Note: This is a post about my daily practice with my Creative Dreams - I often link to the tools, courses and processes I use which are available to Dream Book members. If you're not a member, find out more + join us here.
On Fridays I do my Dream Status Report which is a series of prompts I use every week to help me have more clarity, momentum and groundedness on my path.
Now I do my reports on the printable journaling sheet instead of on the computer, which I did for YEARS. I LOVE THIS. It just feels different on paper.
This was ANOTHER amazing week.
That's two in a row, lol!
I already wrote about the last-minute retreat I went on. It was SO GOOD to get away like that.
Wandering around in the woods I had this felt sense of how POWERFUL our creativity is.
Getting away from everything helped me shift my perspective and look at some changes I want to make.
I've been doing this work full time for almost 14 years! All the thought and effort I put in to figuring out my routines and ways of doing things served me so well over the years... AND... it's time to re-evaluate. This feels exciting AND it's a lot to step back far enough to re-evaluate.
Filling in the weekly Dream Status Report journaling sheet this morning this was clear: I need to find the sweet spot between DEPTH and STRATEGY.
I am feeling called to be deeper in my creativity and deeper in my healing and deeper in the creative dream process. AND I want a clearer strategy that supports me in this.
So I am drawing that ven diagram - of depth and strategy - and exploring.
🦄⚡️Creative Dream Incubator Weekly Coaching Call is today!!
Hope to see you there - or catch the replay over the weekend! Call details + replays are here. And after the call I'll start a thread in the forum to share your plans for the week and as a space for accountability and support.
If you can't be there live but have a question or there's something you are struggling with, send me an email this morning and I'll discuss it on the call and offer you some suggestions for things to do.
Creative Dream Incubator Coaching Membership members:
Come to the forum to share your Dream Status Report 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.
Yesterday we had our monthly Marketing as a Creative + Spiritual Practice call (Membership members, get the replay here) and our conversation was delicious as always.
One person shared that she feels TOO BIG to do things in some of the ways she had been doing, she felt BIGGER than some of the things that were being offered to her and she wanted to spend time re-connecting to her BIGNESS, so she could show up in a bigger way and be receiving bigger opportunities.
It can feel disorienting to be like "I felt bigger before, why did I let myself shrink and how do I re-biggify myself?"
I think everything is cyclical and nothing is constant. We grow, we shrink, we move directions, we find ourselves in new ways at different times in our lives.
That moment of noticing "I am not quite where I wanted to be" and also "I am not where I once was" can feel so discouraging.
But it is an invitation.
I'm feeling a lot of that, in different ways.
Fourteen years ago I was exploring how to set up my work/creative life to support me in the work I wanted to do. After years of exploring and refining my routines and systems - I started to take for granted that I KNOW HOW TO DO THIS.
Well, right now I don't know.
A lot of what I learned about what really works for me... I'm just not sure it still works. I mean it works - but I want MORE.
BIGGER.
DEEPER.
I've been wanting something to change and it's been hard to identify what, exactly, it is. Or sometimes I can identify what it is, but I can't see a way to get to it.
Listening to what is calling us next is tricky work. It's a process.
But this is what I came back from the creative retreat with:
Creativity is powerful. Like WHOA POWERFUL.
And our creative genius is always bigger than the obstacles.
I know most of my obstacles right now are internal. The self doubt. The resistance. The discomfort of trying new things.
Those long-held patterns around how I show up for my creativity are hard to change... This feels especially frustrating because I set them up very intentionally and deliberately and carefully so that they would serve me.
But nothing works forever.
And I need new routines for where I am now.
It's disorienting to see what needs to change. Disappointing to see "I'm not feeling how I want to feel". Exciting to think of what could change. Exhausting to be the one who has to make the change.
So I'm just going to keep taking messy steps with this.
Creative Dream Incubator Coaching Membership 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.
This opportunity to go away for a few days came up very suddenly this weekend. It's right when the weather turned cool and I was so excited to bake and cook. I roasted veggies to make soup and even made fresh bread to eat with it (and timed it so I had it rising in the car on the way there to bake when we got there).
It felt SO GOOD to be preparing to go away and just... retreat. Roasting squash has never been this exciting before, lol!
I have needed this.
Three days AWAY from everything in an idyllic spot that reminds me that the whole world is a miracle.
The way that shifts my perspective.
A chance to take a breath and re-group.
I started hormone replacement therapy and have had a few complications but mostly... my brain and body are starting to work like they used to.
Creative energy is stirring.
All these things I've been dreaming of... it feels like time to begin.
But like... where do I start?
Taking a step back is a good place to start.
It's a log cabin in the woods overlooking a lake. (It's a 6 minute walk down to the dock)
With a screened in hot tub!
It's a 15 minute walk over to a cafe with wifi so I can come check in but mostly I am relaxing and journaling.
I've been writing and dreaming.
Getting more clear on what I want next.
Feeling like I am filling the well with magic.
It's such a miracle to be here it feels like I manifested it.
I didn't have to pay for this trip.
The timing was PERFECT as I didn't have any calls booked, and we'll be back a few hours before the next Creative Dream Incubator Coaching Membership call.
But a few people from the group who had originally booked it couldn't make it and that really sucks! They were glad someone could go at the last minute who would appreciate it, but obviously it would have been better if they could have had their trip.
So, holding space for how that sucks. How this is such a gift it is to me and it came at a cost to someone else. In the manifesting community I was a part of in the past, they would have said that those people have "stinking thinking" and I am more positive so I deserve it and they don't and this is why the universe gave it to me. I think that's such a shitty shaming judgy way to look at it. We can hold the complexities of how happy I am to be here and how much it sucks that they couldn't come. And how systemic forms of privilege and oppression are usually at the crux of what makes one person more available for the magic than other, and then use that awareness to help level the playing field because we all deserve everything.
(At the same time, energies have been shifting, not just for me. I'm seeing so many good people manifest so many good things. Project Miracle is an epic manifesting program that has been bringing in epic things for people over the last few months. Membership members, get it here. Everyone else, get it here)
Creative Dream Incubator Coaching Membership 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.
There is the part of me who believes in my dream.
And the part of me who is afraid it is impossible.
And the part of me who judges me for not already having it.
And it was feeling like these three are vying for control and the judging part was winning. Which sucked!
I drew this out a few times in a few different journals. I've just been sitting with it, not really trying to resolve it, just noticing and being with (which is a form of resolving!).
That part of me who judges me for not already having it... that's so cruel. It's a harsh inner critic who is not helpful in any way. She wants me to have it already because not having it feels, to her, like evidence that I don't deserve it and she can't tolerate the discomfort of that.
The part of me who believes in my dream is like... honey, you don't need to be all tangled up like that. Straighten yourself out. There is no part of me who is undeserving of this AND there is no reason to feel pressure to have it already.
The part of me who is afraid my dream is impossible is too scared to speak up. But is going underground to sabotage any progress because that's less painful than giving it my all, and then failing.
I need to keep the part of me who believes in my dreams FIRMLY in the leadership role. This vying for control thing is brutal.
What helps with that? DREAM WORK.
Specifically (for Creative Dream Incubator Coaching Membership members):
- Dream Lab practice
- Dream Self practice
- Daily time with Dream Book - either go to the next thing on the checklist or look through your Dream Book, re-read pages, add stuff, etc.
- Any of the Dream Work practices or classes
Creative Dream Incubator Coaching Membership 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.
This is the mantra I got in this week’s Dream Book journaling + alchemy kit: I am brave with my dreams
Use the meditation for the weekly mantras to dig in deeper to the mantra, or put your hands on your heart and take five deep slow breaths and repeat to yourself:
I am brave with my dreams.
Notice where this lands in your body, what thoughts and feelings get sparked.
There is no right or wrong way to react. But your actual thoughts and feelings can tell you something about what you need right now.
How it lands for me: I feel so proud of how brave I have been.
I writing this the day after a therapy session where my therapist was affirming how much I've grown and how brave I've been with my divorce and sorting through what I want next.
I am feeling so much OPENING UP which still feels disorienting because I hadn't been feeling CLOSED DOWN before and yet, in comparison... it's just really nice to feel this open.
My heart feels open. I feel safe enough to feel excited about being braver.
I am going to repeat this one to myself a lot this week, it feels really good.
If you want to work on this with me:
If I am brave with my dreams feels good and encouraging, hold it with you today. Look at problems, questions, stucks and obstacles through this lens and see what ideas it brings.
If it brings up some discomfort - that’s your stuff to work on today. To do that work, in the Creative Dream Incubator Coaching Membership we’ve got the un-sticking station and the library of inner work practices. If you’re not sure what practice to use, you can email me, or post in our forum, let me know what’s going on and I will make some suggestions for tools you can use.
Creative Dream Incubator Coaching Membership 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.
Note: This is a post about my daily practice with my Creative Dreams - I often link to the tools, courses and processes I use which are available to Dream Book members. If you're not a member, find out more + join us here.
On Fridays I do my Dream Status Report which is a series of prompts I use every week to help me have more clarity, momentum and groundedness on my path.
Now I do my reports on the printable journaling sheet instead of on the computer, which I did for YEARS. I LOVE THIS. It just feels different on paper.
It was an amazing week.
The Self Doubt healing circle felt so powerful and transformative. (Call details are here, registration is here if you're not in the membership)
So much is shifting in my relationship with self doubt, and the ways it was kind of buzzing beneath the surface, impacting me in ways I couldn't see, and now I can see, so now have new options for how to work with it.
I'm in a place that feels both dreamy and powerful. Not so focused on the outer work, but working on plans for what I want to do next, and mostly focused on growing into that version of me who takes the next steps.
I feel more patient with the process than I have felt in a long time, and so grateful to feel this way.
I am trusting my dream! And while I did the Dream Lab Meditation with this journaling sheet, it told me to TREAT IT LIKE IT'S REAL. I love that.
🦄⚡️Creative Dream Incubator Weekly Coaching Call is today!!
Hope to see you there - or catch the replay over the weekend! Call details + replays are here. And after the call I'll start a thread in the forum to share your plans for the week and as a space for accountability and support.
If you can't be there live but have a question or there's something you are struggling with, send me an email this morning and I'll discuss it on the call and offer you some suggestions for things to do.
Creative Dream Incubator Coaching Membership members:
Come to the forum to share your Dream Status Report 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.
I'm feeling completely stuck with my current obstacle, so I did The Obstacle Is The Way Through alchemy meditation.
First thoughts: FUCK I HATE THIS
I feel nervous and unsettled and like no I do not want to meet this obstacle, I just want it gone. I am making lots of space for my discomfort before I even get to that part in the audio, lol.
OK, it’s very nice to have my discomfort be validated.
Inviting my dream in… it’s this soft bellied round bird. Snuggly. A snuggly bird? Kind of like my cat, it sits beside me and I put my hand on it. It feels reassuring in one sense, but I also feel acutely aware of the parts of me who feel this dream is impossible, and the parts of me who judge me for feeling incapable.
I turn off the recording and just sit with that. It’s SO hard to move forward with something with these conflicting thoughts and feelings inside.
Then I made a journal page about that.
Now back to the meditation.
I was SO enjoying being in the field of creative dream alchemy that I was no longer paying attention when it got to the obstacle part. LOL hello resistance!
Backing up, coming back to invite the obstacle in.
The obstacle I am working with is this feeling/experience that NOTHING WORKS
The meditation gets so trippy here and I turn off the audio again to be with it.
My obstacle is a black box with a HUGE gravitational force. I hold onto it and I’m kind of like floating upside down, like it’s pulling me downward, and it feels like we could go downward forever while I’m in this handstand.
I try to let go but the gravitational force is still there. The box is up against my face and then starts to stretch and grow and unfurl around me, thinner but still feels like metal. Like the box is stretching out. It surrounds me and I ask what it wants and it wants to hold me here.
And I’m like What? Why?
And then I see a glitch like the scene could change, like I could build stairs out of the metal to build my way out…
Sure enough now there are tools beside me and I get the sense I could use this metal that's all around me to build a staircase that leads to where I want to be.
But WHY carry me so far down, so that I need to build a staircase?
I go back to the meditation. Now I feel SO RELIEVED to hear the parts about energy shifting from simply being with the obstacle.
Maybe my question about why the black box took me so low down isn’t relevant.
I feel like I have a lot of tools here, and a lot of metal, I can build a nice bridge.
Hmmmm, it felt like “staircase” before and now it feels like “bridge”
I love the idea of a bridge.
How can I and my obstacle work together to get to my dream?
Build a bridge.
Oh…
I mean… duh yes that’s what all of this is. Having a Creative Dream Practice builds a bridge to where you want to be.
AND
Something about it, this obstacle in particular, feels like an opportunity.
Will keep exploring.
Creative Dream Incubator Coaching Membership 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.
HAVING the dream is actually evidence of being CAPABLE of making it happen.
Your dream chose you. And it chose you NOW.
And dreaming of doing this thing is a sign that NOW IS THE TIME.
You have everything you need.
I know it won't always look or feel that way. But you DO have everything you need to take your next step, and that step leads to next and the next and the next.
HAVING the dream is actually evidence of being CAPABLE of making it happen.
Creative Dream Incubator Coaching Membership 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.
Today is Your Self Doubt Is Not Yours You Deserve To Believe In Yourself!
Call details are here for Creative Dream Incubator Coaching Members.
Or if you're not a member you can sign up just for this call here.
Holy shit you guys.
My classes are always energy workings. I do a lot of work with the energy before the actual event and the energy work ahead of the event is often difficult...
But this one has been absolutely batshit.
Self doubt has been a lifelong companion for me and I can’t even put into words how much self doubt I have overcome to be where I am today and yet….
here it still is.
And this next layer of it is just fierce.
I used to think of self doubt as being… timid, mousy, afraid to speak up about anything. A heavy foggy thing holding me back.
But this self doubt that's showing up right now is none of those things.
It’s vicious and it’s an absolute warrior.
If I had a client share this experience with me I would congratulate them because this kind of total shift in how you experience a thing means you’ve come to the next level with it.
It’s a good thing!
Next level inner work doesn’t show up until you’re ready for it.
Of course you felt like you’ve dealt with your self doubt - you HAVE dealt with your self doubt, loads of it...
AND here is this next level of the work, calling you in.
I'm so excited to explore this with you.
Creative Dream Incubator Coaching Membership 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.
This is the mantra I got in this week’s Dream Book journaling + alchemy kit: I welcome more joy + magic into my life
Use the meditation for the weekly mantras to dig in deeper to the mantra, or put your hands on your heart and take five deep slow breaths and repeat to yourself:
I welcome more joy + magic into my life.
Notice where this lands in your body, what thoughts and feelings get sparked.
There is no right or wrong way to react. But your actual thoughts and feelings can tell you something about what you need right now.
How it lands for me: a big YAAAAAASSSSSS.
Like seriously YES. I NEED THIS.
I can feel all the doors inside being flung open to let ALL the joy + magic in.
I feel the things that have been hard just... not mattering as much. And also the parts of me who are holding onto the hard stuff also feel softened by joy and magic.
It's this feeling/energy that's been growing over the last few months. I am ready to be in the BIG SHINY MAGIC. I don't think I've seen much of that since 2020. Like - bits here and there. Magic and healing and possibility are always with us... AND... now it feels like time for MORE.
And under that I think of all the things I can do to INVITE this in.
What are good habits, for welcoming more joy + magic into my life?
A lot of them are the same as good habits for my mental and physical health, good self care... but I think there's more to explore there, too.
If you want to work on this with me:
If I welcome more joy + magic into my life feels good and encouraging, hold it with you today. Look at problems, questions, stucks and obstacles through this lens and see what ideas it brings.
If it brings up some discomfort - that’s your stuff to work on today. To do that work, in the Creative Dream Incubator Coaching Membership we’ve got the un-sticking station and the library of inner work practices. If you’re not sure what practice to use, you can email me, or post in our forum, let me know what’s going on and I will make some suggestions for tools you can use.
Creative Dream Incubator Coaching Membership 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.