Show up however you are. Inspired, scared, anxious, afraid, motivated, unmotivated…

By Andrea Schroeder / April 9, 2024 / daily practice, Manifest Your Dream Life

For a while I’ve been feeling really good about my divorce. I was doing an acceptance practice and felt… accepting. I was enjoying all the new possibility and freedom that I have in my life. I was looking forward to my future. I’m turning 50 in May and was just feeling so excited about this new chapter in my life.

Then that all crashed. I started feeling the HUGENESS of the loss of the emotional and financial support and stability I received in my marriage and freaking out about it. Every month I’ve had BIG unexpected expenses. And my mortgage and condo fees have increased dramatically, along with the rest of the cost of living. So, in this economy, it feels harder than ever to calm that anxiety.

There are moments when it’s SO calm though. When I feel SO sure. And then there are moments when I just want to cry.

I’m so lucky that I know so much about how dreams work. I have so many examples in my mind, of all the people I have worked with, and everything they have overcome.

I have so many tools for SHOWING UP NO MATTER HOW I FEEL AND WHAT IS HAPPENING.

I have this enormous body of evidence that says: just keep showing up.

Show up anxious. Show up scared.

JUST SHOW UP.

Dream Book members - remember the Library of Inner Work Practices for ways to show up when it's hard. And email me any time for recommendations for things to use!!

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.

Show up however you are. Inspired, scared, anxious, afraid, motivated, unmotivated… Read More »

Pausing before the next big step [Weekly Dream Status Report]

By Andrea Schroeder / April 5, 2024 / daily practice, Manifest Your Dream Life

Note: This is a post about my daily practice with my Creative Dreams - I often link to the tools, courses and processes I use which are available to Dream Book members. 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. You can do them with me (Dream Book members: come post yours in the forum!)!

Click here for the Dream Status Report journal prompts

I know doing the same prompts every week can be annoying sometimes but this is magically clarifying. The repetition helps you go deeper into the process and makes it easier to LEARN from your process as you go, and the apply those learnings right away. This weekly practices helps me learn so much more, even when I'm just stumbling around trying to find my next steps.

Here are the prompts:

PART ONE: (sometimes these can stay the same for months at time, sometimes they change often)

My dream is:

I want it because:

When I have it I will feel:

PART TWO:

Invite your dream in (using the Dream Lab practice) to help you with the rest of the prompts.

PART THREE:

My goal/wish/intention for this New Moon is:

Last week’s focus was:

What happened in the last week?

What am I learning/How do I feel about this?

What do I need now?

What does my dream need now?

Taking all of this into account, my focus for the next week is:

My Dream Status Report for this week:

PART ONE:

My dream is: I want to get an RV or camper van and travel… WITH MY CAT BEAR!!!! Create a comfy cozy home on wheels, and write + make art on the road while we have adventures. AND... this week I got another new dream!! More to come but YAY! I am loving the magic of being excited about a new thing.

I want it because: It feels so sweet and makes me happy. And the new dream, which is more about art I want to make, feels like it will expand and energize my whole life.

When I have it I will feel: I think I will feel so happy, free and thrilled with my life.

PART TWO:

Invite the soul of your dream in (using the Dream Lab practice) to help you with the rest of the prompts.

I've been fighting off a cold all week and today it caught me. I'm not feeling up to this right now. I'm just going to do my best with the prompts.

PART THREE:

Last week’s focus was: Keep taking steps and also: How can I bring that feeling of CREATIVITY and ALIVENESS into more of what I do?

What happened in the last week? A HUGE new sense of creativity and aliveness via: I re-arranged the whole loft! I put my bedroom back upstairs, my workspace back downstairs, and I feel SO different. I got rid of a love seat and a desk and everything feels more spacious.

I was focused on one project and I feel really good about what I did there, even while not feeling my best and not making progress as quickly as I'd hoped.

What am I learning/How do I feel about this?

Along with the whole-home-re-arrangement I feel like I shifted my perspective on my work. I am making a change to Dream Book - I am re-naming the membership "The Creative Dream Incubator Coaching Membership".

It's like when I moved my workspace upstairs - I LOVED THAT. And now it felt right to move it back downstairs and I LOVE THIS. Things change over time.

When I named the membership Dream Book - that felt right. (It had been called The Creative Dream Circle before) Now it feels right to change it.

I've noticed that some people don't even look at the Dream Book program, they just come to the live calls (or use the replays) and that's enough to get what they need. Other people JUST do Dream Book and not the calls, other people just do other programs... but in naming it Dream Book sometimes people felt like if they're not doing that program, they are not "doing it right".

I also want to add a weekly coaching call for planning and accountability and momentum. I am working on the format for it, I want it to be a bit shorter (I love our long calls but I want this one to be easy to do every week) and super helpful for people using the replay too. I want to do this on Friday afternoons, so that everyone can have a chance to watch the replay over the weekend and start the week feeling ready.

It feels like a step forward in how the Creative Dream Incubator can be the most helpful. I started the membership in 2012 because I wanted to offer a more affordable way of getting the on-going support you need for your dreams. And the longer I do this, the more I learn about it, and the better it gets.

What do I need now?

Well, I am sick. I need to rest. I HATE THIS. It's finally spring here and I want to go outside!!!

What does my dream need now?

It feels like INTENSE dream work and inner work got me to this place of clarity about my nest steps, and my dream needs a SHIT TON of outer work to make these changes happen and I am not up to it.

Taking all of this into account, my focus for the next week is:

Instead of being frustrated, I want to see this as a PAUSE. Like taking a breath before a big step. A little time to reflect on everything. Get grounded and acclimated to where I am, before moving on.

Dream Book members:

!https://www.creativedreamincubator.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/come-dream-with-us-295x300.png

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.

Check out the calendar of upcoming calls.

Pausing before the next big step [Weekly Dream Status Report] Read More »

Creative Dreaming is SIMPLE

By Andrea Schroeder / April 4, 2024 / daily practice, Manifest Your Dream Life

To make any dream happen you need two things:

To be clear about what the dream is.
To show up, and then keep showing up.

*Note: No one is ALWAYS clear! If you’re not clear right now, go to the “I want to find my dream” section of the website

Pursuing a dream is an alchemical process.

It will heal, grow and change you.

Everything you need to make it happen you can find on the journey.

The hard part is to keep showing up. Even when we have no clue HOW to show up.

This can spark helplessness and frustration that make it feel too hard to show up, and then when you’re not showing up, no progress can happen.

This is where structure is so helpful.

I’m still doing the “I am worthy of and receptive to my dream” as a mantra most mornings before I get out of bed. (We had two calls to explore this more: Feeling worthy of your dream. Being open + receptive to your dream.)

After that, The Journal Sheet For Taking Consistent Steps really helps!

And then… you notice what would be helpful and do the little things you can see to do.

I’ve been re-building and re-organizing my whole business.

Because I switched my membership site to DREAM BOOK()! in January of 2020, I was making a lot of changes. In January of 2020 I was focused on adding content to the site and getting everyone transitioned to the Dream Book program. Then in February I was just starting to look at how I wanted my business to change, the promotional content I wanted to create, schedules, etc… and I got REALLY sick. I was sick for over three weeks and just got better when the first Covid lockdowns started.

The last four years I’ve just done whatever I needed to to keep things going. I’ve been more focused on creating coaching circles and guided journals than on the “business parts” of my business. And now it’s time to focus on the business.

So, as I work on this super-daunting task, I’ve been NOTICING WHAT WOULD BE HELPFUL.

At first I was writing a post every morning and scheduling it for the next day. Then I noticed that I wanted more SPACE. To write more when I felt more inspire to write, to write less when I felt less inspired. To have more flexibility.

So I noticed that I wanted to start writing things in advance.

Once I was writing in advance, I noticed I really wanted to be able to see the posts in a calendar. I wasn’t sure what this meant or could look like, at the time I was writing the posts right in my WordPress (the website back end).

But I kept noticing that I wanted to see them in a calendar and eventually realised I could do this in Notion, my project management app. I set up a view with a calendar, and gave each post a “post date”. I see the posts titles in the calendar and can click on them to read the whole post. I can write posts in there. I can move them around to different dates. I can click a checkbox once the post is scheduled in WordPress. I can click another checkbox once it’s posted, and that post disappears from my calendar so I am only looking at upcoming content.

Now, I don’t know how to use Notion all that well, I learned this things by trial and error and couldn’t even tell you how to set this up.

All I am ever doing is noticing what I wish was different, and the fooling around to see if I can have that thing I want.

I trial and error and make mistakes and get frustrated and eventually things fall into place.

I know I can hire someone to set things up for me, someone who understands all the options and can see how it “should” be and sometimes I have taken options like that. Right now, I like being in the mess of this approach because it tends to bring me to RIGHT FIT FOR ME solutions instead of THIS IS HOW PEOPLE DO THIS solutions.

Now, after months of “being in the mess” with this I have such a beautiful (to me) system.

Taking tiny little step after tiny little step - I have created calendars for my blog and for my email newsletters. I have lists of ideas for social media posts (those I don’t want in a calendar, I like having a bunch of ideas to grab from if I ever want to share something but don’t have a thing to share in the moment).

I have OMG SO BEAUTIFULLY ORGANIZED lists of future project ideas, with everything I know about the project contained within the lists.

I have business goals and maps for how to get there. I have protocols that keeps things as simple as possible.

I have a whole calendar for my ROUTINES AND RITUALS!!!!

So, when I start the day, I am not starting with “OMG what am I even doing?” the way I was so often in the last four years.

I go to the ROUTINES AND RITUALS calendar and it shows me what I am doing.

All of this to say - getting organized, in whatever way that means for you, helps you STAY IN THE PROCESS.

It makes it SO MUCH EASIER to show up, and keep showing up.

Resources:

Dream Plan Kit, Including the class on Creative Planning + Project Management

Focus Pocus - you could use this to help you get organized, because there are SO MANY PLACES in the process of getting organized where it’s hard and uncomfortable and you’d rather just give up

Habits, Systems + Structures: there are 2 calls on this in the Marketing as a Creative + Spiritual Practice series

Structure, Habits, Routines

Creative Genius Planning Sessions

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.

Creative Dreaming is SIMPLE Read More »

Letting your dream come to you instead of chasing after it.

By Andrea Schroeder / April 2, 2024 / daily practice, intention, Manifest Your Dream Life

Letting your dream come to you instead of chasing after it.

This is a zoom call open to all Dream Book members, happening on April 9th.

When I say “zoom call” I mean it’s a cross between a healing/alchemy circle, a group coaching call and a community spellcasting.

These are powerful rituals and I should stop calling them “zoom calls”.

This topic was suggested by a Dream Book member who is looking for more EASE and I thought it was such a great idea.

I talk all the time about SHOWING UP CONSISTENTLY and DAILY PRACTICE and YOU ARE BRAVE! KEEP DOING THE HARD THINGS and that can start to feel like a slog and that’s not how I mean it.

Showing up… to chase after a dream that is outside of you and very hard to get to

Is different from:

Showing up… to meet with a dream that is very much coming to you, and wanting to be with you just as much as you want to be with it.

Remembering that your dream actually is NOT outside of you, it’s INSIDE of you, helps immensely. This is a calling. It’s already in you.

This is one of the places where we have to re-wire our brains a bit, because they take on so much cultural conditioning about how things happen.

Your dream IS real. Spiritually, it exists. Otherwise you couldn’t dream it. It’s got it’s own energy signature which you can draw on.

Yes it IS your work to do the bulk of the physical work. But your dream can be your PARTNER in that work, to make it so much easier.

And on this call we’ll do some healing work around allowing the ease and support of truly partnering with your dream so it can COME TO YOU instead of you feeling like you are chasing after it.

Dream Book members - get the call details here.

Everyone else - join Dream Book 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.

Letting your dream come to you instead of chasing after it. Read More »

Feeling CREATIVE and ALIVE [Weekly Dream Status Report]

By Andrea Schroeder / March 29, 2024 / daily practice, Manifest Your Dream Life

Click here for the Dream Status Report journal prompts

Here are the prompts:

PART ONE: (sometimes these can stay the same for months at time, sometimes they change often)

My dream is:

I want it because:

When I have it I will feel:

PART TWO:

Invite your dream in (using the Dream Lab practice) to help you with the rest of the prompts.

PART THREE:

My goal/wish/intention for this New Moon is:

Last week’s focus was:

What happened in the last week?

What am I learning/How do I feel about this?

What do I need now?

What does my dream need now?

Taking all of this into account, my focus for the next week is:

My Dream Status Report for this week:

PART ONE:

I want it because: It feels so sweet and makes me happy. And the new dream, which is more about art I want to make, feels like it will expand and energize my whole life.

When I have it I will feel: I think I will feel so happy, free and thrilled with my life.

PART TWO:

Invite the soul of your dream in (using the Dream Lab practice) to help you with the rest of the prompts.

I am really feeling the CLARITY TRUST AND KNOWING part of the meditation today. I feel like I am inside a sparkling crystal. And when I invite my dream in, a path unfolds in front of me. Like literally folds...like there was a box of blocks that were all connected and it rolled out, leaving this perfect path behind it.

These dream don't feel far away or like I need to cross impossible chasms, the way every other dream I've ever had felt in the beginning. Now it feels like I am building on what I have.

PART THREE:

Last week’s focus was: TRUST my dream. Keep showing up.

What happened in the last week? Another week that felt kind of boring, in terms of just showing up and doing the next thing. Unsticking the stucks and taking the steps.

The exciting thing is that I did find a new dream... I wrote a whole post about it I will share next week. But I am savouring the magic of feeling really inspired and excited to start down a new path.

What am I learning/How do I feel about this?

I feel a bit frustrated, but I think that's more about winter coming back, after spring was here in February.

I also still feel a bit in awe of the process, of how when you SIT WITH A THING and KEEP SITTING WITH IT new ideas and possibilities emerge. I am feeling so creative and ALIVE.

What do I need now?

I am still just "sitting with" this new dream of mine, and I think I need to start taking some STEPS. There is a LOT of stuff to buy if I am committing to doing this thing, and that's where I am holding back -but I could look for a smaller way to begin.

What does my dream need now?

It reminds me of that magical unfolding path and just wants me to trust it and keep taking steps.

Taking all of this into account, my focus for the next week is:

Keep taking steps and also: How can I bring that feeling of CREATIVITY and ALIVENESS into more of what I do?

Dream Book members:

!https://www.creativedreamincubator.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/come-dream-with-us-295x300.png

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.

Check out the calendar of upcoming calls.

Feeling CREATIVE and ALIVE [Weekly Dream Status Report] Read More »

TRUST your dream. Keep showing up. [Weekly Dream Status Report]

By Andrea Schroeder / March 22, 2024 / daily practice, Manifest Your Dream Life

Click here for the Dream Status Report journal prompts

Here are the prompts:

PART ONE: (sometimes these can stay the same for months at time, sometimes they change often)

My dream is:

I want it because:

When I have it I will feel:

PART TWO:

Invite your dream in (using the Dream Lab practice) to help you with the rest of the prompts.

PART THREE:

My goal/wish/intention for this New Moon is:

Last week’s focus was:

What happened in the last week?

What am I learning/How do I feel about this?

What do I need now?

What does my dream need now?

Taking all of this into account, my focus for the next week is:

My Dream Status Report for this week:

PART ONE:

My dream is: I want to get an RV or camper van and travel… WITH MY CAT BEAR!!!! Create a comfy cozy home on wheels, and write + make art on the road while we have adventures.

I want it because: It feels so sweet and makes me happy.

When I have it I will feel: I think I will feel so happy, free and thrilled with my life.

PART TWO:

Invite the soul of your dream in (using the Dream Lab practice) to help you with the rest of the prompts.

My dream shows up as a warm light in my heart. Like it's here to guide me to my best life, the one where I feel most like myself. It feels reassuring.

PART THREE:

Last week’s focus was: Be more intentional about being more intentional.

What happened in the last week? I played with a new start to my morning journaling - I wrote out my current goal and why I thought it was possible. And then journaled with whatever thoughts/feelings came up. This is helping me be more intentional with my goal.

It was a pretty boring week, which is good! I took steady steps towards getting to where I want to be.

What am I learning/How do I feel about this?

Remembering that last week was brutal with anxiety and self doubt, just having a nice week, making steady progress towards my goal feels a bit like a miracle. I am remembering the magic of MAKING SPACE FOR IT ALL and STAYING IN THE PROCESS.

What do I need now?

Nothing new is coming to me. Just keep going!

What does my dream need now?

It says: TRUST.

Taking all of this into account, my focus for the next week is:

TRUST my dream. Keep showing up.

Dream Book members:

!https://www.creativedreamincubator.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/come-dream-with-us-295x300.png

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.

Check out the calendar of upcoming calls.

TRUST your dream. Keep showing up. [Weekly Dream Status Report] Read More »

Be more intentional about being more intentional [Weekly Dream Status Report]

By Andrea Schroeder / March 15, 2024 / daily practice, Manifest Your Dream Life

Click here for the Dream Status Report journal prompts

Here are the prompts:

PART ONE: (sometimes these can stay the same for months at time, sometimes they change often)

My dream is:

I want it because:

When I have it I will feel:

PART TWO:

Invite your dream in (using the Dream Lab practice) to help you with the rest of the prompts.

PART THREE:

My goal/wish/intention for this New Moon is:

Last week’s focus was:

What happened in the last week?

What am I learning/How do I feel about this?

What do I need now?

What does my dream need now?

Taking all of this into account, my focus for the next week is:

My Dream Status Report for this week:

PART ONE:

My dream is: I want to get an RV or camper van and travel… WITH MY CAT BEAR!!!! Create a comfy cozy home on wheels, and write + make art on the road while we have adventures.

I want it because: It feels so sweet and makes me happy.

When I have it I will feel: I think I will feel so happy, free and thrilled with my life.

PART TWO:

Invite the soul of your dream in (using the Dream Lab practice) to help you with the rest of the prompts.

My dream shows up as this gorgeous white flower - maybe a magnolia? It’s big and beautiful and smells amazing.

PART THREE:

Last week’s focus was: Be more intentional about focusing on my goals. How can I make more fun + interesting to be more intentional?

What happened in the last week?

The time change really did a number on me! I was distracted and anxious… well I think the anxiety was peri-menopause. I was not focused but I was thinking a lot about intention.

I had an amazing therapy session, for the first time since my husband leaving and then his son almost dying - I did not cry once. We went deep, I wasn’t avoiding anything, I just didn’t feel sad. (Until now, even when I was feeling good in my life, I would walk into therapy and immediately start crying, which has been so healing and helpful)

I am really focused on the life I want to create now. I turn 50 in 6 weeks. I feel so ready for a while new chapter AND there are some changes I need to make and things I need to do, to give myself what I want for this new chapter.

What am I learning/How do I feel about this?

I feel really accepting of having a not-so-productive week. I am remembering that growth is not linear, and last week was SUPER productive in outer stuff, this week felt more like internal growth, dreaming and acclimation time. This is all a part of it. What I mostly feel is proud of myself for how I’ve been handling everything, and excited/optimistic about my future.

What do I need now?

I started an art project, just for me, and I want more time for it. It’s not so much about the project, but about the feeling I get when I work on it - creative and free and happy. I am really feeling SPRING IS HERE and want to enjoy it.

What does my dream need now?

The flower has this kind of rainbow energy around it, I get the sense it needs to be ACTIVATED. I think this is related to the message from last week about being more intentional, and finding ways to enjoy being more intentional. My dream wants me to be more intentional about being intentional, lol.

Taking all of this into account, my focus for the next week is:

Be more intentional about being more intentional.

Dream Book members:

!https://www.creativedreamincubator.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/come-dream-with-us-295x300.png

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.

Check out the calendar of upcoming calls.

Be more intentional about being more intentional [Weekly Dream Status Report] Read More »

I am pushing myself and it’s uncomfortable

By Andrea Schroeder / March 14, 2024 / daily practice, healing, inner work, Journal Prompts, journaling, Manifest Your Dream Life

I am pushing myself. Pushing is maybe the wrong word. I am making a BIG commitment. Like… not to something big but big as in an UNBREAKABLE commitment to myself, to do this thing consistently that I have NOT been consistent about at all…

So I am doing the thing…

And my stomach is getting all knotted up.

And I think of the life coaches online who say that this is fine. Who talk about THROWING UP from feeling so anxious about what they are doing, but pushing themselves to keep going. JUST KEEP DREAMING BIGGER! WHO CARES WHAT YOUR BODY SAYS?!?

So - no, I am not doing that.

I’m noticing my stomach knotting up, and saying “Oh, hi there, knot in my stomach.”

The knot says: I feel like this is moving too fast.

Yeah? Yeah, I can see that.

I feel like, you just made this decision this morning and now you’re already taking so many steps! Like WTF? Can we just have lunch?

Well, yeah we’re going to have lunch. But - I didn’t just make this decision suddenly this morning. Do you not see how long I’ve been thinking about this? This morning I decided to move forward, but it’s not a sudden decision.

It feels sudden.

I can totally see that. What would help you feel more comfortable with this?

I don’t want to take this step TODAY.

What would you rather do today?

I want to acknowledge we did a whole bunch of stuff today! And we can take this next step tomorrow. I want to make art. I want YOU to respect your body’s needs and capacity! We did a lot today, now let’s have lunch, make some art, rest, go to the gym later…

So you will agree to do this tomorrow?

I mean I don’t know how I’ll feel tomorrow I just know that today we took enough steps. And if you keep trying to take more steps it WILL feel like pushing beyond what your body is telling you is right and I don’t think that is the choice you want to make.

No, it’s not. But I also won’t make the choice to keep delaying this step because parts of me are uncomfortable with it. So if you get knotted up tomorrow at the thought of this, we need to have a longer discussion.

Yes, that’s fair.

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 pushing myself and it’s uncomfortable Read More »

I have tried so many times. What makes this time different?

By Andrea Schroeder / March 13, 2024 / daily practice, healing, inner work, Journal Prompts, journaling, Manifest Your Dream Life

This is something EVERYONE experiences on the path to a dream.

If you’ve never experienced it, it probably means you’re not really showing up for your dream. You’re not stretching and growing.

If you are experiencing it, you know it’s ROUGH.

Here are 2 prompts I am using to make it easier:

How do I make this time different?

How do I resolve my feelings about how this has gone in the past, and feel free to pursue this wholeheartedly, without past “failures” weighing me down?

These are the kinds of questions that need a lot of time and space to ponder. Don’t go with the first answers that come to mind.

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 tried so many times. What makes this time different? Read More »

Remember what you used to struggle with

By Andrea Schroeder / March 12, 2024 / daily practice, healing, inner work, Journal Prompts, journaling, Manifest Your Dream Life

For a while, I was struggling with SHOWING UP online.

I was writing a daily post in Dream Book, thinking about sharing those, or parts of them, on my public blog and/or social media, and not knowing HOW.

I started experimenting.

It was hard! Like, the inner part was hard. Wrapping my head about what I share where. And who I am writing to when I write. It is a MILLION times easier for me to write to the people inside Dream Book (these are my peeps! We are working together on this stuff! I know they get it!) than it is for me to write and put it on my blog.

EVEN THOUGH I know that the people who read my blog also get it, I know the general public is not cruising through here, still it feels fraught and that’s valid!

So. It took a while to work through stuff and now…

I love the way I am SHOWING UP online. All of those tangles are smooth.

And this morning I got all of my blogs scheduled for a week and felt like “UGH I haven’t gotten to the things I wanted to do, I was just doing the blogs”

AS THOUGH this is a small task.

Because once it’s not fraught anymore, it’s like I take for granted that I can just DO IT.

So instead I want to say “HEY THAT’S AMAZING!!! YOU DID IT GIRL!!!!!”

And it’s not just me.

Where are you discounting all the stuff you’ve worked through, and all the ways you’ve grown?

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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Make it more fun + interesting to be more intentional [Weekly Dream Status Report]

By Andrea Schroeder / March 8, 2024 / daily practice, Manifest Your Dream Life

Click here for the Dream Status Report journal prompts

Here are the prompts:

PART ONE: (sometimes these can stay the same for months at time, sometimes they change often)

My dream is:

I want it because:

When I have it I will feel:

PART TWO:

Invite your dream in (using the Dream Lab practice) to help you with the rest of the prompts.

PART THREE:

My goal/wish/intention for this New Moon is:

Last week’s focus was:

What happened in the last week?

What am I learning/How do I feel about this?

What do I need now?

What does my dream need now?

Taking all of this into account, my focus for the next week is:

My Dream Status Report for this week:

PART ONE:

My dream is: I want to get an RV or camper van and travel… WITH MY CAT BEAR!!!! Create a comfy cozy home on wheels, and write + make art on the road while we have adventures.

I want it because: It feels so sweet and makes me happy.

When I have it I will feel: I think I will feel so happy, free and thrilled with my life.

PART TWO:

Invite the soul of your dream in (using the Dream Lab practice) to help you with the rest of the prompts.

My dream shows up as a multifaceted gem, shining.

PART THREE:

Last week’s focus was: Focus on my Dream Self who knows how to take these next steps.

What happened in the last week?

WOW that "me who knows how to take the next steps" was really there for me this week. There is all this stuff I have been wanting to do, like working with the "businessy parts" of my business, that I have felt overwhelmed about for so long, and then this week it was all... not easy, but do-able and actually enjoyable. And actually DOING IT make me feel really good.

What am I learning/How do I feel about this?

I feel really proud of myself. I've put some of these things off for soooo long. These tasks are not my strong suit, but my business needs them to be strong so it feels good to be doing them.

What do I need now?

Just keep going - with all of the outer work AND inner work AND dream work AND self care that I have been doing.

What does my dream need now?

The multifaceted gem kind of glows - it feels like it's saying it needs more intentionality from me.

Taking all of this into account, my focus for the next week is:

Be more intentional about focusing on my goals. How can I make more fun + interesting to be more intentional?

Dream Book 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.

Check out the calendar of upcoming calls.

Make it more fun + interesting to be more intentional [Weekly Dream Status Report] Read More »

Connect with the part of me that knows how to take the next steps [Weekly Dream Status Report]

By Andrea Schroeder / March 1, 2024 / daily practice, Manifest Your Dream Life

Click here for the Dream Status Report journal prompts

Here are the prompts:

PART ONE: (sometimes these can stay the same for months at time, sometimes they change often)

My dream is:

I want it because:

When I have it I will feel:

PART TWO:

Invite your dream in (using the Dream Lab practice) to help you with the rest of the prompts.

PART THREE:

My goal/wish/intention for this New Moon is:

Last week’s focus was:

What happened in the last week?

What am I learning/How do I feel about this?

What do I need now?

What does my dream need now?

Taking all of this into account, my focus for the next week is:

My Dream Status Report for this week:

PART ONE:

My dream is: I want to get an RV or camper van and travel… WITH MY CAT BEAR!!!! Create a comfy cozy home on wheels, and write + make art on the road while we have adventures.

I want it because: It feels so sweet and makes me happy.

When I have it I will feel: I think I will feel so happy, free and thrilled with my life.

PART TWO:

Invite the soul of your dream in (using the Dream Lab practice) to help you with the rest of the prompts.

My dream shows up as a light in my heart that feels like a healing and a breakthrough.

PART THREE:

Last week’s focus was: Do the work. And do all the things that help me be able to do the work.

What happened in the last week?

I really did DO THE WORK and also do the things that help me be able to do the work. Loads of self care and creative dream practicing and LOADS of outer work.

I launched the 10 day Creative Dream Journal Challenge! There is more I want to do with it but this is such a good step and I feel SO GOOD about it!

What am I learning/How do I feel about this?

I feel happy and proud and grateful I got this project done.

What do I need now?

To revel in it. I am taking this day off to relax. Journal, sew, rest and get connected to my Dream Self - the vision of me who is out there wildly promoting this creative dream challenge.

What does my dream need now?

The light in my heart glows. It's happy with what I am doing.

Taking all of this into account, my focus for the next week is:

Focus on my Dream Self who knows how to take these next steps.

Dream Book 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.

Check out the calendar of upcoming calls.

Connect with the part of me that knows how to take the next steps [Weekly Dream Status Report] Read More »

Do the work [Weekly Dream Status Report]

By Andrea Schroeder / February 23, 2024 / daily practice, Manifest Your Dream Life

Click here for the Dream Status Report journal prompts

Here are the prompts:

PART ONE: (sometimes these can stay the same for months at time, sometimes they change often)

My dream is:

I want it because:

When I have it I will feel:

PART TWO:

Invite your dream in (using the Dream Lab practice) to help you with the rest of the prompts.

PART THREE:

My goal/wish/intention for this New Moon is:

Last week’s focus was:

What happened in the last week?

What am I learning/How do I feel about this?

What do I need now?

What does my dream need now?

Taking all of this into account, my focus for the next week is:

My Dream Status Report for this week:

PART ONE:

My dream is: I want to get an RV or camper van and travel… WITH MY CAT BEAR!!!! Create a comfy cozy home on wheels, and write + make art on the road while we have adventures.

I want it because: It feels so sweet and makes me happy.

When I have it I will feel: I think I will feel so happy, free and thrilled with my life.

PART TWO:

Invite the soul of your dream in (using the Dream Lab practice) to help you with the rest of the prompts.

My dream shows up as a tree on a warm day. The leaves are sparkling where the sun hits.

PART THREE:

Last week’s focus was: Give myself space to feel and process and heal and trust in the magic of my dreams and the beauty of my future.

What happened in the last week?

This was another rough week on the divorce front. And a lot of resistance about that. My new life is taking shape in front of me, I am happy and excited about this so I'd like to not have any thoughts or feelings about the divorce, lol.

But, again, I remind myself - I want to BE WITH all parts of me, all the thoughts and feelings, give them space to process and release and be able to move into my future not holding onto anything from this, except the growth and learning.

I remembered how my husband and I knew our relationship was sacred, and talked about the ways it was healing us. I want to believe in this - how if the marriage was sacred then the divorce must be too. That changes my whole experience of this time - it's like a vortex of healing and transformation. When I can hold onto that perspective, everything shifts. So I want to keep learning how to hold onto it WITHOUT denying or pushing away my actual feelings in the moment. It's this constant tightrope walk.

BUT IN THE REST OF MY LIFE THINGS ARE SO GOOOOOD!!!

I'm working on a new free class - it's a creative dream challenge. I feel SO excited about it as a way of introducing people to my work and I LOVE that feeling of LOVING the ways my ideas are coming together.

I am co-working with a new friend who is a huge inspiration to me. I joined a craftivism group and am meeting them this weekend. The days are getting so much longer and our winter was frighteningly short and warm (the river I usually skate on barely froze over - the slate paths were only open for a few days this year!!!) and it feels like spring now.

What am I learning/How do I feel about this?

I have been giving myself SO MUCH MORE SPACE to process and feel and think and this has been so good. I am filling journal pages and just, not learning anything really but appreciating the magic of feeling more connected to all parts of me.

What do I need now?

As I sit with this question I just feel so grateful that I have been so good at figuring out what I need, and giving it to myself.

What does my dream need now?

I check in with the tree. It needs water, and a little fertilizer. It's already got plenty of sunshine.

This feels like it's asking me to "do the work". Like - the tree can't water itself. I get it.

Taking all of this into account, my focus for the next week is:

Do the work. And do all the things that help me be able to do the work.

Dream Book 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.

Check out the calendar of upcoming calls.

Do the work [Weekly Dream Status Report] Read More »

Space to feel, process, heal + trust in the magic of my dreams + the beauty of my future [Weekly Dream Status Report]

By Andrea Schroeder / February 16, 2024 / daily practice, Manifest Your Dream Life

Click here for the Dream Status Report journal prompts

Here are the prompts:

PART ONE: (sometimes these can stay the same for months at time, sometimes they change often)

My dream is:

I want it because:

When I have it I will feel:

PART TWO:

Invite your dream in (using the Dream Lab practice) to help you with the rest of the prompts.

PART THREE:

My goal/wish/intention for this New Moon is:

Last week’s focus was:

What happened in the last week?

What am I learning/How do I feel about this?

What do I need now?

What does my dream need now?

Taking all of this into account, my focus for the next week is:

My Dream Status Report for this week:

PART ONE:

My dream is: I FOUND MY FREAKING NEXT DREAM THIS WEEK!!!!!! I AM SO EXCITED, LOL! The dream I had been working with feels more like a goal, I goal I really want to get but not a DREAM and the goal supports this dream, too. Here it is: I want to get an RV or camper van and travel… WITH MY CAT BEAR!!!! Create a comfy cozy home on wheels, and write + make art on the road while we have adventures. I woke up with this dream Monday morning after a difficult weekend and it feels so good in my heart.

I want it because: I feel so much desire for this, like I NEEEEEED to do it.

When I have it I will feel: I’ve been working through a lot of “stuff” about being about to turn 50. I’ve always been excited about new decades, but right now? Starting a new decade when my life just fell apart? Not even knowing what I want next? I felt unprepared and now I feel SO EXCITED to turn 50. So, this dream is already a healing balm. And when I have it I will feel so happy, expansive and thrilled with my life.

PART TWO:

Invite the soul of your dream in (using the Dream Lab practice) to help you with the rest of the prompts.

It’s a lantern! It feels like the light of my soul, here to guide me along. That moving towards this dream will give me the healing, growth and circumstances I need most right now.

PART THREE:

Last week’s focus was: Be more intentional and present.

At the New Moon call last week, I got more information on this - the message was GO DEEP into inner creativity. Like inner work, but with more play and creativity and less focus. Inner work is like “let’s clear the thing that’s in the way of me doing what I want to do” and inner play is like “let’s dive in and explore”

What happened in the last week?

This was a rough week on the divorce front. I’ve cut all ties with my ex, we’ll have to talk in 6 months to file divorce papers, and we can see where we’re at then. But the friendship we’d been developing and the ways we were trying to still be a family for the kids are suddenly gone and this is absolutely the right thing for me, and so hard. (The kids are still in my life, just separately from their dad)

So that message from the new moon call to GO DEEPER was so good. I set up an art picnic on the floor of my creative studio. I start my days there, and go back regularly throughout the day.

This is so connected to the work I’ve been doing with the resistance project… gently working through the places where I am…. Well, frozen and distracted is the best way to describe it. My screen time is way down and my step count is way up. I always feel best when I get a lot of gentle exercise.

So - things were hard this week but also things were so good. I do feel like I am in a healing cocoon and I appreciate this time in so many ways.

What am I learning/How do I feel about this?

EVERYTHING FEELS BETTER WHEN I HAVE A DREAM.

Which is not about always trying to achieve and accomplish, it’s more about listening deeply enough to myself to hear what my heart is calling for, and then honouring that.

And it’s a part of my own nature, when I don’t see a thing that I am moving towards I can feel lost. AND as the world changes, it feels more and more urgent to me to be soul-led and not just move along with the flow of our imperialist colonialist capitalist culture.

What do I need now?

Just more space. It was a hard week, there is lots to process. AND it was a beautiful week and all the good stuff is helping me through the hard stuff and I just need space to process it all.

What does my dream need now?

The lantern just kind of shakes - it’s like “No I don’t need anything right now, I am here for you. I am guiding you through a lot of stuff - much more than you can see or understand right now”

Taking all of this into account, my focus for the next week is:

Give myself space to feel and process and heal and trust in the magic of my dreams and the beauty of my future.

Dream Book 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.

Check out the calendar of upcoming calls.

Space to feel, process, heal + trust in the magic of my dreams + the beauty of my future [Weekly Dream Status Report] Read More »

It IS harder now.

By Andrea Schroeder / February 15, 2024 / daily practice, feel your feelings, healing, inner work, Manifest Your Dream Life

This keeps coming up with the people I work with - how HARD things are right now.

How it IS harder to stay in the kind of positive mindset you need to make things happen.

How it IS harder to rally and keep going on the long path to a dream.

How it IS harder to pay bills with the costs soaring! And how that stress impacts everything.

How it’s natural to have resistance to our dreams, how we will ALWAYS have inner work to do, and how breaking through the fog and getting into creative slow is harder now.

And how just “trying harder” or whatever - isn’t cutting it.

So I planned a series of calls to help us find our way through:

Today’s call is about Exploring Resistance + Creative Flow. (If you can't make it live, the replay will be on that page a few hours after we're done)

I’ve been working on this pretty intensely this year, and have lots of ideas to share, but when we meditate and journal together on any topic - magic happens! So I am excited to see what we discover together.

March 12 we’re doing Taking The Inner Work Deeper.

This is because most times the way to make a dream happen FASTER or BIGGER is to go DEEPER with the inner work of if.

And we all resist the things we want to resist, and then try to validate our resistance, which makes this complicated. So we’ll work on it together.

April 9 We’re doing Letting Your Dream Come To You Instead Of Chasing After It.

This one was a request from a Dream Book member (you can always let me know what kinds of topics you want to explore on these calls!) and I think is also a really important piece of how to stay positive and dreaming in these hard times.

Because sometimes when things are hard, WE get hard. We try to be more dedicated or hardworking and forget to lean into our inner magnetism and ability to draw things to us.

Not that we can just sit around and wait for the dream to manifest, there IS work for us to do since WE are the dream’s guardian on this plane, so we need to do all sorts of physical stuff to make space for it. But there is a balance we need there, to not go into CHASING and HARD WORKING our way into a dream.

And the more we are doing the Dream Work practices like this, the easier the inner work and outer work are!

Then on May 15 we’re doing Creating Self Care Protocols to Support Yourself in Being The Version of You Who Can Do Your Dream.

This is the one I am most looking forward to. Next-level self care.

All the practical physical stuff AND all the magical stuff and DELIGHTING in giving ourselves everything we need to be our absolute “best” selves - best being however you want to define it. Happy, creating, trusting your self, trusting your dreams, building your future.

These calls will all start with alchemy meditations and journaling prompts for exploring the topic and then rich discussions, sharing of ideas, and working through all the stuff that comes up.

I know times are hard!

And I know we are stronger together.

So I hope you join us for these.

(If you're not a member of Dream Book, find out more + join 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.

It IS harder now. Read More »