Emerging from the New Year’s Lull

I am considering how to emerge from the “Lull”. I’ve been working on so much behind the scenes and in my head. Caught up in the doing and not the showing and telling. Coming to terms with, acknowledging, establishing, understanding, and claiming my inner and outer worlds.

I always struggle with what is important enough or necessary enough to share. I would tell you anything but where to start? Where to put your attention and my energy?

The answer is somewhere, anywhere. Because if you wait until you create the perfect online plan or platform to start, you’ll have waited too long. It’ll be 5 years from now and you’ll regret every painful moment that’s passed as you allowed fear to make your living choices for you.

Kick him right out of the driver’s seat, thank him for his input, tell him you’ll take his alarming edicts into consideration, and speed down the woman’s way highway. So this is me putting some metal down.

I’ve got #OurCreativeJanuary wrapping up. I’ll be starting The 100 Day Project on January 31^st. See the100dayproject.org for more information or reference this blog post.

I’m taking a break from aiding my Mom because frankly her lack of gratitude and perpetual pushing away began to feel abusive. I’ve been expected to show up for her all of my life by both of us. Maybe I don’t need to be so swell.

The word has just come in that my daughter is going back to school next week so this provides a huge relief in terms of space and quiet for me to create. She’s still my hat at home.

And I’ve begun a weight loss journey to bring myself back to a place I recognize and admire myself. Using some different psychological techniques via Noom and it’s OK.

I am also committing to showing up on my blog every Tuesday as I still am working on my blog revamp. I feel like it needs to have a soft launch by March 1^st. We’ll now see won’t we? I am intending to come back to posting Tuesdays and Fridays here again . Have begun to warm my engine up.

Interested in reading my future ponderings on Creative Soul Living? Subscribe, via the subscription box in the sidebar, to my weekly posts via your emailbox.

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I am a community kinda person and am always practicing Intentional Intouchness.

I live for conversations.

And, as always, Thanks to you for your visit.

Screw the Results, Get Caught up in the creative Process

In the midst of this creativity Challenge , #OurCreativeJanuary , and I recognize what my purpose in life is. It’s to not only keep creating something, anything, but to insist that everyone else needs to too. Not for the credit or the compliments on how perfectly you’ve done it, but how lovely it feels to be in process in community. I say screw the results, get caught up in the process.

We all need to create, even if we don’t call it that. And sharing what we create makes the process feel even better. I am convinced that in order to increase your confidence in anything, you not only need to do it, but you need an audience. Especially one that is right there doing the same thing with you. Who understands your fears and is enthusiastic when you make a breakthrough.

Why Wouldn’t you do everything this way?

You don’t have to be an artist to make,

you just need to make to be a maker.

Trick is to make sure that you feel as safe as you can when you do share. Not sharing is miserable and sharing on Facebook may not be advisable if your feed isn’t locked down. Safety is very important.

I feel safe on Instagram. I never get harassed and I have the option of deleting any spam comments on my feed. But more so, when we share our work with the same hashtag, we can visit one another and swoon over our combined creative efforts. People with similar interests just seem to find each other there.

And on Instagram is where I’ll be posting my creative endeavors for the next three months plus via #the100dayproject hashtag.

It’s a project I never thought I’d be able to finish and now I’ve done it three times.

Find the wrap up of the 2018 100 Day Project Here.

Find the wrap up of the 2019 100 Day Project Here.

Find the wrap up of the 2020 100 Day Project Here.

And on January 31st, consider joining me for the 100 Day Project.

Go here to see what this is all about.

Interested in reading my future ponderings on Creative Soul Living? Subscribe, via the subscription box in the sidebar, to my weekly posts via your emailbox.

Find me on Instagram to see my daily pictures,

friend me or like my page on Facebook.

Or come find me on Twitter or Pinterest too.

I am a community kinda person and am always practicing Intentional Intouchness.

I live for conversations.

And, as always, Thanks to you for your visit.

Our Creative January Challenge for 2021

Announcing an Our Creative January Challenge to start off 2021 on the creative right foot . A creative community challenge I am hosting on Instagram.

Since 2017, l’ve dared to host #ourcreativeselves community projects and #Soul_selfie challenges. As l continue to emerge from my creative and low self-esteem shells, these challenges have given voice to both my creative and soul searching selves and my communities.

I forget this. I forget myself. Often. So this coming year, l want to remember myself and engage in more community challenges.

Because they’re fun.

Because l enjoy playing with like-minded people.

Because this will help heal our collective souls.

If you’d like to, join me in #OurCreativeJanuary IG project. Using this hashtag and the #ourcreativeselves tag, we’ll post pictures on Instagram of whatever we’ve created. Post them daily, bi-weekly, or weekly and see what others have created. Create with words, collage, paint, music, clay, food, or a new vignette in your house. If you like, tag me in the post too @shalaghhogan . And for the rest of the year, I’ll be joining Nina Spolar for #my52in2021 and #createtoconnect to post creative endeavors and stay connected with #Ourcreativeselves people.

Interested in reading my future ponderings on Creative Soul Living?Subscribe, via the subscription box in the sidebar, to my weekly posts via your emailbox.

Find me on Instagram to see my daily pictures,

friend me or like my page on Facebook.

Or come find me on Twitter or Pinterest too.

I am a community kinda person and am always practicing Intentional Intouchness.

I live for conversations.

And, as always, Thanks to you for your visit.

Mood Clouds

More than a few people have spoken of feeling down recently. How quickly l went to questioning the weather or politics as the cause not even knowing their circumstances.

Because, what if up and down is our natural rhythm? And we all have perpetual memory loss that this is our way?

What if it’s as simple as perspective, a random change inside as if the sun is behind the clouds. And then it isn’t. What if we spend less time worrying the sun is gone and more time manifesting that sunlight within?

How would you conjure your sun on a dark dreary day? Music, laughter, puzzle assembly, or baking? A talk with an old friend, looking through a picture album, or going for a walk?

And then remember your answer when your mood clouds start to move in.

Interested in reading my future ponderings on Creative Soul Living?Subscribe, via the subscription box in the sidebar, to my weekly posts via your emailbox.

Find me on Instagram to see my daily pictures,

friend me or like my page on Facebook.

Or come find me on Twitter or Pinterest too.

I am a community kinda person and am always practicing Intentional Intouchness.

I live for conversations.

And, as always, Thanks to you for your visit.

What Low Self-Worth and Capitalism are Causing You to Do

We live in a society where lack of self-worth has become an epidemic. Low self-esteem is the new black. Most of us have come to believe in our inherent worthless and how we have to work hard, be successful, popular, attractive, healthy, wealthy, and be in control to earn worth.

When we were babies, we knew our worth. All that adulation was as it should be. But as we grow up, we become unaware of our true, unlimited worth. We forgot? It was systematically drained from us as we grew.

“The world is too much with us; late and soon,
Getting and spending we lay waste our powers;
Little we see in Nature that is ours;
We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon! ”

– William Wordsworth –

We’re convinced that in order to regain this worth, we not only have to earn it, we have to buy it. Our cars and our houses and our children’s accomplishments are proof of our worth. What you believe in me has now become my unobtainable goal.

Capitalism has become our new religion and we’ve sacrificed our selves.

Just a reminder for the next time you are feeling unworthy; reach in your heart and remember everyone has equal worth on this planet when they were born. And somehow, that truly doesn’t diminish. And if after you have reminded yourself of this, you still need a little shopping therapy at Target, so be it.

Interested in reading my future ponderings on Creative Soul Living?Subscribe, via the subscription box in the sidebar, to my weekly posts via your emailbox.

Find me on Instagram to see my daily pictures,

friend me or like my page on Facebook.

Or come find me on Twitter or Pinterest too.

I am a community kinda person and am always practicing Intentional Intouchness.

I live for conversations.

And, as always, Thanks to you for your visit.