when you've got nothing to say...

I write to you from the depths of the creative void. It’s not an easy place to write from because there’s really nothing here. It’s Darkness. Emptiness. Mystery.  

I racked my brain trying to think of something profound to say on the blog this week, and then realized that I just needed to surrender to the nothingness that I felt.

You see, this void is a natural part of the creative process.

We’re not always supposed to be producing new things and creating masterpieces.

Sometimes we’re just meant to be still and listen and let the mystery hold us.

For it’s in those moments of stillness that we can connect to new parts of ourselves, integrate experiences on a subconscious level, and stay open to the whispers of the creative muse.

It can be vulnerable and scary to be in the unknown, to not know when it will end, and that’s where we have to activate our trust muscles.

After winter, comes spring... After a creative winter, comes a creative spring awakening.

From that space of emptiness, the dark cold winter, the void... that’s where creation happens without us trying to make it happen.

So for this Creative Friday, I encourage you to check in with your own creative void.

Let yourself do nothing. Surrender to the mystery. (Even if it’s a busy time for you, give yourself the gift of a short period of nothingness.)

For all you fellow moon lovers, it’s actually perfect timing, since today is the New Moon - the time of the month when the sky is completely black, the moon totally hidden from view. It’s naturally the time to be in the void and not take action.

I sense there’s a whole lot of light and creative activity in our futures, so we might as well embrace this moment of pause.

Imma get back to my void for now, and I look forward to hearing about yours, too. Feel free to comment below and share how it’s going for you.

in the mystery with you,

Jess

...and sometimes you need to NOT be busy

In follow up to last week’s post about how there’s nothing wrong with being busy, I wanted to take a moment to highlight the fact that there’s also nothing wrong with doing nothing.

It fits well into the theme I created for this month:

"and then she MARCHed forward, still anchored by the mystery"

As we transition into Spring here in the Northern Hemisphere, more light is here. More light is on its way. The days will continue to get longer until mid-June.

In a culture already over-saturated with lights and screens, we now also have more of the Sun to guide us into action.

This is your reminder to stay anchored in the mystery, the darkness, the deeper parts of you that might not want to see the light all the time.

All facets of your life, and especially your creative process, need to hang out in the unknown for periods of time.

You can’t always be productive. You can’t always be “a light.” You can’t always be in the active part of creation mode.

(Well, you can try, but you’ll probably just burn out. Like a light bulb left on for months at a time.)

Honor your busy modes and then honor your stillness.  There’s a reason we need both of them to thrive.

Where are you on the busy-nothing / light-dark spectrum these days?

Comment below and tell me!

to dancing with the mystery,

Jess

P.s. Here’s some further reading for you…

...if you find you’re TOO busy:

why am I working SO much, but not making any headway?

...if you feel like you’re too much in the darkness:

will I ever create anything again?

things change, but does the essence stay the same?

In honor of the 4-year anniversary of Creative Fridays, today’s post features a throwback post, one that I originally wrote on February 17th of 2012.

[4 years of jazz hands]

It’s fascinating to me that I’ve been writing this blog weekly, consistently, for the past 4 years. Especially since there had been multiple other blogs and ideas that I started before it, but never quite kept going.

It’s also fascinating that the essence of what I wrote about then is still the same as what I’m writing about today. So much has changed, but yet the core of it has remained. (Including jazz hands.)

Think about where you were 4 years ago.

Perhaps your life circumstances were completely different. Perhaps they were similar to now.

No matter what the outside circumstances were like, what was the inner constant? What was that essence for you? The thing you ached for. The dream you tended to. The part of you that felt compelled to keep going.

Do you recognize an inner constant, too?

Share in the comments below - I’m curious to know how this lands for you :)

And here goes that post from 2012:

Do you have a dream?

You know, the kind of dream that might feel a little far off from where you are now, the kind of dream that whispers to you “anything is possible,” even if your rational mind shushes it up all too soon.

Do I know exactly what my dream is? Not really. I have ideas (and many of them involve being on stage with Lady Gaga or traveling the world making dance videos), but I’m starting to think that the uncertainty, the curiosity, the questions, are where the real juice is.

Isn’t that what pulls us forward into our dreams in ways that are even better than we could’ve imagined?

I used to get down on myself for not having a more traditional path, for not committing at a very young age to a single art form or trade. But now I’m beginning to cherish the many outlets I’ve explored and passions I’ve pursued. And in the process I’ve become so grateful for the circuitous path I travel upon.

I have a hunch that you have a dream (or multiple dreams), too. Even if they seem cloudy or completely out of sight, they are there within you. And they matter. And they are precious and need to be tended to if you ever want to discover what they really are and what they could become.

My hunch also tells me that you don’t have to abandon your life as you know it in order to pursue a dream. Of course sometimes we do feel compelled to quit our jobs, leave our primary relationships, move across the country, etc, etc, but for some of us who aren’t ready for that much of a leap, you can start small.

Start with one impulse, one picture, one dance class.

Start with Fridays and declare it your day to put more focus on your creative spirit.

Commit to nothing but yourself.

Learn from little kids and senior citizens.

Be curious.

Write down what you dream of at night.

Don’t wait for permission or a degree or certificate. You’re already an artist (or an athlete or an alchemist or a ….)

“Live the questions now,” as Rilke tells us.

I dare you to.

with love through the changes,

Jess

will I ever create anything again?

We all have had them. The dark and empty times. The opposite of prolific. The lacking-motivation-but-wishing-we-had-it moments. The get-jealous-of-other-people’s-stuff funks.

You might ask yourself:

“Will I ever create anything again?”

Here’s the answer:

Yes. Yes you will create again.

You will create something even more authentic and compelling if you just let yourself have a few minutes (or days or weeks or years) of doing nothing and not forcing it.

Instead of forcing yourself to produce something, try this:

Drop into the empty feeling.

Get curious about it.

Bring light to the icky places within you and heal where necessary.

Go on long walks.

Ask questions.

Pick up books you find abandoned on the street.

Be of service to someone.

Start a new workout routine.

Find peace in the stillness.

Why?

Because your creativity is cyclical. Just like the seasons around us. Winter happens before spring.

If you’re currently in a creative rut, take these words in and practice the art of TRUST. (Spring WILL come again, I promise!)

If you’re not in a rut, keep these words in your back pocket and remember them the next time things slow down.

Most importantly, don’t suffer through it alone.

Tell people what you’re going through. Isolation is a breeding ground for depression and shame spirals. Just saying something outloud, without trying to fix or change it, can bring deep healing through compassion.

Try it - Share something with us here, in the comments below.

to embracing all the phases,

Jess

why do I feel so "lazy?"

If you’ve been feeling tired, lazy, crazy, unfocused, or unmotivated in the last week or so, you are not alone.

Between the supermoon eclipse on Sunday, the weather changes (if you’re in a weather-changing climate), and the changes happening within you and your life, it’s not surprising that life could feel a bit overwhelming.

Here’s the lesson I keep learning:

Trust your tired. Trust your desire to stay in bed longer, or cancel some plans, or do things differently.

Your mind might judge you for being “lazy” or “selfish” because your mind wants you to constantly be doing things.

But your body. Your body is connected to your subconscious self, the part of you that knows what you truly need to do or not do. It even knows what’s coming in the future - at least that’s my theory.

Years ago I was taking a course called Creating The Work You Love by Rick Jarow and there was a part that kept coming back to me this week, that I think pretty much sums up the point I’m getting at:

He said - and I’m paraphrasing here - “People ask me all the time how it is that I have the energy to teach, write, travel, and speak as much as I do at my age. And I tell them, I spent 6 years meditating in a cave with monks. That’s how I can do what I do now.”

At the time he felt the desire to meditate in a cave, he had no idea he would be writing books and teaching all over the world. He just followed his intuition and did what felt was right.

In retrospect, it was all that time connecting inwards that allowed him to do all the work in the outer world later on.

Get my gist?

I had a similar experience in the past couple of weeks. Working from bed on some days, pushing my to-do list farther and farther into the future, and giving in to my body’s need to sleep more and do less. (Ok, it wasn’t quite meditating in a cave, but it was my version of it.)

And then seemingly out of the blue I got invited to co-lead the dance floor at this fashion and art event called MOVE! in addition to prepping for the Dance YOUR Dance show next week. I’ll also be teaching at Soul Camp West at the end of the month and doing some things in LA before that time.

So I’m trusting my body’s guidance and resting more when I need to, knowing that there might even be more amazing things on the horizon that I’m prepping for without knowing it.

And I recommend the same for you.

Which brings me to my theme for October:

“and then she opened up to receive magic and let it dance through her.”

Are you ready to receive some magic?

Are you ready to stop pushing yourself so much and just allow things in?

Please share in the comments below and let’s dance into this new month together!

loving your lazy,

Jess

p.s. Soul Camp, the adult sleepaway for the soul, is heading to California October 28-31 and I am teaching! This mind/body/spirit BURST of joy is an immersive experience unlike anything you’ve experienced before.

If you have ever wondered what it would be like to live in a village of conscious people digging deep and having meaningful conversations… spending your days bouncing from restorative yoga to energy work to chakra clearing to angel breath healing to intenSati and ending the night in a kayak on the lake under the stars… then this is the experience for you. And if this entire concept scares you, perhaps it’s exactly what you need.

Visit www.soul.camp/west to learn more and use code JESSICASOUL for a 20% discount off tickets!

have patience in your process

“Being an artist means, not reckoning and counting, but ripening like the tree which does not force its sap and stands confident in the storms of spring without fear that after them may come no summer. It does come. But it comes only to the patient, who are there as though eternity lay before them, so unconcernedly still and wide. I learn it daily, learn it with pain to which I am grateful: patience is everything!”

~ Rainer Maria Rilke, from Letters To A Young Poet

Patience in the storms of spring…

I read those words and suddenly the tides of emotions I’ve been feeling, the inner struggles I’ve been facing, all made sense.

Why?

Let’s not forget that spring can be tumultuous. Yes, there’s green growth happening and pretty flowers blooming on trees around us, but think of the work that transformation takes! From the dead of the winter when much is dormant, new life arises. Don’t expect it to be smooth. Growth is messy.

When you commit to an artistic life (i.e. when you realize that calling deep down that it’s in you, whether or not you’re actively making art), you’re also signing up to feel the cycles and seasons of life - magnified!

You are an artist. You are more sensitive to the world around you. You feel things deeply. You long to express that energy inside, you long to paint the world with your colors and strokes.

And so your body tunes in to everything around you - especially the changing seasons and moon cycles.

You can choose to numb out to all of this. And many do.

You can cover the feelings and cycles with a whole range of things: from booze to Netflix to overly “busy” syndrome. You can pretend the creative impulse is not really there and instead just live a “normal” life.

But does the straight and narrow path really work for you?

Rebell against the status quo! (quoting my dad Gerry Grippo on that one ;)

Make waves, paint your strokes, choose your colors.

And don’t be afraid of a stormy spring.

The summer WILL come.

The sap will flow.

Without having to push or force or try,

you will channel something beautiful into the world.

It will come together.

Trust this emergence.

Have patience with your delicate process.

And while you ride the storms of spring, don’t forget to dance through the rain.

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If you’re feeling the storms of spring deeply,

You don’t have to ride them alone.

Dance into your answers with me on June 10th in NYC:

https://danceintoyouranswers.splashthat.com/

or online on June 9th:

https://danswersonline.splashthat.com

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with surrender to spring and faith in my heart,

Jess