Notes from the Sea - November

Inward we go, seeking nature's light in the darker days...

Hi!

Well for those of you who remember, we’re here again.

We circled back.

I’m re-mounting Notes from the Sea for all subscribers. Thank you for being here. It’s a joy to be bringing this series back. For those of you who are new here, I send these notes monthly with an intention of helping you connect to being inside of your beautiful life as a business owner and staying creatively conscious. When I named my business ‘Creatively Conscious’ in 2017 it was an invitation both to myself and to the ‘right’ people to connect to work with me. People who wanted to re-remember their innate creativity.

Sunrise from my kitchen window

The Practise of staying Creatively Conscious

I’ve been tuning into “glimmers” this past few weeks inspired by a creative exercise in

Allegra Chapman

’s new book Creativity Is Your Self-Care.¹ I find myself fascinated with natural light this time of year and chasing it into pockets of the forest and coast as it disappears for the day. There’s a grief that comes with the darker days, an insecurity in everything being inside out. Allegra’s book is a total boost;

Creativity Is Your Self-Care contains 52 creative therapy exercises - one for every week of the year - to enable you to build a regular practice of creative self-care.

It’s the ultimate self-care toolkit for creative souls. Whether it’s writing, journaling, drawing, painting, collaging, photography or any of the incredibly varied forms of creative activity that you can think of, taking part in creative pursuits has been proven to benefit your emotional, mental and physical health.

Buy the book here https://amzn.eu/d/4AGHPeO or with the new creative oracle deck https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/creative-oracle-cards/x/38131589#/

🌊

On pausing to see…

When we turn off the tap on any creative project there are internal responses, there are questions. Things flood through then leave to circle back.

• We might feel relief

• We perhaps see opportunities/ other things in the space they left behind

• We reminisce

And not always in a satisfying and linear order. I could write on the reasons I stopped sending this monthly newsletter but I haven’t quite understood them myself. They are everything to do with how I felt/ feel (?) at home.

In short; the complicated emotion of feeling like we want to leave somewhere we are hopelessly in love with.

This year has been turbulent on and inside the terrace but one thing has stayed steady; the adoration of the sunrises I get to see from my kitchen window.

When the whole village, street and house sleeps, when me and the sky wake up together, I feel like I belong here and I feel whole heartedly inspired for the day ahead. It’s easeful to connect to my lineage. Often, I feel just eight years old back with my Grandad on his early morning paper rounds. I connect to the size and shape of his hand and the pace of his action. It’s easy to feel held and in union with the entire planet and my purpose in these moments. They energise and ground me.

That’s just a hard thing to leave behind. Home is part of who I am. It reflects me and reassures me. It’s the only place I’ve felt like this in four decades of living.

More on this relationship we have with home…

• 📖 The Giant on the Skyline by

  Clover Stroud

• 🎶 Stephen Wilson Junior; Hometown

• ✍️ Journal Prompt… at home I am… 💫

✨

I’m excited to share with you…

1. I am excited to share that my very first anthology The Rejection Palace is almost ready for publication. If you’d like to write for the next one, it’s free and you can submit your 500 word piece here…

2. I am about to deliver a BRAND new 4 week course - Perfectly Imperfectly Podcasting. This brilliant course is the one that helps you with mindset blocks and the practical implementation of video/ audio podcasting here on Substack. Voice is everything! Come join us, we start 1st November. There is just ONE live call half way through. It’s all delightfully self paced to give you all the tools to feel confident in launching your podcast and growing your audience. I’m here for you and your voice is calling you to speak your truth to the world.

3. I delivered a BRILLIANT class for those who want to get series about growing their paid subscribers on Substack with the co-author of my book ‘How to Build a World Class Substack’, you can purchase the replay here.

4. Next year, I’m running an in person retreat with

   Tanya Lynch
   from
   with EASE
   retreats and I’m so excited, sign up for details and early bird tickets here - there are limited spots and the retreats sell out so sign up to get all the tea when it’s ready - https://www.creativelyconscious.co.uk/substack-with-ease-retreat-oxfordshire-uk

And so to personal life. My husband and I will celebrate our five year wedding anniversary in a few days. We went to our first gig together in 10 years this weekend. (Where does the time go?) It was one of the best night’s of my life. The traditional gift for five years together married is wood and so I booked us an impromptu break to the forest at Kielder. For those of you reading outside the UK we are here.

Sending sparkles for your month ahead, may the fallen leaves of Autumn show us what we are safe to let go of in this season.

Claire

✨ 🍁

PS - the next few posts I write this month will include previews but Notes from the Sea will always be free. You can also choose to pay a monthly or annual fee if you want to read them. As a paid subscriber you can also access any of the workshops and behind the scenes of my whole hearted business posts I’ve delivered here over the last 2.5 years. 💖

October glimmers

1.

Allegra Chapman

kindly gifted me an e-copy of the book and I loved reading it and connecting to her message. It was a delight to meet her

Alnwick Story Fest

last year.