A Conscious Approach to Creative Growth and Development
If you’d said to me 20 years ago that one day I’d lead a 5 day retreat at the Omega Institute for Holistic Studies I’d have laughed in disbelief.
At the time I was working as a publisher and managing director of a company publishing books on mind, body, spirit and holistic lifestyle subjects.
Valuable Teachings
It was part of my role to keep up to date with developing trends at the cutting edge of these topics.
That included knowing who was teaching what at all the major holistic learning centres in the world – including Omega.
The view from the publisher’s side of the desk was that these teachers had a wealth of experience and valuable teachings to share that were worthy of the trusted brands these respected establishments had spent years creating.
Those criteria also tick the right boxes for potential publishing success.
Fast Forward
Fast forward to last year when I was invited to teach a Conscious Writing: Discover Your True Voice retreat at Omega.
This is a venue I’ve thought of since my publishing days as one of the most prestigious holistic learning centres of them all.
Naturally I was both delighted and honoured to have the opportunity to share the work I believe in wholeheartedly with a whole new audience.
So I accepted gratefully from a state of deep trust in all that is.
Challenging Questions
Yet, simultaneously I initially felt quite daunted at the prospect and experienced an upsurge of challenging inner questions.
You might recognize a version of these from moments of growth and development in your own creative experience:
- Who am I to lead a retreat at this amazing place?
- Is the Conscious Writing teaching I’ve created good enough?
- What if nobody wants to come?!
Fortunately, my long term commitment to living consciously and creatively enables me to recognize the workings of my conditioned mind and emotions as they arise.
Conscious Approach
As a result, the anxiety usually just washes through me and I’m able to avoid getting caught up in the story of “not being good enough” or variations on similar themes.
Whenever it feels necessary, I continue releasing any lingering doubts as part of my daily practice (including journaling) until the energy has settled and my equilibrium has stabilized.
This conscious approach enables me to lean in to the challenge of stepping up to the next level of my creative journey and find the courage to do so no matter how scary it may feel to face the unknowns.
Mindset and More
One of the most significant realizations I’ve had in relation to this process is that shifting your mindset represents a good starting point for addressing the realities of creative growth and development.
It certainly makes a massive difference to reframe how you think and feel about any kind of expansion into new areas and to release the fear so you can just do it anyway!
However, in my experience, there is more to it than that.
I’ve discovered that the more you align yourself consciously with the moment to moment arising of the creative impulse, the deeper and more permanent the opening to a whole new way of being becomes.
Present Moment Awareness
A conscious approach to creative growth and development is holistic by nature and includes immersing yourself fully in present moment awareness through whatever practice(s) work best for you.
Presence automatically aligns you with the big picture, dissolves your resistance and gives you access to the audacity to take your next steps without undue attachment to the end results.
As I continue the process of stepping up to teach internationally for the very first time, if things don’t work out for any reason, I’ll still have grown from the experience in preparation for whatever arises next.
And that’s all fine with me!
Where are you currently being called to step up to a new level? How do you approach creative growth and development? Please share your comments or ask a question below. Thank you!
I am reminded of the few times that those well-known teachers who speak publically have admitted that they feel nervous before a big presentation. They say that rarely in interviews.
That makes them seem more real and human.
That makes me accept and deal with my internal resistance.
Your transparency here is inspiring and encouraging.
I admire that you are valuing the personal grown and you are not obsessed with the final results.
Again this morning I pondered making my first podcasts. I have plenty of notes and preparations. I genuinely want others to have the insights I have gained over the years.
Fortunately, I do not need to worry about this making me money soon.
This is one way to break the ice and move from excessing planning into going public.
There are a few technical lessons I must learn. But I have learned many such lessons over the years.
My delay in moving forward on this quickly is that is not what I had planned to break the ice. I wanted to begin an interactive community. That has plenty of challenges too.
So as I write this I feel that it is not one or the other but both. Somehow I will work out how these will compliment each other in the coming weeks.
Thank you John, I appreciate your positive comments and it’s heart-warming for me to know that you find my transparency inspiring and encouraging.
I wish you well with taking first steps with your podcasts and your new community. I wholeheartedly encourage you to go ahead with both in a way that feels balanced and joyful for you as they certainly will complement each other and naturally you can address them one at a time to avoid overwhelm. Enjoy!
Julia, I was DISAPPOINTED a couple of years ago, that My visit to glastonbury ended shoRtly before your retreat there. I’m delighted that you are coming to teach at Omega. I’ve registered, am preparing and am excited About the opportunity to study with you! Judy
Judy, I’m thrilled to hear that you’ve registered for the Omega retreat – you’re the first person to connect with me who has done so which makes it all the more special! It’s interesting that the timing didn’t work out for the Glastonbury retreat but this time it has so clearly the time is right for us to meet and work together now. I’m looking forward to seeing you in September! Julia
Ah, Julia ,,, and John OLVER. There are so many of us out here, dancing with these issues. it is so nice to connect and know that we are not alone. we are in good company and privileged to be here.
for many years, i thought of myself- and made my living – as a problem solver. problem solving is good. helpful. identify the problem. identify the solution. but then you hit a new threshold. there is neither an identifiable problem, nor a solution. more there is a state of being (that includes hope and anxiety, possiblity and fear, expansion and contraction) and the “solution” is not really a solution but an acceptance, a faith, a willingness to be in the moment, to trust that if we listen deeply enough and allow that still voice to speak, then all will be well.
it is all so confusing, so exciting, so counter to most of what i have thought and practiced for 75% of my life. i am so happy to be here.
Thank you Peter; I’m so happy that you’re here too! I’m sure that many readers will resonate with so much of what you’ve described in your comment. What a journey it is for us all and how delightful it is to share the process rather than forever navigating the choppy seas on a solo basis. In gratitude for your contribution always.
“Presence automatically aligns you with the big picture, dissolves your resistance and gives you access to the audacity to take your next steps without undue attachment to the end results.”
Julia, please say more about this.
Hi Helen, perhaps I’ll write a full post on this some day but for now here’s a brief intepretation for you…
When you’re fully present in the moment, you’re free from the doubts and fears of your conditioned mind and emotions and are aligned with the “big picture” of life.
As a result, you naturally have a sense of what’s truly important, and in this case, it would lead to being clear about your core purpose. This enables you to see the resistance for what it is – a range of conditioned patterns that usually keep you stuck in habitual grooves through creating fears and anxieties about stepping outside of your comfort zone.
With the perspective of presence, there are no “right” or “wrong” outcomes so you can let go of the concepts you have in your mind about what you think “should” happen and simply show up mindfully and experience whatever arises with equanimity.
I hope that points you in the right direction!
Very Valuable, Julia, as always and real congratulations on ‘arriving’ at omega. finding we’ve attained the ‘unattainable’ is so boosting. I have found that working to embed the awareness that presence and being present are always available helps greatly. Takes the pressure off.thank you very for your on-going blog guidance. much appreciated. Enjoy Omega! Peter
Thank you Peter. I don’t think that I’ve “arrived” quite yet… but I’m certainly well on my way! Yes, the awareness of presence is truly the difference that makes the difference and includes embracing all that is which certainly does take the pressure off. Thanks again for your comments which I always appreciate, and yes, I’m very much looking forward to Omega now! Julia
Julia, I just want to convey to you my very best wishes on this exciting new venture. I know that you will come through it with flying colours. Love Daphne
Daphne, that’s lovely, thank you. I’m honoured by your confidence in me and deeply grateful for your good wishes on this next conscious and creative adventure I find myself engaging with! Julia x