Roots and Branches

Creativity, as a regular and expanding practice, is the key to calling our power back.

“Hopelessness isn’t natural. It needs to be produced.
If we really want to understand this situation, we have to begin by understanding that for decades we have seen the construction of a vast bureaucratic apparatus for the creation and maintenance of hopelessness, a kind of giant machine that is designed, first and foremost, to destroy any sense of possible alternative futures.”

 – David Graeber

We are in a crisis of manufactured hopelessness. 

Not because the situation is hopeless, or we are, but because we are being asked each day to separate ourselves from hope and possibility until we believe that the only thing for us, and this world, is an ever-faster slide to doom and gloom.

It’s easy to feel that way (look at the news cycle), but the moment also offers us a different invitation: What if we looked at what’s being offered up on a plate, and chose something else from the menu?

What if we said no, then went into the kitchen and made our own damn dinner instead? 

Graeber, an anthropologist who was a key figure in the Occupy movement, encouraged us to look at the systems beyond ourselves to understand the contexts surrounding us. But also reminded us that we, too, are a part of those systems: And as such we can exert power to change them.

We are, each of us, a generating station of creative power: and as such are capable not only of imagining new worlds but also doing the work to bring those worlds to pass.

You’re being asked to forget your power for a reason: And the reason is that, when you remember your creative power and your capacity to build, and shift, and do amazing things…the systems that want to keep you beholden, and small, and quiet, and scared will no longer have power over you.

Because you’re already powerful and capable and able to create the things you desire. You just have to remember it. 

Yes, we can look at reality and find lots to make us scared. Plenty of things make the future feel uncertain.

But we can also shift our attention towards possibility and towards what we desire: Not in saying the current reality doesn’t exist, but that it isn’t all there is.

And we can all collectively and individually work as stewards ushering in what’s better. More aligned. More in step with our true power and forces of creativity and imagination.

You have The ability to create something new

“We live in capitalism. Its power seems inescapable. So did the divine right of kings. Any human power can be resisted and changed by human beings. Resistance and change often begin in art, and very often in our art, the art of words.” 

― Ursula K. Le Guin

If you’re wondering why your creativity matters, right now, more than ever, the two quotes I’ve cited illustrate why.

Your creativity and capacity are keys to navigating this moment: By expanding your capacity to hold your desires and your uncertainty while staying grounded, you expand your capacity to hold and create things you never thought possible (case in point: I *never* would have imagined the life I lead now was possible even 5 years ago, but it is, and I’ll feel the same way 5 years from now, too).

Encyclopedia Brittanica defines creativity as “the ability to make or otherwise bring into existence something new.” 

Creativity is NOT about making low value objects “for fun” or laying around all day (though there is some laying around): The act of creating is, whatever the result, highly valuable. 

And the people who say you shouldn’t have fun while you’re working (or say that creative work “isn’t real work”)? There’s something they’re unhappy about in their work or lives, so are quick to condemn your creative work as ‘not real work’ because their work looks nothing like it.

It’s projection, plain and simple, and every time someone tells me my work isn’t “real” it’s a reminder that not everyone is tapped into their creative flow: And that I am fortunate to both live a life where I am and to model that for others by staying true to myself. 

(Side note: that’s also one reason I dislike AI so much: It’s a crutch for people who feel entitled to the output but don’t like their work enough, or aren’t willing to put in enough work, to make that on their own). 

Creativity is TO CREATE. To make something new. 

To imagine, first, something possible and then share it for the collective to build upon. To be an active participant in the worldbuilding we so desperately need.

This is why I keep going on and on about the importance of clear intention followed by aligned action.

Imagine what you want to the world to be, and the person you want to be in that world, and the things you want to create: Then move in alignment with that.

I want to be an author whose work is appreciated long after I’m gone: So that means moving through the world in a way where I value connections with readers, put myself out there publicly, and write regularly.
Some of this comes naturally, some of it less so (training myself to be a half decent public speaker took a lot of work, for example). 

I recently ran across a quote that said “To fall asleep, you must first pretend to be asleep. And that’s how everything else works.” It’s since been cited in a ton of LinkedIn posts and business newsletters, but the concept applies here too: 

Pretend you’re already living the creative life you want to live, and keep doing that. At a certain point you’ll look back and realize that you stopped pretending, and actually became the creative person who does the creative things you dream of doing each day. 

We’re at a point where the world feels scary and many of us feel at a loss for what to do. Which is why unleashing your creative power is not optional: 

YOU have art, words, a new business, the revival of an old tradition, or SOMETHING inside of you that is absolutely necessary medicine for these times. 

There is something you can offer the world that no one else can, and we’re past the point where it’s easy to just coast and ignore those intuitive pulls towards being more yourself. Towards doing your soul’s work.

In the past, it was easier to close our eyes and to just continue on with business as usual: Despite ‘business as usual’ having dramatic impacts on people and ecosystems. But ones that existed ‘over there.’ 

We are being reminded daily that there is no ‘over there.’ Which means your dedication to your creative work, and to doing the things you’re meant to do in this world is an important part of your care for the collective, as well as your care for yourself.

If you want to do this work: Expanding your creative capacity, putting in meaningful time on creative projects with clear goals, working with energy and intention to organize them around your dream work and get that momentum building…

Come join me for a 9 month dive into the strategy of creative living and building a creative life and livelihood.

We work with energetics, intention, expansion, and care as our guides, and we’re building the map as we walk it, drawing on traditions and frameworks from the past to build a creative future with room for all of us.

Symbiosis is entirely virtual, with live elements plus self-paced ones, and optional additional paths (like a self-made MFA, or creating with the seasons) to build onto the path we walk together.

You also get additional training, if you wish, in Reiki and in facilitating group spaces like this one. 

Payment plans range from ~$80-$200/month. Sign up at this link:

If you want more after you join, send me an email for the VIP version: 2 private coaching sessions a month, a one-of-a-kind handmade oracle deck just for you, and a box full of homemade tinctures and magical objects to support your work.

Email julia@rootsandbranches.space for the application for VIP support.

Paid subscribers get 40% off Symbiosis and $1000 off VIP support: Scroll down for details.