That image of gravity pulling everything inward until collapse, then the heat and pressure eventually stabilizing into light that can shine for billions of years ... yes, this feels like exactly what creative transformation looks like when you're in the middle of it. Such a beautiful way of putting it!!
Your recognition that you need "a whole new template to operate from" resonates so deeply. I've learned several times in life that the old ways of pushing through, of measuring my creative productivity by conventional standards, just don't work anymore. My body and intuition know this ... and then I forget and have to learn it again.
I especially love how you frame this as healing generational programming around worth and abundance. When I allow myself the spaciousness to heal and create from a place of genuine desire rather than obligation, it feels like I'm not just changing my own creative process but offering something different to the world. But doing it can be so hard sometimes!!!
Thank you for naming this as the radical act it is.
Thank you for sharing your experience, Kathryn! It doesn't always feel radical, it feels selfish, but I'm trying to reframe what "selfish" actually means and looks like. We have a saying between my husband and I, "No martyrs in this family," and that's a helpful reminder, too.
I feel hugely privileged to be in the position I am to prioritize my healing and creating; it would be a waste if I didn't seize the opportunity! I also really love the idea of healing being something that impacts future and past timelines. I wrote a poem for my parents after their divorce and after my Dad had passed, with this same intention. It was a powerful exercise and I definitely felt some of the weight from carrying their story shift in my body.
Ooooof feeling the chaos myself lovely. Definitely feeling like that star birthing era too. Coinciding with the end/start of a seven year cycle for me. Xx
Hi, Mariah! As I read your article, I saw a woman who is walking on a road yet unpaved, that she only catches glimpses of, a woman who has everything she needs to be a trailblazer. You already are!
The lovely synchronicities of life: I work with mothers and guide them on their matrescence using a seasonal cyclical framework and I loved seeing how you described this immense rite of passage as being the birth of a star. So so true! It is hard to navigate the seasons necessary to birth that star, in order to reach the season that rejoices in her full light. I see you and honour your journey!
P.S. I deeply resonated with your inner conflict around honouring your needs and desires and feeling guilty for it, framing it as a luxury...We do such hard work to unlearn beliefs and patterns around our value and enoughness. Shine bright !💫
Hi Simona, I'm so glad this piece resonated with you! Thank you for your lovely words of encouragement and affirmation. I'm delighted and relieved to see more conversations and holy spaces for women to move through this life passage and find companionship along the way.
I love the concept of "star nurseries" and how, inherently, we are rebirthing stars. It’s definitely not an easy process, but we are built, designed, and thought through to function within both chaos and order.
So I’m sending you a huge hug and telling you that you’re doing great. As the saying goes, a happy mom makes a happy home. Your needs matter. You are doing the beautiful work of preparing the mindful programming of future generations. I know that process—it was never my intention at first, until you awaken to newness and the capacity to rebirth. Oups, a star 🌟
Thank you, Keva! I'm so grateful to be sharing this journey with you and for all of your beautiful words of encouragement.
You're such an inspiration to me! Our last conversation is still carrying me through the waves of courage I need to take the next steps for my book and share it with the world on my own terms. You're definitely a trailblazer in this space, and your light radiates far and wide! 💖
I’m glad you’re reframing the way to publish your beloved book. You’re welcome — it’s sisterhood in craft: we support each other and bring some light into those places that need it. You’re also an inspiration; you care for people and want to help us face those valleys with more peace and care for ourselves. We need that!
Thank you for these kind words. We must allow the light to shine right; sometimes it doesn’t feel like it, but who are we to judge? We only see a small part of the sky ✨️
On va y arriver et lancer nos livres, un projet à la fois. Star nurseries!
Sisterhood in craft, I love it! And you're totally right, we only see a small part of the sky. What a beautiful thing to create constellations from our creativity and care for each other along the way. 💖
Oh my sweet, new friend. I, like many others, are right here with you. I remember early on in motherhood, I listened to an hour and a half podcast episode where 3 mom's were talking about the HOW of motherhood. HOW do you feed your kid. HOW do you find time to take care of yourself. HOW do you be creative. HOW do you spend time with your husband. It's honestly a big mystery that unfolds over time. And each of us will experience it differently! But we are all here together.
Right now, my biggest HOW is around being social. HOW do I be social when I cannot host people at my house. HOW can I allow social plans to be organic and go with the flow and not freak out that no one has rsvp'd and will anyone come and HOW can I relax and not be anxious about social gatherings. HOW can I invite others to celebrate with me when I'm constantly afraid of being overwhelmed... the list goes on.
I feel I am steps behind you in the book publishing journey! I paid a self-publishing hybrid company to write a chapter in an anthology on the divine feminine. I'll send you that mid-month! It's due September 30, 2025, and set to print February 2026. In a creative group earlier this year, I received some feedback on my book that has convinced me to start from scratch. In 2021, I began compiling journal entries from 2016-2019 when I was learning all about how to embody the divine feminine. I have 300 pages but have yet to start over again. It lacks flow and needs more storytelling. There's a Gateless Writing Symposium (free!) with weekly conversations on book publishing and writing from now to mid-November (I believe it's running for several weeks) and I look forward to soaking up any tid-bits from that.
Self-publishing is frequently combined with raising funds to get the book printed. I would love to keep in the loop with your journey and see the HOW behind self-publishing!!!
Years ago, I supported Kristi Stalder's work and had asked if she (one day) would be available to help me edit my book. I'm not sure if she's offering those services anymore, but you could check! Her website is: https://www.krististalder.com/
Also, my favorite astrologer pivoted and now she has a publishing company! She has in-house graphics and an editor. There's a possibility they only focus on non-fiction, but here's her website in case you want to check her out: https://divineflow.co/
Hi Amanda, thank you for sharing these resources! I'm so grateful to surround myself with a creative community rich in connections and resources. It makes this journey feel a lot more exciting and aligned with how I want to share this book!
The HOW of social gatherings...yes! We moved across the country when Noah was just one to be closer to family...but in the process gave up our deeply rooted community of friends in the process. Making new friends as a mom is a lot harder than I imagined, but after two years, we're slowly finding our groove! A lot of social things I've noticed happen better spontaneously, without a lot of notice. I've also embraced the "low stakes hangs" mentality of not needing it to be planned for weeks or perfectly executed, it can be as simple as hanging out in the front yard together and eating left-over snacks!
Another thing I'm trying starting in September is creating a "standing" playdate once a week for some of the neighbors with young families. So if you can't make it one week, no worries, it happens every week and the kids can play and we'll do potluck style dinners.
This article was also really helpful to think about it differently!
That image of gravity pulling everything inward until collapse, then the heat and pressure eventually stabilizing into light that can shine for billions of years ... yes, this feels like exactly what creative transformation looks like when you're in the middle of it. Such a beautiful way of putting it!!
Your recognition that you need "a whole new template to operate from" resonates so deeply. I've learned several times in life that the old ways of pushing through, of measuring my creative productivity by conventional standards, just don't work anymore. My body and intuition know this ... and then I forget and have to learn it again.
I especially love how you frame this as healing generational programming around worth and abundance. When I allow myself the spaciousness to heal and create from a place of genuine desire rather than obligation, it feels like I'm not just changing my own creative process but offering something different to the world. But doing it can be so hard sometimes!!!
Thank you for naming this as the radical act it is.
Thank you for sharing your experience, Kathryn! It doesn't always feel radical, it feels selfish, but I'm trying to reframe what "selfish" actually means and looks like. We have a saying between my husband and I, "No martyrs in this family," and that's a helpful reminder, too.
I feel hugely privileged to be in the position I am to prioritize my healing and creating; it would be a waste if I didn't seize the opportunity! I also really love the idea of healing being something that impacts future and past timelines. I wrote a poem for my parents after their divorce and after my Dad had passed, with this same intention. It was a powerful exercise and I definitely felt some of the weight from carrying their story shift in my body.
Here's the poem if you'd like to read it!
https://open.substack.com/pub/thebarefootbeat/p/blessing-for-my-divorced-parents?r=1tmjxe&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
Ooooof feeling the chaos myself lovely. Definitely feeling like that star birthing era too. Coinciding with the end/start of a seven year cycle for me. Xx
Hi, Mariah! As I read your article, I saw a woman who is walking on a road yet unpaved, that she only catches glimpses of, a woman who has everything she needs to be a trailblazer. You already are!
The lovely synchronicities of life: I work with mothers and guide them on their matrescence using a seasonal cyclical framework and I loved seeing how you described this immense rite of passage as being the birth of a star. So so true! It is hard to navigate the seasons necessary to birth that star, in order to reach the season that rejoices in her full light. I see you and honour your journey!
P.S. I deeply resonated with your inner conflict around honouring your needs and desires and feeling guilty for it, framing it as a luxury...We do such hard work to unlearn beliefs and patterns around our value and enoughness. Shine bright !💫
Hi Simona, I'm so glad this piece resonated with you! Thank you for your lovely words of encouragement and affirmation. I'm delighted and relieved to see more conversations and holy spaces for women to move through this life passage and find companionship along the way.
Thanks for being here! 💗
Thank you for your fierce vulnerability and for creating spaces like this🫶🏻🌱!
I love the concept of "star nurseries" and how, inherently, we are rebirthing stars. It’s definitely not an easy process, but we are built, designed, and thought through to function within both chaos and order.
So I’m sending you a huge hug and telling you that you’re doing great. As the saying goes, a happy mom makes a happy home. Your needs matter. You are doing the beautiful work of preparing the mindful programming of future generations. I know that process—it was never my intention at first, until you awaken to newness and the capacity to rebirth. Oups, a star 🌟
Bises,
Keva.
Thank you, Keva! I'm so grateful to be sharing this journey with you and for all of your beautiful words of encouragement.
You're such an inspiration to me! Our last conversation is still carrying me through the waves of courage I need to take the next steps for my book and share it with the world on my own terms. You're definitely a trailblazer in this space, and your light radiates far and wide! 💖
I’m glad you’re reframing the way to publish your beloved book. You’re welcome — it’s sisterhood in craft: we support each other and bring some light into those places that need it. You’re also an inspiration; you care for people and want to help us face those valleys with more peace and care for ourselves. We need that!
Thank you for these kind words. We must allow the light to shine right; sometimes it doesn’t feel like it, but who are we to judge? We only see a small part of the sky ✨️
On va y arriver et lancer nos livres, un projet à la fois. Star nurseries!
Sisterhood in craft, I love it! And you're totally right, we only see a small part of the sky. What a beautiful thing to create constellations from our creativity and care for each other along the way. 💖
Oh my sweet, new friend. I, like many others, are right here with you. I remember early on in motherhood, I listened to an hour and a half podcast episode where 3 mom's were talking about the HOW of motherhood. HOW do you feed your kid. HOW do you find time to take care of yourself. HOW do you be creative. HOW do you spend time with your husband. It's honestly a big mystery that unfolds over time. And each of us will experience it differently! But we are all here together.
Right now, my biggest HOW is around being social. HOW do I be social when I cannot host people at my house. HOW can I allow social plans to be organic and go with the flow and not freak out that no one has rsvp'd and will anyone come and HOW can I relax and not be anxious about social gatherings. HOW can I invite others to celebrate with me when I'm constantly afraid of being overwhelmed... the list goes on.
I feel I am steps behind you in the book publishing journey! I paid a self-publishing hybrid company to write a chapter in an anthology on the divine feminine. I'll send you that mid-month! It's due September 30, 2025, and set to print February 2026. In a creative group earlier this year, I received some feedback on my book that has convinced me to start from scratch. In 2021, I began compiling journal entries from 2016-2019 when I was learning all about how to embody the divine feminine. I have 300 pages but have yet to start over again. It lacks flow and needs more storytelling. There's a Gateless Writing Symposium (free!) with weekly conversations on book publishing and writing from now to mid-November (I believe it's running for several weeks) and I look forward to soaking up any tid-bits from that.
Self-publishing is frequently combined with raising funds to get the book printed. I would love to keep in the loop with your journey and see the HOW behind self-publishing!!!
Years ago, I supported Kristi Stalder's work and had asked if she (one day) would be available to help me edit my book. I'm not sure if she's offering those services anymore, but you could check! Her website is: https://www.krististalder.com/
Also, my favorite astrologer pivoted and now she has a publishing company! She has in-house graphics and an editor. There's a possibility they only focus on non-fiction, but here's her website in case you want to check her out: https://divineflow.co/
Hi Amanda, thank you for sharing these resources! I'm so grateful to surround myself with a creative community rich in connections and resources. It makes this journey feel a lot more exciting and aligned with how I want to share this book!
The HOW of social gatherings...yes! We moved across the country when Noah was just one to be closer to family...but in the process gave up our deeply rooted community of friends in the process. Making new friends as a mom is a lot harder than I imagined, but after two years, we're slowly finding our groove! A lot of social things I've noticed happen better spontaneously, without a lot of notice. I've also embraced the "low stakes hangs" mentality of not needing it to be planned for weeks or perfectly executed, it can be as simple as hanging out in the front yard together and eating left-over snacks!
Another thing I'm trying starting in September is creating a "standing" playdate once a week for some of the neighbors with young families. So if you can't make it one week, no worries, it happens every week and the kids can play and we'll do potluck style dinners.
This article was also really helpful to think about it differently!
https://substack.com/inbox/post/167735715
Oh I love that article! Thank you!