Hearing the stories of people who are pursuing their dreams is one of the things I find most inspiring in the world. I'm lucky, I get to hear these stories every day in the Creative Dream Circle, my Online Incubator for Dreamers, Artists, Healers, Coaches and World-Changers.
So I'm sharing some of their stories out here!
Today's spotlight is: Briana Goetzen, MA, founder of Orange Spiral Arts.
Briana is an expressive arts facilitator living in the Twin Cities (Minneapolis/St. Paul) area of Minnesota, in the USA.
As an artist, avid photographer, visual journal keeper, and deep conversation enthusiast, Briana supports people who desire to fully express themselves in mind, body, and spirit.
She helps people re-connect to the inner artist and divine inner wisdom that is inherently theirs.
Check out Briana's work here.
I asked Briana to tell me about her project and this is what she said:
My dream for a long, long time has been to teach/facilitate mixed media art workshops for adults. My personal mission is to inspire the inner creativity in others. I believe we are all born creative, and somehow along the way, many adults have lost touch with this part of themselves.
Some adults simply have not had the opportunity to explore their own creativity.
I also believe that being in touch with our inner creativity allows us to access our innate inner wisdom. Often this wisdom helps us grow, change, and transform our lives for the better.
I have been developing in person workshops and online classes off and on for the past fifteen years. Now that my son is "school age," I have been focusing full time on developing more online classes that are intended to inspire and spark your expressive, intuitive self.
In September 2019, I have released two online classes. The first is called Introduction to Abstract Alcohol Ink Art.
The second is what I call my "signature course", which is Liquid Watercolor Mandalas.
Then I asked: What were the biggest obstacles you faced with this?
And I asked: How did you work through the obstacles?
Check out Briana's work here:
Blog: orangespiralarts.com
Email: orangespiralarts@gmail.com
Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/shop/OrangeSpiralArts
Facebook: facebook.com/OrangeSpiralArts
Flickr: flickr.com/photos/brianacreates/
Instagram: @orangespiralarts
Pinterest: pinterest.com/brianacreates/
Twitter: twitter.com/BrianaCreates/
Hearing the stories of people who are pursuing their dreams is one of the things I find most inspiring in the world. I'm lucky, I get to hear these stories every day in the Creative Dream Circle, my Online Incubator for Dreamers, Artists, Healers, Coaches and World-Changers.
So I'm sharing some of their stories out here!
Today's spotlight is: Ricia Fleming, who has been working since forever to understand and heal those intangible interpersonal traumas from childhood – traumas like emotional neglect, unattunment, unempathic overinvolvement, or being used as a trophy to build up a parent’s status -- subtle traumas that fool us into thinking we have nothing to be upset about.
She’s writing a book to share with us what she’s discovered about validating and healing these subtle traumas.
Check out Ricia's work here:
Check out Ricia's work here:
If you want to get in touch with Ricia you can email her at Ricia [@] RiciaFleming.com
Hearing the stories of people who are pursuing their dreams is one of the things I find most inspiring in the world. I'm lucky, I get to hear these stories every day in the Creative Dream Circle, my Online Incubator for Artists, Healers, Coaches and World-Changers.
So I'm sharing some of their stories out here! (Circle members: if you missed my invitation to participate in this just send me an email I would love to spotlight ALL of you!)
Our first spotlight is: Angel Sullivan and the amazing business she's created: Small Biz Organization
Check Angel out here:
SmallBizOrganization.com * Facebook * Pinterest
Check Angel out here:
These are the principles behind everything I teach.
No one can follow all of these principles all of the time, that's not even the point.
The point is to be mindful of them, and do your best to be aware of when you're going against one of the principles.
You can usually tell that you are doing this because you'll find that you're stalled out on the path to your dream.
You don't have to feel ready.
The conditions in your life will never be ideal for your dreams - that's kind of the whole point of a dream. It wants to CHANGE your life, and to do that you have to start where you are today.
Hopefully it helps to remember that your next step is both smaller and simpler than you think. You don't have to do some big dramatic thing, your next step is a thing that you absolutely can do sometime within the next week.
That's easy to say and hard to do. Learning how to act before you feel ready is one of the things we work on in Creative Dream Alchemy - it's about letting your intuitive wisdom speak to you more loudly than your fear. It's your fear who thinks you're not ready, your inner wisdom knows that this is what you're here to do.
The truth is, you are strong, smart, creative, and brave enough to do this. If you weren't your dream wouldn't be calling. You are already ready for this journey since the path that leads to your dream runs right under your feet, exactly where you are right now. Your soul set it up this way.
Your Dream is how your soul calls you towards your true self.
This is why your dream feels so magical and special - not because changing your life on the outside will instantly make you happy, but because it's about growing into who you were really meant to be. Your dream leads to your most authentic, fulfilling, and purposeful way of being.
This means your dream lives inside of you, not outside.
So you don't chase after it. And you don't sit around waiting for it to come to you. You open yourself up to it and explore how to live in tune with it, right here right now, no matter what’s happening in your external world.Your dream is waiting for you to come true.
Your True Self is creative, powerful, and wise.
You won't always feelcreative, powerful, and wise. That's ok! It's ok to feel doubt and fear - those feelings are actually a part of the process, but we'll get to that a bit later.
This means that you already have everything you need to make your dream real. It means that your answers are inside you, not outside.
That doesn't mean you can wave your magic wand and *pouf* the dream is real in this instant. And it certainly doesn't mean there isn't stuff for you to learn along the way! It just means that you have what you need to do this - one baby step at a time.
Your answers live inside you.
Your dream lives inside you.
Your power lives inside you.
All the magic is inside you, including all of the answers you need as you navigate your path. You got this.
You build the path by walking.
There is no such thing as "waiting for the right time". That's just a bullshit procrastination technique.
Your build the path by walking means you take the little tiny baby step that is in front of you to take, and that step builds the next step on the path.You get creative and curious about your dream. Your try stuff. You make mistakes. You learn along the way. You play with your dream.
You can do all of these things from right where you are, right now.
Yes I know there are obstacles that you face right now that make it hard to do this, but those obstacles are a part of the path.
You live in a world that is hostile to dreams and places obstacles in your way. Facing and overcoming those obstacles is your hero’s journey. I mean what would a hero's journey be like without a few fire-breathing dragons to battle? You can’t skip this part or wait for the obstacles to clear themselves.
Just start moving, there is no such thing as "right way" or "wrong way" when it comes to dreams you're just either moving or you're not.
Honour your process as it is, not as you wish it was or think it should be.
You are never behind, you are never doing it wrong - you are always exactly in the centre of your unique process. It's ok if it gets messy. It's ok if parts of it are hard. It's even ok if parts of your path terrify you!
This is a hard one because we all tend to want to judge and then push away things that we think are wrong and we have to work at creating a new way of looking at this. Also you live in a world where you are compared to other people as though there is one yardstick with which to measure us all! You have been encouraged to conform to the norm instead of claim your own unique ways of being in the world.
On top of all of that, the structures of oppression that exist in our world that make it so hard to make a dream real do not target each of us in the same way. Some people do have it easier. Some people do have it harder. This is a fact that we all have to deal with in varying ways.It's not fair that the outer world make it harder for some to do this work.
All I know is that when we bring the magic of our creativity and inner purpose to the external obstacles we face - we can start to change the world.
So when you feel like everything is too hard, or you're falling behind, or you're doing it wrong, or that this stuff works for other people but not for you so maybe you should give up - that means you're caught in your own stuff(fears, limiting beliefs, inner critics, etc) and you need to take a look at that stuff. There is always a way through.
Feel ALL of the feelings that come up for you on the path to your dream.
When you honour your process *exactly as it is* then you bring yourself right into your discomfort where you have the opportunity to transform your own inner patterns and get to create totally new ones. This is where the magic happens.
This is where you look that fire-breathing dragon right in the eye and let it know that it can't stop you.
We all have a tendency to want to turn away from the uncomfortable feelings. In Creative Dream Alchemy you are given tools, encouragement and support to meet how you're feeling: frustrated, scared, angry, overwhelmed.
So instead of turning away you can dig in and bring healing to this part of you who is upset. This is the actual work of liberating yourself from the things that hold you back.
This is the transformation of consciousness and this is the whole point of Creative Dream Alchemy. So when you hold back from your uncomfortable feelings you're actually holding back from receiving the gift you need in this moment.
I know it feels counter-intuitive to follow your feelings of self-doubt, fear or frustration towards liberation, magic and dreams come true. But when you make space to feel how you actually feel you become more connected to your True Self. This means you become more connected to your inner wisdom and the inner gifts that are going to help you make your dream real.
Your logical self does NOT know the way. It's your heart that will lead you there.
Your dream will grow you.
Your dream lives inside of you and once you open yourself up to it it’s going to help you grow towards your True Self. This is beautiful and amazing and contains everything you want - but it’s also going to get uncomfortable, and maybe even downright terrifying, at times. This is just the nature of growth!
Do you think a seed is happy to be split open so the plant can burst out of it?
I know I've mentioned this a few times already but it bears repeating because of just how hard we humans work to try to avoid discomfort (even though avoiding discomfort is actually very uncomfortable!). Growing pains are real and the end result will be worth it.
Remembering that your dream will grow you means you can’t see everything clearly from your current (smaller) perspective while you're being grown. Keep your mind as open as possible. Your dream will surprise you along the way.
It takes the time it takes.
Creative Dream Alchemy isn't about speeding up the process of manifestation. It's about creating a deep alignment between your conscious self and your True Self - so that the light of your inner truth can shine out to illuminate your whole life.
And when you follow these principles you'll find that there are so many gifts and riches along the way it doesn't matter if you never get to the finish line.
I mean of course there is no finish line because Creative Dream Alchemy takes you on a journey of self-discovery, magic and liberation. This journey brings you to somewhere that you likely can't even imagine right now.And the longer you are on the path the more it becomes about the process of navigating your life by your own internal wisdom and finding joy in the process instead of focusing on the external outcomes.
Ironically, that's also when the external outcomes you want tend to start to come to you more easily.
We've been exploring some tough topics this week in Creative Dreaming VS The End Of The World POP-UP PODCAST and Video Series.
So I wanted to end with a special treat for you: an energy clearing meditation.
This is the kind of work we ALL need to be doing more of right now.
Watch it here:
Thanks so much for joining me for the Creative Dreaming vs The End Of The World Pop Up Podcast!
This the final episode for this season - I may pop back up with a new podcast on a new topic 🙂
Join the Creative Dream Circle here - to get access to ALL of my classes plus ongoing masterminds and monthly live alchemy classes and coaching calls.
All week we've been exploring Creative Dreaming VS The End Of The World and all of the unique issues we are facing at this time.
This is hard stuff.
BUT.
We can GROW THROUGH our challenges and that's what the world is asking of us right now.
So for today's episode we're focusing on moving THROUGH this in a powerful way.
Watch it here:
I'm sharing a new episode every day this week.
So far we have talked about: feeling like you don't deserve to pursue your dreams when there is so much upheaval in the world, taking better care of yourself when you're overwhelmed by the news and how to handle the overwhelm we're feeling so we can act more powerfully.
Tomorrow I'll be sharing an alchemy meditation for Energy Clearing.
We are all processing A LOT right now. Of course we're more overwhelmed!
There are terrifying images on the news every day. All the climate scientists in the world agree that we are facing catastrophic climate change and yet none of our political systems seem to be able to respond quickly (yet!).
We can't just stick our heads in the sand about all of this and yet trying to stay informed is incredibly overwhelming.
So what do we do? That's what today's episode is all about:
Watch it here:
I'm sharing a new episode every day this week.
So far we have talked about feeling like you don't deserve to pursue your dreams when there is so much upheaval in the world, and taking better care of yourself when you're overwhelmed by the news.
Today we start to dig a little deeper into what you can do to respond creatively to the problems in the world, and how this is connected to your dream.
Next we'll be exploring:
- Becoming an effective Change-Maker
- Alchemy meditation for Energy Clearing
The world is very stressful right now and stress does make it hard to create!
A lot of us have been feeling just flattened, which is a totally normal reaction when the world is falling apart.
But... I would say that the world needs your creative work, now more than ever. And certainly YOU need your creative work, because your creativity is a powerful healing force.
So we've got to find ways to keep the creativity flowing. That's what today's episode of Creative Dreaming VS The End Of The World POP UP PODCAST and Video Series is about.
Watch it here:
I'll be sharing a new episode every day this week.
Yesterday we talked about feeling like you don't deserve to pursue your dreams when there is so much upheaval in the world. For the rest of the week we'll be exploring:
- I'm more easily overwhelmed than usual
- Becoming an effective Change-Maker
- Alchemy meditation for Energy Clearing
One thing I forgot to mention in this episode is that doing the things you can do make a difference DOES help you be less overwhelmed.
For every problem we are facing in the world, there are already SOLUTIONS that exist. There are already people working on those solutions.
Where can you get involved and be a part of the change you want to see?
Donating money, attending marches, volunteering, educating yourself. There is *SO MUCH* we can do to be a part of the change, and I know I feel MUCH BETTER when I feel good about how I am being a part of the solution.
This is a question I've been seeing a lot of artists, coaches, healers and would-be world-changers asking... do I deserve to keep pursing my dreams right now?
It feels... icky.
We don't want to put our heads in the sand about what's happening in the world and keep skipping happily towards our dreams... but we also don't want to sacrifice everything trying to singlehandedly save the world, right?
So how do we find a balance?
That's what our first episode in the Creative Dreaming vs The End Of The World Pop-Up Podcast And Video Series is all about.
Watch it now:
I'll be sharing a new episode every day this week.
These are the rest of the topics we'll be exploring:
- I'm so stressed out by the news that I have no energy to create
- I'm more easily overwhelmed than usual
- Becoming an effective Change-Maker
- Alchemy meditation for Energy Clearing
A few years ago, I used to wake up and literally JUMP out of bed, excited to go on new creative adventures.
These days - I tend to wake up with a mild-to-heavy sense of dread.
It's very disorienting.
Why would I feel this way when I have so much that I am happy about in my life?
Well look at the news.
There is so much chaos in the world.
Of course it's hard to process all of this and still muster up enthusiasm for our dreams.
We are living in unprecedented times.
The climate changes that are happening now are enough to scare anyone.
There is also a cultural revolution/awakening happening. We're waking up to the realities of racism, sexism, ableism, homophobia, transphobia... all the destructive ways that power is wielded in our world.
Personally, I've been learning more about colonialism and Canadian history from an Indigenous perspective and struggling with what it really means to live on land that was stolen while those it was stolen from are being pushed down by systemic racism.
This is what radical transformation looks like.
Waking up.
Seeing from a new perspective.
Using that new perspective to really SEE where you've been messing up so the you can do better.
Taking brave steps and living your new truth.
Being in it is MESSY.
We're all feeling it.
I mean - how do you keep waking up every morning to pursue your dreams when the world is falling apart around you?
That's the question I'm seeing asked everywhere these days.
This is what I do:
I make space for the dread I feel when I wake up in the morning.
I do NOT pretend it's not there, slap on a happy face and go about my day - which is what I want to do most mornings.
I sit with it. I process it.
Like I teach in Creative Dream Alchemy - you use what you've got to create what you want.
I wake up with dread and process it to create the clarity and inspiration I need to be able to show up in the most authentic and helpful way I can.
This is all we can do.
SHOW UP in the most authentic and helpful way possible.
I believe that your dreams will always lead you towards this, because they are always leading you towards your True Self.
And I believe that it's more important than ever to really process our feelings so we stop being so tangled up in our stuff that we can't show up in the most helpful and authentic way possible.
I have a LOT to say about this.
So I recorded a POP UP PODCAST and video series about it!!
Creative Dreaming VS The End Of The World is a 5 episode podcast + video series to explore all of this in much more depth.
Overwhelm. Self care. Not knowing how to respond to what's happening.
Not feeling like you DESERVE to have a dream when there is so much shit in the world.
We're going to explore it all.
It starts Monday, September 23 right here on my blog.