Creative Life Midwife

Inspiring Artistic Rebirth

Looking into Your Near Future as we #Refresh2020

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Julie JordanScott, Creative Life Coach in her art studio where she writes and creates mixed media art, leads online workshops and aims to make the world a better place.

“What’s next for you?” used to be a simple question to answer. If it wasn’t simple, it at least prompted reflection and discussion about a wide array of possibilities.

In reading blog posts for “The Ultimate Blog Challenge” yesterday, I discovered a missed a prompt that six months ago would have made me smile and rush off into a menu of ideas and plans. With delight I would open a new calendar and jot notes in pencil because I knew at least some of them would be bound to be erased.

The question asked about “The Future” and my view of it, especially in relationship to my writing, my blog, my creativity coaching business.

There are unique nuances about “the future” since we are living in a time of this Covid19 global pandemic. Most of us realize what were once certainties no longer are and a more day-by-day approach usually serves us better.

A 1970's era portable typewriter with paper torn around it on the ground to be a metaphor for the torn up promise of 2020.

This doesn’t mean I like it. It means I am attempting to be an optimistic realist who knows there is no end in sight and I will remain high risk. I think back to a conversation years ago in a restaurant in Union Station in Los Angeles with a friend I met on line from Australia. He had built a multi-million dollar business while bedridden because he asked the question, “What can I do while my body heals using the resources I have?”

For years my work  – whether on this blog or in the workshops I teach or the groups I facilitate or in individual or group coaching or creating social media content –  one overarching theme has been continual since the very beginning.

A group of people gathered around a table at a writing workshop facilitated by Julie JordanScott

I want the messages I offer and the work I do to have a positive impact on people. I want my messages to matter to people. I most desire to have a transforming impact on the people who read my words, who participate in my workshops, classes and coaching.

One of my favorite stories from recent years is when I gave a gentleman a ride when I was working for a ride-sharing company. We had a thirty-minute friendship. The magical energy started when I spoke of the beauty of the overgrown cotton field we passed, the way the golden light was hitting it at the precise moment we were there.

He insisted I turn down the radio so he could hear everything I was saying. He wanted me to say more. I narrated the drive. I spoke of the beauty of the fields we were passing, the homes to our north. We discussed our children, some fully grown and my youngest, still in process. We talked about the future. About what might be next in our lives.

When he left my car, he gave me one of the largest tips I ever received and thanked me earnestly for reminding him to slow down. To notice the world around him. To appreciate the seemingly small things which are actually rather glorious.

It is true whether I am engaging the world as an activist, as a mother, as a teacher, in a portrayal of a scripted character onstage or doing a livestream video and in that earlier moment as a ride-share driver on a randomly selected drive.

Julie JordanScott sitting backstage in a theater dressing room, catching up on writing while waiting during rehearsal.

What is the same is always this space in my heart for forward movement in a world that is often hurting – and hurting badly.

Sometimes I lament the experiences I have had, complaining there has been too much loss, too much fear, not enough wide swaths of sweet satisfaction. In writing tonight, I realize more than ever why that is actually a good thing.

Last night amidst too many illegal fireworks I felt my heart acting in an unusual manner. One of the outcomes from near death- one of those life experiences I would rather not have had – is I know my body much better than I did before I almost died.

I know if my lungs hurt – that what is hurting is a particular spot on my lungs that still hasn’t healed. If I feel in the space above my heart a flutter, flapping, like a group of birds dancing in my chest – that is my heart working through a possible “afib” or irregular heartbeat episode.

These moments where my body reminds me she has been in battle and she has stayed the course and I must, too. I must stay the course, continue doing this work that so compels me in whatever form reaches into the hearts, breath and action of others.

In answer to the original blog prompt question, don’t know what the future holds in a larger “when will I be able to live like I once did?”

I know there is social unrest here in the United States and systemic racism that needs a lot of attention and healing. I know there are military tensions on the border of India and China. I know there are countless other areas in the world and households in my neighborhood where fear reigns supreme.

Amidst all the chaos, my future today and as long as I have to go is provide the world with fuel for creativity and making, context for intentional connection and purposeful passion – and to do so one step at a time, one project at a time and as many people at a time who are ready and willing to step up together, with love.

This blog is a part of the continual and infinite stepping up together.

Doesn’t that feel good?

This week I will begin to lead a group of intrepid people through something I am calling #Refresh2020, a 3 week Pop-Up Experience primarily facilitated in an existing facebook group usually used to reflect at the end of the year as we step into the coming year.

“In these uncertain times” it is important to have a place for conscious, creative and large-hearted people to gather and bring their vulnerable, whole-hearted selves in a place where they may speak to what has been happening and where they may place their “now” and “future” vision safely.

We will be holding space for the unknowing and aiming for our best, even if we don’t know what that best is. If that compels you, consider spending the next month or so with us. Click the image below to connect or ask me any questions you may have in the comments.

Refresh 2020 is a Three Week Pop Up experience to address experiencing 2020 from a fresh perspective. Flowers are the frame, showing optimism amidst the primary unpleasantness that has been indicative of much of 2020.

Join the conversation in our private  Bridge to the New Year Facebook Group

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It happens everyday: are you listening?

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This morning I waited at a semi-rural intersection with my phone in hand, facing east.

It may have looked odd to people. I might have looked lost or confused until they got close when they would see my earnest face, observing, listening. My face would show something intense was either happening or about to happen.

I was waiting for the sunrise.

I almost didn’t want to write about this because it seems too soon, like talking about your new boyfriend before he has agreed to actually be your boyfriend or inviting people to a party before you ask the others in your household if it is ok to have a party.

The thing is – three days ago when I decided I wanted to take a few moments every day at sunrise to simply be with the sunrise, write a short poem and take a photo I didn’t realize how much I had been missing!

Tall grasess at sunrise - the sun is barely seen on the horizon and it seems as if the tall grasses want to listen and see the sunrise to learn its lessons.

Several years ago I drove for a ridesharing company. I would wake up at 4:30 to drive from 5 am to 7 am then get my son prepped and out the door to school. I would drive other times but these early mornings were especially favored because most of time I got to not only enjoy sunrise, I got to enjoy sunrise with someone else.

Several years ago I drove for a ridesharing company. I would wake up at 4:30 to drive from 5 am to 7 am then get my son prepped and out the door to school. I would drive other times but these early mornings were especially favored because most of time I got to not only enjoy sunrise, I got to enjoy sunrise with someone else.

Most people were open to my unabashed sunrise love – or they were gifted at politely ignoring me.

Here’s the deal: when you are present to what is taking place – even something as ordinary as eating your breakfast cereal or choosing what outfit to wear that particular day – you open your senses to be surprised and delighted – and the edges of the simplest act become enchanting.

This morning I watched birds flying in the shape of a heart. I saw countless birds perching on tall grasses that didn’t appear strong enough to hold them. I noticed how grass looked gold when the sun light slanted at the just right angle.

Sunrise in Bakersfield: beautiful and enchanting, like sunrise in many other places.

When we are lost in thought about what’s next, hustling from one activity to the more important activity, we miss the beauty that was there all along.

Sunrise comes and goes so quickly, most people miss it entirely.

What lesson is the sunrise waiting to teach you?

Portrait of Julie Jordan Scott, Creativity Coach and Creative Life Midwife

Julie JordanScott is The Creative Life Midwife and one of the Founders of Bridge to the New Year. Join us now in 2020 in #Refresh2020 to reflect, connect, intend and taking passionate action to create a truly remarkable rest of 2020. Click the graphic below to find out more and register to receive emails.

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Join the conversation in our closed  Bridge to the New Year Facebook Group

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The Opposite of Boredom Is…. Welcome to Anti-Boredom Month!

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A woman in a striped shirt balances a pencil between her upper lip and her nose, fighting boredom during anti-boredom month,

Today I discovered something fascinating! July is also known as “Anti-Boredom Month” fascinated me.  For my entire life I have been in opposition to the concept of boredom. “An intelligent person is never bored!” one of my middle school teachers told me.

I decided to focus on the concept of Anti-Boredom because I have heard more people than ever complaining about being bored, especially with the disruption in what is open and what isn’t open due to Covid19.

I looked up antonyms for boredom and was surprised to find more than one place is “being entertained.”

My daughter, Emma, has a much closer to my perspective antonym for boredom as “excitement.” My thought is the opposite of boredom is “being engaged.”

I would argue strongly with what the experts see as the opposite of boredom: being entertained.

What?

Maybe it is because I never expect to be entertained that I am not one who is prone to boredom.

Maybe the call to be entertained rather than bored is true for passive observers in life, but it certainly isn’t true for those of us who are fully engaged with life.

It doesn’t surprise me to report I have decided to engage with anti-boredom all month via live-streaming, sharing anti-dotes to boredom and suggestions for people who cannot be entertained in their usual ways because of restrictions due to the pandemic and shut downs of various “non boredom” spots.

I would love to hear from you.

What is the opposite of boredom for you?

Woman writing on the front porch of a brick home,
Write wherever you find yourself.

How often are you bored?

Julie JordanScott is a Creativity Coach, Writer, Speaker and Artist-of-Life who forgot long ago what boredom means. In her continuing quest to create intentional connection, she hosts Intentional Coffee Conversations on Tuesdays and Saturdays. Starting July 7 until July 28 she is hosting a Pop Up Group to #Refresh2020 where we will explore ways to re-engage with this unusual year. To find out more and register for this unique experience, please click the image below.

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July 2020: Turning the Page on Mid-Year

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A journal, a to-do list, and a year-in-review timeline for the person reading the blog post to continue to do the same. All writing is in pink ink.

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times” is how one of the most famous works of literature begins. Charles Dickens tapped into a deep well of truth in his opening paragraph of A Tale of Two Cities. When I revisited the book as an adult, I was taken with the poetry and power which goes far beyond these first twelve words.

The first few months of 2020 have felt this “best and worst” way to some people and others have seen “the worst of times” overshadow much of the light in their lives. Others say “worst times? What worst times?”

In the beginning of any month, I enjoy reflecting on the month before it – but here in the wearied “worst of times” that come with 2020, I have spent time reflecting on the bests and the worsts.

Many of the worsts this year are universals: we are living through a worldwide pandemic, something that hasn’t been experienced at this level since 1918 with the Spanish Flu.

Here in the United States, we have also come face-to-face with systemic racism – nearly all Americans are more aware and are diligently addressing our shortcomings, addressing the biases which run our lives outside of our everyday view. I am one of the people who used to say “I am color blind” and “I see everyone the same” which I didn’t understand is inherently problematic.

The “Best of Times” in my life are the ones which make me smile the widest.

I will begin with a smaller smile, perhaps coupled with humility.

I am smiling to see healing – and to participate in the positive shift I see happening across the planet. It will take time to get to our destination, and even with all the darkness we have experienced, I can see and feel the seeds of healing.

My personal “best of time” moments occurred both before and during the Pandemic.

  1. In February, Emma and I visited Flagstaff to see my parents, a trip I had hoped for since the previous Spring. I always meant to go by myself, but as the time drew closer, I invited Emma along and I am so grateful I did.
  2. In mid-March right after the Stay in Place order in California happened, I started something called “Coffee and Intentional Conversations” which I saw as a way to “hang out on a coffee date with friends” virtually, every day. I had no idea how long any of this would last – and I knew having a connection point would help me and it might help others. It did both of these things. Recently we minimized our group to meet twice weekly, but the connections of the women have been astounding.
  3. I am continuing to go strong with my goal to write a haiku and post it daily – This morning I am on Day 191/377. Each day before noon I post a photo and a poem on my personal facebook page (it has held me accountable) and what a time to be documenting life as it unfolds. Lately I have written more angry poems, but oftentimes the poems focus on the beauty around me. It is important, I believe, to address and stay alive for all of life, not only the areas you are most comfortable addressing. After all, the more comfortable we get with being uncomfortable, the more we will expand our effectiveness and courage.

If you are interested in exploring 2020 from a refreshed perspective, you may want to consider joining the Refresh2020 initiative which is a Pop Up Initiative for Reflection, Intention and Activation that will begin on July 9 and last for 3 weeks.

How have you fared in 2020 so far?

Refresh 2020 is written in large letters, followed by the dates - July 7, 2020 through July 28, 2020. the words Intentionally exploring our experiences so we may continue with purpose and passion. Flowers and a purple frame highlight.
Julie JordanScott typing a love poem on the edge of a foothill of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
Julie JordanScott typing a love poem on the edge of a foothill of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

Julie JordanScott facilitates The Bridge to the New Year initiative which includes sharing insights at the end of the year as well as intending and planning for the New Year. Because 2020 has been different than the norm for all of us, we are offering #Refresh2020, a 3 Week Pop Up group which will include reflection through creativity and a private facebook group for interaction and engagement as we explore the impact of the first six months of 2020 and how to continue to move forward, with love as the year continues. 

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Celebrate Your Goals: Be Trusting, Be Enthusiastic, Be the One Who Activates Your Passion & Purpose

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woman standing in a river. She is inspired to be the one who stays the course - and lives with purpose and passion because she follows the energy of her goals.

I remember when we celebrated Emma’s first birthday at the beach. She had been walking for a little bit more than a month and had a fierce independent streak. She was surrounded by people who loved her. I watched her face as she appeared to be building up energy for some unseen by me challenge, something of utmost importance.

“I do it, I do it, I do it!” she said to herself. Then she charged toward the waves, still chanting and then laughing and shouting, “I do it, I do it, I do it!”

More than twenty years later, I can still hear the little Emma voice as she took action on her goal of conquering the ocean and the two -decades-younger-me ran after her, amazed at her will and her focus. She was going to conquer the ocean, by gosh and by golly.

Energize Your Goals Like a Toddler

Last December I said my own version of “I do it I do it I do it” challenge. Six months later, I am more than half-way to my goal.

It has taken a daily focus of consistency and a devotion to honoring myself every single day for the last 189 days.

Now as a part of my jubilant celebration of my continual goal reaching, I offer my top discoveries with you.

Self Trust is Key

  1. As I grew with my goal, I learned to trust myself. I knew everyday I would write my short haiku poem. I decided the parameters: I would take a photo of whatever inspired the feeling of my short haiky poem. Next, I would write and post the haiku on my personal facebook page publicly as a way to document and celebrate my goal.

I trusted myself to do my best. To make the attempt and to gain trust as I took this one small action every day.

Once we trust ourselves, anything is possible. In the daily action of writing my poem, I was not only activating my passion, I was purposefully standing up to the world and vulnerably sharing – knowing all the time I might fail at some point. I took action daily, in public, anyway.

Quote: “We are trusted because of our way of being, not because of our polished exteriors or our expertly crafted communications.”

Lolly Daskal

Unbounded Enthusiasm, Infinite Results

2. Taking action on my goal consistently grew my enthusiasm and when I needed it, the stored up enthusiasm carried me through to the next daily action. I started with this goal because I tuned into what had historically made me feel better. I was watching a gorgeous sunrise – which always made me feel blessed and grateful. What was something I might do daily that would help me to feel blessed and grateful? Autumn was ending and that was the season I was in the hospital and almost died. I didn’t want that malaise to carry into my next season. Enthusiastically I created, continued and cherished my goal day after day after day.

Quote: “You need to have unbound enthusiasm for what you’re building. Energy is contagious, so your team and everyone you interact with feels it.” – Tyler Haney, Founder of Outdoor Voices

Consistently Do What You Say You Will Do

3. My gut instinct said, “Feeling better, every day, happens when we take aim and activate through more than just thinking – but when we do what it is we say we will do.”

My inner wisdom said, “What is something you may do daily, publicly, that you will be happy you did even if you fail along the way?”

Quote: “Every day in every way I am getting better and better and better.” Emile Coue

These three primary lessons have a lot more depth than may immediately be seen.

My hope and intention is you see yourself – and your vision – reflected in Emma’s voice ringing out, “I do it, I do it, I do it” as her life force called her to conquer the ocean. Maybe what she was actually conquering was her fear of the ocean and running towards it, anyway.

Somewhere in me and also in you is the “I do it!”that is calling to you.

Six months from now, what do you want to look back and say, “I wanted to do it and I did it?”

Write more effectively and have more fun while you do whether you are creating social media posts, the next great American novel, poetry, a sales page or blog post with The Joy of Writing for Magnetic Attraction, a ten day online adventure challenge starting September 21, 2020 

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The 100 Day Project: Shifts, Growth and the Best is Yet to Be on Day 42/100

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The Joy of Mutual Support and Collective Benefit - the 100 Day Project and my work creating engaging video - this is the 6 week or 42 day check in. Pink background with white vines interspersed.

Here’s a fact about me you may not know: I do my best work when I am in community – when I am working alongside other people who are also working on a project. It doesn’t have to be the same project or in the genre, but simply that we are all working away, separately together.

It is like playing in the sandbox as kids or as adults, when we are co-working in the same space or going into a coffee shop on a Sunday afternoon in the fall – college professors are sitting all over the place, grading. You just don’t recognize this until you have your own stack to grade. Somehow you are more likely to get it done in a group.

This is my third year working on #The100DayProject – and my personal project is 100 Days of Engaging Video. I am a livestreamer and have been since 2015. I don’t feel as confident with my “static” videos as my live stream videos. I have improved, though, and the last few I made felt really good to make and to share.

I have a YouTube account I don’t promote much, unfortunately, and since many folks on the 100 Day Project at on Instagram, I have been making more IGTV videos in addition to my livestreams.

Most recently I have been repurposing my videos on IGTV to YouTube and next will put them on my JJS Writing Camp facebook page as well. Every day in every way better and better and better.

Because my son came home from college, I have taken the last week off from video making and now on Instagram there is a rumor I can turn my lives into IGTV videos, so this may change my entire strategy. This is exciting!

The 100 Day Project itself, however, has been much more fun because I was bold and asked members of the if anyone wanted to start an Instagram engagementgroup to encourage each other. Well, more than fifty people responded. I created five groups and they have been off and running for the last six weeks with only one blip.  Two of the groups have done Zoom sessions that were very fun. People are inspiring each other even though the groups are anything but niche: we are all doing our thing and enjoying the others who are doing their thing.

I realize in writing this blog post I am going to amplify outreach and marketing for the next six weeks as an experiment and it will become a regular part of my reporting. I think I will do some “mano a mano” (reaching out to individuals as well as sharing in groups and spaces. To borrow from Anais Nin, I know my business will blossom when I am bold – and my videos showcase me doing what I do for clients, audiences and readers so it is time to be real with it and engage in my life work as I make these videos. I actually started this with the facebook version of my last video, I just hadn’t recognized it as such.

I have never given as much energy to my 100 Day Projects because I never had this level of consistent, mutual support. I have made friends within this small and mighty community that will surely last long after the challenge is over. Separately together, much like how things have been during the Covid-19 Pandemic which we are continuing to learn and live through –

Do you have communities you turn to for support in your projects?

What were the characteristics of your favorite. most effective support communities?

Figuring out our favorite characteristics of online communities by engaging with the question, "What are the characteristics of your favorite supportive communities?"

Finally, here is my most recent IGTV video for your viewing pleasure.

Finally, a closing question – I would love if you would respond in the comments:

Julie JordanScott has been writing since before she was literate by dictating her thoughts to her mother and then copying in thick crayons onto construction paper. She was a pioneer in epublishing and continues to reach readers through her blog, bestselling books, greeting cards and her essays and poems in anthologies. Next week’s theme of Aware of Abundance #5for5BrainDump program will focus on using writing as meditation to focus and release blocks or an upcoming writing circle or writing for social media programs.

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Discover More than A Title Can Hold: Poetry & Writing Meditation

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Morning writing time: coffee is beside me, a timer is set. All my metaphorical cards are on the table beside a quote, a line of poetry. “It is so near to the heart, an eternal pasture,” from poet, Robert Duncan.

I’ve allotted five minutes to write meditatively so I write. I write free-flow style, not thinking or editing, just allow whatever wants to be heard to be heard without judgment. Can only five minutes of writing do any good?

Writing Meditation Doesn’t Have to Take a Lot of Time

The words come from my keyboard and a memory pops up, quite happily and next, a painful memory right on its heels. “What are you thinking, having a good memory? Who do you think you are? You know you aren’t worthy of good memories or happy times or God forbid, nice things! Get off your high horse!”

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!

Who is running the show here? Is it the smart, funny, woman labeled as brave and capable leader by quite a few people? Is it instead this nasty alternative voice roaming about her head, roping up her truthful, constructive, happy thoughts in attempt to put them in thought quarantine?

Sometimes the Voices that “Speak Up” in Meditation Surprise Us – and it is all a good thing.

My eyes look up and catch a typo. “Heals” in place of “heels” which is precisely what I decided today as I drove home from my daily haiku discovery time.

“That’s it!” I declared earlier, as I drove home. “I am done with being mean and belittling to myself. It is poison!” Thoughts begin the healing. Actions are the glue which keep the healing together as they begin to build a foundation.

Did you notice how mistakes made during meditation showed a-ha’s downloaded as a result?

Writing and meditation: Breathe in: you are allowed to be all the goodness and light that is you. Breathe out, More goodness and light for all, please.`

It is so near to the heart, this healing, this lying down and resting time, this peace, this pleasantness, this receiving of grace.

I look up from the keyboard and watch a man walk by my house in a grey and red track suit. It is cold outside today – unusual in Bakersfield at this time of year. I see my sprinkler water, feeding the hungry soil. Another typo – feeding the hungry soul.

Soil and soul, only one letter different.

Today I am being aware of openings, alert to spaces as they speak to me. I am inviting synchronicity and light to tap me on my shoulder or draw me close in a hug, whispering “Look, over here,” as has happened several times today.

I invite you to do the same.

We’re taught typo’s are bad: not so in meditative writing.

Look at the typos I’ve written as evidence. I wrote heals instead of heels, like high heals on a shoe or heals as in the back of my foot.

I wrote soul as in my interior self versus soil, the place where plants grow.

Truthful, constructive, capable, happy is who I am. God (in whatever name you prefer: nature, love, universe, divinity, creator) is definitely not forbidding me from anything good or right or holy or me being exactly me.

Now – as in the present place I am in, is forever my eternal pasture, near to my heart, when I engage with it like I am this morning.

Does that make sense? Would it be helpful to say more?

Let’s say what I just said, slightly differently.

I invite you to do the same.

Truthful, constructive, capable, happy is who I am. God (in whatever name you prefer: nature, love, universe, divinity, creator) is definitely not forbidding me from anything good or right or holy or me being exactly me, as you are allowed to be all the goodness and light that is you.

You are allowed to be all the goodness and light that is you.

Today's poetry meditation line comes from Robert Duncan's "Often I am Permitted to Return to a Meadow". The line I chose specifically is "It is so near the heart, an eternal pasture." and the view is wildflowers in a pasture, absolutely gorgeous.

I’ll dip back into meditation for a bit – and trust you are choosing not to listen to any nasty, alternative voices and are instead replacing it with the capable, strong, courageous person you know yourself capable of being and becoming, starting here and now.

To read the poem by Robert Duncan, visit here at the Poetry Foundation Website.

Julie JordanScott was a writer before she was literate – she would dictate letters to her very patient mother which she would then copy using the wide, kindergarten style crayons that come 8 in a box.  It is no surprise Julie turned to poetry following the after-effects of Valley Fever and a near death experience. A single question, asked earnestly while watching the sunrise out her Alta Vista Drive living room window, “What can I do to feel better?” marked the beginnings of this body of work. For 377 consecutive days, Julie wrote a short poem – most often haiku – capturing the world that surrounded her day-to-day life.

After Julie’s completion of 377 Haiku, she turned to Tree Hugging – and is now in the midst of 377 consecutive days of hugging trees. The combination of poetry and nature – even and especially urban nature – is poignant and powerful.

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How to Build Your Castle (and Live Your Truth)

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Build Your Castle. Live Your Truth! A sky at sunset with clouds in the air echo sentiments from Henry David Thoreau. This title graphic also suggests a fun introduction of living with vision through knowing your beliefs and gracefully taking aligned action as a result.

This week I am doing something radical, or at least feels radical.

I am taking a week off to regroup: to rekindle my love affair with the work I do (creative life coaching, facilitating groups on topics ranging from soul development to writing masterminds to social media how-to’s, speaking and writing). As I habitually do, I rose to the occasion when the pandemic came and people needed support – and I had what was needed – a zoom room, creative thinking and a deep desire to make a difference.

I created context and off we ran, meeting seven days a week at first. Then six days a week.

I was running out of sizzle and self-care so with my son’s return from college a perfect segue, I opted out of work-related activity for this week so that I may put my vision in place, like Henry David Thoreau said, “If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.”

This week is about building the foundations for my castles.

I suppose things don’t “officially” kick off until tomorrow, but I have been deep cleaning, setting up systems and digging deep into my memories as I write, reflect, write and reflect. Tonight I am on laundry detail. I have been using my timer to keep track of “clean now, create next. Create now, clean next” and so far, I am seeing results.

My personal dreams have been on-hold for a long time. For me the quarantine and stay-at-home orders didn’t feel all that unfamiliar: I was used to not being able to do what I want to do. I would do whatever it took for my children to collect successes while I cheered them on, but my place was to step aside making sacrifices and rearranging my plans repeatedly.

Even though we are still staying-in-place, my heart is flying even now because I have gained so much clarity about what my gifts are, what my beliefs are and what my fears, blocks and barriers are that I am more excited than a child awaiting her birthday might feel.

The life shifting conversations started last week and became this video:

What “name” would you like to claim for yourself, like I claimed philanthropist and visionary and others proclaimed oracle, artist, creative and more?

What do you need to believe about yourself in order to fulfill on proclaiming that truth about yourself, loud and proud and sure… and how will you act in alignment with your truth and beliefs?

These are not small questions to answer, so please take your time – and if you would like to talk to me more about these subjects (or others) please don’t hesitate to send me an email or text or call me.

This graphic shares contact information in order to discuss the questions asked in the video and in the article itself. To call or text it is 661.444.2735. EMail is juliejordanscott@gmail.com

Julie JordanScott has been writing since before she was literate by dictating her thoughts to her mother and then copying in thick crayons onto construction paper. She was a pioneer in epublishing and continues to reach readers through her blog, bestselling books, greeting cards and her essays and poems in anthologies. Next week’s theme of Aware of Abundance #5for5BrainDump program will focus on using writing as meditation to focus and release blocks or an upcoming writing circle or writing for social media programs.

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“I wake to listen” – How to Use Poetry to Meditate (Even if you don’t think you’re “good” at either)

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In May, we are blending poetry and meditation to create, make and activate a more mindful, art-rich life. Welcome to that experience.

May is National Meditation Month. Field of Lavender and purple reflect the poetic nature of meditation we are using here in May. Welcome back or welcome for the first time!

Many of you have said, “Meditation and poetry – I am not good at either. And you use writing as meditation? Forget it. I can’t”

Stick around for a couple days so we may wash out those thoughts. 

Here’s how this process goes for me – I invite you to try it this way and feel welcome to make modifications so it may work for you.

Whenever I read Plath, (link to the poem we meditated on today, Morning Song) I hear and feel a hush which may be why this line of her poem attracted me. This poem, “Morning Song” is about mothering a baby. Have you parented a baby?

I remember thinking when I had my son that I couldn’t have a boy. I didn’t know how to mother boys. It took me six weeks to actually agree this relationship as mom-to-boy would work and while it may still be rocky – he is an adolescent now – I know I wouldn’t trade the process for anything.

I invite you to think from your “beginner’s mind” place like I did as a new mom – with an open heart and without leaping inot judgment (like I find myself leaping more times than I would care to admit.) 

Many of you have said, “Meditation and poetry – I am not good at either. And you use writing as meditation? Forget it. I can’t”

Stick around for a couple days so we may wash out those thoughts. 

Here’s how this process goes for me – I invite you to try it this way and feel welcome to make modifications so it may work for you.

a lavender field at sunrise allows us to embrace and accept we may not be good at poetry or meditation now,. we may allow ourselves to come as a complete beginner to both. The sunrise is a metaphor for the new beginnings you may experience when you come from the beginners mindset.

1. First I read the poem to myself several times and choose one line or phrase as a centering line. On my live-streams I ask viewers to choose a line also and direct them to the Poetry Foundation website for the poems I read. All are published there and are easily accessible – which for some people makes it easier to choose a meaningful meditation line.

2. Deep breathe and sit quietly with the poem, sometimes briefly and sometimes – like this time, I meditated before sleep and  as I fell off to sleep. 

3. The next step has differed when I do it, but write for at least 5 minutes, free flow style, stream of consciousness. Sometimes before the live-streams though more often after. Sometimes I write the centering phrase over and over again. What I find it when I trust the process and breathe deeply as I write, other words begin to pop in – you may scoff at this and I invite you to try it.

4. Livestream first on Periscope, often a rougher version – but I enjoy picking up the twitter audience.I will share the livestream from Twitter so you may see it here as well.  I pin the poetry/meditation streams daily with a link to the poem and the graphic (whenever I create it), often afterwards. Livestream second on Instagram  live. Usually a smaller audience but often more engaged in the poem itself. 

5. Sometimes I post here, in my Creative Life Midwife blog – once I even created a second series based on what I wrote during my meditative writing and it blasted more helpful content. Whether or not I post elsewhere, I follow up with discovering the next poem. 

In this case I’ve planned ahead and will next read Kim Adonizzio.

If you have a favorite poem or poet you would like to suggest please do so in the comments. .

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Revisit Your Opinions: Is Your Shadow the Enemy?

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A view of the beach at sunset time frames the quote "There is no light without shadow. Light without shadow, just as there is no happiness without pain." from Isabelle Allende. This begins the article about writing as meditation.

Before you begin to exhale your knowledge about different teacher’s concepts of “The Shadow” or “Shadow Sides” or anything with Shadow in its title that a wise person once said, remember back to childhood.

barefoot child at play in the playground, enjoying his shadow. Children don't see the shadow as a bad thing, but as a good thing.

Remember the wonder of your shadow. I remember my son laughing in delight on the playground, watching his shadow follow his silent command. Where his feet went, his shadow feet went.

This weekend I took a photo and I realized my shadow had the capacity of being a character in the photo that gave it an entirely deeper meaning as object being witnessed.

What would happen if you chose to return to pure enjoyment, without your intellect rushing in to explain?

What if you simply took time to enjoy your shadow?

One of the voice in my head hangovers I have heard since perhaps the moment I was conceived is “Whatever you do, don’t get “it” wrong.” It could be whatever I hold the dearest in that particular moment.

“Don’t fail” and “don’t fail’s” sibling ‘don’t try because if you try and fail…..’ and…. what?

I solved this conundrum in adulthood by holding a tiny bird in the center of my palm saying “There is no right, there is no wrong, there is simply ______” Most of the time I say writing.

I could put almost anything as that final word.

“You can’t get this wrong,” I remember telling my friend Josh when we were cooking dinner together. “It is impossible. With this, there are no wrongs, there are only different version of right.”

Samuel is still angry with me about what ‘could have been’ if I had been braver and allowed him to possibly experience failure.

He is possibly and perhaps probably right and perhaps probably wrong and we will never know.

I recently asked myself, “Would you do it over again?” and I said, “Yes, I would do it over again braver, taking more risks and not allowing fear to overshadow the light within me.”

In fact, I wish I could.

I wish I could get taken up into a science fiction life, step into a different dimension and come out with a who-knows-how different ending.

What I can do today, even without the science fiction ending, is to change my responses that might have swung into fears and whispered long-standing warning shouts of “don’t get it wrong!” today and tomorrow and tomorrow’s tomorrow?

Take some time to create from this question. Don’t rush or push or make it into “I have to do this,” write to it because it feels good to do so.

This writing was borne from Meditation Month of Blending Poetry and Meditation. I meditated on the quote in the graphic from Ursula Le Guin’s poem “Leaves” and this morning, 24 hours later, wrote this brief essay in one “writing as a meditation” swoop.

The poem "Leaves" by Ursula K. Le Guin shares this line, "Might as well say I am the shadow," which I used to center my meditative practice yesterday. The tree is the mulberry in my front yard, where I livestreamed on Instagram Live and Periscope.

Julie JordanScott has been writing since before she was literate by dictating her thoughts to her mother and then copying in thick crayons onto construction paper. She was a pioneer in epublishing and continues to reach readers through her blog, bestselling books, greeting cards and her essays and poems in anthologies. Join her for #5for5BrainDump beginning August 10- to experience the freedom of writing in an online setting. Join the Facebook Group Word-Love Writing Community to meet other writers and explore writing more deeply.

She also hosts or writing circles and a writing for social media program.

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