Creative Life Midwife

Inspiring Artistic Rebirth

Last night I didn’t feel, this morning I wrote…

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Last night I didn’t feel well, so I opted out of book club and then tossed and turned and kvetched the night away, shaking my fist at the new moon until I allowed her to hold me close.

This morning I wrote my 35th haiku in thirty-five consecutive days. I haven’t left my porch yet. I continued with my morning writing practice and lit my candle in another new, sustaining ritual pointing towards intentional connection in all I do, make and live. I did this before I drank my first cup of coffee.

I don’t know what today will hold specifically and I have several distinctive containers – a toastmasters meeting and a book club meeting – for deliberate connections with people. As I wrote that sentence, it occurred to me I may take those appointments (before this I saw them as duties) as ways to truly see and hear specific people who also gather in these groups.

What I mean by “seeing and hearing specific people” is I will not only mindfully listen to people as they speak, I will also initiate conversations with people who may not be engaged – those who may be feeling left out or unimportant to others in the group.

When I show up this way it isn’t so much of a battle to get there, although I believe a shower is in order and I have yet to achieve that!

Why is this worthy of sharing on my blog?

It is worthy of sharing because our future is built on our everyday moments, our conscious intention or lack thereof. If we choose to stay focused on anger and disassociation from everyone who doesn’t think, feel, create and move through the day exactly as we do, we miss opportunities for surprise, delight and increased meaning and creativity.

What of this message today resonates with you?

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Transformational Question to Live Today: What if….. I forget to be afraid

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ballet dancers from 1924 remind us to forget to be afraid... what if you forget to be afraid, today?

I remember when I was leading a daily coaching group and we used the prompt, “When I forget to be afraid, I…”


We used what I call a “popcorn” method where people spoke “into the center” of the results that flow when we, as individuals and collectively, stop being imprisoned by fear and all the feelings associated with it.

Responses went like this:

When I forget to be afraid, I…

  • can do what I most want to do (without caring what people think)
  • notice the words flow, effortlessly
  • find answers to the questions that haunt me
  • laugh, a lot, about nothing and everything
  • go beyond planning into action

When I forget to be afraid, I…

and as we continued to go deeper, more conscious bravery begins to take form.

What if we forget to be afraid, both individually and collectively?

Walls and barriers fall when we don’t hesitate, when we stand up and speak up with courage and fullness and confidence.

Consider what it will take to get you there.

Do you need more practice in courage?

Today, do something small that makes you slightly shaky. It doesn’t have to be big and no one needs to know. YOU will know. Tomorrow, repeat – either with the same action or something else.

I guarantee if you do something every day for the next seven days that makes you feel nervous, you will find your courage stretched and your confidence is either soaring or about to lift off.

What if you forget to be afraid?

Write it, speak it, put it into practice.

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Writing with Pen & Paper Vs Computer: Friend, Foe or Collaborators?

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The debate for writers: do we use computers or do we use paper and pen? Image of keyboard and hands notebook and phone to the side.

This is a question people ask me regularly: “Do you write with a pen (or pencil) and paper or do you write using your computer?”

My response: “Both”

The follow up question is often, “Do you do one sort of writing on the computer and another kind in your notebook?”

My response, “Not necessarily. And sometimes I write on my phone.”

This tends to frustrate people who want “the one pure secret to how to create a lot of content really fast”. If they were honest, they wouldl admit to the underlying desire being “because I want to make a lot of money and quit my day job.”

I’m not calling this a bad thing, I appreciate the ambition for abundance. The problem is, writing well isn’t always an exact recipe. I know lots of copywriters will tell you different. Copywriters may have an exact recipe for sales letters and they may have products to teach you how to write blog posts without ever writing.

If you want to write and you would like to write well and you would like to know about different ways of getting to a positive end result, please continue reading.

Generally, I approach writing projects like this:

I prefer to keep an old fashioned spiral notebook or composition book for my daily writing practice, which I usually do in the early morning. Most recently I’ve written three pages in the morning with the first page being standard brain dumping, simple free flow writing. The second page is a 21 item list of “What I did yesterday” – an inverse to-do list, “This is what I actually did.” with no basis in good, bad or indifferent. Just the facts.

Depending on the size of your notebook, these 21 lines may take up almost a complete page.

I finish that page with commentary on the list or more free writing.

The third page is whatever I need it to be. Sometimes I pre-write quotes or questions at the top of the page. Sometimes I write my word of the year or theme of the month on the page. Sometimes I will write something that is bothering me at the top of the page so that I may work through it.

I always end with at least six lines of gratitude because this insures my end on an up note.

This way my morning writing serves me to learn about patterns in my life (What did I do? What did I do I may write about? What is troubling me? What is inspiring me? Who are the people I am investing time in and what are the projects I’m ignoring?

All of this is done the old fashioned way: pencil or pen to blue lined spiral notebook or composition book paper. Brene Brown reminds us “The way to move information from your head to your heart is through your hands.”

Yes, this may include tapping on your computer keyboard or into your phone, but the pace of the notebook is slower. It connects you to your history and to the history of others in your life.

If there is information in your notebook to use in future writing (including something like this) the words and understanding will be deepened by re-reading what you wrote by hand and adding it into a computer document.

I encourage you to try writing differently from time-to-time. Don’t get too stuck in the idea there is a right way and there is a wrong way.

Instead, playfully experiment with different ways.

There is no wrong way to do this – there is simply and purely writing – and the love for expressing yourself and perhaps for other audiences as well.

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Create a Remarkable Life: Celebrate Your “Small” Wins (because truly no win is small.)

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Building blocks make their way to success.

 It is mid-January: do you know where your goals are?

A bit over a week ago many of us boldly spoke proclamations about what we aimed to achieve in this momentous first year of a brand new decade!

You may be one of those people who rolled your eyes at others enthusiasm and lamented “What’s the point?”

It may be because I nearly died in October, but I took a different approach this year and it is working brilliantly. I created three goals for the New Year that aren’t grand and glorious, they aren’t outrageous or audacious. These goals and projects are tiny goals I approach daily as if they were brand new.

Let’s look at one of those goals and see how you may use it to craft a small, daily goal for yourself.

Daily Goal: Write a haiku in the morning to post on social media based on a morning photo I take.

Here’s how I have been creating this daily for the past twenty days.

  1. Be ready to take a photo daily, whether or not there is something inspiring or even pretty to take a photo. It may not be at all interesting.  Take a photo anyway.
  2. Throw words and syllables (I call them units of sound) together without worrying about whether or not they are any good – at this point this is more about creating a ‘word pool” to choose words from to sculpt your short poem. Play around with different variations to discover  what thoughts might make sense and also fit into the famous 5-7-5 haiku guidelines. By the way, haikus are very short poems. They are of Japanese origin and in English are commonly seen as three lined poems with the first and third lines having five syllables and the middle line having seven syllables.
  3. Become more comfortable thinking there is nothing to say.
  4. Some days you will take lots of photos to find one I find remotely good enough. Other days you will take only one.  A fringe benefit to the daily nature of this goal is it is naturally a great healer of perfectionism. It teaches you to say “Yes. This will do.” I have been pleasantly surprised by photos and poems that did nothing for me yet somehow magically spoke to someone who found it on my social media feed.
  5. Don’t worry if people “see” you out and about taking photos of unusual or not often photographed things. Today I bumped into a gentleman who was headed into a museum to do volunteer work. He asked if I was also a volunteer, because he didn’t seem to understand why I would be taking a photo of a wall. I asked about his volunteer gig. I like to think I brightened his day. He didn’t ask about my photo and I didn’t share, I focused on him. People love being seen and heard. Brightening other people’s days is a bonus from this goal on many levels.
  6. Offer myself grace if I don’t post my photos and poems in the morning.
  7. Do a happy dance when I write a haiku and/or take a photo I really like.
  8. Embrace revision as a part of the process. Note to self: Share that process! It gives others permission to “not get it right the first time.”
  9. Give yourself milestones along the way to bigger milestones. Celebrate EACH day for the success you have created that day.
  10. This is my recipe for small goal leading to remarkable life success. You may choose to follow it, modify it, ignore it or even laugh at it. As Louisa May Alcott said, “Let my name stand among those who are willing to bear ridicule and reproach for the truth’s sake, and so earn some right to rejoice when the victory is won.”
  11. Be prepared to be satisfied and surprised with what comes as a result. You’re allowed and encouraged to brag but as with everything else, there are no requirements – simply lots of love.

Final food for thought: New Years is not the only time to create new goals and vision for yourself. I actually start my own new year on my birthday. This year I am doing my weekly goal checks and planning on Wednesdays because Mondays tend to be hectic plus people complain about Mondays. When they talk about Wednesdays, they’re usually talking about happy activities.

What will your first or next small, do-able, fresh new goal be?

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How to Ignite Your Journaling or Daily Writing Easily to End Journal Burnout

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Are you interested in revitalizing your journaling or daily writing practice?

Three months ago I made a change in my writing practice routine and it has made a huge difference for me. Considering I literally lost one of the last three months because I almost died from sepsis, this is even more remarkable.

As the new year begins, I am even more excited to bring the message of reawakening, restoring and being fully alive into the world.

Ready to try it? Watch this simple 4 minute video  and read below to see some of the nitty gritty “how to” in the “What I did yesterday” sequence.

What did I do yesterday?

  1. Tried to go to Open Mic at Dagny’s
  2. Took a shopping cart photo  and wrote my morning haiku
  3. Enjoyed breakfast at Denny’s with Parker.
  4. Drank coffee
  5. Made Samuel his favorite meal
  6. Listened to “Dare to Lead” by Brene Brown as I drove around
  7. Wrote a blog post
  8. Went on an adventure at the river bread (delivered sheer joy and a bunch of content.)
  9. Decided not to do laundry

This is about when I start to lose steam, so I continue my numbering and go back and fill in as things pop into my head. Things can be simple – ridiculously simple like “Wore my black thrifted sweater I love so much.” Or “responded to an email”.

Even if you can’t come up with twenty “things I did” yesterday, simply starting this practice will help you to notice more as you experience life that you may take into your journaling as well as into other types of writing.

You may even make it into a game to think how much fun you are able to create in one day!

Tomorrow I will share 21 easy ways to make your day more “write-about-able”.

Come back to explore with me further as you not only revitalize your journaling, you may find yourself revitalizing your entire life!

Julie JordanScott, the Creative Life Midwife, has found herself revitalized after a near-death experience in October. She is more than ready and able now to take you to a richer, deeper, more passionately alive life experience. Join her free facebook group for writers – the Word Love Writing Community – now to become a better, more consistent writer.

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How to Use Your Text & Other “Throwaway Writing” to Make All Your Writing Easier.

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The artists among us might say “Let’s Woo Your Muse” Clearly it is time to restore your writing voice now. Time to discover (or rediscover) the words within that are waiting to be written.

Your muse may have become jaded so these promps will restore your faith AND help you get your goodies on paper

Here’s what we’ll do. We will give you an inspiring quote and write a variety of prompts from it so you have a menu of sorts to elevate you to express yourself.

We are starting today with beat poet Allen Ginsburg. He is helping us figure out what to do with leftovers: text messages, emails, half written instagram captions, unfinished essays and novels we left behind in a pile of whatever thought or interruption came along to distract us.

Have you ever found stuff you put aside or buried in scraps and thought later, “This isn’t bad!”

Let’s scoop up the wisdom we’ve started and never finished and see what’s left to create from a new perspective.

Quote:

“Time’s left its remnants and qualities for me to use — my words piled up, my texts, my manuscripts, my loves.”

Allen Ginsberg

A remnant is a leftover bit of fabric like crumbs are leftover on the plate. When I was a little girl, my mom sewed much of my clothing, she would sometimes buy the remnants that were left on the end of a bolt after someone else used the majority of the fabric.

She would use it to make doll clothes or accent pieces on projects or, since she collected fabric like I collect books, sometimes we just put it away to inspire us.

Time’s remnants are leftover bits of that are connected to a specific time, space or experience and in Ginsberg’s quote, tidbits of writing. The texts he is speaking of are not like today’s texts, messages from one cell phone to another. He is talking about books written and not published.

Those tidbits hold the power of story within them: they are the substance of nostalgic “remember when…” conversations that make connect us to one another. Remember there is power in using storytelling in all our content.

I oftentimes suggest to my coaching clients and people in my workshops to glean or pick up bits and pieces of text messages and emails and Instagram posts to inspire or fill-in-the-blanks of other writing. The other place to look is remnants of memory or conversation.

A women is typing in the countryside, another way of looking at a remnant of time and words, launching inspiration into the air.

 Questions:

What remnants has time left you? Pick one remnant and describe it as richly and fully as you can with words that relate to t=e senses, not abstractions like “wonderful” or “awesome”.

What remnants have you left in the lives of people you love or co-workers or even frenemies? Write a small tidbit of a story about one of the remnants. Use these as inspiration for characters in fiction or screen plays.

Lists:

Make a list of 5 – 10 remnants of time in your life you would like to make into a quilt. Be fanciful and true.

Make a list of 5 – 10 remnants of time in your life you would NOT like ANYONE to remember. Be honest, be vulnerable.

Traditional writing prompts:

From the lists and the original questions, choose one which resonates and write interchangeably from these prompts.

I remember….

I wish…

I think….

I can’t leave without saying there are no rights and wrongs as to following the prompts here. There is only showing up for your life and your creativity and using what inspires you to fulfill your dreams, passion and purpose.

You may also choose to use these as conversation starters. I imagine there could be many heartful discussions from what we have launched here.

Do me a favor: leave a comment to tell me which prompt you will scoop up first so that I may support you fully in this adventure of creativity.

I love nothing more than supporting your process.

Julie JordanScott, the Creative Life Midwife, is a writer, a poet performer, a Creativity Coach, and a Mother of three. One of her
greatest joys include loving people into their greatness they just aren’t quite able to realize yet. To set up a complimentary exploratory session, please visit here. Be sure to follow her on Social Media platforms so you may participate in one of her upcoming events. You won’t want to miss a thing – your future self will thank you!

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How to Ask Questions Differently to Create Better Results

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“If you treat every question as if you’ve never heard it before, your students feel like you respect them and everyone learns a lot more.”
Anita Diamont in The Boston Girl


What questions are you asking that might be more effective if you ask them from a different perspective or angle?

What if you used slightly different words – like instead of saying “What do I want?” practice and play with “What are you excited about?” or “What are you looking forward to?” or “What’s next for you?” and then following the flow of the conversation or if I am journaling, following the flow of my energy straight into my pencil or pen.

“What I am excited about tomorrow?” can open up a planning session from a dull creation of a checklist into a jumble of realizations or a suddenly give me choices of actions rather than a dictation of shoulds and “oh geesh, I gotta do this or that” which makes me get sick to my stomach just thinking about it.

Maybe I understand “What do I want” to be slightly edgy or depressing because I played “The Ghost of Christmas Present” and one of the scariest moments in that production is when the children who play “ignorance” and “want” are so tragic. The truth is, I used to utilize “want” all the time with my coaching clients, but now, I favor other questions like the ones I shared with you above.

You may modify to make questions that resonate more strongly with you.

Here’s one that works with me:

“What brave action will I take today?” comes along with “How much better do I want to feel?” which for me comes from stopping the procrastination train in its tracks.

This particular question appeared right at the end of a 5 minute journal writing session – where oftentimes the really good stuff comes, right when you have said “I am committed to creating in short chunks to get more done” like our signature #5for5BrainDump.

Questions also help to end procrastination and help you to take action against it.

My biggest project right now in my household is tackling my living room one section at a time so with that, I am asking myself the question, “How fantastic will it feel when someone knocks at the door and you don’t have to worry whether they can see into that cluttered room?”

Brand new response to the question I am hearing for the first time? “I would feel pretty darned good, self!”

Just asking myself “What do I want?” hasn’t brought me significant results. It forgot the value of positive energy and what happens when we choose to use that energy to create flow.

I’m in it, fully, now, because I am practicing asking better questions.

From what you’ve seen here and noticed in the rest of your life, what questions are most likely to stir you into action and then momentum?

Julie JordanScott, the Creative Life Midwife, is a writer, a poet performer, a Creativity Coach, and a Mother of three. One of her
greatest joys include loving people into their greatness they just aren’t quite able to realize yet. To set up a complimentary exploratory session, please visit here.

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Daily Making Diaries: Four Months Until Katherine’s Birthday & Christmas!

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  • This post was written #5for5BrainDump style which means – it was written using stream of consciousness writing for 5 minutes. No editing or forethought of content. Images were added later. #5for5BrainDump writing is meant to be an exploration of personal growths and a mini a-ha incubator… a collector of insights and awarenesses written on purpose… for no purpose.

It was a divine call today, I hadn’t even thought of stopping at the park on my drive home. I thought I would stop at a parking garage and take some panorama shots of metro Bakersfield. It was an ugly-sky-morning and I thought that was what I was meant to capture.

I am focusing on daily making, a practice of daily creativity because I know in doing this – a determined crafting of something – it will positively impact my entrepreneurship. It activates different parts of my mind that have been lying, dormant, waiting for me to shake myself back into life.

I decided I would purposefully capture images not at my ultimate destination of the moment, instead to capture scenery along the way. Interesting how yesterday’s imagery informed today’s choices.

I felt led to a park instead of a parking garage.

I did a fair share of stretching and bending and posing which felt almost yogic which felt great and was a response to my slight whining while I was getting ready for bed, “I need to stretch my hips more, this is ridiculous” and even though this morning I didn’t have “stretch your hips” on the list, there I was, stretching my hips as I squatted to get this, and other photos, so that I might tell the story the imagery was calling me to tell.

Even writing this feels awfully intimate and not entirely safe.

Two seconds and my five minute writing session will be over.

The bells ring. I’m awake. I’ve been uncomfortable enough and thrilled enough this morning.

 

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7 Simple Steps to Set Yourself Up For Journaling & Writing Success

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Writing success is so much simpler than people believe AND that doesn’t necessarily make it easy.

Simplicity definitely does make it do-able.

The first simple step to take is to set yourself up to write.

This is as simple as preparing a place to write. Just like we set the table before we eat a meal or set up a shot before we make a video or take a photo, we may also set up for writing.One of the suggestions I make to those who are almost always “going to write today” and then don’t is to literally put out all the writing tools they need, take some other unrelated action, and then plop down in the chair and write.

How it looks in seven easy steps goes like this:

  1. Place your notebook (or journal or writing paper), your pen or pencil (or tablet or phone).
  2. Set a water bottle beside your writing tools.
  3. If you like to write with music, preset the music you like.
  4. Whatever it is you prefer to have for your writing experience, literally put it all in one spot.
  5. Write a prompt across the top of the page or document. (There are many right on this page. Pull one down and use it, choose several to give you variety if that helps you get your energy flowing.
  6.  You might write a question such as “What is the best focus on my social media this week?” or “What are some sample headlines I might use for blog posts this week?” or “How may I be a heroine for my clients, customers and readers this week?”
  7.  Then do the opposite of writing: take 15 minutes (or your preferred allotment of time) to cook, to walk, to do a yoga sequence, a photo taking session, a drive, a shower – whatever it is that you enjoy doing to clear your mind and get into your body, to become more alert and then without any hesitation, sit in the chair and write.

You may want to light a candle or speak your intention aloud. I like to have my essential oils diffusing, so that’s an example of an extra item I use.

It is that simple.

You may follow along this week as we continue to learn tips, hacks and share stories on my livestreams (Periscope, Facebook Live, Instagram Live) this week as well as on IG-TV, Instastories, and YouTube. If you feel compelled to create content from what we’re sharing here, please tag me so I may support you and share what you’re up to with others.

Let’s have a more successful writing week than we ever imagined.

What’s the first writing project you will set free this week?

Our 5for5BrainDump 5 Day Writing Adventure is coming up next week – it is free for you to make your journaling and writing better at any time! To join us live, please take a moment to register here – and in thanks, you may download our free Strategic Journaling Guide for your future success with writing and with life, overall as well. 

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Strategic Journaling: How to Help Yourself to Find the “Right” Words When They Go Into Hiding

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There are times when I can’t access the exact right words to say what my heart is calling me to say. This is embarassing to admit as a writer, but I am nothing if not authentic.

Sometimes it is a feeling I’m attempting to describe, sometimes it is a concept just on the edge of language – but not quite inside the language sphere and the longer and more I try to smooosh the concept or feeling into language, the more it moves away.

Rather than get frustrated I have found a few strategies to “free” the words that are stuck inside me and then return to the writing process reinvigorated.

1. Create something that isn’t connected to language: borrow your child’s crayons and fill a sheet of lined paper with circles, then color them in. As you are drawing, focus on the experience. When you are complete with it, return to your writing with the prompt, “What I mean to say is…”

2. Go for a five to ten minute walk. As a bonus, speak affirmations and positive mantras of your choosing as you walk.  Return immediately to your writing and use the prompt. “I know what I have to say is valuable. People will be thankful to know…..

3. Garden, cook, fold laundry or do other mundane chores. While doing the chores, start a very carefree inner conversation in your mind about the topic you are writing about today. Make associations to the folding, the stirring, the digging with your topic at hand. As new thoughts begin to pour in, say thank you aloud or silently. Return to the page with the words, “What I discovered is….

Here is a very short video for you about writing affirmations – similar to the walking affirmations – that may help your words flow as well.

Pick one to start with and remember these very simple and easy techniques to keep your words flowing.

🌀📚 .If you have further questions about staying in the writing flow, consider a complimentary transformational coaching conversation now. Request a session by clicking here now.

Julie Jordan Scott inspires people to experience artistic rebirth via her programs, playshops, books, performances and simply being herself out in the world.  She is a writer, creative life coach, speaker, performance poet, Mommy-extraordinaire and mixed media whose Writing Camps and Writing Playgrounds permanently transform people’s creative lives.

Her life changing, free #5for5BrainDump programs are available to you this Summer by visiting this link.

To contact Julie to schedule a Writing or Creative Life Coaching Session, call or text her at 661.444.2735.

Be sure to check out  her social media channels in the links above, especially if you find the idea of a Word-Love Party bus particularly enticing.

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