I am hoping you're already signed up fo my emails where I show you how to use your journal to be more BRAVE with your dreams.
Your possibilities will grow and expand when you show up for your dream in this way.
Sometimes it feels like everyone is looking for "the big secret" to how to have what we want...
But there is no secret.
The answer is simple: If you want to change you life, you need to show up for the change!!
I made this video which shows the process...
As you can see, this whole process of making a dream real depends on one thing: YOU.
It's YOUR CHOICE to show up for your dream, or not show up for your dream.
And that choice plays a HUGE role in determining how your life unfolds.
Showing up for your dream means showing up for your SELF.
Are you too busy for daily practice? Showing up for your dream regularly NOURISHES YOU, it's f form of self-care you especially need if your life is too busy!
Are you "not ready" to get serious about your dream? Showing up for your dream regularly GROWS YOU so you'll become ready.
Do you have no clue what to DO to work on your dream? Showing up for your dream regularly GROWS YOUR DREAM.
There is *so much* magic and freedom that become available to you when you make the commitment to really show up for your dream.
You can *always* show up for your dream. Nothing in your life has to change before you can do this.
Once you've learned the Dream Lab practice - you can do it any time! You can do it on your commute to work or during your lunch break - that's what I used to do, before I quit my day job to live my dream on Jan 1, 2011.
If you show up for your dream, your dream WILL show up for you.
I've had a near-daily practice of working with my dreams for over 20 years.
I have lots of tips and tricks to help make it fun and engaging, so you STAY WITH IT. Because the only way you won't get to where you want to be is if you give up.
My new class, Dream Book, is a GENIUS journaling system that makes it easier and more fun to keep showing up - no matter what's in front of you.
Plus all the support you need to navigate the inner and outer ups and downs of pursuing a dream.
It's good to fail.
You already know this. The internet is full of memes about the magic of failing and yet... the truth is sometimes failing just feels like failure and it's a shitty feeling.
Last month I set a really big goal for myself. A goal that make me laugh it was so ridiculous.
It happened during the monthly alchemy + coaching call I lead in the Creative Dream Circle. I was really feeling the magic and this big, ridiculous goal just came to me.
And I said yes to it, with my whole heart.
It felt funny, it felt ridiculous, but it also felt inspiring.
So I really went after it....
And I failed spectacularly.
But I feel like a success because I spent the month PLAYING WITH this way of dreaming bigger and thinking bigger.
Sure, nothing changed for me in the outer world but working with this big goal for a month absolutely ROCKED my inner world.
It showed me more clearly where and how and why I hold back.
It showed me more clearly what I want next for my life.
I feel deeply changed by this experience.
And it inspired a whole new way of relating to my work, it inspired a whole new way of putting myself out there, which I am now excited to start working on.
Right now, I'm so glad I went for the big goal and failed. It put me on an amazing new path.
But of course there have been times in the past when I have set smaller, more reasonable goals, and I failed miserably and FELT LIKE a huge failure.
This is just the nature of dreaming.
You set a goal for yourself, you aim to move yourself in a specific direction, and then... well almost no one ends up exactly where they set out to be.
You end up where you end up.
And the important work is what happens next.
(This is also why it's important to put DATES on your goals, or else they just kind of fade away into oblivion)
The important work comes after you've set the goal and.. you end up where you end up.
If you process your feelings about where you ended up, you WILL find a gift in it. The gift could be clarity about what you REALLY want or a deeper understanding of where you hold back with your dreams or coming face to face with the thing in you that needs healing so you CAN move forward, it could be something entirely different.
But there is always a gift.
And when you process your feelings and receive that gift, then you can use the gift to set the next goal and move towards it.
It's this long term process of setting goals, then looking back on what happened with the goal, processing all of your feelings about that, listening to your inner wisdom about what to do next, and then setting the next goal.
THEN REPEAT.
It's a circle.
If you're just setting random goals and not looking back, reflecting, processing, connecting to inner wisdom and using all of this information to set the next goal then... you're not going to create any kind of momentum towards your dream.
You need to connect the circle. And then keep moving in it.... so it becomes a wheel.
You absolutely cannot fail as long as you stay engaged in this way.
It will take the time it takes, but you WILL get there if you stay on the path.
This is why I do a monthly call in the Creative Dream Circle.
We do alchemy work to connect more deeply with our intuition and dreams, reflect on last month's goals, process our feelings about what's happening, and use everything we learned to set a goal for the next month.
We do this *every month*
And each month we go deeper and deeper into it. (And yes everybody misses a month here and there, that's fine... as long as you keep coming back to it)
So THAT is why I could set this ridiculously HUGE goal, and fail spectacularly at it, and receive healing and inspiration from that experience instead of feeling like a failure.
That's why I am moving forward with more inspiration and clarity than I had before I failed at my goal.
You NEED to be able to fail in order to get your dream.
If every time you fail that knocks you off the path - you're not going to get there. If failure is knocking you off the path then you need more support for processing the failures.
Again - I can help you with this! The Creative Dream Circle is full of tools for working through this stuff.
Lately my Facebook feed is absolutely flooded with ads for online business training where each person is telling the same story.
- I tried to build my dream business.
- I struggled. And then I struggled some more.
- I had $0.67 left in the bank.
- And then I found the secret (!!!)
- Then I made $1,000,000 in 6 months
- Now - sign up for my free masterclass so I can share the secret with you so you don't have to struggle.
Guess what friends?! WE NEED THE STRUGGLE.
The struggle is a part of it.
Important things happen in the process of struggling with your dream.
As Joseph Campbell so eloquently said it: Where you stumble is where your treasure lies.
There are so many gifts to be found in being in the struggle.
This is where you grow. This is where you heal. This is where you uncover your superpowers!
IF YOU STAY WITH IT.
Trying to avoid the struggle is stupid.
You don't need to avoid the struggle, you need to learn to work with it more deeply.
You need practices and tools that help you excavate the DEEP magic, lessons and growth that are at the core of the thing you struggle with the most.
That's why I do things differently in the Creative Dream Incubator.
I invite you to be on the path with me, to dig into the struggle and suck every bit of magic out of it that we can find.
Yes - I share my tools, but everyone uses them in their own unique way. One of the things that really delights me about the Creative Dream Circleis how I share an idea, and then the Circle members take it and run with it - each in their own unique direction.
We're in this together. But we're each on our own path.
YOUR intuition. YOUR ideas. YOUR magic. <--- These are the things you need to build your dream.
In the Creative Dream Circle, everyone is supported in creating their own unique path to their own unique dreams.
Now is the perfect time to join.
Our August Alchemy Class + Coaching Call is happening on August 27.
You do NOT have to attend live to get all the support you need! Just watch the recording after the call, and leave your thoughts, ideas, and questions in the comments and we'll discuss it there 🙂
This is the kind of support that grows even the most impossible of dreams.
>>> Join us here.
There is a new monthly payment option! You can be in the Circle getting all of the high quality support you need for only $33 USD.
Even after 25 years of living as a dreamer, I still struggle with my dreams.
What if I admit I want it, but it turns out I can’t have it?
What if I find out I’m not good enough?
What if I go after this dream and mess up my life?
What if I put my ideas out there and people steal them?
What if everything changes and I don’t like it?
If you're stuck: GOOD.
Getting stuck means you're actually trying to show up for your dream. The only people who never get stuck are the people who are not trying.
Getting stuck is actually PURPOSEFUL too. Because when you really SHOW UP for your dream you'll be forced to stare down those fears, doubts, inner critics and limiting beliefs that have held you back until now.
This is actually how you grow towards your dream, by facing the hard parts, by bringing them the healing, transformation and growth they need.
(I did a free class where I take you through this process, called The Hard Parts Are Where The Magic Happens. You can sign up for the replay here.)
There is only one guarantee when it comes to dreams: if you don’t try you will surely fail.
I show up for my dreams EVERY DAY.
I get stuck ALL THE TIME.
And I am grateful when I get stuck because it's through the process of getting UN-STUCK that I have made my dreams real. I have healed and changed and grown so much by working with my stucks.
I want YOU to join me in this work.
The Creative Dream Circle is my online training centre and community of kindred spirit creative dreamers. This is where we show up for our dreams.
We have a private blog where I write every day and invite everyone to come in and play with me. Plus monthly coaching calls for generating MOMENTUM towards your dream, weekly journaling kits and an extensive library of dream-growing classes and tools.
We are stronger together.
Together we practice showing up for our dreams and I'd love to have YOU join the group - I added a new $33 monthly option to make the payments as easy as possible.
After over a decade of coaching creative people to make their dreams real, I've noticed one thing they ALL have in common:
When we start out, and I ask what’s between where they are and where they want to be, they see an impossible chasm. There’s like - nothing there.
Just no way to get to the dream.
You can spend a lot of time trying to build a bridge across that chasm, or looking for another way to get there, and never find your way through.
Because the truth is - that’s NOT the path. The path to your dream is INSIDE you, not outside.
Your dream is how your soul calls you towards your True Self. It’s not a thing outside of you to chase or figure out how to get to.
Making your dream is a process of growth and expansion as you move towards your True Self.
THIS is the magic of your dream.
It’s the magic of BEING YOU!
Being YOU as in your True Self: your most creative, wise, brave, powerful, luminous self. It’s the magic of living with purpose, courage, intuition, creativity, freedom and trust.
And you can have that magic right now, no matter what your life looks like.
You do not have to wait for anything to change first.
This is the real work of making a dream real: engaging in the inner process of growth and healing that your dream is calling you towards.
You GROW into your dream.
The best time to start is always NOW.
You do NOT have to wait for a single thing to change before you begin this journey.
You can live your magic, no matter what your life looks like right now.
You’ve already got all of the creativity and wisdom and power that you need for your journey.
They live inside you. You draw them out by practicing them.
Practicing magic. Practicing creativity. Practicing wisdom. Practicing power. Practicing healing and growth.
I practice every day, inside the Creative Dream Circle (my online dream community + classroom) and I’m inviting you to come practice with me.
Inside the Circle you’ll get everything you need to create a practice or deepen your existing practice, supports for showing up regularly, encouragement, tools, training, love and inspiration.
Your infinite potential awaits.
It's AMAZING how much you can grow when you have this kind of guidance and support.
Check it out here. I'd love to have YOU join us.
Our dreams need each other. Capitalist and colonialist structures have created a world where some people are held up while others are pushed down. But our dreams need each other. We all NEED everyone's dreams in order to succeed.
We ALL need a level playing field.
Remember: Your dream is how your soul calls you towards your True Self. It's bigger than you and it comes from the place where we're all connected. Our dreams were meant to grow together.
The other day as I was working on new plans for my marketing systems I kept getting SUPER STUCK.
There were layers and layers of stuck, so I got un-stuck and then stuck again and then un-stuck and stuck again. This is just how it is some days, when you allow the Inner Work to inspire and direct the Outer Work.
This was the BIG STICKY STUCK that I found at the bottom of all of those layers:
A blue baby monster that cried "You're being TERRIBLE AND GREEDY!!!!!!"
That familiar old story that I'm not allowed to want more, I should be grateful for what I have.
(And I am - grateful that is - but that doesn't mean I don't also see MORE in my future)
Which is followed by a sense of SHAME for even wanting more.
As I make space for the shame I do start to feel just deeply wildly grateful. It IS amazing that I get to do the work that is more interesting, inspiring and fulfilling to me, AND that I have 100% freedom over HOW I do that work. AND I have an amazing family. I am loved. I am safe. I am healthy. I have my dream home and a kick ass bike. I have everything I need to feel my best.
Honestly, I feel like a 1%-er.
I do totally believe that I am probably HAPPIER than a lot of the 1%-ers. But obviously I am nowhere near a 1%er. Though I am very good with money, and live well without spending tons.
But I FEEL LIKE one. I feel how much more I have than others.
I feel how my path has been EASIER.
Now - it's not as easy as people tend to THINK.
Some people hear about the work I do and assume I am bankrolled by a parent or spouse, which I have not been - I got married after I had been 100% self employed for 6 years. I built my business on my own. I worked REALLY hard and overcame a LOT of obstacles.
BUT
I am an extremely privileged person.
I had a lot of savings because I had a good job, which was fairly easy for me to get. I have a university education which my parents paid for and forced me to have (I did try to drop out at one point and they wouldn't hear it). I had enough food my whole childhood so my brain could develop properly. I live in a country with free health care.
I owned a home with a low mortgage payment because I used an inheritance I received from my beloved aunt who passed away. Which never felt like a privilege because I would have preferred to have my aunt of course. But now that I understand how many people who pass away and instead of leaving a little money leave a debt for their families to pay for end of life expenses, I see the privilege.
My parents grew up with absolutely nothing and managed to put themselves through university and create a beautiful, stable life for their children.
This left me with the idea that anyone who works hard at it can do the same.
My parents faced a LOT of adversity. And, especially my mother, sacrificed a LOT. But as white people, they ALSO had a lot of privilege.
Now I understand the truth: LOTS of people face adversity and work hard. But some people, no matter how hard they work, continue to have new obstacles placed in front of them, while others can use that hard work to propel themselves into a different economic class.
This is capitalism and colonialism and white supremacy. This is the world we live in and this is the world we DREAM in.
This FACT - that I have privilege which has made it easier to make my dreams real, is making it really hard for me to think about DREAMING BIGGER right now. Which is where that shame comes from.
So I am holding both truths. I DO feel inspired to keep moving forward with my dreams and I DO feel really conflicted about it.
And I DO believe that our dreams connect us with our PURPOSE and POTENTIAL and that we need all the purpose and potential we can get to change this world.
I believe that collectively our dreams will lead us to a better world for all.
AND some days I wonder how me, a privileged person, helping other privileged people make their dreams real really helps the world.
I mean every time I say this out loud to someone, that person quickly responds to remind me of all the things I do that help others.
And I do know my work is valuable, I am not questioning that. I am questioning it's place in the context of the whole - and I think it's an important question to sit with and not rush to answer.
I am actually making space for a new and more inclusive approach.
And yes I know the easy answer to this question: some people serve by holding the higher vision of what we are moving towards (which is me, the visionary) and some people serve by helping those who are in the most acute need (my husband, the social worker).
And both are needed and valid forms of help.
But there IS a bit of a stench of spiritual bypass in that it feels like an excuse to stay away from the harder questions.
My husband is an Indigenous social worker. Living with him has opened my eyes to how systemic racism functions in Canada and it breaks my heart. It's like I always knew it was there but now I live with it.
In my city - where I leave my MacBook Pro and iPad Pro sitting out in coffee shops when I go to the bathroom because I feel that safe here - Indigenous women and girls are NOT SAFE. They are trafficked, kidnapped and murdered at rates that would have the whole city on alert, if it was happening to white women.
I remember when I was growing up, everyone was against Apartheid in South Africa. We couldn't believe that was happening in our world.
But it was happening in our city too. And it still is happening. It's just a little more subtle so it's easier for white people to look away - which allows it to continue.
I cannot pursue my own dreams while ignoring this framework of racism and white supremacy that I grow my dreams in.
I am one person living in a broken system, I can't change that system.
But white privileged people IGNORING the system actually nurtures the system. So I know that I need to NOT just carry on with my work and ignore what's happening in the world around me.
I don't know what else to do right now.
I'm not supposed to have the answers.
All I can have right now is a commitment to keep exploring this. And a willingness to sit with the questions without rushing to answers.
And I will do so publicly because I would like to encourage YOU to explore with me.
Over the last 2 years, I have been working hard on re-thinking my work and creating a whole new framework for how I help creative people make their dreams real.
This kind of re-imagining takes a LOT of energy. So, for the last 2 years, I have had to pull back on other parts of my business. Most notably: marketing.
Whatever your dream is, there are some parts of it that you LOVE to work on and some parts that you don't love. And, whatever your dream is, your dream NEEDS YOU to take care of it, all parts of it, even the parts you don't like.
AND you can always bring the magic + love you feel for your dreams and use that energy to fuel the more annoying tasks that just need to get done.
So that's what I am trying to do now as I'm taking some time to focus on marketing.
Marketing itself isn't the problem.
Marketing is how you shine your light. It's how you share the message behind your work with the people who want to hear it.
Marketing is actually pretty fun and interesting. I mean you have total freedom to do it however you want. You can make artwork or videos or a podcast... you can create challenges or throw a party.
There is no limit to HOW you can put the word out there and get people excited about your work.
The problem is all of my internal reactions to marketing.
A few months ago I got a long, angry, ranty email from someone who signed up for my free class and then didn't even take the class, unsubscribed from my emails, and then a week later decided to respond to one of the emails I had sent before she unsubscribed.
She was upset her friend who had just become a life coach who seemed to care only about the money as she was trying to get a business started. She said she understood that she doesn't know anything about me or my work but now her whole view of the industry was changed.
She said she couldn't believe in her own dreams anymore.
This week I want to focus on developing and refining my marketing systems.
I have all sorts of ideas I am really excited about.
But then I think about the sleazy side of online marketing and I think about all the people who are just FED UP with being "sold to" and I worry about not getting too close to the gross stuff and "what if someone thinks I'm sleazy?"
And I get all tangled up and working on marking starts to SEEM very sticky and complicated.
Another problem I have is how marketing in the personal growth/life transformation has become so homogeneous.
How we have somehow developed "Standard Ways Everyone Is Supposed To Do Things".
I mean, if I see one more "boss babe" who looks like every other "boss base" with that exact same shade of pink branding that they all have trying to sell me my best life I WILL scream!
BUT then there is this other part of my brain that picks up on this, believe that "this is The Way To Do Business Online" and expects ME to fit in and is quickly judging all of my ideas as being "too different".
And even though I know with 100% certainty that some of those boss babes are actually lying about their success and using "fake it till you make it" as a business strategy, this part of my brain believes that this is the way to run a successful business!
(This is actually deliberate - a lot of "persuasive marketing techniques" are downright manipulation)
The truth is, we have all the space in the world to do things our own way. Infinite creative possibilities.
So this is my mission right now:
Throw all this junk I am thinking/feeling about online marketing into one of those gold panning things and sift out the sleaze until I am left with little nuggets of goodness, the essence of marketing as the way that I shine the light and invite people into the world of the Creative Dream Incubator (which is a pretty amazing world to be a part of!).
And then use those nuggets IN MY UNIQUE WAY.
I don't have to melt them down to make the same ring everything else is making and then sell it in the same way everyone else is selling it.
I can make something else entirely.
We ALL have that freedom.
Wish me luck!
The Challenge is happening April 29 - May 3 2019, on Instagram.
The Creative Self-Care Challenge is sponsored by Upgrade Your Creative Engine. A Coaching Group for Generating Momentum for Artists, World-Changers and Dreamers. May 6-26.
If you're ready to really REV UP your creative power to generate the momentum you need to make your dreams real - this group is for you.
Find our more + save your spot here. (This happened in May 2019)
It's a gorgeous Friday in my little corner of the world.
I'm working from bed, with the window open and a vase of fresh cut lilacs on the night stand. I LOVE this time of year when I can keep the window open all day, before it gets too hot for that.
My cat Bear is curled up beside me sleeping. Once in a while he wakes and stretch and I hear a little yawn. Then he goes back to sleep.
I'm drawing. All day. My heart is so happy!
I've got my period last night. Last year I decided to start honouring this time, to slow down and listen better to what my body needs. Make it a sacred retreat.
Today that means: leaving the rest of this week's to-to list for next week, super long meditation this morning, now lying in bed sniffing lilacs, drawing on my iPad while watching Jane the Virgin on netflix. With pizza and salad and honey lattes.
This is artwork I'm currently working on, for the little booklet that will go with my new deck of Journal Cards for Dreamers that I've been working on and hoping to share soon:
As horrified and terrified as I am by what's happening in the world, I am believing, more than ever, in the magic and power of our dreams.
Between climate change and the rise of white nationalism, my heart is really hurting. And the scarier it all gets, the more we need to let our dreams to guide us. Our dreams are always leads us to what's TRUE and what's NEEDED. Our dreams are who we are here to be.
I'm getting ready to make some changes in the Creative Dream Incubator, because these scary times we're living in DO call for deeper dream support.
I'm creating a new class on developing a DEEP practice for working with your dreams, of making SPACE for your dream.
It will only be available in the Creative Dream Circle, but I will be opening up monthly memberships in the Circle to make it easier for anyone who wants DEEP support to get it.
And I'll be sharing the new Journaling Cards for Dreamers soon-ish.
Plus I've got some other projects underway that I am not quite ready to start talking about just yet.
The world is calling for our dreams, now more than ever. I want to do what I can do help you answer the call.