What to Do When You Feel Like Quitting Your Creative Work

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"I WAS IN MY MADE-IT-TO-VOTING-AGE ADULT YEARS WHEN I FIGURED OUT THAT I JUST WAS NOT AN EARLY MORNING PERSON."

I am not phased. I learned decades ago that the whole wake-up-at-5am-to-be-a-better-you thing was indeed NOT for me.

I believe it was an early college years’ summer off of school and I was inspired (probably by a magazine article or my dad?) to wake up earlier to take better advantage of the day and be my best self.

So there I was, at 7am mind you ~cos 5am was just NOT happening~ up and at ‘em but the promised bright eyes and bushy tail never appeared. I was t-i-r-e-d.

"No matter, I’ll push through. I’m sure I’ll pep up in a bit."

By noon, I was so exhausted I could barely move or keep my eyes open.

"Never you mind, just go to bed earlier."

Ok, off to bed at 9pm. "Tomorrow morning’s gonna be lit!"

7am alarm. Summer sun pouring in beautifully through the closed blinds.

"Let’s try this shit again. Yesterday was a fluke." Gotta try and be my best self...

10am? No puedo. Nap time.

The end.

I was in my made-it-to-voting-age adult years when I figured out that I just was not an early morning person. I hardcore struggled with not being able to identify with this quality since it’s so highly regarded in our capitalist productivity-based society. Those were the days I used to flinch if someone hit me with the "lazy" label but now I know better…

…over the years I realized it was such a gift to have a real understanding of how my body worked and an appreciation of what feels natural to me.

I realized that it wasn’t about being my “best” self. It was about honoring myself and my energy.

In fact, my morning routine hasn’t changed much from those many years ago because it's just what works for my mind, body, & soul as a sensitive, creative being:

Take 30 mins or so to wake slowly
Stretch in bed
Move slowly
Have a small breakfast (never been a big breakfast kinda gal but I DO need to eat)
Ease into my day’s activities

Simple as that. Timeless like a herringbone wool blazer.

What’s your timeless, always on point morning routine?

the SELF CARE REFLECTION QUESTION

Here's a helpful journal prompt that comes from today's share:

What does my body call out for me to do when I wake up? What does my body tend to reject first thing in the morning? What's one thing I can do (or simply not do) in the morning that will ease my mental load for the day? Am I often waking up angry or sad? Am I willing/able to allow those difficult emotions to be felt?

Take a quiet moment and write the answers as they intuitively come up. Share in the comments if this was a helpful practice ♡

the NURTURING POWER MOVE

Here's this week simple self-care action. A tiny nurturing step that'll take you and your creativity far...

Belly Breathing: The Low-Key Tension Tamer for Creatives

When the work just won't stop, your inbox is wild, and there's always "just ooooone more thing" → it's time to pause. You're running on fumes babe and it's not cute. Take a deep, slow breath... into your belly, not your chest.

Belly breathing (aka diaphragmatic breathing) is the easiet, most underrated way to calm your nervous system in real time. It sends an instant "yes, you're safe" message to your brain, which means decreased stress levels, more clarity, and better creative flow.

Some benefits:

stops anxiety from hijacking your focus and quality of life
loosens up physical tension like jaw clenching
helps you respond vs react to biz stress
energizes you without caffeine
brings you back to the present moment (where the real magic happens)

You can do this on the metro just as easily as you can seated at your desk. Simply inhale deeply into your belly (allowing it to ballon and expand) and exhale deeply. Try it out for 5 rounds of breath.

jusIt takes 30 seconds, no fancy set-up needed. Next time your brain's spiraling, let your breath bring you back.

Try it out and let me know what you think in the comments!

the CREATIVE ENERGY FORECAST

Here's this week's insight for creative flow this week.

Let's see what's good ↓:

Week of March 23:

We have a cazimi (close meeting of the sun and a planet) going on tomorrow and wouldn't you know it, the planet in question just so happens to be Mercury. While it's in retrograde. Whew! But what does it mean for my creative compadres? Oh, honey tons of inspiration, insight, and awareness when it comes to how you share your creative work with the world. This week, lean into your intuition on this front instead of all the advice circulating on the interwebs.
With Venus Retrograde now in Pisces you might feel a little nostalgic and even introspective. What a great place to draw our creativity from. Building on and reimagining what has already come to pass. Righting wrongs by transmuting them into authentic art expression. Use this week's Venus energy to finally forgive and release the heaviness of what's happened to get even more connected to you and your sense of worthiness.
The week ends with a new moon solar eclipse in Aries and listen up, buttercup, this is a time to follow (instead of ignoring) your body, heart & gut. You're able to access your wisdom in a way that gives you a big glimpse of purpose which sparks creativity like a mofo. It's almost like you got your mojo back and it's confidently guiding you in the direction you've been needing to go.

INSIDE the STUDIO

Creative Biz & Life updates to keep you in the know.

is the girlboss era really gone?

My creative compadres! I'm so deep in creation mode myself and it's something I think you're gonna love. Even though girlboss era has been called out in disdain--let's be real--most of us still put an unfair expectation on ourselves to do #allthethings in our biz, side hustles and 9-5's. Right on, you're acknowledging the need to rest and take better care of yourslef but because husle and grind culture is now part of your very essence, BUT you need some help with shifting how you work to something more sustainable and satisfying. Aaaaaand that's what I have coming for you.

If this is piquing your interest like crazy, hop aboard the waitlist (~tap that big country blue button below~)--you won't be disappointed. You'll recieve all the perk drip as it comes. Think private podcast, a checklist (that's actually helpful and not anxiety-inducing) and more!

JOIN THE WAITLIST

practice what you preach

I'm so excited about everything I do for work. I'm literally high from feeling so aligned in my business. I'm confident about what I bring to the table and I love working with creative geniuses like you! In my foundational self-care framework offer, Me Time, Made Simple, my clients have been embracing self-care in their own way and it's so great to see them develop their unique frameworks for self care. Each person's self-care strategies are sooooo different from one another. It brings home the fact that, while our basic self-care needs are the same, there's so many individual variations.

I say all this to share with you that one person's self care routine will never be suitable for another. If you're struggling with the self care thing, you can always schedule a free 30 min Self-Care Scoop session with me so we can figure out a few things that work for YOU. And there's zero selling in the session. We spend every moment on discovering effective self-care strategies and how you can best implement them going forward.

You can schedule your sweet session below.

SCHEDULE YOUR SESH

time to get away...

On Friday eve, my oldest and I did a mini Paris delulu stay-cay without his little bro tagging along for everything which can sometimes be quite difficult for him. Why have I not done this before! He was able to get all the attention he needed and I showed him how to have a fun, relaxing evening. Yeah, we need to teach the youngin's how to chill too, y'all.

We took a little stroll around the city, got some takeaway for dinner and hopped into our hotel robes and slippers for cartoon-binging and leisurely eating on the bed. After getting ready for bed, we played UNO 'til we dropped and had a rainy day breakfast at a beautiful restaurant around the corner before heading back home with our nervous systems soothed and regulated. 10/10! Def gonna do this once a month. Turns out my big boy was made for the chill life!

That’s it. That’s the news. See ya next Sunday Sundae.

LOVE THIS? KNOW A FELLOW CREATIVE WHO NEEDS THIS KIND OF ENERGY IN THEIR INBOX? FORWARD THIS LINK—BECAUSE REAL ONES DON'T GATEKEEP THE GOOD STUFF.

**FEELING THIS WEEK'S SUNDAE'S BEST? IF YOU'RE READY TO TAKE IT DEEPER, ME TIME, MADE SIMPLE IS WHERE WE WORK TOGETHER TO PUT ALL THIS INSIGHT INTO ACTION—WITHOUT THE BURNOUT. CHECK IT OUT!**