We show up more fully when we’re able to take care of ourselves

I talk a lot about food security in my work as a writer and educator, and talk about food security and sustainability as a form of wealth in my class Preserving Abundance.

Essentially, it’s an invitation to think of ‘wealth’ expansively, as experiences and connections and skills, as well as physical assets.

We can think of being resourced as creators in the same way.

‘Being resourced’ doesn’t just mean that I make money from my writing, it also means that I have the inner well of resources available to write in the first place, and specifically, to be open to generating new ideas and to novel, creative thinking, rather than getting stuck spinning my wheels with business as usual.

Think of it like a pantry

A pantry with a few staple items in it will keep you fed and alive, but with minimal variety.

A pantry with a bunch of canned goods offers more variety, but can still be limiting.

A pantry with favorite staples, extra ingredients for variety, plus food you’ve put up that reflects your place, time, and things you enjoy will feed you well and leave you nourished whatever is going on in the world around you.
And, importantly, it gives you options: a greater variety means a greater likelihood of cooking food you won’t hate even when other resources, like fresh water or electricity, are hard to come by.

Which pantry would you rather have?

I’m guessing most people would want the abundant pantry with lots of variety and with the tools to make just about anything you’d want to eat in a given week.

We’re all familiar with preppers, and the people who stockpile toilet paper causing artificially-induced shortages in our just-in-time supply chains.

This is not that.

The purpose of building up our inner resources is not to encase ourselves in a wall of fear and doomsday fantasizing. It’s to give ourselves what we need to do our important work whatever is going on around us, not because we expect the world to crumble, but because we recognize how important our creative work is, and we love the world so much we want to do our part to continue shaping it.

Building a sustaining pantry in your home, or being resourced in your inner creative ecosystem, is not about hiding in fear, it’s about embracing and creating.
It’s rooted in love, possibility, and an inherent belief in the future and in the goodness of others. And, most importantly, it gives us the tools to actively work towards that future, for caring for ourselves first so we can show up for others.

Caring for your creative self and nourishing your creative spirit is just as important as nourishing your body: Creative spirits that are given space to create have given us the art, music, books, tech, and scientific breakthroughs that enrich our lives and make life not just a thing that happens to us, but rather a thing worth doing.

If you’re looking for inspiration for building up your own creative pantry of nourishing resources, take a search through my newsletter for ideas (or leave a comment and I’ll point you towards some of my favorites).

A good place to start is last week’s issue, where I talk specifically about things I do to feel resourced when the world feels overwhelming.

P.S. If you want to go deeper into this kind of work, and even include some hands-on culinary time in the process (yes, really, I love weaving cooking into full-day creative support sessions), I’m taking clients for the fall.

A recent favorite was improvising on an herbal tincture together, which we infused with the energy of my client’s creative practice, and which she now can use to reconnect to that energy whenever she’s feeling stuck.

Take a peek at my current offerings here, or reach out to get something customized just for you.