This one is long, but it’s important to me to share all of these details because this is how to REALLY be in the process of making a dream real and I want you (and everyone!) to have your dream.
I’ve been doing the Creative Dream Incubator for 16 years. And before that I was very involved with a New Thought center, which is a spiritual organization whose whole thing is manifesting. At that center, I saw how few people actually manifested their dreams in a grounded and lasting way and as a teacher I wanted to figure out how we could do better.
Even with all this evidence around me that… this stuff isn’t actually working for most people… I wanted to believe that there was a way we could help more people create the lives they wanted to live. Because the alternative is to blame people for “manifesting wrong”. To say that it’s their own negative thinking, fears and self doubt that are getting in the way. Which is actually what happens in those centers!
When I was a teacher at one of these organizations, I sat in rooms with other teachers where I brought up the question "What can we do to help the people who are really struggling?”
And the answer was always some form of “we have to just wait for them to get out of their own way”. The official “teaching” on that was that the length of time it takes to manifest a thing is a measure of your own disbelief. That line was always stated as though it is profound and there was no support or thought given about how you might HEAL or CHANGE your disbelief.
It was all so profoundly un-helpful to the people who struggled the most, and then were blamed for their struggle.
I think it’s more helpful to blame the APPROACH. Not to point fingers, but so that we can find a GOOD and HELPFUL ANSWER to the question: How do we help more people have more of what they want?
How do we help people ACTUALLY believe in themselves and their dreams, in such a tangible way, that they make them happen?
Seeking that answer led me to leave those organizations because the things I was learning were putting me at odds with what was happening there.
That was 16 years ago. In the time since I have found so many BETTER answers to the question of how to help more people make more dreams real more often.
Unfortunately, a big part of the answer is to go DEEPER into the feelings that come up when you TRY with your dreams.
You TRY and then…
- You fail and feel helpless…
- You get overwhelmed and feel depleted…
- It goes well and you feel terrified about what’s next…
... Whatever it is, that thing that happens - THAT is where the MAGIC is.
Going deeper and deeper into it will bring you the answers, healing, insights and energy you need to keep doing the work of building your dream.
Which means going deeper and deeper into your uncomfortable feelings which is completely counter-cultural. So we all have all these parts of us who scream at us to stop. Don’t feel it. Don’t look at it. Just be positive. Just put that dream away and lock the door and throw away the key because it brings up too many FEELINGS.
But this is the process of making a BIG dream happen. Your feelings are a part of it.
This is why I share my embarrassing and messy personal process so openly.
I am pushing back on these cultural norms because they are hurting us.
I am pushing back on these cultural norms because this is the culture that is destroying the world. The endless wars and overconsumption and violence and destruction is a part of the culture that tells you not to feel your feelings. It’s all connected.
I am pushing back on these cultural norms because this is what artists DO. We CREATE culture. We hold up a mirror. We offer new possibilities.
When I share my personal practice, I share what it means to actually to do the work to believe in yourself and believe in your dreams strong enough to not just make them real but make them sturdy enough that you can live inside them.
So… this morning I did the Hello Day practice with the soul of my business - part of the Dream Book 2026 program which is where you establish a regular practice of holding space for yourself. This is a foundational thing so that you can get into the deeper work of creative dreaming - you are holding space for the magic to happen.
I was feeling kind of all over the place - yesterday’s Un-Sticking work was intense (I’ll share more on that below).
In the meditation, the soul of the Creative Dream Incubator showed up like… kind of like a fountain. An energy that was bursting with CELEBRATION.
The soul of the Creative Dream Incubator was just so happy about the Inner Work I’ve been doing with this stuck. It didn’t care that I’ve been moving sooooo slooooow in the Outer Work this week, it is certain that this particular Inner Work IS what is needed before this Outer Work can happen… like I feel I am kind of stuck and moving so slow but the soul of the Creative Dream Incubator things I’m doing great.
Well that is reassuring!
But I showed it my projects - these meditations I have recorded and am trying to get ready to share in the membership… I really want this DONE like yesterday.
The soul of the Creative Dream Incubator says that my wanting to do them fast is the only PROBLEM. I need to slow down, and really BE WITH what I am doing in a deeper way - and that this changes how I put this stuff together which changes how helpful it is.
The soul of the Creative Dream Incubator, now an energy being in the shape of a being, puts it’s hands on it’s hips and cocks it’s head and looks at me. It’s saying “GIRL! You KNOW this! Why are you acting like you don’t already know this?!”
And I’m like… yeah I know I know this. I’m just… everything feels so raw right now, I wanted to finish these to feel like I am doing well, I want to see that external progress.
I know the internal progress is invisible but MORE IMPORTANT than the outer progress, in the long run.
And yet here I am wanting to measure my progress by the external accomplishments.
So, I am holding onto that as I go into my day. I will NOT focus on getting this stuff done ASAP, I will focus on doing the best work I can.
I feel clear and ready to get to work - for now anyway. But how I got here was an absolute MESS.
And when we avoid that mess we avoid the REAL inner progress.
So let’s talk about the mess.
Yesterday I wrote about having this huge creative block and then finding out that it wanted to heal me and give me everything.
Then I did the long (all three steps together) version of the Un-Sticking Meditation to meet with my creative block, and paused often to take more time with the questions. I spent at least an hour with it.
My creative block had so much to show me.
My creative block has MEDICINE for me.
It feels like a video game where I am bopping along my path, and this… thing… appears in front of me. A portal. An opportunity. A teaching. Bonus stars or whatever video games give out these days.
Even though yes it is ENTIRELY blocking my way, this block is not an obstacle or a problem, it’s actually an important part of the path.
And when we got into it, the creative block had a lot to say. I filled 4 pages in my BIG journal.
And then things started to shift….
I had this really clear guidance about is needed and I felt myself freeze in response.
I felt myself start to feel incapable of acting on that guidance.
I started to think “You know what? I should just lay in bed with my phone and scroll until I feel better”
And I was not referring to feeling better physically I meant until I feel brave and inspired and ready to create.
Like, I wanted to just let this frozen self be in the driver’s seat of my life for as long as she wanted to be there.
So I made a drawing of this frozen self and, keep in mind I am still in the Un-Sticking meditation. I went into that meditation to work with the creative block and now that’s gone, now I am sitting with my frozen response to the creative block’s wisdom and guidance….
It felt like I had gone into a deeper meditation from within the meditation.
And I thought maybe I should start over the meditation and go through the process with this new “stuck”, but when the next question came on it felt like the perfect question for this frozen self, so I just carried on.
I worked with that frozen self stuck and filled another 2 pages in the big journal.
I worked through SOME stuff, enough that I went into my day and did make some decent, measurable progress in the outer work.
But as the day went on, I became more upset. I was sad and angry and just… all the feels.
I was crying and I asked myself “Why are you so upset?” because I wasn’t even sure what had happened, I was just REALLY upset.
But eventually I realised what was happening.
It was that frozen self. She was melting.
That frozen self had a lot of feelings about a lot of things.
And by getting in touch with her, by getting in touch with the deeper thing beneath that creative block, I unleashed all of the feelings that had been frozen.
So I focused on validating my feelings and making space for them and figuring out how to tend to them. (This is also in the Un-Sticking Station alchemy meditations, the one called For When You’re Too Upset To Do This)
And then EVERYTHING started to make sense.
The creative block itself. The frozen self. The way I’d had a couple of REALLY GREAT WEEKS and was feeling like I was getting to these next level creative dreams….
I WAS getting to my next level creative dreams. I AM doing that. I am in process.
And a part of that work is to face next-level hidden/buried/frozen feelings.
Sometimes this work is SO no non-linear it feels TRIPPY and then all of a sudden everything snaps into place and makes sense.
But being in process is SO messy and SO scary and SO overwhelming that most people stop the process to get out of all of those big feelings.
But the only way out is through. You DO NOT get to that place where it all snaps into place and makes sense by avoiding the mess.
Having the Dream Book 2026 dreamer/planner gives you a gentler way to stay in the process. No matter where you’re at, you can do the Hello Day Energy Clearing + Intention Setting practice to just… sit with yourself and look at what you need and want. And I’ve added more Hello Day practice for different situations.
But the idea is to have a simpler way to hold space for yourself in the mess of being in the process.
Compared to Dream Book which is focused on navigating the path between where you are and where you want to be. Sometimes that path is SUCH A MESS that you want to step off it.
So, step into Dream Book 2026 instead of taking a break from dreaming altogether.
Give things a chance to settle while staying in process. Because every time you give up completely because it's too hard or too messy or feels too impossible... it gets harder to pick it back up.
You will find your way though if you keep showing up.
Messy is GOOOOOOD.
And please remember I am here! When you're not sure what to do, come to the forum or send me an email and let me know what's happening. Let's talk about and find an approach that will help.
Creative Dream Incubator Coaching Membership members:
Do a Hello Day Practice (from Dream Book 2026)
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.
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If you're not a member - find out more + join us here!
