Our creativity is the source of our vitality, but if we don't feel good, we can't create.
Author and coach Cynthia Morris shares a behind the scenes look at what it took to bring her creativity to its full force in 2013. A unique annual review.
2. TABLE OF CONTENTS
Adopt & adapt
What we really need to be creative stars
Year of the spirit
Dropping a lifelong habit
The one thing tweak that changed everything
The foundation of happiness
First year in my own art school - how did I do?
Hitting refresh on my writing
and failed experiments
How to let go in business
Art school year two
Nothing happens without support
Writing a new ending
Satisfied with 2013
Original Impulse offers for your 2014
Resources to fuel your creativity
4. ADOPT & ADAPT
We watch movies, read stories, and listen to music partly as a way
to reflect upon our own inner experience. Perhaps we unconsciously think, ‘what’s my version of that?’
I’m writing this annual report for you because I want to share
some of what has happened behind the scenes this year with me
and Original Impulse.
My hope is that this will inspire you and
will give you some ideas and pointers
toward your own best year next year.
That my honesty and sharing will help
you align with parts of yourself that
have been tucked away and hidden for
too long.
Why not have best practices for individuals?
It’s helpful for me to do the same process. I’m on a growth path,
and I want to have the best experience I can on this planet. That’s
why I do what I do - help creative people enjoy their talents and
their lives, their way.
No matter how
the same experience
plays out for others we get to do it our way.
I’ve never written a document like this,
and once the idea came to me, I got
very excited about it. I was excited
about writing something longer than a
300-word blog post. Mostly I was excited about sharing more of
myself than I want to share on a blog post.
It’s a good idea for business owners to assess the year. To see
what worked, what didn’t, and to strategize for next year.
Why share this with you? I don’t believe in prescriptive advice. My way
won’t be your way, so don’t read this
and think you need to do things the
way I have. Adopt and adapt your
own processes, geared to your own
vitality. Maybe the surprises I experienced will surprise you, too. Maybe
we have shared some experiences.
My hope is that my story inspires your
creative vitality. In this annual report,
you’ll hear about the one surprising
thing that changed everything. I’ll share resources that guided me
toward my best self. Peek behind the scenes of my own creative
process and see what I have in store for you in 2014.
Welcome to my world, and thanks for reading.
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6. WHAT WE REALLY NEED TO BE CREATIVE STARS
Your creativity is the source of your vitality.
But without your vital energy, you cannot
create.
It seems that the most creative and happy people are those who
have a high level of overall health. Sure, we know the myth of the
‘wasted artist’ - the drunken, drug-addled genius who accesses
his brilliance through extreme situations. But I believe that’s being replaced with the notion that the more clear you are mentally,
emotionally and physically, the better your output.
The challenges of the creative life - inability to focus, difficulty
finishing projects, fear, lack of confidence, lack of skills - are all directly influenced by the state of our mental, emotional and physical health.
This is at the core of my coaching work. People often think I am
a coach who gets into a client’s manuscript with her, editing and
suggesting better ways to write.
No. My work with my clients goes much deeper than that. Writers
are not just hands and brains connected by a pen. A writer - or
any artist - is an amalgamation of all the influences in her life. Her
relationships, her home, her other obligations and activities all exert a direct and powerful influence on her ability to create.
It is my honor and pleasure to help people align with all the forces
in their lives so they can do their most creative work.
Only by honoring our
physical, emotional and
social needs are we able to
do our best work.
It is my duty and my pleasure to do that work myself, to walk my
talk. This report shares the challenges I’ve faced this year as I’ve
sought my own alignment.
WHAT ABOUT YOU?
The ‘What About You’ part of this review will offer my power tools
- my coaching inquiries - for your use when considering your own
life and practices.
• Have you done your own annual review, reflecting on the things
you were trying to achieve and how you want to live your life?
• Your annual review may include an assessment of goal
achievement, of your focus, your practices. I’ll share
resources later for different ways to do an annual review.
• You can also use each of my sections as areas
in your life to review.
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8. YEAR OF THE SPIRIT
After the abundant madness that was 2012, I knew that 2013
would be entirely different. I just didn’t know how.
Why did I decide to devote this year to my own personal health
and well-being? A friend asked me if I always do this much. I
laughed. This is my life: to optimize my experience as much as I
can so I can create the best work possible. Clearing away the external a nd internal debris is part of the process.
When we set out to create our best life, there are two main areas
of work: the external and the internal.
EXTERNAL: To write a
book or make art, we
get our subject matter
and materials in order.
We set up our schedule
and space and get to
work.
interior through the exterior.
Other things motivated me to feel better in my skin and in my
days. My novel, Chasing Sylvia Beach had come out in 2012. This
major project had taken a huge chunk of my life. Original Impulse
was thriving and I was surrounded by people I love and who love
me. But underneath, I wasn’t content.
So I dedicated 2013 to me - Cynthia. Not the coach, or the author,
or the artist, but the person. This was the year to dig deep and
respond to what my spirit wanted.
A big challenge we face: how to tend to our
spirit alongside our other responsibilities.
In my fantasy world, I’d bop
off to Greece or Hawaii and
spend 6-12 months zenning
out with my navel gazing
and getting the kind of clarity that comes from uninterrupted silence.
INTERNAL: Along the way we encounter our belief system,
our values, our fears and our limitations.
Do you have these escape fantasies, where you imagine stepping
off the wheel of life to gain space and clarity?
Typically, we go for the external tweaks. If we can make order of
our world, we can achieve success. But I’ve learned that the external is only as strong as the internal. In recent years, as I launched
my novel, I was focused on the external, managing the internal as
the need arose.
But as a woman of the world with a business to run, and clients I
care about deeply, it was a time to stay put.
This year, I knew that to be the happy, healthy person I want to be,
I had to spend more time on the internal. Ironically, we get to the
WHAT ABOUT YOU?
• What would help you be the most vibrant, happy person
you want to be?
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10. DROPPING A LIFELONG HABIT
As a student in France, my host mother pegged me right away:
You’re a gourmand, she told me. This launched a discussion about
the difference between gourmand and gourmet. I don’t think I
quite understood, but a gourmand is someone who loves to eat.
Zoom forward to last year. Standing in line for gelato in Paris with
a French friend, I asked him what ‘gourmand’ meant. The women
in front of us visibly recoiled, and he looked away in embarrassment. Later, I pressed him.
It’s, well, uh…a bit of a voracious type..
Yes, with food, I said. I love food!
Um, and well…sexually, too. It’s a word
used to describe someone who would,
er, eat her lover alive.
I’ve gone to therapy, worked with health care practitioners, read
books, done yoga, recited affirmations.
The solutions I tried helped, but I still felt down on a regular basis.
My intuition told me it was something I was eating. After ignoring that sense for a long time, this year I decided to make some
changes to my gourmand lifestyle.
Strong emotions often accompany
the creative person throughout
her life. How to experience and
express the depth and range of
feeling, and enjoy life too?
Ah, the joys of learning the nuances of
another culture and its language. Well.
I don’t know if I’d agree with that definition, but I would admit that I love to eat and drink.
You may already know this: food and beverages are some of my
greatest passions. Thinking about food. Planning to cook food.
Making elaborate meals for friends. Eating, drinking and enjoying
the life of the gourmand. Drawing and painting food, even.
You may not know this: I can veer toward the down side of the
smiley face. I wouldn’t call myself depressed but I wouldn’t say
happy either. I have battled with mood swings for a long time.
Alcohol was an obvious suspect. A
known depressant, perhaps this regular habit was the pendulum upon
which my moods swung.
Where I grew up in Ohio, alcohol
was just part of the equation. You
drank, and you drank a lot. The more
you drank, the better you were. The
games we played in high school and
college hinged on being able to consume copious amounts of alcohol.
It takes a new norm to replace the old norm. As a participant in
the Good Life Project, I was surrounded by new friends who did
not drink.
In Chicago in January, my niece and I were chatting one day. She
doesn’t drink alcohol. I told her I was thinking of quitting. Leaving
Chicago, I realized that I needed to commit to the change. Integrity is an important value for me, so I felt it was time to step up.
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11. DROPPING A LIFELONG HABIT
What if it were easier than we
think? What if we allowed our own
experience to unroll?
So I took the plunge to change a life-long habit. I had my last
drink(s) on February 13, 2013. Am I a better person for it? I don’t
know. What’s shocking is how easy it has been.
Quitting drinking has been the easiest thing I have ever done.
Sure, there are times when I want a drink - usually after an intense
work experience like speaking or being with a group. Sure, I miss
the culture of drinking. Knowing about wine and beer and whisky
is fun. Certain drinks reflect a place - French wine, Scottish and
Irish whisky, Colorado and Oregon beer are part of what make
being in those places special.
But oddly, I don’t miss it. I don’t miss the extra calories and the extra sugar in my body. I don’t feel left out when I am with my friends
and they are drinking. Even at the 99U conference after party at
MOMA in NYC, with a full and free bar, I wasn’t tempted.
I knew that alcohol was a way to cope with social anxiety. Alcohol has helped me deal with being a sensitive person in loud and
intimidating environments. But I don’t need alcohol to be okay in
social settings, and I certainly don’t need it at home alone at night.
It’s an experiment, an awareness practice. The thing that helped
me quit drinking was thinking of it as a self-care and self-love experiment instead of a restriction or a punishment.
I’m no stranger to the struggle we face when trying to change an
entrenched habit. It’s not easy to shift. I tell you that this was easy
and continues to be easy because it still shocks me. Sometimes
when we face a change, we make the actual process of it more
difficult by padding it with a lot of mental and emotional churn.
There are plenty of things that are difficult for me and it feels like
a miracle that this one isn’t.
Who knows how long I’ll go without drinking. Maybe the rest of
my life. Maybe the whole year. To me it matters less that I adhere
to an alcohol-free life. What’s important is that I can, and that I am
at choice for the first time ever.
WHAT ABOUT YOU?
• Is there a lifelong habit that you’d like to change?
• What would you like to be at choice about?
• What if making a major change weren’t as difficult
as you may have imagined?
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13. THE ONE TWEAK THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING
I still had my mood swings, though, and I was still on a quest to
feel better.
Regarding food, I always considered myself a healthy eater. I make
most of my own meals and eat mostly vegetarian. Tons of vegetables.
Back in 2007, my acupuncturist recommended that I stop consuming gluten and dairy. I thought this was just her schtick - in Boulder,
everyone is told to go gluten-free. I brushed off this advice.
But this year, when she said that gluten was affecting my mood, I
paid attention. If it was the culprit for being Debbie Downer, I was
willing to experiment with it.
So gluten didn’t make any appearances at home. When I
‘treated myself’ while out with
friends - pizza or a veggie burger
- the impact was immediately
apparent.
about things. I don’t feel depressed for no reason.
Now, I feel happy for no reason. I’m so grateful.
I never wanted to be that gluten-free person in a restaurant. I
never wanted to live with this kind of restriction. This puts a real
crimp on my gourmand ways.
But I’d rather be that person living GF than that person living a
wonderful life but feeling down all the time. I try not to convince
everyone I know to try this experiment because I don’t want to
be that person thinking she know’s what’s right for others. The
changes have been so radical in my mood, it’s stunning.
If only I had listened to this advice earlier.
Timing is everything, and we change when we’re ready.
The next day, I would wake feeling hung over. A nearly physical pull of sadness, down-ness overtook me. Even on days when I was excited about my plans, this
downward tug colored everything.
WHAT ABOUT YOU?
That clinched it. ‘Treating myself’ to gluten was no treat. Since
September, I’ve not had gluten.
• What does your intuition tell you is no longer serving you?
Voila! Happy Cynthia! I feel SO much better, it’s incredible. I’m not
perfect, and I don’t have everything I want in life. But I’m not down
• More importantly, how much longer can you afford
to ignore this?
• What food or drink have you outgrown?
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15. THE FOUNDATION OF HAPPINESS: MY BEST PRACTICES
Businesses have ‘best practices’ - ritualized activities that lead to
optimal performance. Why not have best practices for individuals?
Several practices already serve me well, but this year I added
more. My practices became less ‘shoulds’ and more a way to honor my spirit and fuel my creativity.
How you frame your actions is important as
how you do them.
My practices have become the source of my happiness instead of
big, exciting moments in life.
Recognizing the gifts in daily actions fuels bigger wins.
Back on the courts
As a girl child, playing tennis was total joy for me. My friend Margy
and I would bike to the high school tennis courts after dinner and
play game after game.
But as I grew up, tennis faded away. It’s difficult to find players.
This summer, I determined that it would be different.
I joined a ‘ladder’, where you get a list of names and contact info
for people who play at your level. I played in the summer and fall
ladders, and had a blast.
energy and verve
I had. I attributed
this to quitting
drinking alcohol
and instead, drinking green drinks.
It was powerful to
feel and see my
sacrifices paying
off.
Doing things as an act of
devotion and self-respect is
a more powerful frame
than doing things because
they are ‘good for me’.
In both cycles, I
played more matches than anyone. Game scores were posted on
the web site and this triggered my competitive nature. Luckily for
me and my ego, I always won as many games as I lost.
True wins:
Meeting new friends
Running around after a ball
Managing the mental and emotional game Being outside
Feeling my full physicality
Seeing improvement over five months
WHAT ABOUT YOU?
• Is there a physical activity you’d like to get back into your life?
• What would bring you this much joy?
• What first step can you take to get that going
sooner rather than later?
The best thing about getting on the court was realizing how much
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16. THE FOUNDATION OF HAPPINESS: MY BEST PRACTICES
Ommm…
WHAT ABOUT YOU?
It seems like everyone was recommending that I meditate, but it
wasn’t until fellow GLP friend Kelly Newsome framed it as a ‘stillness practice’ that I was able to take to the cushion in a committed way.
• Is a stillness practice calling you?
Mediation began on November 6th, 2012. With guidance from
Susan Piver, I began sitting for 10 minutes every morning. Then
after a few months I upped it to 15 minutes.
The goal is to sit. Not to be all quiet and Buddha-like. Not to tame
my thoughts. Just to sit.
Over the course of a year, my thought pattern became more apparent to me. There are a LOT of people in my space, my field, my
energy, whatever you call it. When I notice this, I am able to drop
thoughts of them and open to myself and to my guides.
Is this making me a calmer, better person?
I don’t know. I don’t need to know.
A regular practice builds self-trust and self-respect.
Whether it’s meditating or drawing or writing - to generate more
self-love and confidence in your life, get a practice.
• How could you start small?
Yoga practice endures…yawn
I am in my eighteenth year of practicing yoga. Every year I celebrate February 22nd, the day I first picked up yoga in 1996. I know
the date because I wrote about it in my journal.
My practice continues to hold me and challenge me. Fortunately,
I have access to a studio where I can go to class 4-5 times a week
with teachers I respect. Paying at the beginning of the month for
unlimited yoga is like making one financial decision instead of a
daily decision. Paying up front saves me money and helps hold me
accountable for showing up.
It seems odd to mention this practice. There’s no change, no drama, no big whoop. But reliable and trusted practices deserve a
mention, too. Don’t fix what’s not broken.
WHAT ABOUT YOU?
• What practice continues to serve you and your life?
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17. THE FOUNDATION OF HAPPINESS: MY BEST PRACTICES
My begrudging gratitude practice
Gratitude is a good thing, and I regularly express thanks when it
was due.
But the ‘gratitude practice’ of daily writing down all the things
you’re
grateful
for - I resisted.
Perhaps it was
because Oprah
Our internal circumstances
encouraged it and
play a huge role in our quest
anything Oprah
for happiness.
recommended
seemed too mainstream for me.
Perhaps it was because everyone touted keeping a gratitude journal and I didn’t
want to be like everyone else.
I have a rebellious streak in me, and for that I am grateful.
Last year, positive psychology training was part of the Good Life
Project. We were taught to keep an eye on our mindset through
various practices, including, yes, a gratitude practice.
Grumpily, I tried it. It worked, and for awhile, I did feel happier.
Then I stopped, and my happiness slumped.
This summer, I resumed the gratitude practice.
But every practice has to actually fit into our lifestyle, or it won’t
work. This ‘adopt and adapt’ approach is what I do with my clients
- help them sort out the right combination for them.
I finally found something that worked for me - a special Jill Bliss
journal by my bedside. Every night five things I am grateful for go
on the list. It’s mysterious, but I this practice seems to make a difference in my day-to-day well being.
I feel and express gratitude throughout the day, but writing things
down somehow solidifies them. This is one practice I encourage
everyone to do - write things down.
Write down what you want, what you want to feel, what you want
to do with your life.
Putting our dreams into ink is one big step toward making them
real.
WHAT ABOUT YOU?
• Have you tried a gratitude practice?
• What results have you seen?
Shifting to a new start
My old way: Get up, get coffee, get to work.
New way: Get up, meditate, draw daily tarot and angel card. Make
tea or coffee, journal. This approach allows me to calmly and
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18. THE FOUNDATION OF HAPPINESS: MY BEST PRACTICES
clearly start the day. Replacing urgency with calm impacts the entire day in a completely positive way.
The culmination of these morning rituals sets the way I want to be
throughout the day.
I almost forgot to mention some of the results of all these practices. Since February, I have lost 15 pounds. I feel great about my
body for the first time in…maybe ever. As I accept the signs of
aging, I also feel stronger and healthier than ever. For this, I am
grateful.
WHAT ABOUT YOU?
• What practices have kept you going all these years?
• What new practices might you adopt to serve your spirit
and your creativity?
• How can you adopt and adapt them for your own
needs and style?
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20. FIRST YEAR IN MY ART SCHOOL - HOW DID I DO?
Art has been bubbling up inside me for a long time. My illustrated
journals have been a way to dip a toe into the world of line and
color. My creativity workshops that I lead in France and elsewhere
have been an inspiration for me and others.
Even more structure seemed necessary, so I gave myself some
challenges. In January, I went to Paris for my novel. Before I left,
I pre-sold 17 paintings, Paris stories that I would experience and
capture visually and in words.
But I wanted
more for my
art. Often we
start with a desired outcome
or goal. But my
outcome for
my art wasn’t
clear.
In Paris, I rented an apartment in Montmartre. One day I was wandering the quiet back streets of this sweet neighborhood, loving
every minute. Then I came upon an artist’s studio. Through the
wide windows, I saw her inside, her brushes, her watercolors, her
mug of tea. Staring for a long time, I was like a child full of desire.
So instead of a
goal, I decided
to have an area
of focus. Building skills would be my first step, and the focus for my year. My
overarching structure was to make and show my art on the Original Impulse blog every Friday.
So I indulged that desire. Back inside, I put the kettle on for tea. I
tuned into a design podcast and set to work on my paintings.
Yet more structure was needed. As someone who loves school, I
decided to design my own art school curriculum. The courses of
study would include drawing, watercolor painting and hand lettering.
Friday saw me doing exactly the same thing. A rainy day was the
perfect invitation to make art all day long.
The practice of play
in a journal can help
others feel more whole
and more creatively
fresh.
I wrote about my art school plans on the OI blog in January.
I wanted that. I wanted to be in a studio in Montmartre painting.
Walking away, I realized I had a studio in Montmartre. In my own
apartment, I could paint all day if I wanted to.
Hours passed. At first, a twinge of guilt infiltrated my process. I
was in PARIS and I should be out there exploring and soaking up
the city. But the guilt didn’t last long. I was in PARIS and I was doing exactly what I wanted.
Those two days stand out among my favorite moments of the year.
The Paris painting project was one of the best things I did with my
art. I worked hard, I had fun writing the stories, and I loved shipping the paintings out to buyers.
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21. FIRST YEAR IN MY ART SCHOOL - HOW DID I DO?
Another art series challenge
Classes, buddies and mentors, oh my!
Every summer, I sign up for a Community Supported Agriculture
share with Pastures of Plenty farm, outside Boulder.
In the course of my first year of art school, I also took classes. Online classes are a great way to build skills and meet like-minded
people from all around the world.
This is a weekly bounty of greens, vegetables and two bouquets
of gorgeous flowers. The flowers are stunning and the abundance
I feel from this farm share is a true pleasure.
The point of
a challenge it pushes you
beyond what you
think you can do.
The idea came to me to do
a painting of each week’s
share. Eighteen weeks of
painting greens and flowers
would be good practice, I
thought.
It was great practice and it
wasn’t always easy.
To see the weekly illustrations, visit my online art
gallery.
WHAT ABOUT YOU?
• Creative Courage with Stephanie Levy
• Jane LaFazio watercolor class
• Seattle Urban sketching class
• Online Skillshare classes:
Map Making class
Calligraphy class
Hand Lettering Class
Every month I met with my friend and journaling buddy Marty
Gregg to talk about art and to glean insights into design, color and
form. We both love these energizing meetings.
This summer I began working with Marianne Mitchell, an abstract
painter and colorist who mentors artists one-one. These sessions
have been valuable to me to understand color mixing and composition. I’m seeing art and my work in a whole new light.
I also befriended artists Jill Berry and Danny Gregory, both of
whom I admire and who gave me insight into my art making.
• What structure and challenges have you created
around your art or writing?
• How did it go?
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22. FIRST YEAR IN MY ART SCHOOL - HOW DID I DO?
I feel like I accomplished what I set out to this year - to make
a lot of art, to show it, and to learn in the process. In addition
to the challenges, I also filled 10 notebooks with line and color
and words. I’ve completed my freshman year of art school and am
ready to move to sophomore year.
WHAT ABOUT YOU?
• What did you devote to your art or writing this year?
• How satisfied are you with the results?
The grade I gave myself? B-.
I knew my gremlin would be the one giving the grade, so I went
back to the beginning when I designed my curriculum. What would
it take to earn an A?
Three things comprised an A:
• consistent practice
• consistent completion
• visible progress.
Did I meet these criteria? Yes. So, while part of me will always see
room for improvement, another part of me is very happy to have
earned my A.
At the end of this report, I’ll share my plans for art school year
two.
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24. HITTING ‘REFRESH’ ON MY WRITING & FAILED EXPERIMENTS
You set out to try
something and
you realize pretty
quickly that you’re
on the wrong path.
Confession: At the beginning of this year, I felt
completely tapped out
with writing. It felt like
the end of a cycle. I’d
spent the last 13 years
entrenched in writing a
historical novel about
a real person.
I’d also spent the last 13
years writing authoritystyle how-to articles
for my blog and newsletter. I’d published six e-books and one
book in the field of creativity. I also wrote a series sharing my
perspectives on how to write a book.
What else was there to say about how to get your creative work
done?
I’d begun to chafe against the authority blogging style: short, howto articles that people could grab and gobble. This kind of fast
food writing had started to feel disingenuous. I wanted to write
more deeply.
So I tried to do something different with my blog - a visual blog.
I did a couple of illustrated articles, trying to take the concepts I
was writing about and present them in a visual form.
I was never very satisfied with these and they took a long time to
do, and I pretty quickly reverted back to my ‘authority’ blogging.
Has this happened to you?
This also happened in the arena of graphic capture. At recent
World Domination Summits, I had filled notebooks with colorful
notes based on the presentations of the speakers. I loved doing
these and showing these. I had the privilege of sitting in on a day
of GLP TV interviews in Boulder with Jonathan where I captured
the interviews in color and text blocks, and posted them on my
site.
Again I was dissatisfied with the results. I knew they could be better. I investigated courses in graphic capture and quickly realized
that I didn’t want to spend the time and energy required to improve in this arena.
I was relieved to tick these potential pathways off the list. Without
that, I could focus on what I really love doing: watercolor illustrations of the things I love. Hand lettering.
Failed experiments free us and teach us.
I have some ideas
about things to share
with my readers in
2014, both new content and new ways to
share it. More experiments on the horizon,
always with the intention of helping creative people do their best work.
Failed experiments
free us and teach us.
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25. HITTING ‘REFRESH’ ON MY WRITING & FAILED EXPERIMENTS
• What experiments have you tried?
I have much more understanding and compassion for myself as a
result of this class. I don’t know whether I will continue on writing
those stories. It was important that I was doing it for me and not
for readers.
• What helped you realize you didn’t want to continue
down those paths?
I can use what I learned in the class to write other things and to
strengthen my writing overall.
WHAT ABOUT YOU?
Personal writing as a healing path
I’ve been in the writing world for 20 years, and I’ve always known
how writing can be a method of transformation, healing and
growth. Taking a memoir class in Denver allowed me to feel this
again for myself.
Know who you’re
doing it for and why.
My blog about my
year as a nomad, Journey Juju, was popular
and I have more to
tell about my life in Portugal and my adventures around Europe.
The class was only four weeks long, but during that time I gained
a lot of insight and compassion for myself. Ways of thinking about
story helped me to reconcile with the choices I made and the
person I was in 2008:
WHAT ABOUT YOU?
• Have you used art or writing as a practice for personal
growth or empowerment this year?
• What did you learn about yourself?
How’s the novel going? Well, er...
At the beginning of the year I traveled to Paris, Chicago and Milwaukee to speak about my novel. Originally I had wanted to do a
lot of speaking and touring around the book. But my then-mentor
Jonathan helped me see that I had finite bandwidth, or energy.
He knew that I wanted to turn my creative energy toward art making and toward Capture the Wow. It took a lot for me to let the
novel go.
• looking for the emotional story under the facts of the story
• seeing myself as a character
• looking at how pivotal moments lead to one another.
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26. HITTING ‘REFRESH’ ON MY WRITING & FAILED EXPERIMENTS
This was hard, hard, hard to let go of. The book was a success - I
finished it, published it, people read it and love it. But it wasn’t
a raging success, the kind of success that changes your life totally. No phone call from Oprah. No
movie deal or second book in the
series deal. Like every creative
person that puts something out
into the world, I had to deal with
the reality of the project.
The book is part of me and always will be. When I think about the
story, I smile inside. Now separated from the work it took to bring
it to life, I can say that I like the
story. I think it’s good. I get a lot
of good feedback about it from
readers and that makes me happy.
Letting go of old projects to
focus on new ones is a skill to
cultivate.
To help, I worked with my coach.
I got therapy and did journaling
to help feel complete with the
book. Finally, I felt ready to let
go. I had put my other creative
projects on the back burner for
this book for 12 years, and it was
time to move the project to the
back burner.
We’re so invested in ‘sunk
costs’ that we fail to see that
our vital creative energy is
sinking.
I made this decision in February, but it wasn’t until September
that I fully realized that I could devote myself to any creative project I wanted.
When people ask “How’s the
book?” I don’t really have an answer. Every month I get royalty
checks from Amazon and Lightning Source. I recently sold copies I had on hand and enjoyed
signing, wrapping and shipping
the books.
People ask if there’s a sequel,
because frankly, I wrote it to
have that impact - to leave the
reader wanting to stay with the
character on her next adventure. But I don’t have any plans to write
a sequel at this time.
People ask where to buy the book: here and here.
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28. HOW TO LET GO IN BUSINESS
People like me - creative entrepreneurs - are always seeking to
improve and seeking to change. In early 2012, I applied for and
was accepted in the Good Life Project Immersion - investing
more than three times the amount I was comfortable with - to
make positive changes in my business.
During one of our GLP base camps, I showed a map I’d drawn of
my business operatives. It included all the things on it that I do for
money, with what I call a income heat
map of where the most income was.
If you are in business, you consider doing an income heat map. Map your income streams on a blank piece of paper.
Earlier this year, Jonathan hired three coaches to help him with
the 2013 GLP immersion program. I was thrilled and honored to
be one of those coaches.
Being a GLP coach served me in many ways. In a snap, I had new
clients, filling my coaching practice. Being part of the program as
a faculty member felt great. I continued to glean learning about
how to live my own good life.
Capture the Wow
Building something always
means letting something go.
There will be more $$ (or £, €, ¥, ) where
you make the most money.
When she saw my map, amazing coach Karen Wright asked me
what my three favorite things were. It was easy to answer: oneone coaching, group facilitating, and speaking.
She told me to drop everything but those three things. It wasn’t
easy, but I went home and made plans to stop selling my e-books.
I leaned into my client work, did a major tune-up of my web site,
integrated new systems and clarified my ideal client.
It took time, but it worked. A year later, I see clearly the positive impact of focusing my energies. It was hard to let go of some
things, but now the work I do best takes the bulk of my time and
makes me the most income. Slowly but surely, I am moving into my
Genius Zone.
I launched Capture the Wow this summer, with a fun online scavenger hunt.
We made a new web site and re-named
my creativity excursions.
Big plans for building out this brand were in the works. But when I
worked with my mastermind partner Lisa Sonora Beam, I realized
I needed to focus.
I’m placing my emphasis on other things for 2014, and while we’ll
still do Capture the Wow excursions and scavenger hunts, I won’t
be putting as much time into other elements as I thought.
WHAT ABOUT YOU?
• What’s taking space in your work life?
• What will help let it go?
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30. ART SCHOOL YEAR TWO
Art school year one, done. Year two, here I come! We’ve got much of the same subject matter, but I see going to the next level.
Cynthia’s Art School, Year Two Course of Study
Drawing 202: People
Practice: contour drawing
people sketching on metro - book
Denver sketches with Marty
Play with spot illustrations
Drawing 203: Pattern
It’s really fun to design my own curriculum, taking into account what I want to learn and what I need to learn to
advance as an artist.
HOW ABOUT YOU?
• What are you studying in 2014 and how can you
put some structure around it?
Practice: architectural drawing, thumbnail sketches, detail, tracing
Sketch crawls
Drawing 300: Visual Narrative
Practice: pair words and images to tell a story
Digital Sketching 100: using Paper app with Pencil stylus
Digital : Photoshop 100
Color 300: Color Theory and Practice
Practice: Study with Marianne
Interaction of Color app
Pantone color cards
Hand lettering 200: Skill building (composition, spacing, borders, digitizing)
Practice: Sean Wes lettering course
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32. NOTHING HAPPENS WITHOUT SUPPORT
My team/allies/mastermind partners
Without my team, I’d be nowhere. From mastermind partners to my web mistress to my assistant and my graphic designer, Original Impulse is much more than just me.
A huge bow of thanks and respect to the following luminaries who light my path:
My mastermind partners: Jennifer Boykin, Karen Wright, Kristoffer Carter, Alyson Stanfield, Mary Ellen Merrigan, Lisa Sonora Beam,
Marianne Mitchell and Marty Gregg.
Coach extraordinaire Kathy Loh, web mistress and newsletter goddess Patricia Velte, stellar assistant Ulli Lagler Peck, super designer
Kate Glover, super smart accountant Gretchen Reeves, amazing yoga teacher De West.
WHAT ABOUT YOU?
• Who is on your team?
• Who loves and challenges you to your greatest expression?
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34. WRITING A NEW ENDING
Until just a few days ago, this story had a different ending.
I had written the story of how I was leaving the comfort zone and
moving to Europe.
After all the
effort to bring
my inner state
to health and
happiness,
suddenly this
new opportunity dominated
my world. Every object in
my home was up for scrutiny - keep, shed, or take?
It is good to welcome
opportunities that cause
us to question our truth.
I’d decided to take this plunge because, well, why not? There were
a million things to consider, but because I could do something like
that, I should.
Yet I couldn’t pull myself away from the decision I’d made. No
other alternative presented itself in my imagination.
Making decisions can be excruciatingly difficult for creative people.
This decision was impossible for me to make. I turned to my Facebook friends, letting them know I was indecisive and asking not
what they would do, but how they make decisions.
The support was powerful. So many friends chimed in on how they
make decisions, from the über practical to the über out there. I
loved them all, and there were a handful that together coalesced
to help me drop my decision swirl.
Walking to meet a friend, I realized that my happiness had slipped
away. My equanimity was gone. Not that we can always achieve
that state, but the things we consume, the activities we engage
in and the people we surround ourselves by all contribute to our
well being. This situation felt like it was pulling me away from that.
But the stress of moving soon become unbearable. I won’t go into
details, but it finally dawned on me that I wasn’t experiencing normal anxiety in the face of major change. I simply wasn’t happy
about the change.
Tucking myself into bed that night, I tried two things:
The effort required to change wasn’t equal
or less than the perceived benefits of making
the change.
• I dropped my awareness into my belly to see how
it felt when I released the plan to move to France.
I did not share everyone else’s enthusiasm for me and my venture.
• I released all the people in my life and what I
perceived to be their opinions about me.
The result was immediate - total calm and peace. Total freedom
from thinking that I do not have to pack up my life in the middle of
winter and displace myself to another land.
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35. WRITING A NEW ENDING
The decision I’d agonized over was made in an instant, and it was
a true one. I also knew that it wasn’t either Denver or Paris, that
in 2014 I was going to do something entirely different. I also felt it
was important to not rush and tell everyone about my new plan.
That is the big lesson I am taking from
this whole cavalcade of whimsy - how
to really attune myself to my truth
and to operate from the most authentic place possible. I saw how much I
weigh the opinions of others, often
with more emphasis than my own happiness.
The emotional wave didn’t hit me until
about 24 hours after the decision. This
is usually true for me; I have a delayed
emotional reaction to most things.
I began crying and couldn’t stop. I lay
on the couch sobbing. But this time
I’d didn’t question myself or wonder
what, exactly, I was moaning about. I
let it come. Finally, I got up, cleaned
myself up, got dressed and went out
to a holiday party.
to decide between two things that to her mean she’s opting for
big or small. As I questioned my own choice, wondering if I were
playing small, I dropped that whole line of thinking. I didn’t need
to make up something about myself based on this decision. I only
needed to release judgment and be open in this phase of not
knowing.
How do we live our most
authentic truth while being in
deep relationship
with the world around us?
Creative adventure means
to dare to honor what is truly
true for me, and to live in the
most authentic way possible.
I returned home and sobbed some more. I wrote my name in
beautiful letters and stuck it on the mail box downstairs. I woke
up the next day and sobbed some more.
In my novel, my character Lily yearns to live a big life. She’s forced
Who knows what mystery is playing
out in my life right now? I’m one of
the most self-aware people I know.
Some would say too much! It’s my job
as a writer and coach to extrapolate
meaning and strive to be the best me
I can be.
But I know that no matter how much
we think and plan and try to construct
our ideal life, there’s this mysterious
force that seems to be operating, the
invisible field of magic and wonder.
We access this by paying attention to
the small voices not in our heads but
in our body and in our awareness.
As I write this new ending, a new beginning is being formed. New, exciting
possibilities flit in to override the painful emotions. This time, I
hold them off.
For now, my life as a creative adventure doesn’t mean leaping off
the edge of the year to life in another country. It means sitting still
to listen.
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37. SATISFIED WITH 2013
One year, one program, one book represents only a piece of the whole. Growth is an ongoing process of seeking clarity and taking action.
I’m not ‘done’ and I haven’t figured it all out. But I do have more internal and external resources from my efforts this year, and this is what
I want for others.
It’s been a wonderful, if challenging year, and I feel satisfied.
My hope is that annual review has inspired something powerful and positive in you. If you’ve been moved, feel free to leave a comment
on the Original Impulse blog letting me know.
We grow by sharing with others. If you’ve been inspired by this report, please consider sharing the download link with your creative
friends.
WHAT ABOUT YOU?
• How do you know you’re satisfied with your year?
• What metrics do you use to gauge your satisfaction?
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39. ORIGINAL IMPULSE OFFERS FOR YOUR 2013
Always looking to have the biggest impact for the people I serve, I
keep focusing my business on what works for my clients, students
and me. Being more in my ‘genius zone’ helps my clients and students more. I have more of the best of me to offer them, and they
go further because of my focus.
In 2014, there will be three main areas of focus:
one-one coaching
teaching
speaking
One-One Coaching: human alchemy
This has been a great year for my clients. Several finished drafts of
their books. Others restructured their personal and professional
lives to make room for what’s important to them. Others used my
help to structure a writing practice that served them both on the
page and in life. (I love when that happens!)
Some of the comments my clients made after our work together:
“Cynthia is BY FAR the most gifted coach I have ever worked
with. Not only does she know her stuff about book writing, she
has an uncanny ability to see through surface problems to the
underlying knots that cause them.”
“Cynthia’s coaching gave me confidence to continue working
on my book. She saved me so much time and energy by addressing many concerns that I had as a beginning author.”
“The gifts I received from Cynthia were to believe in myself,
stay true to my values, and to begin to see myself as a writer
and everything around me as a story waiting to be told. I recommend coaching with Cynthia for anyone who has ever felt
that they might have a bigger life, juicier life hiding just around
the corner yet need a roadmap of how to get there.”
“Cynthia’s gift: seeing through your doubts, fears, or utter laziness and nurturing your genius...magnifying your buried greatness so the rest of the world can experience it.”
“After our work together, I had such a fabulous year! I sold three
commissions, one print and one original. I was invited to be a
featured artist at a great wine/art tasting event where at least
100 people showed up and I’ve got an Art Walk event coming
up.”
More of this, please! 2014 marks my fifteenth year working as
a coach for creative people. I am trained and certified by The
Coaches Training Institute, globally recognized as the top
training organization for coaches.
I have devoted considerable resources into being the best coach,
author and business person I can be. I never ask my clients to do
anything I am not willing to do myself.
The creative process - understanding what it takes to do our best
creative work - is my great passion. My gift: helping people understand themselves and helping clients sort out their best practices
so they can get their best work done.
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40. ORIGINAL IMPULSE OFFERS FOR YOUR 2013
Many of my 2013 clients are continuing in 2014, but I do have several spots open for new clients. Best results come from a 6-12
month commitment. If you’re ready to get support for your big
leap and you feel we’d be a fit, visit my life coaching page or
writers’ coaching page.
You can register now for February’s FWF.
Teaching: transformation with others
NEW! Write Your Paris Stories
Ever since I was a girl child playing ‘school’ with my friends, I have
loved teaching. The process of developing a curriculum, sharing it
with others, seeing transformation happen - pure joy.
My passion is for human alchemy - for the transformation of ideas,
things and people from one thing into another. Teaching and
coaching allow me to see these transformations on a daily basis.
The Free Write Fling is one of my favorite classes. In this online
writing course, people from all around the world gather to write
every day for an entire month.
No critique, no feedback, just a safe and encouraging environment
where we can test the waters with our pens and gain courage and
confidence to write what’s truly important to us.
We’ll run the Free Write Fling four times in 2014. The cost is
$85.00 for new students and $50 for repeaters. Mark these
months on your calendar if you’re ready to make writing a regular
part of your life.
February, May, August, October
I always write alongside the Flingers. If you want to write in 2014,
no matter what your level, genre or subject, this is a sweet way to
do it. You can register now for February’s FWF.
Online writing class March 12th
- April 16th, 2014
Is there anyplace more embedded in the heart of romantic
creatives worldwide than Paris?
Almost everyone has a Paris
story — a rant, a romance, a fantasy… I didn’t realize this until
I published my novel. People
wrote to me to tell me their Paris story. Hearing these stories, I
could tell how powerful it was
for people to share them.
What Paris story do you want to tell, even if you’ve never been or
don’t want to go?
Write Your Paris Stories will be a multi-sensory learning adven-
ture. This online class will help you have a bit of Paris spring no
matter where you are.
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41. ORIGINAL IMPULSE OFFERS FOR YOUR 2013
My intention for this class: to have fun, Paris-style, helping you
bring your hidden Paris stories to life.
Registration for the online Paris Stories class will open soon. Impulses subscribers will be the first to hear about it, so subscribe
to my free newsletter here if you aren’t already in the loop.
Capture the Wow Excursions
My creativity excursions are back in 2014!
Experience the world in full color, with
your artist leading the way. After a Capture the Wow Excursion, people are more
in tune with their own nature, with their
own truth, and with their own creative
exuberance. This knowledge helps them
make better decisions, complete creative
projects and enjoy life more.
Join us in 2014 in one of these two cities:
Boulder, Colorado June 27th - 29th
Paris, France, August 28th - September 2nd
Speaking
What does it mean to ‘go big’ in my work? For some reason, I’ve
been unable to answer that question. While I want to have a big
impact, what would that look like?
When I asked my trusted mastermind partner Alyson what she
thought when she considered me going big, she knew right away.
“I see you speaking more,” she said. “I
see you on a bigger stage, doing what
you do so well, interacting and inspiring the audience.”
Tears pooled in my eyes. She’d nailed
it. I LOVE speaking and while I’ve done
my share of it in my career, I want to
do more. In part, the health practices
I’ve initiated this year were designed
to help me have more access to my
speaking voice and to bring more of
myself to the stage.
So in 2014 I’ll be sharing with audiences my perspective on what it
takes to be fully creatively empowered.
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43. RESOURCES TO FUEL YOUR CREATIVITY
I just love gobbling up books and articles and podcasts and ideas,
and I love sharing them with you. This is how I participate in the
creative conversation that’s swirling through space and time.
Best books I read in 2013
Because this was such an internally-focused year, I had lots of
time to read. A lot. I’ve read 100 books this year. I don’t know how
it happened, but early in the year I pledged on Goodreads to read
80 books this year. (The most I’ve read in one year is 72.)
ing this book gave me courage to be more edgy and innovative.
Elegantissima by Louise Fili Gorgeous design; inspiring life
story. A great read for designers and artists and lovers of Italian
design.
Crazy Sexy Diet by Kris Carr I am already pretty close to eat-
ing this way. But I thought, why wait until I get really sick to get
really healthy? And thus the changes ensued.
A Kiss Before You Go by Danny Gregory I’ve been a fan of
You can see all the books I’ve read on Goodreads (and friend me
there!)
Danny’s for a long time and this book really opened up my heart
and mind to possibilities.
Here’s the short list of books that changed my life and that I recommend to you.
Data: A Love Story by Amy Webb I’d been trying online dat-
Startup Life by Brad Feld and Amy Batchelor I loved this book,
how consciously the authors design their life and their relationship. This is my idea of a good life.
Tiny Beautiful Things by Cheryl Strayed Such sweet and
wise writing.
Things I Learned in My Life So Far by Stefan Sagmeister
This edgy designer is so inspiring to me. Check out his TED talks.
Reading this book gave me courage to be more edgy and innovative.
Ignore Everybody by Hugh Macleod Ditto from above: Read-
ing to no avail. In fact, not only was it not good for me, it was bad
for me. Reading this book helped me see what was wrong with my
approach.
Various Illuminations by Maira Kalman I’m a big fan of Mai-
ra’s art and illustrations, and am incredibly honored when someone compares my work to hers. This book helped me think about
her work in different ways, and taught me a lot about why I love
her art.
Creative Lettering by Jenny Doh Very inspiring book of
hand lettering by a handful (pun intended) of lettering artists.
Point Your Face at This by Demetri Martin I was in Elliot
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44. RESOURCES TO FUEL YOUR CREATIVITY
Bay bookstore in Seattle when I saw this book. Familiar with the
comedian, I picked it up. Next thing you know, I’m having a Meg
Ryan Sleepless in Seattle moment. I’m laughing uncontrollably at
the pictures and soon realize that a bunch of people have gathered around, wondering, what’s she reading? A quirky look at life
and guaranteed to make you laugh.
The Big Leap by Gay Hendricks I don’t know why this resonat-
ed so much with me. When I tell people about the concepts in the
book, I realize I already know them. I teach them, for god’s sake.
But sometimes the way things are said strike a chord in us. The
Genius Zone and Upper Limit approach is very helpful. This book
was recommended by my friend Alyson Stanfield and it changed
my life.
Open by Andre Agassi This was a well-written memoir, and it
was fun to read about such a high-achieving person to see what
his life was really like.
Resources from Original Impulse
In case you missed it, I shared several free resources at Original
Impulse.
Capture Your Creative Brilliance - free when you subscribe
to Impulses
Secrets of Empowered Creativity video course - free when you
get to the end of the aforementioned course
Adventure Resume exercise - free on my ‘About’ page
Original Impulse blog offers weekly, free inspiration to live your
best creative life.
Podcasts
I love listening to interviews with creative people. In the studio, in
the kitchen, in the car, these conversations inspire me. I get a lot
of book recommendations, resources and ideas from listening to
how creative people thrive.
Last year Jonathan began a web-based interview show called
GLP TV.
Every week, he interviews an entrepreneur who has been successful but also who is personally happy.
Some say the episodes are too long - 40 minutes or so - but I love
them. They are the perfect accompaniment to me in the kitchen
while I cook, while I get ready to go out or while I fold my laundry.
I can honestly say some of these interviews have changed my life.
My favorites include:
Lissa Rankin
Ann Rea
Samantha Hahn
Kris Carr
Seth Godin
Helene Godin
Susan Piver
Scott Belsky
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45. ADOPT & ADAPT
Other podcasts in my mix include:
Design Matters by Debbie Millman
SeanWes podcast - a hand lettering artist and entrepreneur
Resources to write an annual review
You may wish to do your own annual review process. You can use
mine as a basis for your own, or try one of these resources I recommend. Or just wing it, your own way!
Chris Guillebeau of the Art of Non-Conformity shares his simple annual review process.
Susannah Conway shares a process to both look back and look
ahead.
WHAT ABOUT YOU?
• What resources made a difference in your creative year?
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47. THANK YOU
My hope is that this has inspired something powerful and positive in you. If you’ve been moved, feel free
to leave a comment on the Original Impulse blog letting me know.
We grow by sharing with others. If you’ve been inspired by this report, please consider sharing the
download link with your creative friends.
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