hi there ✹
I wanted to share with you some thoughts on change, and how we are able to change, again and again, in the most profound and unexpected ways (even if they feel small). but after several backs and forths to create order amidst the chaos of all the thoughts in my head, feeling stuck, I am changing direction: this is a letter on inspiration.
if you missed it, in the previous letter I shared some of my key learnings from the past year, a year tainted by contradictory feelings that lived alongside one another. a letter to encourage you to trust the visions you hold for your life and the world you want to co-create. — in it I shared also a series of prompts for you to explore and lean into TRUST.
at the bottom you will find some exciting news about lake days and how you can benefit from this space and community a little more ♡
this morning I joined my mother, aunt and a friend on their usual Sunday walk to the river. I took with me the compact fujifilm that has been packed since I arrived, over a month ago, in an urge to get back to photography, out of my mind, into the landscape.
sometimes, the best way to move forward in your work is to get out of it.
these past weeks I’ve been busy developing Trails and the Lake Days community space, deepening the research for the second edition of the Money Mindset Workshop this week, and doing all the behind the scenes work that goes into running a small business on your own.
although I feel that most of my work is very creative and allows me a lot of space to play, I’ve missed playing around freely, without any “goal” or “strategy” behind. as I sat down to write and journal these days, my mind kept hopping onto work related ideas, which led me to today’s thoughts on inspiration, and what it takes to create in a flowing and inspired way.
I was reminded that inspiration requires space to land, breathe, settle. so I wrote a list of invitations for myself, for the times when I feel stuck 𓇼
I hope they can serve you too, so feel free to take what serves and adapt it your way
—CREATE SPACE
create space for ideas to come find you instead of running after them.
because when your mind is full, you are unable to see what’s right in front of you.
—CHANGE PERSPECTIVE
find different perspectives - literally. children are so creative, they constantly look at the world upside down, hanging on their playground nets and trees.
you can lay on the floor, put your head down from the couch, climb up that rock or tree or table. do it.
—LISTEN
to the morning as the city wakes up, or
the evening falling over the lake, or
the waves crashing
a car rushing down the road
the rain pouring
a baby crying out the window
your heart beating
-beating
—beating
—SHAKE OFF
shake the old thoughts out of your body,
and the conversation that only happened in your head.
shake out what’s too much, so you can create space for what feels just right. enough. so that inspiration can find a comfortable place inside of you: to roam around and stay.
—BREATHE
breathe in the air, let out the worry
breathe in the air, let out the judgement
breathe in the air, let out the need to know what’s next
—WRITE
write the burdens out of your head, into the paper
and leave them there
—RUN
run away with the self-exigence that keeps you from even starting, then come back with a tired body and empty mind;
—REST
slow down. soak & melt in a warm bath, under the sun, into the sand.
melt into your body, the mat, your pillow.
switch everything off.
꩜
how can you create more space for inspiration?
what thoughts, feelings or emotions are currently taking up too much space? how could they take less space?
how can you get out of the mind, and more into the body in your creative practice?
what would it mean to invite more play, and unplanned wanders into your creative untamed forest?
COMING UP
→ Money Mindset Workshop
If you missed the first Money Mindset Workshop, you can still join us this week Tuesday & Wednesday ( 3 & 4 December ).
Money is a foundational tool of exchange that can enable our creative visions or keep us from moving forward, meeting our needs and bringing our desires into reality. Our relationship with money is rooted in conscious and unconscious beliefs, formed throughout our lives and experiences, entangled with our familiar, social and political contexts.
Uncovering these beliefs and their roots can be a deeply emotional experience, essential to build more supportive beliefs and set new foundations for an empowering and more liberating relationship with this tool that has such a deep impact in all aspects of our lives and wellbeing.
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In this two-part workshop, we are going to explore our current relationship with money and the underlying beliefs that sustain it, and how they manifest and impact our lives and wellbeing.
On part two, we will ideate a more supportive relationship with money, reframing our current beliefs and habits to help us live more supported creative lives, and in consequence, expand our impact towards creating more beautiful and worthwhile futures for all, as active agents of social change.
→ TRAILS
Trails is a year-long group programme to nurture your personal projects & creative practice in company of likeminded creatives. A dedicated monthly space for clarity, accountability and support, to help you move forward with confidence and intention.
We are starting in January and the sign-ups are open. You can find all the details on the website, and I will be sharing more in the coming weeks.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Where does the wisdom go?
A beautifully written article by Laura Moreno, questioning the practices behind the “clean, green, just” energy transition, through the story of Covas do Barroso - a green energy transition Sacrifice Zone.
Feed me figs
Gina Rae la Cerva is hosting workshops on food writing as well as membership options for those interested in deepening their relationship to food through their writing, exploring various threads connecting food, culture, history and more.
If you don’t know Gina’s work, you can listen to her reading “My Mother’s Hands”, at Emergence Magazine.
