The Shift

Hello Reader, You're not going to feel like doing it all the time. Creating. Making. Writing. It won't always feel good either. Especially when we want it to be amazing right out of the gate. Genius to spill out of us like blood. An endless flow of brilliance. And when that doesn't happen, the channel can get blocked. Some days, it will feel like pulling out your own wisdom teeth. You'll have to squeeze in creating between meetings. Type ideas on your notes app and save them for later, when...

Hello Reader, It’s been a while since I introduced myself. A lot of new people are in the room. I see you lounging on a velvet chaise longue, laughing so hard your fillings are visible. And I’m walking over. Introductions can be awkward. Where do you start? It usually begins with, “So, what do you do?” But we’re so much more than what we do. Since this is a one-sided conversation, for now, I’ll go the more traditional route. Here’s a piña colada with a little fuchsia umbrella. I help people...

Hello Reader, What stops us from being creative? The grip of control. The fear of the messy unknown. The addiction of done. It feels so good to have a goal and then reach it. Tick. Closing loops or planning can feel like progress and productivity. But this isn't creating, it's completing. Attachment to a particular outcome is another creativity murderer. Wanting to create something mouth-droppingly good might choke you because when you start, it’s definitely not that. It’s a little bitter,...

Hello Reader, I’ve been slowing down. And it’s freaking me out. It’s been a steady deceleration at a time when the most obvious thing to do would be to floor it. My book was published in December and a launch can easily last a year. My business always needs love and attention - she’s high-maintenance in the best of ways. So, there’s a million and one things I could be doing. At least that’s what the ‘10 hacks to be more productive’ experts say. Yet. I am pulled into pregnant pauses and open...

Hello Reader, I got the full body chills listening to the synth track my friend Tyler made for one of the poems from my book, Welcome to the Creative Club. It’s called Pleasure Principle.Tyler's rhythmic, throbbing synthesizers and dreamy euphoria washed over me, the notes raindrops dancing across my skin. He beautifully captured the feeling of the poem in sound. Hot damn. I never would have met Tyler if I didn’t write the book. A friend I met on X shared it with him, we connected, and the...

Hello Reader, I’ve been going through some kind of shi(f)t. I wish there was a planet in retrograde or hormonal changes (both might be true) to blame. But I’ve hit a wall. How I usually work is not working anymore. There is a part of me that knows something’s got to give. But give into what? Change into what? I’m having another chrysalis moment. Growth is good, but right now, it doesn’t feel like I’ve hit the jackpot. More like I’m pissing my pants on a stool in Atlantic City waiting for my...

Hello Reader, I got lassoed in. Hayden, one of my besties, said Ted Lasso was her favorite show. I’m not a soccer fan, and I judged it as corny before giving it a chance, and dismissed it. But I trust her judgment, so my husband and I gave it a shot and ended up crushing hard on Ted, tumbling into the London locker room. It’s deeper than it appears. Lasso shows us a different way of being and moving in the world. The power of a series, when at its best, not only invites us to connect with...

Hello Reader, I needed an update. I didn’t realize I was running old software, an outdated way of perceiving myself until I read a review for my book on Instagram. The reviewer said the book is written from the perspective of a wealthy woman, and I did a double-take. Who’s the wealthy woman? Oh! She’s talking about me. I’m the wealthy woman. Wait. I'm a wealthy woman. I might not be loaded, but I'm doing what I love and not struggling or poor anymore. I still had that 18-year-old view of the...

Hello Reader, My business is not meant to domesticate me. Yet here I am, letting fear crack its whip and run operations like a ruthless COO. When furiously ticking boxes off my to-do list, I forget why I started Kollektiv Studio - to design my days and make business my art. There’s an over-preparation bone in my body that wants to protect me, but my liberation depends on pulling it out, letting it dry, and making a wish (and letting it go). I’ve been pushing, driving, feeling out of time and...