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Sacred Creative Collective Group Coaching

January 15, 2021

Create deeper meaning and purpose in your life with the support of a coach and a community!

Join the next Sacred Creative Collective Group Coaching for 3 months of wholehearted self-leadership coaching.

Get on the waitlist to be the first to know when enrolment is open!

Get on the Waitlist!

Read on to learn more about the Collective

Create a life that has more meaning and purpose. Move beyond procrastination. Commit to a project or transition, work consistently, and see it through with confidence and discipline. Connect with practical tools to create progress instead of going over old problems or ways of doing things. Take that dream of writing a book or blog or creating a new life path or ecourse and begin to make it real.

Sacred Creative Collective is for you if you are creating a new life story and it feels a little overwhelming and lonely at times as you work through it all.

Explore what you desire to create in a safe environment with accountability and companionship. Learn with a guide and other wise women walking on the road with you so you feel supported. Because sometimes it can feel like hard work and we all need that guidance and a place to share our breakthroughs and work through our challenges.

When you get the connecting threads in place, you’ll feel clearer about the path you’re taking.

You’ll have the resources and tools to bring the threads together. You’ll feel motivated and enthusiastic with good habits, discipline and rituals established. Knowing more about your personality strengths (and saboteurs!), these practices will provide a strong foundation for flexing into new territory in ways that work for you!

You’ll feel a sense of direction and purpose, especially if you’re working on shaping a new life chapter. Perhaps life has changed in some fundamental way. You might have finally left (or are planning to leave) that workplace behind and are wanting to get back to what you truly value. You might want to weave together ways of living and working in a more seamless, harmonious and productive way. Perhaps you’ve been on this journey for some time now and need a little boost and support through the ups and downs.

Whatever the circumstances, you are planning a deeper shift to a more creative way of living, one closer to your heart.

Working with the Sacred Creative Collective, you’ll shape plans and strategies for working the best way for you. You’ll feel you have a goal, something to aim for. No longer simply biding your time, you will be doing something of value. Your spiritual life is deeply important to you (whatever that means for you) and probably always has been. Your own practice is sacred to you, but you’d love to share and learn with others too, so you can connect and enrich each other.

Stepping away from the ordinary world for a while, you can listen more clearly to your own inner wisdom.

Introducing the Sacred Creative Collective, a step-by-step 3-month group program for women who want clarity and momentum for a more fulfilling life without the overwhelm.

As a result of working together in the Sacred Creative Collective, you will:

Embrace your calling and creativity and take your desires from intention through planning to reality so you can make them happen!
Be in confident action towards a creative project or life transition you deeply want.
Better understand and work in alignment with your personality preferences so you can achieve your goals in your own way.
Enjoy the support and accountability of a coach and a community of women, sharing wisdom and cheering each other on so you feel connected as you make change.
Develop self-leadership skills for sustainable change so your investment and engagement has lasting and enduring impact.

Meet your guide for the journey

I’m Terri Connellan, your coach for the Sacred Creative Collective and I’m here to guide you on the journey. Here’s what’s unique about the Sacred Creative Collective and what I bring to you.

I blend magic and practicality, vision and action, intention and doing the work, intuition and logic, group and individual focus, your calling and a community to support YOU.

I’m a master curator of rich resources, learning and just the right tools to open you to the wisdom and creativity within.

I bring together a passion for creative living with skill and knowledge as a life coach and personality type practitioner, backed by 30 years’ experience in adult education teaching, facilitation and leadership.

I am skilled at zeroing in on individual needs and facilitating learning in a group environment. Using these skills to shape a flexible learning experience, I will guide you at both an individual and a group level to meet your needs.

Most importantly, I’ve been on a major life transition journey myself over the past 4 years.

Pretty much everything has fundamentally changed as I’ve shifted from being a long-term government employee to shaping a self-sustaining, creative life based on my passions and desires. My book Wholehearted: Self-leadership for Women in Transition was published on 6 September 2021. It’s what I’ve wanted for a long time. It’s been a soul-nourishing journey, working on my deeper purpose and meaning. I’ve taken my body of work, skills and experience and added to it to create a new life for myself. I’ve finally got down to doing the creative work of my heart that I’ve longed to do. I share my story, skills and learned wisdom to help you create your deeper story.

Secure your place on the VIP Waitlist and early access to resources to be in action.

Secure your VIP place on the Waitlist!

Here’s what people have said:

I enjoyed my time with the Sacred Creative Collective learning from and drawing on Terri’s teachings, experience and invaluable feedback. It provided me with the structure, accountability, support and community that I felt I needed to be in action as I started out on my new journey away from the corporate world. Terri’s leadership and deep knowledge, the thoroughness and professionalism of the content presented and shared throughout was a highlight, as well as the opportunity to meet others on a new journey, deepening their own path. Terri and the Sacred Creative Collective entered my life at exactly the moment I needed this support and I am grateful for this!

VALERIE LEWIS – VISUALISE AND BLOOM – and read Valerie’s fuller Sacred Creative Story HERE

The last three months’ coaching as part of the Sacred Collective Coaching group has been truly life-changing. I feel like I have pushed reset, examining so many areas of my life and personality. I now feel much more able to step into my own power and move forward confidently and with ease. Thank you Terri for gentle and encouraging feedback and informative and enlightening guidance. It definitely feels like this is learning we can revisit time and time again, each time going deeper and getting further to our core.

ELIZABETH MILLIGAN – ON INSTAGRAM – and read Elizabeth’s fuller Sacred Creative Story HERE.

The length of the course is ideal for getting started and making good progress on a project. I love how everyone can be working on their own goals and still be able to learn new things and participate together. I’ve made progress in the area of personal power: learning about archetypes, shadow work and saboteurs has been deep and meaningful. I am feeling more positive about my ability to lead myself and also as I learn more and more about the INFJ personality, I am finding it to be so helpful in understanding why I do what I do. Thank you, Terri! It has been a transformative experience.

CORA PACHECO – EAGLE AND STAR TAROT – Read Cora’s fuller Sacred Creative Story HERE.

Here’s what’s included in the 3-month Sacred Creative Collective:

Weekly Sacred Creative Skills live presentations

12 weekly Sacred Creative Skills live presentations help you learn practical creativity, personality and self-leadership skills to apply to a personal project or goal. With resources to support your individual creative project or life transition plans, you’ll be skilling up AND be in action towards your goals.

Sacred Creative Skills shared include:

PERSONALITY: KNOWING YOURSELF: your style, personality and preferences as guides: your personality type, style statement, style and type, archetype and other lenses of self-knowledge and personal insights.
SELF-LEADERSHIP: CREATIVITY + TRANSITION YOUR WAY: self-leadership, living and working in seasons, personal practices and rhythms, writing, solitude.
CREATIVITY: CREATIVE PRACTICE TOOLS + RESOURCES: writing, intuitive practice, technology/social media tips, organisational tools, managing social media and focus in a digital age.
SHOWING UP TO YOUR CALLING in your own unique way: resistance, turning professional, responding to your calling, knowing your saboteurs and particular brand of self-sabotaging.
YOUR INFLUENCES + ENVY AS GUIDES to what you want: your creative influences over time and what they can tell you; looking at envy as a source of insight as to what you want.
FEELING WHOLE IN YOUR WORK, CALLING + TRANSITIONS: Personality type and transition and working on your personality strengths and less preferred areas to feel whole in your work and manage transitions positively.

Monthly Group Coaching Calls

Via 7 fortnightly online group coaching sessions, we will explore individual goals and progress in a collective environment. A combination of coaching and community, you’ll be accountable for your actions in a supported way and enjoy companionship on the journey. With a small group capped to a maximum of 12 women, we will be able to ask questions and connect in a deep way over the 3 months.

Bonus Creative Mentor session with Nicola Newman

You’ll have a bonus 60-minute group mentor session with Nicola Newman, an inspiring Creative Mentor leading a self-directed creative life. We’ll talk about the art of creative living in a live conversation and Q&A with Nicola, drawing on her experiences of creative and positive life transition. You’ll learn how to focus in on your desires and options and be inspired by Nicola who has shaped change with creativity and success.

Personalised 1:1 coaching support

With 1:1 personalised email and video feedback from me as your coach through-out, you’ll feel accountable and driven towards your goals. You can also access additional 1:1 coaching sessions at a special Sacred Creative Collective rate to intensify and support your learning if you desire.

A private Facebook Group community

A Facebook community will provide a place for sharing learning, experiences and practice. We’ll co-create and support each other and have fun in the process.

Online, global and ongoing access

All learning in this program is online so you can work from the comfort of your home anywhere in the world. Dates and times for group coaching by Zoom video-conferencing will be organised to best suit the timezones of those who sign-up. All sessions will be recorded for easy access. You’ll have ongoing access to the Sacred Creative Skills course content, Facebook and group coaching recordings beyond the 6 months so you can always go back to the resources to refresh your learning.

Opportunity to join the Sacred Creative Collective Mastermind Alumni group

You also have the opportunity to join the Sacred Creative Collective Mastermind Group for alumni only. This is an ongoing way to keep supported and connected with wholehearted self-leadership, a coach and a like-minded community of women.

You’ll finally be able to bring together a plan to achieve your dreams and make it happen. 💃🏼 💃🏼 💃🏼

And I’ll support you through all of the threads of the program to be sustainably self-directed and in action for the long-term.

Here’s a check-in about whether it’s the right program for you:

I want to know that you will enjoy fantastic outcomes and have a life-changing experience. You want to get excellent value for your investment and transformational tools and positive steps into a sustainable new life chapter. And enjoy your time in the process!

So here’s what I know:

The Sacred Creative Collective is perfect for you if:

you’re ready (super keen) to shape a life transition or creative project.
you love creativity, reading, learning and shaping personal practices.
you are excited about getting to know women on a similar journey.
you want to understand yourself and personality preferences better.
you’re committed to putting time into working on yourself.
you’re excited by a blend of individual and group work.
you think a mix of coaching and teaching/learning from me would work well for you now.

The Sacred Creative Collective is not for you if:

you’re not ready to make life changes or commit to a creative project.
you don’t like learning, reading or shaping new material into your life.
you’d prefer to work one to one and not engage with a community.
you don’t feel you have anything to learn about your personality.
you’re not committed to investing time into working on yourself.
you don’t feel comfortable with a blend of individual and group work.

I hope that makes it clear. I want the best for you! You can hop over to Work with Me for other options like 1:1 coaching if you feel the Sacred Creative Collective is not for you now. Or book a Self-leadership Discovery Call to check.

And to make it easier, you only need to pay the first instalment in advance to secure your place.

The rest is to be paid in additional equal instalments in advance each month during the program.

Doors open early for those on the waitlist to receive an EARLY BIRD discount and early access to resources to be in action.

As soon as you pay your first instalment and have an introductory Self-leadership Discovery Call to check it will be a great fit for you. You get early access to resources so you can be in action before the program formally starts. You will hit the ground running and make the most of the 6 months.

The early bird resources include:

A WELCOME PACKAGE with the Sacred Creative Skills program outlined in full so you can see the whole and where you would personally like to zero in.
A PERSONAL LEARNING PLAN WORKBOOK so you can start to shape your goals and learning program. You can start early and plan for success, honing in on your personal focus. It might be a creative project, the next step in your life path or creative business like a transition plan, blogging or writing practice or developing content for an ecourse or face to face program. Whatever feels right for you.
A detailed RESOURCE LIST so you can begin to choose the BOOKS you would like to focus in on or the PODCAST episodes you would like to listen to motivate you in making real progress in the Sacred Creative Collective.

Set your intentions for a new creatively inspired life in line with your meaning and purpose. It’s a great opportunity to set yourself up for a positive and focused time and also have support in negotiating all the global challenges we are experiencing.

So are you interested in working together in a sacred creative way with a coach and others?

Fabulous – it is going to be wholehearted, creative work and play as we wind our way together towards deeper meaning and purpose.

Here’s how to get started!

Be in action toward your goals now. Places are limited to a maximum so take advantage of early access to resources and secure your place. Here’s what to do!

Get on the VIP Waitlist now!

If we are already in contact now via coaching or mastermind groups, send me an email and we can work out if a discovery call step is needed.

Questions?

Have any questions? Check out the FAQs below at the end of this post.

The Sacred Creative Collective is a value-packed way to work with me to access all my skills, knowledge and experience, gain valuable self-leadership skills and make new connections.

With the resources you receive in advance, you can be in action to make powerful progress over the 6 months. A 1:1 45-minute Discovery Call will help you kick off your plans with focus and insight.

Here’s more about what people have said:

Creativity flourishes within intentionally crafted containers and the Sacred Creative Collective is among the most friendly and loving spaces I know. Attracted to Terri’s subject-matter expertise and curation style, I enrolled to allow myself to receive the kind of support I’m accustomed to giving in my professional field. As such, this program envisioned as an ‘external’ accountability structure delightfully points back to inner wisdom, where authentic accountability arises from within and is exponentially enhanced by group participation yet not dependent on it. The vast, detailed library of resources, combined with a wealth of skills instruction and a generous measure of laser coaching, has exercised and strengthened these creative wings for takeoff!
– PE

I really enjoyed being part of the Sacred Creative Collective and the experience of being on a learning journey with other women on a similar quest of acquiring knowledge and strategies to facilitate our writing dreams. There was a feeling of acceptance and support throughout the course, whilst having a definite structure to adhere to. Having Terri share her journey and acquired learning along the way was both interesting and useful. Terri put us on to some terrific resources and shared some very inspiring and motivational quotes which kept propelling us forward. The inbuilt accountability of spelling out our weekly priorities and fortnightly goals and action helped me to achieve my goal of creating my blog and launching it into the world!
– DR

Frequently Asked Questions

How much time will I need to commit to the program?

The program material itself (Sacred Creative Skills, Group Coaching, Facebook, Mentor Calls, 1:1 work over the 3 months) requires a commitment of about 2-3 hours per week on average. Then your work on your individual goals and projects is additional to this – however, this is work you would want to be doing anyway. The group coaching will help you be in action in a more strategic, efficient, productive and supported way towards your plans.

What if I get behind?

The material is always there to go back to and you can work in whatever way suits you. Focusing week to week helps to be in action and working on the early materials as soon as you have access will give you a head start for deep action.

How big is the group?

The group is small enough for individual attention and intimate connection but large enough for a sense of community. The program is capped to ensure the best balance over the three months.

What about time zones and the timing of the calls?

The Sacred Creative Collective attracts women from all over the world which provides a rich opportunity for interaction and connection. Dates and times for group coaching by Zoom video-conferencing will be organised to best suit the timezones of those who sign-up. Group coaching will be a 90-minute session with the whole group if that works or in 2 x 60-minute options each fortnight at times when global time-zones make a single group too challenging.

Why do I need to book a Self-leadership Discovery Call?

This is a coaching program and even though we are working as a group, you’ll be working on your own priorities and projects. To be able to customise the program to both individual and group needs, I need to get to know you and your priorities and desires. Plus we need to know it’s the right fit for you before you commit.

When you book your session, I’ll be sending you some questions to prepare in advance. If you decide to go ahead with the program, you’ll be ready for when doors open or to enrol ASAP. If we decide it’s not the right fit, I’m happy to share other resources and options to help you get what you need and of course, refund your initial payment or transfer it to another option of your choice.

If we are already in touch and know each other well via coaching or other means, just send an email to me at terri@quietwriting.com and we can talk that way.

What if I feel I need more 1:1 support?

If you feel you need more 1:1 support, you can access 1:1 coaching with me during the 3 months of the program. This will be available at the special rate of $140AU per hour which is 15% off.

Do I need any special technology?

No. It’s all pretty standard technology for online courses and coaching. You just need a computer, internet connection, email address and a pair of earbuds or headphones with inbuilt microphone for group calls. I’ll be there to guide you and help if there are any issues or it is new to you.

What if I am not confident with technology?

I’ll be there to help you every step of the way and can work with you 1:1 on any challenges that arise. Learning to work with technology will help you to embrace self-leadership and learning goals as well. You’ll learn tools and tips to help you with your goals. In fact, getting confident with technology would make a fantastic learning and life goal for the program!

How long will I have access to the material?

The Sacred Creative Collective resource material will be on the Quiet Writing School ecourse platform and in a private Facebook group. You have access to the material beyond the program to support you to be in action. You can download material for your own use too to ensure you always have your own copy to hand.

How will you blend together group skills and individual projects?

As a teacher in adult vocational education, this is work that I have done for many years and am very skilled in! As a person with INTJ type preferences, it is natural for me to be organised and I love to shape complex material into frameworks and more accessible ways of working. We will have processes and templates for ensuring you can scope personal intentions, goals and plans and have the resources and support to be in action towards them. Group support via Group Coaching and Facebook is an important part of the program. I love teaching and facilitating groups with a mix of individual needs and learning styles as we all learn from each other!

Do I need to know my Jung Myers-Briggs (eg MBTI) personality type before I start?

No, although it does help you to have this knowledge to get the most from the program! You might already know your type from previous work. Working through my deep-dive Personality Stories Coaching Package prior to the program helps you to get into a good place with understanding your unique personality.

Whether you have this knowledge or not, you know yourself well and we can tap into this and work with it. I’ll provide some simple frameworks and activities for working with what you know about your personality preferences. I’ll share insights on psychological type and how it affects the way we naturally work on the way through. As always we will start with where you are and build on that.

Will I get my Jung/Myers-Briggs personality profile through this program?

Not in a formal way but you will know more about your personality from working through this program. Self-assessment with the guidance of a coach is also a valid way to learn about your type. I weave knowledge of psychological type into everything I do. The Personality Stories Coaching Package is a 1:1 deep dive into your personality type if you wish to do this at any time, before, during or after the program. If you already know your type but would like to revisit it prior to the program via a 90 minute 1:1 deep dive coaching session, contact me by email or book a Discovery Call as a first step for both group coaching and personality work.

What happens after the program?

You have the opportunity to join the Sacred Creative Collective alumni Mastermind group for ongoing connection and support. You can also work via 1:1 coaching with me.

Be in action now!

So get on the waitlist for next time and receive early bird access and discounts.

Get on the Waitlist!

I look forward to sacred creatively co-creating with you!

PS Here’s an insight into the quality of my online teaching and learning approaches:

The variety of ways Terri presents the study material means that everyone coming to the course will find their preferred method of learning catered for. I’m an aficionado of online courses, but I’ve never encountered such a sensitivity to the needs of different learners and is a testament to Terri’s wealth of experience in the field of education. Gold standard stuff here.

“You are the authority on you” – a review of Danielle LaPorte’s ‘White Hot Truth’

April 4, 2017

“I’m a seeker who writes about what I find. And maybe, on just the right day, I can help you flatten your learning curve. If I’ve got anything to say, it’s this: you are the authority on you.”
Danielle LaPorte – White Hot Truth: Clarity for keeping it real on your spiritual path from one seeker to another

I am a huge fan of Danielle LaPorte. I love her clear, crisp, grounded, heart-filled way of talking and thinking. Her work is concurrently suffused with spirit and light whilst being grounded in experience and day to day living.

She speaks directly to my heart, and I’ve been listening for nearly 10 years now since I first came across her work when I was somewhat completely brought to my knees with the open-hearted surgery that is grief.

Back then, Danielle’s web-site was called White Hot Truth, something I needed at a time when each day had the consistency of mud I tried to swim through. “Yes, I’ll have some of that ‘White Hot Truth’ please“. I read and followed, a gentle disciple of the heart, as Danielle spoke to me of hope and self-compassion.

I’ve since followed her work and when I saw that White Hot Truth was coming back in another form as a book, I signed up to read ahead, review and be part of the ‘White Hot Truth’ launch team. I knew from experience this would be something very special, a honed diamond sparkling its message for me and others to catch.

The light in White Hot Truth

White Hot Truth is this diamond, each chapter a facet of light, grounded in a memoir-kind of reflection, distilling experience that heads straight for the heart. I alternated between reading on-screen and listening to Danielle’s voice via the audiobook. This made the reading process all the richer as I shifted between my voice engaging directly with the words, and Danielle’s voice reading her own.

The book traverses so many realms – it’s deep and wide but its terrain is clear and sweeps away any barriers to understanding in its path. The essence of the book is to become aware of the lies or unhelpful blocks that may have found their way into our trusting hearts including the “really big lies” of inadequacy, authority and affiliation. And to recognise that we are able to take in so much influence and so many ideas and still be the authority on ourselves, the one to make the decisions with wisdom, the one to set boundaries with an open heart.

Some quotes from White Hot Truth

Danielle draws from wide sources to find the most perfect quotes to place strategically. And then sprinkled through like stars sending their energy through the text, there are Danielle’s own quotable quotes and truthbombs.

A few of my favourites of so many I have highlighted:

On flow: “It was too much flow and not enough restraint. I was a river in need of some riverbanks.”

On forgiveness: “The heart runs on its own clock, untethered from calendar days or years.”

On self-help: “The best self-help is self-compassion.”

On approval: “Working for approval takes up a lot of energy, and it can be a huge distraction from seeing the gifts that you already hold in your hands.”

Wisdom, paradox and authenticity in White Hot Truth

A key piece of wisdom threaded through-out is that of paradox. White Hot Truth shows how with clarity, you can take both perspectives and find a path. For example, you can lead with your heart and your head. You don’t have to choose. How many of us have shut down one side of the equation because we fear losing the other, when really it’s a false dichotomy. I know I have. This book opens up paradox as a kind of wisdom.

I read White Hot Truth concurrently with Marrow by Elizabeth Lesser. In Marrow, Elizabeth talks about ‘Authenticity Deficit Disorder’, how we tiptoe around those things we really want to say or be, those things that really matter as we go through our days. It seems that sometimes it takes a tragedy, serious illness or terrible grief to make us go there to the marrow. And even then we can manage to side step it.

In White Hot Truth, Danielle speaks directly, supporting us to honour our authenticity and love who and what we are. She encourages us to recognise where we may have inadvertently blunted our ability to cut through. She shows us how to speak up without fear, through being a voice and model for how to speak up.

Being real and who we are as influence

Mark Nepo in The Book of Awakening talks about the energy of being real, of ‘mana’, of the extraordinary power of being who we are to influence others:

In this way, without any intent to shape others, we simply have to be authentic, and a sense of ‘mana’, of spiritual light and warmth, will emanate from our souls, causing others to grow – not towards us, but towards the light that moves through us.

White Hot Truth made me smile with recognition and more than once, I held my heart as my eyes filled with tears as something broke through, probably self-compassion.

At times laugh-out-loud funny, other times shocking and sobering, it’s a ball of bright authentic light offered as a guide from one seeker to another to illuminate our path. I’m so grateful for its warm and passionate influence. Like ‘The Hierophant’ card in tarot, this book is a teacher and a reminder that:

….we are not alone; we can actually take someone else’s advice and methods and recast them to meet our own needs

Playing with Symbols, Monicka Clio Sakki

In fact White Hot Truth encourages us to do exactly that and for you to be the authority on you. I know it will shape and guide my own inspired path now and for years to come.

Review and Publication notes:

White Hot Truth will be published on 16 May 2017 and is available on pre-order. Because I am part of the White Hot Truth Launch Team, I got the advanced digital copy. You can get a chance to listen to the book before it’s in stores with the free audio book. Find out how here: daniellelaporte.com/whitehottruth/

Keep in touch & free ebook on the ’36 Books that Shaped my Story’

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Influence, gratitude and choosing to shine – Danielle LaPorte

February 25, 2017

A combination of influences helps us shine and sing our unique song. It was a pleasure to meet one of my shining stars of influence, Danielle LaPorte.

Influence over time

I have been following Danielle for some time now. After my brother’s death in 2007, the world turned upside-down and I was searching for meaning in many places including online.

I came across Danielle LaPorte through her book, Style Statement co-authored with Carrie McCarthy. I worked through the book assiduously and explored Danielle’s online presence at her website then called White Hot Truth.

Through this work, I learned to better understand my key style drivers, my passions, what makes me tick, why I like what I like, why it’s important and how to cut through the restrictive perceptions that hold me back.

The entrepreneurship product The Firestarter Sessions appeared not long after, a guide for soulful guide to creating success that I dived into. What inspiration: white hot truth, passions, success on your own terms, entrepreneurship.

For the Sacred Creative type that I found myself to be from working through ‘Style Statement’, this was exciting, revolutionary and passionate material.

Advice I love:

Here is some of the advice from Danielle that I have loved over the years:

About Going with the flow:

Going with the flow isn’t about being passive or lazy. It’s not about just letting things happen “to you”. It’s not aimless wandering. It’s a co-creative act.

“The flow” is the ocean of cosmic intelligence. It’s the substance that carries the whole shebang. The flow is life energy itself.

Going with the flow is responding to cues from the universe.

When you go with the flow, you’re surfing Life force. It’s about wakeful trust and total collaboration with what’s showing up for you.

And from The suck factor of life balance, + passion as a cure to stress: one of my all-time favourite posts which questions the notion of work/life balance:

This is not a balanced life. But it works. And the more I pursue my passions, the more uncomplicated my life gets, actually. There’s not much in my life that I resent. And if resentment builds, I’m swift to get it off my plate. It’s not the imbalance-ness that stresses me, it’s doing meaningless things that aren’t taking me where I want to go.

Given passion is my word of the year – I need to be going back to this one and apply it. Perhaps stick the post on the wall or somewhere I can see it as a reminder! It’s all about the passion.

And this pure gem from Bag your Boundaries

You can protect yourself and be open-hearted.

Well yay to that! I so love that fresh, pure and direct thinking. I need to keep listening, going back to it and applying it like a salve.

The Desire Map and Core Desired Feelings

I’ve worked through the brilliance of The Desire Map and identified my Core Desired Feelings to help clarify my focus. It’s all about getting what you most want by defining how you want to feel as the roadmap.

I included my Core Desired Feelings in my Welcome to Quiet Writing as the summary of my passions and focus and how I want to feel:

And as I am writing this, I am realising more why passion is my word of the year. It underlies all of this and the clues as to how to get there: setting boundaries, being open, with working out how I want to feel as the guide. I need to be driven by passion not concepts of work life/balance and yes, I can both protect myself and be open-hearted. And not be afraid to be revolutionary in what I think and how I work.

Danielle comes to Sydney and I’m listening

So when I heard Danielle was coming to Sydney with the support of the Wake-Up Project, I signed up straight away for the opportunity to hear and see her live. Months went by and then the day came. Australian musician, Clare Bowditch, kicked off the night with her own brand of big-hearted music, creativity and fun with all of us soon singing and finding our collective voice.

Then Danielle stepped onto the stage to be her own kind of magic. That is what I love about her – she is her own person, unique, authentic, revolutionary and hard to define – and she encourages us to be the same.

The most amazing thing was how Danielle held the stage and the space with her presence and pure connection with the audience. After some initial thoughts, she encouraged us to give her a word, a thought and then would riff on that. It was like a musical experience, flowing, creative, focused and wise.

I was too busy listening and focusing to take lots of notes but here are some insights.

Key takeaways and riffing thoughts:

Setting boundaries vs barriers

Just as the quote above about openness and boundaries reminds us: it’s OK to set boundaries and they don’t need to be barriers. They are an act of self-compassion in a world where so much is being asked of our energy. To be there for others, we need to be looking after ourselves and setting clear boundaries is part of that. It’s saying things like: “This is OK, that is not OK.” “I’m making this space and time to do this writing/walking/xxxx.” “I’m not doing that/going there because it’s toxic/not working for me/is a waste of time.”

In setting boundaries, the mental fog goes away and we are rooted in self-love and self-compassion. And we can focus.

Memorable thought from the night:

Unbotherability is the fruit of the spirit.

Loving yourself may look unloving to others

Danielle talked about three key lies and from ‘Leaving the church of self-improvement‘ they are:

The Lie of Inadequacy: You were born not quite good enough.

The Lie of Authority: Outside authority validates your worth.

The Lie of Affiliation: Groupthink is good think.

Things we tell ourselves may run ourselves down. Things others tell us, the influences of church and state, may mean we act on what others may think, want or demand of us, if unspoken. Acting on our own truth and self-love may look unloving but it’s what we need to do for authenticity and to get our work done.

Self-compassion

Feel the pain and keep showing up. It’s about befriending pain and weakness, being kinder to ourselves and not letting that stop our work in the world. It’s being supportive of our own work and creativity and how it’s forming in us. Like thinking about what we say when we speak to ourselves looking in the mirror. And honouring the need to keep showing up – keeping blogging, writing that draft, working that intuition, connecting with others. And then showing up.

Having goals with soul and our Core Desired Feelings as an anchor

How we go about pursuing things really changes when we work from passion and what we really want.

Memorable thought from the night:

You can’t fight your way to peace.

Core Desired Feelings guide how we work as well as what we are aiming for, with the process and end result aligned.

Being present vs narcissism

Be present, generous with our time and listen. Have a beginner’s mind. Have a prodigal relationship with our own reality – get back to what really matters and counts.

Memorable thought from the night:

There’s an epidemic of women being boundaryless.

Narcissism is a disease of self-worth; being present and having a beginner’s mind is the opposite of narcissism.

Forgiveness

You can’t force forgiveness. It’s more about acknowledging the divine and the consciousness of the other person. That’s something I can work with. More thoughts on that here: What if forgiveness isn’t about forgiving.

Shining light

And then afterwards I got to meet Danielle. We smiled together. She signed my precious dog-eared, worked-through ‘Desire Map’ book. Feeling such a fan-girl, I said, “It’s such a pleasure to meet you!” She noted that my book was an old one and I had been around for a while.

That’s so true. There was so much more I wanted to say but being the introvert that I am, the words don’t always come straight away as I would like them, it’s usually later.

On Instagram afterwards, Danielle puts up an awesome post about people slipping her notes and cards after gigs that she reads them later, usually on a plane. That’s such a beautiful idea for an introvert like me who needs time to think and show gratitude in words, ideally by writing.

And she says:

And I cry. The notes from mothers telling me about their daughters reading my stuff (and how the mom had never heard of me before), those notes slay me. I’m really truly deeply grateful for the gratitude. ▪️ And, my perspective: someone making a change because of something I said/wrote…has microscopically little to do with me and epically everything to do with them. It’s all timing and choice. And courage. It’s all you, babe. All you.

So now, with a little more time, I say:

Thanks Danielle for the clarity, over and over, about myself and my soul goals. You’ve helped me work through them and keep in touch with them over a tough time when I struggled to know myself and my path. And you practically help me to focus each day with my core desired feelings especially now as I transition to a new business and life.

You’ve given me that strategy for passion that a Queen of Swords, INTJ type of girl needs. Though I think anyone really can work better from their passion and authenticity if they really understand it. And that’s become my passion now as I make a new start: working with others to understand their influence and voice their passion and authenticity in the world. And you are so right – it is all about timing, choice, courage, boundaries and self-compassion. This is the time. So thank you for your light to shine the way so I can choose to shine. Terri xx

And some final reflective takeaways

You can be an introvert + express feelings and gratitude.

Find ways to express it that work for you: being more prepared, thinking ahead, notes, cards, blog posts, personal messages.

I need to thank others more for their influence and light to shine my own.

Try and write shorter snappier blog posts – at least sometimes 🙂

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goals with soul