On Fridays I do these "Dream Status Report" prompts

I use these same prompts every week to help me have more clarity, momentum and groundedness on my path.

Last week I wrote this: I received so much insight and support from working with the soul of my dream more diligently and deeply this week.

So much has changed, in the world and in my life, sometimes I feel like I am starting fresh with my dreams and my business. Spending more time with the soul of my dream and the soul of my business helps me ground into all of the wisdom I have already gained in doing this work.

So, spending more time with the soul of my dream and the soul of my business is helping me be more grounded in my magic AND dream up a new future. I don't want to rush this.

Last year at one point I had this new dream, my first post-end-of-marriage dream - to get a camper van and travel with my cat. That still feels like a fun thing to do, but at the time it felt URGENT as a dream - not urgent to do right away but urgent to hold onto as my first dream as a single person.

Now, I feel like I want to go deeper and really look at what I want my life to feel and be like and that's just weird to do against this landscape of threatened annexation and increasing climate catastrophes and inflation that won't stop rising. The soul of my dream and the soul of my business are not phased by these things, and I am just so grateful to be more deeply connected to them.

When I asked what my dream needs I got this pressure in my lower belly and my dream asked me to take the pressure off. It felt like a turning of a wheel that increases pressure, like I could choose to stop turning it or turn it backwards.

I didn't know the pressure was there!

When I asked myself what I need, the answer is self care. All the basics - nutrition, sleep, movement water and then lots of meditation, journaling and art. And a DEEP RESPECT for my feelings. If I am anxious, don't get frustrated about anxiety - validate and care for it.

Also, I shared on last week's Co-Dreaming/Co-Working call that I am creating a whole new Un-Sticking Station! I've got the whole plan in place now and am so happy to get to work on it.

Creative Dream Incubator Coaching Membership members:

Come to the forum to share your Dream Status Report 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.

If you're not a member - find out more + join us here!

On Fridays I do my Dream Status Report which is a series of prompts I use every week to help me have more clarity, momentum and groundedness on my path.

I started doing these as videos a few weeks ago - and that felt like the right thing to do but today everything about doing a video felt wrong 🤣.

So I am just going to share my thoughts in writing.

(Also: in exploring my feelings in the Un-Sticking Station I realized I do want to do videos when I want to go deeper into a topic, but not necessarily every week.)

Failed video aside - I have been feeling SO GOOD.

I was really focused on habits for self care and wellbeing this week AND I went really deep into Dream Work, connecting with the soul of my dream, and I was feeling so good.

One thing about living, healing, creating and dreaming in a dystopia is that it seems to be harder to hold onto good habits.

Like, what’s the point?

WELLBEING IS THE POINT!

Last weekend I really SAT WITH the heaviness and helplessness I am feeling. And asked myself: so what do I want to do? And in the end I decided I wanted to be more diligent about MOVEMENT.

And I hadn’t been getting my long walks in for [reasons] and it was hard to get back into it because [reasons] so I came up with a plan to get back into it.

After two days of 1 hour+ walking each day, I felt different.

(And I feel like I need to be SO CLEAR about this: I know this doesn’t work for everyone, and my point is not that we can survive these times with exercise. This is just what I know about my body and my self care. I share my journaling as a way of encouraging you to dig in to your situation and explore what works for you. Your way through can be totally different!)

I also started meditating more and more, going deeper into the Dream Work - and by the end of the week, that is over an hour a day too.

And I remembered the big sparkling magic of my own meditations!!

I received so much insight and support from working with the soul of my dream more diligently and deeply this week.

(It’s kind of funny that recently my focus for the week was “I don’t want to be diligent I want to be devoted” and this week was all about being diligent about the things that help me feel better.)

I feel like what’s been happening for me is that the heaviness of the world is in my body and I’ve been tired and overwhelmed and so…

I've been avoiding the DEPTH WORK of dream work and...

It’s in the depths that the magic happens, it’s in the depths that the healing happens and it’s in the depths that we find the things we need to help us in these times.

It’s a bit of a catch-22.

But we can start really small, and find the most easy-to-do thing that helps increase wellbeing, and then diligently increase it from there.

I think accepting that self care and wellbeing are harder right now is a good place to start. And being gentle with ourselves about finding ways in.

Creative Dream Incubator Coaching Membership members:

Come to the forum to share your Dream Status Report 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.

If you're not a member - find out more + join us here!

On Fridays I do my Dream Status Report which is a series of prompts I use every week to help me have more clarity, momentum and groundedness on my path.

Because Creative Dreaming in dystopian times is tricky, I started making videos for my Friday posts to talk about things in more depth. I really want to encourage you to do this practice with me, it's a way of creating more stable ground to dream on, when the actual ground beneath us doesn't feel stable.

Here is this week's video (if you're reading this in email, you can get to the vide here.

Your dream is helping you be your most authentic self.

This week I did NOT get my "to dos" done but, in reflecting on that and what I am learning I realized... I am deep in the Dream Work of it. Exploring which version of me I need to be, to do this in the way I want to do this. And then looking at what that version of me needs.

This is the in-depth Dream Work that we need to do alongside the Outer Work and Inner Work.

And everything about my weekly check in pointed me to the fact that I need more INTENSE Dream Work right now, so that's where I'll be focused next week.

Creative Dream Incubator Coaching Membership members:

Come to the forum to share your Dream Status Report 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.

If you're not a member - find out more + join us here!

On Fridays I do my Dream Status Report which is a series of prompts I use every week to help me have more clarity, momentum and groundedness on my path. I do my reports on the printable journaling sheet.

This week we have a new Dream Status Report sheet - the same questions, but shrunk down so they all fit on one page! Thanks to the member who asked me about this  - great idea!

Because Creative Dreaming in dystopian times is tricky, I started making videos for my Friday posts to talk about things in more depth. I really want to encourage you to do this practice with me, it's a way of creating more stable ground to dream on, when the actual ground beneath us doesn't feel stable.

Here is this week's video (if you're reading this in email, you can get to the video here)

Creative Dream Incubator Coaching Membership members:

Come to the forum to share your Dream Status Report 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.

If you're not a member - find out more + join us here!

On Fridays I do my Dream Status Report which is a series of prompts I use every week to help me have more clarity, momentum and groundedness on my path. I do my reports on the printable journaling sheet.

Last week I started a new video series where I talk about my Dream Status Report for the week. Here is this week's video:

Creative Dream Incubator Coaching Membership members:

Come to the forum to share your Dream Status Report 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.

If you're not a member - find out more + join us here!

On Fridays I do my Dream Status Report which is a series of prompts I use every week to help me have more clarity, momentum and groundedness on my path. I do my reports on the printable journaling sheet.

I'm trying something new: a video talking about my Dream Status Report for the week

Co-Working + Co-Dreaming call is today!

Get the call details here.

Creative Dream Incubator Coaching Membership members:

Come to the forum to share your Dream Status Report 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.

If you're not a member - find out more + join us here!

On Fridays I do my Dream Status Report which is a series of prompts I use every week to help me have more clarity, momentum and groundedness on my path. I do my reports on the printable journaling sheet.

I feel so grounded and calm.

Reflecting on this week, I am so grateful for the gifts of prioritizing my creative practices.

MAKING ART EVERY DAY.

Not for anything in particular, just to be in that space of making art. In my de-cluttering process I've found an embarrassing amount of half-finished sketchbooks, so my goal right now is just to fill them up and see what that shows me about what I want to make.

Even though the world around me became more stressful, I feel grounded and calm and this is such a gift.

I'm feeling confident about my creative dreams while also feeling like I am happy to move SLOWLY with them.

Co-Working + Co-Dreaming call is today!

Get the call details here.

Creative Dream Incubator Coaching Membership members:

Come to the forum to share your Dream Status Report 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.

If you're not a member - find out more + join us here!

On Fridays I do my Dream Status Report which is a series of prompts I use every week to help me have more clarity, momentum and groundedness on my path. I do my reports on the printable journaling sheet.

So I am now 3 weeks into "my new life" and remembering how dramatic and intense it felt when I made the decision to prioritize ART in my daily life.

Right now, it feels like I made a tiny shift, lol. I re-arranged my space. I re-organized my art stuff (well, that's in process). I have a pile of un-used and half-used sketchbooks that I am slowly filling up and I am making more time for art without pressure to turn it into anything in particular. Just to be in the process of filling pages.

But I am remembering how this felt just 3 weeks ago. The fact is, this isn't a huge change BUT it could open up other possibilities and my self doubt got activated. I actually really want those possibilities.

This week I noticed how much I have been JEALOUS seeing people on social media posting videos about MAKING THINGS. Anything! Even things I have no interest in making!

Jealousy is such a good guide. (My Creative Journal Prompts for Jealousy blog post is here)

I want to make things, and send them out to people. I have some ideas of what those things are, but I need space to experiment and I am giving myself that space and that leads to all of the "stuff" like "what if I do it and I hate it?" "will people care?" "will I find out that I actually really suck at this?" etc. All the things that stop us from pursuing new dreams.

And to have all of that on top of the stress of being in the world right now - it's a lot. Of course this feels insurmountable sometimes.

AND of course I can do this.

This week I learned: mental health is key.

Like - the things that support my mental health (which includes making more art!) have to come first or else everything falls apart.

In times of such change and chaos, good chance can come in, too!

What are changes I can make in my own routines and ways of doing things that would support me in feeling better?

Like when I sold my car. At the time, I wasn't sure if I wanted another one. It was fall and I decided to walk a lot that winter, and walking a lot in winter was sooooo good for me. Then that spring I got my bike and the rest is history. The joy I feel from walking and biking cannot be compared to the convenience of driving.

What other changes, maybe things I don't see right now, might bring me more joy?

Sitting with that.

Co-Working + Co-Dreaming call is today!

Get the call details here.

Creative Dream Incubator Coaching Membership members:

Come to the forum to share your Dream Status Report 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.

If you're not a member - find out more + join us here!

On Fridays I do my Dream Status Report which is a series of prompts I use every week to help me have more clarity, momentum and groundedness on my path. I do my reports on the printable journaling sheet.

So I am now 2 weeks into "my new life" and remembering how dramatic and intense it felt when I made the decision to prioritize ART in my daily life.

I wanted to re-structure my structure and routines to have more space for a creative art practice.

I know how vague that sounds! I know all about "SMART goals" lol. But this is a heart goal, listening to what my heart desires most and trying to translate that into something that I can see in my life.

I started with a very small sketchbook I found in my stash (it's 5"x8" but most of the pages had already been used) and made a commitment to fill this one book before my next therapy session on Feb 13. (My last therapy session being mostly about how afraid and stuck I felt about making this change)

I am already blowing way past that goal. My creativity is FLOWING and I am FOLLOWING and this is exactly what I wanted. Not to be creating anything in particular, just to be in an ART PRACTICE and follow it where it leads. I did hope that eventually it would lead to making things to put out into the world but I don't want to be focused on that part.

I am doing more art in my Year of Hope journal. I am filling that sketchbook, and working on a larger one too. I started painting some paper mache balls I had made a few years ago. I painted a whole freaking mural on my wall!

And I finished sewing a pair of cords. That felt a bit momentous because I have (99% of the time) only been wearing dresses for the last 10+ years. I have made leggings, but cords (which technically is a jeans pattern) is a really different beast and I love how they turned out.

I'm still figuring out how to balance the Creative Dream Incubator with my personal art practice(s).

This morning I woke up really wanting to take my laptop to a coffee shop and do "business type stuff". I still LOVE my work it's not like I want art to take over.

I am re-visting my routines and, as a person who gets a lot of stability and support from having good and steady routines, this is a little discombobulating.

AND I know I can't find my new right-fit routines without some experimentation.

Our next call, Co-Working + Co-Dreaming, is NEXT Friday, February 7.

Get the call details here.

This week we had the January New Moon Intention Setting call - get the replay here.

Creative Dream Incubator Coaching Membership members:

Come to the forum to share your Dream Status Report 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.

If you're not a member - find out more + join us here!

On Fridays I do my Dream Status Report which is a series of prompts I use every week to help me have more clarity, momentum and groundedness on my path. I do my reports on the printable journaling sheet.

We had the Hello 2025 Blessing Ceremony last week!

To bless is to MAKE HOLY.  Which our dreams already are, but spending this time reflecting on what we want to do and then blessing it just feels so good. It creates a sturdier foundation to dream from over the new year.

You can watch the replay here here.

The Dream Blessing shifted something for me.

It was so great... but then with each new piece of clarity and inspiration that came in, some self doubt popped up to be all "Really??? You're going to do THAT?"

So I had a bumpy ride.

I went to therapy on Monday feeling sure of a big change I want to make AND being deep in despair about it not being possible.

It was an intense session and the thing I remember most is saying "I want to give myself a chance"

I think I meant a lot of things by this. Mostly - I want to give myself a chance to be the artist I know I am. But then also I want to give myself a chance to survive these times and even thrive in them.

I want to give myself a chance to stop being so overwhelmed.

I realized this week that I am BURNED OUT.

At first this felt like a revelation, like it explains so much. And then it felt ridiculous... like who ISN'T burned out right now?

AND labels are not usually helpful. Like "I am not A burnout"

I am having intense deja vu writing this, maybe I have written this before.

SO I focused on... how do I feel? What do I want? What do I NEED? Which I am always doing in some way anyway. And if I want to call it "overwhelmed" or "in burnout" or "super sensitive and introverted in a very loud overstimulating world" it doesn't matter - I had been doing all the self care things.

This feels like it could ramble on for a while but this is my point: I made some big changes to better support me in being who I want to be.

Instead of wishing I wasn't overstimulated and burned out, I am just recognizing what I need: A LOT of alone time. A LOT of creative time. A LOT of self care.

And then: I need to re-arrange my schedule and routines. The whole relationship I had with my work and how I spend my days. I want to write more in-depth about that, hopefully next week.

I have shared about how I am prioritizing art. This also means making art out of Dream Book, which has always been my intention, and I have done to some extent, but there is a way I have not been able to do it that I want to do it now.

All of this feels SO HARD to articulate. This is the nature of being in the process of change, and really listening to that inner voice. It's MY inner voice and won't necessarily make sense to anyone else.

Looking back, I see how I have been moving towards these changes for a long time. I've been reflecting, circling, exploring, experimenting and then BAM suddenly I knew what to do.

Today is our Friday Co-Dreaming + Co-Working call!

We don't have themes for these calls, they are a more casual get-together for co-working, co-dreaming, chatting, planning next week or... whatever you like! We'll start with a short meditation for connecting with the soul of your dream (like the Dream Lab) and then have time for whatever you want to do.

Get the call details here.

Get the calendar of upcoming calls, and links to replays of past calls, here.

Creative Dream Incubator Coaching Membership members:

Come to the forum to share your Dream Status Report 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.

If you're not a member - find out more + join us here!

On Fridays I do my Dream Status Report which is a series of prompts I use every week to help me have more clarity, momentum and groundedness on my path. I do my reports on the printable journaling sheet.

Looking back, it actually feels like I started the new year this week.

Personally and professionally, I have some goals and some sense of how I want to approach them.

"New Year" just feels like "looking ahead" to me and I love this.

Even though I'm in a VERY quiet and hibernation-y time and really enjoying that, I love that it feels like I am putting things together.

I REALLY love HOW I am doing things right now.

I especially love the way I am holding dreams and plans.

Before "everything changed" (the way the worst of peri-menopause and the pandemic hit my life at the same time and left me so overwhelmed my brain has not been working like it used to, plus nothing in the world is like it used to be either) I was a PLANNER.

I had been exploring ways to be more flexible about how I IMPLEMENT, to give myself more space to be where I am on any given day without losing the plans completely.

Plans are important to me. They are a form of security and stability. (I know this is not true for everyone!) So, looking ahead to 2025, I feel pretty secure and stable right now. Which is fascinating to me, especially since, if all goes as planned, this is the year I will legally get divorced.

We define Creative Dream Alchemy as "meeting yourself where you are and moving towards where you want to be"

The part where I meet myself where I am feels... I don't know, deeper or more powerful or more important. Like I am giving that more SPACE. And not being all "but I have to cheer up and get to work or I'll miss my deadlines"

It's a real sense of trusting the process, and trusting myself and my creativity.

When I am on, I am ON. I can get so much done in a day when I am on... and sometimes the next day I can't really get anything done.

This is where my brain is at right now, and I am accepting this and working with it and even.... enjoying it(!) Resting, journaling, meditating, making art, sewing, going for a walk... these things are so helpful and restorative and they help create that next magical "ON day".

I've always been this way to some extent, but it's more dramatic right now and it fees like I am shifting my relationship with how I get things done and I just feel really good about it.

We have the Hello 2025 Blessing Ceremony today!

To bless is to MAKE HOLY.  Which our dreams already are, but spending this time reflecting on what we want to do and then blessing it just feels so good. It creates a sturdier foundation to dream from over the new year.

Get the call details here.

Get the calendar of upcoming calls, and links to replays of past calls, here.

Creative Dream Incubator Coaching Membership members:

Come to the forum to share your Dream Status Report 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.

If you're not a member - find out more + join us here!

On Fridays I do my Dream Status Report which is a series of prompts I use every week to help me have more clarity, momentum and groundedness on my path. I do my reports on the printable journaling sheet.

I am really appreciating sinking into my Year of Hope project.

I am filling a large (9"x11") daily planner with hope. My commitment is to show up and fill a day a day and every day this can look different.

I expect how I do this will change a lot over the course of the year.

At first it felt amazing, I really loved having this space to be with myself, to physically see the pages start to fill up, to see all of the empty pages as my commitment to have this time with myself, to help orient myself more towards hope and it's allies like optimism, trust and believing in myself.

By the middle of the week it was starting to feel UGH.

I know I have been teaching this a long time, it's still so unpleasant when it happens to me, lol

But setting out to work on a specific intention WILL call in it's opposite.

That's just how it works.

You need to work through your hopelessness to make more space for hope.

And the stucks were helpful this week.

Together they gave me what I think is a really helpful message: I need a plan.

I mean, I have a plan, but it's like.... I need a PLANNIER plan, lol.

I need more structure.

I think my relationship with myself, my work, and my life is changing and so the type of structure that is supportive right now is changing and.... I don't know what it is!

So I am experimenting.

I am thinking back to years when I was SUPER "planny" in January and then couldn't keep up with my plans by April and felt like I was failing.

I am thinking back to years when I planned very loosely and then always felt like I was a little lost.

Like - my plans SUPPORT my dreams.

I need the right support.

I don't know what the right support is for me, for my dreams, at this stage of life.

So instead of feeling overwhelmed by that, I am working on getting curious and exploring.

We have a Friday Call today!

We do Friday calls on weeks when we don't have other calls - this is a short meditation to connect with the soul of your dream, then time for co-working, coaching, sharing... whatever you like. Get the call details here.

Get the calendar of upcoming calls, and links to replays of past calls, here.

Creative Dream Incubator Coaching Membership members:

Come to the forum to share your Dream Status Report 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.

If you're not a member - find out more + join us here!

On Fridays I do my Dream Status Report which is a series of prompts I use every week to help me have more clarity, momentum and groundedness on my path. I do my reports on the printable journaling sheet.

OMG I am glad the holidays are OVER.

Yes there are TONS of good things about the holidays and some parts were hard this year and lots of parts were fantastic

AND

I am just so happy to be back in my little life with my little routines.

One thing that happened over the holidays is I accepted something: I don't want to travel.

Or, maybe still with the camper that is all comfy and I can bring my cat with me. That remains a dream - for the future.

For right now though - I just want to enjoy my life HERE.

In the past I have loved traveling so much.

And I had saved credit card rewards for a trip to Paris I was planning with my husband, and then when he left I realized with these points I could go ANYWHERE since it's just me and I'd been trying to figure out what I want to do.

And I figured it out! I want to stay home.

So I started using those points to get things for the house and I am LOVING IT.

I got a scrub + steam electric mop. This has made me ridiculously happy. I didn't know such a thing existed!!! But I bring my bike into the loft so it's messy. And I like to work on the floor, lay on the floor to watch Netflix, and do yoga on the floor so a steam cleaned floor with little effort is really nice.

I got a new mattress pad with a 3" gel pad inside and HOLY WHOA! So comfy. And some cookware that makes me smile every time I see it.

I was even able to get a gift certificate to my favourite art supply store (DeSerres in Montreal - the store near me just doesn't have the selection they used to, so I order from DeSerres more lately) to stock up on stuff for my Year of Dreams daily creative journaling.

So I feel like I am GROUNDING into my life.

And this feels really good.

And this is connected to the dream I found during the holidays... I want to de-clutter and re-organize every inch of my home. This is a dream!

Anyway, the Dream Status Report prompts feel a little weird today since the holidays are not "usual time" but I did find a focus for next week:

Grounding in my life + routines.

We don't have a Zoom this week, we are back with weekly Zooms next week.

Get the calendar of upcoming calls, and links to replays of past calls, here.

Creative Dream Incubator Coaching Membership members:

Come to the forum to share your Dream Status Report 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.

If you're not a member - find out more + join us here!

On Fridays I do my Dream Status Report which is a series of prompts I use every week to help me have more clarity, momentum and groundedness on my path. I do my reports on the printable journaling sheet.

This holiday has been hard for me, for a bunch of reasons.

And it feels extra hard because I had been feeling SO GOOD this month! A

nd as much as I want to stay in that super positive hopeful vibe I’ve been in for most of this month while dreaming up the Year of Hope for 2025….the truth is, I’m sad.

And FEELING sad when I AM sad is the only way to be with myself.

And if I have to abandon myself in order to be hopeful (which is what a LOT of new age and alternative healing practices are teaching with the “good vibes only” bullshit) THAT IS NOT ACTUALLY HOPE.

Real hope happens in real life which also has other real feelings, even the ones that feel the opposite of hopeful.

Because really, being willing to feel what you’re actually feeling is one of the most hopeful things we can do.

As an introvert, I was looking forward to a quieter-than-I’ve-ever-had holiday but the reality of it, and all of the things it triggers, are not what I had hoped for.

And that’s ok.

I sat with my Year of Hope journal and did some journaling about what I hope the Year of Hope will bring me. I baked and then ate some gingerbread. I took baths and naps. I walked to the big box stores on Boxing Day to get half price Christmas lights and hung them up over my bed and that is pretty dreamy.

I also cashed in some credit card points I had been saving for a trip to Paris with my ex, and used them to get some stuff for around the house - to make things cozier and to upgrade some of my baking/cooking supplies.

Taking care of myself when I feel sad.. feels hopeful.

Accepting that this is what it is... feels hopeful.

I am really looking forward to the Year of Hope! The classroom is almost ready to go, I plan (hope?) to open it up on Dec 31st. I'll send an email to everyone in the membership with a link as soon as it's ready.

Today is the December New Moon call.

This feels like such a perfect way to end the year! I hope to see you there, but if you can't make it live, the replay will be on that page a few hours after we're done.

Creative Dream Incubator Coaching Membership members:

Come to the forum to share your Dream Status Report 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.

If you're not a member - find out more + join us here!

On Fridays I do my Dream Status Report which is a series of prompts I use every week to help me have more clarity, momentum and groundedness on my path. I do my reports on the printable journaling sheet.

I was struck with a realization this week...

My "default setting" (I don't know why it just feels better to describe it this way, than to say "the pattern I am in") is to work REALLY REALLY hard. Doesn't matter what the situation, I have this belief that hard work will solve anything.

Driving the hard work is the belief that I can work hard enough to EARN validation.

This isn't a new realization.

But this week I saw it in a new way, like I got to the next layer of it.

And I experienced it a 100% futile, which felt like a miracle.

Like - there is no reason to work harder that just isn't the solution.

This is a miracle because as I said "default setting" is the best way to describe this pattern. So it's how I learned to see the world - it's my LENSE.

The lenses through which we see the world tend to be invisible to us because it's just how we see things. Even when we are super self aware. Even when we work on this stuff all the time. It's still really hard to see the things that are invisible to us!

So this IS a miracle, to see it in a new light.

And to choose to take a different approach.

So I am just really grateful to see this in a new light this week, and to see that I have space to make a different choice.

And for those who have been following for a long time - it was in 2021 that my dream was sending me all of those "slow the fuck down!" messages.... and I keep receiving them in new ways. (Membership members: Get the Slow The Fuck Down BE as Powerful, Creative + Magnetic as you ARE classes here.

No call this week as we wind down a little for the holidays. If you missed it - get the replay of the Goodbye 2024 Releasing Ceremony here.

Next Friday we've got the December New Moon call.

Creative Dream Incubator Coaching Membership members:

Come to the forum to share your Dream Status Report 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.