“[In] order to move through loss and beyond it, we must acknowledge it and share it. Because artistic losses are seldom openly acknowledged or mourned, they become artistic scar tissue that blocks artistic growth. Deemed too painful, too silly, too humiliating to share and so to heal, they become, instead, secret losses.” -Julia Cameron
For 2026, I am rereading a chapter from The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron and providing a free download of themed art cards on a monthly basis (on the third Tuesdays).
“All artists must learn the art of surviving loss: loss of hope, loss of face, loss of money, loss of self-belief.” -Julia Cameron
Chapter 8, “Recovering a Sense of Strength” is a vital reminder to “explore ways in which you have used your perception of time to preclude taking creative risks” (Julia Cameron).
“Art is the act of structuring time.” -Julia Cameron
August guide words: living our questions [in-full + without apology] and [with intention as we foster meaning]—amidst our challenges and from the perspective of both being [capable] and [assisted] … processing, by-faith. 📿
“The trick is to metabolize pain as energy. The key to doing that is to know, to trust, and to act as if a silver lining exists if you are only willing to look at the work differently…” -Julia Cameron
Braveheart, we can begin to doubt our capacity when we suffer loss or when our current challenges feels so very daunting. But we must remember that we are [capable] and that we can also ask for [assistance] whenever necessary. And slow is fast enough. 🐌
“Whenever I am willing to ask ‘What is necessary next?’ I have moved ahead. Whenever I have taken no for a final answer I have stalled and gotten stuck. I have learned that the key to career resiliency is self-empowerment and choice.” -Julia Cameron
💁🏻♀️ For August, the resource focus is [meaning and personal values] along with a focus on [being open and curious about the stories we tell ourselves].
Everything cycles like the 🌙 moon. ➡️ It is vital that we focus on the process instead of overthinking how we can change our entire lives. “Creative people are dramatic, and we use negative drama to scare ourselves out of our creativity” (Julia Cameron).
“Most blocked creatives have an active addiction to anxiety [that prevents] the drudgery of small and simple steps in the right direction.” -Julia Cameron
This anxiety is reduced when we join with other creatives—and realize that what we are dealing with is common—part of the process of living and can be overcome with support and practice (habits + trying over and over).
Braveheart, we can co-exist with our anxieties within a creative practice. Our emotions are messengers, so keeping notes serves us. 💖
“I was surprised to feel so relaxed and seen…” | open and authentic | “I have learned to simply resume (without shame)…” | stronger together | motivation to create | warm & welcoming
Creativity 🦄🗃️✂️🖌️📐🎨🖌️ is one of the ways we can co-exist [and] move through [and] learn 📯📝✨📖 during times of 😜😝🤣🤪😭😩 angst, anxiety and uncertainty. 📝📥This is why having some form of creative 💢 scaffolding in place is beneficial. 🗓️📊📈🦋✨
What does all this have to do with right brain planning?
The principal goal of Right Brain Planner is to foster a daily-ish practice of [being present] + [seeing and evaluating] the details of our living by compiling a visual chronicle as a safe place to check in with ourselves. 💖
- Examples of how to pause + check in with ourselves: copy a quotation from something you are reading; snap a photo of the ☁️💙☁️ sky while noticing its details; pull an oracle 🃏 card and reflect on its meaning within your life; jot notes about your day, your 🪄 wishes and/or your 🚨 vents; a quick 📝 chronicle of the moon phases and weather on a monthly 📆 calendar; a one-line journal … there are lots of possibilities, Braveheart. 😊
The focus in developing a right brain planning practice is to see our living as ongoing—a timeline [days within years; years within a lifetime].
- To resist the urge to allow a “bad day” or a “bad week” to become a filter—a lens—that limits our ability to hope and live differently.
- Easing away from a performance-based valuation of self-worth; cycling like the moon and exploring so-called irregularity (stops and starts) as a cycle of wholeness.
Right brain planning is an opportunity to allow our journals to be our “planners”—elevating expression and desires over expectations and shoulds.
Right brain planning is a way to prioritize our well-being, and to devote time and attention to what we need. And remembering that creativity is the about getting something down as a way of referencing [it] by devoting our attention, listening and chronicling.
- Use the art in the download below + playing 🃏 cards or cardstock to create ✂️ cards to use as prompts + reminders for your creative practice:
Thank you kindly for your presence here, Braveheart. 💗
I appreciate your interest and support.
~love & good wishes~
⭐️ I am an artist and curator; I am one who communicates with color, found words and collage, inky marks and doodles as I cycle like the moon (as my calendar), chronicling oracles and abiding with the sky as a meditation.
⭐️ I host creative communities, safe spaces for gathering and sharing. I choose love and creativity for coping with the ongoing challenges of this world and I go to work—not because everything is fine but because I believe art heals.
❤️ Braveheart, as the Creator/Artist of Right Brain Planner I am ever-grateful to have the opportunity to share my creative work online + support other creators! 🎉 For almost 20 years I have had the privilege of sharing my art and writing about right brain planning while also hosting kindred 👭🏽💞👭 communities. ✨ I consider it an absolute 🤸 delight to continue this portion of my creative 📝🖌️✂️🫧 work (even as I retire from full-time work).
- This is possible, in part, by {you} and your presence here. (Thank you!) 💗 But also because of the support of my Ko-fi patrons and the other member/subscriber communities I host (via their presence, input and paid subscriptions). 🫶
- 💁🏻♀️ Other ways to support my work: ❤️ continue to read this blog + follow me on Instagram. 📲
If you already have your own system of creative journal-planning, but are interested in financially supporting my creative work, you may do so by making a donation:
- Artist’s Statement 😊🔮🔎📝🖌️🎨❤️📊
- Make a one-time contribution in any amount via [this link]. (Thank you!) ❤️