Creative Life Midwife

Inspiring Artistic Rebirth

The Important Link Between Gratitude and Abundance

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Woman meditating upon her gratitude, learning how to give and receive.

Tis the Season to be Grateful: are you expressing your gratitude intentionally or in a more haphazard way?

Let’s tune into Grace, Gratitude and Giving

I have had an active gratitude practice for years. Although I don’t journal gratitude daily right now, I definitely know the power of paying attention and speaking thankfulness into the world whether that means aloud to people or via writing – on social media, on my blog or in engaging with others.

I wasn’t always a fan of gratitude until I had an a-ha moment and connected gratitude to receiving. Because of this connection, the relationship between gratitude and abundance came more clear.

The not-so-true “It is better to give than receive” myth

How often have you heard (and possibly repeated) the phrase, “It is better to give than receive”?

Giving is a blessing – especially when mindful -is an important practice. This may be in stuff, it may be in a compliment, it may be in presence and time. My love language is quality time so the best people can do for me is to simply be with me. Deep and meaningful conversations are among my favorite activities.

The problem is, if everyone is giving, who is open to receive from our wellspring of giving?

Introducing the Infinite Loop de Loop

Our giving, when conscious, comes from the gifts of who we are – and how our gifts offer goodness and light to fellow members of the human community is started from divinity, our creator, God, the Universe.

We can complete that process by receiving with an open heart and a wildly-in-wonder smile on our face.

When we receive, we finish and spiral to the next level of what was divinely started.

This infinite loop de loop continues over and over and over again and is stopped when… someone decides giving is the thing, receiving is not the thing – and (sometimes or) we decide we aren’t worthy to receive. 

Is this starting to sound familiar?

Blocks of all kinds start with the inability to receive.

Most often the inability to receive is based on our opinion and judgment of ourself. We are not worthy of receiving, we are not good enough, we are somehow “less than” others and therefore need to continue giving even when our well is running very close to dry.

I confess, I have come in and out of blocks many times, most often based on my inability to receive.

The way through the block is to receive with active gratitude. 

Inhale and fully receive what has been given to you. In fact, when you breathe in, you are receiving life-giving oxygen.

Bring that oxygen into your lungs and feel the energy of breath – of inspiration – fill your body.

When you exhale, you are giving breath back to the world. 

Sometimes I create a vision of  my exhale expanding upon the gifts I have received by offering what I know, what I love, what I am coming to understand. I can see the breath of inspiration swirling around me and reaching out to others who are also open to receive.

With every mindful inhale and exhale, I am adding to the increase of abundance in my life and I am adding to the increase of abundance in other people’s lives.

That, my friends, is beyond words amazing. Before you click away, practice breathing like this.

It feels so good!

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

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

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

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Platitudes May Be Poison: 3 Reasons Platitudes Aren’t Helpful and What You Can Do to Avoid Them

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A wooden floor reaches into a not very clear, cloudy yet colorful sky. The text reads: Platitudes are poison. Choose to be mindful to restore relationships.

Humans who love one another, on the whole, want to be helpful. They want to do their best. One of my oft-used phrases my children have been known to repeat is “No one wakes up plotting ways to make other people mad.”

Granted, some people do, but the majority of people do not wake up as sinister characters in mediocre books and movies.

What are platitudes?

Platitudes are throw-away phrases that are used because people are more comfortable saying something than not saying something, especially when they are in a conversation where people are being vulnerable.

Platitudes are not always wrong to use. Think of it like nutrition: we won’t expect to stay healthy and strong if our diet is 100% donuts. Sure, they may make us feel better for a short burst of time – and donuts can also become harmful when consumed too often and replace more healthy choices.

Here are some examples:

“Everything happens for a reason.”

”Good things come to those who wait.”

“Whatever will be, will be.”

Platitudes are not always bad: especially when not overused

Sometimes we say platitudes to ourselves and they serve as a bridge from feeling horrible to feeling more able to get to our next task or next conversation. This is a positive use of platitudes (and remember choosing between chocolate raised or a cruller six times a day will not make you a healthier person.

The reasons we ought to be mindful of using platitudes are many,  and it is especially important when we have loved ones who are grieving, hurt or recovering from illness or trauma.

Questions to consider before speaking in a cliched “tried and true” statement to a hurting person

  1. If I say this phrase, do I run the risk of shutting down the conversation with my loved one? Will this help or harm the healing process?
  2. Am I saying this to make myself feel better or am I saying this because I am uncomfortable being silent?
  3. Your mother may have given the admonishment mine did: “Think before you speak.” which may be considered a platitude, also. In fact, I heard my sister get lectured about this so many times I started thinking too much about thinking so my voice and thoughts most often went unspoken and lead to many years of therapy and healing work.

This platitude did lead to an acronym to consider before you blurt another phrase:

Easy check in to discern whether to speak or wait or say somethign different:

  • Is this true? Think factual rather than a big T truth.
  • Is this helpful? Can any action be taken from what you say? Will the person feel better or worse having heard what you say?
  • Is this inspiring? Will it build the person up or tear them down.
  • Is this necessary to say? Or is it empty fluffy “donut talk”
  • Is this kind? Is it compassionate and offered with love? Will the result of speaking this make your loved one feel more loved or will they feel defensive and dishonored or someplace in between?

When people are struggling, the last thing they want is to feel judged, shamed or surrounded by people who don’t want to listen and don’t seem to care about them.

Instead of platitudes, speak with your heart

Using platitudes may cause irreparable harm. Share from your heart, authentically, instead. with your heard. Being more and meaningfully may cause irreparable harm to your most important relationships. You may be well-meaning when you use platitudes, but unfortunately, this may not land well.

Options to use in uncomfortable conversations instead of platitudes:

I am not sure what to say right now.. I want to help you feel better because I care about you. I am afraid to say something stupid that I may regret saying.

Would you like some advice or would you like me to listen more?

I’m here for you: keep saying whatever you need to say. I am listening. 

This must be difficult for you to talk about – because I love you so much my knee jerk response is to rush in and make it all better. I am doing my best to not do that anymore. I apologize in advance if and when I do that.

The less you rely on platitudes, the better communicator you will become, the more comfortable you will be with uncomfortable conversations and the more meaningful your relationships will be.

Below: a 5 minute video on this topic that may be helpful to watch and share with people:

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

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Sometimes Grief Slams Against Us, Unexpectedly… Like It Did Yesterday

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If I had been paying attention, I might have realized there was going to be an all saints sort of theme at church this week.

I clearly wasn’t paying attention.

It feels like too many losses to count.

I have experienced numerous losses this year: my father died, my friend was murdered, because of my father’s death my mother moved into assisted living so there is no denying her frailty, their house was sold so there will be no more holiday memory making in Flagstaff, I moved from my home of thirty years for a year – my eyes were filling with tears as soon as I saw the centerpiece on the table at church. Memories. Deaths. Losses. All losses were piled upon losses were piled upon losses.

The service was an honoring of lives.

The intention was to bring joy to the memories of loved one, to honor the grief and the loss.

The intention was to honor the grief and the loss: words on a pink lavendar and orange background.

It might have been if I was emotionally prepared. Even before I got to church I had been feeling more low than usual – I wouldn’t call it lonely but I was aware of the aloneness as I faced Halloween in an unfamiliar neighborhood without friends to invite me to a party or the usual neighborhood kids looking cute in their costumes as I gleefully ohhhhhh and ahhhhhh and pass out candy.

Halloween has always been the beginning of the holiday season for me.

Since my daughter died more than thirty years ago, it is the time when I brace myself for what is to come.

What lessons has my grief taught me as we face the holiday season?

These five are the beginning – there are many more AND these will help you to begin having a more intentional – and more joyful – holiday experience.

  1. Being emotionally prepared before the day descends is always more helpful than not paying attention.
  2. Having a friend or two on stand-by if I need assistance or have that overwhelming “I just can’t do it” energy rise up.
  3. Recognize the day may be marvelous without any preparation at all – and mindfulness always serves my greater good than happenstance.
  4. People don’t mean to upset me when I am caught off guard by an event.
  5. I am grieving the best I can – whether I am in denial or fighting back tears or guiding others through their emotions – I am grieving – and living – in the best way I can.

Emotional preparation goes a long way to intentionally experiencing the holidays while we are grieving. 

If you have friends who are experiencing grief, please remember them as we get closer to other holidays which may cause them to feel upset. If it is you who are grieving: I am here, sending love your way.

I also created this video in case you or someone you know is looking ahead for the holidays and is nervous about it:

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

She is also offering a new Create an Intentional Holiday Season While Grieving Coaching Circle beginning on November 16, 2021. For details on that program please click here.

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Writers: How You May Use Fear of Failure to Fuel Your Success in Going Live

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Think about your response to this question before you continue reading:

How often have you given up before you had any real evidence that you might not succeed at whatever your most recent sense of close-to-failure might be?

How many of us look forward to making mistakes and worse than that, how many of us look forward to failure?

Keep reading: this is important.

Successful Power House Sara Blakely Aims for Failure

Sara Blakely, founder and creator of Spanx Shapewear,  credits her tenacity amidst failure to her father’s attitude. 

She wrote,  “We’d sit around the dinner table and he’d ask, ‘What did you guys fail at this week?’ If we had nothing to tell him, he’d be disappointed,” she said. “He knew that many people become paralyzed by the fear of failure. My father wanted us to try everything and feel free to push the envelope. His attitude taught me to define failure as not trying something I want to do instead of not achieving the right outcome.”

I teach writers how to successfully go live (live-streaming) the easiest ways possible. I love going live myself, so this is a natural extension of that love and then I discovered many have challenges because they are afraid to make mistakes.

What would happen if you made making mistakes fun?

I even made a video about it for you – watch the video here.

Sarah Blakely has continued her quest of mistakes, failure and embarrassment. You may read of her latest conquest here.

Now it’s your turn: More on Success & Making Mistakes

How do you feel about making mistakes?

How might you use fear of making mistakes to fuel your future successes?

Comment below to continue the conversation!

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

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

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

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Healing Grief: Speaking and Writing Even When You Don’t Know What to Say

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Trigger Warning: Death, Murder, Grief.

The Sunday after my father died suddenly, I attended a funeral of my friend, Jodie, who was violently murdered. 

The moment came when people were asked to speak. I didn’t want to speak. I didn’t even really want to be there at all, but I was there, so I stood up and found myself in the aisle moving forward.

I realized sometimes our love for people is thankfully larger than our unwillingness to speak or write

I looked down at my feet as I walked. I felt like my clothes were all wrong, I did not want to speak, was worried I might fall on my way to the front of the room.

I was unprepared and I did not want to speak, but there I was ambling forward to speak.

There I went, doing yet another thing I didn’t want to do.

The shock of my father’s death was wrapped around my shoulders as my feet carried me toward the podium to speak extemporaneously – even though it was the last thing I wanted to do – at Jodie’s funeral. I knew her sons might feel better if they heard me remember their Mom. I knew I had a unique and positive perspective to share. I knew I loved Jodie, still love Jodie, and love the common cause we fought for together, year after year.

I was too numb to begin to know what I was going to say, but one of us from Vday needed to speak up and of the women who were there, I was the “senior leader” so it didn’t matter if I was numb, it didn’t matter if I had no idea what I was going to say, it didn’t matter if I was completely unprepared and ill-equipped – I needed to walk up to the microphone and say something, anything. 

The moment I finished speaking, I was glad I had chosen to speak.

I can’t even tell you what I said but I do remember afterwards many of Jodie’s family members thanked me for speaking.

Facing death head-on is not how I planned to spend the month of April. 

Jodie and I both worked to end violence against women and girls through performances connected with VDay, a movement created by Eve Ensler, who wrote “The Vagina Monologues”, “Emotional Creature” and other plays and books. Jodie and I also protested together, went to the beach together, sang karaoke together, were stage Moms together.

It pains me unmercifully to think the cause of her death is something we fought against. Like our friend and fellow VDay Warrior, Lori, said, “It wasn’t supposed to be like this. We never expected to be at a funeral for Jodie, we were supposed to be alive and on-stage with Jodie.”

It didn’t matter that the next day I would be driving back to Flagstaff to care for my mother and work with my siblings to create my father’s celebration of life. In that moment it didn’t matter that I felt guilty because I knew I would be missing the first hearings for the accused murderer, something important to me as well. 

What mattered was holding space for love and being present to love, even after life

What mattered was I walked into the aisle, I walked up the stairs, I stepped up to the mic, took a breath and spoke. My intention was to be positive, truthful and loving and not afraid to show my emotion. 

If I had been able to set aside my grief from my father’s death I might have done things differently. I would have remembered the reality that at funerals, people are often called to speak from the audience. I might have thought to jot some notes.

Because I was facing my father’s death shortly after Jodie’s death, I was not at a place to set anything aside, including the knowledge I must speak even if I only stammered out a couple sentences.

No matter how uncomfortable or how scared or how sad I felt, I needed to speak up.

I needed to speak up for Jodie.

Next week I will speak at my father’s funeral, reading a poem I am writing.

Coffee cup and notebook are underneath the quote from Flannery O'Connor "I write because I don't know what I think until I read what I say."

Flannery O’Connor said, “I write because I don’t know what I think until I read what I say.”

I have scheduled my out-of-town caretaking and even my doctor’s appointments for the disease I am fighting based on the next hearings for the man accused of Jodie’s murder. I have chosen to continue to write about Jodie consistently so that I will, as Flannery O’Connor suggests, know what it is I truly want to say. 

I am working on a poem for my father’s funeral. One line at a time, one sentence at a time, trusting the process of getting words on the page.

In everyday life, if I don’t write, everything gets clogged. My emotions get trapped and my creativity dries up. When grief comes, this clog or this block creates even more of a risk.

Neither Jodie nor my father would want to be the cause of silencing my message. If anything, they would have wanted me to amplify my message. I am following their guidance now. 

Because we love, we grieve.

Grief never feels like something we ask for, yet if we have lived a life full of love, we will grieve.

5 Strategies to Help You Express Yourself, especially in times of Grief

  1. Jot notes of your feelings, even if it is only on your phone or collected in text messages. Your best allies and friends will welcome your notes as you heal.
  2. Be willing to have uncomfortable conversations. If you are the friend of someone who is grieving, ask for permission to talk about the loss, to use the name of the person who died. I love when people say “Marlena” the name of my baby daughter who died at birth thirty-one years ago. 
  3. Try writing in a journal or use an inexpensive spiral notebook for journaling your healing process. Use a free flow writing style. Do not edit or think before you write, just get your words on the page. A few minutes or pages a day, whatever feels right for you. As you keep your words flowing, you will keep your energy flowing, you will keep your healing flowing. 
  4. Give yourself the gift of being vulnerable. With practice, it gets easier and easier. In my years of practice, one of the best ways to start is to ask the people you are with, “I feel vulnerable saying this and there is a big part of me that doesn’t want to say this…” and give them a chance to respond. Maybe they aren’t in a space to listen and will ask to set a time to talk later. This is a huge victory!
  5. Find or designate a “safe person” someone you can turn to at any time of day or night if things get difficult. Ironically for me, my safe person is often my notebook. It may take courage to ask someone to fill in this role for you, so you may want to assemble a team. What I have found as a griever and one who supports grieving people is usually those we ask are honored, not bothered, when we ask for support.

Once again, as you keep your words flowing, you will keep your energy flowing, you will keep your healing flowing. 

Grief is a process and has a calendar unlike any other. Offer yourself grace and forgiveness. Take your time. Writing and creative process helps the healing process steadily proceed rather than getting stuck. Using the strategies outlined here, hope will begin to grow, too. Love to you.

Julie JordanScott is a Creative Life Coach, Writer, Speaker and Mom extraordinaire who loves working with creative entrepreneurs, artists and healers to get their words written on the page, spoken in their videos and shared across social media platforms with confidence.

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Your Voice and Your Writing Matters: We are Listening to You

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Your writing and your voice matter: We're listening. Two women engage in conversation. The background is a musical one, so they must be speaking creatively.

I have lived much of my life as a translator but not in the conventional sense many think of when they consider the job of a translator.

One of the gifts of having my (mostly) non-verbal brother was the ability to translate his utterances both silent and auditory and later on, translating that keen ability to listen with my eyes and fingers to translate different people with different languages.

The act of writing freely will show you what you need to know.

As I wrote of this, I realized I have never found a translator of my own: someone who hears my unspoken voice, someone who tunes in and asks loving questions and speaks when I am unable. Someone who can see my thirst on my face and rises to quench it before I feel my throat constrict.

 Perhaps that is what we secretly or I secretly yearn for and am only now discovering it.

Afterall, I am highly practiced at speaking up for others, for taking others’ needs and amplifying their cause – whatever the cause may be. 

When you become a witness of yourself within your process, you will hear yourself more clearly.

When I step back and look at myself at a distance, I am able to love my sweet-Julie-heart and say with pure witness, “Your message matters.” My written words continue to flow:

“Your translation is offered tirelessly by Julianne (the name I use for my Highest Self). It is normal to forget your highest self stands with you, always. There are others waiting to translate, yes, but first make peace and enjoy the love Julianne offers.”

With that, I hear Julianne chime in, saying, “Share this love and witness the language of your message – you have been doing it. Now do it. More.”

Your higher self knows: your job is to use your voice to translate this higher knowing inside you.

Woman pulls back a stage curtain. The Brene Brown quote says "Courage starts with showing up and letting ourselves be seen." and in this setting - heard as well.
In our context, courage starts with showing up and letting ourselves be heard as well.

I am being told “Use my voice to translate the messages inside me. Allow my messages room to room without worry about “getting them right” or even having them be acceptable. “

Tell me about your voice and your message. I am listening.

The greatest gift you can give the people in this world is your message. Without your continued commitment to act to bring your message forward,t the fewer people who will benefit from your work will be reached. That, beloveds, is sad. There are people – specific people – waiting for your words. Let’s get them on the page.

Julie Jordan Scott is the Creator of the Radical Joy of Daily Consistency Course which helps people practice consistency and completion daily in order to experience a more incredible life experience. She also founded the free, private facebook community for writers and creative people at all levels of experience: the Word Love Writing Community. Join us!

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Not on My Bucket List: Growing from the Unexpected Curves in Your Life’s Journey

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A bucket list on its side asks the question, "What to think about things that aren't on my bucket list?" and yet they may be significant growth experiences.

Today another item I never wanted to have on my bucket list will be quickly added and crossed off.

A needle will be inserted into my chest to withdraw fluid from a mass of unknown origin. I am hoping it is merely an infection. I am hoping it is not Valley fever. I am hoping it can be excised without much trouble. I am hoping.

What happens to items on our bucket list when the unexpected occurrences we never wanted to happen, happen:

I have not been writing much because having something frightening like this tends to silence my words. Even when I have a lot of stories to tell, the fear hovers. It gets stronger the longer I sit and stew even as I want to talk about it and process it with others.

I have wanted to toss it into conversations about completely unrelated topics even when it makes no sense at all.

A spirited discussion of a well written book is overcome by an avalanche of thought in my head that sounds like this: “what if this thing in my chest is cancer? What if this thing in my chest is a danger to my future? What if this thing in my chest is another chapter in my ‘so close but not quite’ which could very well be the title of the movie of my life.“

I miss the discussion that is actually happen and get caught up in my tangled thoughts.

The anti-bucket list item turns into a quickly turning road going nowhere particularly constructive.

I think of making a rag doll to sleep with, a toddler sized one with brown braided hair and blue eyes, a mini-me who might have matching heart scars to mine. Maybe we will both wind up with non-heart-shaped scars over our collective heart space. Maybe that would be cute and sweet and comforting.

This may be absolutely true and how constructive is this path? Creative output does heal – and is this something I really WANT to do with my time right now or is the idea comfort enough?

Maybe this twist in the bucket-list road would be better?

Last night I found myself lying in my bed in a cocoon of pillows like when I was in the hospital, valley fever no one knew I had, sepsis, organ failure, near death. Last night as I settled in the pillows helped it feel so much better than anything else has felt in a long time. It was cloud-like yet solid, so supported I wished I had someone there to read to me. A soothing voice to read from the novel I am reading or to read pages from the book of Julian of Norwich or perhaps even read about how to create supportive loving habits. 

For now I don’t have anyone to do that but I do have the pillows. I can recreate soft holding support. Yes! Something I can actually do easily.

The end of the road leads to Ralph Waldo Emerson?

I am reminded of the message I meant to send today, the one inspired by Ralph Waldo Emerson.

A curvy road is much like our concerns when we are facing the unknown. The quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson reminds us "Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year."

Today, even after all I have spoken I can still say I am waking up to the thoughts of Ralph Waldo Emerson, he who wrote “Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year.” 

You might be saying “This does not jive with what you wrote above this fold – you just said you aren’t familiar with the ‘not tragic’ and ‘I never wanted’ and ‘frightening’ how does this add up to “the best day in the year”?

Quite simple, actually.

I am alive. My heart is still beating. I am able to create as I want to create. I have clean water to drink. I have a future in the works. I smelled almond orchards in bloom last night. I walked this morning. I am writing now. I am able to say what I most want to say.

I am awake on this, the best day of my year so far. And tomorrow, I will live the best day of my year so far because I am choosing for that to be how and what it is.

What if every day was a bucket list celebration?

In the meantime, I will be thinking of some other word for “bucket list” because that is focused on death – kicking the bucket – and after two cancers, a couple valley fever episodes, sepsis, kidney failure – I am all about the living and loving and being with whatever is and choosing the best even when it looks like it completely sucks.

It isn’t about the lessons I am learning, it is about the breath I am breathing and the love I am knowing more deeply every single day.

Julie Jordan Scott is the Creator of the Radical Joy of Daily Consistency Course which helps people practice consistency and completion daily in order to experience a more incredible life experience. She also founded the free, private facebook community for writers and creative people at all levels of experience: the Word Love Writing Community. Join us!

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What have you learned from reading so far this year?

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What is the most recent book you read recently because you wanted to experience personal growth? In the beginning of the year, self-help and goal setting and improvement books fly off the shelves and out of publisher’s warehouses.

While this may seem like a simple question, sometimes the books that help us grow may be unexpected. Let’s consider different factors and allow possible answers to surprise you.

This week I finished several books. I finished “The Practice” by Seth Godin and “The Nickel Boys” by Colson Whitehead.

When books become friends, they become lifelong companions.

Reading Godin’s book again is like having a reunion with an inspiring friend. I first read him years ago when i was new on the entrepreneurial, transformational creativity path. What I enjoy about his work is he is aligned with me AND he challenges me to think, act and grow better – with purer intention and awareness.

When I finished “The Nickel Boys” a novel about two young men in a 1960’s reform school in Florida completely opened my eyes. I read and actively enjoyed this book so much that I was known to blurt out joy by saying “Oh, this man can write!” or in dismay, “No, I can’t… I can’t keep reading this right now… no,” and walking away for three days until I felt restored enough to face reality.

At the end of the book, I wanted to fill up the trunk of my car with copies of this book and give it away to people who I know would read it because while we – as white people – can use words like “white privilege” sometimes don’t get it because we can’t quite get it clear. This novel helped to clarify not only white privilege, but the heart of Martin Luther King’s message as lived by a group of young men – while at the same time using language effortlessly and not needing to paint violent details.

One book: obvious personal development. Another book, fiction based on history, quieter and also deep in my core soulful personal development. 

Taking a moment to move into a political direction: feel free to step off the post AND please tell about books you have read.

I don’t usually get political here on this blog, but I am about to do so briefly. If you do not want to deal with anything political today, I understand and invite you to simply comment about the above material and know if you are curious, this blog post will stay here for you to consider.

 On the same day I am writing this, reports from the New York Times are telling us a woman named Amy Cooper fulfilled her judge appointed goals after being a typical “racist Karen” when she falsely reported a black man on a 911 call for threatening her because he asked her to follow the law and put her dog on a leash instead of allowing it to run freely in Central Park in New York City.

After she was arrested, she went to court and the judge requested she attend five sessions of therapy and proclaimed better. The educational course of study was specifically about racial bias. 

To read an article that summarizes what happened, please visit this article from the New York Times.

What if the course of study included literature, film, art & heartfelt conversations?

I wonder what would happen if the educational course of study included reading and reflective writing? I wonder what would happen if Ms. Cooper and others  read some books and wrote about what the books meant to her and how she would choose to live those books?

Perhaps we could put people who behave like she did with reading a book, watching a movie, looking at an art exhibit and then reporting back to the world how she grew from those experiences and how she will live differently as a result.

What might happen then?

Maybe we could entrust that reporting to her therapist would make a difference.

With well written, topical works would perhaps be influential upon people like Amy Cooper – and people like us witnessing the broken system and help us move one another and the system into a more aligned place – would learn more than just shouting and flailing and constantly standing on one end of the “us vs them” continuum. 

Please share in the comments your book & reading recommendations PLUS any relevant conversation.

Julie Jordan Scott is the Creator of the Radical Joy of Daily Consistency Course which helps people practice consistency and completion daily in order to experience a more incredible life experience. She also founded the free, private facebook community for writers and creative people at all levels of experience: the Word Love Writing Community. Join us!

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Gratitude: It doesn’t always look like you expect it to –

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This morning I was scrubbing the toilet. Round and round I went with the brush, round and round and round. 

I remembered when my son was little and the only way I could get him to allow me to wash his ears was to make it into a game. First we would play the game of washing his hands in the kitchen sink. We would dunk them 100 times in the water and then dry them with a washcloth. We would then get another clean washcloth and wash his ears with gusto and joy, he would be laughing and squirming and I would be grateful for making up this game, otherwise his ears would have gotten horrible and I would have felt like a neglectful mother.

I am grateful I am still able bodied to scrub the toilet.

I am grateful I have a toilet to scrub.

I have had an intentional relationship with gratitude for a while now, but at first, it was not entirely wanted. I didn’t believe gratitude was all that useful.

I knew about people who went on and on about “an attitude of gratitude” and usually they looked about as plastic as the Barbie my daughter played with every once in a while.

Then I hit one of my first rock bottoms on the way to a long sequence of rock bottoms.

I started tracking my gratitude every day and posting it on a now defunct social media meets goalsetting website. I did this for 500 days. Now I use gratitude as the closing to my daily writing practice and teach the same method in the writing workshops I lead.

Ending one’s writing practice with gratitude brings the end of the session to an upswing, something that is often a necessity if the writer has processed a lot of garbage and grit and not-so-pleasant stuff – like most people face when they scrub the toilet.

I’m going to ask you about gratitude – and I want you to pause before you throw down the first thing that pops into your mind. 

What are you grateful for that is underneath what you usually say.

If you are grateful for your child, think about what annoys you about the said child and consider what about that annoyance can you claim as gratitude.

If you are grateful for your home, think about a chore that you don’t like so much and think about what about that chore is actually a blessing.

If you are grateful for the sunshine outside your window, remember the last time you got caught, unprepared for the weather – and what brings a smile to your face from that memory.

Now jot one or two of those items in the comments.

Gratitude, when expressed from your deepest gut places, is immensely transformative.

Julie Jordan Scott is the Creator of the Radical Joy of Daily Consistency Course which helps people practice consistency and completion daily in order to experience a more incredible life experience. She also founded the free, private facebook community for writers and creative people at all levels of experience: the Word Love Writing Community. Join us!

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Why It May Benefit You To Consider Tree Hugging Now

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Why Hug a Tree?

Remember when we used to be able to hug people without thinking about risking our health?

That’s one reason why hugging trees feels so good right now.

I remember in 2019 regularly attending First Friday, an event in Downtown Bakersfield on the First Friday of every month. Art galleries and businesses downtown would be open and artists would line the streets, performers would be out and “my people” would inevitably either be showing their wares or circulating or performing.

I was guaranteed to hug and be hugged, smile at others and smile back, sing and laugh and play and be silly and for now, anyway.

I don’t have that on the First Friday of every month right now.

What is available is plenty of trees to hug, even in cities.

Yes, what I do have is an abundance of trees to hug. 

Trees are in parks, they line many streets and parking lots. They are in my yard and in the yards of friends I can wave to and talk to outdoors from a safe distance.

When I hug a tree, I focus on one thing: feeling and experiencing a hug. On any given day I may also focus on healing for myself,for the rest of the world, the specific tree I am hugging, the neighborhood.

Specific health benefits of tree hugging

  • When you are tired, you allow yourself to feel the reciprocity the tree offers, just like the reciprocity humans offer. It isn’t exactly the same AND it is powerful in its own right.
  • You may receive positive energy from the tree, enough of this energy to find myself giddy and laughing.
  • Cardiovascular health and even obstetrical outcomes are improved when we utilize parks, green spaces, and hugging the trees within as noted in this research from Pennsylvania scientists.
  • In observing the tree, you will also notice how the branches bend and stretch. These may ignite associations in you like they do for me in my business and my life.
  • The scents from the trees serve as an up close and personal aromatherapy. You can feel myself relaxing as youhug the tree. Stress relief comes.
  • Matthew Silverstone noted in his book, Blinded by Science, evidence confirming trees and their healthful benefits includes their effect on mental illnesses, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), concentration levels, reaction times, depression, and the ability to alleviate headaches.
  • “Nature Deficit Disorder is real! Families need nature in urban areas, reports the New York Times . Tree hugging creates a deep connection point for urban nature, especially during times of Covid.

What I have learned in 52 consecutive days of Tree Hugging:

Since I started hugging trees every day for more than 50 consecutive days, I have never walked away from a tree hugging experience and felt worse. I always felt better.

When I focus on what I can do: I am able to hug trees, even with the pandemic, rather than what I can’t do –  I can’t responsibly hug people who aren’t in my household. After hugging a tree, I re-discover joy, I open to what is present in abundance, I tune into what feels better. 

How to Hug a Tree Most Easily

There are infinite reasons to hug a tree. What is yours?

Julie Jordan Scott is the Creator of the Radical Joy of Daily Consistency Course which helps people practice consistency and completion daily in order to experience a more incredible life experience. She also founded the free, private facebook community for writers and creative people at all levels of experience: the Word Love Writing Community. Join us!

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