Sun Child Creativity: An Antithetical Approach to Suffering Artistry
Shadow work is effective — necessary, even — but when we become our shadow self, in identifying too strongly with it, is when we start to lose the plot. The goal isn't to eliminate the shadow child, but to integrate it; and to allow your sun child to have a voice, too, leading you into more free and joyful expression, uninhibited by fear, anxiety, or self-doubt.
All Is Fair in Love and Work: On Making Art Through Heartbreak and Career Change
After a breakup with my artist boyfriend and the start of a buttoned-up corporate job, a close friend told me it made sense; I was "made for corporate" — that I wanted security more than I wanted to be an artist. Here's what I've learned about Creative Responsibility looking different across seasons — and why occupying one role doesn’t steal validity from another.
A Case For Ritual > Routine: Balancing Productivity and Pleasure
A summer in Montana — phone-free, grieving my papa, watching for shooting stars on the dock with my mom and sisters — left me asking: How do you actually live well? Is it possible to cultivate a creative practice where productivity and pleasure aren't at war?
An Artist’s Personal Constitution, Pt. II: 7 Principles for Cultivating Creativity, Simplicity, and Inner Calm
A few years after drafting my original Personal Constitution, I've evolved — less materialistic, more peaceful, free-flowing. Here are 7 working amendments for cultivating creativity, simplicity, and inner calm. (Note to self, and to you: Stay open to further edits, always.)
If Time is Money, Attention is Everything
A year ago, I quit my full-time marketing job to make "more time" for my art. I didn't actually make more art. (My house was really clean, though.) Here's what I learned: Time wasn’t the problem — attention was. And Silicon Valley is doing a great job mining it.
The Most Important Lessons I’ve Learned About Being (and Becoming) an Artist
Ten years in, here's what I wish someone had told me sooner: Art gets made offline, your scalability is only as healthy as your infrastructure, and you can absolutely make great work from a place of peace instead of pain.
Why Haven’t I Made It Yet? What Is It to Make It, Anyway?
There seem to be two camps of artists right now — those who've "made it" and those still figuring out what it takes. I'm firmly in the latter, and I keep asking: Is it too late for me? (The answer: Of course not, especially considering my definition of “making it” evolves as I do.)
How to *Actually* Believe In Yourself (Because It’s Easier Said Than Done)
I’ll start with an ugly confession: I don’t inherently believe in myself. My conscious mind says I'm capable; my subconscious begs to differ, running narratives shaped by a sense of inadequacy, societal programming, and the quiet conviction that "artist" isn't a real career. Here's how I'm working to marry the two — and find a little peace in the process.
An Artist’s Personal Constitution: 10 Daily Reminders to Stay the Course of Authenticity
After a month mostly off social media and a long self audit, I drafted 10 guiding principles for staying authentic in a world that wants to script your life. Begin with the end in mind. Say no to anything outside alignment. Trust your gut — and remember, you are water, not a brick wall.
How to Overcome Your (Subconscious) Limiting Belief Systems and Make Your Best Work Yet
I recently caught myself saying out loud (three times in one day!) "I'm not a painter." But, deep down, I felt like a traitor to my inner child; I knew it wasn't true. It was a belief system I'd been quietly speaking over myself, and it was inhibiting my ability for growth and creative joy. Here's how to spot your own limiting beliefs — and then rewrite the script.
7 Mistakes Emerging Artists Make — and How to Avoid Those Pitfalls for Sustainable Success
After a decade of selling work, taking commissions, and making the kind of mistakes that benefit growth (mine and yours), I've spotted seven traps emerging artists fall into — most of which boil down to ego, comparison, and forgetting that you're not making a product…you're making art.
How to Channel Emotion for True Creative Expression: A Self-Led Workshop
Less of an article, more of a digital workshop. Emotions get a bad rap — vulnerable, weak, a waste of time. But creativity comes out of humans, not robots, and many creative giants (like Mark Rothko) built careers on honest expression, regardless of societal expectation for what “art” is supposed to be. Here's a self-led exercise for channeling what you feel into what you make.
Creative Responsibility: A Call to This Emerging Generation of Creators
The concept of Creative Responsibility came to me as a spiritual "download" while meditating in early 2020, and has since evolved into the intersection of mindfulness, movement, and embodied creativity. Here's why creating matters, what Resistance is really up to, and the call I believe is on every artist right now.
7 Habits of Highly Effective Artists, Pt. I: A Guide to Silence Imposter Syndrome
Inspired by Stephen Covey's classic, but rewritten for the artist who tends to reject "efficiency" on principle: Your habits are either a vehicle for creative acceleration or creative destruction. And imposter syndrome is hiding inside the small daily choices you don't think count. Here’s what to do about it.
Cancel Creator’s Block: 21 Ways to Get Creatively Motivated Right Now
Written a year into COVID, when stagnancy felt like a permanent state of being: Here are 21 tactical ways to break out of creator's block and back into momentum — from the abstract (artist affirmations) to the tangible (Airplane Mode).