Creative Life Midwife

Inspiring Artistic Rebirth

How to Use Journaling to Become Clear on Your Weekly Goals – and Beyond

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Because I am an artist, I have a lot of friends and coaching clients who are also artists – and many of my creative friends have an aversion to setting goals. While I know this is true in other fields, I must confess in my informal research from years of working with people on reaching their goals and fulfilling their hopes and dreams, we turn away from naming and claiming our goals for several reasons:

  1. We are afraid to speak our goals because if we speak them and we don’t achieve them, we convince ourselves this will mean we failed. It doesn’t mean we failed at all. If our goals don’t work out exactly as we planned means your results were different than expected. You got feedback. You experimented. You won!
  2. We are embarrassed about where we are or by what we want. People won’t understand us, won’t want to spend time with us anymore and worst, will judge us, abandon us and no longer associate with us. I can tell you, some of my wacky goals have helped me immeasurably in the “I don’t want to get tangled up in other people’s opinions” categories, so if I want to set and work toward a goal of leaving 100 pennies in random places for people to find, pick up and feel happier because of it – you and others may think I am incorrigibly silly. And that’s ok.
  3. We don’t believe we can achieve the goal anyway so… while the heart-call is there, the energy isn’t so we ignore it. Ignoring or denial is among the most dangerous actions to take. This is where block begins to build. When we resist the desire and pile up lots of over-thinking, underappreciative energy on top of the overthinking, the mindclutter can translate into life clutter. Even taking micro-actions will keep energy flowing and will help you gain evidence that you CAN begin and you CAN move forward.

Even if it is just for this week, try this exercise as an experiment.

If you feel doubt seeping into your thoughts, consider this wisdom from Eckhart Tolle, best selling author and thought leader who wrote, “When the basis for your actions is inner alignment with the present moment, your actions become empowered by the intelligence of life itself.”

We gain clarity when we write without editing, judgment or forethought. Our inner wisdom is given room to roam. We can explore what we truly want without letting other people or our own negative thoughts get in the way of becoming energized and empowered to move forward.

Write using a stream-of-consciousness or free flow,journaling style for five minutes following the framework in the prompt:

First free flow write or journal for up to five minutes using the prompt:

This week I want – and consider what you want to feel, what you want to achieve, who you want to connect with, what you want to let go.

Build on what you want by creating a connection with 

This week I intend: and base your intentions on what you discovered from writing about what you want. 

How often are our intentions the same thing we have automatically been speaking for weeks, months or a season but not related to our heart’s call? 

Using journaling as a tool of clarification will help you align your desire with your intention and then tie back together with what actions you will choose to take in the final prompt:

This week I will choose….which is where our goals, intentions, and vision takes form. You can want something for years or decades but if you do not set intentions and goals and move forward with love through action, you will more than likely find yourself ten years in the future in a very similar place now to where you were when you started.

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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August Please: Intentions/Goals/Vision & July Recap

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July was a busy, busy, busy month.

July 2021 Highlights Recap:

I did 29 straight days of Three Good Things. This is a miracle because I have wanted to do an evening practice for a long time. Now, I look forward to keeping it up.

You may look at my JJS Writing Camp Facebook Page to see those:

I spent time in Flagstaff – about two weeks, actually, and I also spent time in Phoenix.

I started my Fall in Love with Livestreaming Adventure, Exploration, Experiment challenge – one week down and one week to go – so yes, a July and August combination. If you are interested, the content is in the Let Our Words Flow Creative Community – Join Us!

August Intentions & Goals for Creativity and Entrepreneurial Practice

In August I plan to —

  1. Participate in the Ultimate Blog Challenge. One of my areas of focus will be repurposing videos from my large YouTube library. I’ve made a lot of videos that will be quite helpful to bloggers and creatives – they’re a resource I sometimes forget!  This is my first blog post for that challenge. Below is my free flow writing YouTube Playlist: be sure to subscribe and follow me on YouTube so you won’t miss a thing!

2. 750 words a day on my top secret writing project.

3. Completion of my Haiku Book. Natalie Goldberg has a Haiku book out, published in 2020 and in the past that would have discouraged me but now – I am seeing it as an inspiration. Question: Ought I write a tree hug book? It is really gaining momentum since I created a blog post after I reached the 200 Tree Hugs milestone.

Content Creation for The Creative Life Midwife Courses and Coaching Groups and Individuals

  1. Decide what to do with the content I am creating in the Fall in Love with Livestreaming Challenge – is it a book wanting to be born? It might be! 

2. Hold my first Writing Camp Intensive of 2021. 

3. Schedule the Short Form Writing Course. 

4. Open up membership for my new Writing Home – in at least one small groupWriting Circle (or 2 or 3) Stand by in August and September to hear more about that. 

A Healthy Challenge: and I’m all in to make the world a better place.

For my entire life I have been able to achieve more in less time than many people. I am kicking everything up a notch now – and I am excited to bring these words and programs to life in a bigger way this Fall.

Thanks for reading – and supporting me as I continue to move forward, with love, as I reach my goals and create the intentions that will have a positive impact on many.

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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How to Use Simple Writing Warm Ups: 5 Easy Ideas to Try Now

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Musicians and athletes understand what some writers don’t understand. Before musicians do their primary work – singing that intense musical piece or performing before an audience or before an athlete runs (or swims or bikes or walks)  the race, one must warm up one’s “instrument” the voice or the body.

The same is true with writing.

It is a rare case when the first words we write are the best of what we write. 

Why should a writer use writing warm ups?

Consider the writing warm-up as an “on-ramp” to the rest of your writing. We have to get onto the on-ramp in order to build up speed for driving on the highway and getting to our next destination. 

Writing Warm Ups Allow Us To…

  • Reconnect with previous writing
  • Get focused on the task, mission or purpose of each particular writing session.
  • Provide a “Starting Point” that is better or more clear than the confusion when the writing session begins. 
  • Stretch our “writing muscles”. Playing with words that we aren’t attached to being good or right or perfect helps our later words improve.
  • Experiment: make your warm up into a game you may use to try new and unexpected things. You may find these experiments turn into some of your best ideas of all. If you didn’t do warm ups, you would have no space for such frivolity.

Writer Lindsay Price said, “I use warm ups especially when I don’t feel like writing. Instead of walking away from my desk, I do an exercise. Nine times out of ten by the time I’m done my warm up, I’ve changed my tune.”

How do writing warm ups work?

As I started writing this, for example, I was reminded of a test taking strategy that always resulted in a better grade: I would read the entire exam before I made a single mark on it.

Why?

If I knew the answers to the questions, there would be no problem in quickly checking those off, but for the questions that were tricky, it gave my subconscious mind a chance to “find the answer for me”. By the time I had zipped through the easy questions I knew I had right, my brain had warmed up to take on the more difficult questions.

In case you are not sure about how a writing warm-up may help you, I invite you to do a writing experiment using warm up exercises.

Challenge: Experiment and play to see how writing warm ups work best for you

Here are five warm-up exercises to try. The rules of writing engagement are:

  1. Do not warm up for longer than 5 minutes. 3 to 5 minutes is ideal.
  2. If you try one technique and it doesn’t work, choose a different technique. One not working doesn’t mean writing warm ups aren’t good, it means that particular writing warm up didn’t work
  3. Have a plan or purpose for your writing after the warm up. For example: “I will write 1000 words of my novel” or “I will work on my sales campaign for the next hour.”
  • Writing Warm Up 1: Free Flow, Stream of Consciousness or Automatic Writing: these are synonymous. Simply write without editing, judgement or forethought. Let your pencil float across the page or your fingers tap on the keyboard or scan the screen. This is my personal favorite warm up.
  • Writing Warm Up 2: Use prompted writing – the best single prompts include “I remember”, “Yesterday I….”, “If things were perfect, I would…”, “What would be wisest to do next is…” and the sensory prompts – “I see, I hear, I smell, I taste, I touch, and the sixth sense – I feel (intuitively or emotionally.)
  • Writing Warm Up 3: Take 60 seconds to write a complete description of an ordinary object that can fit in your hand. Experience the object fully – feel it in your hand but lift it to your face, feel it against your cheek, smell it, compare it to similar sized objects. Write everything down, take note of the tiniest details. Warning: this may change your relationship with the things you own. 🙂
  • Writing Warm Up 4: Explore where a quote takes you. If you don’t collect quotes, google “Quotes about (insert your favorite subject of the day.) Choose a quote, copy it into your notebook or document and add, “This makes me think” and/or “this makes me feel” and see where the thoughts and feelings take you. You may find it takes your main character someplace, too!
  • Writing Warm Up 5: Write about your favorites… whatever. You can even make a jar with papers listing “movies, teacher, sci fi films, poems, athlete, musician, book, genre of book, comedian, city to visit” or whatever your likely favorites may be. If you spend a week or ten days focusing on your favorites, you will likely have a week to ten days of more pleasant writing experiences.

Which writing warm up will you use first?

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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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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Empty Days & Mondays Never Get Me Down

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“I always forget how important the empty days are, how important it may be sometimes not to expect to produce anything, even a few lines in a journal.”

May Sarton

There was a time when I would agree wholeheartedly with May Sarton’s assertion – until I became a person who has been saved by streaks: creating something for consecutive days. 

Are Streaks Crutches I Use, To Get Through a Tough Time?

Maybe in the future, I won’t feel compelled by the “crutch” of streaks, but right now in my current situation, streaks sustain me as much as air and water and friends who laugh with me not at me.

I sit with my fingers hovering above the keyboard wondering what to write next, wondering how vulnerable to allow myself to be.

I think of the power of writing for five minutes, free flow style, to allow the words to bring me wisdom rather than me attempting to point myself toward wisdom and bend the words to fit into the directions I am willing them into that particular shape.

So I am choosing to craft a prompt and check in and see what the words want to tell me.

Free Flow Writing Creates a Bridge Between Negative Associations and Truth

 With the timer set for five minutes, I write:

The empty days are my friends, long and lean and not holding expectations beyond breath and light and opening my eyes to gaze about, without measure, without need simply because it feels good.

Empty days say “What would you most like to do today?”

Empty days say “Which clothes would feel the best today?”


Empty days say, “The only rules you must follow are the rules that bring you happiness and joy.”

So, Madame Empty Day (my pencil writes) if joy is permitted than I am also allowed to fill this day with – a jot or a line or a walk along the river to the place where there is graffiti under the bridge? It is ok for me to sit and listen and take photos and reach out to my friends to let them know I am connecting to them, even tat this difference, is that ok?

Empty days allow me to make choices, not be barred by rule-tenders.

Naturally, your higher self may ask you to consider deepening your query.

“Like I’ve been doing today?” I pause to ask Madame Empty Day, “Like I’ve been discerning if my choice was less than or my occasionally Anti-Karen-Karen-ness is a story that might not be completely empowering?”

She nodded and smiled, showing I was getting somewhere and moving beyond the first meanings I was making from the initial assessment alone.

That feels good. That feels right. That feels at peace. 

I now know the battle is more likely between what I have made a streak mean (a job well done, consistently, is a help-mate and a partner in creativity) versus what if I fail? I can’t do this. This expectation is too high and I am bound to fall flat on my face and that would be another tale for another blogpost.

The Final Word on to Streak or Not to Streak is….

We make our own rules in the end. We are subject and sovereign, ruler and the one who is ruled. Consistency creates strength.

Choosing not to be consistent creates choosing not to be consistent. It isn’t bad on its own. For me, consistency also consistently leads to better.

When I am consistently facing in the direction of courageous action rather than fearful stagnant in action, things turn in the direction of courage and everything that goes with courage.

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Julie Jordan Scott is the Creator of the Radical Joy of Consistency Course which helps people practice consistency and completion daily in order to experience a more incredible life experience. She came to this conclusion after almost dying and coming back to true healing by writing 377 consecutive haiku… and a lot more along her way to building that streak! To find out more about this program, visit this link, here.

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5 Simple Tips for Your Intentionally Wonderful Weekend

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A woman is sitting on a sofa, looking relaxed as she is intentionally creating a restorative weekend for herself.

Has it been a long week for you, too?

How to Intentionally Create a Weekend that Will Nurture a Better Next Week

I am sitting on Friday eve as I write this, thinking “please, God, I would love to have a better week next week than this week,” and while prayer is often the best medicine, prayer alone won’t do much if I am not actively collaborating with the Divine.

Before you let go of the Friday workday (or early Saturday morning) there are a few steps you may take to insure a fruitful, restful weekend to be a foundation for a marvelous week-to-come.

5 Do-Able Tips for Weekend Rest & Rejuvenation

  1. Include mindful conversation with people outside your usual circle of companions and co-workers. Pay attention to listening without an agenda – simply listening because it is the foundation of good relationships of all kinds.
  2. When possible, spend time outdoors – even if it is standing outside your front door for five minutes. No matter how cold, it will be invigorating. No matter how warm, you will activate your senses in a new way.
  3. Move your body differently than you’ve done during the week. Take an extra five minutes for playfulness at the end of exercise. Have you wanted to try some new form of fitness? Try it, briefly, and see if it fits for you. 
  4. If you have been spending more than four hours watching television or movies, try reading a book instead. Try reading aloud to yourself to see how it changes the experience. 
  5. Leave adequate time for “should-free” planning. Look at the week ahead after exercising a bit more, mindfully conversing, re-connecting your senses and unplugging for a bit and notice what shows up differently. Express gratitude for what you have discovered and uncovered.  Instead of lamenting the start of the new week, recognize what you would prefer to experience more of and set your plans and intentions accordingly.

This weekend, lay the foundation to start your week off with loving kindness for yourself. 

Julie JordanScott enjoying time in nature during a mindful, intentional, wonderful weekend.
Sunday afternoon, in the park, restored by an intentionally wonderful weekend

Julie Jordan Scott is the Creator of the Radical Joy of Consistency Course which helps people practice consistency and completion daily in order to experience a more incredible life experience. She came to this conclusion after almost dying and coming back to true healing by writing 377 consecutive haiku… and a lot more along her way to building that streak! To find out more about this program, visit this link, here.

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Subtract Anxiety, Add Peace

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I wrote a poem today. 

I wrote into my phone, in the driveway. It is perhaps more a “pre-poetry jot” then a full fledged poem. 

It felt good to write no matter what “it” is.

A tall cottonwood behind a chain link fence at sunset. Title is "Learning from Transition Into Dusk. Staying Calm even when it isn't easy)

Last night I took a sunset walk at the Panorama Vista Preserve. I wanted to walk and I wanted to take photos like I used to, just for the joy, and I wanted to experience the transition from light to darkness. 

It was during this walking time I wrote bits of a different poem in my head.

Experiencing natural transitions are soothing and make transitions I am experiencing with my health feel more normal as well. The transition from feeling healthy, full speed ahead to “something is going on but I cannot label it or know what’s next” uncomfortableness would very easily drive me into a higher level of anxiety – which isn’t good for my body and healing in any way.

I sat on a bench facing east during sunset, which is strange for me. Usually I stare at the sun as she moves out of sight, but I was enjoying watching birds fly as dusk settled. Birds whose names I don’t know who prefer low to the earth shrubs, a hawk cruising for a meal, and two loud ravens flew past. As the sun disappeared under the horizon, the burned dust smell of the Southern San Joaquin Valley rose once again making me wish I had an adequate way to capture it in words.

I’m still working on holding “scent of dust” or a better way to say it is I am waiting for the words to reveal themselves to me. Even better than that is the scent of dust is working on me rather than me working on it.

As I turned to leave the preserve I thought, “hmm. No rabbits are out yet.” In 2020, rabbits were a nearly constant companion on my walks here.

I also noted the gorgeousness of nightfall with a grand cottonwood tree, fenced into the yard beside the preserve. 

It reminded me of my mass (tumor, growth). I can feel it, I can see it on the outside of my body, but I can’t get close enough to my own interior to know the impact it may have on my life. 

I didn’t fall into worry or anxiety with these thoughts, I simply admired the cottonwood and with great self love, gave myself more moments of compassion. Stepping back into my car, I smiled softly.

As I drove toward home, a rabbit sat beside the road. She didn’t hop away, didn’t appear scared, she simply sat as I drove past as if to say “We’ve got this. No need to be afraid.”

I wrote to my primary care doctor and received a response. Today my personal challenge is to call the surgeon and check on the referral for the MRI. Keep the energy moving toward healing. Continue to assemble to the team with love rather than fear.

In my mind’s eye and deep in my heart, I will stand with the cottonwood in admiration without the need to get too close yet.

Julie Jordan Scott is the Creator of the Radical Joy of Consistency Course which helps people practice consistency and completion daily in order to experience a more incredible life experience. She came to this conclusion after almost dying and coming back to true healing by writing 377 consecutive haiku… and a lot more along her way to building that streak! To find out more about this program, visit this link, here.

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This July: Cultivate Memories that Transform Your Life Experience

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I started this year holding the intention for transformational memories. I would that intention has definitely come to fruition, but they came about in ways I wouldn’t necessarily have chosen to happen.

It is valuable to collect memories, especially the transformative ones - so that we may continue to return to them for their love filled and meaning - rich energy. Collecting them now in the middle of summer will help continue the power and add to the initiating intention.

What are transformational memories?

Memories tend to fall into several different categories: the mundane, the memories we want to forget, the bad memories that are burned into our psyche and the mountaintop memories – or big events we work to remember for later in great detail.

Transformative memories are those every day moments that make a lasting mark on who we were in the moment and who we are becoming, still.

Are transformational memories active gratitude, counting your blessings?

2020 may have many transformational memories for you that are certainly not mountaintop memories and they were also not mundane. This is evidence of the “unprecedented times” we keep hearing about and experiencing again and again and again.

Now we have crossed the bridge to 2021 and although the calendar has changed, we are still facing many of the challenges from before. This series is to stay focused on what moves us forward.

Building a creative streak to practice successful completion

It is also an example of a small “streak” or container to hold a 31 Day Experiment in Counting My Blessings everyday that also is a method of completion practice.

I am a believer in practices like this because it gives you a daily completion, so you get practice in what it feels like to accomplish something simple to do and significant to do everyday. It is nothing short of magical. 

Don’t believe it?

Try this for a week and tell me how you’re feeling.

Today in June I am revisiting – Three cool things I noted from January 3:

  1. Samuel started the day shift at his job. No more graveyard. From now on he will work conventional hours and I won’t get to bring his lunch to his bedroom door by special delivery every day. That is a sadness I will just get over.
  2. Katherine got a full-time church job! She will be the Solo Pastor at First Presbyterian Church in Sussex, NJ. I told her today I look forward to the day I can travel again and see her in action in her congregation! Update: In September, 2021 I will be moving to Sussex myself for a year to be close to Katherine and Donald AND experience an entirely different life. It will be a valuable experiment I never could have imagined when I set the intention for a year of transformative memories!
  3. I created a bunch of content for the week to come, ahead of time. “Getting ahead” always makes me happy – now I simply need to get better at batching – working on one task theme for a set amount of time. For example. An hour of making graphics. An hour of writing copy, an hour of scrubbing the kitchen. 

This process also helps me as a part of my evening writing practice, something I have wanted for a long time. As soon as I am done with this, I will do some writing in my notebook, some meditation and fall asleep.

The significance of revisiting recent (and not so recent) personal writing to mine for transformational memories.

I am revisiting this writing at the end of June, 2021 and have decided to begin this practice again for the month of July, 2021. To recap between January and now, I will touch base on some of what I have been experiencing.

I will share three transformative memories – and attempt to keep them succinct.

  1. My father died on April 18. From that moment, so many things happened and the memories have been very sad and also very filled with love.
  2. I learned the Valley Fever I have been carrying disseminated, which means it spread beyond my lungs. This could be very dangerous AND I have been receiving ongoing treatment AND I have never felt more confident in my ability to manage my health. I was filled with stress for a lot of time from January through whenever it was I had a biopsy-turned-drainage (I think in March? Since Dad died, a lot of time has had a very different meaning and context.)
  3. I have been getting my writing mojo back, slowly and surely. Poetry is back, working on my book projects is back, writing in my notebook daily is back. I realized in getting it back I was in quite a state of languishing for a long time. This is definitely transformative.

It is easier to see Transformational Memories from a distance, but what does naming 3 good things from any given day tell you?

I like to look at collecting transformative memories (and transformative memories-to-be like this: it is as if my future self and present self are having a party. Since my life in 2021 has been in a surprising uproar, there are so many times when I have said to myself with a lot of incredulity, “I am so grateful my past self was looking out for me!”

It is in the tiny, day to day things that the transformative memories happen. It is only from a distance that we can see what the whole picture looks like.

With that in mind, tell me:

What are 3 Good Things from your day? When July 1 hits, I will return here every day. I hope to see you here, too. This will be informal, flexible and fun.

Are you ready to count your blessings? Let us know in the comments!

Julie Jordan Scott is the Creator of the One Small Shift Course which helps people practice consistency and completion daily in order to experience a more incredible life experience. She came to this conclusion after almost dying and coming back to true healing by writing 377 consecutive haiku… and a lot more along her way to building that streak! To find out more about this program, visit this link, here.

She has been a Life Purpose and Creativity Coach since 1999. She has taught workshops in college classrooms, hospitals, teleclasses and webinars with participants across the world.

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