you’re a creative, sensitive, magical, caring human. but right now you’re feeling less than magical, definitely disconnected from your creativity, wishing you could turn down the noise a bit, and if you’re turning down the noise, maybe we could dial down caring a little bit, too?
It’s not that you don’t want to care, but you’re constantly feeling like you need more space and time. You can’t seem to follow the thread of an idea and your to-do list is messy and overwhelming. If you can even sit down to make a to-do list.
Dear Secret Artist: you still care, your life is not as messy as it feels right now, and all those threads of ideas and projects and thoughts will feel easier to follow once you start creating again.
You need creativity in your life. You know that.
You’ve probably even tried a few ways back in, and the pieces don’t seem to be lining up for that to happen.
You decided to do Morning Pages, but it turns out you might not be a morning person. You never know what to write, or whether you should make coffee or get dressed before you start writing. It seemed like it would be such a simple ritual, but it’s confusing.
You took out an old set of watercolors. What could be easier? But you don’t know what to paint or where to start and now you’re convinced the paint is silently judging you from the corner of the room where you left it.
You signed up for a writing class. You enjoyed the class, you wrote every day, you created a piece of work you loved. Now it’s been a while and you haven’t touched your writing since.
You have lots of ideas, you feel the pull of a creative life, you’re itching to make something. It’s just…not happening.
none of this means you’re not creative.
Or that you’ve lost the magic you once had.
You know this is true because you’ve caught glimpses of it recently.
Maybe you were out on a walk and an idea for an essay planted itself in your soul. You captured what you could in your Notes App for the rest of your walk. Wrote a few paragraphs when you got back home.
And then a kid got a virus, or a new client signed up, or you ran out of olive oil halfway through cooking dinner. And you could never find your way back to the essay.
You felt the old spark when you found yourself with some quiet time and instead of grabbing your phone to scroll mindlessly until someone needed you, you picked up those watercolors.
While you were painting, time moved differently. And when it was time to wrap up, you felt nourished, grounded, more patient.
You have evidence the magic still exists, but you’ve been waiting for it to come back around for a while now.
Dear Secret Artist:
the magic isn’t in the waiting.
the magic is in the making.
and to make the magic, you need the four elements of creative practice.
1) You need to be intentional about the time and space you’re making for your creativity.
You don’t need a lot of time. You don’t need a lot of space. You don’t need a lot of energy.
You are invited to be honest about your capacity around those resources. Maybe you can’t write a book this season, but you can commit to writing a few times a week.
You are invited to say no more often. Maybe it’s time to quit the PTA.
You are invited to set up systems that shore up energy leaks in your life. Please stop writing the same thing on your to-do list every day.
2) You need to grant yourself permission to create.
You don’t need to act on every creative whim, or spend all of your time in a dreamy artist headspace, or run away to a cabin in the woods to paint all day.
You are invited to argue with the voices, internal or external, telling you that creating is silly.
You are invited to question your feelings of guilt around the time you spend creating.
You are invited to name the systems in our culture that devalue the time you spend creating what you find yourself called to create.
3) You need a system of gentle accountability for your practice.
You don’t need boot-camp / drill-sargeant type accountability. You don’t need to set goals for the sake of it. You don’t need anyone to be mean to you, especially yourself.
You are invited to spend time regularly with other creative humans.
You are invited to show up to dates with your creative practice.
You are invited to have at least one other human who knows and cares about your creative life.
4) You need to follow a delight-first rule.
You don’t need to go on a four-week vacation. You don’t need a spa day every day.
You are invited to spend a little more time making your coffee just the way you like it.
You are invited to romanticize your life while arranging grocery store flowers.
You are invited to create a playlist of songs you want to scream at the top of your lungs with your friends. To talk to your pets in silly voices. To take photos of pretty leaves on nature walks.
You are invited to put yourself in the way of things that delight you, to make sure they cross your path every day, because delight is the life source of your creativity.
You’ll get all four inside the Secret Artists Club!
What is the Secret Artists Club?
Virtual Coworking. We meet twice a week for check ins and creative coworking.
Mondays at 4pm ET and Wednesday at 1pm ET.
Group Coaching and Creativity Consulting. Twice per quarter we meet for an extended session to allow room for guidance and support around creative practice.
In conjunction with Wednesday Coworking.
Sharing Circle. Secret Artists Club meets quarterly for members to share their creative work with one another. This is not a formal critique, but a space where folks can become more comfortable letting others witness their art.
Office Hours. Weekly office hours via text or voice messaging in Voxer.
Secret Artists Club
12-month membership to Secret Artists Club, a gentle space for creative humans to connect, create, and share.
$1500
Pay in Full
or $125/month
x 12 months
Hi! I’m Melanie, the host and facilitator of Secret Artists Club! I’m a creativity coach and consultant for feminists, sensitive creative types and folks who want to do things differently. I help creative humans navigate the world we live in so that they can create whatever has been tugging on their heart, and so that together, we have capacity to build the better world of our dreams. If you want this kind of support in 2025, join us in Secret Artists Club! I would love to welcome you!
Secret Artists Club
12-month membership to Secret Artists Club, a gentle space for creative humans to connect, create, and share.
$1500
Pay in Full
or $125/month