I want to write an update and tell you everything that is happening with my Summer of Dreams project but I can’t.
Last night I was reading Deepak Chopra (OMG! Reading up in my loft! With the pink sparkly walls and the twinkle lights twinkling! And the cool summer breeze! Perfection!) and he talked about how our bodies need to metabolize learnings before they can become really true for us, before they can change us and our lives.
That’s what I’m doing – metabolizing.
I’m not at the part where I can explain it all clearly, I’m still marinating in it.
I’m still having the most beautiful summer, ever.? I’m still taking my dreams and my creative journals to the beach and the park.
And I’m getting a really surprising amount of work done.
This is the Creative Dream Office I set up this morning:
I’m savouring the lushness of summer and letting the summer-ness of it nourish me and my dreams.
In this video I dive into a question I received from Louise, a lovely portrait artist who has:
lost all confidence in her artwork
has a belief that she can't shake off that she can't support herself with her dream
And so she feels frozen and unsure about how to move forward with her dreams.
We've all felt this way.
We've all felt like we can't have what we really want, like we don't deserve it and it will just never happen.
Learning how to deal with this stuff is your Most Important Work, when it comes to bringing your dreams to life.
Watch it now:
This video is from 2012. The kit I mentioned is the Transform your Inner Critics, Fears and Doubts Kit.
Now (in 2014) this kit has been transformed into the Un-Sticking Station, which you get inside the Creative Dream Circle. It helps you transform ANY block you find on the path to your dream. I know that sounds crazy but it absolutely works. You have the power to shift this stuff, you just need the right tools.Click here to join the Circle today.
I also mentioned the "Top Posts For When Things Suck", here they are :
I am sharing a photo on my blog every day for the month of August, as a part of Susannah Conway?s August Break.
Today’s photo, on a sunny Monday Morning:
This week’s Creative Genius Planning Session is all about schedules, routines, rituals, containers and support systems.? All the invisible stuff that supports me in living my magic and bringing it to the world.
I know that every part of me – mind, body, spirit – feels best when I walk for at least one hour per day.
And I haven’t been walking one hour per day.
I’ve been hardly walking at all actually.? And I feel like I’ve been hardly walking at all lately and I don’t like how it feels at all.
Last night I gently asked myself why.
Why have I been driving to a coffee shop every morning when really I would love walking there?
And the answer was surprising!
It’s not that I don’t want to walk it’s that I like being in the bubble of magic that is my little red beetle.? I like being in my space, not public space.? Especially in the mornings.
For a lot of reasons, being in my own space is especially important right now.
And as soon as I knew that that was why I wasn’t walking, I knew what to do about it.
With energy work and intention setting and the-putting-on-of-headphones I created my own bubble-of-my-space to be in.
And I happily walked to get coffee this morning.? And it was perfect.
And every part of me, mind, body, spirit, are cheering YAY! WALKING!
Today’s?August Break photo: early morning sunshine.
I am sharing a photo on my blog every day for the month of August, as a part of Susannah Conway?s August Break.? A little late with today’s photo because my! blog! was! broken!
And since you are seeing this now you know that my! blog! is! fixed!
And not just fixed but moved to its new home: www.creativedreamincubator.com
I have had abccreativity.com for… I’m not sure how long!? I’m guessing 7 years.
I remember that I didn’t know what url to pick.? I discussed it with my friends at SARK‘s message board (which recently closed down) and my amazing friend Knoxy suggested ABCcreativity based on my username at the SARK forum.
And we played with how I could change the meanings of the A, B and C.? Like:
Astounding
Beautific
Courageous
Creativity
and stuff like that.? It felt good, it felt like a FIT.
At that time, I was doing live workshops and in-person spiritual counseling.
I had been doing my creativity workshops for a while, and wanted to get a website where I could post the dates of upcoming events. (I also wanted to start blogging and I did start a blog, and then deleted the whole thing later because it was embarrassing.)
At that time I had a part time job and was over-the-moon-blissed-out that I had time and space and money for all the things I wanted to do.? (This was after many years of being a starving artist)
I was not thinking about online workshops or leaving my part time job.? I was very happy right where I was.
And that’s where things stayed for a few years.
This post tells the story of when I realised that it was time to let my real work get bigger and let go of my day job and how I made that transition in 6 months.
That was just over 2 years ago.
I have grown exponentially in that time.? I know more now, so much more!?? About business and about vulnerability and courage and about how my real work is being who I am and living what I teach, not teaching what I teach.
I have grown exponentially and ABCcreativity doesn’t fit me anymore.
It hasn’t fit for some time.? When I see people refer to me online as Andrea from ABCcreativity I cringe a little because it feels off.
But I didn’t know what to do about it.
And now I do.
So, goodbye ABCcreativity. You have served me well, so well!
You were there when you were just 1 page announcing workshop dates and locations, you were there for my first (failed!) blog, you were there when I started to experiment with bringing my live workshops online and you were there when I decided to do this, for real, as my full time gig.
You’ve had about a zillion makeovers.? And tens of thousands of visitors from all over the world.
Thank you, ABCcreativity.com? I could not have done this without you.
And I’m not leaving you, you’re coming with me!
Starting a new blog would have been easy.? Moving you, with your massive files of juicy content, is why this move was difficult, that’s why I broke my blog trying to move you.
AND IT’S WORTH IT.
xo
Andrea
PS: GREAT BIG THANK YOU TO Wendy for fixing my blog and getting it settled into its new home.
I am sharing a photo on my blog every day for the month of August, as a part of Susannah Conway?s August Break.
Today I needed some quiet space amidst the excitement of moving to my new site and taking some new steps in my business and just feeling so OMGYAYOMGYAYOMGYAYack! about it all.
Desire is how your soul guides you along the path to your purpose.
I made it for my Advanced Creative Badasses in May 2012, when we were exploring Desire as our theme-of-the-month.
Then I decided to share it here because the themes and ideas are really important.? The better your relationship with Desire is, the easier it is to bring your dreams to life.
(Sorry about the funny camera angles… I didn’t notice that the camera slipped.)
Every Monday morning I take my business out for coffee with this Creative Genius Planning Session tool that I made.
This tool has served me well.? Very well.
It means for the rest of the week I can just dive into what feels most inspiring in the moment.
Everything keeps flowing towards more of what I want and love because I have this Genius Plan.
But this Monday Morning was different.
This morning I was really short on energy.? I had one post-yoga bubble of sunshiny energy and then it just kind of faded away.? And by the time I got to the coffee shop for my Monday Morning Creative Genius Planning Session I needed a Very Large Latte just to get started.
This morning I’m in a low energy kind of space.? And it feels like I need some quiet time.
And the intuitive messages I am getting from my business are that it needs some space.? To just be.
But I have this thing I’m working on.
This thing I am totally excited about and inspired about.
This Thing I Want To Share With You, Like, Right Now.
I’m not good at holding things in.? Or waiting.? When I’m inspired – I leap.
So here I am at my Monday Morning Creative Genius Planning Session:
Inspired and wanting to leap
Also tired and wanting to rest.
This is a pretty common thing for me.
There is a part of me that is pretty much always excited about something and wanting to move forward with it.
There is a part of me that pays attention to and honours the natural cycle of life and wants to rest when it’s time to rest, play when it’s time to play and work when it’s time to work.
So here is what happened when these two parts collided this morning:
(MWR = me who rests.? MWLA = me who leaps ahead)
MWLA: I’m going to put this sparkly new exciting thing out there next week, so this week we have to do all of these things to get it ready.? Plus, of course, we want to re-write all of week four for the Creative Journal Magic e-Course.
MWR: Agreed on week four for the Creative Journal Magic e-Course.? Not a re-write but edit and make a lot of changes.? That’s really the only focus for this week.? That other thing – that has to wait.? Working on that now is not in keeping with the energy of where we’re all at this week.
MWLA: But I want to do it!
MWR: We all want to do it!? How about we do it one week later though?
MWLA: A WHOLE WEEK?? YOU WANT ME TO WAIT A WHOLE WEEK?? ARRRRRGGGGHHH? NOOOOO!
MWR: What is really so bad about waiting?
MWLA: I hate waiting.? I hate resting.? I want to DO.? I made this amazing thing!? I want to share it!? OMG LET ME SHARE IT!!!!!
MWR: Yes but what about sharing it one week later?? What would actually happen if you waited one week?
MWLA: I’d have to rest this week.
MWR: And?
MWLA: Oh.? I guess I want to leap ahead because it’s more comfortable than slowing down and being present with what is.? Mmmmmmmmm.? Something here scares me.? And if I slow down it’s bound to catch up with me.
MWR: What do you think that could be?
MWLA: The usual stuff.? What if everything falls apart.? What if people don’t like me.? Blah blah blah.? I’m kind of tired of all that bullshit and I’d like to just carry on.
MWR: See, I think carrying on kind of magnifies everything.? Ignoring fears does not transform them.? It leaves them there, beneath the surface, where they can grow and wreak havoc.
MWLA: I know you’re right but I wish you weren’t.
MWR: Remember what happened earlier this month?
MWLA: Deliberately stopping and being with all of that annoying bullshit actually propelled us forward, closer into what we want.? I thought that was a one time thing, I didn’t agree to doing that all the time.
MWR: Not all the time. Only when it’s needed.
MWLA:? Arrrgh!? Do you know how annoying you are?? Only when it’s needed?? Who decides?
MWR: I think you can feel it too, that it is needed.? If it wasn’t you’d have the energy you need to go ahead and do what you want to do.? Also what about trusting in divine timing?? When has anything good ever come out of pushing ahead and doing things on your own terms instead of being in the flow?
MWLA: It could happen one of these times!? If I stop pushing.? OMG.? If I stop pushing and leaping ahead WE WILL STAGNATE.
MWR: So resting = stagnation?
MWLA: I guess not always.? But too much resting is definite stagnation.
MWR: Do you really think we are anywhere near stagnation?
MWLA: It’s just that I have all of these dreams and things I want and how will I ever get them all by resting?
MWR: How will you ever enjoy them all by not resting?
MWLA: You are so annoying!
MWR: I understand how important your creative dreams are to you.? They’re important for me too.
MWLA: We’re on the same page?? We want the same thing??? I always forget that part.? I always think you are like the grown up trying to keep me doing “The Right Thing” and keep me from having fun.
MWR: No. I don’t want to keep you from having fun.? And I don’t want to make you do stuff you don’t want to do.? But I do want to slow down and challenge your assumptions about constantly leaping ahead.? I want to be more rooted in purpose in a broader sense than you sometimes see.? We simply cannot always leap ahead just like we cannot always rest.? I have no interest in staying in the same place.? I have on interest in not making all of our dreams real.
MWLA: It’s like I’m the motor and you’re the steering wheel.
MWR: Yes!? I appreciate how your energy and enthusiasm propels us forward when that’s the right thing to do.
MWLA: And I appreciate how you’re looking out for the bigger picture and guiding us along.? We are doing amazing.? I’m sorry I make it so hard for you.? I’m just SO EXCITED, you know?
MWR: I do know.? And I’m excited too.
So it looks like I’m going to move slower than I want to this week.
It’s 11am.? Usually Monday mornings are full of action here in the Creative Magic Art Room.? But this Monday morning – all I can think about is taking a nap.
She is a visionary.? She dreams big and aims high.? She doesn’t settle.? Only the best will do.
She brings me possibility, all wrapped up in a gorgeous box with a big sparkling pink ribbon.? She shows me the best short cuts to my dreams and helps me get there faster.? She is the best Creative Dream Fairy a girl could ask for. She is why I am so good at bringing my own dreams to life, and why I am so good at helping other people bring their dreams to life.
But, of course, there’s a catch.
She doesn’t settle.? Only the best will do.? She dreams big and aims high.? And she keeps aiming higher and higher. She’s a bit of a tyrant.
And I can’t keep up.
From the time when we cook up a delicious idea together, to the time when I am finished actually making the thing real – she has carried on dreaming bigger and brighter.
And so – she’s never quite satisfied with what I do.
It’s like I’m always behind.? She always sees where it can be better.? More.? Shinier.
And then there’s her – over in the corner there. She wants to be comfortable and play small.? She wants people to like her and for things to be easy.? She weaves safety nets and if I’m not careful I can get caught up in them.
She’s annoying, but she also is so careful and thoughtful.? She really considers everything from every angle.? She really wants me to be safe.? She wants me to be ok.? She only has my best interests at heart.
And just like the Creative Dream Fairy, she is a part of me. The slow, scared part.
And she gets really agitated when she hears the Creative Dream Fairy demanding that I make things bigger, better and shiner.? And the two of them quite often end up in a big giant tug-of-war with me as the rope.
We’ve been having a big blow-up lately
It’s about the Creative Dream Incubator e-course.? My Creative Dream Fairy will not shut up about her ideas to keep growing this.? Slow Scared Me is totally freaking out.? I want the e-course to be all it can be but it is so hard to be moving faster than the slowest parts of me feel comfortable moving.
So I called a time out on the tug-of-war, and we sat down to see if we could find a way to work together.? I asked each of them what it is they need in this situation.
Creative Dream Fairy really needs to know that the show will go on.
She is afraid that Slow Scared Me is going to cancel it.? And she wants total creative control over the course content.
Slow Scared Me does want the course to go ahead but… you know… in a slower way.
In a smaller way.? She insisted that I lower the price and then not even advertise it. ? (Then later she agreed that once I’ve done it a few times we can talk about raising the price to what the Creative Dream Fairy and I think is fair, and we can advertise and spread the word)
And I saw how they could each have exactly what they wanted.
No one had to compromise.? After all this arguing and tug-of-warring it was almost funny to see that it’s actually pretty easy and straightforward for everyone’s needs to be met.
They both agree that this course is a light.? It can help people. And they want to help people.? They are willing to work together to make it happen.
And I stopped feeling like I? was caught in a tug-of-war.? And the show did go on.? We are now in the last week of the first session of the Creative Dream Incubator e-course and I am totally in love with the whole experience.
Slow Scared Me was even ok with creating a whole new website for the Creative Dream Incubator.? Creative Dream Fairy is a little frustrated about moving too slow but she’s so happy that this course is happening now.
