Today I was out for a run and I came across this exquisite sky. I wasn’t in a pretty place or on a pretty road. Normally I would have taken the first turn onto a side street but not this day.

On this day, I kept running towards the light.

I’m aware that we’re moving into a darker season and that light is going to become ever more precious. Moments of sunlight, the glow of candles, the sparkle of twinkie lights, the luminous moon, not to mention breakthroughs of hope, moments of lightheartedness and the shining goodness in people – all of it will matter.

This will be especially true as we start to go back inside, not just as respite from the growing cold but also as, for many of us, restrictions due to COVID-19 increase once again. It’s hard not to be discouraged. This is especially true at the 6-month mark, recognized as a time when we hit the wall in a crisis.*

So how do we move forward?

I’m not here to bring back those first wave suggestions of making the most of this pandemic (i.e. write your novel, bake bread, learn a language). Most of us are depleted – physically, emotionally, mentally and/or financially. We’ve suffered loss: the loss of loved ones, jobs, community, ceremonies, experiences, intimacy and a sense of all things normal.

I’m also not here to offer a one-size-fits-all prescription for getting through this but instead I am here to encourage you to create your own. This is the perfect time to get intentional about how you want to move through the season, to remember that you have agency in the midst of it all.

In Mindful Mondays, we start each week with the magical practice of turning imagination into reality. We begin with imagining the week we want to live and then we plan how we can bring that week into being as best we can. There will always be constraints. Creative magic happens when we bring our hopes, dreams and ideas into the tangible world anyway. We work with constraints, around constraints, despite constraints, whittle away at constraints and sometimes bust through constraints.**

So despite this pandemic, or perhaps because of it, think about how you want to intentionally create this fall. Because things remain so unpredictable, make this less about specific goals and detailed plans and more about the experience you want to create and have, the energy you want to infuse into the season. This will give you much more flexibility and the power to adapt as and when things change, while giving you a strong north star or guiding constellation.

Take It To Your Journal

I want to fill my fall with… (e.g. grace, ease, love, daring, connection, art, meaning, healing, joy, impact, hygge, learning, renewal, etc.)

Brainstorm a list of possibilities in order to find what feels just right for you. Then choose one to three to be your touchstones for fall.

Some ways I might fill my fall with ________ (fill in the blank) are…

Take each touchstone you chose and come up with ways you can bring more of that energy into your season. Remember, these are possibilities not projects. The practice of generating ideas will help you stretch into the season you are looking for. It will help you recognize opportunities for joy or daring or learning when they arise. You will have a list to choose from when you have the desire and energy to do so. You’ll also have a clarity that will provide ease in decision-making. You will know to say yes to a quiet night roasting marshmallows and no to a lively community Zoom call because you have chosen to fill your fall with “Relax”. Someone else will know to choose the Zoom call because they have chosen “Connect.”

Your touchstones are unique to you. They are a unique representation of how you want to create this fall in this moment in time.

Let this exploration keep you company for the next while. Ponder. Muse. Noodle. Talk to friends and family about the kind of season they want to create. Play with ideas of how to make that real, for yourselves and for one another. Also, keep your eye out for and celebrate when things align with your intentions, including things you didn’t expect or plan (Thank you, Universe!!)

We think of creativity as something we bring to the page, to our paints and to the dance floor, something we bring to our music, our meals and our gardens. It’s something we can bring to every aspect of our lives, including the creation of our life. All the lessons we have learned through art – dedication, patience, risk-taking, vulnerability, flexibility, bravery, honesty, connection, play, initiation, response, agency, action, discernment, the list is unending — we can draw on it all to help us create our life with intention.

May you and your loved ones be safe and well, {{ subscriber.first_name }}. May you create a magnificent fall.

If you’ve been around the studio for any length of time, you know that I believe journaling is one of the best practices for developing and sustaining your creative life. With just something to write with and something to write on, you can change your life.

That’s what happened to me when I was a grad student and living with my boyfriend of 13 years. I started writing morning pages, three pages of long-hand free-form writing prescribed by Julia Cameron in The Artist’s Way. As I wrote, I started to hear my own voice for the first time in years. I could no longer avoid the truth; I felt constricted and unhappy and I needed to do something about it. Over the next year I started my life anew. It was terrifying and heart-wrenching but laid the foundations for the life I live and love now. Telling myself the truth each and every day tuned my inner compass and guided the way.

Just me, a pen and the page and everything changed.

Free writing is just one of many ways to journal. Another approach is exploring prompts, taking a question or a sentence stem and seeing where it leads. Today I want to share with you one of my very favourite:

I am a person who…

Note, the word ‘person’ should be adjusted to the word that best represents you to you. (For example, I usually write, “I am a woman who…”) This is your journal, your voice, your truth. Take this prompt to the page and complete the sentence over and over again with what you know to be true. Just keep writing and let aspects of you pour out of your fingertips.

I am a person who is an artist at heart.
I am a person with a soft spot for cartoons.
I am a person who values freedom.
I am a person who has loved and lost.
I am a person who speaks 7 languages.
I am a person who is tougher than I look.
I am a person with a great sense of wonder.
I am a person who deserves better.
I am a person committed to a cause.

Once you’ve finished journaling, take a moment to say each of the statements to yourself. Notice what happens in your body. When you hit on something that rings pure and true, you can feel it. It’s as though this reminder, this acknowledgement of who you are, deepens the strength of your roots.

You can feel the truth in your bones.

Over the summer I started using this practice to create meaningful affirmations. When I was facing a choice or a challenge, I crafted these I-statements into talismans, words I could use to remind me of who I am and who I wanted to be. For example, when I was heading into a big meeting with the trades for our renovation knowing I was going to have to hold firm in the face of opposition…

I am a woman who speaks her mind directly and with conviction.
I am a woman who holds her own.
I am a woman who keeps her cool.
I am a woman who gets what she wants.
I am a woman who turns conversations into connection.

I would play with the options as I got ready to go until I found something that felt just right. I would walk into that meeting with those words and that conviction about who I am, about who I was actively choosing to be. It served as an internal guidance system for every interaction and decision. When the challenging conversation was at hand, I would remind myself, “I am a person who turns conversations into connection. That’s not scary. That’s what I do. That’s who I am.” Or if I had to make sure my voice was heard, I would remind myself “I am a woman who holds her own. Right. I am. That’s me and that’s what I do. I hold my own.” And then I’d do it.

That’s the extra bit of magic. Affirmations are most powerful when we believe them to be true.

When you take this approach to these “I am” statements, you have the immediate opportunity to prove them true. In the situation with the contractors, I did that by holding my own or by having conversations with the intention of connecting. Even if I managed to do it just a little bit, my mind was predisposed to look for proof of who I say I am and would measure that little bit as success.* For example…

“I am a woman who turns conversations into connection.”
“Hey, when I made that joke with the contractor, he smiled and laughed. I felt like we were just people having a conversation.”

Using these I-statement affirmations has become a regular and powerful part of my life. When I face a challenge or a tough decision, I stop and think about who I am, who I want to be. “I am a woman of integrity.” “I am a woman who embraces life.” “I am a woman who chooses love.” And then I act. Each time, I feel my roots grow deeper, I know exactly who I am and I move forward with clarity and strength.

Knowing the magic in this simple journal prompt, I offer it up to you. May it remind you of who you are and guide you in becoming exactly who you want to be.

*This is why it’s so important to let go of negative self-talk. As we say rotten things about ourselves, our minds also look for proof of truth. Finding true and positive I-statement affirmations and living into them can help displace and replace those negative words.

As creatives, we tend to be a little bit different than your average bear.

Sometimes it’s obvious. We’re the ones unloading 3 books, 5 journals and a packed pencil case at a coffee shop. We’re the ones with big jewellery, a blue streak in our hair and a unique sense of personal style.

Sometimes it’s more subtle. It shows up in our resourcefulness, our problem-solving, our insatiable curiosity. Maybe we notice a slight dissonance when we’re chatting with others at work or at a party, a way that we seem to be slightly off-centre.
Perhaps we just don’t feel the same sense of attachment or urgency about the machinations of a workaday life. We long for something else, something every bit as real but not nearly as accepted.

We long for a creative life.

And a creative life looks different for each of us. It might mean working a comfortable job and investing your earnings in art classes and writing retreats. It might mean getting up early to write poetry by candlelight. It might mean becoming a part of an improv troupe or learning how to temper chocolate or knitting blankets for preemies. It might mean working as a temp between acting gigs, fundraising so you can make your documentary or start your own business.

What your creative life looks like is up to you.

No one else. You.

That’s not to say that everyone won’t have an opinion. Everyone will. Everyone.

Some people just won’t get it. They’ll think you’re a bit of an odd duck. Others will think you are special and rare. Still others will think, “Oh, it’s lovely that you have a hobby, dear.” And many (many) will warn you against trying to make it more than that. Some will even deign to assess your “talent” and the viability of this path for you. Some will think it’s only worthwhile if it makes money – if you can do that, then pursue it, otherwise…let it go, sweetheart.

Don’t listen to any of them.

Not a one.

Live a creative life, follow a creative path, because it’s who you are. You’ve always known it. Even when you weren’t expressing it, when it was locked down deep inside, you’ve always had a creative heart.

You don’t have to make money at it for it to be worthwhile.

You don’t have to be labelled as ‘talented’ in order to be worthy.

You don’t have to prove, justify, explain or defend.

You just have to do it.

I’m not saying it will be easy. I’m saying it will be worth it. I’m saying it’s your birthright. I’m saying it’s for you.
Be yourself. Love your life. Create your work.

I, for one, believe in you.

At this time of year, so many of us are deep in reflection*. Over the past week, I’ve had a lot of discussions with people near and dear to me about what they learned from 2019 and what they are envisioning for 2020. The more people I spoke with, the more I noticed a surprising theme emerging: slow growth.

I know. It’s not sexy, is it? Where are the big hairy audacious goals? The brave and bold choices? The dramatic transformations?

We all just seem a little tired for that.

Or maybe, it’s something more unexpected – we’re actually dreaming bigger.

When Justin and I sat down on New Year’s Eve and talked about our past year, it was clearly about our home renovation. As we explored the experience, we realized that we had actually been working on this dream for over three years! There was the year we committed and then started to dream and save. Then came the year we started working with the architect and getting the city’s approval. That was also the year that we went through all of our belongings, clearing the way for a new vision and a fresh start. Then last year we packed and moved and the construction work began. Our house was taken down to the studs and then was built back up again. Now, at the beginning of our fourth year, we’re preparing to move back in and make this fresh new space into our home. It’s time for us to nest.

If I’d been aware of how long it would take, I’m not sure how I would have approached it or whether I would have at all. How many times do we walk away from a dream because it seems like it will take too long – especially as we get older!

I don’t have time to get a degree!

It’s too late to start my own business!

I’m too old to learn the violin now!

Hogwash.

There. I said it. Hogwash.

When I first read The Artist’s Way, I was shaken by something Julia Cameron said and it forever changed my perspective in this regard. I’m paraphrasing but I think you’ll get the point.

Yes, it takes a long time. Yes, it may be late. But in 5 years, you can either have 5 years of experience playing the piano or none. You choose.

And the beautiful thing, the thing that makes all the difference, is that it’s not just about the destination or even about the journey. It’s about who you become when you step into a desire or a dream. Do I want to be a woman who studies Art History or a woman who decided it was too late? Do I want to be a woman who can fumble her way through a conversation in French or a woman who wishes she learned? Do I want to be a woman who is writing a book or one who hopes to one day?

I have felt in a rush for a lot of my life. I’ve been a late bloomer and struggled with a constant state of worrying that I’ll miss out. It’s taken me a long time to realize how much I miss out on when I rush, including the chance to build big dreams, the kind of dreams that take patience and time, and the chance to live the kind of life that takes time to build.

I’m learning to not be intimidated by things that take a long time. No matter what happens, saying yes to what I dream of makes me the woman that I want to be.

Sometimes moving slow is dreaming big after all.

There’s something liminal about December.

Here in the studio, we’re wrapping up one season and preparing for the next. In a few weeks, we’ll all be moving from fall into winter (or spring into summer, if you are in the Southern Hemisphere). For me, personally, I’m completing one solar return and moving into the next with my birthday next weekend. And, of course, with our home renovation, we’re hoping to finish up the biggest project of our lives and move back home.

One of the things I love about these in-between times is how they give us a chance to shake things up, to break things up and to find new ways. When the path trudges on, day after day, with no break or disruption, it is harder to make a change. I’ve seen this with so many clients who have tucked into their regular life with devotion for years and then, when they feel the need to make a change, it seems impossible to do so because of ‘the way things are.’

You have a hand in creating the way things are!

You have been given this extraordinary gift of a creative spirit and that can show up on the page, in the studio and in your life. Yes, we all have what I call ‘given circumstances.’ These are the elemental truths of this moment in time, both limitations and blessings. What will you make of them? What will you imagine and create?

In Mindful Mondays, we start each week by imagining what we would like it to be and then we go about doing our level best to create it.

I want a week filled with creative play! How will I make it so?
I want a week with more ease! How will I invite that in?
I want to be brave this week! I will follow where that leads me!

Little by little, week by week, with our imaginings, our choices and our actions, we steer our lives in the direction or our soul. Little by little, week by week, our life aligns with our heart.

It’s easy for us to forget that we have this magic within us. We fall easily under the sway of ‘The Way It Is’ spell, believing that we are just a small being in a strong current and cannot make a difference, not even in our own lives. This is not true.

Our creativity shows us our magic every time.

Every time you knit a sock or make a meal, every time you make a painting or a collage, every time you rearrange your furniture or change your hairstyle, you have impact. With each creative act, you demonstrate your ability to change your life and your world. You experience your capacity to make something where there was nothing or to transform one thing into something new.

If you can do it on the page, on the canvas or in the kitchen, you can do it in your life.

You can bring ideas that make a difference.
You can make choices that make a difference.
You can take action that make a difference.

You have the creative capacity to make a difference in your life and in the world.

I’m here to remind you. The studio is full of classes to support you. Awaken your creative capacity and discover what’s possible. Bring your magic to the art, to the life and the world that calls you. Do it now.