Episode 77: How My Creative Practice Helped Me Connect to My Intuition

Hi creative soles! I hope you’re having a beautiful day so far. It’s cold and snowy where I am, so I am of course wearing socks - today I’m wearing a pair with cats on them! These socks were a gift last year, because as a new cat mom I of course needed a pair of cat socks. 

So like I said, it’s cold and snowy here, and I’m embracing it by making my home as cozy and warm and welcoming as possible...which has actually been a great way to practice creativity! I’ve had to get creative about a Christmas tree in particular this year. I celebrate Christmas and last year we had a big beautiful tree in our kitchen, but that wasn’t an option this year due to the new kitten that we adopted this summer! So, I took the opportunity to find a creative solution, and I made a tree out of string lights and command hooks on the wall. It was actually a really fun and playful activity, and so I’m grateful for the prompt or constraint provided by the kitten situation, because I was able to turn it into an opportunity for creativity. So that was just a mini little creative tidbit that I wanted to share with you today and I think it’s really related to what I talked about a couple of episodes ago of structure really being in support of creativity and in this case really some constraints around what I was able to do being supportive of creativity.

Let’s get into today’s main topic. What I really want to talk about today is one of the main reasons WHY I believe so deeply in a regular creative practice. So, let’s start with a story, shall we? 

I grew up as a very indecisive kid. It was always SO hard for me to make decisions, whether it was what to wear, what to order at a restaurant, which classes to take...it really impacted my life in a negative way, because I would spend so much time stressing over what the RIGHT decision was that I missed out on so many opportunities to just enjoy my life in the meantime. I remember when I was in 7th grade and I had to decide whether to take French or Spanish classes in school - I went back and forth so many times and spent so much time worrying that it honestly makes me kind of sad to think about. And it was also really unpleasant for my family to hear me stressing about that all the time. And that was not an unusual occurrence by any means. 

In retrospect, I believe what was really going on was that I was disconnected from my intuition. I believe that each of us has access to a source of inner wisdom that knows what is best for us, and the way for each of us to live our most fulfilling, most satisfying life is to listen to that inner voice, that inner knowing. 

When I was younger, I definitely didn’t see things this way. I would turn to other people for advice, I would go back and forth weighing the pros and cons of a decision for days, and I would get so preoccupied in mental spirals that there was no way I could connect to my intuition. Because my intuition comes out to play when I am calm and quiet and when I make space for it. Not when I’m spinning out of control overthinking, really in my head. 

One of the ways that I have made space for my intuition is through my creative practice. I can see looking back that this was always present, in a way, though I wasn’t always aware of it. Even during my most indecisive phases of life, the times when I felt the most confident in myself was when I was making art of some kind. And really, intuition is a lot about confidence. When I was so disconnected from my intuition, I didn’t trust myself to make the right decision for me so I felt like I needed to look outside myself for that answer. But when I was making art, or writing a story or a song, I felt confident in the right next step. I might not have always known where the project was leading me in terms of a finished result, but I trusted myself to add the next word, or the next color, or the next note. 

I think that’s kind of how intuition works in other areas of life too. Take this podcast, for instance - I shared in the first episode of season 3 that I started Never Wear Boring Socks back up again because I felt intuitively that it was the right time to do so. I didn’t really have a plan, I just had some things I wanted to talk about, and I had a feeling that I wanted to do it on the podcast. And as time went on, it turns out that the things I wanted to talk about here are actually very aligned with my business and what I’m offering. I love talking about creativity and building consistent creative practices, and now in my business that’s what I’m doing: I’m helping people create consistent creative practices. And this idea to restart the podcast came to me while I was making art, when I was in a flowy creative state. I don’t know if I would have come up with the idea to bring the podcast back if I wasn’t regularly getting myself into that state. And I didn’t know, like I said, when I started the podcast back up again why I was doing it. It just felt right in the moment -  it was the right next step like I said, even though I didn’t know in the big picture of things where it was leading me.

I also want to point out here that not everybody feels super connected to their intuition right away when they’re making art, and that’s ok. Another thing I think is true about intuition is that it gets stronger with practice, just like anything else. The more you sit down to write, the more space you make for your writing practice, the stronger your writing gets. And the more you make space for your intuition, the stronger your intuition gets as well. There are plenty of different ways to connect to your intuition, but a consistent creative practice has been one of the most game-changing ways for me to do that. 

And if you feel like a consistent creative practice would be helpful for you too, but you’re having a hard time making it happen, I would be truly honored to support you. You can head to the show notes for a link to schedule a free coaching call, or you can sign up for my newsletter there to be the first to know when my new 3-month coaching program goes live. Which I’m very excited and I’ll definitely tell you more in the future. In my newsletter I also send musings on creativity, behind-the-scenes looks at things I’m making and working on, and things that are inspiring me...it’s really one of my favorite places to connect and I’d love to have you there! I like to think of it like a virtual care package of creative inspiration and support. 

To wrap up this episode, I want to move onto some reflection questions, which is how I like to end these. I want you to be able to take your insights from this episode - first give yourself time for insights to really reflect on things, and then be able to take these insights into your real life. As always, feel free to journal on these, talk to yourself out loud about them, ponder them as you go for a walk...whatever works best for you. I like journaling because it keeps me more focused, but that’s me. 

Here are a few things to reflect on around today’s topic:

• When do you feel most connected to your intuition? Is it a certain time of day? While you’re doing a certain activity? When you’re by yourself? 

• How can you invite more of that into your life? For example, if you also feel connected to your intuition while you’re making art, can you make more time for art in your daily life? 

• Once you’ve identified what you want to invite more of into your life, what support do you need to make that happen? If you want to make more art, what do you need in terms of your space, your community, your people, your schedule in order to make that a reality? 

That’s all I wanted to share for today’s episode - I hope it was helpful and if you got something out of it, I would love if you took a few moments to leave a rating and review, or send it to someone who might enjoy it too. I look forward to talking to you again soon, and in the meantime - remember to never wear boring socks.