Creative Planning: Making space to make space for what you want + need this week.

By Andrea Schroeder / January 24, 2022 / creative entrepreneur

This week my theme is: Making space to make space for the things I want + need

The world is always coming at us, so hard, so fast, and it can be a real challenge to do this work.

This is why, for me, building HABITS + ROUTINES out of these practices is the only way.

A big part of the work of working with any dream is THIS work of making space to make space for it.

Get the free full Creative Genius Planning Sessions video (15 minute meditation + journaling class for planning your week from your most wise, brave + creative self, here)

So - what do YOU want for your wild + precious new week?

It feels kind of surreal, given the state of the world right now, and how overwhelming I have found this pandemic, and the ways it's intersected with peri-menopause, difficult parenting issues, and of living in colonialism and late-stage capitalism.

I feel deeply connected to my dreams for 2022, which helps me feel more connected to myself...

Which has helped me remember how important all of our dreams are.

Which helps me feel more optimistic for our collective future.

These are the times when artists need to get to work.

And when I say artist - I mean everyone with a vision. Everyone with a gift to share.

(That includes you)

Our work - and it doesn't matter if that is work your exchange for money or not - is needed.

ESPECIALLY now as a lot of systems are falling apart, as we face catastrophic climate change, as we come to terms with the consequences of how we have been living.

ESPECIALLY NOW we need to flood the world with our dreams + creative gifts.

Every dream is a seed.

I am adding a monthly "Let's get our shit together, together" call to Dream Book for the rest of the year.

Doing these calls in January has been invaluable.

There is something about connecting to like-minded people, even if just virtually, that makes it easier to stay in your seat, and get the work done.

I am also doing a new round of The Obstacle Is The Way Through.

Because our dreams are NEEDED and we have a lot of obstacles right now!

This is a deep alchemy process/healing circle thing we do together, to transform the obstacle into the path.

This will happen on February 10 at 1PM Central - but the replay will be VERY helpful, if you can't be there live.

And I'm adding some new Creative With Money calls!

These are not scheduled yet, but I want to do a few of them over this next year as money remains a huge obstacle for a lot of dreams.

Creative With Money is a BEAUTIFUL program I did years ago, all about bringing your creativity + power to your relationship with money. You do get that program as a bonus as soon as you join Dream Book - but the new calls will bring new energy to it, and you'll get a chance to have your own questions answered, and do the alchemy work on the exact money situation you are facing right now.

All of this will be included in your Dream Book membership.

Creative Planning: Making space to make space for what you want + need this week. Read More »

Please don’t give up

By Andrea Schroeder / January 20, 2022

A lot of people have written to me to say that they just couldn't do all of the classes I shared in the Goodbye 2021 Hello 2022 Journaling Extravaganza.

That maybe this is not the time for an extravaganza.

Maybe we should all just focus on trying to get through the day.

Here's the thing...

That's a dream.

Getting through the day is a dream.

You know I always say that your dreams are valid, needed and important...

I always say it because we have so many layers and flavours of ways that we discount our dreams.

When you say "I just want to get through the day" what you really mean is something more like:

I want to feel like myself again.
I want to remember how it feels in my body when I experience joy.
I want to feel free.
I want to have the energy to do the things I want to do.

These are all valid, needed and important dreams.

And it's easy to think "that's too small" or "my own joy isn't worth focusing on right now"

But it's wrong to think that.

Here. Now. This is where your dreams are needed.

Yes, two years into the pandemic a lot of of our dreams have shifted. But it doesn't matter what they look like on the outside.

What matters is that you listen to yourself about what you want and need right now.

What matters is that you make space for yourself, your healing, your needs, your growth - HERE. NOW.

About the journaling classes: I don't plan to take down the Goodbye 2021 Hello 2022 journaling extravaganza classes for a while. So you can still work through them and explore what you want to create for yourself in 2022.

But right now - today - I suggest you are a look this class.

It's about "figuring out the how as you go" and setting yourself up with the support you need.

Listen to it with your journal and see what ideas you can come up with to support yourself in having more of what you want, right here, right now.

You deserve the magic of embracing ALL the things you want and need.

Please don’t give up Read More »

You won’t always know what to do

By Andrea Schroeder / January 17, 2022 / creative entrepreneur

If you're a living, growing, healing, human being - you will NOT always know what to do next.

You can only always know what to do if you are always doing things you've already done before.

For those of us who want to grow, heal, and create - we have to spend a lot of time in the not knowing.

That's what my weekly planning is about this week:

Dream Book members: I just added a new in depth Creative Genius Planning Sessions Video For When You Have No Clue What To Do. (that link only works for members - if you're not a member yet, you can join us here)

Do you need to rest or do you need to get organized?

The 2 new coaching circles are ongoing.

One about DEEP REST where we get together on Zoom and REST TOGETHER (!) and also journal + talk+ figure out how to get more of the rest we on an ongoing basis.

One about GETTING ORGANIZED AF where we get together on Zoom and get our shit together, together! We'll literally DO THE THINGS together, and if you get stuck getting organized, I'll coach you through it.

Both will be included in your Dream Book membership - details are on the Dream Book page.

You won’t always know what to do Read More »

Weekly Planning As Self Care and a Manifestation Practice

By Andrea Schroeder / January 10, 2022 / creative entrepreneur

I started the weekly Creative Genius Planning because this practice each of making space for what you want, making space to listen to your wisest, most creative and most brave self, is so invaluable.

This is one of the places where our inner healing and growth become manifest as changes in our lives.

Take 15 minutes a week to play with this and you will see it.

Do you need to rest or do you need to get organized?

The 2 new coaching circles start TODAY!

One about DEEP REST where we get together on Zoom and REST TOGETHER (!) and also journal + talk+ figure out how to get more of the rest we on an ongoing basis.

They start today! And both will be included in your Dream Book membership - details are on the Dream Book page.

Weekly Planning As Self Care and a Manifestation Practice Read More »

New video: Journaling through my pandemic overwhelm

By Andrea Schroeder / January 6, 2022

My pandemic overwhelm set in again, like mental fog and a heaviness pushing down on me.... so I recorded myself working through it.

NOW is the best time to join Dream Book!

We're doing two new coaching circles this month:

Well Rested: We REST together, on Zoom! Then we journal, talk and explore how to get more of the rest you need.

Organized AF: We get our shit together, together! We do a short focusing meditation, declare our intentions for our time together - then you go DO THE THING. If you get stuck, I'll be there to coach you through it.

Join us here.

New video: Journaling through my pandemic overwhelm Read More »

Do you need to REST or do you need to GET ORGANIZED?

By Andrea Schroeder / January 4, 2022 / creative entrepreneur

Pic: Last week's planning page in the Year of Dreams 2022 Weekly Planner, Visioning Journal + Creative Dream Playbook.

Do you need to rest or do you need to get organized?

I did a live call in Dream Book on Dec 30, and half of the participants were saying they couldn't keep up with the Goodbye 2021 Hello 2022 Journaling Extravaganza and felt like they need a month to just REST before they can even think about what they want to do with their new year.

Most of the others were feeling like they wanted to dive into the new year, but weren't quite sure where to start.

Being well rested + organized are BOTH helpful, nurturing things - for your self care today and for creating the life you want to be living in the future.

Your dreams LAND different when you are deeply rested. You can HEAR your intuition different when you are deeply rested. Deep rest is the oil that keeps your dream machine humming nicely.

Your dreams GROW different when you are organized AF. It's easier to stay calm when you've got a plan you trust. It's easier to GET THNGS DONE when you have everything you need - supplies organized at your desk and a to-do list that makes you swoon.

So I am doing 2 new circles for January:

Well Rested: where we get together on Zoom and REST TOGETHER (!)

We'll start with a short restorative meditation and then you'll actually go lie down for 30 minutes then come back to finish the call - and then come back together to journal + explore + figure out how to get more of the rest you on an ongoing basis.

Organized AF: where we get together on Zoom and get our shit together, together!

We'll literally DO THE THINGS together - clean your desk, make a plan, order supplies, whatever it is you need to be READY TO GO with your dreams - and if you get stuck getting organized, I'll coach you through it.

They will start next week, both are included in your Dream Book membership.

Well Rested will happen at 3 pm (North America, Central) on Jan 12, 19 + 26.

Organized AF will happen at 3 pm (North America, Central) on Jan 10, 17, 24.

(You can use this time zone to translate from Winnipeg to your time zone)

Of course not everyone can be there live. There will be replays! And you can leave comments as you watch the replay, and I'll respond right there in the comments, or talk more in-depth about your situation in the next call.

>>> Join us here.

Do you need to REST or do you need to GET ORGANIZED? Read More »

Let’s start this week in the gentlest way possible

By Andrea Schroeder / January 3, 2022 / creative entrepreneur

I made a new Creative Genius Planning video, this one is for gently easing into a new week:

Creative Genius Planning Sessions are about doing your weekly planning from your most wise, brave and creative self.

You get to your next level with your dreams by being your next-level self, doing next-level things.

(There is a 15 minute Basic Creative Genius Planning Session right here (meditation + journaling class) for planning your amazing week.)

Do you need to rest or do you need to get organized?

I am working on 2 new circles for January!

One about DEEP REST where we get together on Zoom and REST TOGETHER (!) and also journal + talk+ figure out how to get more of the rest we on an ongoing basis.

They will start next week, both will be included in your Dream Book membership.

More details to come soon.

Let’s start this week in the gentlest way possible Read More »

2021 Year of Review: Finishing 11 years in business with the Creative Dream Incubator!

By Andrea Schroeder / December 30, 2021

I'm using the Goodbye 2021 Journal Prompts - these are the same prompts I use every year!

What did you try with your dreams in 2021? What worked? What didn’t work?

Wow. Sitting with this question I am struck by how much more GROUNDED I am with my dreams, than I ever have been before.

This is one of the BIG gifts of staying in the process over a long period of time.

(Which doesn't mean chasing a particular dream forever, but staying in the process of engaging with the healing + growth that your dreams call you towards, really LISTENING to your heart and your gut about how to live you life in alignment with your inner truth)

So this year what stands out is that I LISTENED DEEP about HOW I wanted to do my dreams. I tried all sorts of things, I experimented and failed and learned.

After a few years of not quite feeling right about how I show up with my work online, this year I kept experimenting with that and (finally!) found my groove with it again. I am feeling really good about that.

And I so glad I tried - again - to self-publish guided journals based on my courses. The Impossible Project Journals in particular are a MIRACLE and I can't wait to USE them in 2022 to make more dreams happen.

What was amazing in 2021?

Couples therapy. My husband and I grew SO MUCH this year. Living apart from my husband and the way that space has made us closer.

Solo therapy. My therapist helps me feel so much more grounded and supported. I had been meaning for a while to find a therapist, but the depressing pandemic winter made it more urgent that I get some help with my mental health, and I am so grateful for that.

Some amazing books I read - starting with My Grandmother's Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Mending of Our Bodies and Hearts by Resmaa Menakem, which I read as a part of Patti Digh's Anti-Racist book club.

Resmaa Menakem's understanding of how trauma is held in the body was eye-opening for me in a lot of different ways. This inspired me to read more - Polyvagal Exercises for Safety and Connection: 50 Client-Centered Practices by Deb Dana is another favourite.

And I started making my own underwear and period underwear! It's a revelation! I used this pattern - which is a plus size pattern designed by plus sized pattern makers, which is surprisingly unusual. Most patterns are just graded up to larger sizes, instead of drafted specifically for a larger body. The fit is a dream - I have literally never had such comfortable underwear and I am never going back.

(One of the resources you get with the pattern is a series of videos where they walk you through the whole thing, including which materials to use for the period underwear.)

What are you most grateful for about 2021?

This new understanding of how my nervous system works, and how the nervous system is a plastic as the brain - whoa.

This has sparked a LOT of the amazing things of 2021, mostly about how I learned to take better care of myself.

I'm 47. Peri-menopausal symptoms have been creeping in over time, and this year I feel like I got MUCH better tools for all of it. Another book I enjoyed this year: What Fresh Hell Is This?: Perimenopause, Menopause, Other Indignities, and You by Heather Corinna.

I feel SO optimistic about the future.

What did you do in 2021 that you’re proud of?

The journals!

Also, that after several years of pulling back with marketing and visibility in general - this year I went back in.

I am IMMENSELY grateful and proud for how I've grown in these last few years. I often look back on my older work and cringe.

What did you learn/discover that you want to bring into 2022?

I loved the live Creative Genius Planning Sessions I was doing on Monday mornings. I love how I gave myself space to become comfortable with doing my work in public once again!

Creative Genius Planning Sessions are shifting format, but I do want to do *something* live in 2022.

I also re-organized my project management and planning process and I AM IN LOVE WITH IT. I have checklists within checklists within checklists and reminder alarms set for everywhere where they are helpful. I am so excited about how much easier this will make things in 2022.

I feel like this helps me go into 2022 with a much firmer foundation for my dreams.

What was hard in 2021?

Well. Pandemic. We were especially hard hit in the spring, which was demoralizing after a winter of shutdowns. Hospitals being overwhelmed for months on end. My husband having health issues, and how much more complicated it was to get tests + treatment when the hospitals are overwhelmed with Covid patients.

A whole bunch of things in the "things I don't share online" category were hard this year, and remain hard right now but are getting better at least.

Work though - work didn't feel hard. My work is such a source of healing/support/regeneration.

What do you want to leave behind in 2021?

People pleasing! My therapist helped me see a few of the places where I was lying to myself about why I was doing what I was doing, in relationships with difficult people.

While I have managed to rid myself off a LOT of people pleasing over the years, the more difficult the other people get, the more I tend to lean into people pleasing to try to calm the situation.

Now instead I am letting the situation be not-calm, and basically leaving people to the chaos that they created, and not trying to fix it.

So liberating.

Definitely would love to leave all traces of this pattern behind in 2021.

(Hey Dream Book members - remember the Goodbye 2021 Alchemy Releasing Ceremony to help with this part)

How did your dreams grow in 2021?

The guided journals got published, but I think that's about it for VISIBLE growth this year.

Mostly I am feeling an inner re-aligning type of growth.

It feels like my dreams grew DEEPER.

How did YOU grow in 2021? What gifts and strengths do you have now that you didn’t have in 2020?

I grew into myself. I am more grounded. I hold my own space much better, I am much slower to abandon myself.

I am growing into my new dreams.

2020 me was so overwhelmed from the pandemic.

2021 me learned how to focus on self care and GROW in a pandemic.

(Here's hoping 2022 me can be mostly pandemic-free!)

It's hard to know sometimes: is it peri-menopause or is it pandemic overwhelm? Whatever it is, I have a lot of new tools that are working for me.

Is there anything you need to do to complete your year? Any unfinished business that you’d like to finish, and leave behind as you move into 2022?

I want to make a list of my project ideas for 2022, for the Creative Dream Incubator. It's not urgent, but I do feel like I'd like to enter 2022 with that list already in hand.

It does feel like the pandemic has gotten in my way the last few years creatively, but I feel ready now to step confidently and excitedly into my second decade with the Creative Dream Incubator.

I'm more in love with Dream Book than I have ever been. Personally, I am re-starting the program in January, for support for how I want my work and business to grow over the next ten years.

Right now I am really looking forward to making some great snacks, and ringing in the new year watching movies with the kids.

2021 Year of Review: Finishing 11 years in business with the Creative Dream Incubator! Read More »

New Year Journaling + Meditation Class: What’s the plan? How will you make your goals + dreams happen in 2022?

By Andrea Schroeder / December 27, 2021

This is a part of the Goodbye 2021 Hello 2022 Journaling EXTRAVAGANZA of mini-classes, happening all month long.

Get all the details here.

This is a journaling + meditation class for gathering up your ideas and forming a plan to create 2022 as your best year yet.

So have your journal and pen handy and let's do this!

A quiet interrupted space is great - but not necessary. Work with what you've got - don't waste a bunch of time "waiting for the right time" just do it!

In Goodbye 2021 Hello 2022 we are working with the journaling prompts from the Year of Dreams Weekly Planner, Visioning Journal and Creative Dream Playbook.

Get your copy here.

Goodbye 2021 Hello 2022 is sponsored by Dream Book!

Find out more + join us here.

New Year Journaling + Meditation Class: What’s the plan? How will you make your goals + dreams happen in 2022? Read More »

New Year Journaling + Meditation Class: How do you want to move towards your long term goals in 2022?

By Andrea Schroeder / December 23, 2021

This is a part of the Goodbye 2021 Hello 2022 Journaling EXTRAVAGANZA of mini-classes, happening all month long.

Get all the details here.

This is a journaling + meditation class for exploring how your goals and plans for 2022 fit in with your long term dreams.

So have your journal and pen handy and let's do this!

A quiet interrupted space is great - but not necessary. Work with what you've got - don't waste a bunch of time "waiting for the right time" just do it!

In Goodbye 2021 Hello 2022 we are working with the journaling prompts from the Year of Dreams Weekly Planner, Visioning Journal and Creative Dream Playbook.

Get your copy here.

Goodbye 2021 Hello 2022 is sponsored by Dream Book!

Find out more + join us here.

Dream Book members also get The Biggest Dream mini-class.

In case you're not sure WHAT your bigger dreams are, this is a meditation for exploring that.

Get it here.

New Year Journaling + Meditation Class: How do you want to move towards your long term goals in 2022? Read More »

New Year Journaling + Meditation Class: Your Goals + Dreams for 2022

By Andrea Schroeder / December 21, 2021

This is a part of the Goodbye 2021 Hello 2022 Journaling EXTRAVAGANZA of mini-classes, happening all month long.

Get all the details here.

A journaling + meditation class to get SPECIFIC about what you want for:

Home + Lifestyle ✨Relationships + Community ✨ Work + Money ✨ Adventure + Play ✨ Self Care + Inner Growth

So have your journal and pen handy and let's do this!

A quiet interrupted space is great - but not necessary. Work with what you've got - don't waste a bunch of time "waiting for the right time" just do it!

In Goodbye 2021 Hello 2022 we are working with the journaling prompts from the Year of Dreams Weekly Planner, Visioning Journal and Creative Dream Playbook.

Get your copy here.

Goodbye 2021 Hello 2022 is sponsored by Dream Book!

Find out more + join us here.

New Year Journaling + Meditation Class: Your Goals + Dreams for 2022 Read More »

This is the path to a better world

By Andrea Schroeder / December 20, 2021

Photo by Sparks Reliance on Unsplash

We're all plugged into systems - ways of being, ways of thinking, ways of feeling, ways of doing - that are not in alignment with our values.

This is just a part of what it means to be alive at this time.

There's the dream that we can just rise above. Just don't focus on the hard stuff. Be happy and free.

This is what the Life Your Best Life Industry has been selling for so long. The idea that we can change our thinking about ourselves, go after our dreams, and that this contributes to making the world better.

And I have felt that way in the past.

Feeling good about making money and then using that money to support the things I want to see in the world.

Feeling like that's somehow enough to transform entrenched systems of patriarchy, white supremacy and colonialism in our capitalist society. And not learning enough about how these systems actually function to know, for sure, what it would take to transform them.

AT THE SAME TIME

Of course I believe that every dream made real contributes to making the world better.

HOWEVER

When talk about dreams, I am talking about something very specific. I am talking to listening to your inner truth. FOLLOWING your inner truth. Living your values, in a meaningful way.

I'm not talking about winning the lottery and buying a Greek island and living happily ever after. Or building a 6 figure online business in 3 months.

I am talking about something much deeper - which of course can result in big businesses and Greek islands but more often is not so flashy.

The work it takes to hear your heart's desires and act on them is the work that grows you.

No one like to grow up. No one likes to take responsibility. Everyone likes to avoid discomfort.

And - in general - this Live Your Best Life Industry is going shallow when we need to go deep. Spiritual by-pass instead of growing up.

Manifesting big bucks instead of sitting honestly with our feelings, our behaviour, the state of the world and what we might be able to contribute to improving it.

We need to do better.

Because you are a part of the earth. So your true heart's desires are not going to contribute to climate collapse.

Living your values would have you actively supporting a livable future for everyone.

You are a part of humanity. So your true heart's desires don't contribute to the oppression of other humans.

Living your values would have you caring about everyone having a good life, not just you and yours. Living your values would have you looking for ways to show up and BE the change.

But we're so tangled up in colonial ways of thinking, in unconscious white supremacy, in capitalism, that these systems are infecting our dreams and making us feel discouraged and like the idea that a society where EVERYONE has EVERYTHING they need is preposterous.

It's not.

We need to get free. Truly free.

Not by thinking positive and letting go of everything that holds us back.

By making space to really hear our deepest inner truth, to really hear what our hearts are calling us towards - beyond all the ways we've been brainwashed by colonization and capitalism - and then getting our lives into alignment with our deepest inner truth.

AKA by creative dreaming.

This is one of the paths that lead to a better world.

This is the path to a better world Read More »

Two new dream projects launched into the world!

By Andrea Schroeder / December 17, 2021

This week I shared two new features on my public blog, wanted to share them in here too:

Tery started an art + writing Insta Story project about leaving an abusive relationship. Read about it here.

Jodie created a new online program, Inner Insight, a step-by-step personal change process. Read about it here.

If you're working on something cool, I'd love to feature you too. Send me an email about your project.

Community guidelines

Two new dream projects launched into the world! Read More »

Member Feature: Jodie Benveniste’s Inner Insight

By Andrea Schroeder / December 17, 2021

I love to share the amazing things the members of Dream Book are doing!

Meet Jodie Beneviste and her new program, Inner Insight:

Inner Insight is a step-by-step personal change process that's powerful and empowering.

It teaches a deeper approach to self-understanding, a step-by-step personal change process and a new way of being in the world.

It's grounded in the evidence-based therapy Internal Family Systems.

It recognises that the more stresses, responsibilities and demands we're facing in our external world, the more attention we need to pay to our inner world.

It also offers a way to, quite naturally, access more of our innate creativity, confidence, courage and compassion.

If you've had a year (or two) and you're feeling stressed, overwhelmed, anxious, unmotivated or quick to anger, and that's not how or who you want to be, or you’re looking for a way to work through creative blocks or access more of your creative energy, then let me introduce you to the…

...Inner Insight Program

You can try it for free right here.

Member Feature: Jodie Benveniste’s Inner Insight Read More »

Feature: Tery Brouwer Her Story Insta Story project on healing from domestic abuse

By Andrea Schroeder / December 16, 2021

Tery used the You Can Do This Guided Journal to help her figure out this project idea she had, and now she's doing it!

In Tery's words:

After leaving my abusive relationship, I needed to heal and the best way for me was to share my story.

I wrote an article about my experience with Domestic Violence, but it didn't go over well. So, I let it go.

Recently, I've been journaling about an awareness project and started writing again.

I decided to bring back my story but in a different way. I revamped and edited my work and created an "Insta Storybook!"

Being a writer, I wanted to share my story and not sell it. So, I created and designed an Insta Storybook Project.

Once a day, I share my story, one page at a time (with a picture), and share it over at Instagram. Sharing it once a day gives the readers time to read it: as a way to showcase each page in a timely manner. I created a "Book Cover" and in the end, I will create a back cover just like an actual book. The title of the Insta Storybook is called, "Behind Closed Doors," and I refer to it as "Her Story." Sharing our story allows others to not feel so alone because, in the end, our story is theirs."

Check it out here, on Tery's instagram page. Click on the "her story" featured story to see it.

Feature: Tery Brouwer Her Story Insta Story project on healing from domestic abuse Read More »