Uncertainty & Inspirational Alchemy
My own Juicy Manifestation, and what to do when the 'work' isn't working
“Though I do not believe that a plant will spring up where no seed has been, I have great faith in a seed. Convince me that you have a seed there, and I am prepared to expect wonders.”
Henry David Thoreau
I have a Degree in Theatre & Drama Studies, a Diploma in Acting, and a “fallback” degree in English.
Who has ever ‘fallen back’ on an English Degree!?
The idea of a ‘back-up’ plan for a creative doesn’t actually create a sense of security as intended, it plants the seed of doubt. The very reinforcement that you’re doing something risky and you’ll probably fail. You should have seen it coming, you’re obviously not worthy, not good enough.
Good thing you have this plethora of jobs available to you with your English Degree!!!
If we are walking around afraid to fail and monitoring for the risk of failure… what do you think we’re manifesting?
We’ll get into all of this on this week’s Creative Brain Untangling
In the pursuit of my fancy English Degree, I took a class in Etymology, which I surprisingly enjoyed. As a result, I often look up the roots of words I’m drawn to.
The definition of the word Inspiration is “to influence, move, or guide by divine or supernatural influence or action,” and comes from the Latin word inspīrāre “to breathe upon, breathe into”.
I love the idea that inspiration is breathed into us by way of some kind of internal guidance - divine, or otherwise.
We may be able to set the conditions to welcome it in…but we can’t necessarily see when it’s taking root or bubbling beneath the surface of our awareness.
Creative ‘Nuggs’
I like to nerd out on Manifestation. It’s a common theme in many of our JUICY LIFE episodes (several linked below).
The Secret was my entry point to manifestation, to the idea that abundance is available for all of us.
I had a hard time connecting with it though, it just didn’t make any sense to my rational brain, and it felt like BS. But I really wanted it to be true!
Just make a wish and then open the door and see a new shiny red bike out front? (Don’t ask me why that’s the only scene I remember…)
Truth be told, it actually sort of scared me.
I think it was the creepy music mixed with magic!?
If only that 20-something version of me could see me now…
Understanding the Neuroscience behind Manifestation
That’s what finally connected the dots for me.
In a nutshell: We are largely guided by our unconscious thought patterns. If we create some awareness around that, and we actively choose the thoughts and feelings we want to feel, then we can embed those new thoughts and feeling into our psyche. Our brain and body starts to attune to these new thoughts and feelings and turns them into actions.
We might start to see more of what we want in the world. We might start feeling really good. We might start seeing new opportunities that move us into action.
After my first Dr. Joe Dispenza retreat, I decided to practice this through meditation. The one certain inspiration I had after that retreat was that I wanted to travel and work remotely. I had never intentionally done that before.
So I embedded that new thought.
There were lots of unknowns - I had a mortgage to pay…how was I going to afford this?
I had an idea about how this could come to be, but I had several conditions.
I’d have to rent my house out, ideally to someone professional I could trust (I like my house and my things, I wanted to make sure it would be taken care of)
I wanted it to be for 3 months (It needed to be worthwhile to organize it, and I wanted a chunk of time to travel)
Ideally while it’s still cold out (I love living where I live in the summer)
I didn’t want to have to force it to happen (no stress about how, I wanted to practice allowing flow)
Of course my mind tried to talk to me out this. I live in a small town - who would want to rent my house short-term in the winter?
Regardless, I set to work at connecting to the thought and the emotion - what would it feel like for this to actually happen, and then feel the excitement and surprise of how it would happen. I meditated daily for 2 months. I soaked myself in the energy and feelings of already having it.
And you guys…it happened.
I rented my house out for 3 months starting early April, to a female Doctor who was in town for exactly 3 months, and I solo travelled to a sunny destination.
And you know what? I almost forgot that I made it happen. I was walking down the beach in Costa Rica talking to my best friend on the phone when it hit me, holy crap - I am right in the middle of my manifestation!
Was it easy?
Hell No!
I mean yes, in the grand scheme of things, yes it was.
It was the internal work that was required that felt hard.
It took daily inspired action to sit down and meditate. To clear my head of all the noise - to quiet my mind with all its objections.
I had to have blind faith and trust in the process. Belief that it could happen to me.
How does one trust when the shit you want isn’t showing up on your timeline!?
Trying to remain unattached, connecting to the inspiration, quieting the ego, trusting, and allowing ourselves to feel good…is “the work.”
Inspired action, and consistency.
When I’m working with people, I use the analogy of dropping a pebble in a pond.
You set your goal or intention (from a place of inspiration) and we get to ‘work’ on it.
We take the time to quantify the emotional goal attached to that. How would it feel to achieve that, to tangibly see and feel that in your life?
And then we take inspired action. We experiment. We play.
This action creates a ripple effect that changes the energy field. Not only does it magnetize aligned opportunities, it can’t help but have an effect on other areas of your life. Christina shares about her experience of this on last weeks episode.
Okay, I’m doing “the work” but it’s still not showing up…
Several years ago, my fascination with manifestation guided me to Lacey Phillips.
In her work at To be Magnetic she speaks about the liminal space that occurs before a manifestation is about to appear, what she calls:
The Magic Dark is the dark before the dawn in manifestation. It’s when you’ve passed test after test, you’re building momentum, and finally - crickets. Everything goes silent. Nothing is coming through.
Whether manifestation is your thing or not, we can all relate to process of planting our seeds (intentions, desires, goals, dreams) and the agonizing period in between, where we wait to to see evidence of sprouting.
It can feel like trying to watch paint dry on the wall. But it doesn’t have to.
What if that time between - where it feels like NOTHING is happening - the time when we feel the greatest uncertainty…
…is the MOST FERTILE.
It’s the phase in the the transformation where the seeds are exerting the most amount of energy, pulling all the nutrients from the foundation and surroundings, and alchemizing to create something new!
It feels like nothing is happening when in fact EVERYTHING is happening, before we can even see a shred of evidence.
Our scarcity kicks in because we can’t yet see the proof. It’s uncertain.
The more you practice this, the more you start to recognize the pattern. You start to feel the bubbling… and it’s exciting, and terrifying and crucial that you lean into trust.
Not seeing evidence of your progress yet?
Stay the course!
Just because you can’t see it, doesn’t mean it’s not JUST about to turtle-head ;)
Imagine it was just about to POP and you threw the towel in that that very moment?
Just remember:
Trust the Process: Understand that growth often happens below the surface of our awareness, and visible results take time.
Consistency is Key: Regular, inspired action is the game changer. Just like a plant needs regular watering and sunlight, your dream needs regular love and attention.
Celebrate Small Wins: Recognize and celebrate the small milestones along the way to actually ENJOY the process.
That’s what it’s all about, after all.
Tuning into your Magic - Part 1 (Minisode)
Tuning into Magic - Part 2 (Minisode)
The Untangling
Inspired Action in the midst of Uncertainty
Cool cool cool, but how do I know if my actions are “inspired”?
I’m not going to tell you that knowing how to listen to your own inspiration is easy, just like I didn’t tell you that Manifesting was super easy for me either.
I, just like you, fall prey to the SCAM of someone else having all the answers for me!
In the context of creating or growing our own businesses, it’s hard to trust that we know what’s best, that we know what to do next, or that the answers will come.
It feels 1000% uncertain, unknown and most certainly, NOT in control.
This feeling can produce a lot of anxiety within us… especially if we’re unfamiliar with what’s going on beneath the surface.
We feel desperate to reduce this anxiety. It creates a sense of Urgency.
That’s why it’s so easy to get sucked up into what other people are doing. In what is apparently working for them…
It’s a potential solution to our problem of “uncertainty” and our lack of control.
So you might try that method, take this persons advice, or enrol in 17 courses at once because they each have answers you NEED.
Mix all that shit together and it can make you feel like you’re never doing enough.
If I took a fraction of the external advice about my own business, I would most certainly be here telling you that:
I’m a manifestation expert - don’t waste your time with anything else, I hold the keys for you.
I’m the BEST coach for you - forget your own unique needs and whether you like or trust me because I can make sure you earn $X amount more per month. You NEED that.
I have industry trade secrets that you will only get if you enter into my never-ending funnel of garbage where I promise you a bunch of shit but never deliver any value unless you shell out a bunch of money.
Please don’t make me go on, I’m depressing myself!
It’s ridiculous when we say it all out loud.
And yet we all fall into it. Until we start to practice seeing it for what it is: a psychological sales trap that preys on our emotions and sucks us in!
And it’s not to say that people that employ these methods are bad! They’re just stuck in the same trap that perpetuates the cycle.
So without all that anxiety, how do we feel motivated, build momentum and get shit done?
You guessed it, get inspired.
Inspiration happens when you’re living your life
and most often when you’re not thinking about all the shit you need to do because so and so told you to.
It comes from play, joy, moving your body, creating, being in nature, listening to a podcast, strolling the library, doing the mundane stuff around your house, etc.
We might lose that initial inspiration when things get hard. AND we can choose to tune back into it, or create the calm, relaxed brain space that creates a portal for the inspiration to drop back in.
When you start to live a juicier life…built from your own authenticity, your own weird…
You’re living in fertile soil, waiting for your own answers to bloom.
Breathe that in.
I don’t know about you, but when I listen to something or read something that feels true in my soul, it’s like taking a deep breath I didn’t know I needed. inspīrāre.
If this feels like a big ol’ exhale to you, fucking awesome, I’m so glad you’re here.
If you need a little help connecting to your inspiration? Let’s chat.
Not for you?
Actually here hoping for all the answers? I feel you… I reeeally do.
If this doesn’t feel like the right space for you, you can always unsubscribe at the bottom of this email :)
You get to choose which thoughts you want to imbed into your awareness, and I’d recommend finding thoughts that inspire you, that light you up!
Abundance Aggregate
Which comes first…
The intention/desire that you wish to manifest?
The inspiration to take action?
They can be interchangeable.
In my experience though…
Manifestations that are most likely to materialize, start with a seed of inspiration.
I think many of us Creatives can relate to that… we likely wouldn’t choose a Creative vocation if it wasn’t inspired. We’d be banging our heads against the wall, or quickly ‘falling back’ on a half-baked less inspired path.
But what about on the day-to-day?
Sometimes we get so focused on the goal we want to achieve that we start creating our “to do” list based on ‘shoulds’ or advice from others.
We throw the inspiration baby out with the bathwater.
What if we start to listen to (and act quickly on) those little whispers of inspiration?
Can we manifest, or make our goals bloom this way too?
I recently had a great conversation with an Artist named Lila.
She told me that she’d like to be a little more proactive about finding new aligned clients to work with. She believed that up to this point, the freelance work she booked had basically ‘fallen from the sky’ into her lap.
When I inquired a little further about this work and how it came to be, I learned that Lila had initially been inspired to reach out to one of these now client/collaborators.
Go on then…
She told me that she followed an account on instagram created by a man who rescued animals, lived with them, and tried to find them forever homes. This account was a source of joy for her. It was here that she found her little happy place “in the chaos of social media”.
One day she learned that he had found an abandoned kitten, and was looking to find a home for her. Lila knew she couldn’t adopt yet another cat, but she felt compelled to contribute in some small way. The best way she could think of to show her love and care, was to draw a portrait.
She was about to send it to him when a thought washed over her - wait, is this crazy?
Our ego LOVES to talk us out of these kinds of inspirations by the way, it just wants to keep us safe and protected. Isn’t that just so sweet??
So she gut checks it with her boyfriend who nudges her forward.
Of course this big-hearted man loved it and was touched that she reached out.
This new relationship started a collaboration on some Merch for his adoption centre, and lead to introductions to 4 new clients! As the gift that keeps on giving, this collaboration has most recently lead to another illustration job for a National Beer Brand!
How fun right!?
This is the magic of abundance mindset in action.
You never know where your inspirations will lead you…
They might just walk you head first into the very thing you are trying to manifest.
That’s the unknown baby!
Yes, it’s uncertain.
No, we’re not in control.
But the possibilities are endless!
“Being a possibilist or a grounded optimist doesn’t mean being naive or Pollyannaish. It’s not about being in denial or stepping over things that aren’t working. It’s not about magical thinking or even positive thinking. Sometimes Positive thinking just ignores what’s not working or what’s dark or unethical. Possibility doesn’t do that; it includes and acknowledges obstacles and the shadow side and allows them to be. Rather than ignore the dark side, it requires you to pay astute attention to what you might consider to be negative. Just as the lotus is born out of mud, so is possibility”
If you’re inspired to start planting some new seeds, andlooking for a ride-or-die to champion your journey, let’s chat and see if we’re a good match for each other!
Not quite ready for that but still picking up what I’m putting down?
You can lurk over here on my website, fill up on some audio inspo at THIS JUICY LIFE, or read some of my previous posts.
Inspired to collaborate and make some magic together? PLEASE get in touch!
Lots of love!!
Lauren