I’ve been reading a lot this month as I create our workbooks, practices, and reflection for the upcoming Creativity Lab - The Abundant Imagination (which is open to all). Apparently, that preparation is known as priming your creativity for the AHHA moments. It’s doing the pre-work so that you can draw together different perspectives for that magical dopamine moment when the brain and body connect in insight. Love it! Who here also wants to chase that feeling? (Raises both hands!)

I first began learning about creativity as a process when I taught grad students social science research and scholarly writing.

Everything outside pulls at me. It’s easy to feel stuck, overwhelmed, and creatively drained. It’s easy to feel as if creativity and community right now is a privilege or luxury. And yet, we must remember our creativity and time in community right now isn’t frivolous or for some other time. It’s your way forward - it’s all of our way forward! Your creativity is a tool for clarity, resilience, and meaningful work!

Lately, I’ve been thinking about how deeply interconnected we are - with each other, and the natural world. And yet, many of us live hustle and bustle lives and work that perpetuate an unnatural disconnect from our own bodies, each other, and Nature.

Last week I talked about the importance of deinstitutionalizing our minds and bodies in order to open up to creative and communal abundance. That’s the work we’re doing during the first week of Creativity Lab - The Abundant Imagination. To shift away from scarcity and deficit mindsets and systems we have to shed our own complicity or compliance.

There’s been a lot flung at us this week, and I know it will keep coming. But I also know we are more powerful together.

Right now, my goal is to help you plan and scaffold the support you need—mentally, emotionally, and in your nervous system—so that you can show up for yourself and others in ways that are intentional and regenerative, without succumbing to the burnout these systems perpetuate.

That’s why I want to share two things with you today:

Raise your hand if you feel stifled by academia, corporate systems, or societal expectations and our political systems. Now, raise your hand if you shut yourself down before those institutions even need to, which can look like being the ‘good student’ who doesn’t rock the boat or take up too much space. Likely, it’s a both/and answer. 

Have you ever hesitated to join a community because you feel like you won’t know anyone or worry everyone else has it more figured out? It’s so common, and I hear this concern all the time. The truth? Wherever you are is perfect.

This year, more than ever, is the time to focus on building and being in community.

Last week, I hosted a workshop for my Cultivate Connection Community program called 2025: Your Year of Shedding and Rebirth, inspired by the Chinese Year of the Snake and my love for the snake we reside with in our little urban yard. Little did I know how committed I was to snake energy! 

While clearing out a funky old cabinet in the house on Sunday, I uncovered a snake’s tail skeleton—beautiful and symbolic of the shedding process that leads to growth. I feel so in awe and encouraged that this is the focus we need right now.

As we step into a new year, I invite you to reflect on this powerful question:

What outdated habits or beliefs are you ready to shed in 2025 while building embodied resilience for uncertain times?

Just like the snake sheds its skin, we, too, can release what no longer serves us—perfectionism, overing, self-doubt—and create space for growth, alignment, and resilience for the times ahead.

As we close out 2024, let’s take a moment to pause, breathe, and root ourselves in reflection. I led my client community through this embodied reflection activity of honoring your journey this year with kindness, gratitude, and presence that recognizes all the visible and invisible growth you’ve made. As I reflected on this time last year, intentional growth often is not showy.

Birthdays (especially those around holidays) come with a lot of reactions and emotions as we age. Society ties our worthiness and value to youth, productivity, and appearance. What has surprised me most is how liberating it feels to deinstitutionalize my body and brain from the old rules and narratives that no longer fit.

As leaders, we often feel the weight of needing to be everything for everyone. But the reality is, true leadership isn’t about doing it all on your own—it’s about building a resilient, empowered team that can navigate challenges together.

I want to take this out of abstract and share a case study from one of my 2024 organizational clients. This team example highlights the importance of building resilience in your team, not just yourself, and shows how focusing on team-wide strategies can transform both individual and collective performance.

Resilience isn't just about bouncing back. (I know, I know. I say this all the time. But most of us weren’t taught this, so it’s harder to overcome our initial understanding of resilience.) Resilience is about proactively adapting and transforming, in a way that aligns with your goals and regenerates your energy.

Resilience is adaptability and transformation that is proactive and high-impact. It’s meant to be co-created in a regenerative, healthy way. It’s a multi-directional process.