S2 Ep14 How To Create Space For Your Truest Marketing Yet

After returning home and feeling unexpectedly chaotic, uninspired and mentally flat, I’m taken into a physical clearing-out of my space that mirrors the shedding I’ve been moving through for years. From throwing away decade-old relics, to confronting the emotional weight of what we keep “just because it’s always been there,” this episode explores how clutter quietly blocks creative aliveness.

I talk about the fear of committing, the vulnerability of authentic expression, and why copying formulas can feel safer than creating from truth. I reflect on 2025 as a year of deep shedding, and 2026 as an invitation into audacity, not perfection, not guarantees, but the courage to create what feels most you.

If you’re feeling creatively stagnant, resistant to launching, unsure what you actually want to say or share anymore, or standing in front of a blank canvas wondering what comes next, athis episode is for you.

I'd love to hear what you thought of this episode!

Head over to Instagram and let me know:

www.instagram.com/em___orlando

If you are interested in working together, you can head to my website here: 

www.consciouscreatorco.com

Transcript

(0:00) Hi and welcome to The Mirror, the podcast where conscious business owners learn how to practise (0:06) marketing that is conscious, enjoyable and a true mirror of the brilliance of their service. (0:13) This isn't another generic marketing podcast, this is where you learn the deep psychological (0:18) principles that create effective marketing, where you can quiet the noise of the business world and (0:24) tune in to how to do things that are a true reflection of you, where you can learn how to (0:29) finally have the impact you know you are capable and worthy of having. I'm your host Emma, a (0:36) marketing expert of over a decade.I truly love what I do and I'm bursting with knowledge to (0:41) share with you all, so sit back, relax and let's dive in. Hi and welcome back to another episode (0:49) and a brand new year. If you follow me at all or you read any of my stuff you'll know that I don't (0:55) particularly celebrate new year as in on January the 1st.I much prefer to align with the astrological (1:03) new year which also feels like it coincides with the seasons in a way that makes more sense to me. (1:09) For me it doesn't make masses of sense to start a new year in the depths of winter. But that being (1:14) said, I spoke about in my last episode how I am really feeling cool to celebrate this as a new (1:22) year.And again I don't necessarily mean on January 1st for that, but just for there to be (1:28) this marker of change between 2025 to 2026. And I'm currently saying all of this in a sea of newness. (1:37) I am on a new desk, I have a new workspace and for those of you that don't know the context, I (1:44) live in Cornwall but I decided to spend some extended time away from there.And so I'm (1:50) currently back at my family's place in Sussex. I head to Costa Rica at the end of the month just (1:56) for a short creative trip. I'm going on a writing retreat and then going off solo somewhere just to (2:01) basically keep writing for a while longer.And then after that I'm not too sure what I'm doing. (2:09) But I read something the other day that was speaking about commitment and I loved what it (2:15) was saying because it was saying commitment has nothing to do with the length of time that you are (2:21) committing to something. It is about being where you are, doing what you are doing and committing (2:27) fully to that in whatever capacity that you're able to.And I think for me commitment is going (2:35) to be my word of the year. I don't really tend to have one because I seem to forget what it is (2:40) halfway through the year and it doesn't really add loads of value to me to have one and then not (2:45) really pay any attention to it. But this year commitment is coming up consistently as a theme (2:51) and I have always been resistant to it because when you think of this word like you think of (2:57) things like marriage and mortgage and business commitments and this just like longevity to it (3:03) that I'm a little afraid of.You know I've had a lot of air in my chart like I am very much in tune (3:10) with change and I think because of that I can feel resistant to commitment. But as I'm starting (3:16) this new year I'm realising that it is really important for me to commit to wherever I am, (3:24) whatever it is I am doing, at the time of doing it. You know taking off this pressure and I actually (3:29) said to a friend I'm setting some intentions for the new year but I am not setting that for like (3:35) in 2026 I want to have done this because we were both laughing about how we had done that last (3:42) year and none of the things we'd really written had come to fruition.But if we had brought them (3:49) to life we would have had to have really forced that and they didn't come to life because they (3:54) were not aligned and I spoke about this in my last episode. So for me it's largely been about (4:01) reframing commitment and on that note when I came back here for the first week it was kind of chaos (4:08) so I did the six hour drive back and actually did it in a storm and it was horrible and I pretty (4:14) much got back to a bunch of family arriving we were having a family party so I opened my suitcase (4:20) I pulled out something got dressed quickly and went downstairs and then I pretty much kept my stuff (4:27) like that and that is because I've got in the habit of when I come back here usually I'm only (4:32) back for about a week at a time and it's kind of like when you're on holiday you end up just living (4:37) out of the suitcase and that is very much what I do when I am here and so I was kind of still (4:43) doing that you know just living out the suitcase my stuff was everywhere nothing was organised (4:48) I was very much just like collapsing into bed at night not really paying attention to my (4:53) surroundings but of course this time I set the intention to stay a little bit longer so I was (4:59) starting to feel stressed by that and I went out on a walk with my mum and I was just saying to her (5:04) that I'm struggling a bit mentally it all feels a bit chaotic I'm not feeling very creative and I (5:11) remember a human design reader saying to me like when I don't feel creative based on something in (5:17) my chart I'm not too sure what it was but it can feel really catastrophic I have this kind of like (5:22) fear that I'm never going to create again and I can feel quite low with it creation is really (5:28) energising for me it feels like expression that I need otherwise there's this huge stagnancy (5:35) within me and so because I was feeling a little bit chaotic very uninspired you know struggling (5:42) in my surroundings I wasn't feeling very good mentally and I chatted to my mum about this and (5:48) she very kindly but also bluntly said to me well your room is a shithole like I'm not surprised you (5:56) feel like that and I was like you know what you obviously you're right but I noticed that I'd (6:02) been feeling some resistance to sorting my space out because I hadn't fully made that commitment of (6:09) this is where I'm going to be I think I felt some shame some confusion some resistance and so I (6:16) wasn't fully settling into the space so I went back and I was like right okay let me unpack (6:22) and then something stopped me and I was like I can't unpack I have to clear and so for context (6:29) this is not my childhood home my parents like bought and renovated this when I was at university (6:35) and I've not properly lived here since I had stints like after the pandemic and during the (6:41) pandemic but I've never really taken the time to make it a space that feels like me I think my (6:47) parents just bought some furniture and just like put it in the room and then I've just always kind (6:50) of come back and just used it it's been a very functional space but it's also been a bit of a (6:57) dumping ground of when I don't want to take stuff with me to my nice calm serene new spaces that I've (7:02) lived in over the years I've left stuff here and also my family have put a lot in this room as well (7:08) because obviously I'm not there so I realised that the space wasn't just you know a bit messy (7:15) and in the moment of my stuff on the floor it just felt messy in general it felt cluttered even though (7:22) it was actually quite empty because I hadn't really like I say filled it and made it my own (7:27) and so I started clearing out and it was one of those jobs that you know you regret it (7:32) midway through you're like why have I started this it was a huge job I basically went through (7:37) every nook and cranny and there are so many spaces to like shove stuff in in here every drawer every (7:44) cupboard every box everything I went through it all and I chucked away I don't even know how many (7:51) have been bags like at least six and bearing in mind I also did a clear out in Cornwall before I (7:57) came as well and chucked out at least three bags I think I've you know probably minimum 10 bin bags (8:02) of stuff over the past month has been chucked out it's been a huge amount and during the process of (8:10) it so I was surrounded by all of my stuff and bless my mum she was helping me as well and I found this (8:16) little space in the middle of the floor and I said to my mum I just want to open up some links because (8:21) as I'm going through the stuff I'm realising that I need to buy and I don't want to forget (8:25) but all of a sudden when I'm searching for the link suddenly I'm typing and I'm tapping away (8:31) my mum's like what are you doing over there because she knows I have this tendency to get (8:35) to this point of overwhelm where I completely disassociate and then I will just like sit and (8:40) stare at the wall or I'll completely procrastinate because I'm too overwhelmed by the job and I had (8:45) definitely reached that point but I said to my mum I was like mum I'm writing I'm creating (8:51) and it was so funny because I'd kind of told myself that I needed this serene calm space (8:57) and he did everything cleared and actually the creativity came back in the midst of all the (9:01) clutter and I am going to record an episode on that because I think it's a great topic to speak (9:05) on but really what had happened was I'd started to clear away and in the process of doing that (9:11) it didn't matter that wasn't completely clear yet all of a sudden the creativity felt alive again (9:17) and the email you'll be reading with this podcast this week was written from that space in my floor (9:23) surrounded by chaos and I think what it was was this process of just shedding so much if you (9:31) listen to my last episode you'll have heard me speak about you know the year of the snake the (9:36) shedding and what that had been like for me and it had very much been a year of letting go and (9:42) clearing out but actually it felt like the final year of doing that because I had kind of already (9:48) been doing it for several years before because I'd been going through my Saturn return and before that (9:53) I had my pre-Saturn return so I feel like I have been on the shedding cycle for a long time and (9:59) clearing out my room here just felt like the pinnacle of that there was stuff that had been (10:06) in this space for 10 years like literally since I first put stuff in here when my parents built it (10:12) I was finding things like my ex's old boxes like his underwear was just in my drawer and I found (10:19) like another ex's jumper and I found like letters that people had wrote and things from people that (10:25) are now complete strangers to me and it was this hugely cathartic process to really get rid of so (10:33) much and my mum keeps a lot and she was kind of like oh my god are you throwing that away like when (10:40) I was doing stuff and when I spoke to her about the energy behind the things and how I'd been (10:44) feeling this like cluttered energy almost she was like oh I feel that so much like it feels (10:51) heavy and so she was so inspired she went into her space and started like clearing out a lot (10:56) of her stuff as well and suddenly the whole house was feeling lighter and then we were actually (11:01) walking around saging and just like she was walking behind me with a sage stick and just like (11:06) blowing all the air out and shooing it out the window and like we just like had this moment (11:10) where we stopped and looked at each other and just burst out laughing because we just realised (11:13) how funny we looked but we sat in my room that evening and we're pulling some tarot cards (11:18) and we just said like I know that it's probably psychological because we've spent all day clearing (11:23) but the energy feels so much lighter I had the best night's sleep that night and I was actually (11:30) lying in bed creating a lot like so much had shifted from that clearing out and I felt like (11:36) it was the most beautiful metaphor of the past year it felt like the final clearing you know (11:43) like all of that stuff that's lingering and I liken it to I have this benefit bronzer and if (11:49) you were like a makeup girly 10 years ago you would have had this bronzer probably and I had (11:55) just kept it it seemed to slip through the cracks of every clear out because I was like oh no it's (12:01) such a good bronzer and like I know they say don't keep makeup like for years but this one was 10 (12:06) years old and I was still keeping it and this was the time that I was like you know what this just (12:11) needs to go in the bin I need to stop it needs to go it's literally 10 years old I can part with it (12:17) and again that feels like such a metaphor of last year that stuff that's kind of just like slipped (12:23) through the cracks and stayed in cycle has been removed and what was really interesting is when (12:29) I'd first cleared out all of the stuff like that night I was like oh it feels really light it feels (12:34) like really nice but also it feels quite empty and it feels very void like like the room just (12:40) suddenly then felt really cold because it didn't have the clutter and it didn't have the stuff (12:45) everywhere and actually the minimal furniture that was there very much wasn't me so like that had to (12:51) go as well and there were these few days where I was like oh wow the space just feels really empty (12:57) and it just feels vast and then I was looking at new furniture and things to fill it with and (13:04) suddenly it started to get exciting it was a tad overwhelming because I really struggle to make (13:08) decisions with that kind of stuff but it felt like this blank canvas where I could be like oh what (13:14) furniture do I really like we have a blank wall here what should we put here what style have I (13:19) been kind of saving on Pinterest but I've already decorated my place at home so I'm not going to (13:24) fully do that what can I start to play with you know and explore and what is lighting me up and (13:32) what am I feeling called to you know like all of these questions that I hadn't been able to ask (13:36) myself and before I didn't have the space to have I very much just accepted what was in the room (13:43) what was around me and never really stopped to question it and in the clearing out that's exactly (13:50) what I was doing I was saying you know do I actually like this does it mean something or am I (13:55) just telling myself it does because I've had it for so long like am I going to miss it if it's gone (14:00) or actually if I get rid of it could I then fill that with something that does light me up and (14:07) excite me and feel like me and I think this is exactly what has happened over the past year in (14:14) my business it feels like like I said there's been so much shedding but all the stuff that was just (14:20) kind of lingering and by that I mean the things that maybe some business coach told me to do and (14:27) I'm still doing it or told me not to do I'm still not doing it or maybe it's something that I paid (14:34) a lot of money to learn how to do like it was a skill that I learned how to do or like a (14:39) qualification that I got and I'm kind of clinging on to it because it's been there and it's been a (14:45) comfort for me and it's what I know there's a sense of familiarity to it or there's this reassurance (14:50) that it works and like it's proven and I was listening to a podcast on my walk this morning (14:57) that was speaking about the astrology for 2026 and it's an amazing podcast I'll link it below (15:03) and the astrologer was saying in it like actually one of the hardest things to do and then what (15:10) we're going to really be called into this year is putting out the work that feels really us (15:17) you know expressing ourself in a way that feels really true and authentic and I often speak about (15:22) this being the most natural thing but the most difficult thing for us to do and what this episode (15:29) was saying is that when we copy somebody else's either idea of success or formula a way of doing (15:36) things if it then doesn't work or people don't like it we kind of are off the hook because we (15:44) can say oh but you know that was theirs their method didn't work people didn't like that thing (15:49) that was theirs it wasn't actually true to us so we kind of give ourselves this layer of protection (15:54) around that but when we're putting out something that is really deeply in alignment with us it feels (16:03) really true it feels like it is a really authentic expression for us there's this air of vulnerability (16:11) to it that isn't there when we're doing the copy and paste and I felt like this was so beautiful (16:20) in regards to what 2026 is really opening up for because I've had a lot of clients come to (16:26) me this year and say you know ex-business coach told me to do this I didn't think that I could do (16:32) that I've just been doing this because everyone else does or because I've been told that it's (16:36) going to what's going to bring success and there's been so much questioning of that in 2025 and I just (16:43) think that's brilliant and now I feel like it's that thing where it's like okay we almost need to (16:49) stop giving attention to that stuff and instead focus on well what are we going to feel in its (16:57) space if 2025 was the year that was shedding that what are we now going to add in and this podcast (17:05) was speaking about how it is really the year for true creativity for authentic expression for (17:12) embodied expertise for for walking the talk of what you do and letting that be the way that you (17:19) lead and I think this is really exciting for so many of us visionaries because it does feel like (17:27) now is the time to really step into you know what is true for us what we are really here to move (17:33) the ways that we feel called to move it and I spoke about that a lot in my last episode (17:38) but I think what's really coming through for me with this whole process of like physically clearing (17:43) out my space having this blank canvas and then getting to explore and play with the space around (17:50) me so that I can really make it feel my own feel nourishing feel an environment that I feel (17:56) creative in that I can focus and rest and all of the things I think that corresponds the same to (18:04) work as well and I have been really reflecting this a lot like of what do I actually want to (18:11) fill with the space because when you have this new year energy it can very much be about bringing (18:16) things to life and I want to be putting stuff out there and I want to be doing things and I want all (18:20) this freshness but also I don't want to be doing just for the sake of doing this podcast and I (18:26) actually spoke about how that is like the fast track to burn out and I really resonate with (18:30) that because I think whenever I've just done things to fill spaces and voids and you know (18:36) create action or reach goals or whatever it is like there has been this quiet hum of burnout beneath (18:41) that because it's not fully aligned I'm not fully honouring what comes naturally to me and when I (18:48) actually root into this I think for me this year it's commitment in the sense of like committing (18:54) to whatever it is I am doing and not needing to guarantee that it's going to work giving myself (19:00) permission to change my mind on it or to actually realise maybe it's not fully aligned like we're (19:06) operating with this blank canvas energy where you know we might draw some things and then rub it out (19:12) and then draw it again and explore and there's got to be this element of playfulness to that (19:17) there's got to be this energy of like oh well I can do anything what do I want to do and I don't (19:22) know what I want to do until I've tried and I saw this quote at the end of last year which I just (19:28) absolutely loved and it really spoke to me and that was that the universe doesn't reward potential (19:35) it rewards audacity and I think this really hit me because I feel like last year so many people (19:42) were starting to tap into their potential they were really starting to see the magnitude of the (19:48) mission they're here to move how potent their work is and actually all the beautiful ways that they (19:55) can express that and I think 2026 is about having the audacity to really really step into that and (20:03) own that it's having the audacity to say you know what this is what I feel called to do this is how (20:09) I feel called to do it yes I can learn yes I can collaborate and be open to the ways of doing that (20:14) but actually I'm very rooted and anchored into myself and what feels aligned you know 2025 gave (20:21) us that clarity and now it's about having the audacity to step forward with that and actually (20:27) really claim what we are here to move and what we're here to do and it's funny I have this journal (20:33) in front of me that I actually bought like a year ago and it's a creator focused journal and I have (20:40) not picked it up I found it in another wicker basket in my house in Cornwall somewhere and I (20:46) discovered it whilst I was clearing out I've brought it home with me and I've only just opened (20:52) the pages now at the start of the new year and it is actually set out for a new year it's set out (20:59) in quarters and the first part is really asking you to root into the intention and the purpose (21:04) behind things and what you really want to bring to life and I think this is so beautiful because it (21:10) can really help us start with that blank canvas of like okay if I can do anything if I can create (21:16) anything if I can say whatever I want to say if I can do whatever I want to do what do I actually (21:21) want to do and that's a big question right like I was saying when I was ordering my furniture I (21:26) was finding it quite overwhelming and there were so many options and I was like oh will I like it (21:31) will it look right in the space but there's only one way to find out right I have to order it and (21:35) see and that's very much the energy that I am really bringing to life this year I've got so (21:41) much I'm going to be speaking about on the podcast I'm going to be you know really championing a (21:46) different way of launching I'm launching the marketing muse this year and I just really do (21:51) not want to launch in any of the ways that I have seen done it completely puts me off launching (21:56) anything in the world when it comes to you know content creation I've spent all of Christmas (22:02) offline and honestly this year is going to be a perpetually offline one for me because it felt (22:07) so good I felt so grounded so connected able to focus to read to just bake and crochet and do all (22:15) the things and I think that's a huge theme coming in this year of like people not wanting to be (22:21) online so much I read an amazing sub stack about how it's going to be the year of analogue and (22:26) here for it I've already since I've like briefly logged back in seen so many people saying that (22:32) they're logging off for good and love it so here for that and I also think that that then creates (22:39) this opportunity of like how do I want to create if there's no creative cage of an algorithm or this (22:45) tight grid or a restricted carousel what comes to life for me what do I want to say what do I (22:51) want to speak what do I want to share on and this starts to get exciting you know that energy of a (22:56) blank canvas is one that's full of possibility and it can be scary to start but also it's just (23:03) about really having like I was saying that audacity to do so to put things out into the world to not (23:09) need them to be a masterpiece straight away to have parts that we might rub out and try again (23:14) but to also allow that flow state where things are just flowing and we're not even really thinking (23:20) ahead about that finished picture and that's very much how I am anchoring in at the start of this (23:26) year because I think it can be overwhelming which is why I don't typically celebrate new year (23:30) to be like what am I going to bring to life this year and I don't know about you but I've been (23:36) really feeling that like just copying and pasting what has been done and just repeating things that (23:42) we've always known or we've been told to do it's just not gonna fly this year I think that from (23:49) what I've seen of clients so far from the little snippets I've seen online and the substacks I've (23:53) read like this has got to be the year of change and that makes sense right because it's a one year (23:58) and I think for so many of us even if we're looking at marketing specifically right it's like okay well (24:04) what do I want to share in the world if I have free reign over that if there's no right way to do (24:09) things if I get to just have that blank canvas and say what I want to say and create what I want to (24:14) create what do I actually want to share on and I think something I've noticed within a lot of my (24:20) spaces in the past six months or so is a lot of people don't know the answer to that question (24:25) and actually that's kind of what they need the support in you know it's less like okay create (24:31) this exact strategy or put this out in the world to sell or focus on content that converts and it's (24:36) more the question of actually what makes you feel creatively alive and what would you choose to (24:42) express on if you could express freely and do you remember what it was like to even you know create (24:47) for creation sake and for the joy of it and do you trust that you already know what to create (24:53) there's so much alive within you and this is the entire reason that I created the Marketing Muse (24:59) because yes strategy is important and I very much do walk through you know understanding clientele (25:05) and capturing your mission within your messaging and creating movements from your marketing of (25:09) course like that is so important but also making sure that this creative aliveness this creative (25:16) freedom this creative expression is at the heart of all of that because I don't think strategy can (25:22) exist without it and I very much think that many of us have been trying to operate in that way (25:28) where we have just blindly followed what others have told us to do and now I really feel like (25:33) this year is that opportunity and this other podcast speaks on this about you know what feels (25:38) alive within us what do we really deeply embody what do we really want to express and so yeah I'm (25:44) sat with this journal now I'm going to sit and do some of the journaling and share some of the (25:48) questions and I can pop some of them in the show notes as well if you want to explore and if (25:53) anything has come up for you within this episode that you want to share with me I of course always (25:58) love to hear from you please slide in my dms and yeah I'm very excited about this year and I would (26:04) love to know how you are feeling about it too and thank you so much for listening commenting (26:09) messaging me throughout last year it was such a joy to be creating this podcast and yeah putting (26:15) all these meetings out into the world and I'm really looking forward to all that I have to (26:19) share with you this year so happy new year and thank you for being here thank you so much for (26:25) listening to this episode I really hope that it was helpful for you and if it has made you want (26:31) to find out more of the ways you can work with me all of the information about one-to-one my (26:37) resources my programmes are all listed below in the show notes if you found this helpful I would really (26:46) appreciate if you could take a moment just to write a review this helps other creators just (26:52) like yourselves find this podcast and have an even greater impact from their services (26:59) I would really really love to hear from you please feel free to get in touch with me (27:05) over on instagram or via email both of which again you can find below (27:11) thank you so much for being here and until next time