Update 43: Finding The Gifts In Failure

failure

This week The Mandala Class started inside the Creative Dream Circle and I didn?t get anywhere near as many new sign-ups as I had hoped for.

This happens sometimes.? A small part of me felt sad but most of me was just really happy about sharing this amazing class with all the people who have already signed up.

And as soon as people started posting photos of the mandalas they were drawing and the amazing insights they were gleaning from the process I stopped caring about who didn?t sign up and was busy cheering on the people who did.

When your dream and your business collide there are certain considerations to be made.

Because the path to a dream never goes in a straight line and there are always gifts in getting what you didn’t want but at the same time I need to pay the mortgage and buy groceries, Moleskines and glitter paints.

What I have found is that the best way to approach it is to see it all as an experiment and be light with it.? When you really NEEEEED something to go well and make x dollars that puts so much pressure on that everything tenses up and it gets easy for things to go sideways.

I have built my business slowly. ?And in that time I have discovered things that work for me, so if I hit a financial speed bump I feel confident that I have the tools to boost sales to get over it.

But I?m also always trying new things, following my inspiration about what I want to put out there and how I want to put it out there.? Often I am surprised? things I think won?t work so well actually work very well, and things I am sure will work well just don?t.

The lighter you can be with all of this, the more resilient you?ll be and the more likely you?ll stay in the game long enough to build a stable foundation.

And of course sometimes you just can?t afford to be light with your finances.

When I was in my 20s and trying to make a living with my art I was always hovering on the edge of financial ruin. ?While I was committed to exploring my creative gifts and learning how to make a living with them, the whole thing really was stressful and eventually I did ?give up? and get a job.

(The story from how I went from starving artist to working in a cubicle to being financially secure enough to comfortably leave my job to be a full time artist, plus tools to do the same yourself, is in The Creative With Money Kit, which is one of the classes you get in the Creative Dream Circle.)

It turned out that ?giving up? and getting a job was not giving up at all – it was the perfect move to make to build a sturdier foundation for my dreams.

So now I?ve set my financial life up to be simple and easy so I can be light with this and approach my business with an attitude of experimentation.

So, I didn?t meet my sales goal this week and that?s ok.

I did learn something really important – which always happens when you take ?failure? lightly and are willing to explore it to find the gifts in it.

I was inundated with people who wanted to sign up for The Mandala Class, but not join the Creative Dream Circle.? That’s why my sales were so low.

But the truth is, I want to work with people who are committed to creating positive change in their lives, and to bringing amazing things to life. ?These people know that it?s a journey and it takes time.

I don?t want to work with people who just want to take one class.? But my marketing plan for this year relied mostly on promoting individual classes as I added them to the Circle.

See? ?Disconnect.

These kinds of disconnects happen all the time when you are actively living with and pursuing your dreams, because you?re always growing and your dreams are always growing and so things shift and change and disconnect.

I had been braining storming what I want to do with the Circle for next year, and was already leaning towards a shift and this shows me that I am really on the right track with my new ideas.

So, as a result of not meeting my sales goal this week I?m feeling more inspired and sure than ever about what I?m doing next. ?So YAY for not meeting my goal. ?Onward and upward.

Coming back to the Creative Dream Check-In Questions:

My dream is shifting a lot right now, so it?s good to keep track of it in this way.

My dream is: To keep growing the Circle at a steady pace and to do my best to serve the members in bringing amazing things to life.

I want it because: Purpose. Fulfillment.

When I have it I will feel: Hmm, I feel like I do have it because I am doing this right now. ?It feels like spaciousness, peace, alignment and fulfillment. ?I like it.

But dreams are about guiding us into the next stage. ?So what is my next dream?

Oh, my secret project. ?I don?t want to share any details yet because it is likely to change a lot as I work on it.

I see secret project working really well with the Creative Dream Circle. ?This is how I want to grow and evolve and share my gifts next.

I want it because: I feel like something lights up in my heart when I think about it.

When I have it I will feel: Like I am serving from a place of deeper purpose. ?It feels bigger and more solid. ?I feel excited to move into this.

So that?s the new dream. ?I am writing this part of the update on Tuesday morning because I wanted to write this story while it was fresh, so this gives me my focus for the week: Secret Project.

What happened in the last week?

Oh my, after writing the update to this point on Tuesday morning it feels like all hell broke lose.

I wrote a post about Creating Space To Grow Into Who You Are Becoming As You Move Towards Your Dream.? So I’ve been doing a lot of that messy vulnerably stuff.

I cut my long hair short.? In intuition started to scream at me on Wednesday afternoon to chop it all off, so I stopped at a hairdresser that I ride past on my bike ride and sure enough – they could take me right away.

I feel like I left a whole lot of things I don’t need anymore behind, tangled up in that big pile of purple hair lying on the floor.

It’s been a super roller-coastery week.? Super super happy and sure.? Self-doubt and sadness.? A great big mess in the Dream Loft as I sort through it all.? All the usual stuff of personal and creative growth.

How do I feel about this?? Right now I am bubbling with enthusiasm about what comes next.? Like I still have preparations and packing to do but I am so ready for this journey.

I actually feel TALLER.? This is something that has happened before when I’ve been in a bit of an inner-growth spurt.? I like it.? It gives me a new perspective and makes bigger dreams feel more me-sized.

What do I need now?? To be gentle with myself and the process.? To not rush.? To pay attention to how I’m feeling and follow my intuition.? To remember that everything is possible for me.?

What does my dream need now?? My dream is smiling sweetly at me from the top of a mountain. ? It’s happy I’m making the journey and waiting for me to get there.? It’s not time yet for us to be together, I have to first grow into the me who can carry this dream, before we can journey together.

Taking all of this into account, my next mission is:?

Keep meeting with this dream and getting to know it while focusing most of my time and energy on supporting the new qualities that want to emerge in me and my life.

The part of this that is challenging is that I want to dive into the Secret Project but I really do need to focus on this inner work first but I get so impatient.


Update 43: Finding The Gifts In Failure Read More »

Creating Space To Grow Into Who You Are Becoming

creating space

That’s what the Dream Loft looked like yesterday.

I posted this photo on Instagram and said:? Total chaos as I re-arrange the entire Dream Loft. Sometimes personal + creative growth comes with a need for new space to play in.

I’m going through all of my things.? Getting rid of a lot (which is weird, but because I got rid of half of everything when I moved in here so I don’t really have that much “stuff” to start with).? Changing other things – a coat of paint or a re-purposing.

Monday when I borrowed a friend’s extra-tall ladder to start putting the Giant Papier-Mache project up.? (I haven’t blogged about this yet, but have been sharing pics of it on Instagram as I go)? This is a Giant Project and will take another few months (at least?) to complete.

But Monday I started to put some of it up, very high up:

Which, of course, changed the feeling of the space – which is exactly what the Giant Papier-Mache project is all about.? Which helped me get a stronger sense of who-I-am-growing-into as I grow into new dreams.

Having a dream come true on the outside is always about growing into a new part of you on the inside.

I’ve been talking a lot lately about building the internal capacity to hold a bigger dream.

It’s also about inviting in new qualities and ways of being.? Which spill out into every aspect of your life.

(For Circle members there’s a ton of stuff on this in Module 6 of the Creative Dream Incubator e-course which is about growing into the you-who-lives-your-dream)

Some of the qualities of my new dreams are: alignment, trust, spaciousness, soul-sparkle.

So I am looking at ways to bring them into my space.? I’m looking at ways to set up my space to support these qualities in emerging in my day-to-day life.

All things tell stories.

As I’m looking for things in my space that do not support the emergence of these qualities,? I’m looking for things in my space that tell my old stories.

Like the book that old boyfriend gave me that shows how he never actually understood me or those shelves I bought because I couldn’t afford anything nicer.? Or those lights I bought and spent wayyy too much money on and it turns out I don’t really like them but I feel like I somehow should like them because of how much they cost.

These are not the stories I want to live in.

Changing the stories is dirty & exhausting work.

Literally, because I moved into the Dream Loft kind of early, so the construction crews kept coming into do more work which piled dust everywhere which I still find in corners and strange places when I move things.

But mostly emotionally as I confront each story and choose a different ending for it.

Which includes sometimes falling into the old stories which is kind of dangerous.? I’ve got a lot of sad stories and a lot of stories where I was not very powerful.

I’ve cleared out so many of these stories over the past decade.? But it’s obnoxious how these little story fragments can hang on and stay alive after a decade of no air.

I’m building extra-strong time boundaries that keep me in the present and keep the stories in the past as I pick them up, dust them off, and send them off to their new homes.? But sometimes boundaries fail.

I have a whole bunch of work to do.

I have a few new projects that are jumping up and down and begging me to play with them.? But I need to do this part first: to create space for the new me who can successfully bring those projects to life.

The bigger the new project or dream or change of any kind you want to invite into your life, the more space you need to make for it.? If it would fit in your life as it is, it would already be there.


Creating Space To Grow Into Who You Are Becoming Read More »

Let’s do this. The Mandala Class Starts Today.

In this class I’m sharing EVERYTHING I know about creating a wildly fulfilling mandala practice.

My uber-popular How To Draw Mandalas tutorial inspired tens of thousands of people all over the world to start drawing mandalas!? It?s a fast and easy way to experience the magic of creative practice and how it helps you access your inner superpowers.

In this Mandala class we?ll take it further as you develop your own unique (and ADORABLE!) mandala style:

  • Go beyond the basic colour wheel to create colour combinations that make your heart sing.
  • Explore elements and principles of design to expand your repertoire, build creative confidence and develop your unique creative voice.

But of course we won’t stop there.? Your Mandalas will also be wildly enlightening.

This is the part that is really important to me: Knowing how to receive (and understand!) the message behind your mandala and how it can help bring you whatever it is you need right now: healing, comfort, insights or brilliant flashes of inspiration.

This past weekend I was feeling kind of down.

I decided to let my sadness draw a Mandala (a process I teach in The Mandala Class).? This was:

  • to understand why I was feeling the way I was
  • to figure out how to give the sad part of me what she needed
  • to be more present with how I was feeling (because I was really tempted to just try to drown it in popcorn and Netflix)

This Mandala was every bit as healing as any of the amazing healers I’ve been to.

Drawing the Mandala radically shifted my energy.? I went to bed shortly after and woke up the next day feeling amazing.

This is the transformative power of Mandalas.

They help with emotional healing.? They help with intuitive development.? They help you make your dreams REAL.

And they ALWAYS help in ways that are in tune with your creative soul.? Mandalas give THE BEST advice.

So this is what I want for you: to experience this deep down magic.

And that is why The Mandala Class happens inside my Creative Dream Circle.? It draws on the deep tools already there, for healing, transformation and intuitive development.

Healing, Transformation and Intuitive Development are BIG THINGS.

They take time and commitment and the right kind of support.

The Creative Dream Circle is specially designed to be that kind of support.

So The Mandala Class is less a drawing class and more a doorway to possibility.? I poured a lot of love into this class and can’t wait to share it with you.

Read all about The Mandala Class right here.

Sign up for The Mandala Class by joining the Creative Dream Circle right here.

Let’s do this. The Mandala Class Starts Today. Read More »

How Drawing Mandalas Helps You Bring Your Dreams To Life

It?s Mandala Week on my blog!? Every day this week I?m posting about the magic of Mandalas, in celebration of The Mandala Class, which starts on Monday, September 15.

How drawing mandalas helps you bring your dreams to life.

This week I’ve been talking about how drawing Mandalas can help with intuitive development and emotional healing and transformation.

Ultimately all of this is all about making your dreams real.

Your dream is your soul calling you towards your purpose and your actual self.

Your dream is really not about the external thing, it’s about who you become in the process of making it happen.

Having your dream is about stepping up, shining your light and living your life as your actual self.? No excuses, no holding back, no fitting yourself into strange shapes to meet other people’s expectations.? Radiant authenticity and deep down soul integrity.

Most dreams are about:

  • learning more about what your heart really wants
  • finding the courage to let go of what doesn’t fit and go after what you want
  • learning how to trust yourself
  • getting creative about how you’re living your life
  • being more aligned with your soul truth
  • showing up more powerfully in the world

Heart. Courage. Trust. Creativity. Alignment. Power.

These are inner qualities.? But as you work with them things change in your outer world.

It’s like your world is a puzzle.? You are the puzzle piece right in the middle of the puzzle.? Other puzzle pieces can only click in to your puzzle piece if the shapes match.

So as you change your puzzle piece, through integrating the qualities of your dream like heart, courage, trust, creativity, alignment and power, the pieces around you change.

They have to!?

The old pieces that were around you have to fall away because they don’t fit anymore.

Then new puzzle pieces can come… these puzzle pieces can be different jobs, a different partner (or a new relationship with the old one), new creative projects or hobbies, entrepreneurial ventures or just a healthier outlook on like.

The new pieces might be really similar to the old ones, just lighter, happier and more at peace or they might be totally different.

Things change on the outside to reflect changes you make on the inside. This is how heart dreams come to life.

And where to Mandalas fit in this?

Mandalas are a way of working with qualities.? Looking back to the posts I wrote about how drawing Mandalas can help with intuitive development and emotional healing and transformation you see a definite theme: Mandalas are a way of focusing your inner work.

If you are a visual person, if you like to play with colour and pattern then Mandalas are a really perfect way of doing this because the more you enjoy the work the more engaged you’ll be with it.? The more engaged you are with it, the more fully you integrate the qualities of your dream and the more completely it will alter your whole world.

In The Mandala Class I’ll be sharing a process for working specifically with the energy of the qualities of your dream.? This will help make it easier to work with and integrate the qualities of your dream, so you can change your puzzle piece.

The Mandala Class happens inside the Creative Dream Circle, so when you sign up for The Mandala Class you also get all of my other classes, including the Creative Dream Incubator e-Course which is my master class in the art of bringing any dream to life.? In that class I go into loads of detail on every aspect of bringing your dream to life.

The Creative Dream Incubator e-Course will show you how it all works together.? Once you’ve got that part down, drawing Mandalas will help you stay the path.? They’re like Creative Dream Tune-Ups to keep your dream ship sailing smoothly towards the land of dreams.

We start Monday.? I hope you’ll join me for this.

How Drawing Mandalas Helps You Bring Your Dreams To Life Read More »

Update 42: Expanding Capacity To Hold The Dream

capacity

I’ve been having a hard time with fall,? and because of that I am trying to be more conscientious about enjoying and appreciating fall.? So far I’m having these pockets of loving fall, and pockets of being sad about summer coming to an end.

Right now I’m curled up in my orange velour sweatpants, drinking a lavender tea latte and kind of in love with the gifts of cooler weather.

I’m also in love with that productivity energy that sweeps in in September.? This was a big week.

A few weeks ago in my updates I was talking about meeting the dragon and getting to know the dragon and how it can help me be more powerful.? The dragon was helping me get bigger and see things from a bigger perspective, including thinking bigger about my work and my dreams.

I feel like I have gotten a lot better at the art of being really happy and satisfied and grateful where I am while also look forward to what’s next and being excited about bigger dreams.? That’s pretty cool.? I can play with the dragon without having that mean that I’m not 100% happy right where I am.

This week I moved the Creative Dream Circle to a new website.

This move was the solution to a myriad of big and small issues I had been having and it feels amazing to have all of that solved.

Ultimately, when I set the Creative Dream Circle up on a Ning site, Ning was making all sorts of problems about what was coming soon with their new platform, and those promises just didn’t pan out and the features I wanted just didn’t show up and the site was not as user-friendly as promised.

At the same time, some of my back-end integrations were no longer integrating smoothly.

There are about a million options for anything you want to do online, so I took my time exploring, I checked in with my intuition and the heart and soul of my business and the heart and soul of Creative Dream Circle about the best way to support the Circle members and me and my business and one solution became very clear: to move everything to Simplero.

It feels like moving from a tiny apartment into a big house.? There’s room to grow my family here.

This is how I am growing my capacity.

Dreams and capacity work hand in hand.? You have to have the capacity to hold what you want before you’re going to be able to hold it.

Your dream loves you.? If the weight of it will crush you, it won’t come to you. You need to grow your muscles and build your capacity to hold it first.

I’ve done a lot of muscle building and capacity growing this year.? I feel like I have steadily increased my capacity and as I’ve done that, the Circle has steadily grown.

Steady steps win the race. I’m feeling very much on track and happy with how everything is going.

PS: The Mandala Class starts inside the Creative Dream Circle on Monday!

Update 42: Expanding Capacity To Hold The Dream Read More »

How Drawing Mandalas Helps You Heal And Transform Your World

It?s Mandala Week on my blog!? Every day this week I?m posting about the magic of Mandalas, in celebration of The Mandala Class, which starts next Monday, September 15.

How drawing mandalas helps you heal and transform your world

Today’s post builds on what I wrote yesterday I wrote about How Drawing Mandalas Helps You Be More Intuitive.

Healing is about coming into deeper alignment with your truth.

At your core you are pure sparkling spirit.? Infinitely creative, wise, joyful and loving.? Full of life.? Ridiculously inspired.? Deeply purposeful.? You’re here on a mission and you’ve got all the resources and support you need to complete that mission.

(Your dreams point you towards your mission, we’ll explore more about that in tomorrow’s post)

While this is the truth of who you are at your core, this may not always be how you experience yourself or your life.

When that is the case, healing the disconnect between your soul truth and your experience in this moment brings you back into alignment with your soul truth.

Healing is something I work on every day.

I have all these parts of me who are not in alignment with my soul truth:

  • The part of me that secretly wonders if everyone else knows something I don’t.
  • The part of me that thinks that believing in dreams is ridiculous.
  • The part of me that thinks I can never work hard enough.
  • The part of me who is working her ass off to be “good enough”.
  • The part of me who just wants to hide.

So here I am, in my bus of creativity and joy, driving along the path of dreams.

If I let any of these parts of me anywhere near the driver’s seat they turn the bus around so fast my head starts to spin.? They’ll drive me halfway to the land of Let’s Just Not Go After Our Dreams before I even know what’s happening.

It takes discipline to stay in the driver’s seat and keep the bus steered towards my dreams.

I used to think it was just easier for other people to stay positive.

Or that because I have all these doubts, that must mean I’m not actually good enough to make my dreams real.

I wondered if I was doing something wrong.? That success must just be for other people.

Before I understood how healing actually works, I didn’t even realise how many little monsters were steering my bus.? No wonder I was constantly taking steps but not really getting anywhere!

This is the really tricky part – these voices have been whispering lies to you for so long you don’t think to question them.? Listening to them is all you know.

Any thought that says that you are not 100% amazing, gifted and capable of bringing your dreams to life is a lie.

Healing is about transforming the lies and bringing yourself back into truth: you’re an absolute superstar and you can do anything.? This kind of healing is an integral part of making your dreams real because it’s how you get in touch with your power source.

If you’re working on your dreams, but it feels like you’re on a bit of a hamster wheel (you’re moving as fast as you can but not getting to where you want to be) that means more healing is needed.? You’re listening to the wrong inner voices, which are steering you in the wrong direction.

So where do Mandalas fit in?

The main reason why you listen to and act from your inner critics and limiting beliefs is because that’s what you’re used to.? It’s an established pattern.

Most people just swirl around in their established patterns for their whole lives.

But if you want to make your dream real you know you need to change the patterns.

To change the patterns you need to be aware of them, and you need to access the deeper truth beneath the pattern so you can see a new possibility and then shift into it.? Which is easier said than done.

A lot of things help with this. Mandalas are one of them.

Mandalas are particularly useful if you are a creative person who is drawn to colour and pattern, and if you like the idea of drawing and colouring.

In my How To Draw Mandalas tutorial I talk about how it’s all about your approach and the awareness you bring to the process.

While you’re drawing Mandalas, you are essentially creating patterns.? And then you move onto the next row in the Mandala and you create NEW patterns.? Shapes shift and change.? New possibilities emerge.

As you are working with creating and re-creating patterns on the page, you are in the energy of creating and re-creating patterns. It’s hard not to notice how the elements you’re working with are really fluid and they can be put together in different ways.

Shifting patterns.? Once you start to see how some patterns can shift, it opens up new ways of seeing.? If x can shift in this way, could y shift in that way?

It feels to me that this is happening subliminally beneath the surface as I’m drawing Mandalas.? And once in a while a seed germinates and pops up into consciousness as a result.

The main way how drawing mandalas helps you heal and transform your world is through connecting with intuition.

Looking at everything I said yesterday about How Drawing Mandalas Helps You Be More Intuitive, and how it’s all about being connected with our inner superpowers you can see how that is also how I am describing healing.

Being more connected to your inner truth helps you root out the lies that keep you small.? Rooting out those lies is what healing is.

Intuitive healing is, in my opinion, the most powerful kind of healing because it’s coming from exactly the part of you that you want to be more in touch with!? Any other approach to healing, where you’re working through someone else’s process or following specific steps or using certain tools is just clumsy.

What really heals you is connecting to who you really are, so allowing who you are to be steering your process (aka intuitive healing) is really the most effective way to go.

But all of this is really hard to explain with words!

That is exactly why Mandalas are a good tool for working with intuition and healing – they bypass words and bring you into the experience.

This is what we?ll be doing in The Mandala Class, which starts next Monday, September 15.

And tomorrow I?ll be blogging about the other part of this – working with Mandalas for bringing your dreams to life.

How Drawing Mandalas Helps You Heal And Transform Your World Read More »

How Drawing Mandalas Helps You Be More Intuitive

It’s Mandala Week on my blog!? Every day this week I’m posting about the magic of Mandalas, in celebration of The Mandala Class, which starts next Monday, September 15.

how drawing mandalas helps you be more intuitive

Drawing mandalas helps you be more intuitive in two ways: they make it easier to access intuitive wisdom in the moment and they help with developing and deepening your intuitive gifts over time.

Intuition is simply being able to access inner wisdom. It’s something everyone can do.

Wisdom is a soul quality. Each of us has equal and infinite access to soul qualities.

Though just because everyone has access, does not mean everyone is connected to their inner wisdom.? The beliefs you live from, your habits and practices and your level of consciousness is going to determine how blocked or open the channel is.

The more you get in touch with your self and your soul, the more intuitive you’re going to be because you’ll be living closer to your inner wisdom.

Your intuition is not a crystal ball.

For example, you usually can’t use it to divine winning lottery numbers.

Remember that listening to your intuition is about connecting to the soul quality of wisdom.? Infinite wisdom is wise!? Wiser than we usually are.

Infinite wisdom sees the bigger picture, we tend to see the smaller picture.

We see how we really do NEED to win the lottery in order to make our dream real because how the hell else are you going to make this happen?

Infinite wisdom sees how the journey to the dream is where you develop the qualities you need to live the dream.? Infinite wisdom sees that the lottery is a shortcut, and shortchanges you on growing in the ways your dream is calling on you to grow.

Infinite wisdom sees that winning the lottery isn’t going to make you as happy as you think it will.

Infinite wisdom always has your best interests at heart.

Infinite wisdom loves you.

So of course, if winning the lottery is actually the right path for you of course your intuition will nudge you to buy a ticket and supply you with the right numbers.

Soul qualities are connected.

So your infinite wisdom is coming out of a well of infinite love, infinite joy, infinite creativity, infinite possibility, infinite peace.

Intuitive development is about connecting with the part of you who is connected.

When you learn how to do this it changes everything. It means you can make decisions from a larger part of you, which means you get to live from a larger part of you. You have access to more power, creativity, love, joy and inspiration,

This is not a small thing.

I took classes in intuitive development for years before I was able to reliably use my intuition to navigate through life.? Though I don’t think it necessarily has to take years.

Ultimately, creative people are going to be able to connect to their intuitive voice most effectively through their creativity.

This is something I wished I had known sooner – it’s a bit of a shortcut.

Creating Mandalas as a way of experimenting with how to listen to your intuitive voice makes it easier to get the hang of it.

Learning to access your intuitive wisdom is a bit like learning a new language – a language based more on feelings and sensations than on words.? Art is a language that is also based more on feelings and sensations than words.

Art comes from inspiration which is a soul quality.? All soul qualities are connected.? You’re already dipping into the well for inspiration, so it’s easier to pick up some wisdom while you’re there.

And that is how drawing Mandalas helps you be more intuitive.? It’s all in the way you approach your Mandala practice.

You actually draw your way into connecting with your inner wisdom.

This is what we’ll be doing in The Mandala Class, which starts next Monday, September 15.

And tomorrow and Friday I’ll be blogging about working with Mandalas for healing and bringing your dreams to life.? Of course, this is all connected to using Mandalas for intuitive development.? Really it’s all about using your creativity and imagination to connect more fully with your soul qualities.

How Drawing Mandalas Helps You Be More Intuitive Read More »

The Magic of Mandalas Blog Hop

The Magic of Mandalas Blog Hop is a radically inspiring sharing circle, with artists from around the globe sharing the stories behind their process of creating mandalas.

Our mission: To inspire you to see new possibilities for your own creative practice.

the magic of mandalas blog hop

What is a Mandala?

For more info on Mandalas and how to create them, check out my How To Draw Mandalas (and why you want to) tutorial, which is the most popular page on my website., inspiring thousands of new people every month to start their own mandala practice.

Creating Mandalas is a way of playing with creativity and intuition and potential and accessing more of the magic within.

Mandala drawing is a big part of my staying-connected-to-my-inner-magic toolkit and so I am teaching a whole class about it, picking up where the simple tutorial ends and showing you, step-by-step, how to create mandalas that you can fall in love with and use them to access your intuitive wisdom and bring your dreams to life.

Today I’m throwing a blog hop to celebrate the magic of mandalas.

There is no “one right way” to do mandalas!? I love all mandalas and mandala-makers so I invited a whole bunch of my favourites to play with me today, to share the magic of mandalas.

I asked each artist to share a few photos and say whatever they wanted to say about their mandala-making process.

My hope is that this inspires you to discover what kind of magic YOU can find in developing your own unique mandala practice.

Wheeeeee! Mandala party! Let’s do this:

Jamie Ridler: Learning How To Draw A Mandala

Lisa Hofmann: My Year of Mandalas

Heather Plett: Making Mandalas

Effy Wild: Mandalas As A Meditative Practice

Sue O’Kieffe: Ya Gotta Have Heart

Samie Harding: Merry Mandala Magic

Hali Karla: The Magic of Mandalas

The Magic of Mandalas Blog Hop Read More »

Mandala Week!

Mandalas have been a part of my creativespiritual practice for the last fifteen years.? When I first started doing creativity workshops almost 10 years ago I often used mandalas as tools for healing and transformation.

Back then, I did less drawing, more painting and collaging.

Last summer I challenged myself to draw every day, which quickly evolved into drawing mandalas every day which has become a favourite way to slip into my creative flow, open up my intuitive connection while simultaneously calming me down and filling me up.

And I want to share the magic of it with you.

So I’m going to be posting here every day this week, sharing the magic of mandalas and how they can help you develop your intuitive voice and bring your dreams to life.

Tomorrow I’ve got something super special: a Mandala blog hop!

I wanted to make sure to include other Mandala artists and teachers in Mandala Week, to share different perspectives and stories about the magic of Mandalas.

So tomorrow we’ll hop around the web to read their stories and drool over their mandalas.

.

Wednesday I’m blogging about Mandalas and intuition.
Thursday I’m blogging about Mandalas and healing.
Friday I’m blogging about a Mandalas and bringing your dreams to life.

This is all, of course, in celebration of The Mandala Class which starts next Monday, September 15, where you’ll learn to create mandalas you’ll fall in LOVE with.

If you’re wondering what Mandalas even ARE, check out my easy-peasy Mandala tutorial.

Mandala Week! Read More »

Update 41: Creative Resistance & Showing Up Anyway

41

I’m so grateful for these weekly updates to bring me back into connection with my dream, because I’m feeling very “Do I HAVE TO keep taking steps forward? Can’t I just enjoy where I am?” lately, which is a bullshit question.? You don’t choose between taking steps and enjoying where you are.? You do both.? And I made a commitment to myself and I’m going to keep it.

Earlier this week, I was hanging out with a friend who asked how a person makes time for their creativity.

That’s the wrong question.

Almost all of the questions that people ask about their dreams is the wrong question, because the questions are so LOADED with assumptions that are not true that you can’t get through all of that not-true to find what is true.

I think of them as monster questions.? Any time you spend with them just keeps you away from having what you really want.

That’s where I am right now – tempted to dive into the monster questions.

But instead of hanging out with the monster questions, I just sat with the Creative Dream update journaling prompts.? I didn’t even answer them, I just sat with them and it all became clear.

Some parts of building a dream include showing up every day and working hard until you’re through that part.? That’s where I am right now.? I have a project that includes about a billion steps.

I want to do this project.? Everything I want to do next is built on this.

But I’m being a baby about doing the actual work.? This desire to dive into the monster questions is really just resistance to being a grown up, showing up and doing the work.

Every creativity expert agrees: you have to show up and do the work.

Amateurs wait for inspiration, professionals show up and do the work, every day.

Right now it’s hard for me, but I’m showing up anyway.

Yesterday I shared a bit from my journal about how I was working through the overwhelm.? I’m going to explore this more during next week’s Creative Genius Planning Session and find a way to find my way through this GIANT PROJECT with as little overwhelm as possible.

But beneath all of that – my dream is sparkling.? The Circle continues to grow.? I’m inspired and excited about what’s coming next.


Update 41: Creative Resistance & Showing Up Anyway Read More »

[from my journal] On Being Over Capacity

capacity
[excerpt from my journal]

I just figured out why I’ve been so cranky.

I thought it was because I have this big project that is full of tasks which are not my strength but which really must be done and it would be best for ME to do them because (long explanation there is no need to get into here).

Doing things that are not my strength is not my strength.? When I’m not in my strength then I’m not as strong.? Then everything kind of goes to shit.

But there is something more happening here, I just realised.

I am OVER CAPACITY.

I have a tank, it’s a big round circle, that’s clear inside.? All the things I am working on and thinking about and dreaming of go into the circle.? It’s best if each thing has some space around it.? Right now each thing is crammed in super crazy tight.? So tight it’s kind of hard to breath.

So no wonder I have been cranky.

And no wonder it’s impossible to respond to all of these requests I am getting even though they are not unreasonable requests – it’s just that if I add just one more thing to this circle of capacity I’ll snap for sure.

OK, so how about I have permission to not respond to any emails until Monday.

That’s better, now at least it doesn’t feel like there is a lineup of things wanting to get into the already over-crammed circle of capacity.

So now let’s take everything out of the circle and get a better look at it.

Project GIANT PROJECT: This is taking up the most space and has the sharpest edges.

Regular business stuff: This feels all squished by project GIANT PROJECT even though project GIANT PROJECT exists only to support regular business stuff and make everything all-around better.? It’s just that things won’t get all-around better until project GIANT PROJECT is all the way finished.

Personal stuff: Aww, this is kind of in a puddle at the bottom of the circle.? It’s there but it’s almost apologizing for being there. Like I should just be ignoring my personal needs because other things are yelling more loudly for my attention.

Dreams and future projects: These have made themselves small, to give project GIANT PROJECT more space.? These are small and sparkly and happy and hold so much happiness for me for the future.? They get that project GIANT PROJECT is going to support them, they’re happy to wait for now.

Holy crap it feels like a relief so have everything out of the circle and cataloged.

Now I can work with this:

Dreams and future projects: I’m going to put you into this other container.? You’re going to be on hold until the completion of project GIANT PROJECT.? Also we’ll remember that project GIANT PROJECT exists to serve and grow you.

Regular business stuff: All non-essential stuff is going into the container with the dreams and future projects.? Essential stuff is going to get a little space every day.? During next week’s Creative Genius Planning Session I’ll explore how to set this up.

Personal stuff: You don’t need to be in a puddle in the bottom!

Project GIANT PROJECT: You need to take up a bit less room and be less sharp around the edges.

Personal stuff and project GIANT PROJECT are just looking at me, they don’t know how to get back into the container of capacity in a way that is going to make everyone happy.

Let’s try something super radical here.

Personal stuff gets to have whatever space it needs.

Personal stuff goes right into the middle of the container of capacity, smiles, and stretches out.

Project GIANT PROJECT forms a ring, with soft smooth edges, around personal stuff.

I feel like I can breathe again.

I will take care of me.

I will be organised about my work.

I will work as efficiently and quickly as I can to get project GIANT PROJECT done but I won’t put myself into a state of overwhelm about it (anymore).


[from my journal] On Being Over Capacity Read More »

Update 40: On Becoming More Powerful

Update 40: On Becoming More Powerful

This week was pretty amazing.? I kept working with the dragon that I uncovered last week.

A little while ago I got this amazing new Moleskine journal that contains one (crazy long) sheet of heavyweight paper that is accordion folded into 48 pages.

intuitive healing art journal

I bought it because I thought it would be perfect for making my Treasure Maps, so they could go on and on and on discovering treasure after treasure.

But after I met this dragon last week, I decided to use this journal to write out the dragon’s story.? I’ve been spending time with it every day, for at least an hour – meeting with the dragon, finding out more about what it has to tell/teach/show me and recording it all in my art journal.

(For Creative Dream Circle members – I’m using the Un-Sticking Station to do this.? Even though the dragon is not a “stuck” it’s the same process.)

As I shared last week, this started when I met the heart and soul of my dream and it was a big bird trapped in a small cage.? After doing intuitive healing work with it, the cage dissolved and the bird turned into a dragon.

The dragon is all about helping me see things from a bigger perspective and being more powerful.

So I’m meeting with the dragon every day to integrate the energy and lessons that the dragon has for me.? I can feel things shifting inside of me that I can’ t quite understand with my head, just yet.

I love this dragon though.? I love that it’s so patient with me, and keep showing me the same things in new ways.? Because the dragon doesn’t want to just teach, show or tell me stuff – it’s here to help transform me into who I need to be next to keep growing into my bigger dreams.

Growing into a bigger and more powerful part of you is not exactly a comfortable process.? It’s amazing but it’s also awkward and vulnerable.? So as I work with every reaction that comes up for me a new piece of the story falls into place.

So I’m giving this inner process a lot of space.? This way my intuition leads me towards what is next, instead of my ego or logical mind or inner critics telling me what to do.

My ego, logical mind and inner critics are not happy about this, they do like to be in charge.

But even my ego, logical mind and inner critics think that the ideas that are coming out of this inner process are really, really good ideas – which is amazing.

I’m looking at making some changes in my business that I’m pretty excited about.? I’m also feeling more grounded and powerful in my business, which is awesome.


Update 40: On Becoming More Powerful Read More »

How is drawing mandalas different from drawing anything else?

How is drawing mandalas different from drawing anything else?

This is the number one question I’ve been getting lately.? It’s something that is hard to explain in words, because it’s not something you can understand with just your head – it’s something you need to experience in order to understand.

Drawing mandalas is not like other kinds of drawing, because drawing mandalas isn’t actually about drawing, drawing mandalas is about wholeness and connection.

Drawing mandalas is less an artistic style and more a framework for connecting with the wholeness within: with your inner wisdom and intuitive voice.

In other words: drawing mandalas is magic because YOU are magic.

When you learn how to draw mandalas through focusing on what’s happening inside of you instead of focusing on what’s happening on the page, you learn how to tap into your inner wisdom.? (Yes – this is what I’m teaching in The Mandala Class)

A lot of spiritual teachings are paradoxes – like you’ll find the answer when you stop looking for it.

Mandalas are like that.? You’re drawing, but it’s totally not about the drawing.? You’re only using the drawing as a tool for focusing your energy and attention.

The paradox is that as long as you are successfully using the drawing to focus your energy and attention you’re likely to end up drawing Mandalas that you love.? But if you focus on drawing a “nice” Mandala not only is there a good chance you won’t really adore your artwork, you also won’t get any intuitive messages from it.

And if you focus on “doing it right” you’re likely to miss the whole point.

But if you focus on what’s happening inside of you, drawing mandalas is like having creative magic and intuitive wisdom on tap, so you can turn it on any time you need some.

The framework you work with while drawing mandalas supports this beautifully.

The circle represents wholeness.

Drawing rounds around rounds, and having the circle grow on your page, represents expansion.

Repeating lines and shapes as you draw creates patterns – patterns which shift and change and come together in new ways.? Which shows you new perspectives on YOUR patterns and helps you shift the less-helpful patterns into more-helpful patterns.

As you go round and round, creating, shifting and re-creating patterns, and all the while focusing on the inner process – you journey to somewhere new in your inner world.

There is so much magic inside you and THAT is what makes drawing mandalas so amazing.

Mandala Resources:

I’ve got a pretty fantastic (and easy even for beginners)How To Draw Mandalas Tutorial.

And I’m teaching The Mandala Class online starting on September 15.

How is drawing mandalas different from drawing anything else? Read More »

Hello Overwhelm

overwhelm

Overwhelm is moving so fast I can’t really see it.? But I can tell that it feels actually kind of happy, like there are a lot of different possibilities dancing in it.

Huh, this is interesting – I feel overwhelmed, and yet overwhelm feels like dancing.? What?

Deep breath.? I just want to meet myself where I am.? I don’t have to make sense of where I am.? My feelings don’t have to make sense, they are valid just as they are.

OK, I am confused because I feel overwhelmed but overwhelm seems to feel happy.? So why can’t I just feel happy?

Overwhelm is a juggling act that is moving so fast I can’t see exactly what is happening.? I worry that things will get lost in the juggling.

Overwhelm trusts itself to handle everything.

So does that mean I don’t trust myself to handle everything?

No, I guess I don’t.? Because I am worried about dropping things.? And I’m worried about not dropping things, but exhausting myself in the process.? I’m worried about not doing my best work.? I’m worried about making the wrong decision.? I’m worried that people will be upset that I am not doing things they way that they want me to do things.

Take each of those worries, and times by the four major projects that each need to be done RIGHT NOW.? And then throw in the 2 projects that I really want to be doing.

Yeah, I see why I feel overwhelmed.

I am so curious!? Why is overwhelm happy and dancing?

(more sitting with it)

I see it more clearly now, it looks like a whirling dirvish (Sufi dancer).? This isn’t the best photo, but this is where I saw whirling dirvishes, inside an old hamman, in Istanbul:

istanbul - sultanahmet

How amazing is this?? I LOVED the whirling dirvishes.? I totally remember that night, they were not spinning out of control.? More like spinning in ecstasy.

All these projects, all these decisions, all these worries, this is what I’m dancing with right now.

The more things I am dancing with, the more potential the dance contains.? It’s a good thing.

That’s why overwhelm feels happy.? Potential and possibilities and creating wonderful new things.? Dancing new dreams into life.

Ummmm, so I don’t actually feel overwhelmed at all.

It’s just my fears and inner critics get stirred up by new things, so they are stirred up, and they made up a story about overwhelm (!) ?The purpose of the story is to slow me down and keep me where I am.

Holy crap!? My whole life I have been easily overwhelmed and I feel that starting to unravel right now.

  • I don’t actually feel overwhelmed if I do one thing at a time.
  • I don’t actually feel overwhelmed when I am trusting myself.
  • II don’t actually feel overwhelmed if I being present and emotionally honest with myself.

Most of the times when I have felt overwhelmed, really I was just believing a bullshit story that my fears and inner critics were telling me.

So what does that mean?? What do I do with this?? How does knowing this change what’s happening for me right now?

  • The many projects on my plate feel a little more fun and a little less daunting.
  • I’m remembering how much I love my work and am grateful for these projects.
  • I have more permission to take the time I need to get things done.
  • I’m remembering that things usually take less time than I think they will.? Um, except for the times when things take more time than I think they will.? The more important thing to remember here is that the timing really isn’t up to me.
  • It feels easy to approach my Creative Genius Planning Session for this week from a spirit of curiosity and trust and to find a way to make it all work.
  • I still have more questions than answers, but instead of that feeling frustrating and scary it feels like a natural part of growing and creating.? And it gets to suck and feel frustrating sometimes but that doesn’t have to throw the whole dance off it’s rhythm.
  • I trust myself to do my best.
  • My stomach isn’t all in knots anymore.

So now I’m feeling like my insides were just re-arranged, so I will stop there for tonight, and come back to this tomorrow in my Creative Genius Planning Session.

These stories I’ve been sharing, of meeting with resistance and overwhelm and procrastination are my notes from my trips to the Un-Sticking Station in the Creative Dream Circle – notes from the intuitive healing process.


Hello Overwhelm Read More »

Update 39: The Dragon

39

This week’s update is a little different than usual. First because big things happened in my inner relationship with my dream.? Second because I recorded 21 videos for the new Mandala Class and now I’m editing them all, which is more computer time than I am used to, so I need to keep this short to give myself a technology break.

Earlier this week when meeting with the heart and soul of my dream (this is in my free Give Your Dream Wings class, and I go more in-depth about how to connect with the heart and soul of your dream in Module Two of the Creative Dream Incubator, in the Creative Dream Circle) the heart and soul of my dream came to me in a totally new way.

It was a bird.

A big bird, in a small cage.

I spent a few days bringing the bird into the Un-Sticking Station in the Creative Dream Circle (where we use intuitive healing to un-stick ANYTHING that feels stuck) and learned all about the bird and the cage and what qualities I would need to dissolve the cage (creativity, love and possibility).

Once I dissolved the cage, the bird turned into a dragon.

A POWERFUL dragon who has SO MANY dreams and ideas and oozes inspiration and BIG-ness.

At first working with the dragon felt intimidating and I wanted to cry about how inept I felt around the dragon and how I don’t know how to even make space for it.? I started journaling out the dragon’s story (in my crazy amazing Japanese Album Moleskine)

And it made me feel not good enough.

So I went back to the Un-Sticking Station and worked with my not good enough feelings.

And the not ready feelings.

And the don’t know how feelings.

And then I quickly fell in love with the dragon.

It’s definitely here because I’m ready for some big new stuff and the dragon and I are working on some pretty awesome new plans.

Right now my next steps are all about spending time with the dragon, recording the dragon’s story (and learning the dragon’s story while I do this) and getting better at letting the dragon tell me how to do things.


Update 39: The Dragon Read More »