trusting my path

share your magic is back to support yours

a photo of myself, celebrating the sun after days of rain in january at dry lagoon state park (photo by my bud jane ;-))

I’ve spent the last decade reflecting on the ways in which I have come to believe I need to work, create and be in this world — and recognizing, again and again, how much the sickness of the world in which we live in has been replicated in how I *think* I need to work, create and be.

And thus, these last years have been spent trying to find ways to move through those constraints, to find another way of being that is more aligned with my authenticity, purpose, needs and desires. After years of this work, I’m FINALLY feeling as though I fully believe that I don’t need to rely on a job (or a boss) in which to be able to simply live.

For some folks, having that sort of framework feels secure and is what they need, be it emotionally, or due to debt, familial obligations, desires for a specific kind of lifestyle, etc. I’ve long known, however, that because I desire to be fiercely independent and in control of my life, combined with experiences of having that security ripped away due to decisions to further line the pockets of a billionaire, or to create a power play for a government agency, I have no desire to spend the rest of my life tied to the whims and desires of someone who is extracting from my labor.

And yet, finding a path forward, one in which I am able to generate enough income to live has not been easy — primarily because for so long the only options that I could see for how to set up one’s own work were merely replicating these systems of harm. I spent years working for free, facing burn out again and again, returning each time to “getting a real job,” while I lamented how I just somehow could not figure out “how to do it.”

As I shared last week, I recently had the opportunity to re-visit an interview I gave for the Just Earthly Podcast about a year ago. It was a trip listening to it, remembering how much I have learned over the years, particularly around being an artist and working for myself. It was equally trippy to recognize how, just a year ago, while I had grown so much around embracing my path as an artist, I was still very hardened by my experience working in communications — and seeing how much that has shifted in the last year.

The one thing that I’ve known for decades is that I’ve wanted to work for myself, as an artist, doing things that were aligned with my values. For so long I was very confused about how to do this, especially since I actually really enjoyed doing communications work as a creative practice (double gemini here), but again and again, I was discouraged by the toxic practices and ethos of much of the work of “marketing.”

At the start of the pandemic, I was working a “real” job in communications. Like all of the jobs I’ve had like it, this meant that I did all the actual work, for the lowest salary in the department, while taking orders from someone who more often than not was incredibly disorganized, unhealthy, overworked (and 100% committed to that as a reflection of their “hard work”) and, in this case, a severely insecure, cruel and incompetent person.

I was stuck at home, on my work computer for 8 hours a day, chained to a literal psychopath who at any moment might call and yell at me for just doing my job (which, if not done “properly,” would reflect poorly on her).

I was completely miserable and had lost all belief that my work actually mattered. I decided that I would leave communications behind (because computers were stupid) and do what my mom always wanted me to do and and BECOME A NURSE!

Nurses, I reasoned, were actually paid decently and could always find work. And yes, I found everything about the western for-profit “health care” system abhorrent, but I had come across a few nurses who had figured out ways to do their work so it was aligned with their values. So I’d be a radical nurse.

Long story short, due to the many hoops it takes to get a nursing degree when you took science classes like “Companion Animals” and “Physics in the Arts” in college, plus the severe lack of nursing programs in rural northern California, and getting a job that allowed me to leave behind my remote office job and even get out of the house and be around people, I shelved that briefly held idea of becoming a nurse — which now I can say with full certainty I am exceptionally pleased I did. (Shout out to all the nurses out there! You are fabulous!)

And yet, two years later, when we did that podcast interview, I was still very salty about the world and work of communications. It’s wild, recognizing how much that has shifted in the last year — how, like my coming to accept and embrace who I am as an artist, I began to see a way for me to do communications work that actually reflected my values and who I am.

Because what I saw wasn’t a need for more information around how to create “great marketing” — it was needing the simple basics for how to consistently and sustainably share one’s work, even if you have very little time, really hate social media and/or are afraid to “annoy” people by telling them you are doing this thing of yours. I began recognizing that maybe there actually was a need that I could provide folks who do rad work, who I want to support in making that work happen, with all these years of experience and knowledge I’ve amassed, doing work that I actually enjoy doing.

It’s been through building my own work, as well as following the work of other artists and business folks who have been sharing new perspectives and different ways of building lives and work that can support us, that can make an impact in the world and still be aligned with what we know is our truth — folks like Edgar Fabián Frías, Sarah Faith Gottesdiener, Cara Kovacs,

Cody Cook-Parrott

,

Zaneta

of the Art Witch Podcast, Lise Silva Gomes and so many more — that I finally, finally feel like I can see my path.

I’m so grateful to these folks for showing me that there is a different way of doing things, and that being an artist and a business owner can be so much more than the very small shrink wrapped summations I was brought up to believe.

The more that we can reflect back to one another that we have the ability to find and walk our own paths, that something different is possible, the more we encourage one another to do just that. In doing so, we get one step closer to creating a world that actually operates on our values instead of those that we’ve inherited from the systems of domination, extraction and oppression.

And it’s with this in mind that I now am committed to doing my communications work. Because communication is about sharing and connecting. Through it, we are able to share our work so that the folks who can benefit the most from it can know about — and invest in it, allowing YOU to continuing doing the work. Because your work helps to better their lives, whether it is through transformative therapy or a mug that makes someone smile every morning.

This is why I began offering Share Your Magic, a course that demystifies the process of branding and sharing your work, so that your marketing is actually aligned with your values, authenticity and needs. Because it can be so incredibly overwhelming when you are already doing ALL THE THINGS to build your work, to throw “marketing” in there as well — especially when “marketing” feels so gross to you.

If you are someone who has been struggling to build your work, who feels icky about the idea of doing marketing or completely shuts down at the idea of going on social media — you are why I created “Share Your Magic” – to support you in finding a way to share your work that feels good to you.

This four-week course gives you all the tools that you need in order to build your brand identity (and we go over why this is helpful and not just a slimy exercise, instead looking at it as a creative journey in which you tap into the energy and spirit of your work) and to create and implement a sustainable marketing plan that actually fits your (and your work’s) needs.

The next session of Share Your Magic starts back up April 23, and meets every Tuesday for four weeks from 6-7 p.m. PST over zoom (now with a NEW optional co-working session Thursday, May 9 from 6-7 p.m. PST to give you extra support in crafting your plan (big thanks to past participant

Colleen Kam Siu

of

Sacred Mirror Poetry

for suggesting adding this session)).

Learn more below about how Share Your Magic can support you in feeling good about putting your work out into the world or check it out here (plus, if you sign up before April 8, you snag 30% off! DEALZ!)!

coming up…

share your magic is back!

sign up now and save 30% with the early bird rate

If you are an artist, small biz owner, healing practitioner or social change maker feeling overwhelmed, stuck or just…don’t want to when it comes to marketing your work, you are not alone! Share Your Magic is here to help break down blocks around sharing your work, being visible and giving you the tools you need to feel good about telling your people about the rad work you do!

The four-week crash course in giving you everything you need to discover and build your brand identity, and create and implement a plan to support you in sharing your work with the world, starts back up Tuesday, April 23!

Learn more and sign up at the early bird rate (30% off through April 8th!) here!

new grounding visions podcast from society of air

overcoming tech overwhelm

If you’ve been feeling as though your brain is scrambled, you can’t stop checking your email or social media accounts and/or you are frozen when it comes to going online to share your work, you are not alone — this week’s episode of “Grounding Visions” is for you!

Technology and information overwhelm is a very real thing we are increasingly experiencing — so if you’re in a phase where you are struggling with all the things, or if you want to incorporate techniques to prevent future burnout in sharing your work, check out “Experiencing Technology Overwhelm” for simple ways to move through it.

Listen to “Grounding Visions”: on Apple Podcasts | on Spotify

lovin’

Infinite Crescendo podcast with Jacqueline Suskin

I know — all of my picks for this week are ones by folks I’ve already mentioned…and that’s because they are so good! Love in this interview how

Jacqueline Suskin

shares that as artists, we must all encourage and inspire one another to “keep the flames stoked on this wild ride we are on.”

The Unreal and the Real by Ursula K. Le Guin

This collection of 39 (!) short stories from Ursula that span much of her career and just as many of her worlds has kept me entertained many an evening as of late — I do not want it to end!

“Finding the Pace of Our Work” episode of Common Shapes

Recently listened to this older episode from

Cody Cook-Parrott

on how to work as an artist, creative or person working for themselves in a way that actually fits your needs. Lots of great suggestions and tips for how to schedule your timing, marketing offers and work flow in general.

The Spiral Arm by Dallas Acid

Like whoa. This album is hyper trippy and rad. Eating up everything this band has done.

Thanks for for being here! Hope y’all have survived the full moon/eclipse happenings of last week and are flying high!

xo— Holly

let’s connect!

interwebs: stainedghost.com

ig: @stainedghost

paid subscribers get 50% off share your magic!

As an extra bonus to those who support this work financially, I’m offering a special 50% off discount for this session of Share Your Magic. Discount code is available in this week’s accountability thread ;-).

tell me what you want!

In this on-going experiment/experience of Double Gemini, I’d love to hear from YOU, dear reader, about what YOU’D love to see from this space and my offerings.

This question is posed to all y’all out there, tho it is particularly for those who support this work financially, as I want to provide you with offerings that honor your exchange! I’m so grateful for you in helping make this project happen — so lmk by commenting below what YOU’D like to see in the future from Double Gemini!

weekly accountability threads to support your visions

Paid subscribers receive access to the weekly Society of Air Circle accountability thread every Monday, to share the previous week’s experiences and name the intentions and goals you have for the week to come. Paid subscribers can access this past week’s thread here.