December 11, 2023 • 27 mins
Have you ever felt shackled by your own beliefs, unable to tap into your innate creativity? It's time to break those boundaries. This episode sheds light on my personal journey of unlocking creativity through an enlightening tool, the book 'The Artist's Way'. It was key to my transformation, helping me shatter limiting beliefs and delve deep into my creative capabilities.
This episode isn't just about my story; it's an invitation for you to explore your creative potential. Walk with me through 'The Artist's Way' and let's unlock the magic within.
Find your creativity with The Artists Way
About Nina
Nina is an author, artist, musician, Human Design Specialist, and podcast host of Receptive Impact. Open & curious to adventure and change, Nina Elise navigates the path of self-discovery, inviting you to explore the boundless opportunities that arise when we step out of our comfort zones.
Become a Supporter of the Show!
https://www.buzzsprout.com/2231695/support
*Affiliate links may be in podcast show notes. Nina may receive a commission if you make a purchase after clicking on one of these links.
Music intro/outro: "In the Forest" by Lesfm
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome to the Receptive Impact Podcast.
I'm your host, nina Elise.
Hello and welcome back to theReceptive Impact Podcast.
I am sitting here late in theafternoon on a Tuesday and I
have been having one of thoseentrepreneur days If anyone is
an entrepreneur, they know whatI'm talking about where you wake
(00:24):
up and you're like wait, whatam I supposed to work on today?
And you're just not feelingsuper motivated and you're kind
of just puttering around and youmight take a nap or you might
eat and just distract yourselfand you're not feeling super
creative.
And it's made me really reflectback on the days that I did
feel really creative and where Ifelt super in flow.
And this is what I really wantto dive into in this episode
(00:47):
today is creativity and, morespecifically, a tool or a book
that I have used.
I've actually gone through I'mon my second time around going
through this book and it'shelped me so much in tapping
into my own creativity.
And so my intention at thebeginning of 2023 was to be able
(01:09):
to play more and to tap moreinto my creativity.
And the reasoning behind thiswas because I felt like I had a
lot of limiting belief systemsabout how I viewed myself and
what I was capable of, and youknow, I grew up my mother's an
artist.
I have so many friends that arelike these incredible artists
and I'm just like how can theydo that?
(01:30):
How can they paint, how canthey draw, how can they create
all of these like funny,creative cartoons?
And it just has always blown mymind how it seems so natural
for them and I'm like, wow, Ipaint something and it looks
like a blob or I just I judgemyself for it and I'm like I
don't.
I don't really feel like I'mcreative, and that was a belief
(01:50):
system that I had about myselfand I really wanted to change
that, and so the way that Idecided to go about this was to
go through a book called theArtist's Way.
So if anyone is familiar withthis, it's basically a 12 week.
I don't want to call it acourse, it's a book, but it's
something that you go throughfor 12 weeks and every week is a
(02:12):
different chapter and there aredifferent journal prompts and
different things for you to readthat touch on different topics
about limiting beliefs aroundfinances and creativity and
abundance, and just things thatyou can look at within yourself
about.
Do I have grace for myself, doI have compassion towards myself
and why do I have these blocksto my creativity?
(02:35):
And so this book is soincredible for not just the
artist who has, or musician orwhatever who has has, some sort
of block at the moment, it'sliterally for anyone.
And I feel like every singleperson should read this at least
once in their lifetime becauseit is so incredibly eye-opening
(02:57):
and it takes you to like thedepths of your soul and helps
you look at all of these likeforgotten parts of yourself and
you get to dive into like whyyou view yourself the way that
you do or where your blocks maybe hidden, and it's just
incredibly enlightening.
And so I really want to go intothis book and how it's really
(03:19):
helped me and how I feel like ithas helped me open up more in
my own creativity and tap intothat and remove a lot of my own
belief systems.
And, like I said at thebeginning, I've actually I'm
going through the book twice.
I went through it earlier thisyear and I'm going through it a
second time, but I'm kind ofgoing at my own pace and doing
it in a different way.
(03:40):
But basically this is a 12-weekcourse and every morning you
get up before you do anythingelse and you write three pages
of just free handwriting.
And the book provides journalprompts, based on each chapter
and what the theme is for eachchapter, of what you're diving
into and what limiting beliefsmight be blocking you from your
(04:00):
creativity.
And it's something that, like,is best done in the morning
because your mind is fresh,you're not filling it with
anything yet, and so you do thisbefore you even look in your
phone.
And for anyone who's like, oh mygosh, I can't commit to writing
three pages every singlemorning, like there are mornings
I would get up and I only hadtime to write for like five or
(04:21):
10 or 15 minutes.
There are days where I haveliterally just sat there and
written for like two hours, andI'm not kidding when I say that,
because sometimes things comeup and you're just sitting there
in shock like, oh my gosh, Icannot believe that I have this
limiting belief about myself,and it just is constantly
blowing your mind and lifting upall of these veils that you had
(04:44):
that were preventing you fromtapping into this innate talent
and creativity within yourselfthat is so unique to you, and
this is why I am such a bigadvocate of this book, the
Artist's Way, because it is likealmost like the spiritual
experience of being able toconnect more deeply with
(05:06):
yourself and you get to be morehonest about who you are and
where you're at and youridentity and how that is in
relation to your creativity andyour career, and why you do
certain things and why you don'tdo other things, and it taps
into like the inner child youand you get to explore like, oh,
these are things I did when Iwas younger and these are things
(05:26):
that I really admire and otherpeople, and this is why I
support this type of person,because I could never do that
when, in reality, it's actuallythe suppressed artist inside of
you that can do it.
It just doesn't believe that itcan, and so it is like so mind
blowing and it's like theseshifts that happen over the
course of the 12 weeks thatreally open your eyes up to
(05:49):
different ways of living andcreating and just being, and so
this was something that I wassuper excited to dive into, that
I really, really committed to,and when I say, wake up every
single morning and do it likethis is the first thing you do
in the morning.
If anyone knows me, you knowthat I definitely played around
with this and experimented with,like what if I didn't do this
(06:09):
in the morning?
I tried to do this at night andit's similar in the sense that
like, yeah, you can write andyou can go deep, but it's just
not as fresh as if you were todo it in the morning.
I just found that I was morelikely to do it when I first got
up in the morning and I wasmore motivated to do it then.
I definitely do this type ofwriting if I'm feeling blocked
(06:30):
or stuck or I have like somesort of emotional wave that I'm
not able to process or I'mfeeling like, oh, this is coming
up for me but I don't reallyknow what it means, and then I
just start writing it out, and Ijust write it all out and it's
just like the answer justappears to me and it's so
incredibly magical.
Just to kind of give you guys alittle bit of a background,
like I said, I never really sawmyself as this creative person
(06:54):
and I know people have told melike, oh, you're so creative,
nina, and I feel like that'ssomething that I have really
tapped into, more so this yearbecause I just started doing
things.
I just started doing things andI removed the judgment from
them, and partially that isbecause I'm just a very
tenacious person.
I'm very determined.
If I set my mind to dosomething, I'm going to do it.
(07:15):
But the artist's way was thisguidebook that really prompted
me to say, ok, like what issomething new you're going to do
today?
Ok, go buy some paint brushes,go paint, go do this.
And so it really prompted me togo out and try different things
or do different things that Iwas like scared to do, because I
was like, oh well, this is awaste of my time, this is a
waste of my money because I'mgoing to paint something and
(07:37):
it's going to look stupid andwhat am I going to do with this?
So there were a lot of doubtsand fears and was very cynical
towards a lot of what waspresented in the book.
But I did it anyways and I wasjust so incredibly pleasantly
surprised by what came out of meand the way that I painted and
the way that I was able to dobranding, like I did my own
(08:00):
branding for my website with myhuman design business, and just
feeling like, wow, this is socool, like I actually have
access to this and I was theonly one that was blocking there
, and so there were just so manylimiting beliefs that I wasn't
aware of, and I think a largepart of that is I was just
comparing myself to everyone andbeing like, well, they're a
natural, or they went to schoolfor this and yeah, maybe they
(08:23):
did and they have the technicalskill of it.
But, quite honestly, the morethat I really tap into
creativity and I say that notjust from like, oh, as an artist
painting or drawing, I'm sayingas a musician, when I'm writing
my songs on my guitar and I'msinging, and when I'm creating
things for my human designclients, for new courses or new
(08:47):
meditations or anything likethat like there's creativity
that's in everything that I'mdoing and it's showing me that
sometimes I actually I would saymost of the time it's so much
more refreshing to actually nothave that technical background,
because you come at whateveryou're creating with this pure
(09:08):
innocence that's not tainted byoh, this is how it needs to be
done, or this is the exact wayit needs to be done, and you're
coming from a place of purityand a pure creativity and I'm
finding that that is actuallylike so much more beautiful.
Sometimes when you really lookat it from that perspective,
it's much more unique.
Instead of trying to be like,oh, I'm going to play the guitar
with this technique, it's like,oh, I'm just allowing what's
(09:31):
coming up to come up and I'mgoing to do something that's
different, and I don't evenrealize that it's different.
And so that's what I reallylove about the for anyone who is
exploring their creativity,because I feel like there's so
much uniqueness that can bebirthed into the world when
someone is approaching it as,like a newbie or someone who is
(09:53):
fresh, that hasn't beenconditioned by these rules or
the technicalities of how to dothings, and so that's something
that I kind of learned, likenear the tail end of like going
through this course with theartist way, and it actually
removed a lot of pressure for meto go and try new and different
things.
So this book like really taughtme that I can actually listen
(10:17):
and trust my thoughts and theseideas that are popping into my
mind, and I've always been likea very visual person.
Like sometimes I'll just getthese visuals that just pop into
my mind about an idea and Idon't necessarily do anything
with it, but I've always kind ofwritten it off and I'm like, oh
, what do I do with this?
Or it'll take too much energyto try to create this or
whatever.
But after going through thiscourse, I'm learning that this
(10:38):
is actually a really strong giftfor me to have these visuals in
my mind, and that these areactually downloads coming from a
source, or God, or the creativefield, or the quantum field or
whatever you want to call it.
And it's up to me if I want todo something with them or not.
And I think that's reallyincredible because when I look
(10:58):
at it from that perspective, I'mlike I can actually create so
much stuff.
I can actually be tapped into,you know, these ideas and these
thoughts and actually dosomething with them.
And Going through this course ithelped strengthen that
confidence and that belief inmyself of like, wow, this might
actually be something of value.
And what if I played with this?
And yeah, I might like quoteunquote fail or do something
(11:19):
that looks stupid or likedoesn't look like anything else,
but that is just the part oflearning anything or doing
anything.
So I think that's just atypical process, and if you can
get past that and let go of thejudgments of all of that, then
you'll actually be creating somepretty incredible things, even
if that voice in the back ofyour head is like this is so
(11:40):
weird, like who does this?
But most often, it is yourweirdness and your uniqueness
that the world just adores andloves.
And so this book reallyencourages you to try different
things, and that's what I reallyloved about it, because they're
like, again, things that youdon't really think about, like
cooking or painting or drawing,or even putting together a
(12:02):
social media post or a video orwriting poetry, and I think this
is what I think a lot of peopleget caught up on.
They're like oh, I createsomething and I need to share it
.
Like there are so many thingsthat I have created that I have
not shared with anyone and Iwill most likely never share
with anyone, because they'restupid or they're ugly or
they're actually really amazing,but they feel really sacred and
(12:25):
personal to me, and so I don'tfeel the need to share those
thoughts or I don't feel theneed to share that art, but
again, it's more of like goinginto and being willing to create
those things and allowing whatis coming up to come up, because
everyone has access to this,and it was something that I was
seeing so many people like be socreative, and I'm like how is
(12:47):
that fair that they can haveconstant access to this?
And, honestly, it wasn't untilI did a three day Vipassana
where I spent three days insilence, and after I did that it
was almost like the floodgatesopened even more for me and I
just had these massive downloadsabout oh my gosh, I have access
to my creativity, to thisinfinite field at any time.
(13:11):
And it's just my resistance toit and my lack of belief that I
actually have access to it andit's this old belief system of
me wanting to stay safe andwanting to stay in this
comfortable place of not tappinginto that creativity because
there's a fear of my identitychanging or something shifting
or changing if I actually act onthese creative urges and I
(13:32):
actually do something with them.
Like, I was able to explore alot of these limiting beliefs
that were coming up, especiallywhen I was in that three day
Vipassana, so that by the time Icame out of that, it was just
like wow, there was such a clearchannel for me and it became so
clear to me that, like wow,everyone really, really does
have access to their creativityat all times.
(13:52):
So once you get past thesetraumas and these old belief
systems and these learningbelief systems and blocks that
you have towards creativity oryou know within yourself, and
then once you start to clear outthe clutter of consuming
content and it doesn't matter ifyou're listening to a podcast
or a book and you're like, well,I'm learning and whatever,
that's still something that'sexternal and outside of you,
(14:12):
that's preventing you fromconnecting to yourself and
tapping into your own creativity.
So I would say like stillnessis so, so huge for being able to
tap into your creativity andgetting still and getting quiet,
because if you have all thisexternal, outside noise, you're
never going to be able to tapinto and hear what is going on
inside of you.
(14:32):
That was something that, goingthrough the artist's way, really
, really helped.
And there's something that I'vebeen doing, actually, that has
been really helpful in likeclearing belief systems and
things like that.
So like as I write in themorning and say like something
comes up and I say I'm goingthrough the chapter on abundance
and saying like, oh, what aremy actual belief systems towards
(14:53):
money or prosperity, or, youknow, being able to receive
things, and as I'm like freewriting all of this.
It's kind of like it gives youa prompt in the book and then
you write it out right awaywithout actually really thinking
about it too much.
And then you go back and readit and you're like, oh my gosh,
wow, I have these like reallynegative or like lower
vibrational thoughts or beliefsystems surrounding prosperity
(15:15):
or pleasure or receiving, andit's really mind blowing to look
at it from that perspective.
And so when you go through allof that, it basically shows you
a map that gives you thiscontrast of like wow, this isn't
where I want to be.
So it provides that contrast oflike okay, I had these
unconscious belief system that Iwasn't aware of, but now I'm
aware of them, so what am Igoing to do with this?
(15:35):
And what I really love about theartist's way is when you
journal in the morning and youwrite down all of these things,
at the end you can go back andskim through what you wrote and
then you write basically theopposite of whatever, like
negative things that you wrote.
So, for example, like there aremornings where I've been in an
emotional low and I'm justsitting there and I'm like, wow,
(15:56):
like I suck and I failed atthis and I failed at this in the
past and I screwed everythingup and like I hate myself and
I'm like so angry that I didthis and I hurt this person and
I will always feel regret aboutthis.
And there's so much shame aboutthis and, like you know, just
like some of those days whereyou just dump everything and
you're like this is so terrible,but you just get it out and
then after that, the exercisewith the artist's way is to
(16:19):
write affirmations thatcounteract that.
So basically, there's thisrewiring that's happening in
here.
So there's a very psychologicalcomponent to doing this.
It's like you're becoming awareof these subconscious belief
systems.
So they're out in the open andyou know about them, and so,
instead of continuing to livefrom that place, you can begin
to start to turn the tides intosomething more positive.
(16:40):
So it provides that contrast oflike, instead of sitting there
in that unconscious, it'sconscious and now you can shift
it to something that you do want.
For example, if I said like oh,I failed at this and like I suck
, or whatever, I would write outmy affirmation as like I am
constantly learning and it issafe and okay for me to do
(17:02):
things that aren't 100% correct,because I'm learning and
growing, or I give myself graceand compassion as I am learning
and growing.
So you're kind of just puttinga spin on that and you are
giving yourself grace for whatour mind would attach to like
something as failing and sayingno, I'm actually not failing,
(17:24):
this is something that I'velearned from, and I'm going to
give myself grace for this, andthen I'm going to move forward
with the lessons, and so you cankind of reframe all of these
things and rewrite them indifferent ways, and the book
gives you different prompts aswell that will help guide you
with all of that.
And so this has been incrediblyhelpful, not just for that.
(17:44):
But I've actually added alittle bit of my own twist to
this.
Like when a lot of myunconscious belief systems are
coming up to the surface and I'mwriting about them, I'll finish
writing and I'll do myaffirmations and then, based on
that, I will do EFT tapping.
So, for example, like a beliefsystem will come up and I'll be
like, oh my gosh, I have thisreally intense fear of rejection
(18:06):
or abandonment or fear of beingseen, and I will do EFT tapping
on it.
Normally I do it on my own If Iwant a little support.
I'll just go onto YouTube andlook for a tapping video that I
can do alongside of that, butsince it's so unique to like
what I'm journaling about, Iwill just do it in that moment,
and so for me, that's like ahuge component of becoming aware
(18:28):
of the unconscious belief andthen rewiring it even more in
that moment as it is coming up,and so there are a lot of
different ways that you can workwith this from, like a
subconscious and a beliefperspective, and it has just
completely catapulted me and mycreativity and the way that I
approach things in the way thatlike my own self inner dialogue
(18:50):
about creativity and the waythat I do things.
And so, for example, this yearI created oh my gosh, I don't
even know how many new videosfor my YouTube channel, and it
was like I had so many ideas andit was less about like, oh,
this is going to suck, and itwas more like no, I actually
deeply value myself now becauseI looked at those limiting
belief systems that I hadsurrounding self value and self
(19:13):
worth, and I'm going after anddoing things anyways, even
though I have these conflictingthoughts or belief systems, and
so it's been incrediblyempowering for me to tap into
that, and so this is somethingthat has really pushed me.
The artist way has reallypushed me to really get out of
my comfort zone and to do thingsdifferently and to look at
(19:35):
creativity in a much differentlight.
Because, again, it's not justlike, oh, I'm a singer,
songwriter and I'm a painter, orwhatever.
Like no creativity is like canbe infused in everything, like
it can be in dancing and like,even when I took my improv class
this year, if you want to takean acting class, or if you want
to write a book, or you want towrite poetry, or just like even
(19:58):
cooking or baking, somethinglike you're infusing your
creativity into whatever it isthat you are making.
And it could be even as simpleas like gardening and how you're
arranging your garden and thetypes of flowers that you're
putting in there, or even if youbuy a bunch of flowers and how
you arrange them in the pot,like there are so many different
ways that you can be creative.
(20:19):
And we don't look at it fromthat perspective and we're just
like oh, you know, we kind ofdownplay it and we're like oh,
no, this is just something thatI like and it's like well,
that's where your creativitystems from.
It stems from those thoughtsabout creating something
beautiful or creating somethingdifferent or unique that comes
just from you.
And so I really again just wantto hammer in how incredible the
(20:42):
artist way has been for me andhow I actually have a bunch of
friends that have actually gonethrough this quite a few times
that I wasn't even aware of andit has, like, changed their
lives completely.
And I'm still continuing to gothrough this, and this is
something that I will do forever, especially when I'm having
blocks, because, honestly, likeit's one of those things where
(21:04):
you have all of these thingsthat live and reside within you
and you don't even realize it,and then some catastrophe comes
into our life and we're likesabotaging ourselves, or we have
a block or whatever, and wedon't even realize it's there.
And so when you writeeverything out in your morning
pages, this is where thingsstart to come out.
This is where the truth startsto come out about why you're
(21:26):
sabotaging yourself and whythese things happen, and you get
to be very radically honestwith yourself.
And I also want to add in thefact, like there are going to be
days where you don't want to doit.
Those are the days that Ihighly recommend doing it,
because that is like when theresistance comes up, it normally
means there's something bigthat is wanting to come to the
surface to be looked at, and itcan feel very uncomfortable, and
(21:49):
so it's not just like, oh, I'mgoing to write for a day or two
and I'm going to have everythingsolved.
I'm going to feel creativeagain.
This is a 12 week course thatyou commit to.
It's in a book and I have thishuge notebook that I write and
fill up three pages almost everysingle day.
Now that I'm going through mysecond time around, I probably
do my pages like four to sixtimes a week, depending on, like
(22:10):
you know, what my time scheduleis or, intuitively, what I feel
like doing.
Sometimes I just want tomeditate in the morning and
that's all I have time for, andthat's totally fine.
So, again, this is a 12 weekcourse, and so it's going to be
like starting an old engine up,kind of.
So you want to give yourself aweek or a couple of weeks, or
even the first month, to justwrite, and a lot of it is just
(22:33):
knocking the rust off of, off ofsomething and just allowing
things to eventually come up,and so that's what I really love
about this, and the book talksabout how.
So Julia Cameron she's theauthor she talks about how you
can put these pages in anenvelope and never look at them
ever again.
You can burn them, you canshred them, you can do whatever
(22:53):
you want.
Basically, it's just you'regetting everything out of the
mind and becoming conscious ofwhat's blocking you or limiting
you within yourself, and so youdon't have to show these to
anybody.
I will never show my notes toanybody, and I have probably
like three or four huge journalsthat I will most likely just
(23:14):
keep for myself.
If I ever decide to write abook, or there are a lot of
things that I go in there and ifI have something that is going
around in my head, I'll write itout and I'll write my goals and
stuff in there.
So sometimes I go back and Ireference things.
So that's, personally, why Ikeep mine.
But honestly, if anyone read mymorning pages, they would
probably think I was batshitcrazy.
But I mean, that's the wholepoint of it.
(23:36):
The point of it is to getreally, really connected to
yourself and really knowyourself on a deeper level, and
to remove the fear of that andto go into that and be
courageous in doing that,because it's not always a fun
thing to do.
There are so many tears from medoing these pages because of
things that I realized aboutmyself, about where I was not
(23:58):
fully stepping into mycreativity and where I was
suppressing my own light andwhere I was hiding from things
because I had my own fears andmy own limiting belief systems,
and so that can sometimes be amoment of grieving.
That happens because there areso many years that you spent not
following your dream or doingthings that could have been of
(24:20):
service to other people or youcould have been having more joy
in your life, and that's anotherthing that this book does is it
teaches you and guides you to aplace of that inner child and
tapping into that happiness andbeing like it's safe to actually
do this and feel creative andto actually enjoy the process.
And so this book is incrediblefor helping you tap more into
(24:42):
your own creativity, and it canbe done in so many different
ways, and so that has been myjourney with the artist's way
and tapping into my creativity.
And it is September and I havebeen.
I started this, I think, inJanuary or February, and it has
just completely radicallychanged me.
And I look back at my entireyear and I'm like, oh my gosh, I
(25:06):
can't believe how much I haveaccomplished and how creative I
have been and how much artworkthat I have created and how many
songs I have written on myguitar.
And I just feel like this wholevortex has completely opened up
to me, because it was just ashift in perception and getting
very clear and honest about,like these unconscious parts of
(25:27):
myself that I was afraid to lookat quite honestly.
And when you bring things tolight, you realize they're not
so scary, they're just emotionsor their old belief systems or
they're like this scared versionof like your inner child that
just needs to be acknowledgedand needs to be loved.
And that's what I really loveabout this it's very gentle,
it's not forceful, it takessmall steps basically to open
(25:49):
you up.
That is all that I have to sayabout the artist's way.
I wonder if anyone else has everheard of this book or if you
have done it before and whatyour experience has been with it
.
But feel free to reach out tome.
I would love to hear how it hasbeen impactful for you and if
you have found this episodehelpful or entertaining or
(26:11):
inspiring in any way, pleaseshare with your friends and your
family and let them know aboutthis book because, honestly,
this has been such an impactfulbook in my journey of
rediscovering myself,rediscovering my creativity and
just honestly really tappingmore into loving myself and
appreciating myself, because ithas removed so much of these
(26:35):
limiting beliefs and judgmenttowards myself about what
creativity really is and what itreally looks like for me.
And so I would love if otherpeople were able to find that
within themselves as well andlike how much more beautiful the
world would be if we were alljust really tapping into our
creativity and really owning itLike it's so incredibly
(26:55):
empowering and liberating.
Thank you, guys, so much forlistening to this.
I appreciate your support ofcoming in and listening to a new
episode every single two weeks,as always.
If you'd like to stay in theloop when new episodes go live,
don't forget to sign up for mymailing list on my website,
neena-aleasecom.
Feel free to reach out to me onmy website or social media
(27:18):
channels.
I would love to hear from youand your thoughts on this
episode or any other episodesthat I put out there.
Thanks again, so much fortuning in, and I will talk to
you guys all in the next episode.
Bye, vectorfre esc.
Welcome to the Receptive Impact Podcast.
I'm your host, nina Elise.
Hello and welcome back to theReceptive Impact Podcast.
I am sitting here late in theafternoon on a Tuesday and I
have been having one of thoseentrepreneur days If anyone is
an entrepreneur, they know whatI'm talking about where you wake
(00:24):
up and you're like wait, whatam I supposed to work on today?
And you're just not feelingsuper motivated and you're kind
of just puttering around and youmight take a nap or you might
eat and just distract yourselfand you're not feeling super
creative.
And it's made me really reflectback on the days that I did
feel really creative and where Ifelt super in flow.
And this is what I really wantto dive into in this episode
(00:47):
today is creativity and, morespecifically, a tool or a book
that I have used.
I've actually gone through I'mon my second time around going
through this book and it'shelped me so much in tapping
into my own creativity.
And so my intention at thebeginning of 2023 was to be able
(01:09):
to play more and to tap moreinto my creativity.
And the reasoning behind thiswas because I felt like I had a
lot of limiting belief systemsabout how I viewed myself and
what I was capable of, and youknow, I grew up my mother's an
artist.
I have so many friends that arelike these incredible artists
and I'm just like how can theydo that?
(01:30):
How can they paint, how canthey draw, how can they create
all of these like funny,creative cartoons?
And it just has always blown mymind how it seems so natural
for them and I'm like, wow, Ipaint something and it looks
like a blob or I just I judgemyself for it and I'm like I
don't.
I don't really feel like I'mcreative, and that was a belief
(01:50):
system that I had about myselfand I really wanted to change
that, and so the way that Idecided to go about this was to
go through a book called theArtist's Way.
So if anyone is familiar withthis, it's basically a 12 week.
I don't want to call it acourse, it's a book, but it's
something that you go throughfor 12 weeks and every week is a
(02:12):
different chapter and there aredifferent journal prompts and
different things for you to readthat touch on different topics
about limiting beliefs aroundfinances and creativity and
abundance, and just things thatyou can look at within yourself
about.
Do I have grace for myself, doI have compassion towards myself
and why do I have these blocksto my creativity?
(02:35):
And so this book is soincredible for not just the
artist who has, or musician orwhatever who has has, some sort
of block at the moment, it'sliterally for anyone.
And I feel like every singleperson should read this at least
once in their lifetime becauseit is so incredibly eye-opening
(02:57):
and it takes you to like thedepths of your soul and helps
you look at all of these likeforgotten parts of yourself and
you get to dive into like whyyou view yourself the way that
you do or where your blocks maybe hidden, and it's just
incredibly enlightening.
And so I really want to go intothis book and how it's really
(03:19):
helped me and how I feel like ithas helped me open up more in
my own creativity and tap intothat and remove a lot of my own
belief systems.
And, like I said at thebeginning, I've actually I'm
going through the book twice.
I went through it earlier thisyear and I'm going through it a
second time, but I'm kind ofgoing at my own pace and doing
it in a different way.
(03:40):
But basically this is a 12-weekcourse and every morning you
get up before you do anythingelse and you write three pages
of just free handwriting.
And the book provides journalprompts, based on each chapter
and what the theme is for eachchapter, of what you're diving
into and what limiting beliefsmight be blocking you from your
(04:00):
creativity.
And it's something that, like,is best done in the morning
because your mind is fresh,you're not filling it with
anything yet, and so you do thisbefore you even look in your
phone.
And for anyone who's like, oh mygosh, I can't commit to writing
three pages every singlemorning, like there are mornings
I would get up and I only hadtime to write for like five or
(04:21):
10 or 15 minutes.
There are days where I haveliterally just sat there and
written for like two hours, andI'm not kidding when I say that,
because sometimes things comeup and you're just sitting there
in shock like, oh my gosh, Icannot believe that I have this
limiting belief about myself,and it just is constantly
blowing your mind and lifting upall of these veils that you had
(04:44):
that were preventing you fromtapping into this innate talent
and creativity within yourselfthat is so unique to you, and
this is why I am such a bigadvocate of this book, the
Artist's Way, because it is likealmost like the spiritual
experience of being able toconnect more deeply with
(05:06):
yourself and you get to be morehonest about who you are and
where you're at and youridentity and how that is in
relation to your creativity andyour career, and why you do
certain things and why you don'tdo other things, and it taps
into like the inner child youand you get to explore like, oh,
these are things I did when Iwas younger and these are things
(05:26):
that I really admire and otherpeople, and this is why I
support this type of person,because I could never do that
when, in reality, it's actuallythe suppressed artist inside of
you that can do it.
It just doesn't believe that itcan, and so it is like so mind
blowing and it's like theseshifts that happen over the
course of the 12 weeks thatreally open your eyes up to
(05:49):
different ways of living andcreating and just being, and so
this was something that I wassuper excited to dive into, that
I really, really committed to,and when I say, wake up every
single morning and do it likethis is the first thing you do
in the morning.
If anyone knows me, you knowthat I definitely played around
with this and experimented with,like what if I didn't do this
(06:09):
in the morning?
I tried to do this at night andit's similar in the sense that
like, yeah, you can write andyou can go deep, but it's just
not as fresh as if you were todo it in the morning.
I just found that I was morelikely to do it when I first got
up in the morning and I wasmore motivated to do it then.
I definitely do this type ofwriting if I'm feeling blocked
(06:30):
or stuck or I have like somesort of emotional wave that I'm
not able to process or I'mfeeling like, oh, this is coming
up for me but I don't reallyknow what it means, and then I
just start writing it out, and Ijust write it all out and it's
just like the answer justappears to me and it's so
incredibly magical.
Just to kind of give you guys alittle bit of a background,
like I said, I never really sawmyself as this creative person
(06:54):
and I know people have told melike, oh, you're so creative,
nina, and I feel like that'ssomething that I have really
tapped into, more so this yearbecause I just started doing
things.
I just started doing things andI removed the judgment from
them, and partially that isbecause I'm just a very
tenacious person.
I'm very determined.
If I set my mind to dosomething, I'm going to do it.
(07:15):
But the artist's way was thisguidebook that really prompted
me to say, ok, like what issomething new you're going to do
today?
Ok, go buy some paint brushes,go paint, go do this.
And so it really prompted me togo out and try different things
or do different things that Iwas like scared to do, because I
was like, oh well, this is awaste of my time, this is a
waste of my money because I'mgoing to paint something and
(07:37):
it's going to look stupid andwhat am I going to do with this?
So there were a lot of doubtsand fears and was very cynical
towards a lot of what waspresented in the book.
But I did it anyways and I wasjust so incredibly pleasantly
surprised by what came out of meand the way that I painted and
the way that I was able to dobranding, like I did my own
(08:00):
branding for my website with myhuman design business, and just
feeling like, wow, this is socool, like I actually have
access to this and I was theonly one that was blocking there
, and so there were just so manylimiting beliefs that I wasn't
aware of, and I think a largepart of that is I was just
comparing myself to everyone andbeing like, well, they're a
natural, or they went to schoolfor this and yeah, maybe they
(08:23):
did and they have the technicalskill of it.
But, quite honestly, the morethat I really tap into
creativity and I say that notjust from like, oh, as an artist
painting or drawing, I'm sayingas a musician, when I'm writing
my songs on my guitar and I'msinging, and when I'm creating
things for my human designclients, for new courses or new
(08:47):
meditations or anything likethat like there's creativity
that's in everything that I'mdoing and it's showing me that
sometimes I actually I would saymost of the time it's so much
more refreshing to actually nothave that technical background,
because you come at whateveryou're creating with this pure
(09:08):
innocence that's not tainted byoh, this is how it needs to be
done, or this is the exact wayit needs to be done, and you're
coming from a place of purityand a pure creativity and I'm
finding that that is actuallylike so much more beautiful.
Sometimes when you really lookat it from that perspective,
it's much more unique.
Instead of trying to be like,oh, I'm going to play the guitar
with this technique, it's like,oh, I'm just allowing what's
(09:31):
coming up to come up and I'mgoing to do something that's
different, and I don't evenrealize that it's different.
And so that's what I reallylove about the for anyone who is
exploring their creativity,because I feel like there's so
much uniqueness that can bebirthed into the world when
someone is approaching it as,like a newbie or someone who is
(09:53):
fresh, that hasn't beenconditioned by these rules or
the technicalities of how to dothings, and so that's something
that I kind of learned, likenear the tail end of like going
through this course with theartist way, and it actually
removed a lot of pressure for meto go and try new and different
things.
So this book like really taughtme that I can actually listen
(10:17):
and trust my thoughts and theseideas that are popping into my
mind, and I've always been likea very visual person.
Like sometimes I'll just getthese visuals that just pop into
my mind about an idea and Idon't necessarily do anything
with it, but I've always kind ofwritten it off and I'm like, oh
, what do I do with this?
Or it'll take too much energyto try to create this or
whatever.
But after going through thiscourse, I'm learning that this
(10:38):
is actually a really strong giftfor me to have these visuals in
my mind, and that these areactually downloads coming from a
source, or God, or the creativefield, or the quantum field or
whatever you want to call it.
And it's up to me if I want todo something with them or not.
And I think that's reallyincredible because when I look
(10:58):
at it from that perspective, I'mlike I can actually create so
much stuff.
I can actually be tapped into,you know, these ideas and these
thoughts and actually dosomething with them.
And Going through this course ithelped strengthen that
confidence and that belief inmyself of like, wow, this might
actually be something of value.
And what if I played with this?
And yeah, I might like quoteunquote fail or do something
(11:19):
that looks stupid or likedoesn't look like anything else,
but that is just the part oflearning anything or doing
anything.
So I think that's just atypical process, and if you can
get past that and let go of thejudgments of all of that, then
you'll actually be creating somepretty incredible things, even
if that voice in the back ofyour head is like this is so
(11:40):
weird, like who does this?
But most often, it is yourweirdness and your uniqueness
that the world just adores andloves.
And so this book reallyencourages you to try different
things, and that's what I reallyloved about it, because they're
like, again, things that youdon't really think about, like
cooking or painting or drawing,or even putting together a
(12:02):
social media post or a video orwriting poetry, and I think this
is what I think a lot of peopleget caught up on.
They're like oh, I createsomething and I need to share it
.
Like there are so many thingsthat I have created that I have
not shared with anyone and Iwill most likely never share
with anyone, because they'restupid or they're ugly or
they're actually really amazing,but they feel really sacred and
(12:25):
personal to me, and so I don'tfeel the need to share those
thoughts or I don't feel theneed to share that art, but
again, it's more of like goinginto and being willing to create
those things and allowing whatis coming up to come up, because
everyone has access to this,and it was something that I was
seeing so many people like be socreative, and I'm like how is
(12:47):
that fair that they can haveconstant access to this?
And, honestly, it wasn't untilI did a three day Vipassana
where I spent three days insilence, and after I did that it
was almost like the floodgatesopened even more for me and I
just had these massive downloadsabout oh my gosh, I have access
to my creativity, to thisinfinite field at any time.
(13:11):
And it's just my resistance toit and my lack of belief that I
actually have access to it andit's this old belief system of
me wanting to stay safe andwanting to stay in this
comfortable place of not tappinginto that creativity because
there's a fear of my identitychanging or something shifting
or changing if I actually act onthese creative urges and I
(13:32):
actually do something with them.
Like, I was able to explore alot of these limiting beliefs
that were coming up, especiallywhen I was in that three day
Vipassana, so that by the time Icame out of that, it was just
like wow, there was such a clearchannel for me and it became so
clear to me that, like wow,everyone really, really does
have access to their creativityat all times.
(13:52):
So once you get past thesetraumas and these old belief
systems and these learningbelief systems and blocks that
you have towards creativity oryou know within yourself, and
then once you start to clear outthe clutter of consuming
content and it doesn't matter ifyou're listening to a podcast
or a book and you're like, well,I'm learning and whatever,
that's still something that'sexternal and outside of you,
(14:12):
that's preventing you fromconnecting to yourself and
tapping into your own creativity.
So I would say like stillnessis so, so huge for being able to
tap into your creativity andgetting still and getting quiet,
because if you have all thisexternal, outside noise, you're
never going to be able to tapinto and hear what is going on
inside of you.
(14:32):
That was something that, goingthrough the artist's way, really
, really helped.
And there's something that I'vebeen doing, actually, that has
been really helpful in likeclearing belief systems and
things like that.
So like as I write in themorning and say like something
comes up and I say I'm goingthrough the chapter on abundance
and saying like, oh, what aremy actual belief systems towards
(14:53):
money or prosperity, or, youknow, being able to receive
things, and as I'm like freewriting all of this.
It's kind of like it gives youa prompt in the book and then
you write it out right awaywithout actually really thinking
about it too much.
And then you go back and readit and you're like, oh my gosh,
wow, I have these like reallynegative or like lower
vibrational thoughts or beliefsystems surrounding prosperity
(15:15):
or pleasure or receiving, andit's really mind blowing to look
at it from that perspective.
And so when you go through allof that, it basically shows you
a map that gives you thiscontrast of like wow, this isn't
where I want to be.
So it provides that contrast oflike okay, I had these
unconscious belief system that Iwasn't aware of, but now I'm
aware of them, so what am Igoing to do with this?
(15:35):
And what I really love about theartist's way is when you
journal in the morning and youwrite down all of these things,
at the end you can go back andskim through what you wrote and
then you write basically theopposite of whatever, like
negative things that you wrote.
So, for example, like there aremornings where I've been in an
emotional low and I'm justsitting there and I'm like, wow,
(15:56):
like I suck and I failed atthis and I failed at this in the
past and I screwed everythingup and like I hate myself and
I'm like so angry that I didthis and I hurt this person and
I will always feel regret aboutthis.
And there's so much shame aboutthis and, like you know, just
like some of those days whereyou just dump everything and
you're like this is so terrible,but you just get it out and
then after that, the exercisewith the artist's way is to
(16:19):
write affirmations thatcounteract that.
So basically, there's thisrewiring that's happening in
here.
So there's a very psychologicalcomponent to doing this.
It's like you're becoming awareof these subconscious belief
systems.
So they're out in the open andyou know about them, and so,
instead of continuing to livefrom that place, you can begin
to start to turn the tides intosomething more positive.
(16:40):
So it provides that contrast oflike, instead of sitting there
in that unconscious, it'sconscious and now you can shift
it to something that you do want.
For example, if I said like oh,I failed at this and like I suck
, or whatever, I would write outmy affirmation as like I am
constantly learning and it issafe and okay for me to do
(17:02):
things that aren't 100% correct,because I'm learning and
growing, or I give myself graceand compassion as I am learning
and growing.
So you're kind of just puttinga spin on that and you are
giving yourself grace for whatour mind would attach to like
something as failing and sayingno, I'm actually not failing,
(17:24):
this is something that I'velearned from, and I'm going to
give myself grace for this, andthen I'm going to move forward
with the lessons, and so you cankind of reframe all of these
things and rewrite them indifferent ways, and the book
gives you different prompts aswell that will help guide you
with all of that.
And so this has been incrediblyhelpful, not just for that.
(17:44):
But I've actually added alittle bit of my own twist to
this.
Like when a lot of myunconscious belief systems are
coming up to the surface and I'mwriting about them, I'll finish
writing and I'll do myaffirmations and then, based on
that, I will do EFT tapping.
So, for example, like a beliefsystem will come up and I'll be
like, oh my gosh, I have thisreally intense fear of rejection
(18:06):
or abandonment or fear of beingseen, and I will do EFT tapping
on it.
Normally I do it on my own If Iwant a little support.
I'll just go onto YouTube andlook for a tapping video that I
can do alongside of that, butsince it's so unique to like
what I'm journaling about, Iwill just do it in that moment,
and so for me, that's like ahuge component of becoming aware
(18:28):
of the unconscious belief andthen rewiring it even more in
that moment as it is coming up,and so there are a lot of
different ways that you can workwith this from, like a
subconscious and a beliefperspective, and it has just
completely catapulted me and mycreativity and the way that I
approach things in the way thatlike my own self inner dialogue
(18:50):
about creativity and the waythat I do things.
And so, for example, this yearI created oh my gosh, I don't
even know how many new videosfor my YouTube channel, and it
was like I had so many ideas andit was less about like, oh,
this is going to suck, and itwas more like no, I actually
deeply value myself now becauseI looked at those limiting
belief systems that I hadsurrounding self value and self
(19:13):
worth, and I'm going after anddoing things anyways, even
though I have these conflictingthoughts or belief systems, and
so it's been incrediblyempowering for me to tap into
that, and so this is somethingthat has really pushed me.
The artist way has reallypushed me to really get out of
my comfort zone and to do thingsdifferently and to look at
(19:35):
creativity in a much differentlight.
Because, again, it's not justlike, oh, I'm a singer,
songwriter and I'm a painter, orwhatever.
Like no creativity is like canbe infused in everything, like
it can be in dancing and like,even when I took my improv class
this year, if you want to takean acting class, or if you want
to write a book, or you want towrite poetry, or just like even
(19:58):
cooking or baking, somethinglike you're infusing your
creativity into whatever it isthat you are making.
And it could be even as simpleas like gardening and how you're
arranging your garden and thetypes of flowers that you're
putting in there, or even if youbuy a bunch of flowers and how
you arrange them in the pot,like there are so many different
ways that you can be creative.
(20:19):
And we don't look at it fromthat perspective and we're just
like oh, you know, we kind ofdownplay it and we're like oh,
no, this is just something thatI like and it's like well,
that's where your creativitystems from.
It stems from those thoughtsabout creating something
beautiful or creating somethingdifferent or unique that comes
just from you.
And so I really again just wantto hammer in how incredible the
(20:42):
artist way has been for me andhow I actually have a bunch of
friends that have actually gonethrough this quite a few times
that I wasn't even aware of andit has, like, changed their
lives completely.
And I'm still continuing to gothrough this, and this is
something that I will do forever, especially when I'm having
blocks, because, honestly, likeit's one of those things where
(21:04):
you have all of these thingsthat live and reside within you
and you don't even realize it,and then some catastrophe comes
into our life and we're likesabotaging ourselves, or we have
a block or whatever, and wedon't even realize it's there.
And so when you writeeverything out in your morning
pages, this is where thingsstart to come out.
This is where the truth startsto come out about why you're
(21:26):
sabotaging yourself and whythese things happen, and you get
to be very radically honestwith yourself.
And I also want to add in thefact, like there are going to be
days where you don't want to doit.
Those are the days that Ihighly recommend doing it,
because that is like when theresistance comes up, it normally
means there's something bigthat is wanting to come to the
surface to be looked at, and itcan feel very uncomfortable, and
(21:49):
so it's not just like, oh, I'mgoing to write for a day or two
and I'm going to have everythingsolved.
I'm going to feel creativeagain.
This is a 12 week course thatyou commit to.
It's in a book and I have thishuge notebook that I write and
fill up three pages almost everysingle day.
Now that I'm going through mysecond time around, I probably
do my pages like four to sixtimes a week, depending on, like
(22:10):
you know, what my time scheduleis or, intuitively, what I feel
like doing.
Sometimes I just want tomeditate in the morning and
that's all I have time for, andthat's totally fine.
So, again, this is a 12 weekcourse, and so it's going to be
like starting an old engine up,kind of.
So you want to give yourself aweek or a couple of weeks, or
even the first month, to justwrite, and a lot of it is just
(22:33):
knocking the rust off of, off ofsomething and just allowing
things to eventually come up,and so that's what I really love
about this, and the book talksabout how.
So Julia Cameron she's theauthor she talks about how you
can put these pages in anenvelope and never look at them
ever again.
You can burn them, you canshred them, you can do whatever
(22:53):
you want.
Basically, it's just you'regetting everything out of the
mind and becoming conscious ofwhat's blocking you or limiting
you within yourself, and so youdon't have to show these to
anybody.
I will never show my notes toanybody, and I have probably
like three or four huge journalsthat I will most likely just
(23:14):
keep for myself.
If I ever decide to write abook, or there are a lot of
things that I go in there and ifI have something that is going
around in my head, I'll write itout and I'll write my goals and
stuff in there.
So sometimes I go back and Ireference things.
So that's, personally, why Ikeep mine.
But honestly, if anyone read mymorning pages, they would
probably think I was batshitcrazy.
But I mean, that's the wholepoint of it.
(23:36):
The point of it is to getreally, really connected to
yourself and really knowyourself on a deeper level, and
to remove the fear of that andto go into that and be
courageous in doing that,because it's not always a fun
thing to do.
There are so many tears from medoing these pages because of
things that I realized aboutmyself, about where I was not
(23:58):
fully stepping into mycreativity and where I was
suppressing my own light andwhere I was hiding from things
because I had my own fears andmy own limiting belief systems,
and so that can sometimes be amoment of grieving.
That happens because there areso many years that you spent not
following your dream or doingthings that could have been of
(24:20):
service to other people or youcould have been having more joy
in your life, and that's anotherthing that this book does is it
teaches you and guides you to aplace of that inner child and
tapping into that happiness andbeing like it's safe to actually
do this and feel creative andto actually enjoy the process.
And so this book is incrediblefor helping you tap more into
(24:42):
your own creativity, and it canbe done in so many different
ways, and so that has been myjourney with the artist's way
and tapping into my creativity.
And it is September and I havebeen.
I started this, I think, inJanuary or February, and it has
just completely radicallychanged me.
And I look back at my entireyear and I'm like, oh my gosh, I
(25:06):
can't believe how much I haveaccomplished and how creative I
have been and how much artworkthat I have created and how many
songs I have written on myguitar.
And I just feel like this wholevortex has completely opened up
to me, because it was just ashift in perception and getting
very clear and honest about,like these unconscious parts of
(25:27):
myself that I was afraid to lookat quite honestly.
And when you bring things tolight, you realize they're not
so scary, they're just emotionsor their old belief systems or
they're like this scared versionof like your inner child that
just needs to be acknowledgedand needs to be loved.
And that's what I really loveabout this it's very gentle,
it's not forceful, it takessmall steps basically to open
(25:49):
you up.
That is all that I have to sayabout the artist's way.
I wonder if anyone else has everheard of this book or if you
have done it before and whatyour experience has been with it
.
But feel free to reach out tome.
I would love to hear how it hasbeen impactful for you and if
you have found this episodehelpful or entertaining or
(26:11):
inspiring in any way, pleaseshare with your friends and your
family and let them know aboutthis book because, honestly,
this has been such an impactfulbook in my journey of
rediscovering myself,rediscovering my creativity and
just honestly really tappingmore into loving myself and
appreciating myself, because ithas removed so much of these
(26:35):
limiting beliefs and judgmenttowards myself about what
creativity really is and what itreally looks like for me.
And so I would love if otherpeople were able to find that
within themselves as well andlike how much more beautiful the
world would be if we were alljust really tapping into our
creativity and really owning itLike it's so incredibly
(26:55):
empowering and liberating.
Thank you, guys, so much forlistening to this.
I appreciate your support ofcoming in and listening to a new
episode every single two weeks,as always.
If you'd like to stay in theloop when new episodes go live,
don't forget to sign up for mymailing list on my website,
neena-aleasecom.
Feel free to reach out to me onmy website or social media
(27:18):
channels.
I would love to hear from youand your thoughts on this
episode or any other episodesthat I put out there.
Thanks again, so much fortuning in, and I will talk to
you guys all in the next episode.
Bye, vectorfre esc.
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Therapy Gecko
An unlicensed lizard psychologist travels the universe talking to strangers about absolutely nothing. TO CALL THE GECKO: follow me on https://www.twitch.tv/lyleforever to get a notification for when I am taking calls. I am usually live Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays but lately a lot of other times too. I am a gecko.