The Balanced Creative

In today’s episode of The Balanced Creative I am excited to chat with author editor extraordinaire, Jen Sookfong Lee about all things writing and money:

You don't wanna miss this one!

JEN SOOKFONG LEE was born and raised in Vancouver’s East Side, and she now lives with her son in North Burnaby. Her books include The Conjoined, nominated for International Dublin Literary Award and a finalist for the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize, The Better Mother, a finalist for the City of Vancouver Book Award, The End of East, The Shadow List, and most recently, Superfan. Jen acquires and edits for ECW Press and co-hosts the literary podcast Can’t Lit.

Check out Superfan: How Pop Culture Broke My Heart

BSC Creative Calls https://calendly.com/breathing-space-creative/inspire-creative-calls-with-chelene-knight?back=1&month=2023-05

In today’s episode of the balanced creative, I hope to inspire you to flip the narrative on how you manage stress by calling on your creativity.

I think it’s fair to say that we have all been taught to view stress in a negative light and we’ve fallen into the narrative that when we are stressed out it should be a terrible time, it’s supposed to be a terrible time.

but what if we wanted to unlearn this?

Using our ALARTT method as a way of slowing down long enough to take a bit more control over how you respond to stress is the focus of this month’s episode!

Magically making more “time” for your writing isn’t going to make you love the process or get joy from it. But being present with your writing plays a huge role. We aren’t present for our writing when we are rushing around just trying to keep our heads above water. In this month’s episode, we look at three ways prioritizing your year can create more joy in your writing process.

In today’s episode of The Balanced Creative, I hope to encourage folks to look at how we can create more flow in our days to create the headspace that gets us excited about our work again.

So here are three ways prioritizing can help you fall in love with writing again:

Need help with this? Stay tuned for another offering of our popular Say No With Love Workshop! (formerly the Priorities Alignment Workshop) later this year! Get on our email list to stay in the loop!

What does author care mean and how can we start to be proactive about it? What can we do now, to not only support future writers as they publish and promote their books, but how can we preemptively tackle imminent burnout and prevent writers from giving up on their creative talents because of the abrasive nature of publishing, the current state of the world? How can we build the conditions needed to create in a healthy way? It starts with the self.

Today’s guest, Kim Pittaway is a cohort director in creative nonfiction in the limited-residency MFA program at the University of King's College in Halifax, NS. She is the co-author, with Toufah Jallow, of Toufah: The Woman Who Inspired an African #MeToo Movement. Join us as we dive into the creative writing program realm and discuss what care can really mean.

https://kimpittaway.com/

Learn more about our Thrive Coaching Program here https://www.breathingspacecreative.com/thrive-coaching-program

In this solo episode of the Balanced Creative, I explore instant gratification and how it can hinder our creative process. I also brainstorm possible pivots and small movements that can help us protect our boundaries and bring back the joy of creation.

Can we slow down long enough to make this happen?

Let’s do it!

Visit https://www.breathingspacecreative.com/ to help you become a Balanced Creative

How does personality play a role in workplace success? Whether you are a creative entrepreneur or whether you work a 9-5, finding and honing a sense of belonging is something we are all after. How can we define success for ourselves and work in a way that helps us put forward our best selves and our best work? Join me as I chat with author, entrepreneur, and Introvert Leader extraordinaire Terrance Lee, about all things personality and work.

How can we show up as our best selves to lead?

How can we use our introversion to fall deeper into the act of creation?

Check out Terrance's new book, Quiet Voice Fearless Leader here shorturl.at/chjpS

Follow Terrance on Instagram @theintrovertleader https://www.instagram.com/theintrovertleader/

How to Get Organized as a Creative Entrepreneur with guest Krystal Clark!

Can building systems and processes count as self-care? As writers, we are always reimagining what counts as writing, so why can’t we reimagine self-care in this way? Getting organized, staying organized, and reducing stress and overwhelm are all deeply connected to HOW we use our time. Yup, efficiency matters. We can’t create more time in the day but we can wholeheartedly strategize how to work with what we have. Want to find more quality creation time? This episode is for you!

Learn how to Organize Your Empire™ with Krystal Clark https://link.krystalclarkcreative.com/6WqG

Krystal recommends three main systems to help you create more space in your business and in your everyday life:

1. Airtable

2. Zapier

3. Google Workspace

You do not want to miss this!

What can author care look like by going back and looking at our lives before we embraced the creative world. What’s changed? What can we call back in? How can we truly take care of ourselves first? Join me and writer, Jónína Kirton as we spend some time with each other talking about our goals, our bodies, and what has helped us move forward as creators.

When you put yourself first, you can show up for others in your most authentic way. Care needs to be defined by you. No one else’s definition of care will make the cut. Spend time every single day unlearning and letting things go.

**Jónína Kirton** is an Icelandic and Red River Métis poet was born in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba, the traditional lands of the Očhéthi Šakówiŋ, Anishinaabeg and the Métis. She graduated from the Simon Fraser University’s Writer’s Studio in 2007 and is currently an Adjunct Professor with the UBC Creative Writing Program. She released her first book, page as bone ~ ink as blood, in 2015 and she was sixty-one when she received the 2016 Vancouver’s Mayor’s Arts Award for an Emerging Artist in the Literary Arts category. Her second collection of poetry, An Honest Woman, was a finalist in the 2018 Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize. Her third book, Standing in a River of Time, released in 2022, merges poetry and lyrical memoir to take us on a journey exposing the intergenerational effects of colonization on her Métis family. She is a citizen of the Métis Nation of BC and currently lives in New Westminster BC, the unceded territory of the Halkomelem speaking peoples.

We all hold on to so much. We pick up new ideas, meet new people, carry old belief systems, and learn new processes. The more we hold in our arms, the more likely we are to drop things, both intentionally and unintentionally. In this episode of the Balanced Creative we will look at how letting go can help us to create more space for creation, and more time to engage with our self-defined community.

Mindset Minute:

What if, we all made a mind map of what intentional community looked like for us? What if we slowed down enough to take the time to really think about what we want from community and what we have to offer?

Visit https://www.breathingspacecreative.com/ to help you become a Balanced Creative

Three ways to BEGIN to build up your money mindset in an industry that wants you to remain broke.

It’s not easy to make a living from our art which is why so many of us have “other jobs.” Acknowledging your current relationship with money is the first step to unlearning negative habits and creating the headspace for new goals and a fresh financial perspective. 

In this episode of The Balanced Creative we will discuss ways to face your current money mindset, brainstorm ways to make money from your art and your expertise, and set specific and achievable money goals and intentions.