You’re ready to create what’s inside you. Finally, you’re at a place where you can devote yourself to your creativity.
At Original Impulse, you’ve found a safe haven to dedicate yourself to projects that matter to you. Through online workshops, creativity retreats, our long-term creativity apprenticeship and customized one:one coaching, we are here to make writing a fun and vibrant part of your life.
Be sure to subscribe to Impulses to unlock your creative genius right away.
Be part of my online author's notebook to witness the ups and downs of writing a novel at Stumbling Toward Genius.
I filled this custom-designed accordion notebook in a week, using our fun, easy and quick sketchbook practices. Writing, drawing, filling pages with the delight that is Lisbon.
Three spots left in our April, 2025 Capture the Lisbon Wow! Reserve your spot here!
Coaching Paul Wyman was a joy. Paul, a seasoned coach, wanted to take a program he designed and make it into a book. When he came to me, he had done several drafts but didn’t feel able to pull it all together. Smart, accomplished and driven, he is like many of my clients who have a specific idea but struggle to organize it.
It seems counterintuitive that someone would have a model they teach, live programs that they deliver and a solid sense of their material – but still struggle to turn it into a book. But this is super common. Writing a book is its own animal.
But we did it. Paul was able to find time and space to bring his draft into finished form. I don’t often edit clients’ books, but Paul also hired me to edit his manuscript. Now, his book, Part of Me: Learn Who You Really Are, What’s Driving You, and How to Get Out of Your Own Way, is now available in paperback. Paul trains coaches in Inner Team Dialogue, and works with executives and leaders to help them understand themselves better.
It was such fun to work with Paul on this book and I am thrilled by how well it turned out and how quickly he brought it to the world. From the acknowledgement page of Part of Me:
A huge thank you to my brilliant writing coach and editor Cynthia Morris, for her unwavering support as I discovered my winding path to being an author. This book wouldn’t exist without her clarity, flexibility and insight.
Based on the premise that we have many parts to our personality, Part of Me reveals not only answers what parts are, it reveals how they work, how they can help you understand your thinking, your emotions and your behaviors, and most importantly, how you can work with your parts to get out of your own way.
This book takes self-awareness to the next level. Fifty of the most common parts of the personality are profiled in detail, so you can identify which is most active in you, which is causing the problems you repeatedly experience, and what to do to get your Inner Team working for you, not against you.
It’s thrilling to see a client finish a book!
It was a great honor to work with Cindy Lusk to write her book and get onto the publication path. We met in 2001 when I was a student and she was a teacher at the Yoga Workshop in Boulder. I knew right away she was what I consider the ‘real deal’ of yoga teachers. Her ongoing studies of the Yoga Sutras and the way she brought these teachings into her asana teaching made the classes so much more than mere calisthenics.
Cindy epitomizes what I mean when I say I work with smart, soulful people writing world-changing books. Writing a book takes time, and over several years, Cindy focused on getting her ideas onto the page. It’s ideal to work with someone this motivated to get a book done and published.
Cynthia’s coaching helped me get started writing the book, put systems in place, and provided tools so I could be successful both practically and psychologically. Her supportive accountability was critical to keep me going when I otherwise may have quit. Cynthia provided a variety of information, suggestions, and feedback that allowed me to discover my most productive and fulfilling creative process. Her support was invaluable in getting a draft of my book done.
I learned so many skills and gained confidence in my own process that I was able to continue my work independently. When I finished the book and faced the publishing mountain, I returned for more coaching from Cynthia. She supported me through creating a book proposal that was far superior to anything I could have done on my own.
It has been instrumental for me to have Cynthia in my corner as I’ve moved through this process. My work with Cynthia has taught me about my own process, and what works best for me and instilled confidence in my ability to complete and publish a book. – Cindy Lusk
Cindy Lusk, Ph.D., has written the book she wishes she had as a student of yoga nearly forty years ago.
Align and Refine: The Journey of Yoga and Meditation describes the journey of yoga and meditation from the perspective of a modern-day yogi, emphasizing traditional teachings from Classical Yoga and Tantra in a way that is accessible and applicable.
It considers the human condition, the impulse for something more, and how yoga and meditation allow the refinement of one’s individuality, alignment with the highest self within, and the emergence and embodiment of yogic qualities for the benefit of oneself, society, and the world at large.
Find more about Cindy’s book and yoga classes here.
Sometimes I feel guilty that in the realm of writing and creating, I really know what works for me and what doesn’t. Owning my process and honoring it reduces SO much stress.
I trust myself, and I know how to manage the inner and outer obstacles of making. This allows me to focus on the real work = the very challenging work of writing a good novel!
But then I remember that guilt does no good, and that I have devoted my entire professional life to helping others feel this kind of creative empowerment. I want this kind of confidence for everyone.
My work as a coach focuses on helping people know, love, and trust their own creative process. Sure, people hire me to help them with their writing. But we do that by helping them clarify and honor their own whackadoodle ways of getting things done.
I’ve taken everything I know about how we can honor our creative habits and put it into a program I am certain you will love.
Your Artist Knows the Way is a free program on Substack. In it, I guide you through writing your own manual for your artist. What do they love? What do they need to create more easily? You’ll find out and capture it in a way that will change your creativity forever.
You’ve probably read plenty of how-to books on productivity and creativity. You’ve possibly failed to stick with their advice and been left feeling like it’s your fault.
I believe the way to being satisfied with our creative output is to know our artist inside and out.
Your Artist Knows the Way is not another how-to program. It’s a know-you process designed to help you release your abundant creativity in fun, empowering ways.
Each month features a different theme, with three invitations. You can get a free subscription, or you can upgrade to paid interaction with me, discounts on coaching with me, and handy PDFs at the end of the month so you have all the invitations in one place.
You are going to LOVE this! Come on over and check it out.
PS This is a great thing to do with friends, so pass this on to your creative buddies so you can do it together.
Don’t have creative buddies? They are waiting to get to know you in Your Artist Knows the Way!
What’s your plan for staying on track with your writing project this summer? This year’s sunny season is different for me. I have a couple of big projects plus a coaching skills training I am taking. I’m also hosting a 14-week session of Write ON, my coaching group for writers with a project they must focus on. We have a few spots left, and we start soon. Find out if you are a fit for Write ON here.
If you’re reading this newsletter, you are an artist of some kind. A writer, painter, knitter, gardener, chef…your creativity is a force of nature that you must express. You likely have experienced the consequences when you don’t let your art into your life on the regular. If your creativity is on the shelf too long:
Our original impulse, the drive to make things that matter, is as necessary as our need to eat, be sheltered and be connected to others. I assert that creating belongs on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.
I’ve been coaching creative people to be their most creative selves for 25 years. When we make space for our creative work, more happiness, more connection, and more satisfaction come almost immediately. This satisfaction ripples out into all areas of their life like a radiating sun. When we’re happy creators, everything is better.
Here’s a note from Tina Bettison, a client who knew she needed her creativity back:
“When I think back to how I felt a year ago – lost, depressed, grieving, unsure of who I was and the point of my existence – and how I feel now, I’m soooo different. Soooo alive. Coaching with you has literally turned my life around and given me back myself.”
Creativity is not optional. Our original impulse must be heeded. I believe that we derive our vitality from our creativity. When we are making things or writing, we feel alive. We feel a sense of purpose. Getting lost in our creative work is its own escape.
You feel most alive and happy when you’re creating. It’s your birthright and it’s who you are. To not create means unhappiness, and dissatisfaction and detracts from the overall quality of life. I believe creating must go on the list of other essentials like food, shelter, love, money.
When I wrote my ebook, Cross the Finish Line, I realized something profound.
It’s okay to dabble, explore, and have a lot of creative interests. And when we finish a meaningful project, we glean the deep gifts of that work. Finishing and publishing my novel revealed to me that I am a tenacious person whose commitment goes beyond the many challenges that arose during the thirteen years it took to write.
Imagine the enormous confidence that I gained from recognizing myself as a persistent person. With that confidence, I crafted a new vision of myself. I used that new self-perception to step up to more creative projects.
I want everyone to be creatively fulfilled – on their own terms. Knowing what works for us is key to making things that make us whole. This belief is at the core of what I am making for you. I hope/plan/intend to launch it sometime next month!
In the meantime, I’d love to hear about the challenges that stand in the way of you fulfilling your creative destiny. Feel free to share your inner and outer obstacles here.
