Episode 7

full
Published on:

12th Aug 2025

7. Making the Move Before You’re Ready: Creativity, Identity & Trusting the Unknown

Sometimes we wait until everything feels perfectly clear before making a move. But what if clarity only comes after the leap?

In this deeply personal episode, I share what it’s been like to stand in the in-between: dismantling old boxes, feeling the pull of creativity, and learning to show up before I feel “ready.” I talk about moving beyond performance, letting go of perfection, and allowing creative energy to be a way of being, not a side project.

If you’ve ever hidden, waited, or told yourself you need a label before you can act, this episode is for you.

Topics Covered

  • How to take inspired action before you feel ready
  • Releasing performance energy and perfectionism in creativity
  • Dissolving identity boxes and labels to find freedom
  • Allowing creativity to be your life force, not just a side project

Mentioned in this Episode

⮕⮕⮕ BOOK A READING - Limited spots!

Craving clarity? Book a channelled reading and receive guidance on your next big move. Only a few spots are available each week, so grab yours here: www.andimatthies.com/channelledreading


LET'S CONNECT

Come say hi on my main Instagram, my new art feed @pathandnine or on Threads.

You can also explore my writing on Substack or discover how we can work together here.

Transcript
Andrea Matthies:

I'm Andrea Lee Matthies, writer, photographer,

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and Clairvoyant Medium, and this

is the Bold, Brave Woman Project.

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This podcast is a living, breathing,

unfolding of what it really

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means to step into our becoming.

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Born from the ashes of a failed YouTube

channel, this weekly podcast brings you

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real unfiltered moments of failure, of

bravery, and of deep intuitive knowing,

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so that you too can step into who you are

becoming with even more trust and bravery.

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Let's dive in.

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Welcome back to another episode

of the Bold, Brave Woman Project.

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This is a really interesting

episode this week, because this

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week I wanna talk about, making

a move even before you are ready.

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And the reason why the timing of this

episode and this conversation is so

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relevant right now is because it's been a

few weeks now since this big unraveling,

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this big, upheaval is tipping out and

trying to work through this new identity,

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this new chapter that I'm stepping into.

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And there have been so many moments

over the last couple of months where

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I've just wanted to retreat from it

all where I've just wanted to shut down

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retreat, mainly because I've not known

what action to take or what move to make,

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and I've had to just sit with that and

then find reasons why I need to make

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moves anyway, why I need to continue to

find my voice, find my passion, find my

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path, and just keep taking steps forward.

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because sometimes when we're

in that space of not knowing.

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Who we are not knowing

what we wanna do next.

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It's so easy to retreat.

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It's so easy to just fall into that

energy of, well, I don't know who I am.

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I don't know what I want.

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I don't know what I wanna do

next, so I'm just gonna hide.

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I'm gonna shut down.

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I'm gonna wait until everything

feels perfectly clear.

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Before I put myself out there, or

before I really take the action or

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take any kind of action, make any kind

of move, because it's all just too

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hard, it's too scary, it's too much.

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And I've had so many moments over the last

couple of weeks where I felt that, and

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even today, sitting down to record this

episode, I was like, what am I gonna say?

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Like, I, I don't have

it figured out just yet.

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So what.

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What am I gonna say?

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What's the point of even

recording an episode?

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I have nothing of value to share

this week, and I had to just sit with

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that for a moment and be like, no,

I'm just gonna take action anyway.

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I know I can connect

into the moment and even.

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Just talking about this feeling

of, I don't exactly know what

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to say or what move to make,

but I'm gonna make one anyway.

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Because every time we take a step in the

direction of a dream, any dream we take

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that inspired action, we put ourselves

out there, it starts to catalyze.

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Change and manifestation and

movement in our life, in our world,

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that starts to really move us into

a direction of self-discovery, a

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direction that we then get to look at.

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We get to zoom out for a moment and

look at and be like, okay, I took

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that action and it revealed this.

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It revealed this thing about myself,

or it revealed this desire that's

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starting to percolate here, this

dream, this desire, this feeling.

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Or I took an inspired action, or I

had a conversation, or I recorded

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this episode and talked about this

thing, and I'm realizing actually

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that's not for me or that is not

the direction that I wanna head in.

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And that is all beautiful

feedback as well.

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It's perfect.

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It's starting to build that

tapestry of understanding that

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we have around ourselves and also

around what we wanna create and

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what we wanna have for our lives.

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And one of the things that's been

becoming really apparent over the last

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couple of months is that creativity

and expression is becoming so important

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in my life and in my identity.

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Over the last four years since stepping

out of the corporate world into

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this coaching arena it has been very

focused on what is it that I can teach?

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What is it that I can mentor or share in?

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With a very strong kind of

entrepreneurial or corporate perspective.

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There wasn't a lot of space for pure

creative flow, and that was because

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I'd made a decision a while ago that

creativity lives in its own camp.

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It's like in a separate box.

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I had a really interesting experience, um,

in relationship with creativity, Which I,

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I think I've touched on in a few episodes

briefly, and I'm sure will come up many

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times over the course of sharing all these

different stories about my life with you.

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But when I was a child, I was very

creative and I had a beautiful

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relationship with my grandmother who.

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She taught me a lot of creative

principles, but at the same time,

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there was a lot of critique around it.

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You know, you didn't do this right

or you could've done that better, or,

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you know, you'll never be an artist

if you don't approach it in this way,

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or that sloppy work, like there was

a lot of critique around these joyous

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moments of let's go and paint, or

let's go create, let's go collage.

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We did a lot of creative things

together, but at the end of that

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activity, there was a lot of critique.

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And so over the years I'd kind of popped

creativity, expression, um, artistry into

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this separate box that was like, let's

not touch that unless we can get it right.

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You know, unless, uh, we can

get it perfect, we can nail it.

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We've got mastery and skill and

artistry at the highest level.

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It's kind of keep that off to the side.

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And I progressed into very strategic

um, logical based careers and

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worked in that for a long time.

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That when I started my coaching business

after, having a major health breakdown

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and having my hysterectomy, which

I've touched on a couple of times.

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It wasn't until that moment that

I started this reflection process

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of what is it that I really want?

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That was their four.

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Uh, four years ago now of really wanting

to step into more and more of who I was.

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And so four years ago, during that

recovery, I decided to step out

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of being employed as a full-time

corporate strategist, as someone

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that was climbing the corporate

ladder to get up to that CEO.

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Highly respected, highly

regarded, very intelligent type.

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in the corporate world to sidestep

into my own coaching business, which

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was beautiful because I could start

to bring in some more of the feminine

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energy, the more of the being in service

of coaching and working particularly

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with women to really help step them

into their bravery, into their voice.

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All these different niches that I

started coaching in over the last four

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years, but creativity was still in.

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A separate bucket.

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It was still this untouchable thing,

and it wasn't until recently with

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this big moment of realizing I, even

though I've made so many changes

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of stepping out of the corporate

world and starting my own business.

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I'd still managed to walk myself into

a specific box that had rules around

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it, and I was still only making solid

moves when I knew that there was safety

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around that, or I knew what the move was.

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And I've been looking a lot at my

Instagram feeds, my threads, feeds.

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Really thinking about.

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How I've been showing up in these spaces,

particularly publicly, and looking

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at what I wanna start really stepping

into and even talking about here on

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the podcast with you, I was looking

at it and thinking, oh my goodness.

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These posts that I've been

putting out, this presence that

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I've had, um, particularly on my

Instagram feed at andi.matthies,

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it's still this element of needing

to show up in a certain way.

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I haven't really given myself permission

all this time, even though I've been

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running Instagram now for four years and

let's be honest, not well, and that's

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part of what we're talking about today.

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Even although I've been showing up over

the last four years and more con, most

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consistently since I, um, went to Spain

in September, about two years ago,

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that trip really solidified this need

to, okay, I am going to start really.

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Taking Instagram seriously, I'm gonna

show up, I'm gonna, you know, do

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behind the scene stuff and figure out.

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You know, trending audios and

popular reels and all that sort

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of stuff start, stop showing up.

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Um, more consistently there is still

this element of hiding behind performance

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that is starting to reveal itself,

especially when I've reflected over

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the last, you know, week or so over.

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What is it that my heart

is really calling to?

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What is it that I wanna set and create

for myself and for my life based on

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desire rather than based on what I felt

like I needed to do from a corporate

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world perspective or an entrepreneur

perspective, or even just to almost

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feel like I have permission to be on

Instagram and show up on social media?

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And so much of it is in this energy

of performance, and sometimes that

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can be really a hard, not only to see,

but also to admit both to yourself

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and even publicly or outwardly.

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But when we are able to.

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take that moment and just have a look

at it and realize then we can actually

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do something with it And so there's

been so much that's kind of coming

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together over the last couple of weeks

that I'm starting to see to be able to.

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Make a change and do something different.

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And so this desire to do something

purely creative, this energy, this

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need to just express, but not from a.

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Let's be creative and show up on

social media and perform letting

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that fall away to just really uncover

that there is this undercurrent of

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creative energy, of expression that

just wants to flow out into the world

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to create something different, to

express in a way that pulls together

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all these different fragments of me.

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This is what's really, really important.

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Because what I'm realizing is that for

such a long time I've tried to put myself

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into specific categories of identity or

specific boxes to try and feel whole.

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You know, we find a box and then we, we

label it and we put ourselves into it and

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we pour all of the pieces of ourselves

into this box mainly to try and feel

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safe because when we can label it, when

we can identify it, and when the world

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can also identify with it, it feels safe.

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It's like, I'm safe within

this title of this box of

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entrepreneur, of whatever it is.

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And there's a million different labels

and boxes that we could name here, but

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we find the safest box that fits the

phase of life that we're in right now.

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We pour all of ourselves in it and then

we act accordingly from that space.

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But what happens when we start dissolving

all of those boxes is that we can.

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Feel, and we've talked about it a

little bit here, that space of the

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void, that space of the unknown, it's

like no longer is there a box for

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the world, myself, my family, for

anyone to be able to identify me by.

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So now I'm awash, and now I

don't know what I'm doing and I'm

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gonna hide until I figure it out.

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I'm gonna retreat, I'm gonna retract,

I'm gonna pull back in myself.

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I'm gonna hide.

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And if I do happen to show up, I'm

gonna do it in that performative or

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perfectionist type energy because it's

safer and the world can understand it.

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So therefore, it's just easier

for me to navigate the world in

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a way that others can place me.

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And I guess this happens in all phases.

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In all areas of life.

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If I reflect back to, you know, my primary

school and secondary school years, and I.

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I can see how I tried to pour myself into

boxes back then that different peer groups

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or parents or teachers or people outside

of school and within my life could easily

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label me and say, well, Andrea, is this.

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Or Andrea's that, or she's a

good girl, she's this or that.

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So many different labels,

so many different boxes.

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And even through my corporate life up

until recently, putting myself into

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the, I'm a strategist or I'm a coach,

or I'm a this or I'm, I'm a, that.

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And then recently deciding to dismantle

all of those boxes and strip it all

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back to, to understand what is here.

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It's like, well, how am, how am I

meant to put myself out in the world

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if I don't understand what box I'm in?

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Because it makes it really hard to put

together a Instagram reel, uh, if I don't

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know the label or the box that I'm in.

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And so I just kind of withdrew.

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And hid and contracted all the way back

and went, oh, well, I'll just reshare some

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stuff, or I'll just remix some reels, or

I'll just put out inspirational quotes.

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And of course those things are

beautiful and I make sure there's

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a, there's a beautiful message

for people behind those things.

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But there's still done from an energy

of: Well, it's, I don't feel safe.

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I don't know how to label myself,

so I'm just gonna put that out

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there with the energy of service.

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But from this pulled back, reserved

perspective, and you might feel

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yourself doing that in certain

parts of your life as well.

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It's like, well, I'm a little bit unsure.

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I don't know where I'm at.

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I dunno what box I'm in, or I'm in a

particular box and I don't like it and

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I'm waiting to get out of it, so I'm just

gonna, present in this way because it's

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safe and it's still acceptable and it's

still in a beautiful energy of service.

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But you can feel that withdrawal.

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You can feel it feels sticky.

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I don't know about you, but when

I turn up to post on Instagram at

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the moment, there's still this.

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Ickiness this stickiness of like,

ugh, I know I need to put something

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out, a, to please the algorithm to

make sure I'm still relevant, but

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also because I wanna be of service to

people and I wanna, you know, share

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these thoughts that are coming through.

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But I'm gonna do it with this kind of easy

to apply quick, just get it up there kind

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of energy or, you know, you pour hours and

hours and hours and hours into one reel

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because you're unsure and you wanna get

it perfect and you need to play it safe.

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There's still that energy that's

incongruent with this beautiful,

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powerful essence that resides within

us that doesn't really wanna hide and.

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Wants to be out in the world, but

is we are kind of trying to play

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it safe before we put it out there.

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And this is where we need to, and I'm of

course saying this to myself every single

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day and even in this moment, it's like

we need to take the inspired action in

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the direction that we wanna go in that,

that sacral rule, fire desire that is

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starting to awaken in us, even if we are

not used to kind of feeling desire, if

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we're used to just playing it safe and

following the definitions or the rules

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of the life that's been set out for us.

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It's like really coming back to, just

finding that tiny little flicker of

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flame, or if you're used to really

being in touch with your desire and

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what you want and who you are and your

sacral fire, like stepping into that

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burning flame and being like, I am

gonna show up with an inspired action

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knowing that that inspired action will

lead to more and more and more clarity.

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And I don't need to wait to have a

defined box before I put myself out there.

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What I have to say right here, right

now is just as powerful and it's just

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as potent as it is now without having

to be for something particular or to

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fit a certain stereotype or certain safe

kind of construct that I need to have

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before I'm gonna put myself out there.

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It's like no, decide that it's safe

enough just to step up to that, that

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altar, that microphone, that social media

creative project, that conversation,

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that email, that request, I'm just gonna

show up in the energy of knowing that I

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am safe no matter what my definition is.

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No matter whether I'm in a box outside

of a box, breaking down the box, I'm

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safe and I'm gonna take that inspired

action to get me into movement,

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to move towards the dream that I'm

having, particularly harnessing that

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creative force that exists within

and around you that you can tap into.

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Because what I'm really discovering in

this process is that all of those times

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that I popped myself into a, strategic

thinking, brain, logical type construct,

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and I either popped creativity to the

side or I made it something that was

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outside of me, or sometimes I even

remember thinking, oh, that's a luxury.

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Like, I don't have time to be creative.

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I need to make money or I need

to do this thing that is gonna

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drive to this particular outcome.

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I'll get to creative when I

have time, or for purposes

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that drive towards those goals.

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So it's like, oh, I'll, I'll make

my branding pretty, or I'll allow

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the creative energy in because

it's going to drive me towards

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these safe box like constructs.

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And the creative energy is

still kind of on the outside.

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It's still kind of like a tool

rather than a way of being.

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And here's the most interesting thing

that I'm discovering, that I, I've

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always had this deep yearning, this deep,

knowing that creativity was important.

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That I loved it.

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You know, I think back to when I was

a child and just how many hours I

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spent being creative before I let that

complex critique narrative take over

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and change the definition or change

the feeling around creative energy.

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This want, this desire to be

creative has always been there

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and it's taken this moment of.

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Really unpacking who it is that I am

and what it is that I wanna move into.

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And even although I don't

have a lot of that defined.

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This desire to allow creative energy

to move through me in unique, different

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interesting ways, ways that they,

that it hasn't moved previously.

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Perhaps.

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You know, back when I was a child, it was

painting, it was collaging, it was very.

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Hand on canvas or hand on paper type art.

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And I, I had those mediums as

the definition of creativity

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for such a long time.

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But what I'm realizing is that

creative energy is like life force.

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It's like flow.

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It's very similar to if you are a

channeler or if you're used to receiving

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messages and energy from the ether.

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It's that type of feeling where you

exist in your own body, in your own

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form, but there's this feeling, there's

this flow, there's this sparkle, this

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energy that kind of exists around you.

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And you feel it wanting to come

through you and land in some sort

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of a medium, whether that's on

the paper, whether that's through

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music, whether that's through

speaking in a podcast or on stages.

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There so many infinite amounts of

creative pursuits acting, gosh, we

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could listen for days, but I won't.

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But you feel this buzz, this electricity,

this energy that just kind of like, exists

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and floats in the ether just outside of

you that is wanting to land somewhere and

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you feel it, and you, you might have those

moments where you allow yourself to just.

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You know, dabble with it.

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You just grab it for a few minutes and

be like, oh, that's fun, that's creative.

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And sometimes the logical mind, this

is what my mind used to do, would be

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like, oh no, I don't have time for that.

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Gotta go do this important, serious,

logical, you know, structural based thing

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based on the box and the life that I

have, and also time and a whole bunch of

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other constructs that we have around us.

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So I'll come back to that.

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Or we might have moments, and

I've had this as well, where the

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creative energy comes in and we are

like, yes, I'm gonna do this thing.

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I'm gonna write this thing.

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And we allow it to kind of

pour in and pour through.

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But then.

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Based on the identity or the construct

that we're in at the time, we're

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like, well, I don't know what to

do with this, or This is different,

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it's outside what I'm doing now.

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I'm confused.

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Am I meant to be doing this thing

over here that's flowing through me?

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Or you know, should I go back to

the sure thing or the thing the

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industry experts say and we end

up in this really confused space.

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And I, I'm really saying this

'cause this is definitely something

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I've lived that I'm like, oh,

well now it's just another idea.

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Now I don't know what to

do now I'm overwhelmed.

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Doesn't make sense.

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I can't get the logical construct to

really wrap around this, so I'm just gonna

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park it or I'm just gonna be like, Ugh.

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But.

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Can turn it inwards sometimes and be like,

well, I'm just having too many ideas.

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I'm just someone that has too many

ideas and doesn't action any of them.

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So I retreat, I park it, I retreat and

go back into either the hiding state

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or the usual kind of normal life state.

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Sometimes robotic state of going through

the motions and that creative energy

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or those creative ideas still tend

to remain separate or outside of us.

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And worst case, uh, in the back recesses

of a laptop hard drive or in a shelf

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somewhere collecting dust in a notebook.

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And so what I'm realizing is that,

there is this beautiful opportunity

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for us to actually bring the creative

energy in to become part of who we are

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to not so much become a box because

we can do that, but that also sets

333

:

up this kind of like boundary or

limitational wall on the creativity and

334

:

also can put pressure on us to be like.

335

:

Now I am a painter, and so that's

what I'm gonna do all of the time.

336

:

And if I can't, if I have moments

of not being inspired, um, therefore

337

:

I'm failing and I'm not an artist.

338

:

Like we can, our mind will play all

of these types of old stories in all

339

:

conditionings and random things from

society, random things from movies.

340

:

It will try and tell you these

stories to keep yourself safe.

341

:

But what I am discovering through

this whole process is that this

342

:

flame, this fire, to be creative,

to be expressive, it is not a.

343

:

A temporary coach that I wanna wear, it is

not a, a nice to have that I wanna have.

344

:

It is actually core to me as a being, as

someone who is made up of source energy,

345

:

of energy, of vibration, of frequency.

346

:

It is part of me.

347

:

It is something that moves through me.

348

:

It is essential to me, and I want to start

to give myself permission, and I am doing

349

:

that now, is I give myself permission to

allow this creative energy to be me, to

350

:

allow myself to bring it into my everyday.

351

:

And I've been doing a lot of contemplation

over the last few weeks to understand.

352

:

Where does this creative

energy start for me?

353

:

Like, what does this look like?

354

:

Is it the traditional forms

that I was trained in when I was

355

:

young of oil painting and, uh,

collage and a few other things?

356

:

And it's not, they were just these

beautiful activities that I did at

357

:

the time to start tapping into this.

358

:

But this desire that I have now,

it, it's coming from a different

359

:

place and I'm feeling photography.

360

:

Call me.

361

:

I'm feeling writing.

362

:

Um, my, I just caught up with

my mom yesterday and she,

363

:

bless her soul, had kept my

grandmother's original typewriters.

364

:

And so she's just given them to me with

some, um, fresh typewriter ribbons.

365

:

And there's this part of me that just

wants to get onto the typewriter.

366

:

This, this real tactile feeling

of typing on the keys to allow

367

:

channel poetry to come through and.

368

:

I really wanna be behind the camera and

I wanna capture women and architecture

369

:

and really interesting creative things.

370

:

And what's been really interesting,

because I have been someone who has

371

:

had such, I was talking about it

before, such a restrictive, resistive

372

:

res relationship with Instagram.

373

:

And I've been trying to figure out what

is the best way to be on Instagram with

374

:

millions of followers and you know, a

key influencer and blah, blah, blah.

375

:

It's like I'm dropping and stripping

all of that back to be like, how do I

376

:

take this creative energy that's all

around me and that is part of me and

377

:

flowing through me this sacral fire.

378

:

How do I take that with this?

379

:

This desire that's coming

seemingly out of nowhere.

380

:

But of course, everything is divinely

guided and it's perfectly timed.

381

:

And so this, this yearning

now to pick up the camera.

382

:

How do I combine that with the

typewriter, with the writing, with the

383

:

messages that wanna come through me?

384

:

Into this creative practice that

I can then share on social media.

385

:

And so you should have

seen me over the weekend.

386

:

This has been rattling around

my brains this question, um,

387

:

for what feels like weeks now.

388

:

And so over the weekend I got out the

post-it notes and a texter and cleared the

389

:

kitchen table, and I just started writing

down everything that came into my mind.

390

:

Either a belief or a challenge, or

you can't do that or a creative idea.

391

:

What it is that I wanna do with

this creative energy that's flowing

392

:

through me, particularly when it

comes to no longer hiding and showing

393

:

up on social media, showing up in

the world, what does that look like?

394

:

And so I spent the weekend just

getting all of the resistance, all

395

:

of the fear, all the ideas out of

my head onto random post-it notes.

396

:

Like there was stuff going

on everywhere and we couldn't

397

:

eat off the table for days.

398

:

But then slowly and surely just

by connecting into that, like what

399

:

is it that's being revealed here?

400

:

What is it that the

universe source my team?

401

:

What is it you want me to see?

402

:

Where are the patterns?

403

:

What is.

404

:

The information that exists from

here to be able to start making a

405

:

different decision and move forward.

406

:

And slowly and surely I started to

see, even though I have a lot of fear

407

:

and a lot of resistance and I wanted

the surety of, you know, knowing

408

:

definite actions before I showed up.

409

:

Because I had a lot of fear around,

well, what will people think?

410

:

You know, do I start a

new Instagram account?

411

:

Do I go with the old one?

412

:

The, the algorithm hates the old one at

the moment 'cause I absolutely trashed it.

413

:

What do I do like, and I don't

have, um, fancy photography yet.

414

:

Like I'm at the same time.

415

:

This weekend I just took a, um,

photography course, both the

416

:

beginner and the advanced stuff

to learn how to use the camera.

417

:

My brother-in-law just gave me

a camera and a bunch of lenses.

418

:

It was such a sweet gift.

419

:

Thank you, Scott.

420

:

If you're listening.

421

:

And I took this camera and I tried

to figure out how to use it and I

422

:

couldn't, so I went and did this.

423

:

Beginner's photography course this

weekend, which I'm feeling so much more

424

:

inspired and starting to really attune

to the, the camera gear and the things.

425

:

That I wanna start shooting.

426

:

Um, but in this process of all

these Post-It notes, I'm like,

427

:

well, I can't start a, a Instagram

feed of my photography because

428

:

I don't have the photos yet.

429

:

And I felt that contraction start

of like, well, if I don't have the

430

:

photos, then I probably should wait.

431

:

To post, I should probably wait, um,

until I've got it right before I take

432

:

any kind of like, action around that

'cause I don't wanna be either seen

433

:

as, I don't know, seen as an amateur or

seen as a loser or, see it's interesting

434

:

the dialogue that our stories, um, that

our minds wanna create these little

435

:

mini stories of all these things.

436

:

And sometimes we don't even know

where they come from, but I just

437

:

got it all down on these post-it

notes and sorted it through.

438

:

And what came up was really

interesting, and this is something

439

:

that I've never considered before.

440

:

I never thought was part of my

wheelhouse, my desire, something

441

:

that I would ever be able to do.

442

:

But there's this really strong current

of I want to show up on Instagram

443

:

with an art feed, a, a beautiful feed.

444

:

and I'm not talking about beautiful

curated lifestyle feed, but just I wanna

445

:

write and I wanna even use AI and all

of these different creative skills that

446

:

are starting to come in to my abilities

because I'm finally, finally opening

447

:

the door and allowing them to come in.

448

:

To create this beautiful Instagram

feed that is like an art portfolio,

449

:

and this is something that I've never

considered before because A, I've.

450

:

Thought artists and this kind of stuff

was only for the extremely talented,

451

:

um, for the extremely creative.

452

:

Also, every marketing social media mentor

expert that I've ever studied under,

453

:

is always like algorithm first, you

know, performance first, selling first.

454

:

All of these types of rules and

regulations around what is appropriate.

455

:

That I'd never considered something

that was just to be beautiful or

456

:

just to put something out in the

world that was creative, and that

457

:

was for me and for my expression.

458

:

It never occurred to me.

459

:

And what I'm realizing is that.

460

:

Right now in this phase that I'm in,

and you might be feeling this within

461

:

yourself as well, it's like there

needs to be a change for you to do

462

:

something purely for you, purely for

the beauty of it, for the expression

463

:

of it, and that is perfectly okay.

464

:

Beyond that, that is perfectly powerful.

465

:

It is something that we need to follow

because the more that we follow these

466

:

beautiful little soul nudges, whether

it's creative, it's creative in a

467

:

way that's outside the norm, it is so

important because what it's doing is it

468

:

is telling ourselves firstly that it is

okay to think outside the box that it is.

469

:

Okay to access parts of ourselves that

we had labeled and popped in other

470

:

little pockets or components that we told

ourselves the world didn't want, or wasn't

471

:

safe, or wasn't needed, or wasn't popular.

472

:

All the different labels that we

have put on them, it starts to

473

:

allow ourselves to de dismantle

those old constructs and reclaim.

474

:

Just reclaim some of those parts of

ourselves, reclaim some of that energy

475

:

that's been so tied up in keeping

things in separate little pockets and

476

:

separate little buckets and away from

ourselves to keep ourselves safe.

477

:

It's like we're reclaiming

that energy back

478

:

All of a sudden we're we're telling

ourselves, Hey, it's okay to be whole.

479

:

It's okay for you to look at those

parts of yourself that you buried such

480

:

a long time ago, and that that can be

such an overwhelming feeling to finally

481

:

meet yourself in a place where you can

look yourself in the eye and say, you

482

:

are enough, and you are whole, and I'm

gonna reclaim all the lost parts of you

483

:

that you abandoned so long ago to become

whole and to become who you are and It

484

:

could be having a gallery exhibition.

485

:

It could be doing something and

taking it to a market or, podcasting

486

:

or whatever, whatever it is that

you wanna take that and reclaim that

487

:

energy and that creative part of you.

488

:

Make something unique, make something

magical and put it out in the world.

489

:

As a signal to your nervous system,

to your soul, to your energy,

490

:

that you are whole and that it's

safe to start reclaiming this

491

:

stuff that is so, so important.

492

:

And so that's why coming back to this idea

of inspired action, it's like we wanna

493

:

give ourselves permission to take this

action and to make moves, particularly

494

:

with creative energy way before we

even think we're ready, way before we

495

:

think that the world is gonna want it.

496

:

We need to start moving because

it signals to ourselves that we've

497

:

got ourselves, that we've got our

own back, and that we can do this.

498

:

Because even although we can go and

work with healers and modalities and

499

:

look outside of ourselves to fix this

stuff, and of course so many of those

500

:

healings and modalities and therapies are

incredible, but at the end of the day,

501

:

the action needs to come from ourselves.

502

:

It has to come from within.

503

:

To the outside world.

504

:

It can't come from the outside world

to try and shove or pull the energy

505

:

in to then make ourselves feel whole.

506

:

It's like we need to find this passion,

this energy that exists within us.

507

:

Even if it is like the tiniest

little atom, one tiny little atom

508

:

down in the bottom of your ankle.

509

:

That's the only piece of, of

safety or trust or energy or

510

:

creativity that you can find.

511

:

It's like find that little.

512

:

dot of energy and then magnify it

and allow that to be the spark that

513

:

moves through us, that collects up

these beautiful kaleidoscopic pieces

514

:

that we've left elsewhere, and just

call 'em back home and be like,

515

:

no, I'm going to do this for me.

516

:

I'm gonna do this because this is

the action that I need to take too.

517

:

Tell my nervous system that I'm

safe to break myself out of these

518

:

constructs or these feelings that

I've held around me to keep safe.

519

:

Even though though I'm miserable,

they're keeping me safe.

520

:

I wanna get out of those.

521

:

And we start to move in

that and creative energy.

522

:

And so I'm taking these

photography classes.

523

:

I'm going actually straight

after this podcast episode to.

524

:

I meet a, a photographer here in Melbourne

whose work closely mirrors the types

525

:

of things that I'm really drawn to.

526

:

And I wrote to her and just said,

look, I'm, you know, in this phase of

527

:

trying to rediscover who I am and I'm

feeling called to photography and your

528

:

work, I find your work so inspiring.

529

:

Would you be interested in.

530

:

Sha me shadowing you and you mentoring

me if you've got any shoots coming up.

531

:

And she wrote back to me

and said, yes, absolutely.

532

:

Come and meet me for lunch and we'll

figure out what shoots you can come on.

533

:

You know, like even just sending

that email originally, like.

534

:

There was a part of me that was

like, she's not gonna respond.

535

:

Like she's not gonna have

time to mentor some beginner.

536

:

You know, I had a whole bunch of stories

and I almost didn't send the email.

537

:

Um, but I'm so glad that I did.

538

:

I just found that tiny little spark in me

that was like, no, there's something here.

539

:

There's a reason why this is coming to me.

540

:

Send the email and she wrote back,

and I'm leaving in about 15 minutes

541

:

to go in and have lunch with her.

542

:

And these are the things that

can completely change our lives.

543

:

I don't know what's gonna be on the

other side of starting this Instagram

544

:

feed and right now as it stands,

um, I don't even have a clear vision

545

:

on what that's gonna look like.

546

:

I'm, I'm starting to.

547

:

Get little glimpses of that and

some things that I'm seeing,

548

:

you know, in Pinterest and

other feeds that I'm like, oh, I

549

:

Love that idea, love that idea, and.

550

:

You know, I'm gonna reboot an

old Instagram account if you

551

:

wanna follow me on this journey.

552

:

Um, it's going to be my original

account that I started years ago.

553

:

It's Path, PATH and nine

P-A-T-H-A-N-D-N-I-N-E,

554

:

path, and nine on Instagram.

555

:

You know, I'm going to just turn

this into the art feed and my other

556

:

handle that I use on Instagram, Andy

Matthews, I'm gonna change that too.

557

:

I'm gonna make it less about having

to show up and be in a certain way

558

:

or you know, sh show in a certain

way and try and please the algorithm.

559

:

I'm gonna think about what that feed

is gonna look like in terms of showing

560

:

the behind the scenes of this art feed.

561

:

This new energy that I'm stepping into and

I haven't quite figured that one out yet.

562

:

That one might take me a little bit more

time, and there's probably a little bit

563

:

more mopping up energetically that I need

to do around letting myself just be seen.

564

:

As is versus trying to

always polish something.

565

:

And I'll need to think about how to reboot

the algorithms, um, view of that account.

566

:

'cause I really have cooked it.

567

:

Um, but right now, path Nine,

this new account, I'm just

568

:

going to allow this artistic.

569

:

Energy to flow through me

and show up in that space.

570

:

See where this photography goes.

571

:

Keep taking classes, you know, dust

off these typewriters that I just

572

:

got yesterday and start writing.

573

:

I really wanna.

574

:

Just channel through poetry that are

typed on these typewriter, you know, get,

575

:

um, if anyone's listening and they want

a, a little channeled poem, you know,

576

:

we can get you to send me a photograph

of, of a, of yourself or a memory or

577

:

something from the past, and I'll connect

with that energy and just, you know,

578

:

create these beautiful poetry pieces.

579

:

These are the kinds of things that.

580

:

The previous version of me, the, the

corporate, the entrepreneur version of

581

:

me would've been like, that's crazy.

582

:

No one wants that.

583

:

Can't monetize that.

584

:

You know, where's the growth strategy?

585

:

Where's the blah, blah, blah, you

know, construct around that to, you

586

:

know, write off these kinds of ideas.

587

:

But this phase.

588

:

Has just taught me that we need to start

listening to our energy, to our deeper

589

:

selves, and we need to allow what that

reveals, what that voice is telling us.

590

:

We need to allow that in.

591

:

We need to allow ourselves to start.

592

:

Finding safety in these new constructs

because these are reflections and glimpses

593

:

of our soul, essence of who we truly are.

594

:

When we strip back all of the

labels, all of the roles, all of the

595

:

expectations that society puts on us.

596

:

The things that we're so used to doing,

it allows us to kind of get underneath

597

:

all of that and see what's really

here and see what's really important.

598

:

And I'm realizing that I wanna leave

behind the correct proper entrepreneur

599

:

and even, you know, successful expert

coach slash mentor titles and boxes aside

600

:

and step into this new energy identity.

601

:

But bigger than that, this new, um, phase

of allowing artistry to flow through me.

602

:

What does it look like to be an artist?

603

:

To be a creative, to actually, I.

604

:

Set up my life and my work and

why I'm here from a creative,

605

:

connected, artistic energy flow

perspective, what does that look like?

606

:

Because I've never given myself

permission to do that before, but

607

:

I am feeling and hearing so loud

and clear that that is something.

608

:

That we need to do.

609

:

We need to listen to that

to allow that to come in.

610

:

Because if we look at, even if we still

need to find safety around strategy

611

:

and success in entrepreneurship and

corporate, if we look at some of the

612

:

most incredible inventions, products,

and companies that exist, they came from

613

:

the creative spark, from someone who was

willing to be brave enough to listen to

614

:

a creative idea that they had something

that floated past them on the ether, for

615

:

them to be brave enough to grab hold of.

616

:

And allow creative expression

to come through them.

617

:

That is how some of the most

incredible things that we have, that

618

:

we love, that we cherish, that have

become engineering technology, have

619

:

become into that strategic energy

and masculine energy eventually.

620

:

But they started with the willingness to

dream, to be creative, and to then take

621

:

inspired action in a brand new direction.

622

:

And even, although I'm nervous and

I, when I sat down, uh, to even

623

:

record this episode, I was like, what

am I even gonna talk about today?

624

:

Like, I don't have anything specific.

625

:

I don't have a particular plan,

lesson, message to share today.

626

:

But allowing myself to be in the

inspired action of, I'm just gonna

627

:

talk about what is here for me right

now, which is this exploration of

628

:

creativity and this battle that I had

on the weekend of trying to figure out

629

:

Instagram and all of this surface stuff.

630

:

Just taking inspired action and

trusting yourself enough to put pen

631

:

to paper, to pick up that tool, that

camera, that microphone, to just

632

:

take the inspired action to record

the episode, to just share what is

633

:

coming through you is so powerful and

each time you do it, it creates these

634

:

incredible ripple effects that just

change your life that you just will

635

:

never regret, for the rest of your life.

636

:

And even if you can't see, just

taking that first inspired action

637

:

and the next little inspired action.

638

:

finding that tiny little atom, that

spark of creativity or that massive

639

:

fire that exists that you're ignoring.

640

:

Just taking that and following that,

wherever it will go, is going to be

641

:

incredible Because not being able to

see it doesn't mean that it doesn't

642

:

exist or doesn't mean that it's not

gonna blow your mind or take you

643

:

somewhere that's going to be incredible.

644

:

Down the track.

645

:

Just have faith, trust.

646

:

Take that inspired action.

647

:

Even if you're afraid, even if you

don't want to, even if your mind

648

:

wants to tell you something like it's

not gonna work out or it's scary,

649

:

just come back to that fuel, to that

fire to the reason why you're here.

650

:

The fact that you're made a frequency

and energy and source, and just take

651

:

that inspired action today because.

652

:

This journey is wild.

653

:

It is incredible.

654

:

It is powerful.

655

:

And the more we do it, the more we

follow it, the more our lives are

656

:

gonna be so much more fulfilling and

so much more adventurous because we

657

:

just continue to trust and we continue

to move Because we're worth it.

658

:

I love you and I'll see

you in the next episode.

659

:

Thank you so much for

tuning into today's episode.

660

:

If you wanna check out all of the

behind the scenes content for this

661

:

podcast, make sure you subscribe to my

Substack channel, the Becoming Archive.

662

:

You will also be able to find me on

Threads and Instagram at andi.matthies.

663

:

Make sure you're connected and

stay up to date with what's coming.

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About the Podcast

The Bold Brave Woman Project
Welcome to the Bold Brave Woman Project. I’m Andrea Lee Matthies — writer, photographer, and clairvoyant medium — and this show is a living, breathing unfolding of what it means to become.

Born from the ashes of a failed YouTube channel, this weekly podcast brings you raw, unfiltered moments of failure, bravery, and deep intuitive knowing — so you can walk your own path of becoming with greater trust, courage, and clarity.

Follow along at andreamatthies.substack.com and on Threads & Instagram @andi.matthies for all the episode extras and behind-the-scenes reflections.
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About your host

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Andrea Lee Matthies

Andrea Lee Matthies is a writer, photographer, and clairvoyant medium devoted to the raw, real, and radiant journey of becoming. With a background in performance, creative media, voice, and intuitive healing, she creates spaces where truth can rise and women can return to the power of who they are.

Her work blends storytelling, soul transmission, and spiritual insight, supporting women to reclaim their voice and navigate the challenges that come with the journey of self-discovery. Through her camera, her words, and her presence, Andrea invites deep connection, brave expression, and sacred transformation.

The Bold Brave Woman Project is her offering to the world: a living archive of what it means to fall apart, rise again, and trust the becoming.