Spirit Crumbs

𝗟𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 𝗖𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗟𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘚𝘢𝘳𝘢 𝘙𝘢𝘦  This week's episode is a conversation with Sara Rae, an author, podcaster and healer who lives a creative and spiritually inspired life. Our conversation is rooted in The Artist's Way and how we both have incorporated some of the practices and philosophies in ways that work for us.  Sara shares how she makes time for her creative passions such as painting and writing in her busy life! I am so inspired by her dedication to living a fulfilling life. Sara also shares some of her spiritual rituals and philosophies on how to find more creativity in everyday life. If you are someone who says you aren't creative or you don't have time for fun, this is the episode for you! 𝗢𝘂𝗿 𝗚𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁 Sara Rae is an author, podcaster, and healer who is on a mission to help all modern mystics incorporate their unique brand of spirituality into their daily lives. She does tarot readings, teaches meditation, and performs crystal healing and reiki sessions. You can find all her books, blog posts, videos, products, classes, sessions, and more at spirituallyinspired.co Follow her on Instagram @spirit_inspo

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗿𝘁𝗶𝘀𝘁'𝘀 𝗪𝗮𝘆: 𝗪𝗲𝗲𝗸 𝟭𝟮 𝘙𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘚𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘍𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘩 Week 12 is about trust, mystery, imagination at play and escape velocity. This ended up being a very emotional episode for me which I wasn’t expecting. I didn’t even record the tasks, but I think the reflections that came up are enough to offer some things to journal about and take action on.  Trusting is the first section of this week. We need to be able to surrender to the universe if we want to invite creativity into our lives. We try so hard to hold on to control and that only closes us off to new possibilities. The next topic, mystery, tells us that we need to be okay with the dark and silent times when we are waiting for the spark of light to emerge. Without the darkness, we wouldn’t be able to experience the light turning on. Again, we return to the topic of play in this chapter. Julia Cameron reminds us that creating without any financial or productivity benefit is essential for a joyful life. We don’t give enough credit to the importance and creativity hiding in our hobbies and entertainment interests.  The last section, escape velocity, talks about the self sabotage that occurs right before we are about to take off. It’s compared to when a partner can sense when you are about to leave them. Your ego can sense when you are about to escape your comfort zone. Thank you for coming along on this journey with me. It has been very healing for me to move through these lessons again with a new level of perspective.  As I mentioned in the episode, please let me know what your favourite episode is by sharing, commenting, emailing or DMing me! I’ll be creating a special anniversary episode and I would LOVE your feedback! 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘪𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘵'𝘴 𝘞𝘢𝘺?

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗿𝘁𝗶𝘀𝘁'𝘀 𝗪𝗮𝘆: 𝗪𝗲𝗲𝗸 𝟭𝟭 𝘙𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘚𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘈𝘶𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘮𝘺 This episode is about week 11/12 in the course and book The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity by Julia Cameron.  Week 11 is about acceptance, success, movement and ritual. I really enjoy the section on acceptance because it has a really genuine reflection of self-acceptance. Being honest about who we are opens the door to realizing who we are as an artist. I am messy and clean up in fast bursts when I have time to relax. I’ve always been like this and it’s exactly who I am as an artist! Piles and materials everywhere until I am ready to move onto something else and I miraculously clean up a month’s worth of messes in an hour.  Self-respect can also be increased from just showing up and doing the work. The more we create and stick to our commitments, the more we feel like an artist and a person we can respect. This makes us more likely to take on bigger projects and less likely to be swayed by external judgements or criticism.  This connects to the discussion on success because she says that we really cannot measure success by the market value of our work. There is no guarantee as an artist, so success must be from within, by creating work that moves through us from inspiration. At least if a particular piece doesn’t bring in the dollar amount we had in mind, we can feel like we made something to be proud of no matter what. If we create based on what is selling and the financial return doesn’t reflect our expectations, we won’t feel that it was successful at all.  The section on exercise and movement as meditation really resonates with me. I go for regular walks and receive downloads by pacing in my apartment, showering or doing the dishes. Allowing energy to move through us is a spiritual practice that improves our clarity and openness to inspiration and downloads. It also keeps us grounded in our bodies which reminds us to pay attention to our human self. Balance is something that has come up a lot in messages for me, so my walking practice has really helped! Having a space in your home that is an artist altar can remind you who your inner artist is and make rituals more prominent in your life. I know that I feel like my whole life is connected because I prioritize movement and ritual. The tasks for Week 1𝟭 were: Voice record yourself reading the basic principles from this book, or any passage that inspires you. Write out the Artist’s Prayer or a favourite passage by hand. Buy a creativity notebook. Label pages 1-7 health, possessions, leisure, relationships, creativity, career, spirituality and write 10 wishes for each! Review your Honest Changes section from Week 4 and assess how far you’ve come. List 5 ways you’ll change as you continue. List 5 ways you will nurture yourself in the next 6 months (courses, supplies, vacations) Plan one loving action or nurturing activity for each of the next 7 days! Write and MAIL an encouraging letter to your inner artist.  Re-examine your God/Source concept. Does your current belief limit or support your creative expansion? Are you open to changing your beliefs? List 10 synchronicities that support the possibility of a nurturing creator. 𝘓𝘦𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘫𝘰𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨!

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗿𝘁𝗶𝘀𝘁'𝘀 𝗪𝗮𝘆: 𝗪𝗲𝗲𝗸 𝟭𝟬 𝘙𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘚𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘚𝘦𝘭𝘧-𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 This episode is about week 10/12 in the course and book The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity by Julia Cameron.  Week 10 is all about identifying what addictions we use to block our creativity and growth. This can be food, alcohol, drugs, sex, work or anything else that you use to protect yourself from the discomfort in the possibility of success and creative action. We all have one particular vice that we would have a hard time giving up. For me, as a Capricorn and overachiever, it's definitely workaholism which is discussed in the episode. When we remove the blocks, we have to look at our real emotions and fears that are hiding in the shadows. Our ego tries to protect us from the unknown by making our blocks more comfortable and familiar than growth. We have to learn that sitting with the emotions and choosing to find the joy in creating are ways that we can make ourselves feel safe in the process. Even when there aren't any ideas coming, we can still come back to our morning pages and express the feelings that are coming up.   Your artistic work is the most important part of the process. This is important to remember when we are tempted by comparison, competition and fame. Social media makes it difficult to focus on what makes us unique but we need to remember that what others do can serve as inspiration to show us possibilities! The tasks for Week 10 were: 1. The Deadlies: On 7 strips of paper, write: sex, money, alcohol, drugs, work, food, family/friends. Draw a paper 7 times and write 5 negative impacts that subject has had. Put the strip back in each time, making it possible to need to go deeper into some topics. 2. Touchstones: Make a list of things that are comforting to you such as baked bread, smooth stones, chipmunks, coffee etc. 3. The Awful Truth: Answer the following questions honestly: - What habit gets in the way of your creativity? - What do you think might be a problem? How will you solve it? - What is your payoff? - What friends make you doubt yourself? - What friends believe in you and your talent? - What is the payoff for spending time with destructive friends? - What do you have in common with the destructive and constructive friends? 4. Setting Bottom Line: For workaholism, create self boundaries around what you determine to be "overwork" when looking at your schedule.  5. Cherishing: List 5 small victories; 3 nurturing actions for your inner artist; make 3 nice promises to yourself and keep them; do one lovely thing for yourself each day this week! 𝘓𝘦𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘫𝘰𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨!

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗿𝘁𝗶𝘀𝘁'𝘀 𝗪𝗮𝘆: 𝗪𝗲𝗲𝗸 𝟵 𝘙𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘚𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 This episode is about week 9/12 in the course and book The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity by Julia Cameron.  My artist date this week was creating my manifestation list! I started this episode by reading the Foreword from Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy by Sarah Ban Breathnach. She describes how this book about creativity, spirituality and authenticity showed up as she wrote every day to find her Real Life. This is sooo aligned with The Artist's Way and I couldn't believe that a Spirit Crumb brought me to finally take that book off the shelf for the first time since I got it!  Week 9 is all about finding compassion for ourselves in the process of recovering our creativity. Taking away the rigidity and disappointment in ourselves that comes along with creativity can help us to see that failure and self sabotage are part of the process. Through fear, enthusiasm and Creative U-turns (self sabotage), we talk about how to reframe some beliefs that may be contributing to negative self talk and the inability to start. An Exercise By looking at our fears and past creative u-turns, we can identify what patterns are showing up and keeping us blocked in a new project! - What fear (resistance) is coming up? - What resentment (anger) is surfacing? - What do you gain from not doing this project? - Write your agreement with the Universe: You take care of the quality, I'll take care of the quantity" I would love for you to share on the podcast your experiences with this series and how creativity and spirituality have been shifting your life and perspective. Reach out if you'd like to be featured in an episode! The tasks for Week 9 were: 1. Read your morning pages. What have you been complaining about? What insights are helpful? Feel proud that you've done the work and don't judge what is on the page. 2. Visualizing. Put yourself in the present tense with your dream or goal. Read it out loud. Put photos of yourself in your dream collage to make it feel more accessible. 3. Creative Goals. List your creative goals for the year, month and week. 4. Creative U-turns. List any you can remember from the past and focus on the one you're still kicking yourself for! Forgive yourself and consider if any of them can be completed or taken in a different direction.  5. Artist Symbol: Choose something you have a fondness for - stuffed animal, figurine - and give it a place of honour where you can see it. When you are being hard on yourself, look at it and talk to yourself like you would talk to that sweet object. 𝘓𝘦𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘫𝘰𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨!

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗿𝘁𝗶𝘀𝘁'𝘀 𝗪𝗮𝘆: 𝗪𝗲𝗲𝗸 𝟴 𝘙𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘚𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘚𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘵𝘩 This episode is about week 8/12 in the course and book The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity by Julia Cameron.  My artist date this week was playing on Affinity Designer to try digital drawing with a stylus on my laptop! Week 8 is my favourite of the chapters and thus, probably the longest episode. The main themes in this chapter survival, criticism, turning losses into gains, time, process and taking action. I truly believe that the strength I've built is from turning criticism into improvements and from turning hard times into opportunities to learn about my own resiliency. I am also pretty good at taking action towards the goals I have and following the spirit crumbs of course!  Strength can also come from sharing our losses and failures vulnerably and connecting with others. That is something I've focused on in the past year and has really shifted my perspective as my life has completely come apart and back together. Time will pass whether we take the steps to make our lives what we want them to be or not. One year from today, I will be an even better version of myself living in alignment with beliefs I'm not even aware of yet! I would love for you to share on the podcast your experiences with this series and how creativity and spirituality have been shifting your life and perspective. The tasks for Week 8 were: - Goal Search:   1. Name your dream   2. True North: How will you know you've accomplished it?   3. Where would you like to be in five years?   4. What action can you take this year?   5. What action can you take this month/week/today?   6. List your dream, true north, role model, action plan       (5 years, 3 years, 1 year, 1 month, 1 week, NOW) - New Childhood: Describe how your ideal childhood would have looked. How can you reparent yourself in this way? - Colour Schemes: Choose a colour and describe the colour in the first person as that colour. What is your favourite colour? Do you see it around you? - List 5 things you are not allowed to do. Put them on paper then dance them out - Ideal Day: List 20 things you like and for each one ask is it free, cheap or expensive? Alone or with someone? Job related? Physical risk? Fast-paced or slow? Mind, body or spiritual? Plan a perfect day in your dream life with the info from the list. Then choose one aspect to do today! 𝘓𝘦𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘫𝘰𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨!

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗿𝘁𝗶𝘀𝘁'𝘀 𝗪𝗮𝘆: 𝗪𝗲𝗲𝗸 𝟳 𝘙𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘚𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 This episode is about week 7/12 in the course and book The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity by Julia Cameron.  My artist date this week was choosing a selection of beers for my family from a local brewery that I pass on my longer walks. The main themes in this chapter are listening, perfectionism, risks and jealousy. These are all aspects of connecting deeper to our dreams and desires. By listening to our inner voice, we can receive the ideas and inspirations we need and allow them to move through us. Perfectionism is a loop that prevents us from moving forward and taking risks that could lead us to new discoveries. Our jealousy can also point us in the direction of what we would like to be doing and help us to recognize what we need to take action on. Paying close attention to the thoughts that come up from our ego can really guide our creative healing. The tasks for Week 7 were: - Create a visual of this mantra: Treating myself like a precious object will make me strong. - Listen to one half of an album just for joy - Go to a sacred space of your choosing (library, church, nature) - Create one wonderful smell in your house - Wear your favourite item of clothing for no special reason - Create a collage with pages you rip out in 20 minutes from 10 magazines - Quickly list 5 favourite films and find the common elements or themes - Name your favourite topics to read about and see if they are in your collage - Put your collage in a place of honour 𝘓𝘦𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘫𝘰𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨!

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗿𝘁𝗶𝘀𝘁'𝘀 𝗪𝗮𝘆: 𝗪𝗲𝗲𝗸 𝟲 𝘙𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘚𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘈𝘣𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 This episode is about week 6 of 12 in the course and book The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity by Julia Cameron.  My artist date this week was a long walk where I found a house with a community bulletin board and inspirational sayings.  This chapter talks about how creativity and abundance are connected, not mutually exclusive. You can be an artist AND be abundant! The more time we have for play and creative pursuits, the more freedom we feel and abundance follows.  Abundance comes in the form of time, space, love and joy as well as finances. Play is an important part of this journey. When we follow what lights us up, we will attract abundance into our lives. Start small with authentic luxuries like fresh fruit, ordering groceries and getting the softer toilet paper to feel abundant. Say yes to anything that is offered to you and practice receiving! Start keeping track of the money you spend and observe without judgement. Start with this to start examining your beliefs and habits around money. The exercises that I talked about for Week 6 are: Natural Abundance: Pick up 5 interesting rocks Image File: collect 5 flowers or leaves and consider pressing them Clearing: Find a worn out piece of clothing to get rid of Creation: Bake or cook something from scratch Clearing: Make some changes in your space Acceptance: Notice any changes to the flow of your life and start saying yes Prosperity: Any financial changes? Perspective shifts? Add to your image file if here is anything you'd spend your new abundance on. At any point in the remaining weeks, reach out if you would like to talk about your experience with this series on the podcast. I would LOVE to hear how it is impacting your life. You can remain anonymous or share what you’ve been working on - whichever you prefer :)   𝘓𝘦𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘫𝘰𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨!

𝗦𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗽𝗶𝗼 𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗱𝗼𝘄 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸 & 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝘆 𝗙𝗼𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁 I decided to record a bonus episode this week to share some of the themes that have been coming up for me and to do another oracle card forecast. I talked mostly about shadow work (not surprising if you listened to Episode 56 right before this!) and a bit about how I navigate it. My strategy for shadow work is to identify, process, integrate and heal. I am teaching a class on this in the Initiation Circle on the New Moon in Scorpio on Thursday, November 4. I will also be creating another course that will have open registration. I've opened up some time in my calendar for healing, oracle card readings and soul blend sessions in November. I also have a limited number of spots for podcast startups and support! I hope you enjoy the oracle card forecast in this episode from the Light Seers Tarot deck. Lots of forward moving energy! See you next week for The Artist's Way: Recovering a Sense of Abundance  𝙃𝙤𝙬 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙎𝙘𝙤𝙧𝙥𝙞𝙤 𝙨𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙤𝙣 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙝𝙖𝙙𝙤𝙬 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠?

𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗖𝗼𝘀𝗺𝗶𝗰 𝗖𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗡𝗮𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗲 𝗪𝗮𝗹𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗶𝗻 We are taking a little break from the Artist's Way between possibility and abundance to learn how to find our cosmic calling with Natalie Walstein. Her book Find Your Cosmic Calling: A Guide to Discovering Your Life's Work with Astrology is available for preorder now! In this episode, Natalie and I discuss the areas of an astrology birth chart that can be used to find your cosmic calling including your sun, moon & rising signs, your mercury, midheaven, north and south node. My chart was used as an example and her explanation was exactly how I feel about the calling from my soul! It definitely explains my cycles of chaos and transformation as well as why I am drawn to teach and lead. Even the shadow work I'm always talking about and teaching makes a lot of sense!   To find your own cosmic calling, preorder Natalie's book at the link below so we can share our discoveries! 𝗢𝘂𝗿 𝗚𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁 As a Career Astrologer at Soulshine Astrology, Natalie Walstein blends ancient astrological wisdom with modern, down-to-earth guidance to help creative souls and spiritual seekers discover their cosmic calling and align their life + career with the cosmos. You can find her on Instagram as @soulshineastrology or at her website soulshineastrology.com Pre-order your copy of Find Your Cosmic Calling: A Guide to Discovering Your Life's Work with Astrology at soulshineastrology.com/book Check out the Cosmic Calling Community at soulshineastrology.com/community