Creative Life Midwife

Inspiring Artistic Rebirth

On Sundays, We Plan the Week Ahead

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It is basic and also easy to overlook: life works better even with the most basic plan.

Planning Basics: Even with a Hectic, Unpredictable Schedule basic planning is grounding and illuminating.

As a creative who is also busily caretaking, it would be easy to toss away any idea of planning and just “go with the flow” or as it often devolves into “go with the chaos” or whatever is the best of the worst possibilities.

This is not inspiring in the least.

This is why it is better to at least have the minimum amount of a plan before your week begins.

Calendar + Appointments + Tasks “To Do” + Practices = Better

On Sunday afternoon, evening or early Monday morning, be sure to gather your calendar, a list of your projects, classes, and to-do’s you are aware of as your week kicks off.

Fill in your calendar with what you know for now. Include any family or friend activities you are expected to attend. If you are unsure what other people’s expectations are for you, now is the time to ask and set the boundaries that fit.

Once those times are filled in, it is time to do some intentional breathing and take time in free flow, meditative writing or journaling to see if there is anything deserving space that has not yet appeared in your plan.

Journal or Free Flow Write to Double Check” and Allow the Unspoken within You Speak

Here’s a reality we often deny or pretend away: within our busy minds racing to get things done, we ignore the wisest part of ourselves. The quiet whispers, the tugs on our intuition, the nudges that are encouraging you to go in a possible different direction.

As you consider the blocks of time filled with appointments, daily basic care activities (hygiene, meal prep, spiritual practice, exercise), tasks and to-do’s, take a moment to journal or free flow write using this question and the sentence starter to tune into those most important aspects of your plan you may have not paid any attention to (yet.)

Revise your plan: It is a leaping off point, not a concrete wall.

One of the ways people resist planning or decide not to plan is based in perfectionism or “all or nothing” thinking. Can you relate to either of those?

Starting Next Week: Suggestions, Coaching & Response to Your Questions

Do you have any questions about how to plan, best practices for planning, planning mindsets or advice around planning? I will incorporate these in upcoming blog posts.

Please comment below or send me an email at juliejordanscott at gmail.comVideo Exploring Trust (which may have kept you from planning in the past.)

Optional Video Exploration/Writing Exercise on TRUST

A blast from the past (2017) a prompt for you to write with – videos will be shared at the end of each blog and are optional for you to use (or not) as a means for you to be inspired to write more or differently or better. This particular theme of TRUST is essential to grow as a writers and leaders.

Julie JordanScott is a Creative Life Coach, an award-winning storyteller, actor and poet whose photos and mixed media art graces the walls of collectors across the United States. Her writing has appeared on the New York Times Best Sellers List, the Amazon best sellers list and on American Greetings Holiday cards (and other greeting cards). She currently lives in a manse in Sussex, NJ, where she is working on finishing her most recent book project, hugging trees daily and enjoys having random inspirational conversations with strangers.

Follow on Instagram to Watch IGTV exclusive videos, stories and posts about writing and the creative process.

Let our Words Flow Writing Community: the only one missing is you! Join us in the Private Writing Group by clicking here.

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Let’s Get Creative: Write, Journal, Doodle, Jot about Freedom

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This is the weekend we are celebrating freedom in the United States. To ignore our country’s current struggles on this holiday working feels unauthentic – so instead, I invite you to consider how you recognize freedom in your everyday life before making something inspired by freedom.

Use creativity to explore how you have or would like to experience freedom

Open a new document or get our your journal and begin with the sentence starters in the image. Write for at least five minutes freely, stream-of-consciousness style. You may want to get your juices flowing by beginning with a comment below before you leave.

  • Freedom feels like
  • Freedom is….
  • Freedom tastes like
  • Freedom looks like
  • I know freedom when….
  • I am grateful for freedom because…
  • I would describe freedom to an alien by saying….
  • Freedom sounds like
  • Freedom smells like

To further spark your writing and creativity

To further spark your writing, watch this video and use it as a prompt in addition or instead of the freedom prompt.

Please begin your response to the prompts that are offered here in the comments. I would love to hear from you!

Julie JordanScott is a Creative Life Coach, an award-winning storyteller, actor and poet whose photos and mixed media art graces the walls of collectors across the United States. Her writing has appeared on the New York Times Best Sellers List, the Amazon best sellers list and on American Greetings Holiday cards (and other greeting cards). She currently lives in a manse in Sussex, NJ, where she is working on finishing her most recent book project, hugging trees daily and enjoys having random inspirational conversations with strangers.

Follow on Instagram to Watch IGTV exclusive videos, stories and posts about writing and the creative process.

Let our Words Flow Writing Community: the only one missing is you! Join us in the Private Writing Group by clicking here.

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Rise… with Prompts You Never Knew You Needed

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A tree with birds rising from it. Words on the image say "Rise Prompts for Different Purposes.

Today, it is time to rise up, separately and together.

Rising up is a choice. First, an example and a story:

I’ve been consciously walking for a couple months now, but a year ago, I could barely walk at all.I spent thirteen long days in the hospital with pneumonia, Valley Fever and Sepsis. My doctors told me I needed to include walking in my healing regime. I got good at getting out of bed and sitting up, but the walking part besides walking to the restroom and back wasn’t something I felt so great about. It took my friend Beth coming by and insisting we walk.

She held my arm and off we slowly went. 

Beth and I became an instant community and we rose up, together.

After that, I was willing to walk and I did walk. People visited me and we slowly walked. I even had landmark goals like the Pumpkin window – that was a big highlight. My friend Tim tried to get me to walk more – but his suggestion felt too far.

Rising up for you may mean making a phone call (and writing a script before making that call.)

Rising up for you may mean writing for five minutes on a subject that makes you angry and you are concerned you will get angrier so you don’t do anything. By the way, one of my favorite notes to self is anger in and of itself is not bad, it may be constructive. This morning I walked 7 flights of stairs because I was angry. It worked in that instance.

Rising up may be stretching your arms over your head once a day. Write a gratitude entry about how good it feels. Repeat tomorrow twice. Tell a friend about it in a text message. Continue. Continue. Continue.

Rising up may mean writing with a friend or writing live on a zoom session

There are prompts and videos you can write with today – tag one of your writing friends and set a time to come in and use one of the #5for5BrainDump videos at the Let Our Words Flow Creative Community or one of the many prompts in the albums or by searching the popular topics that show up in the group. (Check the MEDIA tab in the group.)

Rising up may mean setting a goal today to finish editing one chapter by Friday.Today, we are rising and writing about it.

Prompts for different sorts of Writing

Copy & Paste Texts: (Simply copy, add to a text or direct message and send. You may also add your own brief message to personalize)

1. I have noticed how you rise to the occasion over and over again. Thank you for your inspiration.

2. I haven’t heard from you lately. Is there anything you are facing I may help you with? I miss hearing from you

3. Hey, I am looking for someone I may reach out to when I’m feeling stuck or need inspiration. Would you be willing to receive an occasional check in text from me?

Copy Writing and Social Media Posts

How can your product serve as encouragement to help the people who are interested in your product face their challenges?

Write a heartfelt letter to a possible client/student/buyer and then mold it into a sales letter.

Fiction Writers:

Two options:

1) Write backstory about how your main character has a history of overcoming challenges.

2) Inject a “rise up” story/scene for a secondary character that fills a more stagnant part of your book with a new energy.

Lifestyle Bloggers and Vloggers

We’re getting toward summer when people stop working towards the goals they made earlier in the year.

How can you invigorate your audiences to rise up and over whatever they’re facing amidst the realities of 2022?

Memoir/Life Writers

Make a list of the times you have chosen to rise up. If the timeline doesn’t fit within the outline of your current memoir, how might it help with fleshing out the unseen or backstory in your memoir?

Bonus: How might it be useful in marketing your memoir once it is published.

Poets

Think of metaphors for rising up and use that metaphor to write your poem. Here are some examples to start you off:1) Early shoots of flowers in late winter/early spring2) A child taking her first step3) The beginnings of a difficult conversation.

Quotes and General Prompts

“When Monrovia rises, the city rises witha bang, and I wake up with a soft prayer on my lips.”Patricia Jabbeh Wesley

Prompt: When I wake up, I…..

“Sometimes we have to reach rock bottom before we’re willing to rise up and overcome our trials.” Dana Arcuri

Prompt: I remember when I rose above rock bottom…..

“It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all, in which case you have failed by default.”

J.K. Rowling

Prompt: I am guilty of allowing failure to block my progress, and now to rewrite that story, I will ….

Finally, save this link to Maya Angelou’s classic poem, “Still I Rise” and read it as would make you feel ready to rise (even if you don’t really feel like it.)Maya Angelou’s Poem “Still I Rise“

And now, write! Run and write with the words you find here.

Rise separately, Rise together… RISE.

Julie JordanScott is a Creative Life Coach, an award-winning storyteller, actor and poet whose photos and mixed media art graces the walls of collectors across the United States. Her writing has appeared on the New York Times Best Sellers List, the Amazon best sellers list and on American Greetings Holiday cards (and other greeting cards). She currently lives in a manse in Sussex, NJ, where she is working on finishing her most recent book project, hugging trees daily and enjoys having random inspirational conversations with strangers.

Follow on Instagram to Watch IGTV exclusive videos, stories and posts about writing and the creative process.

Let our Words Flow Writing Community: the only one missing is you! Join us in the Private Writing Group by clicking here.

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Trust: How Practices and Imperfection Lead to So Many Insightful Gifts

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This morning I sat at my desk intending to write in the same, highly practiced way as I do on most mornings. I met with my focus mate partner – for those who don’t know, Focusmate is a co-working environment online that helps people transform their to-do’s into ta-da’s while supporting another person doing the same in either 25 minute or 50 minute containers. 

“I am going to complete my morning writing practice,” I told my new friend’s smiling face and she reported her tasks back to me. We wished each other well and I started writing.

What I wasn’t expecting was to be visited by memories, Kahlil Gibran, Daniel Pink and experience divine healing in the midst of it.

I knew Dan Pink would be present because I had been meditating on his sentence since I read it yesterday in his new best seller, “The Power of Regret.”

The sentence was “Some beliefs operate quietly, like existential background music.”  

The overall theme of the writing was to be trust, a word that has been known to invoke a churning feeling in my gut. My friend Laurie Smith’s 28 Days of Flow Challenge had thrown down the word gauntlet and feeling brave, I stepped into the circle to wrestle with it.

Here is what I wrote:

Trust:  some days, most days to be honest, I don’t trust much of anything or anyone, much less myself. There was something Brene Brown says in “Atlas of the Heart”  about living disappointed instead of risking disappointment. Over the years, I have lived more disappointed than I have  risked disappointment.

When I visit my patterns of trust, I realize the bruises of opting out of trust started very early. I don’t want to sound like I am blaming because I am not claiming victimhood, I am exploring what happened. I am examining what the facts are without reconstructing a false narrative based on my opinions.

I think about what was happening in my young parents’ lives when I was a little one and I think “I don’t know how they did as well as they did. A cross country move with four children under the age of 7 with Mom pregnant setting up in a new location with a newish company. All the expectations for success…. once John was born with Down’s syndrome… the guilt and the grief and the fourteen month (fifteen sixteen month) me battled the lack of trust with refusing to learn to walk. 

If I didn’t walk, they would have to carry me. They would have to pay attention and lift me up to the places I couldn’t crawl, right? 

I didn’t trust for my safety and perhaps because I couldn’t trust I would receive the love I yearned for and practical love through action which I needed in order to continue my little life.  

Before language set in fully, I determined being the ultimate protector and caretaker was what I needed to be in order to survive.

This was  imprinted upon my innermost psyche:  If I take care of others well, we will all stay safe. 

This might have been my unspoken but definitely believed mantra – the existential background music, so now that my two younger brothers are dead, I have been proven lacking.

I have been proven lacking again. And Again. And again.

The adult, intellectual me says how flawed this belief is as we are all finite creatures. The spiritual side disagrees, saying “our souls are infinite, my brothers have gone nowhere”. The petulant side claps back with “oh yeah, if they’re here why can’t I shake and scold them for leaving me, for not fighting harder, what did I do wrong so that they didn’t fight longer or better?”

Kahlil Gibran ambles in and says a version of his lesson on Children:

“Your brothers were not your children any more than your children are your children.

They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.”

I realize in a flash or a glimmer of a flash I can trust life’s longing, the divine heartbeat, because each circumstance I have lived so far has proven itself to be a guide as much as I hated some of those situations and circumstances, as much as I wanted to vomit the moments from my existence – eventually the gratitude for them turned over in the soil as mulch, to be fragrant and helpful to my personal ecosphere.

I am sitting with that. 

Hands off keyboard.

This morning I danced. I said I would dance so I danced in front of the mirror to Nat King Cole’s L-O-V-E twice. I trusted and acted.

I did my lymph exercises in the room of the manse I designated for dance and exercise. I trusted myself to do this, too. It isn’t a habit or a practice yet, it is an intention I am doing my best to fulfill.

Before I sat to write I moved. And I laughed as I danced and I breathed deeply as I moved my lymph system purposefully and it all felt so good, something I wanted to do yesterday but hadn’t built my self-trust ladder sturdy enough yet and now, apparently I have. 

Today at this moment I have trusted and acted on purpose.  Today at this moment my trust is enriched as even white bread may be enriched with nutrients. 

Self-trust is an ultimate nutrient.

The little me can go back and trust her parents who she knows were doing the best they could do.  They didn’t need my assistance, I offered my  assistance with love, even as a toddler. Perhaps part of my assistance was a prayer for love, but it was birthed in love nonetheless as was I.

I was birthed in love, even if my birth wasn’t planned or convenient or even if my parents actively attempted to prevent my conception. I am a gift from life’s longing for itself. I can reference more sacred texts and embrace this.

After dancing and exercising and trusting myself to walk toward feeling better,  I simply engaged with trust at the urging of my friend Laurie Smith and Kahlil Gibran showed up to offer healing.

I can’t think of anything to be much cooler than that.

What has been your favorite moment so far this morning?

Julie JordanScott is a Creative Life Coach, an award-winning storyteller, actor and poet whose photos and mixed media art graces the walls of collectors across the United States. Her writing has appeared on the New York Times Best Sellers List, the Amazon best sellers list and on American Greetings Holiday cards (and other greeting cards). She currently lives in a manse in Sussex, NJ, where she is working on finishing her most recent book project, hugging trees daily and enjoys having random inspirational conversations with strangers.

Follow on Instagram to Watch IGTV exclusive videos, stories and posts about writing and the creative process.

Let our Words Flow Writing Community: the only one missing is you! Join us in the Private Writing Group by clicking here.

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How to Create Content from Livestream Video + Writing Prompts

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Woman at desk, appearing to be considering a problem or solution - and aiming to have a more satisfying work, life and content creation experience.
Writing and Journaling Prompts plus video are below to guide you.

Two questions before we begin: allow them to circle around outside of your direct thought process as you read the rest of this post.

Begin with intentional questions: in this case, for livestream and written content, explore appropriate questions:

What does satisfaction look like to you?

What does the fulfillment of one’s wishes, expectations, or needs, or the pleasure of any of these feel like for you?

Yesterday I hosted a livestream – a common experience for me on Sunday afternoons – with the primary intention of starting the week with journaling and planning according to what is discovered during that journaling session. Yesterday we chatted about three primary areas in the prompt:

Satisfaction, passion and purpose. 

Why go live? With a basic outline (quasi-unscripted) and speaking freely, it is a form of “rough drafting” and when people are present, it has an element of market research.

Going live on Sunday afternoons is something I enjoy. I know going live and encouraging people  will provide value for them and has the possibility to make their lives better simply by following through with the writing from the prompts, especially when they take the wisdom they discover and apply it to their everyday lives. 

Here’s a recording of yesterday’s livestream which you may watch now – almost live – or come back later to watch and glean insight before writing from the prompts.

This morning – the day after I recorded the livestream, I used free flow writing to explore further: 

Free Flow Writing from the Prompts – even writing incoherently to anyone except for you – may be life changing.

This is what I wrote: Staying in satisfaction is a joy and a process and yet I know I cut myself off from it regularly, like I turn away from good people or possibilities because of my less than or other than reflex.

I am such an expert in turning from what is good and right and special about myself – so instead, I am stepping into this new space of satisfaction by recognizing the YES, instead!

When have I felt satisfied lately? Today?

Yesterday, I noticed the daffodils in front of the house. That was so sweet. They are gorgeous, so gorgeous and I want a photo with them. I will do that today if the light stays as nice and not so cloudy or overcast. The sky here is so beautiful, when I gaze at it the “what might be seen as wrong” evaporates.

Today I am wearing makeup.

Yesterday Julianne (note to reader: I consider Julianne to be my highest self. I use her as a writing companion and often address her by name in my “role over and write journal. I know, it is quirky and… I am quirky so… continuing now unedited) whispered something like “Let’s wear makeup for a few days and see what happens.” So I got up and put on makeup and curled my hair the tiniest bit and by goodness and gracious I feel happy about it and am smiling at my own face, thank you James Taylor.

This is one way satisfaction is experienced.

Satisfaction I have experienced is also deep breaths and writing these words while listening to classical music.

Satisfaction is walking in new places, trails, fun sidewalks. I realize I want to go walk in Glen Ridge simply for the joy. Retrace my steps. That would be so fun and perhaps slightly surreal. People who move away and come back or don’t come back…. I am looking at the walls in here thinking “What to change to, what to stay the same?” and realize, thinking of these things is satisfying and taking action surely brings an increased satisfaction.

Satisfaction is staying in focus.

Satisfaction is also  giggling when I don’t stay on focus

Satisfaction is sometimes engaging with another human on focus mate and knowing I am better when I am connected, first with myself and then with other people. 

Satisfaction is actually USING my planner 🙂

Satisfaction is the morning life in my home office.

Satisfaction is a tea cup from Czechoslovakia. Contrast is hearing the news out of Hungary… I didn’t realize they have become a “pro-autocracy state” which makes me sad. Satisfaction in response is breathing love to the people of Hungary. I realize some people will not understand what “breathing love” means and some people will get angry about my use of pro-autocracy and I am claiming satisfaction for speaking what I believe and accepting the consequences of doing so.

It is so satisfying to breathe deeply into my own heart, and breathe out love, multiplied exponentially. 

This is what satisfaction sometimes looks and feels like.

After we free flow write and after we live stream, we may continue to feel happy simply for taking action and allowing the action itself to bring us into the intended state.

I am sitting at my desk, smiling. I am in yet another focus mate session where my partner has the same name as someone I love. I wonder if they can see me smiling with a big dopey contented look on my face? They’re probably looking at their own work on their own screen and either way, in taking the time to write about satisfaction – I feel better than I have all morning and it has been a marvelous morning so this says a lot.

These tools are simple, practical and enjoyable.

Let’s go back to our original questions that you may now use as free flow writing prompts as well – if not now, perhaps later today.

Your writing prompts for reflection and action:

What does satisfaction look like to you?

What does the fulfillment of one’s wishes, expectations, or needs, or the pleasure of any of these feel like for you?

To get a reminder of this session on Facebook, please visit https://www.facebook.com/JJSWritingCamp/videos/4750013225125157

Julie JordanScott is a Creative Life Coach, an award-winning storyteller, actor and poet whose photos and mixed media art graces the walls of collectors across the United States. Her writing has appeared on the New York Times Best Sellers List, the Amazon best sellers list and on American Greetings Holiday cards (and other greeting cards). She currently lives in a manse in Sussex, NJ, where she is working on finishing her most recent book project, hugging trees daily and enjoys having random inspirational conversations with strangers.

Follow on Instagram to Watch IGTV exclusive videos, stories and posts about writing and the creative process.

Let our Words Flow Writing Community: the only one missing is you! Join us in the Private Writing Group by clicking here.

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Satisfied, Passionate, Purposeful: Journaling Prompt to Plan Your Week

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Prompt: April 3, 2022 Prompt

Every week I go live on Sundays on my Facebook Page, JJS WRITING CAMP, and we talk about a specific journaling prompt. We free flow write in response to the question or prompt and through that, discern what actions we may take because of what we discover and uncover.

What I learned today is neither facebook nor linked in allow embeds of the videos they host on their sites so – next week I will also stream on YouTube so I may share here.

In the meantime, here is a link to the livestream on Facebook at the Writing Camp with JJS Page. When you watch that replay, I offer ideas and the prompt more fully than just in writing.

Satisfied, Passionate, Purposeful: What do these mean to you?

  1. Free flow write for up to 5 minutes on any on all of these words. What are you doing when you feel the most satisfied, the most passionate, the most purposeful?
  2. How are you spending your time so that you will spend more of your time feeling satisfied, passionate and purposeful?
  3. Your subconscious mind will give you details you have yet to discover when you free flow write rather than planning every words to say.
Watch us live on YouTube, Linked in or at Writing Camp next Sunday!

Julie JordanScott is a Creative Life Coach, an award-winning storyteller, actor and poet whose photos and mixed media art graces the walls of collectors across the United States. Her writing has appeared on the New York Times Best Sellers List, the Amazon best sellers list and on American Greetings Holiday cards (and other greeting cards). She currently lives in a manse in Sussex, NJ, where she is working on finishing her most recent book project, hugging trees daily and enjoys having random inspirational conversations with strangers.

Follow on Instagram to Watch IGTV exclusive videos, stories and posts about writing and the creative process.

Let our Words Flow Writing Community: the only one missing is you! Join us in the Private Writing Group by clicking here.

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Inspirational Writing, Meditation & Poetry is Right Here & Out Beyond

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A Call to Love Yourself & Others

Sometimes it feels like “Self-Love” is overdone just like sometimes “Self-Care” often falls into a shallow trap of massages and manicures.

Beyond those limiting experiences, there is a depth of beauty you and I may not know yet.

This series “Out Beyond” will blend the richness of poetry, the mindfulness of meditation and the expression of writing and visual art to respond to the ever important call to love others… as yourself.

How often do we forget that this most important guidance not only calls us to love others, we also need to have a true respect and honoring for ourselves before we can understand and apply that same knowing of love for others.

Compassion: Beyond Others and Into Self

“Remember to give yourself grace,” I said yesterday to someone I am working with to have a more satisfying life experience while also living with a chronic illness.

I might as well have been holding up a mirror to my face.

How often do I offer myself undue favor, kindess and offer an outstretched hand of understanding before I leap into negative talk toward myself I would never say to others.

In “Out Beyond” we will explore compassion, too.

Forgiveness: Look Both Outward and Inward, to Self

It is not unusual for people to be great at forgiving others and not so good at forgiving themselves.

I will raise my hand and say “ME!” here because it is something I have been actively working on for quite a while. I recognize how valuable and necessary self-forgiveness and other-forgiveness are during this time of explosive separation, let’s step peacefully into increased forgiveness starting with ourselves.

This experience will take place here, at the Creative Life Midwife, and will writing exercises, videos, inspirational quotes and two five-day writing explorations with prompts and the option to practice and apply what you’re learning through the poetry and meditations.

Rumi wrote, “Out beyond the field of wrongdoing and rightdoing there is a field. I will meet you there.” A field of love, compassion and forgiveness will welcome you to explore, discover and add to your creative life in ways you may not even fathom yet.

I look forward to seeing you “Out Beyond” beginning on February 15, 2022

Julie JordanScott is a Creative Life Coach, an award-winning storyteller, actor and poet whose photos and mixed media art graces the walls of collectors across the United States. Her writing has appeared on the New York Times Best Sellers List, the Amazon best sellers list and on American Greetings Holiday cards (and other greeting cards). She currently lives in a manse in Sussex, NJ, where she is working on finishing her most recent book project, hugging trees daily and enjoys having random inspirational conversations with strangers.

Follow on Instagram to Watch IGTV exclusive videos, stories and posts about writing and the creative process.

Let our Words Flow Writing Community: the only one missing is you! Join us in the Private Writing Group by clicking here.

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We Wish You a Merry Vlogmas and Bountiful 2022 Word of the Year

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I can feel it coming now!

Announcement of 12 Days of Vlogmas

Planning for 2022 have begun in earnest for some of us and for others, waiting and intuitive listening is the way to be open the “what’s next of 2022.”

Begin Your 2022 Preparations with a Word of the Year

Something I do annually is to craft – intentionally – a Word of the Year.

People create a word of the year in place of a New Year’s resolution – which is often broken or forgotten before the year even begins. It allows you to form your goals and intentions with the word as a theme or a frame for what you would like to take form in 2022.

Whether you take an intuitive or structured approach, this workbook will bring more insights before the new year begins.

Because I value taking time with the process, I have created a Workbook for you to use to purposefully bring your word for 2022 to light. It includes a 7 step process including creativity coaching questions, prompts and ideas.

If you take an intuitive approach, you are preparing and opening the door slowly.

If you take a more structured approach, this will help to bring energy and oomph to the work you are doing.

Vlogmas Video and Download:

To Download Your Word of the year Planner, visit here. I’m so grateful to be celebrating Vlogmas with you!

Julie JordanScott is a Creative Life Coach, an award-winning storyteller, actor and poet whose photos and mixed media art graces the walls of collectors across the United States. Her writing has appeared on the New York Times Best Sellers List, the Amazon best sellers list and on American Greetings Holiday cards (and other greeting cards). She currently lives in a manse in Sussex, NJ, where she is working on finishing her most recent book project, hugging trees daily and enjoys having random inspirational conversations with strangers.

Follow on Instagram to Watch IGTV exclusive videos, stories and posts about writing and the creative process.

Let our Words Flow Writing Community: the only one missing is you! Join us in the Private Writing Group by clicking here.

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What’s Next? Creative Life Midwife Blog in December & 2022

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Gratitude to the Blog Visitors: woman writing ina notebook and circles of gratitude in this holiday flavored image

During November, I participated once again in the Ultimate Blog Challenge. Although I wasn’t perfect in my participation, I would say I improved greatly from past challenges. A big part of that is from the community created by Paul Taubman with the Ultimate Blog Challenge.

Gratitude: One of the Most Powerful Energies there is!

The people who are in the challenge are always a great support, but this year I took some risks in what I posted and was met repeatedly with meaningful comments and connections.

I have connected with some people in the challenge in the past, but this session was special because of the care of each comment participants made and how regularly my posts were shared with their audiences. I cannot thank each of you enough.

Please: if you have a blog consider participating in the next challenge by using the link above or this Ultimate Blog Challenge link right here! 🙂

What’s next? 12 Days of Vlogmas Gifts to Make Your 2022 Creatively Bountiful

I have been thinking of doing Vlogmas AND it feels so big, too big, especially as I didn’t quite make it through the Ultimate Blog Challenge for all thirty days THOUGH I was closer than usual thanks to batching my content.

I decided it would be really fun for me to do Vlogmas in 12 Days beginning on December 4th instead of 30 posts starting December 1 (though I leave room to add if I am having tons of fun and want to continue) and offer gifts – primarily tools I use that people may choose to use also via check lists, journaling pages, actual google docs to copy and things like that. 

Together, let’s delight in our individual and collective creative bount by giving and receiving the 12 Days of Vlogmas Gifts!

These tangible (and virtual) helps will make your 2022 more creatively bountiful than it would be on its own.

Who’s up for that?

Let’s Keep Our Connection Alive in December (and Beyond!)

I will share the posts in the Ultimate Blog Challenge group in December. I like popping in there even when there isn’t a challenge going as a way to stay connected on our “no challenge” months. Saying that’s part of my plan will make me more likely to follow through.

I will also be participating in the December Cornerstone Content Blog Challenge run by Jeanine Byers who I met from the Ultimate Blog Challenge. We have become better friends as the years and challenges have gone on. In the Cornerstone Content Blog Challenge. In December we are focusing on sharing on our Facebook Business Pages AND… truth be told I often repurpose a lot of my content sometimes with slight variations so ther 12 Days of Vlogmas Gifts may show up there on some days, too.

In 2022, I will be focusing on offering Soulful Writing Courses and Soulful Writing Circles in addition to launching other courses focused on intentional creative rebirth. In October 2022 I will be opening the doors to offering Intentional Holiday Circles, Even While Grieving again – and for those who want to process on their own, I am creating a journal now for that very purpose.

THANK YOU for being a part of my 2021 experience!

Julie JordanScott is a Creative Life Coach, an award-winning storyteller, actor and poet whose photos and mixed media art graces the walls of collectors across the United States. Her writing has appeared on the New York Times Best Sellers List, the Amazon best sellers list and on American Greetings Holiday cards (and other greeting cards). She currently lives in a manse in Sussex, NJ, where she is working on finishing her most recent book project, hugging trees daily and enjoys having random inspirational conversations with strangers.

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How to Find a Writing Practice that Works for You (and recognize it will change over time!)

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I laughed out loud this morning when I read an excerpt from yesterday’s writing practice. I wrote:

♡ Today I want to get over the hurdle of fear, preferably without smacking my face, my ass or my thighs on the way down.

How can I get more honest than that?

For years I wrote in the style of Julia Cameron’s morning pages, but after more than a decade of this practice, I needed to try something new so I borrowed from poet Billy Collins to include a list of 20 things I did the day before.

This works on many levels AND I have gone on to modify this practice more.

Playfully experiment with different types of writing practice rather than giving up entirely.

I happily experimented my way into a writing practice that collects images, sensory observations and day to day using Collins “Yesterday I” with the first five entries honoring “what I did” and the rest following a combination of sensory prompts, listing my desires and also noting what I read (perhaps a good quote or two among blogs, books, etc) and more.

I put my list into a monthly google doc. Everyday when I start working it is the first task. I take each prompt and respond five times to each.

My current, everyday writing practice foundation looks like this:


Here is what my current daily prompt currently looks like.

Yesterday I (action)
^ Yesterday I felt
Yesterday I saw
𝅘𝅥𝅲 Yesterday I heard
🕮 Yesterday I read
⇌↪Yesterday I smelled
♡ Today I want


☆ Today I affirm (and I write an affirmation or affirmative statement. Sometime I use scripture or modify quotes, too.)


╳ Any a-ha’s? (More often than not I don’t have anything to list but when I do, this is a beneficial category. I also think it helps to awaken my subconscious mind to remember and bring them to the front of my brain instead of getting stuck in minutia.)

By the way, I did not get physically injured when I climbed over the hurdle of fear. If anything I rose higher than I might have expected.

I may challenge myself to write what I want to do with fear on a more regular basis!

I know not everyone believes in writing daily or even regularly. For me, it works.

Most importantly when the practice I was using stopped working, I circled back and experimented to find what worked better for me.

Right now I have two distinctive, short (takes less than 15 minutes) writing practices – the one you are reading here and #rolloverandwrite – which is a brief before sleep write (sometimes literally a scribbled sentence) and then soon after awakening I roll over while still in bed and pick up my notebook instead of my phone.

In the latter practice, I have gotten much better at remembering my dreams AND I tune into a lot more of my personal wisdom I didn’t know was there that I use in my work with coaching clients, my blogging, my relationships and even in my social media planning.

How regularly do you write?

Portrait of Writer, Creative Life Coach, Speaker, Group Facilitator and Blogger Julie JordanScott

Julie JordanScott is a multipassionate creative who delights in inviting others into their own fullhearted, artistic experience via her creativity coaching individually or in groups, courses and workshops. To receive inspiring content and videos weekly and find out more about Coaching, Courses, Challenges and what’s going on in the Creative Life Midwife world? Subscribe here:

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Let our Words Flow Writing Community: the only one missing is you! Join us in the Private Writing Group by clicking here.


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