It Takes An Act of Courage to Be Seen

January 11, 2011 by 24 Comments

This weekend I was in the thick of two major things that put me in a vulnerable place: Hosting a party and being creative under pressure.

On Saturday, I was trying to make a cake and a party for my son that he would love and one of my friends said, “This is kind of an over-the-top birthday for a three year old, isn’t it?” and I said, “Is it?” because I thought I was doing a great job of having it be low key and fun and cool AND make him an amazing cake he would love.

Then on Sunday, while writing my entry for the third challenge of the Short Screenplay Challenge 2010, I felt like I was trying to corral all these ideas into behaving themselves and into doing what they were supposed to be doing and they were all over the place and at the same time I was trying to meet a deadline AND be creative under pressure AND keep my head at the same time. (Jeez.)

Plus, layered on top of that, I’m in the midst of getting a hold of the slippery direction I’m heading in with my work. It’s changing, evolving, I’m doing it as I go along, but people (Read: naysayers) keep implying that I’m not doing it enough or fast enough or that I’m trying too hard to get it right before I proceed. 

All these things add to the quality of self-consciousness and second-guessing coming up that makes me feel like my slip is really showing. (I hate that.)

But right in the thick of all of this, I had the pleasure of watching Brené Brown’s brilliant TED talk on vulnerability. (If you haven’t seen it, go watch it right now, you’ll be glad you did.)

Since then, I’ve been immersed in thinking over the ways in which I hold myself back from truly connecting, being wildly, deeply creative and joyful, and just plain-old enjoying my life more and how it takes an act of courage to be seen.

Truly seen by yourself, your spouse, your children, your family, your audience.

The thing is, I want to have a LOT more fun. I’ve hacked my life in key ways over the last several years. I know how to trust my intuition, how to work with my sensitive nature rather than against it, how to Get Stuff Done and do it well and effectively, how to make a great living doing work I truly enjoy, how to run a business, and how to work from home and raise a small child (still working on that one).

And there is so much more for me to work on. (I’m an Enneagram Four; there’s ALWAYS more.)

But at the end of the day, what is the point if I’m not enjoying it?

Brené Brown tells us that being vulnerable is the key to making REAL connections, feeling more creative, and having more joy in our lives.

How can we be more real, more vulnerable, and more seen?

I’m trying.

How about you?



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If this sparked anything for you, please share it in the comments section below. I always love to hear from you.



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What’s Jenna Up To?

~> January 21st & 22nd, 2011. Voice Your Vision Mastermind Retreat. In-Person Workshop in Berkeley, California. Clarify your unique vision to implement your Life Purpose in a specific, step-by-step plan. TWO SPOTS remaining. This small group retreat is perfect for you if you know your purpose but you’re wondering, “What’s next?” Details: www.VoiceYourVisionWithJenna.com

~> January 27th & 28th, 2011. “Powerful Strategies to Slay Your Inner Critic Demons So You Can Leap Into the Creative Spotlight.” Appearing as a guest expert at Baeth Davis’s “Claim Your Spotlight” program in Los Angeles, California.

~> NEW DATE: February 10 22, 2011. Virtual Workshop: Claim Your Calling: 5 Steps To Get You Back On Track With What You Were Put Here To Do. Details. Early registration ends January 13th January 27th.


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The First Step to Finding Your Audience Is A Leap Of Faith

January 4, 2011 by 33 Comments

Someone wrote in recently to ask for advice about doing intuitive work to fulfill her calling. She mentioned that people might think she was crazy to do such work. I remembered when I first started coaching and I was terrified to call myself a “spiritual coach” for fear of what people would think. The good […]

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Happy New Year

January 1, 2011 by Leave a Comment

I always love to spend New Year’s Day at the beach if I possibly can — I love the feeling of openness, possibility, and expansiveness. Easier in California, I realize. :) I hope your day is filled with possibilities, hopes, and BIG dreams for the New Year.

Filed Under: Announcements

Isolation Is a Dream Killer

November 16, 2010 by 12 Comments

One of the participants at my recent Voice Your Vision retreat shared this powerful quote from Barbara Sher, “Isolation is a dream killer.” Similarly, my teacher Sonia Choquette says, “You cannot do it alone.” How true! As a sensitive woman, mother, home-based business owner, spiritual coach, intuitive, hand analyst, and ready-to-take-the-world-by-storm creative writer, I can […]

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Time To Wake Up: Inspirations from a Creative, Visionary Muse

October 5, 2010 by 3 Comments

It’s time for the next installment of my Creative Visionaries Interview Series. This week we’ll talk to Giulietta Nardone, an Inspirational Rebel and Fearless Branding guide who helps people take back their lives and step into their greatness. Her vision is to wake up the world, one person at a time. Her mantra: “Wake up, […]

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If You’re Not Living On The Edge, You’re Taking Up Too Much Space

August 3, 2010 by 11 Comments

Tiffany Shlain, honored by Newsweek as one of the “Women Shaping the 21st Century,” is a filmmaker, mother, artist, founder of The Webby Awards, and co-founder of the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences. Tiffany is currently completing a feature film called “Connected: A Declaration of Interdependence.” Her last film, “The Tribe,” was the […]

Filed Under: Writing

Wisdom From Arthur C. Clarke: Breaking the Mold with Purpose and Creativity

July 20, 2010 by 15 Comments

One of my all-time favorite science fiction books is The City and The Stars, by Arthur C. Clarke.

This magical story details the life of Alvin, a “Unique,” who has never been born before.

In the fully enclosed city of Diaspar, everyone else has lived many lives — they are reborn cyclically from the city’s Central Computer banks — and their memories of their past lives return to them on their 20th birthdays. Alvin has no prior memories.

Alvin’s uniqueness has been deliberately designed. Because the city creators knew that the measures put into place to protect the last of the human race might someday no longer be needed (including behavioral inhibitions to keep everyone safe at home), they knew that a catalyst would be required to test the waters and breakthrough old paradigms when the time was right.

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6 Principles from a Creative Genius on Making Your Vision a Reality

July 13, 2010 by 15 Comments

I’ve recently been obsessed with George Lucas, which has led to all sorts of interesting reading and web exploration. Many people seem to believe Lucas has gone over to the “Dark Side” himself, only “in it for the money” with his projects (we’ll have to talk about that another time), but I’ve always found him to be an inspiring visionary.

Here’s why I’m interested: I believe that we can learn from successful, creative geniuses about how to bring our dreams to fruition.

I recently re-watched a documentary about the making of the original Star Wars trilogy. The insider’s look at the creation of a grand vision is utterly compelling.

What I love about watching George Lucas in action — particularly the George of the 1976 Star Wars production era — is seeing his absolute dedication and unshakable commitment to the creation of his art, his way.

Again and again, he steered clear of involvement with the Hollywood studios as much as he could (particularly later in the film series), and found ways to maintain his independence, like retaining merchandising rights (even when it wasn’t clear there would be a popular market for the merchandise).

He worked and reworked his script to be as precise as possible and checked and rechecked his story themes to make sure he was conveying the powerful mythological messages and meanings he wanted to convey.

He repeatedly overcame what looked like insurmountable odds to bring his vision to reality. With the first film, schedules were massively delayed, props were malfunctioning, costumes and sets weren’t living up to his vision, budgets were falling by the way side, and the studio was threatening to pull the plug, but still he kept on.

Clearly, Lucas experienced his own hero’s journey to create his films, along the lines of the story he tells of Luke Skywalker facing his own shadow and obstacles, reaching deep within himself to grow and expand into who he is meant to be and what he is meant to do in the world.

So what is it that enables one creative visionary to succeed, where another might fail? What can we learn from George Lucas about how to make our own visions real?


Here are 6 principles I’ve gleaned from my studies of him so far:

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Douglas Eby on the Inner Dynamics of Creative Visionaries

June 15, 2010 by 5 Comments

Douglas Eby of Talent Development Resources at www.TalentDevelop.com and its associated sites, like www.TheInnerActor.com and www.TheInnerEntrepreneur.com, has been researching and writing about psychology and creativity for the last 10 years, and regularly publishes intriguing tidbits about creativity, personality, and more.

I connected with Douglas’s work originally through my interest in highly sensitive people and his site www.HighlySensitive.org.

In the past he was a film journalist and wrote film production articles for Cinefantastique magazine, interviewing numerous actors, writers, and other filmmakers, which helped further his interest in the inner dynamics of creative people, along with his graduate school education in psychology.

Characteristics of Creative Visionaries
Eby describes creative visionaries as people who have a drive, passion, persistence, or consuming commitment to realize their creative ideas. As visionaries, they have a sense of their work being so important, meaningful, and emotionally powerful that they are willing to commit to it and persist with it.

For example, filmmaker James Cameron originally conceived his movie Avatar in the 1970s and finally released it after 4 years in production this year.

He notes that this kind of persistence can be seen as a form of obsession. :)

Common Challenges & Obstacles
Eby notes the following challenges and obstacles often come up for creative visionaries:

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Creative Visionary Survey Results

January 16, 2010 by Leave a Comment

The results are in! A few weeks ago I posted a survey about Visionaries and received wonderful feedback. There were 299 responses. Here’s the note I sent out with the survey: “If you consider yourself a creative visionary, a leader, a world-transformer, or even someone with a passion for making the world a better place, […]

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