Ep18 The Muse Isn't Fragile... and Your Marketing Needs You To Remember That

In this episode, I’m coming to the mic from a bit of a funky state of being.

I’ve just returned from a life-changing trip where I felt like my most aligned and expressed self and I’m navigating what it means to land back in an environment that doesn’t immediately feel like that.

I talk about the creative crisis I slipped into. The dramatic thought that I might “never create again.” And how sitting with that part of me led me to a deeper realisation:

The muse isn’t fragile.

We’ve just been taught to mould her until she is.

In this episode, I explore:

• Why expressing through creativity alters your entire state of being
• How marketing stopped being about “sharing to sell” and became a space where I feel fully expressed
• The danger of starting from strategy instead of aliveness
• Writing from anxiety, chaos, heartbreak and doubt and why those pieces still matter
• Why marketing without creativity is just words on a page
• How to return to yourself as the gracious muse of your own marketing

If you’ve been doubting your creativity…
 If you’ve been waiting for the perfect conditions…
 If you’ve felt like your voice has gone quiet…

This one 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 into how to do things that are a true reflection of you, where you can learn how (0:29) to finally have the impact you know you are capable and worthy of having.I'm your host, (0:35) Emma, a marketing expert of over a decade. I truly love what I do and I'm bursting with (0:41) knowledge to share with you all. So sit back, relax, and let's dive in.(0:46) Hi, and welcome back to another episode. Wow, it has been a week integrating back into England (0:55) from what can only be described as one of the most expansive, beautiful trips that honestly, (1:02) I feel like I have kind of landed from with a bit of a thud. It's felt like I had such a high (1:10) on the trip.And then, yeah, I do feel like I want to say I have crashed into a bit of a low. (1:17) I could notice some resistance in me wanting to admit that. But actually, this is kind of the (1:22) point of why I felt called to come and sit behind the mic today, because over the weekend, (1:29) I really felt myself taken over by this heaviness and this stuckness and this resistance.And there (1:36) was just so much doubt present within me. And it felt like such a huge contrast to how I'd felt on (1:44) the trip where everything was kind of open and expansive and energising and optimistic. (1:49) And it was something that actually was very valid, and I really needed to sit with.And on (1:56) Sunday morning, I opened up my phone to scroll Instagram, even though I told myself that I was (2:01) going to be offline for the day, classic. And one of the first posts I saw was about Scorpio moons. (2:07) And I can't remember like the point of the post, but it was essentially saying that Scorpio moons (2:13) in particular, need to carve time out to really sit with these deeper parts of themselves that (2:20) they often repress.And they often don't really allow to come to the surface. And as soon as I (2:27) read those words, I knew that that is what I needed to spend Sunday morning doing. Because (2:32) I'd spent the time that I've been back really dancing with these debts.And to be completely (2:38) honest, this sense of darkness that was really, really wanting my attention. I kept trying to (2:45) push it down and was like, Nope, we're not going there. We're not we're not sitting with that.(2:49) And if there's anything I've realised over my time in therapy and parts work and somatic work and (2:55) all these different healing modalities is that the more that I repress something and push it down, (3:00) the stronger it's grip becomes. And so I spent Sunday morning just going there. (3:06) I created this little safe cocoon for myself.I lit some incense, I opened my journals, (3:11) I had some cacao, I really anchored into self. And I just let these very real parts of me (3:17) have their say. And they were very dramatic.They were saying things like, we can't create here. (3:24) We're not creative. We need to be in places that are alive, like nobody gets it.All of these ideas (3:31) aren't going to work. We're not gonna have the ability to bring them to life. No one's going (3:34) to want them.You know, like this, this rhetoric that I know a lot of coaches say don't feed into (3:40) and kind of override with better narratives and better stories. But I've just never found that (3:46) works for me. I don't know if it's like a thing because I'm a Scorpio stellium, like those depths (3:50) have a lot of power, and they need attention.But I personally find that if I just look them (3:55) straight in the eye, then they're actually not that scary. And I needed to create space and say, (4:02) you know what, that's really valid. Like, it's not as easy to create here.We don't feel as inspired. (4:07) We don't feel as alive. We're not surrounded by the connections that made us feel really seen (4:12) and celebrated and supported.All of that stuff is very valid and very true. But I also did (4:20) question the part that was like, we're never going to create again, because it was dramatic. Of course (4:26) it was.And the funny thing is, is when I gave this part of me space, I ended up posting about (4:32) it in the writing retreat group chat. And I was saying like, this part of me feels really dramatic (4:37) and doesn't think she's ever going to create again. And yeah, it's all very catastrophic.(4:42) And as soon as I sat with that part sent that message, I ended up crawling out of bed and (4:48) coming to my desk and writing for hours, like literally hours. And I think this was kind of (4:55) the point that I was sensing that I needed to sit with that part to actually then alchemise it, (5:03) which ended up being creativity. You know, it turned into creative writing (5:09) because I was speaking to that.The email that you will receive in reference to this (5:14) podcast this week is very much on that energy. It's what I wrote when I crawled out of bed. (5:19) And the funny thing is, is that I'd had maybe three hours sleep.(5:24) I was feeling really jet lagged, really exhausted. My body was just not feeling so good. I was deep (5:31) in the Lucio phase.I had a lot that I needed to do. I very much ignored my to-do list whilst (5:37) I was away. And then it was all begging for my attention.My house was feeling pretty chaotic, (5:41) like there were people here and it was really loud and the dog was barking. And actually, (5:46) I think we were looking after another dog as well. So it was just pure chaos around me.(5:51) And on paper, I did not have good conditions to create it. What I've just described doesn't (5:57) exactly sound like great fertile grounds for creativity. And yet I was sat and I was writing (6:04) and writing and writing.And I was still writing something that meant something, (6:10) something that mattered, something that was important and something that was true. (6:16) And when I was kind of expressing in this way, a line that kept circling for me is that the muse (6:22) isn't fragile. We have just been taught to mould her until she feels like she is.And I'm saying (6:29) her there because I'm really speaking about the muse within myself, but feel free to, (6:34) you know, extend whatever vocabulary aligns for you in this regard. But I was really tuning (6:39) into the fact that we have just been made to believe that we need the perfect conditions (6:45) to create him because we've also been made to believe that we need to contort our creations, (6:51) that we need to make them clear and concise and considered. You know, all of these different (6:57) words that, you know, don't really mean anything at all, but they are what end up stripping the (7:02) very creativity out of what we are expressing.Whereas when we actually root into the muse, (7:09) she can create in messiness. She can create when there's people shouting outside your door, (7:15) when there's a dog barking, when you haven't slept, when you're overstimulated. I have created (7:21) some of my best pieces of work when I've been really anxious and I've infused that anxiety (7:27) into my words.I have created from the deepest heartbreak where I could barely even make myself (7:34) a cup of tea, but still managed to pour onto the page every single day. I think I wrote (7:40) solidly for six weeks. Like I didn't miss a single day because it was how I was processing (7:45) the pain within me.And of course there is real consideration for the importance of being (7:53) regulated and having the space to create and being inspired and all of these things that we speak on (7:58) when it comes to creativity. I'm such a huge advocate of that. I have a whole library of (8:04) meditations to help people create the space within themselves to feel created.And that does involve (8:10) being regulated, tuning into energy, clearing the mind, creating a safe environment. All of (8:17) these things are really, really important and I understand that we do need to consider them. (8:24) But I also think that we can have a tendency to lean too far into that, (8:30) that we do treat the muse as too fragile.And that's what I was doing when I came back here. (8:35) I was like, oh, she doesn't have the perfect conditions to create and then she can't create. (8:40) She doesn't have enough space.She doesn't have enough inspiration. She doesn't have (8:44) enough regulation to be able to bring ideas to life. And I think the reason that I was really (8:51) experiencing this was to challenge it.Because as I just shared with that example of how I (8:58) crawled out of bed and wrote for hours, it's actually not true. Of course, at times it's true, (9:04) but also at times it's not. And as someone who has really been on a journey of understanding (9:09) creativity and the way it works and where it expresses best and the environments that it needs, (9:14) like I said, I know the importance of all those things.But I also do wonder if it is something (9:21) that we are just trying to understand and contort when actually there is no rhyme and reason to it. (9:29) And actually in trying to construct our creativity to coexist in the most perfect conditions, (9:38) often we strip the very essence that feels the most alive. If during those times where I was (9:45) feeling deeply anxious, I told myself that I couldn't create in those conditions, (9:51) then some of the powerful work that came from that place of anxiety, that needed the anxiety to be (9:58) infused within the words for it to feel raw and messy and real, and for people to really see (10:05) themselves in that expression, if I had not given that permission to fully exist, if I had believed (10:13) that the muse was too fragile to create from that place, then those words wouldn't have been found (10:19) by the people that needed them.I wouldn't have experienced the sensation of releasing that onto (10:26) a page and feeling expressed within because of it. And the frequency that occurs when we create from (10:33) these seemingly messy moments where we don't have things all figured out, we don't have the perfect (10:38) environment to create it, and we are very much musing from this raw place, is what allows it to (10:45) be really, really felt. And I speak about this a lot, but I think this is what is largely happening (10:51) within the creative space, because we now have tools like AI, and even before that, because we (10:57) were very much given systems to create through, the raw messy aliveness of our musings has largely (11:06) been stripped to the point that a lot of time we can read something and understand it, but not truly (11:11) feel it.We can resonate with an experience, but not fully see ourselves in that story. (11:19) We can read words and understand things, but not fully feel them. (11:24) And I think this rawness of expression, where it feels really alive and true, (11:30) has to arrive when we just trust that we can create in any condition.And that's not to say we have (11:39) to, it's not to say we need to always be creating, but it's to say that we don't need the perfect (11:46) checklist of creativity to be able to create. And I think this is really important, because when I (11:54) started to anchor into this, suddenly I felt very free, and my creativity no longer felt like this (12:01) pressure cooker. I didn't feel like I had to create these perfect stipulations for it to exist.(12:08) I suddenly felt this freedom of, we can create anywhere, anytime, in any energy, in any state of (12:16) being. And not only can we do that, but it's essential that we do that. It is essential that (12:23) we don't wait for everything to be perfect, and for us to be able to construct things in a perfect (12:32) way.The more we can actually anchor into a moment for what it is, and create from that raw place, (12:40) the more alive our creations are. And I think this is interesting for me, because I am always (12:47) someone that has struggled to believe that my creativity is strong. I worry that it is fragile, (12:54) and it's going to disappear.And whenever it comes, I feel like I have to grab onto it, (12:59) and create, and create, and create, because what if it never returns again? And the more that I have (13:04) been strengthening this muscle of creation is always available to us, it might not feel like it, (13:11) and it might not be something we always want to tap into, and we don't have to, but it is still (13:16) always available. And for me, this starts to feel really empowering, because then all of a sudden (13:23) I'm like, okay, well, I don't need to keep outsourcing. I don't need someone to help me (13:29) contort all of my creations.I don't need constant external measures to set the perfect environment (13:36) to create in. I don't need to let fear drive my creations. I can actually just tap into a flow (13:45) that, when it feels alive, it's alive.And I can chase that, and I can follow it, and I can really (13:51) sink into it. And it's funny, because I let myself actually sit in this fear of creativity disappearing (14:00) and never being found again, I have not stopped creating since. And now it suddenly feels like (14:07) this abundant, infinite source where there's so much I can say.Every time I'm experiencing (14:14) something, I'm alchemising it into an expression. And that's not to say that that's always going to (14:19) be shared, and it's definitely not going to turn into marketing, but it's really building this (14:24) muscle that trusts the muse, that activates her more and more so she feels like she has more and (14:31) more to say. And of course, when I think of this in regards to marketing, I have so many people come (14:37) to me who do not feel creatively alive when it comes to sharing the work with the world.(14:43) And it's because, in some capacity, they have been made to believe that their own muse is fragile. (14:51) They've been made to believe that they don't have good ideas to share. They're not good at writing.(14:57) They need to consider their client avatar in everything they put out into the world. (15:02) They need to make sure that they have a very obvious, sellable solution in everything that (15:08) they're sharing. They need to make sure that everything is as clear as it possibly can be.(15:15) So of course, if they have these set conditions that they need to create in, they're going to (15:20) think that the muse is fragile. Of course they are, because her ability to fit into that mould (15:27) at all times is obviously not going to be strong, right? It's not going to be something that always (15:33) exists because they are very, very set conditions that the very nature of creative expression (15:41) doesn't thrive in. It needs an element of freedom.It needs an element of free expression (15:47) to actually be able to come to life. And that's what I realised at the weekend. I was like, (15:52) I'm feeling creatively blocked because actually what I want to really sit with (15:57) is what I'm shoving down and not giving permission to be seen.The muse is alive and well. She is (16:03) there. I am just denying her of what she wants to express.And when I give that permission, (16:11) suddenly the writing flows. And this is something that I say to clients all the time when they come (16:16) to me with a creative block. I'm always like, let's question the block.What's it saying? (16:22) What is something that you might want to be saying right now that you're not letting yourself? What (16:27) is something that you've been told about creation that is making it so that you're unable to create (16:34) right now? Let's actually get curious about why the muse doesn't feel available to us right now. (16:41) And usually when we sit with that, we start to realise that, like I said, the muse is there. (16:49) We're just not giving her the permission that she needs to share what she wants to say.(16:53) We are trying to create the perfect conditions for her to create in (16:57) when that stifles the very expression that she's there, ready to express. (17:04) And like I said, I feel like whenever I claim something within my own work, the universe is (17:08) always like, here, have a lesson in it. Have a little test of embodiment.Let me take you even (17:13) deeper with it until you are truly walking the walk that you are talking. You thought you were (17:20) doing that before? Let's take it even deeper. Because the truth is, you can go on a creative (17:26) writing retreat.You can go and stay in the mountains, in nature, be on a sandy beach, (17:32) be in the warm weather and feel creatively alive. I knew that was going to happen. I wasn't worried (17:37) about not feeling creative there.But if I was to only create from that place, that's just one (17:44) part of my expression. If I look at creativity in its fullness, in terms of fully expressing me (17:52) and what lives inside of me, sometimes that means creating from the days that I don't leave my PJs (17:59) and everything feels a little bit sheer. Sometimes it means creating from a place where my mind just (18:04) feels so busy and there's chaos around me and I just feel like I don't have the headspace.(18:10) Sometimes it means creating from deep sadness. Sometimes it means creating from happiness. (18:15) Sometimes it's with this deep optimism of what I can bring to life.And sometimes it's from doubt. (18:21) But the point of expressing is not to paint a picture of a certain type of expression (18:27) because that's not fully authentically us. The point of expression is to express in all of our (18:35) elements.And sometimes we don't want to share that with the world. And that's fine. I'm not (18:38) here saying share your deepest darkest secrets.I'm always someone that's quite open online, (18:42) but I very much don't advocate that if it doesn't feel safe within your system to do so. (18:47) But I'm just curious as to what part wants to be expressed that perhaps we're not fully giving (18:55) permission to. And is there a block around what we have to create? Or are we telling ourselves (19:02) that the conditions aren't good enough? And I think I've really been anchoring into this (19:10) state of the muse isn't fragile because actually this is why I created the marketing muse.It wasn't (19:16) to help you find the perfect conditions to create in and to perfect the art of your musing so it (19:22) turns into perfect marketing. It was to help people create marketing that feels really alive. (19:29) That feels like the truest expression of them and naturally in doing so creates the kind of (19:35) resonance that people can see themselves in.Because something I say a lot is everything (19:40) you create and put out into the world holds a frequency and it does not need to be high vibe (19:45) all the time. It needs to be true and honest because that is what people really are drawn to (19:52) vibrationally. And when we're making sure that we're feeling the most expressed that we can (19:58) within our marketing and we are creating from a place where the muse is genuinely musing we're not (20:04) forcing and contorting her but she's in her most natural expression there is a kind of magnetism to (20:10) the marketing we put out into the world that a strategy could never capture.In fact a strategy (20:16) often flattens it and that's why I have a lot of people come to me who've been creating a lot (20:22) but people aren't converting from that. They're seeing their work and they're getting it and (20:26) understanding it but they don't really want it. And often it's because they aren't feeling (20:32) creatively alive in their expressions.They're not feeling fully captured and seen and expressed. (20:38) And when we root into our own ability to really create these expressions that we feel seen in (20:46) and naturally then others feel seen in too that's when we create the most effective marketing. (20:53) Oh this topic just excites me so much because I feel like I've been really deeply embodying it all (20:59) week and it is honestly creating so much excitement within me to really speak about this within the (21:05) marketing muse and make this a part of our practise to really work with the muse in its full expression (21:12) in its real adaptable state.It's not fragile it really isn't and I think we need to remember that (21:18) on a collective level right like this extends far beyond my work. I think collectively we need to (21:24) remember that the muse is powerful and the world needs many things right now but I also think it (21:31) needs art. True expressive real honest art and that is what I feel really passionate about helping (21:39) people create through the guise of marketing.So if any of this has landed with you the marketing (21:44) muse is on early bird until the end of the month. I've had some people ask when the early bird (21:49) finishes. I don't want you to rush with this decision read the sales page see if it resonates (21:54) see if you have any questions.My inbox is always open if you want to discuss anything with me but (22:00) yeah I'm very excited to be inviting some of you into that space already and thank you so much (22:05) again as always for listening to this episode. Thank you so much for listening to this episode (22:11) I really hope that it was helpful for you and if it has made you want to find out more of the ways (22:17) you can work with me all of the information about one-to-one my resources my programmes are all listed (22:25) below in the show notes. If you found this helpful I would really appreciate if you could take a (22:33) moment just to write a review this helps other creators just like yourselves find this podcast (22:39) and have an even greater impact from their services.I would really really love to hear (22:46) from you please feel free to get in touch with me over on Instagram or via email both of which (22:53) again you can find below. Thank you so much for being here and until next time.