Finding zen monastery moments.

And other thoughts on creative entrepreneurship in a noisy online world.

Last week my business, Lotus Blu Book Art, celebrated 11 years. I never set out with any grand business plans, I had no idea what I was doing so I began researching and learning as much as I could about running a soulful creative business from people who seemed a good fit for my introverted nature. Somewhere in between the consumption of all the information and different opinions over the years, the noise of it all became so deafening that I started to doubt my own ability and trust how I wanted to share my work with the world.

Being a creative entrepreneur running a business solo can be lonely for sure, so it’s no wonder we go out seeking others to connect with, this is good and often necessary, but just like too many cooks spoil the broth, too many voices telling us how to run our creative businesses can be detrimental to our wellbeing and happiness.

In the early days, I got so wrapped up in the notion that I had to have a strategy for everything I made and offered like others in my industry. It wasn’t until I went through an interview with my mortality that I realised something needed to change. I questioned everything! What even was the purpose of my work and how did I truly want to live my life? You know, deep thoughts that felt scary and that I had no answers for! I just knew how I wanted my life and work to feel. I knew I wanted to fall in love with the process of creating slowly and mindfully, and I wanted to be able to offer my creations to the world in the same way.

A few years ago while I was going through a bit of dark night of the soul and feeling the need to run to the quiet of the hills, I came across this poem by Khalil Gibran which I’ve held close ever since as a reminder to keep my network small and intentional, cutting back on the need to be on every social media app or getting distracted by the latest marketing spiel from influencers selling us their idea of how to run a successful creative business.

[Feel free to save and print out this poem to paste in your journal.]

Success in life and work to me means having a healthy mind and body that allows me to tap into creativity from a place of wonder, abundance and joy, not from a place of lack or feeling like I’m not keeping up, or worse, doing things that don’t really align with my inner desires. I recently saw a post on Instagram by a very well known coach for creative entrepreneurs hooked up to a drip in hospital being treated for exhaustion, it made me truly sad. If this is the outcome of coaches running a 7 and 8 figure business [because 6 figures is no longer enough], as creatives looking to make a living out of our art and craft, we need to be very careful of the people we learn from.

It's natural to encounter moments when we don’t know what we want or lose touch with our genuine aspirations and begin to focus on fulfilling the expectations of others. Yet, let us remember that living a creative life is not a one-size fits all path or a ladder that has us constantly overstretching and not allowing time for those zen monastery moments.

It’s only through introspection that we find the path to rediscovering who we truly are and what we truly want out of life; where we get to reconnect with our genuine aspirations and celebrate the uniqueness of our creative journey, whether it’s something we do just for pleasure or aspire to make a comfortable living out of our creativity. That’s where the magic is, in the empty moments left unfilled with more doing and more learning, where we allow ourselves time to let what we’ve already learnt sink in and where our dreams have the space to become our reality with ease.

Although my business is over a decade old now, it’s really only been around 5 years since I’ve become more intentional and turned inward to allow my deepest desires to guide me, I guess weathering the storm of a near death diagnosis and now managing a chronic pain disorder, it was inevitable, but also turning away from all the bells and whistles the online creative marketing world promises, where we are now called content creators [I truly dislike that term] helped immensely. I couldn’t even hear my own thoughts for all the voices.

It was only when I turned inward and cut out the many voices of others that I truly found my authentic style, knew what I wanted to create and how I wanted to share it with other kindred spirits. It was in one such moment of reflection the idea for The Storyteller Collection came to me, this beloved collection is what changed everything for me one rainy April day when life seemed bleak and I was feeling creatively blocked.

Find out more about The Storyteller Collection over on my blog. A collection that tells little stories of my life. This collection opens up for pre-orders just once a year on 31st August.

In this [occasional] weekend letter, I want to share the creativity of others who inspire me, who I’ve learnt valuable lessons from that have genuinely helped me, from those I've known for years, others I've stumbled across online. Today I want to share the work of Jess Collins [aka The Feral Writer], Jess is someone who has helped me in more ways than I can put into words. She helped me realise I had all I needed within me to create a beautiful career out of my creativity, she’s also the person who coined the tagline for my business ‘Handcrafted for soulful creatives’ — Jess recently started a podcast in which she talks about marketing from a place of heart and soul.

If you’re on your own journey of self discovery while building a creative business and you’re feeling overwhelmed, Jess comes highly recommended by me. I am not an affiliate, it just brings me joy to share the work of those who have genuinely helped me grow not just as a creative business, but also as a human being.

It’s only in the quiet of our own solitude that our creative hearts can find and embrace our authentic selves and pursue our version of success that lets us sleep well at night. As creatives with tender hearts we are deserving of experiencing a reality where joy, contentment, and lasting fulfillment are not seen as elusive, but rather an attainable reality in a way that makes us want to get out of bed in the morning to create and live a life that is meaningful to us.

Until next time,