Roots and Branches

It’s easy to feel spread thin, and besides evergreen advice like limiting social media time (more on that below), creative spirits need advice specific to us. Specific to continuing the work that’s so vital at a time when it feels impossible to do so.

This isn’t an exhaustive list, but a few ideas for things that are helping me + the folks I work with right now.

Define what ‘aligned work’ means to you: If you find yourself doing mental gymnastics to justify the fact that your employer wants you to use GenAI (for example), or wants more work for less money, it’s a nudge to get curious about those mental gymnastics. 

What is underneath all the noise that wants your attention? What about your current situation isn’t working for you? Sometimes this is obvious (e.g. exploitative wages), sometimes not. Once you see what isn’t working, start to think about what an aligned version of that work would look like. 

You may not find that work immediately: But you’ll have a clear picture of what you want so you have a goal to work towards and something to look forward to, rather than feeling like you’re stuck here forever. Having a clear list of what you want also helps with looking at job ads and assessing them quickly before applying.

Grounding and boundaries are critical right now: There is so much noise around us 24/7. Grounding practices, meditations, energetic hygiene practices (I’m still looking for a better word for that btw, suggestions welcome), and setting clear boundaries can keep you from feeling scattered and spread thin.

Do the inner work: around money, around old patterns of defeatist thinking, or places where you find you’re frequently feeling anxiety.

Work on our inner landscapes is incredibly nuanced and rooted in many social, familial, and personal contexts. 

So what I’m not saying is to ‘love and light’ your way to more money, or to stick your head in the sand and just take bubble baths. 

What I am saying is you can think about and notice patterns around your creativity that feel sticky (like money, like anxiety around the world), and get curious about what you might want to release or transform, what you want to do more of, etc. 

This is a wonderful space to do work with professionals engaged with somatics, meditation, and energy work (I’m happy to help you find a good fit, whether or not it’s with me).

Now is the time to let old patterns go to let in something new. It’s scary, especially when everything else feels unmoored. But when things aren’t working as they are it’s an invitation to try something else. 

Cultivate connections and a sense of trust. In yourself, in your intuition, your creative process, your community, and the universe. Being intentional and planful in your approach to work helps you create your own safety net: Cultivating genuine connections with others and trust also takes some pressure off because you know that you’ve got a larger safety net to catch you.

Note the focus on genuine connections here: People who you take pleasure in being around, who you can have exciting conversations with, and who support your sense of well-being. 

There’s definitely a time and place for professional networking, too. But when you’re looking for real community, the senior manager you met briefly at a mixer is far less likely to show up for you than the woman you really clicked with while volunteering at the community garden, or the man you have developed a friendship with over your shared love of history.

Diversifying: not every hobby needs to be a side hustle, and working 24/7 will burn you out, so this is about balance and seeing what other options are available, not about turning your life into a series of hustles. But having multiple potential income streams to pull from can help you feel more resourced and less stressed: So this is a nudge to explore other options, if you feel called to.

Let your tools work for you

Social media is a tool: And one we can choose how we work with and how it benefits us (or not). This month in the Mycelia Writers’ Coven, we’re doing a month-long practice to make our social media use work for us, through intentionally using and directing our energy towards what we want from those spaces (rather than just being bombarded with whatever the algorithm decides).

It’s not too late to join us: Head here or email me if you’d like to do so.
I’m making new Coven memberships 50% off this week, or maybe next week too. Use EQUINOX2025 when you check out.

Need other support? I’m just an email away and here ready to help.

Image source: Wikimedia Commons