You can't look outside of you for hope.
I mean - there's so little hope to be found out there right now that it's depressing to try.
But mostly because - we're here to BRING IT.
Hope and light and creativity and new possibilities.
This is your work.
This is the theme for today's Creative Genius Planing Session - on Instagram Live.
How do we be force for positive change while the world is a dystopian nightmare?
If you are on this planet right now you have a role to play in creating a good future for everyone.
And if you have a business - your business can play a role as well.
Join me, let's explore this together.
Monday Morning Meditation (AKA Creative Genius Planning) is happening at 10 am Central, on Instagram live.
If you go to my Instagram account from your mobile device you'll be able to set a reminder, and also see this in your own time zone.
And you can catch the replay on my page after we're done.
(These live public meditations are only on Instagram, but I will be doing a more in-depth free class on Zoom soon - stay tuned for details)
I've been having this conversation with a lot of the creative helper people, light-shiners and way-showers.
How do we keep showing up for our work, while the world is falling apart?
And for people who are not self employed it's still a difficult question.
How do we be force for positive change while the world is a dystopian nightmare?
If you are on this planet right now you have a role to play in creating a good future for everyone. And if you have a business - your business can play a role as well.
This will be the theme of the Monday Morning meditation next week!
Join me, let's explore this together.
Monday Morning Meditation (AKA Creative Genius Planning) is happening at 10 am Central, on Instagram live.
If you go to my Instagram account from your mobile device you'll be able to set a reminder, and also see this in your own time zone.
You can also check out the replay from this week's Monday Morning meditation here. The theme was filling up on good energy and fuel for your dreams, which included a great conversation about taking good care of ourselves.
And if you're feeling so flattened by everything that you can't even think about this, I have 2 free courses that help:
Angel Sullivan and I had ✨the most✨ amazing talk about holding a positive vision for the future while the world is falling apart.
This is especially for artists, teachers, therapists, coaches, healers, etc - the people who are offering inspiration and support, which really is tricky when the world keep becoming more and more chaotic AND ALSO this work is needed now, more than ever.
So many in the new age/wellness are turning towards total spiritual bypass - just look at the positive, turn off the "mainstream news", and "know" that everything that is happening is happening for the positive transformation of the world.
There are two things I want to highlight:
1. If all you do is focus on your own corner, lifting up yourself and those like you - you are unconsciously leaning into your privilege and any solutions you generate are only going to be for you, and people who are as privileged as you are.
WE CANNOT CHANGE THE WORLD WITHOUT INTERSECTIONALITY. All we can do is keep re-creating the systems of oppression that we already live in. It's time to do better.
2. YOU HAVE THE POWER TO HELP CHANGE THE WORLD. We all do. It's going to take everyone. It's really easy to feel like you are too small to change anything. But stay present with everything - because you ARE too small to change anything BY YOURSELF but together, we can do this.
It's almost an hour long, so make a fresh cuppa and watch it here.
FIRST: Join me tomorrow for Monday morning meditation as a way of making space for:
✨ the good things that want to find you
✨ sorting out your next steps for the good things you want to create
This is happening at 10am (Central) on Instagram live -go to my account to to set a reminder to join us (the notification feature only works from a mobile device) or catch the replay after and meditate in your own time.
I know that some people think it's nuts to keep offering courses at this time.
AND I know that my work has never been more needed.
We can't just get lost in despair or distract ourselves away from the things that matter or pretend that are are fine where we are while our hearts ache more something else.
We are here, on earth, at this time, with everything that is happening, for a reason.
It's natural to have self doubt and uncertainty and all of that... but it's VITAL that you work through it, step into your power, and create what you are here to create.
And I am here to help you do that.
I know your dreams are possible and I am here to help you GET them.
So: Creative With Money is happening March 15 - this Tuesday, at 1:00 pm Central.
This is one of my most beloved classes, and is definitely needed right now.
There will be ah-hahs and shifts and the glowing sense of feeling more free inside your life.
This is for creative entrepreneurs AND people with no interest in having their own business. It's about your relationship to money, which is also about your relationship to: abundance in general, trusting yourself, what what kind of life you deserve to have.
The vibe is: YOUR CREATIVE GENIUS IS BIGGER THAN ALL OF THE OBSTACLES - EVEN CAPITALISM.
The class is: alchemy meditation for marinating in the magic of trusting your creative genius, journaling for capturing the ah-hah moments coaching and healing for working through the sticky places and finding more FREEDOM and SPACE to create more of what you want in your life.
This is included in your Dream Book membership for March.
The last two years have been hard and we've all picked up habits that DID help us cope when we started them, and no longer serve us.
Whatever habits you picked up during the pandemic are completely understandable.
AND
Do you deserve better habits?
Habits that light you up? That make you stronger? Habits that feel like JOY? Things you do every day that make you feel POWERFUL and ALIVE and help you trust yourself more deeply?
Habits Upgrade Alchemy Circle + Coaching Call is tomorrow.
This isn't the usual life coach thing where I want you to upgrade to all of the "best" habits so you can slay your goals ASAP.
This is you calling in what you need right now through exquisitely feels-good-in-the-moment habits that soothe your soul, re-connect you to your inner power and magic, and make it easier for you to navigate these chaotic times.
For me this looks like:
- replacing 50% of my doomscrolling with embroidery (I'm making such a cute embroidered shirt dress for spring!)
- starting each day with essential oils that make me feel happy, and binaural beats music to sooth anxiety and spark creative thinking
- jogging around the loft while I wait for the water to boil to make coffee or tea which helps me feel more energized all day long
What will it look like for you? What can you do that will bring you joy and magic and healing RIGHT NOW?
This is not about forcing "good" habits, or judging anything about the habits you've got going on right now. This is NOT the time for any of that.
It's about looking at what new JOYFUL habits you can create that bring more beauty, joy, self care and magic into your life.
We all need to be as grounded and resourced as possible right now.
Habits Upgrade is happening live tomorrow (Friday, March 11) at 1:00 pm Central (North America), and the replay will be available a few hours after. There is a private comments section, so if you work with the replay you can still ask questions, share your ideas, and get support as you do this.
Habits Upgrade is included in your Dream Book membership for March.
And yes - you also get Creative With Money which is happening March 15!
This is one of my most beloved classes, and is definitely needed right now.
There will be ah-hahs and shifts and the glowing sense of feeling more free inside your life.
This is for creative entrepreneurs AND people with no interest in having their own business. It's about your relationship to money, which is also about your relationship to: abundance in general, trusting yourself, what what kind of life you deserve to have.
The vibe is: YOUR CREATIVE GENIUS IS BIGGER THAN ALL OF THE OBSTACLES - EVEN CAPITALISM.
Both of these classes are included in your Dream Book membership for March.
A self portrait of my volatile feelings, from this morning in my journal.
I started by saying, OUT LOUD AND EVERYTHING because I am really ready to do this:
"Once and for all I want to work through why I am scared to do this thing." Like really. Why do I keep SAYING I am doing the thing, but not doing the thing? Why do I keep making plans, and then not following through on them?
I mean I know - pandemic and world events have all been a lot and things take the time they take and PATIENCE is an essential ingredient for any dream...
BUT ALSO I know I am not doing my best to show up.
And this fact keeps colliding with my excitement to do this thing and that collision sets off a lot of uncomfortable stuff.
And, here I am now, ready to really, REALLY, deal with this stuff in me that keeps me from showing up the way I want to.
So. Hello Fear. Let's talk.
Fear immediately shows up as a monster. At least 30 feet tall. Lots of brown fur and sharp teeth.
We're in a clearing in the woods, near the entrance to a rock cave. I put a picnic blanket down and invite the monster to join me.
There is tension in my shoulders which turned into actual sharp pain in my left shoulder.
The monster just makes a face. I sit down on the blanket and stretch out my legs. Monster aside, it is a gorgeous day.
I say "I really want to understand what it is you are so afraid of here."
Then I realise - ok it's TWO things, not the ONE thing I was first thinking of. There are two projects I am working on that have the monster riled up.
THEN I realize that these two projects may have been stuck partially BECAUSE I am trying to get both started at once when I DO NOT have the energy for two big scary things right now.
But back to the monster.
"I really want to understand what it is you are so afraid of here."
Me? Afraid? No. I am here to scare YOU! Why would a monster be afraid?
That feels like deflection. But ok. Why do you want to scare me?
Monster appears confused.
"You don't want to scare me just to scare me, do you?"
I want... I mean. I want...
"You don't seem scary right now"
I know! But I am! I AM SCARY! YOU SHOULD BE SCARED!
"Oh, I am. Scared. Frustrated. Angry. Anxious. Terrified. My feelings are very volatile right now. And I am asking you - WHY do you want me to be scared?"
Because you stop working on those things when you're afraid.
"Right. So why don't you want me to do those things?"
Because they're scary. Scarier than me. Real-World Scary.
I lay back on the picnic blanket and look up at the clouds and wonder...
Is it true that it's just scarier right now to pursue our dreams and goals, to put new projects out into the world? That feels likely.
Should I pick one project or the other to fully focus on? That feels very stressful. Lots of fear of picking the wrong thing and sabotaging everything.
"Ok monster, I am thinking of just focusing on one of these projects for now. What do you think of that?"
Monster goes silent.
Oh right. Monster doesn't need to scare me about that, because I already feel so scared of choosing the wrong one and sabotaging everything. Which doesn't mean this is the wrong move to make.
What if I did give everything to one project? What would that look like?
Oh wow. I CAN'T DO THAT BECAUSE I DON'T FULLY TRUST EITHER PROJECT.
I am doing both, or rather trying to do both, in the hopes that it doubles my chance of success.
But what it does is split my energy.
I mean I used to be able to do two projects like this at once but the world was different then and I was different then and...
WHAT IF I TRUSTED MYSELF TO SUCEED? WHICH PROJECT WOULD I CHOOSE THEN?
That's obvious.
"Ok Monster. Did you hear that? I am going to work on trusting myself to succeed."
Monster bursts into tears and sits down beside me on the blanket.
I put my arm around the monster as it shrinks down to my size.
"What's going on, buddy?"
It's so terrible. To realize that you didn't trust yourself. I didn't mean to make you not trust yourself! I just wanted to try to keep your dreams smaller so you'd be safe. I mean, even I know how misguided that idea is, but it's all I've got. Your dreams are so scary to me.
But you can see, that I need to be able to trust myself, right? That THIS is how we create safety.
Yes, of course. Trusting yourself is crucial.
So, what now?
The monster is now a comic character of a nerd - and he's got charts and computers and books and all sorts of things.
I'm going to help you DO THIS. We ARE going to pick that one project to focus on.
And we are going to NOT get all "but I've tried so many ways and it hasn't worked" because guess what?! That's another monster hiding in there. That's not true or relevant to anything.
We are going to be more methodological. We are going through ALL of the plans and notes you have written about the ways you've tried this and pick up ALL of the threads you abandoned because I made it hard for you to continue.
We are going to do all of the things that help you be optimistic and connected.
And yes you can work on that other project as a side thing. ONLY when this project doesn't need your creativity and focus.
I stretch out and check in with my body.
Still a little tense, but I don't feel all of those volatile feelings anymore.
I feel less like everything is impossible and more ready to pick myself up and keep going.
Then I have a nice calming meditation, releasing stress in my body, giving my feelings some space and it comes to me:
I can give the first 2 hours of each day to this project. Those 2 hours are my BEST 2 hours, give them to this project. Then do my other stuff after.
Now I feel possibility and trust in my body.
PS: The last two years have made things really hard for dreamers.
It's really easy right now to zoom over into spiritual bypass, or to fall into despair.
Neither of these approaches are going to help you create what you want in your life.
Because this is all such a challenge right now, I am offering extra classes in Dream Book.
On March 11 we're doing HABITS UPGRADE:
Without judging any of the habits you've got going on right now how can we shift towards more helpful habits? Or even - TRANSFORMATIVE habits? Healing habits? Up-leveling habits?
We'll create habits that make your heart sing. Habits that are a DELIGHT to actually do. Habits that make everything better right now AND move you along the path to a better future.
Then Creative With Money is happening March 15:
We’ll do a deep dive into your relationship with money and re-wire it to make more space for whatever it is you need right now.
There will be ah-hahs and shifts and the glowing sense of feeling more free inside your life.
The vibe is: YOUR CREATIVE GENIUS IS BIGGER THAN ALL OF THE OBSTACLES - EVEN CAPITALISM.
These are both a part of your Dream Book membership for March.
My morning meditation led me to draw this diagram.
I wanted to be able to just SEE these things I was holding, sitting in front of me.
These aren't ALL the things I am holding, but these are the three things that feel most "up" for me today.
Drawing it out like this, which is how I was guided to do by my dream in meditation this morning, helped me feel more grounded about:
- I don't need to JUGGLE these things they can all intersect and kind of form one thing
- They intersect in ways I do and do not see
- It's fine to feel/think all the things I feel/think - even where they conflict with each other
- No one thing is more important than the others, I can make space for all of it
Before I did this, I honestly felt like I couldn't make progress with anything today because these thoughts/feelings were all jumbled up and leaving me with no options.
This is pretty common for me.
BEFORE I make space for everything - what I want feel impossible.
AFTER I make space for everything - I feel clear about AND ready to take my next steps.
This is one of the places where most people get it wrong with their dreams... waiting to see the path clear ahead of you instead of just taking the steps you can take from where you are right now.
Showing up every day and doing the teeny tiny little things that you CAN do is what builds the path.
The more chaotic the world becomes, the more heavily I lean on this practice.
If you are NOT making space for all the things you're feeling - WHICH INCLUDES YOUR WISHES FOR THE THINGS THAT YOU WANT AND FIGURING OUT HOW TO MOVE TOWARDS THEM - you are going to get all tangled up in everything and it's NOT going to be possible to create positive change in your life.
That doesn't mean your dreams are not possible.
It means this is the work you need to do, to get there. It's up to you do decide to do this work consistently, or not.
And I really want to encourage you to DO THAT WORK because YOU DESERVE ALL THE THINGS YOU ARE DREAMING OF.
And, collectively, it's our creative dreams that will help guide us to create a better world for everyone.
I am dreaming of a settled nervous system and a calm heart.
I know two things about how I DON’T want to approach this dream:
1. By ignoring the state of the world
2. By giving up on all of my creative dreams
Creative Genius Planning is happening live on Instagram on Monday March 7 at 10 am Central <-- tomorrow
We’re going to do more of a self care meditation this week because it’s much harder to make anything good happen when we are unsettled.
There’s a new love alchemy meditation I have been experimenting with and I am excited to share it. It’s helping me soothe the places in me that are being traumatized/triggered/all freaked out about what’s happening in the world right now. Which gives me better ideas for how I want to respond.
Without this work, it’s easy for me to go into a freeze response and feel there is nothing I can do.
But that’s not true.
I hope you’ll join me for this on Monday - either live or with the replay.
If you go to my Instagram profile on your phone, you can tap the notification to set a reminder to join me.
The last two years have made things really hard for dreamers.
It's really easy right now to zoom over into spiritual bypass, or to fall into despair.
Neither of these approaches are going to help you create what you want in your life.
Because this is all such a challenge right now, I am offering extra classes in Dream Book.
On March 11 we're doing HABITS UPGRADE:
Without judging any of the habits you've got going on right now how can we shift towards more helpful habits? Or even - TRANSFORMATIVE habits? Healing habits? Up-leveling habits?
We'll create habits that make your heart sing. Habits that are a DELIGHT to actually do. Habits that make everything better right now AND move you along the path to a better future.
Then Creative With Money is happening March 15:
We’ll do a deep dive into your relationship with money and re-wire it to make more space for whatever it is you need right now.
There will be ah-hahs and shifts and the glowing sense of feeling more free inside your life.
The vibe is: YOUR CREATIVE GENIUS IS BIGGER THAN ALL OF THE OBSTACLES - EVEN CAPITALISM.
These are both a part of your Dream Book membership for March.
Late-stage capitalism is especially hard for artists, healers, and helper-people.
Of course your creative genius IS more powerful that capitalism.
Your purpose IS bigger than capitalism.
But that doesn’t mean the places where you struggle aren’t real. You’re not imagining it. This is hard.
AND
You have the power. You have the magic. You can do this.
There is a sweet spot in staying present with your challenges while also staying present with your magic.
The last two years have made staying in that sweet spot harder than ever. It's really easy right now to zoom over into spiritual bypass, or to fall into despair.
Neither of these approaches are going to help you create what you want in your life.
Because this is all such a challenge right now, I am offering extra live classes in Dream Book.
On March 11 we're doing HABITS UPGRADE:
Without judging any of the habits you've got going on right now how can we shift towards more helpful habits? Or even - TRANSFORMATIVE habits? Healing habits? Up-leveling habits?
We'll create habits that make your heart sing. Habits that are a DELIGHT to actually do. Habits that make everything better right now AND move you along the path to a better future.
Then Creative With Money is happening March 15:
We’ll do a deep dive into your relationship with money and re-wire it to make more space for whatever it is you need right now.
There will be ah-hahs and shifts and the glowing sense of feeling more free inside your life.
The vibe is: YOUR CREATIVE GENIUS IS BIGGER THAN ALL OF THE OBSTACLES - EVEN CAPITALISM.
These are both a part of your Dream Book membership for March.
Here I am, on the cover of the Arts Life section of the Winnipeg Free Press:
I'm so happy with this!
The article is here - you do need a Winnipeg Free Press account to read it.
I also shared more photos of the article close-up, on Facebook.