Dear Artists,

I loved this conversation with my good friend Charles Freligh. He’s one of those rare people whose work feels both deeply grounded and deeply awake. Charles is an artist, author, meditation teacher, personal guide, and psychologist, and he has impacted my creativity in subtle yet profound ways.You may know him from Insight Timer, where he’s become one of the top teachers on the platform, with courses that have reached tens of thousands of students. His Tao Te Ching Mastery course was one of the most popular courses on Insight Timer in 2025.

In this conversation, Charles and I went into some of my favourite topics: creativity, spirituality, truth, discomfort, and the strange freedom that can open up when you stop trying to force a project and start listening for what wants to come through. If you’ve ever felt called to make something you can’t fully explain yet, this one’s for you.

In This Conversation, We Explore:

* How to keep creating what feels true in a world that rewards sameness and imitation

* How to tell when a project is truly alive, and when you’re just repeating what already worked

* What to do when you feel called to make something you cannot fully explain yet

* How to transform discomfort into resilience and growth

* How self-imposed limitations can sharpen your focus and unlock deeper creativity

* The difference between ego-led creation and soul-led work

* How presence, God, and self-forgetfulness can open a deeper channel for creativity

This Week’s Journal Prompt

Charles shares a beautiful idea in this conversation: sometimes growth comes from intentionally removing one of the tools or patterns that usually make us feel most comfortable. He gives the example of a painter taking their two favourite colours off the palette, just to see what else becomes possible.

What might that look like in your creative life right now?

Choose one familiar comfort, habit, or go-to tool to remove this week, not to punish yourself, but to make space for surprise, exploration, and creative expansion.

Then journal on this:

What am I relying on most right now, and what might open up if I gave myself the gift of creating without it?

In Closing

One of the things I loved most about this conversation is that it does not reduce creativity to a formula. It invites us back into self-trust, presence, curiosity, and the kind of honesty that can actually change us. That, to me, is where the juiciest creative adventures live.

We also talk about Charles’s new course, The God Note, which just went live this week. If you want to go deeper into his work after watching this interview, that’s a beautiful next step.

Watch the full interview above, take the journal prompt into your week, and in the comments, let me know: what are you being invited to make differently right now?

Big love,

D

PS: Come Write With Me This Week

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You’ll leave each week with fresh words on the page, more courage in your body, and more clarity about what you’re here to say.

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