I went on my first creative retreat almost two years ago. It wasn’t a conference that was packed with classes and activities. It wasn’t a family vacation where I was wrangling kids between pockets of relaxation. It was a time away specifically for the purpose of filling my creative tank and stepping outside of my daily routine, so I could … Read More
My Daily & Weekly Planning Sheets | Free download
Historically, planners have lured me in and then fell short. I would try to use them to get myself organized and stay on top of my schedule, but the format always felt forced. It didn’t work the way I needed it to work. So, a few months ago, I finally designed my own daily and weekly planning sheets. In developing … Read More
Dreams & Goals for January 2020
I was planning to share my dreams and goals for the entire year, but that seemed like overkill. Let’s just do this one month at a time, slow and steady, with long-term results in mind. I don’t have a word of the year, but a phrase… “Do it for your future self.” It’s so, so easy to do things for … Read More
creative frontier
The first few days after my surgery was tough in some ways, but in one way, I was sort of enjoying it. It was a forced rest. I couldn’t do very basic things that were staples in my line of work…typing, writing, painting, holding a camera. The things that felt safe, normal, and routine were temporarily not options. I rested … Read More
mastery & all things worthwhile
Mastery… I’ve been thinking about that word a lot lately and have been challenged by it as I’ve been reading books like Essentialism and The Creative Habit. If I had to draw a diagram of my creative journey, it would probably look more like a spiderweb than a straight or even meandering path that heads in one direction. And, I … Read More
contentment boundaries
I wrote earlier this month that my two focus areas of 2019 are contentment and health. These are two areas I’m working on, so anything I share with you is like the blind leading the blind, but sometimes there is comfort in that. Sometimes it’s nice to be at the same point on the same journey together, right? And really, … Read More
contentment without conditions & health without strings
During my time off (and even squeezed into the hectic weeks before Christmas), I did a lot of pondering, writing, and planning. I’ve been reading old notes and taking new ones. I’ve been thinking about my past successes and times when I was settled into a sweet spot in life and business. I’ve also been looking at my failures and … Read More
the creative’s s-word
S-t-u-c-k. The s-word dreaded by creatives all over the globe. And there is good reason for dreading it. You’re humming along, in a creative groove and then you come to a complete halt. Your mind is either blank or so cluttered with non-fun, creativity-sucking things that there is nowhere for a spark to catch. Man, I hate being stuck! As … Read More