Creativity

It’s my birthday today, so I am thinking about gifts. We get so many gifts from our parents and ancestors. It’s up to us to use the these gifts, so we can continue and build upon the legacy we’ve been given.

From my parents, I received creativity, rebelliousness, and tenacity. They taught me a love of nature, of plants, gardening and cooking. They gave me a sense of style and taste that differed from the norm. My parents worked hard to make a beautiful life for us.

Our home wasn’t a place of creative projects or writing. But the way they lived, with their innovative taste and willingness to do things differently, showed me how we can carve out our own paths and live according to our values. I’ve been able to turn those gifts into a livelihood that allows me to express my other gifts for writing and art. Big gratitude to all my parents have given me and all the support they have shared for my unconventional life path.

What happens when we don’t use those creative penchants? It might seem benign to shelve our creative dreams, but I see otherwise. When we don’t express our gifts, when we don’t heed the call, they become a burden. Our project ideas linger in the space of fantasy. If you don’t become a creative doer, you’re not honoring the gifts. That brings pain, lack of integrity, and suffering.

And, another way to look at it – not using your gifts is holding back from the rest of us who might truly benefit from what you create. Don’t hoard your gifts!

Don’t be stingy with your gifts. When you express your creativity, you give yourself the joy and pleasure of creating. Let the challenges you face when doing your creative work empower you. But it’s not all difficult! Gifts are meant to be given. You are the first recipient of your gifts. Give yourself the satisfaction and joy of your gifts and see where it leads you.

What creative gifts have you been hoarding or ignoring? How can you honor them more this month? Share your thoughts in a comment below.

Listen to the story here:

 

You’ve probably had a year that marked a pivot or change in your life. You take a bold leap in the direction of your dream and everything shifts. 1999 was that year for me. The changes I made set me on a new course as a writer, a coach and a person who finally felt like she was living the life she was meant for.

Part of me resists going into the way-back machine to write this story. Another part of me insists. I’ve seen it so many times: we all need more acknowledging and celebrating our wins. But as I reflected on that first summer of coaching and on all the steps between then and now, I recall how hard it was. How many times I wanted to give up. Getting to a 20-year business anniversary isn’t an accident. A blend of hard work, good fortune and the generosity of others has brought me here. I don’t want to skip over what it took to get here. In sharing this and other stories of things I have created, I hope to inspire you to take up your own daring projects.

That summer, I enrolled in a training that not only gave me a career, but a set of skills I could use to design my life according to my dreams and skills. I began writing a novel, and though I didn’t know it then, launched a business that would carry me through the next twenty years.

Earlier that year, I had heard about coaching from a magazine article. I signed up for the entire Coaches Training Institute program. The coach training coursework offered a completely new way of looking at life. It was a crash course in conscious communicating. I learned how to make choices according to who I am and what I want for my life. This wasn’t just a way to help others; my own life would be transformed in the process of serving others. It blew the lid off my mental state and opened up so much possibility. I started putting into place some of the things I’d dreamed about when I did The Artist’s Way five years earlier.

I was naive about what it would take to actually build a business around a skill set. I had just left my long-time job at Capitol Hill Books in Denver. My time at this quirky second-hand bookshop was my graduate school. I felt great freedom and joy in charting my own course of study at the bookstore. I had just abandoned pursuit of a master’s degree in French and set off on my own path.

I lived nimbly and humbly. Several income streams helped me make a new life for myself. I taught cooking and writing classes, worked as a personal chef and picked up other odd jobs as needed. I didn’t own a car, a home or lots of possessions. I wasn’t responsible for pets or children. Housesitting at a friend’s for the year brought my expenses way down. I spent my extra money on travel or workshops as I still do today.

Remember when you were a beginner at something? It’s not easy. It’s humbling. You kinda suck and you know you suck. I loved learning the coaching skills. But practicing them was daunting. I stumbled my way through client sessions, with sweaty pits and my mind on doing it right – asking the right questions, giving the client my best effort. It would be many years before I could drop the model from my awareness when coaching. It takes time to go from conscious incompetence to unconscious competence.

Most of us get really frustrated on a steep learning curve. I was no exception, but I kept practicing. I was grateful for those people who trusted me in those early days with their hopes and fears. I had no idea what I was doing building a business but I was slowly improving as a coach.

Finding clients as a new coach

I practiced coaching on anyone who would sign up for a 60-minute session. At the end of my vegetarian cooking classes, I talked about coaching. I passed around a sign-up sheet for a free sample. I did all the things one did back then to enroll clients: giving sample sessions, leading workshops with a coaching element, publishing a newsletter and hosting a web site. I had been teaching writing classes already, so I knew how to facilitate a group. Now I was adding coaching to the workshops to address the challenges we face when we commit to writing but that no one ever talked about in writing workshops.

But it wasn’t easy. I had to somehow overcome the feelings many of us have. Do you recognize yourself in these things I told myself? I didn’t want to ‘sell myself’. I resisted ‘pushing myself onto people’. It took all my courage and the support of my coach to do the things required to spread the word about my new work.

When we embark on something new, one of the first things we have to do is let our people know what we are up to. Nudged on by my coach, I wrote and sent a letter to everyone I knew. It was terrifying to ‘put myself out there’. Letting people know what I was doing and why was very uncomfortable. Even though this was incredibly difficult, tapping into my network helped me get started. Some of my first clients were people I already knew. Back then, most people hadn’t heard of coaching. There was a lot of work educating people. I worked in the ‘fake it ‘till you make it’ zone while I built confidence and competence.

There were fun things about building a business, too. I got to indulge my tastes and preferences for how I wanted my days to flow. I’d always been an office supply nerd, ever since I was a girl. I used to have my own desk and office at home. I was just like my dad, who ran his business from a desk in our home, and later my mom, who also had her own business. I loved keeping my pencils and pens tidy, and my notebooks in order. I had a ledger in which I wrote down all the books I got from the library and my rating for them. Not much has changed, hello Goodreads! My ‘office’ was a closet desk, with shelves and drawers. I was small enough to crawl inside and sit ensconced in the scent of pencil shavings and paper. I loved the order of my pens, paperclips and ledgers.

So in 1999, starting my coaching business meant, of course, getting office supplies. I went to Office Depot with my friend Gigia. There, we each put a Mac computer on the Office Depot credit card. If you paid it off in six months, there was no interest. I also got a fax machine and a ream of paper. And pens, I am sure. Thus in the summer of 1999, I entered the digital era.

Who would have known that I would take up a skillset and turn it into a thriving, 20-year old business? Back then, the internet wasn’t yet the platform to launch yourself and hang your shingle. I could not have known I could work completely online and from a home office. I’m grateful for it all – timing, luck and connections to new people and new ways of thinking.

Bringing coaching to writing

I took the common advice to find a niche for my work. Being a creative type and a writer, I focused on helping people get their work out of their head and into the world. It’s been a twenty-year deep dive into the creative process. In the course of thousands of conversations with clients, in the thick of my own making, in the study of what works to be an empowered creative, I have learned so much. I’m endlessly fascinated by how we humans make things and how that process in turn makes us who we are.

When I think back to my 32-year-old self, I feel the excitement of the new world opening up to her. What would she think if she could look ahead to 2019 and see what grew from that seed? She would be super psyched. There was of course a lot of stumbling, picking myself up and plunging ahead. This was a way to live and work on a growth edge, and I, a lifelong learner, was up for it. If you want to work through your ‘issues’, take up an art form or launch a business.

I’m working on a big project to celebrate the 20-year anniversary of Original Impulse. I’m not ready to share yet, but keep your eyes open for news. I will need your help to make this happen!

Celebrate your own milestones!

Get in your own time machine and travel back twenty years. What were you beginning? Who were you becoming? What would your young, newbie self say if she saw things now? Maybe you took a creative leap more recently. What inspired you to go for it? Finally, how can you acknowledge and celebrate your courage and conviction that helped you get going?

I did pay off the computer, interest-free, in six months. I’m still an office supply geek and I still love organizing and being in my current home office. Later this year, I will move to a new home. It will be the first time in all these years that I will work outside the home. I’ll be setting up my Atelier, or studio, for better workflow. I will also be hosting live workshops and events here in Denver.

When I started out 20 years ago, I didn’t know what I was doing. But over time, with luck, persistence and a good bit of magic, it all worked out. I remember this when clients want to plan out every detail before diving into the work. Planning takes us only so far, and I well know how easy it can be to hang out in that comfort zone. But over and over, the books and programs and artwork I have made have taught me about life, making and letting go. And that cluelessness when taking a leap isn’t always a bad thing!

What does my business’ origin story spark in you? Ask me anything.

The things I consume hopefully inspire me to create more or teach me to be a better human. Podcast conversations illuminate my drives, my kitchen time and my walks. Podcasts and books go a long way in buffering the loneliness that can come with working from home. Sharing some recent favorite books, movies and podcast with you helps me feel more connected. Enjoy!

Books

Feast Your Eyes by Myla Goldberg.  I am a Myla Goldberg fan, so when I saw this at the library, I had to get it. The story of a female photographer when photography was just being born in the ‘50s. Another great story about the creative life and what it costs women to be artists.

Museum of Modern Love by Hannah Rose.  I loved this novel that centers on Marina Abramovic’s performance piece at MoMA – “The Artist Is Present.” A beautifully written book about love and making art.

Less by Andrew Sean Greer.  A fun romp with some depth that carries the protagonist, a waning author, around the world where he hopes to elude his grief over a lost love.

It’s Not Your Money by Tosha Silver.  I have been reading Tosha’s books for awhile. This one focuses on abundance, prosperity and invites the reader to surrender to the Divine. I am working on this.

Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb. I recently had the crazy idea to become a therapist. So when I heard Lori Gottlieb on Good Life Project podcast, I wanted to read her book about being a therapist and also being in therapy. I haven’t finished it, but it is engrossing and illuminating about the human condition.

Vietnamese Food Any Day by Andrea Nguyen. I heard about this book on The Splendid Table, another favorite podcast of mine. I love cooking but it’s easy for me to get into a rut and make the same stuff. I love Vietnamese food and with a few new cupboard items, I have been making tasty meals!

Podcast episodes I’ve loved

I don’t know what I would do without podcasts. They make driving and cooking so much more enjoyable. When do you listen to your podcasts and what are some of your recent faves? Share below in the Comments section. Here are my recent faves:

On Being with Krista Tippett with guest Atul Gawande
Tim Ferriss Show with guest Amanda Palmer; also episode with Ramit Sethi
Design Matters with Debbie Millman with guest Shantell Martin
Elena Brower with guest Lauren Zander
Hurry Slowly episode with guest Scott Barry Kaufman

Movies

I love cinema therapy. I watch a movie at least twice a week. I go for the dark French psychological dramas and Steve prefers a light and fluffy rom com. We seem to find a happy medium and enjoy the cinema therapy, two hours away from my own life and problems.

About Time
Dumplin’
The Edge of Seventeen
Roma
The Chaperone

TV Shows

I am trying to not get into watching shows, because I get hooked and then binge watch and then feel like I have lost some precious non-renewable time. But there are some shows that aren’t just blobbing on the couch, but inspire me creatively. Here are some recent faves:

Fleabag. The final and second season of Fleabag, written by and starring Phoebe Waller-Bridge
Wanderlust. I love Toni Collette so will see anything she is in. I LOVED this show about a therapist who asks her husband for an open marriage. The therapy episode was amazing.
Glow. SO much fun – Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling is a delightful tale of the underdog.
Babylon Berlin. I love Berlin and this historical show was fabulous, if dark.
Salt Fat Acid Heat. Four-part food show on Netflix with Samin Nosrat
Heal. Documentary about the mind/body connection and its role in healing. Profound.
Wanda Sykes Not Normal. Stand up comedy show. Hilarious.
Amy Schumer Growing Hilarious. stand up show.
Brené Brown The Call to Courage. A lot of this you have probably already heard, but it’s worth watching anyway. A masterful and inspiring talk that may change the way you create.

What is inspiring your creativity these days? Share what you are reading, hearing and watching below.

You’re tinkering in your studio, making that Erector Set capital A. Or, you’re pulling over to make notes about this story that keeps pestering you. You unroll your washi tape and mask out a colorful shape.

Your creative output may not earn you a Pulitzer or a show at the Guggenheim, but I assert that your creative efforts, however meager or non-profitable, are contributing to world peace.

We’re all creative, sure. Each and every one of us is making things every day — sandwiches, relationships, and choices.
And then there are the creators — people who are driven from inside to make things. Writers, artists, businesspeople, inventors, these are the people for whom making is not an option.

All the obstacles to creating

Even with this inherent creative drive, making is not always easy. Our natural creative impulses have perhaps been mocked, belittled and shut down. We tamp it down and play it safe for the sake of getting along, getting a job, and getting ‘real’.

Our excuses (Not enough time! Too many ideas!) often mask the inner obstacles. We’re insecure about our ideas, so it’s easier to do mundane tasks that call for no risk. Laundry, anyone? We are ignorant of how to write a novel, so we let that be an excuse to look at what other people are making instead. We don’t esteem ourselves enough to dedicate effort to something the world isn’t waiting for, so we defer our creative time to others’ agendas.

All the costs of not creating

It’s easy to layer these excuses over our creative dreams. Our default mode of ‘busy’ makes it easy to pretend we don’t have time for our creativity. But the cost of burying our creative drive in commonplace excuses is high. And it’s not just costing us, it’s costing the planet.

When we defer our creative power, we often feel:

• Jealousy over others’ output.
• Anxiety around unfulfilled purpose.
• Irritation over little things, a surface dissatisfaction hiding a deeper discontent.
• Overconsumption of others’ creativity, or of food or drink. Shopping, anyone?

If these aren’t bad enough, what’s worse is the persistent feeling of lack of integrity. When we defer our creativity, we are out of alignment with our very essence. Our ego or social self ‘gets along’ but our stifled creative self simmers in resentment.

This might contribute to mean gossip, road rage, unkind online comments or squelching someone else’s dream. Disconnecting from our creativity disconnects us from empathy and this disconnects us from others.

With so many of us walking around with our most vibrant creative selves locked away in the basement, it’s no wonder things are askew in the world.

Our creativity changes the world

I imagine a world where our creativity is liberated and fully expressed. What if:

• Honoring our creative impulses made us feel better and thus contributed more kindness, acceptance and joy to the world?
• Satisfying our muse satisfied the greater order of things and perhaps fosters more solutions to the world’s problems
• Honoring our creative impulse sparked a daily joy that ripples out and made a difference beyond our own selves, even if we don’t become rich or famous?
• Perhaps the time you selfishly protect for your doodling is not so selfish after all.

What if by dint of making, you make yourself a better person to be around? What if your own creative satisfaction makes you feel more energized, more productive and more purposeful?

What if that vibe made a difference in the world and you, tinkering away in obscurity, were actually contributing to world peace and healing?

Creativity makes a real, daily difference

This isn’t just a hypothesis. I’m not making this up. The real results my clients and students — and myself — have experienced from spending our ‘free’ time making include:

• Renewed vitality.
• Greater sense of spiritual connection and empathy.
• Release of old baggage, limiting beliefs and lingering emotional burdens.
• Feeling of fun and playfulness.
• Renewed enthusiasm for life.
• Sense of personal power and greater purpose.
• More flow of creative ideas and inspiration.

I could go on. In twenty years of coaching creatives, I’ve seen all kinds of miracles happen when people honor their inherent creative drive. Sure, some have published their books. Others have won awards for their art and built thriving businesses.

But every single person who has devoted themselves to their creativity has felt immediate and potent benefits. We don’t have to produce a bestseller to change the world. Changing our own state of being has an impact on those around us.

We grow through our creativity

I believe the work we make works us. And the works we don’t make diminish our humanity and our creative essence. In my work as a coach and teacher, I spend my days unlocking the creative basement so those who feel the drive to create can get out of their own way.

When we say yes to our creative work, we’re not just making a book or a piece of art or a business. We’re making ourselves. We’re making ourselves whole and that makes the planet a better place. Our creativity is the source of our vitality. Anything that brings alive our natural creative drive contributes to peace and healing.

You’ve heard that song, Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me. I say, let peace begin with your creativity. You might think this is a simplistic or perhaps unrealistic expectation for our tinkering, our scribbling and our making. But when love drives our creative acts, there’s no greater force.

What will you make today?

At the end of February, there was a confluence of activity here at Original Impulse. I wrote a vulnerable article for you. My web site, that I’ve been working on since October, went live. That caused my email to go down. Also, an RSS feed for my blog got triggered and started sending out blog notices to people who hadn’t heard from the blog since 2014. It had an old image from 2010.

All of this vulnerability and technical glitches caused a profound mortification in me. You know the type, the visceral, “Where can I hide?” feeling.

Luckily, I had the good fortune to speak with a dear friend the day of the clusterfluff. She said, This is true imperfection. This is not you having an experience and writing about it later. It’s real time, real imperfection.

This was the best thing she could say to me. She asked what was I had imagined would happen or what would it mean if the world saw that I am not perfect.

In theory, I know I am not perfect. But in business, I seek to execute my actions at a high level of, well, perfection. No typos, no glitches. I do what I say I will do and seek to do it well.

But this need for perfection is a joy killer and a creativity crusher. In my writing groups, and with my clients, I help them wrestle down the need to be perfect. To write or say things perfectly. To make sure their work is ‘good enough’.

While I understand and share this hope for ‘good’, I also know that perfection is the enemy of beginning. We don’t start that essay because we know we don’t have the words figured out exactly. We don’t initiate that difficult conversation because we don’t know what to say. We don’t start our business because we don’t know how to do all the steps well.

The act of making anything is deeply humbling. We bump up against our limits. We face our ignorance – our not knowing how to do something. We find that we need help.

But isn’t that all the best? Dumping the idea of perfection allows us to tap into our truest and richest humanity. We become someone who is trying something – how cool is that?! Someone connected to everyone else who has braved something! Someone who embraces their humanness by reaching out and asking for help.

If you only dare something that you can do perfectly, I invite you to try anyway. Write that imperfect story. Have that messy conversation. Make that completely wonky drawing.

Use me if you’d like as a reminder that you can and will survive the imperfections. Even if you put it out there and omg make a mistake, you will survive. I survived my launch glitches, and was even able to laugh about it.

What about you? Have you survived imperfect creative efforts? Share your experience below.

You have probably heard me say that consumerism is the weakest form of creativity. Sure, it’s fun and creative to choose art supplies. But the real payoff is in using them. Like many people, I am seeking more simplicity and clarity with ‘stuff’. My friend Courtney Carver’s book Soulful Simplicity has inspired me to shed my extra stuff. That said, some things do make a huge difference in our lives. I am all for having the right tools.
My guess is you worked hard this year, and that you could use a little treat. What if you got or did something that honors the writer you? The artist in you? Maybe one of my favorite things will soon become your favorite, too.
There were a few things I got this year that I really loved and want everyone to know about. Perhaps one of these treats will be the right gift for the writer or artist in you. 
Hahnemühle is one of my favorite notebook and paper companies. I love the high quality and design aesthetics. This German company won my heart. They are an in-kind sponsor of my year-long Atelier program. Atelier members receive one of the Diary Flex notebooks, one of my favorites for easily and elegantly capturing all my ideas. They have a new cappuccino notebook that they sent me along with some coffee and a cool mug. Get your Diary Flex here.
 
Rancho Gordo My friend Gigia told me about this company. I checked them out and thought, oh, they’re a little expensive, I am economizing now. But when I went back to their site, I was lured in by the gift section. I could get myself beans as a gift.
What could be more practical and more luxurious at the same time? I splurged on the 20-bean box ($119 includes shipping). When they arrived, I nearly cried. The abundance! The beauty! The possibilities!
Get yer beans here. 
Scott eVest
Speaking of cozy, I have started wearing a vest around. Now, it’s not your ordinary vest. We call it the Spy Vest. My friend Lisa Sonora was wearing one when we were in Paris together, and of course I wanted one.
This vest has many, many pockets. So many, the vest could replace a carry-on if you’re traveling light. I love the vest, with its many pockets and its hood. I never thought this would be my style. But I am with a Colorado dude through and through and I think the rugged look is starting to rub off on me.
You need one of these vests.  Just think about the supplies you could tuck in here for a sketch crawl.
HaikuBags is another in-kind sponsor. This year they came out with the Trailblazer backpack. I am not much of a backpack person, but I love all of Haiku’s products, so I got one. And, surprise, surprise, it’s as fabulous as all the other Haiku bags I have had.
I call it my Portable Author Office. When I am going to a cafe to write, I easily put everything into the backpack. The weight distribution is great – no back pain! As always Haiku knows me well and has designed a bag with pocket for everything. This was a great surprise – the bag I didn’t know I needed.
Treat yourself to an eco-friendly, gorgeous and functional bag for those artist and writer’s dates. 
Crystal Journey candles Speaking of my dear husband, when Steve came to my first Solstice party three years ago, he brought two gifts: a Crystal Journey candle (Joy) and a bouquet of flowers. This guy had my number right away. Now, we treat ourselves to these gorgeous candles. In the winter, they are in almost every room.
Light up your world with more love and candles. 
BOOKS
I didn’t read as many books as I would have liked this year. I checked a lot of them out of the library, but only a few made it into my brain. I’ve included a range of my favorites from 2018 here.
Your Story Is Your Power by Elle Luna and Susie Herrick  I loved this book so much, I hosted a book group discussion about it. Just go get it. It will inspire you to be more you, more authentic and more creative.
Pachinko by Min Jin Lee Such a good novel. I had the luxury of reading this on vacation, which meant I was immersed in two strange worlds. Pachinko is set in Japan and shows the hard lives of the Korean people who migrated there. Told through the stories of one family, this is an epic and compelling adventure.
Calypso David Sedaris  David Sedaris has long been a writing role model for me. His wit, insight and tenderness for his family compel me to be a better writer. In this book, we get to hear more about his family. A quick and easy read that doesn’t hesitate to pull the reader in deeply.
Green-light Your Book : How Writers Can Succeed in the New Era of Publishing by Brooke Warner If you are considering self-publishing a book, this is a great resource for all the ins and outs of the publishing process.
Favorite Pen
My favorite pen to gift people. If I were giving you a gift, I’d get one of Pilot’s Metropolitan fountain pens. I give everyone this pen, because it’s fancy and fabulous but not too expensive. I’d get you one in turquoise or purple or my favorite, gold. (See my pen at left with my Diary Flex notebook.)
This pen was gifted to me and turned me into a fountain pen lover. I use the refills and changing the Namiki ink is easy peasy.
Maya matches, tiny but mighty. Here’s something odd about me you may not know. I am a match fiend. I love matches and have a collection I bought in a jar at a yard sale. It’s stuffed with Denver restaurant matchbooks from decades past.
When I travel, I like to go to grocery stores and prowl the houseware section. The matches are always interesting, always local and always cheap. They make a great souvenir. I love my matches from Amsterdam and France. My suitcase always has a stash of matches upon return.
Recently, in Cozumel, we went to the local grocery store. It’s always the first thing I do when I go somewhere. I know, it’s weird. Why go on a mundane errand? Didn’t I leave home to get away from those errands? Well, I must procure almond milk for my coffee and while there, might as well get some matches. 
I bought a set of 6 Maya matches. Cerillos in Spanish. On the back of each yellow box is a picture of a Mexican site. These are some of my favorite matches ever. There’s a tab on the box, making it extra easy to open. The matches are tiny, flimsy little things. But they light like magic and are better than some of the sturdier wooden matches. I can’t wait to go back to get more.
What was a favorite treat for your writer or artist? Share the goods in a comment below.
*Some links are affiliate links which lead to potential affiliate income for Original Impulse.

Do you ever do something and then realize, OMG that was not the smartest move I’ve ever made? I recently made a couple of dumb and expensive purchases that I regret.
I bought two planners mostly as research for a potential project. I had filled my tried and true Moleskine so I needed something. I also thought it wouldn’t hurt to explore a new method of planning. But oh, it did hurt.
I got the Full Focus Planner. One book costs over $40 and is for one quarter of the year. It took five minutes to realize that the habit tracker, goal setting, weekend planning and weekly review were not going to be useful for me. I prefer to plan my week once and then just do the freaking tasks. All the time it takes to fill out the planner is time I could spend just doing the work and enjoying my life.
Then! I somehow caught wind of a gorgeous French planner and bought that. I won’t reveal the cost but let’s just say I could have bought a pair of sandals instead.
I blame myself for these shopdoggles. (That’s boondoggle for shopping. Yes, I made that up.) I blame my enthusiasm, my love of productivity and my tendency to want to do what others are doing. Do you suffer from these symptoms of a shopdoggler?
This issue of productivity comes up all the time with my clients. We are all battling for focus and productivity, and sometimes we think it’s the right planner or method that will save us. I think it’s making better choices and doing less that helps us feel more satisfied with our progress.
We have access to others’ opinions more than ever. Taking on things that don’t work for us can be detrimental to our confidence. If you have gone on a shopdoggle or otherwise sidelined your wisdom and self-knowledge, it’s okay. These things can teach us if we let them. Not in a harsh ‘You’ll learn your lesson, Missy!’ But in the ever-growing self-awareness that fuels more of us, more of our creativity and more of our power.
I shunned a system I had developed and that was serving me to thrive in work and life. This is how we defer our power. We shun our original impulse or deep knowing for something new, flashy or trendy. 
I’ve gotten over my tomfoolery. (Writing this helped!) I forgave myself and let go of the sunk costs. Beating myself up, cursing myself and allowing this to linger like a dark cloud isn’t helpful.
Know what works for you to be productive, apply that consistently and jettison anything that doesn’t suit your needs.
Next year is the 20-year anniversary of my coaching business. I am launching a book and have big plans for it. Why would I risk my sanity, my productivity and my focus trying a new planner? I will finish the year with this recent planner, hacking it so it works the way my old method does. But next year I will return to my trusted and effective way of working. Phew!
In case you’re curious about my planning method, read on.
I use a large, hardback Moleskine notebook to run my business. I like this notebook or this notebook. I prefer dotted or grid pages over lined or blank.  The front of the notebook is for my weekly to-dos, with one week per page. I make 9 boxes on a page. Each box holds a different category of tasks. Every week’s workload is different so the categories could be: writing, teaching, clients, admin, travel, etc. At a glance I can see what I need to do for what project or sector of my work life.
The back half of the notebook is where I take meeting notes, make notes about projects and basically dream my work into existence. This system has worked for me for six years. When I need to reference something from the past, within minutes I can find that year’s notebook and access the information.
What helps you honor your original impulse? Share below in a comment.
Applications are rolling in for the Original Impulse Atelier, my year-long program to help you focus, follow through and finish that all-important project of yours. This is a training in how to know, honor and trust your creative process. It’s fun and effective, and we’re enrolling a few focused creatives now. Check it out here.

I’ve heard from some people that for the last year or so, world events have dampened their enthusiasm for their creative work. I get it. It’s easy to get discouraged and to sideline our creative work when we feel angry, fearful and disempowered.
The problem is, we need our power now more than ever. When the world ‘out there’ tries to disempower us, we need to do what we can to claim our power. And, I believe that taking up an art form is one of the best paths to personal empowerment there is. I’ve coached hundreds of women (and men) to find their power through their words and creativity. I have been blown away by the strength we access when we commit to and follow up on our creative dreams.
Showing up for our writing sessions sends a signal to ourselves that we matter. It says that when we commit to our projects, it means something. Most of my work as a coach involves helping women set up their lives so their creative work has the space it deserves. Writing a book may seem in conflict with our other commitments, but we actually gain a lot for our lives.
When we learn how to stake a claim for ourselves in this way, our lives are better. The real, deep work of committing to a creative path has a great side benefit of personal empowerment. Staking a claim for our projects is a power move. In our work together, we discuss:

• setting and keeping boundaries.
• communicating our needs to loved ones and others.
• making choices about how we spend our time.
• releasing beliefs, objects and obligations that no longer serve us.
• learning to prioritize projects, tasks and commitments.

When we consistently show up for our work, we grow. When we empower ourselves through our  creative work, we gain confidence. This confidence extends to other areas of life.
The recent situation with Dr. Christine Blasey Ford can send a signal that women’s words, lives and experiences do not matter. In a recent episode of Hidden Brain, they looked at how in the past, when women have spoken up about harassment, nothing changed and their experiences were disregarded. This prevented others from speaking up. This is called ‘social proof’. Why bother? It wouldn’t make a difference. This has changed with the #metoo movement, but we see with the recent Supreme Court Justice appointment that we still have work to do. But we should not take this as proof that our voices, our stories and our experiences don’t matter.
Some of us are galvanized by world events. One of my clients said that recent events spurred her to stop playing small. This is what I want for us all: that we recognize that we are in charge of our own empowerment. No more waiting for permission. No more waiting until we feel stronger or more confident. We are the gatekeeper to our power, and we have the keys to empower ourselves. The time to act is now.
We may not be able to change policy as we wish. But we can lead the change we seek in our own lives. I believe that when we empower ourselves it has a ripple effect. First we feel it in our intimate relationships. Then our work relationships. And on and on.
Maybe you don’t see your creative work as a personal growth path. There are many ways to empower ourselves and make a daily difference in the world. We are empowered when we:

• help a stranger.
• say no to something that isn’t right for us, even if we worry about how others will respond.
• negotiate for the true value of our work.
• speak up for ourselves and others.
• donate our resources to causes we believe in.
• take an honest look at how our actions play a part in keeping ourselves in a one-down position.

It is time for each and every one of us to claim the power each human has and deserves. Power to be self-determining. Power to express our truth. Power to play a role in a world that treats every person as equal and deserving of dignity.
However you are stepping up to claim your power, know that you, and your empowerment, matter. It does make a difference when you make space for your creative work. It does make a difference when you take a stand for what you know to be right. My hope is that this article has rallied your courage and that you feel your power now and that you feed its growth.
How do you experience your creative practice as a path to empowerment?