Until it started to feel URGENT that I give that space back to my bedroom. And it was this huge annoying job to actually move everything, but I did it. But now that it’s done it’s like WHOA. I needed this so much.

This doesn’t negate how right it felt to move my workspace upstairs when I did it.

We’re alive and changing and we get to keep making new choices.

So, I am making the choice to re-name the membership. Which doesn’t change anything about what’s happening inside - other than I also want to add Friday afternoon coaching calls.

It changes the sales page. It changes how I talk about it.

Which has always been the hardest part of my work for me. And over the years I have hired people to do this work FOR me, I’ve hired coaches and mentors to do it WITH me, and now I feel SO sure that I know the right way to do this. It feels so right.

AND

It’s just a big step.

So… I am READY for my breakthrough. I am ready to DO THE WORK of acting on it. I have been doing the work, and it’s FUCKING HARD so repeating the mantra I am ready for my breakthrough is really helping.

Because it feels true. This is hard AND I am ready to do it.

 

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.

This is the mantra I got in this week’s Dream Book journaling + alchemy kit: I am excited about what comes next.

Oh wow this one LANDS.

Divorce is an upheaval that has me re-thinking… everything. While also sending me deeper into the roots of my emotional reactions.

And it’s birthed TWO WHOLE NEW DREAMS so far!

One I already shared - getting an RV or camper or something and creating a tiny home-on-wheels and going on adventures with my cat Bear. This one needs planing, preparation, and money and I am working towards it slowly, savouring the process of dreaming about it.

The other one is brand new - I want to start making lino cut block prints. I did this in university and LOVED IT and always wanted to come back to it, but… life lifed. And it’s a lot to get into a whole new thing.

But recently the pieces all came together… I am making some new clothes for spring and bought solid coloured fabrics with the idea to get simple stamps to make patterns on them. Once I saw what is out there for block printing (I did this almost 30 years ago so the landscape has changed!) I got SO inspired. And then I remembered how it felt to hold those tools in my hands and carve out my drawings and it felt like coming home to a part of me that has been lost.

And then the idea just expanded and expanded.

I dug around in my “journals I bought and haven’t started yet drawer” and found a sketchbook and I am starting to sketch my ideas and getting ready to go ABSOLUTELY BONKERS with lino block printing. I am imagining eventually re-arranging the loft - again - to make space for a huge block printing table.

It’s making me feel SO ALIVE. SO EXCITED ABOUT MY FUTURE.

But AS ALWAYS, it’s our actual reactions to the mantras that matter. And we can react differently to the same mantra each time we use it! Each of those reactions can teach us something.

But I have had SO MANY FUCKING LESSONS coming at me lately, and it’s really nice to just sit here and FEEL EXCITED. This is healing, too.

 

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 don’t know WHY today is so hard.

If I knew, would that make it easier?

Or is “I don’t know WHY this is so hard!” just stopping me from working through whatever is happening here?

Remembering: IT’S SIMPLE. JUST SHOW UP. WORK WITH WHAT IS THERE.

I have time to work on my dream and I feel stuck, broken-hearted and angry.

This is not how I want to feel while working on my dream, so I want to just put this all away and…

And what?

I don’t know.

So I am going to use the Journal Sheet for Taking Consistent Steps

Working through the sheet, a few things I notice:

My big dream feels so far away. For some reason I feel I can’t do this until I am divorced, not while “going through a divorce”.

My plan for today is a little vague, having a more sharply defined plan might have helped me turn this morning around really fast. I HAVE noticed this about myself before and i DO have a protocol where at the end of each day I check in with everything and LEAVE MYSELF A NOTE FOR THE NEXT DAY so I can pick up the threads and keep going, not feel like I am starting from scratch. Obviously, I didn’t do this yesterday.

I do feel completely unprepared for my list today though. And that feels like the main issue, so I am going over to the un-sticking station with that:

Hey, Completely Unprepared For My List Today, can we chat?

I see me, at my current age, kind of blurry but feeling like a deer in headlights.

Oh sweetie, here. Let’s cozy you up with a blanket and a cup of tea and a little snack.

She appreciates this, gives a big sigh and says “This isn’t where I thought I would be”

... but while this is happening, it feels like my NEW LIFE is trying to BURST IN. Like - break up the whole scene.

I check in with my deer-in-headlights self “Hey sweetheart, what do you think of my new life just bursting in like this?”

It feels so strong and bright and exciting. I feel drab in comparison to it.

I paused here, and made another cup of coffee. Soaking this in a bit. My old life, the version of me who is stunned by where I am now, is DRAB in comparison to what is in front of me.

This is important.

I also have been feeling desperate to cling to my old life. Which feels futile and when I really sit with those feelings, dig in deeper to find out where they are coming from - it’s just old programming. There’s nothing at the core of them that feels like truth.

This BRIGHTNESS feels like truth.

I’ve been exploring, more deeply than I ever have, the difference between my feelings and my soul - or what feels like my TRUTH. Which part of me has a broken heart? Which part of me is mapping out my new life? Which part do I want to follow?

I am trusting, more deeply than I ever have, my dreams. Every little desire. The way they light me up from the inside and feel like coming home.

I’ve had a new dream come to me over the last few days.

It’s something I used to do, and dreamed of doing more, and then… life happened. For the last few YEARS I’ve been thinking of doing it, in a more casual way, but it felt like A LOT to start something new… now suddenly it feels IMPORTANT and LIFE CHANGING.

There is this BOUNCY energy around it.

Do I trust the bounce?

I mean, obviously, I trusted my dreams and all the good energy about marrying my husband and…

So, do I keep trusting it?

There is this James Baldwin quote I just wrote out HUGE and put up in my living room:

Love brought you here.

If you trusted love this far,

Don’t panic now

When I remember that, I think of all of the growth and healing I experienced in my marriage, and how my husband did not take that from me when he left.

I wish we had a relationship right now that honored that. But right now we’re not speaking (which I thought was best) and maybe a part of what is bothering me today is how unresolved so many things are.

Hmmmm. Not what I was expecting to find in my explorations today.

(Sitting with this for a bit)

OK, back to Completely Unprepared For My List Today….

She’s not so drab anymore! Sitting in a rainbow sweatshirt. sipping coffee. The sun is shining into the room. She’s holding a journal that says “WE GOT THIS”

(which feels like a miracle given where I started this week and how I was feeling about "I got this" as my mantra)

And we don’t feel unprepared for the list anymore, we are ready to dive in.

 

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.