March 13, 2023, 8:52 p.m.
Everywhere is your studio
The practice of telling the people
Monday Monday
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Living rurally reminds me that anywhere can be my art studio and everywhere I go can be my office. There are no limits to research, noticing, and finding what is real and true. It is in the action of creation that we learn what we are looking for in the first place, and while I am always on the edge of workaholism, I am also always on the edge of devotion and discipline.
I just finished reading Tiago Forte’s Building a Second Brain and it has me absolutely thrilled about the idea of learning, building a garden of knowledge, and taking and organizing my notes in more efficient and inspiring ways. While I have learned from others who taught this method1 I am finding that listening to the book itself is helping me understand the process even better. As I was finishing a long drive listening to the audiobook today I drove straight to my local bookstore to buy the physical copy of the book to devour even more of it.
I am a tornado note taker and I have built a lot of systems for this that make sense to me. Different notebooks for morning pages, gratitude lists, projects, and to do lists. My digital footprint however is a bit more chaotic and I am looking forward to finding more ways to integrate the PARA (Projects, Areas, Resources, Archive) system for organizing.
Processing, organizing, and synthesizing notes is a huge part of my practice, and I find when I teach my own eco system building ways to others it creates an effortless path to invention. One of my favorite projects I have ever released into the world is Newsletter Class because it has such a direct outcome - people make newsletters! My inbox is often filled with links to newsletters people launch after taking the class and every time I think - yes yes this is exactly why I follow the call of creation!
Telling the people about our work can bring up so much imposter syndrome, fear of rejection, and clam us right up to the point where we don’t tell the people what we make. Or we have so many ideas that we don’t know if they should be stickers, classes, books, zines, or something else entirely. We can start anywhere. We can begin again. We can begin before you want to if we know it will free us.
The willingness to begin is not a miracle though. It is an act of faith in ourselves and the service our art, writing, objects, and work will offer to the people.
“Help us to be ever faithful gardeners of the spirit, who know that without darkness nothing comes to birth, and without light nothing flowers.” - May Sarton
We must try! We must absolutely try. If it’s one person you share with or a million, the word needs your offerings. And creating systems that work for you - devoted hours of creation, discipline to your process, and the courage to put the magic out there - the world will simply be better for it.
If we wait until we are ready, we will never fully give in to the mystery of creation. If we wait to have enough courage to quit what we don’t love, we may be in misery forever. It takes big willingness to pivot, and I am here to tell you - I know you can. Simple as that.
May you be filled with the strength of the divine to make your work, tell the people, and quit when it is no longer serving you or others.
Class starts THIS SATURDAY and I am SOOOOO EXCITED! I love teaching! The digital quilt square screen of a zoom room is one of my favorite studios to be in. The dream of the classroom, beaming in from anywhere and everywhere.
I am looking forward to weaving together my tornado notebook systems and what I am learning about organizing my digital ideas to help dozens of students bring to life the visions and dreams they are ready to see!
Let’s build ecosystems of creativity together! I feel extremely excited to have two AMAZING guest teachers Amelia Hruby and Jamila Reddy. Plus TWO co-working sessions where we will organize our notes and work together!
This class is packed full and perfect if you are questioning your whole entire career and life and wondering why Saturn is in transcendental Pisces and pretty sure Spring is going to be the best time for rebirth!
All sessions are recorded with lifetime access so if you can’t make any session live no worries, the recordings will always be there for you
Last week’s Friday Thread is open to all! Add to the list!
Examples : whispering to birds, ads on radio stations, physical newsletters, and more
⌇⋰ Website
⌇⋰ Email : info@marleegrace.space
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⌇⋰ PO Box 252 Cedar, MI 49621
Michelle Pellizzon of Holisticism and Marie Poulin both integrate this into their teaching of systems in Notion and I consider myself a student of both of these wizards