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!)!
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.
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: Being the artist + writer I want to be. For a while now a lot has been shifting around how much/what kind of art I want to make and working on creating more nourishing/robust/lively local creative community. And right now I am in this liminal space after separating from my husband, so my dreams for this fall and winter are to really BE IN this space, and call in: quiet, calm, healing, space for all the feelings, serious self care, and lots of art projects.
I want it because: Divorce is a new beginning. Of course there are a lot of uncomfortable feelings being stirred up but there are also all these new possibilities and I want to explore them, I want to explore who I can be next.
When I have it I will feel: Right now, because everything feels unsettled and uncertain, I'd love to feel a sense of stability.
My new moon intention: Treat this transition time I'm in as sacred.
PART TWO: Invite your dream in (using the Dream Lab practice) to help you with the rest of the prompts.
I'm trying to call in my dream and it's this same dynamic I keep exploring: am I dreaming of healing and self care or am I dreaming of the things I want to be doing? It's like a little see saw going back and forth and then this hand comes in, stops the see saw from moving and says "You can have both. There's plenty of time in a day for both!!"
Especially as putting healing and self care first does connect us more to our authenticity and creativity - the creating of things will come naturally.
PART THREE:
Last week’s focus was: Tapping into the healing powers of glowing radiance. I look forward to experimenting with this.
What happened in the last week?
No, I did not really experiment with it. What happened is we had Thanksgiving in Canada and I didn't realize how that would hit me - the first holiday without my husband and step-kids and it felt like it put my grief process back, but I know healing is not linear and everything is on time. It was a hard week.
AND
I launched the Creative Dream Playbook!
I mean, not a "real launch" I just put it out there and started talking about it and I'll keep sharing. I am really happy with this journal and it does feel good to put it out there!
What am I learning/How do I feel about this?
Mostly I feel acceptance about how this will take the time it takes. Sometimes I feel frustrated that things feel so heavy. And as always lately, my heart is breaking about the state of the world.
I am learning so much. SO MUCH! So many relationships patterns I have that I wasn't seeing - I see now.
What do I need now?
Last week I wrote: Focus on self care. Work on creating the lists/structure/organization that make it easier to also do the things I want to do.
This is still the same.
What does my dream need now?
My dream wants me to be EASIER with everything. Stop seeing that "self care and healing" can't co-exist with "creativity and doing and making things happen".
Again, I mean my dream has given me this advice about a million times before: DO MORE MEDITATION AND JOURNALING. BE DEEPER IN YOUR PRACTICE.
Taking all of this into account, my focus for the next week is:
I don't want to leave that "tap into the healing powers of glowing radiance" behind. I want that to be the "theme" or guiding light of being more committed to my practice, and going deeper into it.
The words feel clunky but I feel how it feels and will follow that feeling.
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.
I was feeling pretty sensitive for Monday's Co-Dreaming call. The day before, we had Thanksgiving in Canada and I didn't realize how strange it would be to have my first holiday without my husband and step-kids there.
So I was feeling all the feels when I went into the meditation.
Then my creative dream garden wasn't exactly a garden. It was me, in outer space in a space suit. Holding a plant which was also in a space suit - it was so cute, it was in the big bubble helmet.
It was a but weird but felt ok.
Then I panicked a bit "but where are my other dreams?"
And then I saw them, and then I saw that my dream and I were attached to each other and also attached to the orbiting ship that my other dreams were inside. And then I saw that the earth was right there too, we weren't THAT far away.
I was safe, just far away from everything and all alone up here.
The little potted plant of a dream I had with me was the healing and growth I want for this transition time.
And then when we got to the journaling prompt part of the process, my dreams told me to stop going to coffee shops first thing in the morning. Don't even go for a bike ride. Have a slower start to the day - do that stuff later if I want.
I've been following those instructions and thinking a lot about this meditation this week.
By repeating the same meditation each week, you create space where your intuition and your dreams can send you messages. It's much harder to receive potent and helpful messages without the kind of space that consistent repetition creates.
I'm sinking into the FEELING from the meditation - beyond my original feelings that day when I was already unsettled and feeling very alone. It doesn't feel ALONE so much now, it feels like giving myself SPACE.
It feels really magical and I'm using this as my guide to set myself up for the winter season. Like stocking up on pantry items and materials for creative projects so I don't need to go out for things. How can I turn this winter into a healing creative retreat for myself?
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.
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.
Note: This is a post about my daily practice with my Creative Dreams - in these posts I often link to the tools, courses and processes I use which are only available to Dream Book members. If you're not a member, find out more + join us here.
I have declared that I am in a season of healing.
I've refined my dreams - the dreams I was working with are still there, but focusing on self care and healing feel more important right now. So there are the immediate dreams, and then the bigger long-term dreams. It feels really good to feel like this is "organized" somewhat.
My new slower morning routine feels so supportive of this.
I'm also doing a longer meditation - the Dream Lab but I usually stop the meditation when I'm in the Field of Creative Dream Alchemy, and just stay there. Feeling connected to myself and surrounded by support feels like the right place to spend some time.
Today in the meditation, everything was black and white and it felt animated, like everything in the field was hand-drawn art, and the art was moving and it felt so soothing and expansive. And I was crying, and my tears created a river and I knew that in the spring, I could build a raft and float down the river to my new life.
Writing this out it may seem depressing but it felt SO hopeful and healing.
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.
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.
Note: This is a post about my daily practice with my Creative Dreams - in these posts I often link to the tools, courses and processes I use which are only available to Dream Book members. If you're not a member, find out more + join us here.
I do switch up my routines somewhat when the seasons change. But right now, the weather is getting cooler AND I'm in this huge season of personal change with the separation from my husband and my step-son in the hospital.
I've been quieting my mind and letting my body guide me through this more than I usually do. As a result, I can't drink coffee in the morning, or on an empty stomach. I also don't eat until much later in the morning. My stomach just needs more time in the morning to adjust to the day before it starts working.
Making that cup of coffee and going into my studio. That was always the start of the routine.
Making a cup of herbal tea doesn't land in the same way. And decaf coffee is still too heavy for my stomach.
Sometimes when things change, we want to try to find the next most similar thing to replace it with.
Sometimes when things change, we need to figure out what else wants to change.
For me, this time, it's a whole new way of starting the day.
Today I did:
sleeping in - this was kind of disorienting but also needed, it was Thanksgiving this weekend and my first holiday without my husband was really hard.
aromatherapy - a supportive but also zingy fragrance
PAINTING in my journal not a lot of words
Following my brush around the page, just giving myself space to be and express. Having this really soft way to stat the day. This felt like THE THING I need now, instead of coffee + writing which used to be THE THING.
PS: October 18: Structure Habits Routines Zoom Call. This goes with the Structure Habits Routines journaling prompts we did a few months back, which are 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.
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.
Note: This is a post about my daily practice with my Creative Dreams - in these posts I often link to the tools, courses and processes I use which are only available to Dream Book members. If you're not a member, find out more + join us here.
The Creative Dream Playbook is here!
It's a collection of advice, encouragement and teachings that I have discovered in my 13+ years coaching creative people deeper into their dreams.
Plus some of my favourite journaling prompts and questions I always ask my clients.
So it's a guide, journal AND oracle.
You can work through the pages in order and fill in the journaling prompts AND you can flip to a random page any time you want to get a message about your dream.
It's 83 pages, adorably hand-drawn with bright, full colour artwork. Plus a black + white printable version with my artwork removed so you can add your own in.
>> Get it here.
Now on to Co-Dreaming! I'm offering these live Co-Dreaming (Meditation + Journaling) calls every Monday.
I started doing these calls to help us all keep showing up no matter how messy things get because have you noticed how messy the world is right now?
And together we've turned it into this really beautiful community dreaming together. I'm so grateful for everyone who is showing up and Co-Dreaming with me. This is so special.
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.
Go the Library of Creative Dream Alchemy to find a practice that fits for where you are.
Check out the calendar of upcoming calls.
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!)!
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.
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: Being the artist + writer I want to be. Feeling really alive. I already have it AND it's an always-work-in-process... right now there is a lot shifting around how much/what kind of art I want to make and working on creating more nourishing/robust/lively local creative community.
I want it because: Divorce is a new beginning. Of course there is sadness but there are also all these new possibilities and I want to explore them, I want to explore who I can be next.
When I have it I will feel: The same as now - ALL the feelings 🙂 But, I think, more ALIVENESS. And right now, because everything feels unsettled and uncertain, I'd love to feel a sense of stability.
My new moon intention: Treat this transition time I'm in as sacred. (New Moon call was so good this month!!)
PART TWO: Invite your dream in (using the Dream Lab practice) to help you with the rest of the prompts.
I do feel a real sense of stability while sitting in the Field of Creative Dream Alchemy. Like this field has been here, my relationship with the field was here long before I met my husband. This is like - my relationship with me, which includes my relationship with my divine self and all of my magic and power. Even though my life FEELS like so much fell away, and really so much DID fall away, here I still feel a sense of wholeness.
The field is like water, though I sit on it and don't feel wet. But I can move my fingers through it and it makes ripples like water. There are stars above.
I stay here and savour it before inviting my dream to join me.
When I do invite my dream in, I have a hard time holding in my mind what I'm really dreaming of. But the soul of my dream shows up as the sun. A glorious sunrise and then a gorgeous day, everything is illuminated and I see I have everything I need to create anything I want next in my life.
PART THREE:
Last week’s focus was: Be gentle with myself AND intention about what I want to be doing.
What happened in the last week?
The Marketing as a Creative + Spiritual Practice call on structure was soooo good! I got frustrated in my explorations on the call with so much stuff coming up but I've been working through it and getting some clarity on what kinds of structures I want now in my work.
I also - I MEAN HOLY FUCK I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS BUT - I FINISHED THE CREATIVE DREAM PLAYBOOK!!!! (Just waiting for the proof copy to get to me before I can say for sure I don't need to adjust the colours)
I started working on this last winter and it was starting to feel like it would actually take forever to finish it. BUT that's because I was figuring out a lot of things - not just for this book but for the many (dozens?) more I want to create next. It feels like this one is a doorway.
Also - I was so sad so much of the time. My step-son continues to have complications that baffle the doctors. It's so weird going through this experience with Joseph when we're not together.
But somehow my sadness didn't take over everything. I mean "somehow" - I've been working SO HARD at self care and taking good care of my nervous system. I feel so grateful for that.
What am I learning/How do I feel about this?
I am learning next-level self care, especially around my nervous system regulation. I'm feeling ALL the feelings, but really noticing a sense of expansion. Like, this big thing is gone from my life and I can stretch out a bit. What parts of me want to take up more space now?
I think I had mentioned here, that we didn't finish moving J's stuff out of the loft. It was actually a really good self care move that I was proud of myself for, to say "let's not finish this last load today" because I needed to stop and rest.
But, honouring my needs in the moment doesn't magically bring me everything I want!!! I guess I hoped that it would. Because I was unhappy that it left me with the consequences of that decision - the couch and a few boxes still in the loft all this time.
Since everything is so up and down at the hospital, I couldn't plan a time with J to finish (the truck usually needs to be booked in advance) so I decided instead to take the couch apart (it's an IKEA daybed, none of the parts are heavy) and I booked the truck to move it myself tomorrow morning.
SO, once that is done, I'll have more open space in the loft to match the open space I am feeling in my life.
What do I need now?
Really more of the same. Focus on self care. Work on creating the lists/structure/organization that make it easier to also do the things I want to do.
What does my dream need now?
I hear the words: glowing radiance.
It feels like: remember how magic it feels in this meditation! Spend more time in this space!
Taking all of this into account, my focus for the next week is:
Tapping into the healing powers of glowing radiance. I look forward to experimenting with this.
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.
It’s easy to feel like you should KNOW what your dreams are, but NOBODY always knows.
Creative Dreaming is about listening to yourself, and letting your inner wisdom guide you through life instead of following the paths in the outer world.
This gets so complicated because we have so many layers of… stuff. Conditioning, belief systems, trauma. All the ways we put on masks to try to fit in and get approval from the world because it can feel unsafe to be who we really are.
Creative Dreaming asks us to work through all of this and find what is really truly YOU.
We’re going to get tangled up along the way. We’re going to get lost. These are just inevitable parts of the path.
The people out there claiming to always know the truth, to never be lost, to never feel scared, to always have that clear sense of direction about what they are doing - most of these people are so disconnected from themselves that they don’t even know how they feel. And in our culture, these people become leaders! I mean politically and economically but also - the well known healers and coaches in the new age and wellness communities.
When you can allow yourself to be LOST to feel scared or broken or however it is you feel - then you are on the right path.
Creative Dreaming will always ask you to work THROUGH these parts of the path, and not resist and avoid them.
So, there are a lot of layers and it all gets very complicated.
And dreams shift.
With so many changes in my life, I need to change my dreams FOR NOW. What’s calling me in this stage of my life?
Healing. Softness. Spaciousness. Gentleness. Creativity. Rest. Nourishment.
Making this list feels FRUSTRATING.
My heart tightens up. I want to go do something else.
I don’t want to think about what’s REALLY calling me right now. I want to move forward with my projects as though nothing has happened. I want my step-kid recovered and out of the hospital. I don’t want to be in this messy part of a recent separation I want to feel grounded in my new life. I want to avoid all of this.
But that’s the other thing about creative dreaming.
It needs you to be HERE.
WHERE YOU ARE.
You can only create from the present moment.
So HERE, WHERE I AM, what do I dream of?
Softness. SLOWING DOWN. A winter-long healing retreat in the loft.
I’m going to get a pages going in my Dream Book for these dreams: dream page and dream self page for the things I need in this season of my 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.
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.
Note: This is a post about my daily practice with my Creative Dreams - in these posts I often link to the tools, courses and processes I use which are only available to Dream Book members. If you're not a member, find out more + join us here.
It’s POURING outside, like CRAZY RAIN and I decided I HAVE TO go to the bakery and get fresh bread. It’s only a 2 minute walk but that’s plenty of time to get absolutely soaked but I did it anyway.
And on the way back I noticed the little portulaca flowers on my patio.
And then I remembered my creative dream garden in the meditation at Co-Dreaming on Monday. In my garden, lots of things were dead and it was like “this is the season for things to die. This is what the harvest IS. Things will grow again in spring.”
And it felt VERY uplifting. And my whole body really FELT the message, that things do die and it’s a part of life and everything is ok and I will be ok.
Coming back in from the bakery, seeing my flowers, brought it home even more.
I’ve been planting portulaca flowers in this one little pot I have, every year. Portulaca are annual flowers that do really well in a ton of sun with little water, so they were the only thing that felt appropriate for this smaller outdoor planter I have because my patio is super sunny, so I got new ones every spring.
The patio is stone. After a few years, portulaca started coming up between the stones! The flowers were seeding themselves and I loved it.
After a few years of that, the portulaca started MIXING COLOURS!!! They created new variegated flowers and new shades of orange and salmon - from mixing yellow, red, pink and white.
It was SO delightful.
Then, this year we got a new company taking care of the yard who sprayed weed killed (AKA PLANT KILLER!!!) on all of our patios. And then, this year I couldn’t find portulaca for that pot!
And so nothing came up in the patio. All those new colours of flowers, gone.
But then at the end of July some portulaca plants started coming up. And they started flowering in September. And now, at the beginning of October, when I got back from the bakery and saw the little flowers on my patio what I thought was:
I hope these flowers hurry up and die.
Because I need them to go to seed before winter, so that next year there will be new flowers on the patio.
Capitalism wants us to ALWAYS be producing. ALWAYS be growing. This isn’t what life is though.
Your creative dreams want you to be more YOU, and less a cog in the machine. They will ask you to be more present with the fallow times, with the dying things, with all part of your miraculous experience in this world.
With that in mind, my creative dream practice for today is journaling. Just follow my thoughts and feelings and see where they go.
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.
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.
Note: This is a post about my daily practice with my Creative Dreams - in these posts I often link to the tools, courses and processes I use which are only available to Dream Book members. If you're not a member, find out more + join us here.
I’m thinking a lot about what it means to show up for your dreams, and keep showing up for your dreams, no matter what is happening in your life.
Of course the easier your life is, the easier this is to do.
But life isn’t always easy.
You know how much I loved my husband. But things happened that were beyond our control and our marriage fell apart very quickly in August. As much as I know that this is the right thing, as much as I still feel really good about my future, the separation has been brutal.
On top of that, one of my step kids has been in the hospital for almost three weeks and it’s looking like they are in for a VERY long and difficult road. The stress of this isn’t like anything I’ve experienced before.
I don’t mean to keep repeating my sad story. It’s just where I am.
This morning I’m in my favourite coffee shop. They are a bakery with a wood fired oven and I just had a fresh quiche tart. I’m in my favourite spot, at the bar by the window where I can see the world go by. There are plants everywhere and they’ve decorated the windowsill with little pumpkins. This is also where I am.
Showing up for your dreams no matter what is happening in your life isn’t hustle culture or “make it happen no matter what” or spiritual bypass or any of that nonsense.
Our creative dreams always ask us to be more present with where we are and what we’ve got going on. Our power and magic are always in the present moment.
So right now my creative dreams need me to honour this difficult season I suddenly find myself in. They need me to acknowledge how hard this all is so that I take care of myself appropriately.
Every step you take builds the path. Showing up is the only way to build the path.
Otherwise you just go with what this toxic culture we live in tells you about who you are and what is possible for you and how you should show up. And that path will never lead to anything good because it leads you away from yourself.
And through all of this, I know I’m moving towards myself.
Some days don’t feel like it, of course, but no one step defines the whole path.
And, I think, that’s the big thing to remember when you’re creative dreaming through the hard 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.
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.
Note: This is a post about my daily practice with my Creative Dreams - in these posts I often link to the tools, courses and processes I use which are only available to Dream Book members. If you're not a member, find out more + join us here.
I'm offering these live Co-Dreaming (Meditation + Journaling) calls every Monday.
I started doing these calls to help us all keep showing up no matter how messy things get because have you noticed how messy the world is right now?
And together we've turned it into this really beautiful community dreaming together. I'm so grateful for everyone who is showing up and Co-Dreaming with me. This is so special.
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.
Go the Library of Creative Dream Alchemy to find a practice that fits for where you are.
Check out the calendar of upcoming calls.