Creative Adventures – Creative Life Midwife

The Bridge to Continued Healing: Unexpected Gratitude & Delight

October 25, 2024 by jjscreativelifemidwife

Five years ago today I went to the home of Tanya, a neighborhood friend, to meet with some other ladies to have a deep discussion and watch a Ted talk.

I met Tanya from a neighborhood book club and didn’t know her very well and was surprised and delighted when she visited me in the hospital.

I think this is why I trusted her and went to her home: she lived close to me (so this felt safe). The other women I didn’t know were fellow Moms with children close to my children’s age (so this felt safe.) Deep conversations are among my favorite activity so I knew it wouldn’t be taxing and I knew I could talk at the level of my own current abilities (and this felt safe.)

I am reminded that next time I visit Bakersfield, I will be more intentional to visit more people who have impacted me with their presence in ways I sometimes overlook.

This is a simple way to take gratitude deeper and add soulful delight to someone else’s day as they added to my life, perhaps not realizing it.

I will remember this for the last week of this blog series – the perfect bridge to November’s biggest American Holiday – Thanksgiving.

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Your presence here makes me feel grateful.

I am a writer first, writing & creativity coach, multi passionate creative next. Writing has always been my anchor art and to her I always return. Thankfully, with great love.

My aim is to create content here that inspires and instructs – if there is ever a topic you would like for me to explore, please reach out and tell me. My ultimate goal is to create posts, videos and more that speak to your desires as well as mine because where these two intersect, our collaborative, joyful energy ignites into a fire of love, light and passionate creativity.

How Friends Help in Surprising Ways

October 23, 2024 by jjscreativelifemidwife

“What is an activity that ALWAYS makes Julie feel better afterwards than she felt before?”

Visiting and feeding ducks always makes Julie feel better.

On this day, five years ago, my dear friend Cameron picked me up and shepherded me to Hart Park where together we fed ducks AND we were met by another dear friend who doesn’t like visiting hospitals but was glad to get to meet me “on the outside.”

Cameron and I have a history of duck feeding together and with other people: my children, random other children, friends.

There is an artform to duck feeding, one we created, which includes the entire bird ecosphere at Hart Park.

There are times when I may be completely intent on something else and he will randomly say “Let’s go feed ducks” – which includes, with him, getting bird seed and doing the duck feeding the right way, not my long ago way of getting a cheap loaf of bread and tossing in chunks of bread by the handful.

I mended my ways once I discovered the better way to feed wildlife – though it is probably best to leave them to their own nutritional devices.

On that day five years ago, in addition to feeding ducks and birds I dropped my phone into the pond at Hart Park and was completely bereft but Cameron reached in and grabbed it and nothing bad happened.

I remember in my weakness being terrified because my phone had been and would continue to be a very important connector that kept me balanced and stable while hospitalized.

It would take me a while before I was willing to use a computer or my notebooks with any level of consistency.

The ducks at Hart Park and communicating with friends who were helping me heal… two important factors in my healing.

Ironically, I have not fed any ducks in my current part-of-the-globe though as a child, I regularly fed ducks with friends.

Maybe the needs haven’t been the same. I will contemplate this for a while, perhaps focusing on observing the birds and ducks instead of creating a dependency for either of us – though maybe a bird feeder in winter?

I will contemplate.

Creative Life Coach & Muse Cultivator

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Your presence here makes me feel grateful.

I am a writer first, writing & creativity coach, multi passionate creative next. Writing has always been my anchor art and to her I always return. Thankfully, with great love.

The Morning I Woke Up at Home Again After I Visited the Palo Verde Tree

October 21, 2024 by jjscreativelifemidwife

It isn’t like a magic wand swept over my life and proclaimed, “Congratulations! You are on the outside!”

On the last day in the hospital, there are some crystal clear memories:

My nurse offered me an “as needed” medicine for my mood (very helpful).

My nurse did not communicate to me clearly about getting my horrible PICC line taken out of my arm.

My PICC line was one of my least favorite parts of my hospital experiences. The installation was rather dehumanizing. In retrospect, being in the ICU included a lot of dehumanizing experiences.

If you are wondering “What is a PICC line, anyway” I will explain it briefly, but even in explaining it I get squirmy and uncomfortable. PICC is the abbreviated name for peripherally inserted central catheter. It is a long, thin tube that is inserted through a vein in your arm and passed through to the larger veins near your heart.

I remember one medical pro seeming to be annoyed that I had a PICC line installed. After I sort of understood more what it is, I can see how they might not like it. On the other hand, my veins roll a lot and after a couple days in the hospital, they were getting pretty scarred up.

My PICC line was uncomfortable, probably because they put small, weighted balls on the end, I suppose to keep it safer.

I wanted it out but because the initial installation was so unpleasant I was not looking forward to it coming out AND I knew it was a necessity to go home.

I remember wondering when they were going to take it out, I even wondered aloud.

“She offered to take it out and you said no,” I was told.

“I did?” I was confused. “I want it out, let’s get her back in here.”

The PICC line came was removed without any pain and with that, the full speed ahead train to release me happened and I was rolled out the door and all I wanted to do was go to the bluffs. I wanted to go sit by a tree. I wanted to be outside and smell the dry, burnt air of Bakersfield.

The familiar, post summer scent of burnt grasses smelled like home. The bluffs were a sign of normalcy.

Emma, Ken and I walked – I hobbled – to a bench where I wanted to be quiet and just look out at the familiar scene. I needed to feel as normal as possible.

When I was in one spot, I felt pretty normal. When I got up to move about, I felt ancient and exhausted. I didn’t realize this would become my new normal for a while.

I didn’t know the roughest times post-almost-dying were on the horizon.

I simply wanted to feel better. Normal-adjacent would be better than spending another day trapped in a hospital bed. At least that was my hope and prayer.

# # #

Julie Jordan Scott, writer, creativity coach, award winning actor walking in the woods — Julie Jordan Scott, walking in the woods

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Your presence here makes me feel grateful.

I am a writer first, writing & creativity coach, multi passionate creative next. Writing has always been my anchor art and to her I always return. Thankfully, with great love.

I Knew It Was Arriving Soon: Now, the Day is Here… and we start and continue beginning

October 9, 2024 by jjscreativelifemidwife

I have been waiting for my facebook memories to cue me, to invite me into the memory – to recognize – to be alert that five years ago my hospital stay began.

It was the day of my first gratitude list from the hospital where I filled people in on what was going on with me:

The pneumonia wasn’t getting better, so I’m now tucked away in a downtown Bakersfield hospital. I’ve slept for 12 of the last 15 hours after an 18 hour wait on a gurney in the hallway of the ER.

I’m grateful:

1. For patient phlebotomists who are willing to take their time chasing down my shy veins.

2. For Michelle and Julia who have visited and brought Emma with them. This is stressful for her, too. Last night she was very helpful.

3. For technology that brings my favorite relaxation music into the hospital with me.

4. For Miracle Mark Tarango who lit up the ER with his presence yesterday.

If you are in Bakersfield and would like to visit, please text or pm me to find out where I am. I may not be super interactive, and it would be great to see you. Prayers from everywhere are welcome.

The 2024 me is finding the conscious collection and curation of these memories to be fascinating. The self-compassion is infinite now, the me-who-was-in-the-experience was trying hard… and was more than slightly miserable.. was definitely doing her best and taking things one moment at a time.

Today I am going to be putting finishing touches on The Muse Method Project and in my breaks from that, I am going to do some meditative time travel back into my 2019 self in this experience.

I am brave enough. I am ready to step into the full depths of this healing, just as I am ready to complete The Muse Method.

Thank you so much for reading. Your presence means a lot to me.

Julie Jordan Scott hugs an unusual tree — Julie Jordan Scott hugs all kinds of trees

Creative Life Coach & Muse Cultivator

| Award-Winning Writer/Actor/Storyteller

| Empowering Your Second Act

| New Courses/Programs Coming soon!

Your presence here makes me feel grateful.

I am a writer first, writing & creativity coach, multi passionate creative next. Writing has always been my anchor art and to her I always return. Thankfully, with great love.

Learning from Prompted Free Flow Story Telling on Video Seven Years Later

October 8, 2024 by jjscreativelifemidwife

Examining a flourising cottonfield and a forgotten cottonfield as we heal in 31 Days of Beginning Again Day 8

It sat on the edge of memory: an abandoned cotton field which I found incredibly beautiful. An Uber passenger who gave me a $100 dollar tip which allowed me to go to the Kern Shakespeare Festival. A therapist I wanted to click with badly and didn’t. Finally, returning to talk to a camera and anyone who later watched some stories I was unlikely to tell.

First: Wasted and Unharvested

I’m standing in a sea of cotton, here in Kern County, agriculture country. The cotton around me won’t be used for anything, which feels like such a waste. It reminds me of how often we don’t use our own gifts and talents, letting them sit idle, full of potential but untouched, unrealized. There’s something deeply personal in that for me.

I’ve never talked much about my daughter, who was stillborn. And standing here, I can’t help but think of the dreams I had for her—the dreams that never grew into anything. They stayed unfulfilled, just like this cotton, never reaching their potential.

It’s strange, isn’t it, how life mirrors the things around us?

A Gumball and Unspoken Pain

There’s something else I don’t talk about much, but it’s been on my mind lately. When I was a little girl, I almost died choking on a gumball. I still remember the panic, the way my mother tried to save me, right outside a grocery store. I haven’t thought about that in years—until recently.

Two weeks ago, in a therapy session, my therapist asked, “What’s the most pain you’ve felt in the last ten years?” And just like that, I felt my throat close up. I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t speak. It was as if the question lodged itself in my throat, like that gumball all those years ago.

It took me two weeks to remember that story, but now it’s all coming back. Sometimes, the past sits there, waiting, until you’re ready to untangle it. And here I am, still processing, still discovering, still learning to breathe again.

The sun is setting now—time’s up.

I had no idea two years later I would almost die and five years after that, I finally felt strong enough to step into the memories completely, to process, to explore and to ultimately get to a new level of healing.

I’m curious: what speaks to you the most from this blog post and video?

Creative Life Coach & Muse Cultivator

| Award-Winning Writer/Actor/Storyteller

| Empowering Your Second Act

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Your presence here makes me feel grateful.

I am a writer first, writing & creativity coach, multi passionate creative next. Writing has always been my anchor art and to her I always return. Thankfully, with great love.

Gratitude: A Premonition or a Passion

October 6, 2024 by jjscreativelifemidwife

Mirror Balls in Pink and Purple: Gratitude Even when... is it a premonition or a passion?

Going backwards in history, I was stricken by the synchronicity in this day through the years.

In a way it reminded me of WS Merwin’s Poem “For the Anniversary of My Death.” (Link to the entire poem is below the essay, here is the first stanza.)

Every year without knowing it I have passed the day

When the last fires will wave to me

And the silence will set out

Tireless traveler

Like the beam of a lightless star

Last year at school, this happened: a student who was walking behind me said, “Well you are a miracle.” I had forgotten a student gifted me with that observation.

Two years ago, I experienced the morning after there was a big thunderstorm which morphed into a nightmare that there were tanks rumbling down the street I live on and a war had begun here, in Sussex Borough. I had only recently arrived back at the manse after five months in Bakersfield. The five months were originally a 9 day trip. Instead, I stayed on-and-on, tending to a variety of crises and lending my helping hand and heart where it was needed. I wanted to prove to my family I held them and their needs close, even when I live far away. Those five months were treacherous emotionally and physically and I rose up to each clang on the bell marked “this is yours to figure out.”

I put my head down and figured things out.

A woman hugging a dogwood tree, prayerfully, at Antietam, the Civil War Battlefield

Three years ago I visited Antietam, the Civil War Battlefield and was incredibly moved. I prayerfully hugged a tree during my visit of this historic field I don’t remember learning about, but I must have, right? I would have been taught about the battle where so many American soldiers died?

I wrote a haiku four years ago in honor of a high school friend who decided she didn’t want to live anymore. In the haiku I wrote: “remember to say her name” so today I will say Lynn Oliver’s name, she was the one who had her locker above mine during my sophomore year at Dana Hills. She was a woman so smart and intense, who I was reminded by because I somehow happened upon her mother’s obituary and wondered how her life was after Lynn died.

Five years ago, a few days before I entered the hospital, I wrote this gratitude list:

I am sooooo grateful for….

1. Water.

2. Breath.

3. Friends who push me, one of the most stubborn people on the planet, to do things I normally wouldn’t do. And my children are always my motivating factors. I love you guys with everything in me…. thank you for taking the rough draft of half of my DNA and improving upon it.

4. Emotional healing. God and I were chatting today and if I didn’t know better, I swore I heard an apology: “I’m sorry for the whole pneumonia thing, but there were some nuances you hadn’t explored yet… so…. yeah. Sorry.” With that apology comes my apology to Emma Jordan-Scott who has probably been victim to my intermittent snoring and/or loud crying since about 3 pm.

5. Taking time to physically heal. Resting in bed watching videos tonight instead of celebrating the arts locally.. All is and will be well.

I didn’t realize then how challenging this was only the beginning of the illness, not healing toward the end, but resting until it took it’s almost fatal turn.

Most of these moments were recorded solo, like a lone explorer instead of a delightful collaboration or a partnership to provide support. I learned to lean into a spiritual collaboration in leadership with my highest self which has continued – and continues as do the lessons from these events from five years ago to now.

WS Merwin’s Poem: On the Anniversary of My Death at the Poetry Foundation Website

What lessons are you continuing to learn?

Creative Life Coach & Muse Cultivator

| Award-Winning Writer/Actor/Storyteller

| Empowering Your Second Act

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Your presence here makes me feel grateful.

I am a writer first, writing & creativity coach, multi passionate creative next. Writing has always been my anchor art and to her I always return. Thankfully, with great love.

How Morning Writing Practice Helps Calm the Nervous System & Lead a More Effective Life

July 5, 2024 by jjscreativelifemidwife

Many of us yearn for a sense of calm and centeredness, especially those of us who may be grappling with mental health challenges. A simple yet powerful tool that can transform your mornings and your mindset is a daily writing practice. Often referred to as journaling, this practice offers a sanctuary for your thoughts and emotions, providing clarity and peace amidst the chaos.

Is your curiosity piqued? Is any resistance rising up? Please continue to read – and at least consider how starting a morning writing practice – a journaling practice – may help you to create a more joyful daily experience.

Benefit one: Unlocking Creativity

Morning writing allows you to tap into your creative side without the constraints of daily obligations clouding your mind. Here’s a three-step method to cultivate creativity through writing:

Free Write: Start with a free-writing session for 5-10 minutes. Let your thoughts flow without worrying about grammar or structure.
Prompt Exploration: Use creative prompts to spark ideas. Write about a dream, a memory, or a what-if scenario.
Reflect and Expand: Choose one interesting idea from your free write or prompt exploration and spend another 5 minutes expanding on it.

Benefit two: Building Courage

For those facing mental health challenges, courage can sometimes feel elusive. Writing each morning helps build this courage incrementally. Follow these steps to foster bravery through your practice:

Face Your Fears: Write about a fear or challenge you are facing. Acknowledge it on paper.
Affirmation Writing: Create affirmations that counteract those fears. Write them down and repeat them daily.
Action Plan: Write a small, actionable step you can take to confront your fear today. Reflect on your progress regularly.

Benefit three: Achieving Consistent Completion

Consistency can be particularly challenging for individuals with mental health issues. A morning writing routine offers a tangible way to experience the satisfaction of completion. Try this three-step method:

Set a Timer: Commit to writing for just 5 minutes each morning. Gradually increase the time as it becomes a habit.
Daily Log: Keep a simple log of your writing sessions. Note the date, time, and a brief summary of what you wrote about.
Weekly Reflection: At the end of each week, read through your entries. Celebrate your consistency and note any patterns or progress.

Simple method to use: The Power of Experimentation

Understandably, the idea of adding another task to your morning routine might feel overwhelming. However, consider approaching it as an experiment. Follow these steps to ease into the practice:

Start Small: Begin with just 5 minutes of writing. Focus on the process, not the outcome.
Be Flexible: Allow yourself to write about anything—thoughts, feelings, dreams, or even lists. There are no rules.
Review and Adjust: After a week or two, review how you feel about the practice. Adjust the timing, duration, or focus as needed to fit your needs.

Creating a Calmer, Centered Life

Incorporating a morning writing practice into your routine helps create a foundation of calm and centeredness. It provides a safe space to process your thoughts, reducing mental clutter and stress. This ritual may become a grounding force, allowing you to approach each day with greater clarity and intention.

Final Thoughts

If you’re navigating mental health challenges, embracing a morning writing practice might seem like “too much.” Yet, by being open to this experiment, you may discover a powerful tool for fostering creativity, courage, and consistent completion in your life. Start small, stay patient with yourself, and watch how this simple practice transforms your mornings and beyond.

Take the first step today and see how morning writing can become a cherished part of your journey towards a more calm and centered life.

What are you saying YES to in your life today?

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 has recently finished her most recent book project, hugging trees daily and enjoys having random inspirational conversations with strangers.

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Gut Kicks & Delayed Returning Day 31/31 of (Self) Belonging:

October 31, 2023 by jjscreativelifemidwife

I have been wading around the shallow waters of (self) belonging for the last few days due to – not surprisingly – due to what felt like a piercing of my shield (maybe better seen as a cushion, safe space, another word) of my sacred internal safe space.

I don’t feel the need to write the specifics here, but I was thrown by what happened and had the privilege of expressing my emotions with depth and had support to restore myself.

Another metaphor, from the poem “Wild Geese” by Mary Oliver, “the soft animal of my body” needed to go back into my cave and gently, quietly lick my wounds in a familiar, anonymous setting.

A bit of a setback and a bigger space of deeper healing because I allowed myself to feel what needed to be felt, to speak what needed to be spoken and perhaps most important, I allowed myself to receive the gift of belonging from my sister – even when the message I was pushing back on and stumbling along the way was translated through past experiences and the tapes that have played in my mind for years that rang out “you are wrong, you ruined everything, you are unworthy, you are a problem, you don’t belong” which historically brought me to my dank, dungeon exile, empty of the nurturing tools of love and reassurance.

I can still hear my sister’s light laughter when I recognized she reached out to protect me, to be with me in what had become my danger zone.

I’m not accustomed to being protected. I am grateful she did as it helped me stay in the cave longer and use tools that before would vaporize after an attack rather than become completely numb and unable to access my self-nurturing tools at all.

I realize as I continue to process – my acceptance of protection and taking my time before jumping back into the public sharing is also an example of (self) belonging.

During these last 61 days of 2023, I am getting closer to understanding how to express and live from a space of (self) belonging. What a heart felt victory!

How do you connect with the concepts I’m sharing here in this rough, raw draft?

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Belonging in the Classroom of Life: Day 25/31 of (Self) Belonging

October 25, 2023 by jjscreativelifemidwife

With 67 more days in 2023, I feel a strong call to be more intentional with the time I have both introspectively and in action as I integrate what I have learned and discovered this year in this wildly wonderful classroom of life.

Yesterday I did some early research about belonging in the classroom as a part of my 100 Days of Belonging project. Since I currently work in a school and spend 21 hours a week in classrooms and have a deep caring for the students I serve, this feels exceptionally important.

Unlike many of my peers at the school, I don’t have the pre-Covid/post-Covid experience to longingly look back towards.

Instead, my focus and my independently operated “course of study” and assignment from Harvey Milk – even though he has been gone from the planet for years – is to work from the inside to discover as much as I can about belonging from my experiences with these students.

It’s kind of like yesterday, when I had a huge a-ha about my body and belonging in my body and realizing the significance of shoes in my overall life experience.

More than one of the students I work with show up at school declaring they want to be at home. “I want to go home,” they say. “They want to go home?” says my curiosity.

Instead of what some of my peers do – marginalize the student’s spoken desire – I do some research to see what it means most often when students make such proclamations.

When students say they want to go “home” it is evidence of being overwhelmed, perhaps a bit of languishing – maybe not being engaged…here we are stepping even more clearly into belonging territory.

As I continue to focus on my self-belonging, I am challenging myself to see where my exploration of self-belonging will help me reach out to students differently.

On Monday at the end of day, I linked arms with a student who was going through a rough time emotionally mostly because she felt alone and unheard in the classroom. I created a space for us to be together and for her to be heard, to know she was safe saying whatever she needed to say with an adult who would listen, consciously, to what she felt was missing that lead to her upset.

I went home feeling grateful for that connection and looking forward to returning to the workplace as more than just a place to do my seven hours and get back to my “real work” as a creative entrepreneur.

This week has been rich with a-ha’s. I look forward to seeing what’s next.

What has been your biggest a-ha this week?

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Belonging In The Body, Part 2: Day 24/31 of (Self) Belonging

October 24, 2023 by jjscreativelifemidwife

With a week to go in October, I am starting my monthly ritual of preparing my documents for November.

I like having physical journals and checklists and files, but I also do a lot of my work here at the keyboard. I always begin with the beginning of the previous month, copy and paste.

On October 1, I was recounting a trip to Middletown, New York to look for new shoes.

New shoes have been a big deal since childhood AND believe it or not, the experience has been primarily unpleasant since around 2019.

A-ha just now – as that coincides with when I first had Valley Fever and Sepsis and spent 13 days in the hospital recovering from my body shutting itself off. I haven’t been comfortable wearing heels since then. I haven’t worn “cute shoes” since 2019 and have mostly lived in a succession of nearly identical wide width running shoes – wide to make room for the tailor bunions on my left foot –

On October 1, I purchased three pairs of shoes. Two bootie style, one with a heel (!) and a pair of Mary Janes – perfect for casual dresses.

On Sunday, I wore the Mary Janes all day – and I was on my feet a lot, and my body did not hurt afterwards.

My body did not hurt.

MY BODY DID NOT HURT!

This morning I woke up and noticed my knees weren’t complaining.

On one of my walks from the kitchen to my desk, I did a exercise I have been trying to incorporate into my routine. It looks easier on the Instagram Reels than it is for me – and once again noticed the stability in my feet and although tired, my body simply felt good. Grounded. Like I belonged within it, like my body and I are joyful companions, not two disparate beings with conflicting agendas.

Huge.

And it all began with belonging.

Allow that to sink in.

My body simply felt good. Grounded. Like I belonged within it, like my body and I are joyful companions, not two disparate beings with conflicting agendas.

It all began with belonging.

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