Episode 22: The Power of Celebration with Colleen Underwood

The Identity of A Creative

Colleen shares her journey, and how she found her way back to her creative identity after years of not identifying as a creative. She believes that everyone has a unique story and often their creative business is an intersection of their story and desires that have been quiet for many years. Everyone is creative by design and without realizing it we create things every day in our lives. Sometimes it can just take time to take on the identity of an artist or creative. Colleen describes that stepping into the business space with the identity of a creative has helped her to formally put a coat hook upon the wall and begin to say "this is who I am" and "this is what it's going to look like". This process of looking inward and understanding oneself is a lifelong process. 

Celebrate The Process

Collen defines celebration as intentionally marking goodness in something that has already passed. Celebration is just a marking, a noting, a noticing, a holding up of goodness, recognizing it, and then leaning into it. She stresses the importance of celebrating progress and the small wins in the creative process and not solely the end results. It is easy to get caught up in the thoughts of not getting everything done or not being good enough, but it is important to look back and celebrate the progress and small wins to gain momentum and hope for the future. Sometimes it can be difficult for us to celebrate progress because of our past stories and experiences. However, Colleen encourages us to give each other permission to celebrate progress and support each other in this process.

You Are Worthy

It is important to recognize our worthiness as creatives, and how it's connected to putting beautiful things into the world, progress, and growth. Colleen stresses that we are worthy of growth, progress, being beautiful, putting beautiful things into the world, and we are worthy of celebration. Celebration is the thread that helps us to lift up and hold up bits of goodness from our past, and the more we believe in our worthiness, the more confident, hopeful, and motivated we will be in our creative businesses. It is hard work to see the truth in our stories and unpack them, but there is a real gift in being able to have a posture of self-acceptance towards our art, business, and ourselves. Colleen suggests that we become curious when we catch ourselves having a posture of contempt towards ourselves, our art, or our businesses. This won’t get unpacked overnight, but we get to be a teacher to the part of us that is making and creating. It’s a choice and it's a skill that we get to foster over time, and a community can help you do this.

Ways To Celebrate

Colleen discusses how she has been challenging herself to find ways to celebrate her progress and accomplishments over the past year. She suggests having a "celebration basket" that includes items like taking a walk, having a cup of tea, or doing a small ritual to remind herself of her worthiness and to build hope and momentum. She also shares that her family has joined in on the celebrations and that it has become a part of their daily lives. Not only is it important to celebrate ourselves but it is important to celebrate with others and invite them to participate.

Lastly, just as important as it is to celebrate it is important to allow ourselves to grieve and give ourselves permission to be frustrated or upset. Surprisingly, the same tools that can be used to celebrate can help in times of grief. 

KEY TAKEAWAYS: 

• Everyone's story is so unique and there's no right or perfect path to get where we want to go. We simply need to look at our own story and say this is who I am and that's a good thing.

• Colleen defines celebration as: intentionally marking goodness in something that has already passed. Celebration is just a marking, a noting, a noticing, a holding up of goodness, recognizing it, and then leaning into it.

• Give yourself today the permission to celebrate progress right and not just the end result.

• You are worthy and you are worthy of growth, of progress. You are worthy of being beautiful, of putting beautiful things into the world, you are worthy of celebration and you are worthy of being celebrated.

• Be curious about that when you catch yourself kind of having a posture of contempt towards yourself, your art, or your business and have a feeling of unworthiness. This won’t get unpacked overnight, but we get to be a teacher to the part of us that is making and creating. It’s a choice and it's a skill that we get to foster over time, and a community can help you do this.

• Celebration doesn’t have huge or break the bank. Find little things you can use intentionally to celebrate yourself.

• You are also worthy of celebration in community. When we facilitate celebration with others we're giving them goodness and it's a gift that continues to give.

• The things that we do to care for ourselves in a moment of celebration are also the things we can do to care for ourselves in a moment of grief. Allow yourself to feel grief just as much as you allow yourself to celebrate. 
  
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Colleen is a mama, a surface pattern designer, and a coach for creatives. After living overseas in Asia and Europe for most of her adult life, you can now find her putting down roots between the Smoky Mountains and the ocean coasts of North Carolina. She is daily inspired by what is good, true, and beautiful and desires to infuse hope back into the world by creating work that evokes reminders of the goodness and beauty in our daily lives.

Visit Colleen's website at www.colleenannalea.com and her Instagram. 

Grab Colleen's FREE Guide "First Year in the Business Roadmap"