Creative Life Midwife

Inspiring Artistic Rebirth

Gratitude: A Premonition or a Passion

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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?

Julie JordanScott
Julie Jordan Scott

🌟 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.

🎯 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.

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Planting the Seeds of Love: Overcoming Resistance to Encourage Growth

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Hands touching rich, dark soil and a young seedling showing a nurturing energy

Early in the day, everyday, I start with writing practice. Today, it led to something rather extraordinary.

I was reminded as a theater director and writing teacher, facilitator and coach, how much I value process work. Sometimes that is where the gold is found even more so than the final product.

Today, I am going to be transparent and bold, sharing with you my process of drafting wrestling with my thoughts through words. What you will read is the question I asked at the end of the “Mining for Writing Gold” process I created and use.

I always end with asking a question of myself and then free flow writing for five minutes. This time, it was longer than five minutes because I knew there was more there for me to explore.

My hope is you find value in witnessing the process. I’m also wondering if you ever enter into loving, open-hearted conversations with yourself? Maybe you view your inner conversations differently. I would love to hear more, hopefully after you gain some gold nuggets from my process.

What are the seedlings – the sprouts – to overcome my struggles that seem so inherently cooked into me?  I can’t see or taste or notice them in me and yet they are there, like a virus or allergen that makes me sick at times.

I find myself wanting to go elsewhere. I want to look up quotes or google something. I don’t want to just sit with the imagery and the question I carefully crafted. I will stay. I will ask myself the question again.

What are the seedlings, bravely pushing through the rocky soil of resistance – the invisible destructive force, not the airy, gracious force I also say is there yet I don’t always act as if that is the case. I stay in the unripened state, the inert, filled with great question that sits in the core of the seed, not yet initiated into the seedling stage.

It is the potent question and the belief there is healing medicine within the answering of the question, the living the question where the seedling grows.

Giving space for the answer to rise – the seedling then, is the question + space + light + nourishment + belief – 

I take my hands away from the keyboard. I am onto something.

I am going to pause for a few moments and re-read, allowing the seedling I have just managed to create to bring more to us, right here right now,

The seedling grows when it is surrounded in love: the air it breathes, the water that brings it nourishment, the space around it is drenched in love. 

Once a coaching client asked me, “What does love mean?” and I had no idea what to answer.

From the perspective of the seedling:

Love is staying with me, not turning away frustrated when you don’t understand what I am trying so hard to tell you.

Love is bringing me your innermost secrets, your uniqueness – not holding back. How can you be afraid of me, a little seedling, when all I want to do is make this world a better place – just like you.

Love is witnessing the people we meet not at the surface, but at their core. Love is seeing the uniqueness of each one and the similarities we share. Honoring the uniqueness and delighting in the connections.

Love is being willing to set down the rushing agenda to be with the mindful agenda where we both find value in mutual restoration.

Second part: how to nourish the medicine within the seedlings as they grow and become stronger?

I went longer than five minutes. 

The second part may come up later. We’ll see.

Woman (Julie Jordan Scott Julie JordanScott) seeming to burst through a broken wall on an abandoned home.

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 is working on finishing her most recent book project, hugging trees daily and enjoys having random inspirational conversations with strangers.

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 Do You Nourish Your Creativity?

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Torn white paper and blue background encourages the viewer to know they are able to nourish and nurture their creativity.

What does it mean to nourish creativity?

Like food for the body provides nourishment, food for the writer’s life nurtures us so that our creative output not only increases, we also feel more satisfied and fulfilled in the process. I was under stress yesterday – much of it self imposed – and I ate a hunk of chocolate.

It wasn’t even good chocolate. It definitely left me feeling empty and the opposite of nurtured.

I didn’t feel nourished at all, I felt pretty dumpy. This morning, I prepared nourishing snacks in case I happen to get stressed out again I may have a much more satisfying afternoon sweet – with cranberries and oranges rather than processed fluff of temporary feel good and crash.

I use creative, spiritual practices to nourish my creativity. I have had a daily writing practice for more than two decades now and while I am not perfect at it, I show up at the page not to create the next chapter or be instantly brilliant, but because the page calls and this daily “writing to stretch like a runner stretches or a singer warms up her vocal chords” makes everything in my life run more smoothly – NOT only my writing.

Most recently adding meditation allows me to be calmly focused and again, life flows better when I add these two together.

Since my near death experience in 2019, I have been almost chronically at the ready for the next crisis – and as many have come, this is to be expected. Meditation is incredibly helpful for writers in a variety of iterations. You may choose writing meditation, art meditation, walking meditation or the old-school meditation practice I have going now all nourish my creativity in different ways.

For example, nourishing creativity might look like this:

✨First and foremost, continuing my daily creative and spiritual practices, partnered together. Writing Practice and Meditation practice. Both will be done in the first hour of waking. This starts my day focused and keeps me open to ideas, insights and wisdom beyond my own.

🌟Secondly, I will focus on honoring my planning practices and implementation with a focus on follow through and follow up.

💝 Finally I will utilize healthy doses of personal kindness, forgiveness and grace as I seek to improve and am bound to fail. Failure is a welcome creative teacher.

🎭 Also on my mind is I will be beginning a local theatre project, my first in New Jersey since I was 11 years old. My intention is to build community and mindfully study how the script, the writing and the art of theater intersects with my anchor art of writing. My role is a fun, supporting character role – the character development has begun – looking forward to read-through tomorrow.

You may nourish your creativity with experimentation

🙋🏻‍♀️❓How are you nourishing your creativity? How is that working?

In this New Year, perhaps it is time to try some new activities to nourish and nurture your creativity.

Three ways to nourish your creativity in 2023

  • Take time to explore new things – try something new each month or maybe more often depending on your schedule or what is most inspiring to you. , like taking an art class, visiting a new museum, exploring a local park, attending a live improv show.
  • Connect with others – attend events, join a club, or collaborate with other creatives. Talking with others can help you find new perspectives, collaborate on ideas, and stay inspired. Open the door for possibilities and follow through with other creatives you resonate with the most.
  • Set aside time for creative thinking – dedicate at least 30 minutes a day to brainstorming, daydreaming, and exploring new ideas. Allowing yourself to be open to whatever comes to mind can help you come up with new and innovative concepts.

💝 📚📒

💡 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.

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 is working on finishing her most recent book project, hugging trees daily and enjoys having random inspirational conversations with strangers.

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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Are you Multi-Passionate? Mix your passions to see the resulting growth & expansion

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A book and a coffee cup and a woman's hand beneath the words "Writing experiments stir one passion into another and expand each exponentially." Julie JordanScottt

Three things I love: writing, reading and poetry. Beyond these I also love theater, performance, music, passionate discussions and learning. I love taking what I learn and using it in my writing, in the courses I teach, in my speaking and performance gigs.

One of the ways to integrate the varied things you love into the rest of your life is via experiments. Right now I am in the midst of several – many of which I won’t or don’t choose to talk or write about but this one, oh how sweet this one is.

Last week, I used a poem written by Teresa of Avila in my morning writing practice. 

I scooped up lines from it and used them as part of my daily affirmation, another part of my writing practice and every day living.

This week I am using a poem by Rita Dove, former Poet Laureate of the United States. Her poem, “The First Book,” is the opening or introductory poem in Caroline Kennedy’s collection, “Poems to Learn by Heart.”

The poem starts like this:

“Open it.

Go ahead, it won’t bite.

Well… maybe a little.”

Ahhhh. How illustrative of so many different things! When we are courageous enough to experiment in a tiny bit frightening way, we grow. In the Let Our Words Flow Creative Community on Facebook (join us here), we will also be using this poem and this experiment to encourage our creative impulse to swerve a tiny bit into scary places.

Journaling question for the Let Our Words flow creative community invites us to open the possibility of the transformative power of fear.

Last week I wasn’t expecting to have one poem make such a difference. It was astounding sometimes, it made me laugh at other times and the way the lines from the poem synchronistically answered questions I was asking or solved conundrums I was having was very close to divine.

As I wrote that sentence, my back got straighter, almost like my body was recognizing something my mind wasn’t ready to recognize yet.

Do you ever experiment in your life and work? I would love to hear about it in the comments. If you don’t experiment (yet) what sort of fun might you have with it?

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 is working on finishing her most recent book project, hugging trees daily and enjoys having random inspirational conversations with strangers.

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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On Sundays, We Plan the Week Ahead

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It is basic and also easy to overlook: life works better even with the most basic plan.

Planning Basics: Even with a Hectic, Unpredictable Schedule basic planning is grounding and illuminating.

As a creative who is also busily caretaking, it would be easy to toss away any idea of planning and just “go with the flow” or as it often devolves into “go with the chaos” or whatever is the best of the worst possibilities.

This is not inspiring in the least.

This is why it is better to at least have the minimum amount of a plan before your week begins.

Calendar + Appointments + Tasks “To Do” + Practices = Better

On Sunday afternoon, evening or early Monday morning, be sure to gather your calendar, a list of your projects, classes, and to-do’s you are aware of as your week kicks off.

Fill in your calendar with what you know for now. Include any family or friend activities you are expected to attend. If you are unsure what other people’s expectations are for you, now is the time to ask and set the boundaries that fit.

Once those times are filled in, it is time to do some intentional breathing and take time in free flow, meditative writing or journaling to see if there is anything deserving space that has not yet appeared in your plan.

Journal or Free Flow Write to Double Check” and Allow the Unspoken within You Speak

Here’s a reality we often deny or pretend away: within our busy minds racing to get things done, we ignore the wisest part of ourselves. The quiet whispers, the tugs on our intuition, the nudges that are encouraging you to go in a possible different direction.

As you consider the blocks of time filled with appointments, daily basic care activities (hygiene, meal prep, spiritual practice, exercise), tasks and to-do’s, take a moment to journal or free flow write using this question and the sentence starter to tune into those most important aspects of your plan you may have not paid any attention to (yet.)

Revise your plan: It is a leaping off point, not a concrete wall.

One of the ways people resist planning or decide not to plan is based in perfectionism or “all or nothing” thinking. Can you relate to either of those?

Starting Next Week: Suggestions, Coaching & Response to Your Questions

Do you have any questions about how to plan, best practices for planning, planning mindsets or advice around planning? I will incorporate these in upcoming blog posts.

Please comment below or send me an email at juliejordanscott at gmail.comVideo Exploring Trust (which may have kept you from planning in the past.)

Optional Video Exploration/Writing Exercise on TRUST

A blast from the past (2017) a prompt for you to write with – videos will be shared at the end of each blog and are optional for you to use (or not) as a means for you to be inspired to write more or differently or better. This particular theme of TRUST is essential to grow as a writers and leaders.

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 is working on finishing her most recent book project, hugging trees daily and enjoys having random inspirational conversations with strangers.

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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Let’s Get Creative: Write, Journal, Doodle, Jot about Freedom

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This is the weekend we are celebrating freedom in the United States. To ignore our country’s current struggles on this holiday working feels unauthentic – so instead, I invite you to consider how you recognize freedom in your everyday life before making something inspired by freedom.

Use creativity to explore how you have or would like to experience freedom

Open a new document or get our your journal and begin with the sentence starters in the image. Write for at least five minutes freely, stream-of-consciousness style. You may want to get your juices flowing by beginning with a comment below before you leave.

  • Freedom feels like
  • Freedom is….
  • Freedom tastes like
  • Freedom looks like
  • I know freedom when….
  • I am grateful for freedom because…
  • I would describe freedom to an alien by saying….
  • Freedom sounds like
  • Freedom smells like

To further spark your writing and creativity

To further spark your writing, watch this video and use it as a prompt in addition or instead of the freedom prompt.

Please begin your response to the prompts that are offered here in the comments. I would love to hear from you!

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 is working on finishing her most recent book project, hugging trees daily and enjoys having random inspirational conversations with strangers.

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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July: 2022 Begin Again”The Best is Yet to Be”

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I am a relentless optimist, usually. Today as we begin a new month, I am reclaiming my Optimistic Hat as will many of us in the community of bloggers in the Ultimate Blog Challenge.

Ultimate Blog Challenge banner for Fridays which will be recaps and refreshers. Today is all about goals: being and doing goals, intentions and writing goals.

Recap: The Year that Wasn’t

I had some ambitious yet also not too outrageous goals when 2022 started.

Unfortunately, my brother’s death with less than two weeks left to go in 2021 helped start everything off in a rather dark way. Two family deaths in a short time was nearly unbearable.

I didn’t factor in grief as well as the health failures of another family member in which were healing after I left California in February and came to a climax in March – when I returned for three weeks and then in May, when I returned for final stages of that healing only to find his health had slidden beyond the place where it had started getting bad.

It had become a crisis so I had to give up my sabbatical on the east coast for a time not just for standard caregiving but for crisis caregiving. 

Somehow the past me knew I would be best off by setting goals differently this year.

Refresh Intention: Goals of Being + Goals of Doing

CS Lewis Quote: There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind." Relax about the year so far and settle into what is next.

Goals of Being are more like the Miss Congeniality winner intentions and goals: engaging, kind but not threatening – more like the one who builds up others confidence rather than setting the bar too high for the average person.

Goals and intentions of doing focus on accomplishments, achievements, tangible, measurable tasks and the like.

I revisited my goals for the year and was thrilled when I realized my crowning glory was in the goals and intentions of being. Here are some examples:

I am consistently 

  • Enjoy the process, whatever the process becomes
  • Be present to what is rather than what was or what is to be in the future.
  • Create small, daily goals and move forward with love toward a desired result
  • Practice clear, soulful communication
  • Do a daily self-belonging check in as a part of my work-prep session (since I have been caregiving and not business building, my work is showing tender loving care to my family member and others providing health care and service to my family member.
  • Playful experimentation and practicing passionate detachment about the results: I continue to write and do writing and creative experiments even while not working on building my business. This is as close to “doing” as these goals are!

Looking into July, I will be returning to my original 2022 goals and updating them on my Friday weekly recap posts here. My hope is I encourage you as well to look at your own goals and intentions as I do – with authenticity, courage and hope.

Caregiving, Grieving and the Creative Life

My professional life work includes creative life coaching, facilitating personal growth programs, classes, courses and workshops. My caregiving life this year has included several members of my family. Health, Grief, Aging, Support.

It is very difficult to schedule classes, clients, speaking engagements and live streams or set goals and intentions around this while grieving or caring for loved ones. I can barely schedule one hour ahead, much less a few weeks or months ahead.

Since April 2021 I have both grieved and taken care of others, simultaneously.

During these months I have continued to be active creatively: I’ve written a short play (it was produced in May and I was able to see it while I was in Bakersfield), I have been in a play in a new community. I have written many blog posts, poetry, completed a 377 daily challenge and while in New Jersey my primary task was working on the completion of several book projects while rebuilding my business. I have participated in other blog challenges and I hope to complete this one.

Since mid-May until now, in early July, the caregiving has taken over all other activities except for writing and creative practices in the early morning moments and late night moments. Most of the time, that is.

I don’t know if I could even attempt the Ultimate Blog Challenge without this continued attention to creativity. I am so grateful for the people who will visit in July and comment, share my work and get to know me better or get reacquainted. 

I’m grateful to celebrate with you in all your best hopes, goals and intentions.

I have come to value friendships on an even higher plane since my father died and the many tumultuous chapters since then. You may have helped me and didn’t even know it. For this and other things, I am grateful you are here, reading.

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 is working on finishing her most recent book project, hugging trees daily and enjoys having random inspirational conversations with strangers.

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Make Space for Hopes, Goals, Dreams & Passion in Your Calendar

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I know what it is to be a busy, creative entrepreneur with a family, a business and outside commitments that keep me busy. Sometimes it is a challenge to ask ourselves straight up questions like:

What items on my calendar reflect how I honor my hopes, dreams, goals and passions?

Because I know how important it is for each of us, I am going to go through the process myself. Warning: I get very vulnerable and honest. You may or may not feel comfortable doing the same AND that is completely fine. The best place to start is where you are right now.

Through this exercise I learned I needed to start on the edge of where I am right now.

I recently moved 3,000 miles from home partially because my calendar had been prioritized almost exclusively on making life work better for other people.

Assess What Went Wrong with Authenticity and Honesty

When I look back, I can say “I don’t know how this happened!” or I can be honest and see the slow moving tilting into “other people’s things matter more than mine” and “people seem to love me more when I do things for them at the expense of moving my projects forward.”

If only I had started looking at my calendar according to me hopes, dreams, goals and passions I might have been able to stop the downward spiral before making such a drastic move.

Maybe I could have made this move because it feels good instead of because I was too afraid to even begin to put it into words what was happening.

Maybe if I stopped worrying about what I should be doing and instead took a more balanced approach between what would best serve my goals and ambitions and what would serve the ambitions of my children, my partner and my collaborative partners – there would have been breathing room left for me to work on the callings of my heart.

Step Back So The Reality is More Clear

Now that I have stepped back, I can see the genesis of this schism started due to trauma layered upon trauma layered upon trauma without taking time to heal, stretch or process in between the traumatic events.

I went to therapy intermittently, but I didn’t ever go deep enough or out far enough beyond the traumatic episode to make peace and completely integrate the trauma.

There was always a sense of one of these:

  • “Hurry up! There isn’t enough time!”
  • “People need me, I am only valued as far as I am needed so I better make myself indispensable now!”
  • “Be prepared for the next crisis!” Any ringing phone in the middle of the day meant there was a crisis at school which would require my instant intervention. I can’t work normal hours, I can’t take in many clients again after what happened that last time and an escalating sense of … I can’t…I can’t…. I can’t….

Even while reading this short blog-post-in-progress I think “I can fictionalize this me character so no one knows.”

Remember the most important Life Coaching Questions?

When I work with clients, some of the most common clients I ask them are also questions I am best off asking myself, too.

What am I afraid of?

Will you please take a deep breath with me? (and then repeat the question).

What am I afraid of?

Another deep breath.

What will it take to calm the memories of trauma right now?

One more deep breath – 

I am safe now. I have plenty of time to do what I need to do. I am loved.

If these questions ring a bell for you, please use them as journaling prompts so that we can get back to the core of the initial question:

What items on the calendar reflect how you honor your hopes, dreams, goals and passions?

Here are examples of how I responded to these questions, unedited and raw:

What am I afraid of:

I am afraid people won’t like, value or believe in me as a creative life coach if they see how fragile I can be at times of personal stress. In reality, there may be people who won’t value or believe in me as a life coach -and those are not people suited to me or my coaching practice, programs or courses.

What will it take to calm the memories of trauma right now?

In this circumstance I wrote this blog post, even though vulnerable.

I affirmed in writing and meditatively “I am safe. I reminded myself the memory is not what is right now. There is plenty of time to do all I need to do. Plus I am capable of making adjustments as necessary. I am safe.”

I reminded and practiced: I can always take calm, slow breaths. I can practice square-breathing. I can practice alternate nostril breath.

Return to the Real Work Once the Space has Been Held and Cleared for Movement Forward

Now I can clearly assess my calendar to see how I have done to create pockets of time for what is important to me. 

  • Have I scheduled time to develop my most important projects, ones that will help me reach my financial and professional goals?
  • Have I scheduled time for my passion projects?
  • Have I scheduled time for self-care?

Immediately I feel better.

CS Lewis wisely wrote, “”You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending.” Your calendar may be out of balance right now, but paying attention will allow you to take action towards better solutions that may begin right away.

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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Top 7 Writing Micro-Goals for Creative Entrepreneurs

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I’ve seen this happen with more of my coaching, healing arts and creative entrepreneur clients than I can count – and I have even done it myself. We plunk down at our desks at our designated writing times and absolutely nothing happens.

Here’s the thing: creating a small, micro-goal specifically aimed to help you with consistent content creation is deceptively simple. Try one of these on for a week. If it doesn’t appeal, try a different one for seven days. Repeat as necessary.

My secret success is from having one solid “writing not for content but for exercising the writing muscle” practice, for me it is a daily stream of conscious journaling in the morning, and then have a second micro goal I mix up and serve differently, like a writing buffet.

Watch the video here and read below for more details for each tip.

  1. My newest accidental micro-goal is a daily #RollOverandWrite. That’s it. Wake up, roll over and pick up the notebook you placed at your bedside before you went to sleep and write a few sentences.
  1. Write an affirmative intention daily in the morning. “I am capable of writing effective blog posts.” “People enjoy what I write.” “My sales letter is both effective and engaging.”
  1. Exercise for 20 minutes and write immediately after. Set up your writing space before you go for your walk, job or attend your zumba class. If you work out someplace besides your home, bring a notebook with you and write in your car or at the gym or at a picnic table in the park. Your subconscious is watching to see how important your writing is to you by the consistent time you give it.
  1. Journal/free write for a set amount of time or set number of words/pages each day. You may write as few as 250 words (approximately one page) or for three minutes. The amount of writing matters less than simply flowing with your writing rather than attempting to mold it or edit as you go along. That comes later – and believe me, if you can get the words on the page to begin with, editing will come easily.
  1. To practice writing concisely and with the most writing “bang for your buck” write a daily haiku, six word story or American Sentence poem. Any of this “very micro writing” will help you be use your best words. It will help you write compelling copy and/or characters with a more curated conversational style than you may usually write. It will teach you to cut out unnecessary words that often bog down our readers.
  1. Write a 5 item gratitude list before you go to sleep. You may also make a list of “What went well today” or “5 Good Things that happened today” list. Thesetrain your brain to focus on what is constructive and helpful in your life. A bonus is the subject of each item on the list may easily become a blog post, a social media post or a chapter in a book or poem.
  1. Use a timer to write 5 minutes a day for 5 consecutive days, #5for5BrainDump style. You may try unprompted or prompted writing. In the Let Our Words Flow Creative Community we have prompts and videos to guide you as you practice this – plus it is free to join the group which also has a thriving community, lots of tips, video teachings and daily discussion for creative entrepreneurs.

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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