I first did a Marketing as a Creative + Spiritual Practice call as an experiment in November 2022.
Now it's a call we do every month in Dream Book!
Since we have a call tomorrow, I'm trying to write a post about this and I can't.
So, in the spirit of Marketing as a Creative + Spiritual Practice, I will write (creative practice) about my truth (spiritual practice):
I'm super stuck today.
This is not the whole truth of who I am and where I am but it's where I am right in this moment.
I am excited about the work I have to do today!
But my heart is in KNOTS and I can't do the things I want to do.
Our practice HAVE TO include these days, too.
If you can't do Outer Work, you can do Dream Work or Inner Work.
And I feel too tangled up for Dream Work, I know Inner Work is what is needed.
So I am taking my knotted up heart into the Un-Sticking Station practice:
Oh, it's so sad. A floating, disembodied heart that's crying.
I notice we're in a room with a fireplace, so I light a fire and make my heart a cup of tea and sit it down on a soft couch.
I wrap a blanket around it. I want to offer it ALL the nurturing.
"Do you want a cookie?"
I would LOVE a cookie.
I bring my heart a cookie.
"So tell me what's going on"
Oh! (Heart starts crying again) It's all too much!
"Oh you are so right! It's ALL too much." And I get the sense that we shouldn't write about all the things in the world that are TOO MUCH we should just take a minute a FEEL it.
We take a few deep breaths together.
The knots slip out of my heart.
We can't solve anything. We can show up as best we can to create the world we want to see, but we, alone, cannot solve anything. But taking a minute to have a cookie, breath deep, and acknowledge how terrifying the world is to be in right now does help.
"OK so, now that I have given you space to un-knot, the day I had planned feels inappropriate for the space you are in"
Oh yeah for sure. I mean - I don't want to sabotage your goals and plans! AND I am where I am.
This has been a BIG topic on our group calls lately.
How to find a balance between all the inner work we need to do in order to be able to do the outer work we want to do.
And how it can feel like if we gave our inner worlds all the care and attention they need, then we literally wouldn't have the time or energy left to take care of anything in the outer world.
And how our inner worlds really do need us to have some stability and order in our outer worlds!
And this has always been true in a sense. It takes A LOT of inner work grow beyond where you, to grow towards where you want to be. But the impact of the current state of the world, on top of that, has really shifted the balance.
So. Back to me and my heart.
I want to do what you want to do. I am 100% on board.
"That is a relief to know you are on board with my plan. But I sense a but..."
But right now, today, I need the gentlest possible day. Can we remember that we ARE in a peri-menopausal situation where we should be getting our period but instead we are getting anxiety attacks?
"I want to just "deep breath" the anxiety away."
And if you could do that, it would be gone by now. This is not in your head. This is not a small problem. You know damn well peri-menopase is the time when women are the most likely to commit suicide and this is largely driven by how fucking un-supportive the whole world is about what we go through at this time. So it is IMPERATIVE that you be ultra-supportive of yourself.
(Not that I am having suicidal thoughts, my heart is just driving home a point, that this isn't some small inconvenience)
"OK I am hearing that you don't want to do what I had planned to do today. What, exactly, do you want to do today?"
Mediate + maybe nap if you fall asleep. Journal.
Oh wow that reminds me that I put into my journal from this week's journaling kit: What part of you feels too small for your dream? What does this part of you need?
I will work on those prompts. I will LIGHTLY hold onto what I wanted to do today while honouring the actual state of my heart. Take care of myself first, and then see what feels possible.
[Update: YES! After a long meditation thinking about what I want to accomplish with this project, I did start VERY gently and without any pressure did get a bunch of things done]
Our next Marketing as a Creative + Spiritual Practice call is tomorrow.
Dream Book members - get the call details here. Everyone else - join us here!
Topic: Drawing out a "dream map" of how you would love marketing to work in your business (continued from our last call where we first made a map)
Dream Book members:
Come to the forum to share your thoughts or start a conversation about whatever you're working with.
Get your next Dream Book lesson or get a weekly journaling + alchemy kit.
Go the Library of Creative Dream Alchemy to find a practice that fits for where you are or use the Dream Lab if you're not sure where to start.
Check out the calendar of upcoming calls. Make a plan to join us live or catch a replay.
