Protecting Your Creative Introverted Energy
PROTECTING THAT MOFO ENERGY
So that you can focus, be creative, and keep the low-vibe shit out.
I’m getting reacquainted with The Artist’s Way and bringing the practices to a sacred unfussy circle of creativity inside the community.
The first time I read the book, I had a library copy. The main thing I took away from the book were two practices; Morning pages and artist dates. I can’t tell you how long I did them for, as I didn’t track a writing streak or anything — that’d be fussy. Instead, I wrote them when I needed to. I wrote morning pages when I’d wake up and feel like there was so much going on in my head that I needed to pause and get some of those winding thoughts out so that I could focus.
Julia Cameron, the author of The Artist’s Way, says we write morning pages to get to the other side — and on many days, it’s true. There are lots of days I don’t want to write morning pages. As I continue to get reacquainted with my inner artist, I'm noticing that protecting my energy is more important than ever.
As an INFJ, it's important AF, but as I explore my creativity further, I'm noticing it needs some extra nurturing.
On a quiet week, you’ll find me on 8 hours of Zoom calls, a busy week and I might have 16 hours of calls. I’m ridiculously intentional with my calendar and know that every meeting on my calendar is one I happily chose.
Since planning my business and writing activities with my cycle and the moon cycle, I plan those 16 hours of calls in a week where I know my energy will be high.
And even when it’s high, I want to keep it high. There’s no prize at the end of the week or the end of the year for logging the most hours on Zoom calls.
If you’re still working remotely and find yourself exhausted at the end of the day, then you might benefit from a little energy guarding.
The same goes for when you’re hanging out with people who seem to constantly drain your energy. Of course, the long-term solution here is to invest your time and energy in being around people who energize you, or at the very least, don’t leave you feeling like you’ve got nothing left to give.
Some ideas to protect your sensitive energy:
Notice what's going on with your personal energy and the moon — this article on my intuitive and unfussy approach to content planning will give you a good starting point
Plan the summer months — how do you want weeks in the summer to look? Do you want to finish work at 2 pm every day? Do you want to take Fridays off? 2 months off? Block the time today.
Zoom calls (including writing sessions) — keep your video off. If you’re on calls with me you might see me doing this sometimes too. No need to explain — EVER. If you lead a community where your people can "come as you are," it’s easier when you're not thinking about what you look like. Try it out and see if you notice you can listen to others better. As a leader, you can tell your team that they’re welcome to join calls and leave their video off if they need to protect their energy.
Zoom calls where video is required — turn your self-view off (I shared this on IG in the fall). Calls are so much less draining when you're not watching yourself in the mirror — which we’d never do in a real-life meeting.
What calls are on your calendar that could be an email? A video recording? A walking phone call? Or even canceled completely?
When you're on calls and notice you may be taking on others' energy:
Wear a bracelet on your left hand (the left receives, and the right gives), and imagine your receiving energy is filtered into the bracelet and not getting into your precious bod.
Hold something in your left hand like a crystal, stress ball, or stone when other's are speaking — especially handy if they're ranting, offloading, complaining, or whining. Imagine the object is holding whatever is coming your way for you, so when your conversation is finished, you can place it down and leave the energy with the object, and not for you to carry around.
Imagine a bucket off to your side and someone's filling the bucket (a good in-person practice too when you encounter an energy vampire). When they're done speaking, lovingly hand the bucket back to them so they can process (it's not yours to process)
During a full day of meetings:
Light a candle in between, burn a little incense, sage, or palo santo
Go outside and put your bare feet on the ground and feel the sun on your face
Dance it out like a MOFO
Your energy matters in everything you do. And when we work and live with others, it can be easy for the most sensitive among us to take on others’ shit. Which doesn’t do us or them any good.
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