Trusting your own flow
Notes on finding an inner anchor
Hi, everyone —
I’m writing to share an update and some thoughts I’ve been sitting with. I haven’t done a paid post in a while for several reasons, the main being:
1 — I have feelings about over-crowding your inbox
2 — I’ve needed a bit of space to be in my creative projects outside of Substack
3 — I’ve been reconsidering what I want to offer to paid subscribers here
The consensus on the form I shared recently is that the “extra” offering for paid subscribers (a monthly reflection guide) isn’t something most paid subscribers actually utilize, and that most of you seem to be here as paid subscribers to support the work I’m already doing in my weekly Sunday Letters and outside projects, rather than receive anything “extra”.
For that, I’m deeply grateful — and I am going to be taking a continued break from creating reflection guides this summer. Many of you said you’d love to see more behind-the-scenes glimpses into my own creative practice, book ideating, writing, and even the making of this newsletter — so I’m going to experiment with a monthly Behind The Scenes share instead — to see how it feels, and to create less things for you to consume or do.
Something important about being a creative person is not feeling like you need to do the same thing you’ve been doing if it isn’t working anymore — to know you can change and experiment, explore and stay open to what’s wanting to be expressed this season (which may look different than the last). While consistency is important and necessary in some ways, I also find room and spaciousness for shifts and changes to be equally so. We must have room to slip away now and then — to retreat and wander, to not do, to change course and take a different, un-walked path. Space for change allows us to create and share from a place of presence instead of obligation. Room for shifts allows us to create and share from the person we are now, rather than the expectation we might have set from the version of us that existed months or years ago.
Leaning into both consistency and flexibility is part of threading our humanity into our work, into what we do. Leaning into both structure and space is part of letting ourselves be ever-changing people, and letting those changes be woven into what, and how, we share.
I feel called to share something that has been swirling lately about reorienting toward our own inner compasses, versus what everyone else is doing/thinking/wanting/. There are countless messages in the internet sphere saying different things:
”Writing consistently ruins my creativity” // “Writing consistently fuels my creativity.”
”Putting out regular content destroys my soul” // “Putting out regular content energizes me.”
”Having structure around my creative practice stifles me” // “Having structure supports me.”
Do you see how two people can hold the same thing in different ways, based on their own unique bodies and circumstances and desires and needs? This is why staying anchored to our own flow and needs is so important; it’s easy to get swept away by what the person we look up to is doing and forget we aren’t them. When we ascribe others’ personal needs/wants/desires to our own, we forget ourselves. Someone else might not find writing a weekly newsletter creatively fulfilling; you might. Someone else might not find a daily creating practice useful or helpful; you might. Someone else might not find structure and routine igniting; you might.
The way we do things isn’t a problem unless we’re doing things the way someone else does instead of doing what actually works for us.