The Balanced Creative

One of the most powerful tools we can use to combat limiting beliefs in our creative lives is language. The way we speak to and about ourselves can make or break our journeys as creative entrepreneurs. In today’s episode, Chelene investigates the ripple effects that emerge from intentional self-talk. Intentional self-talk doesn’t always look like saying words of affirmation in a mirror, or using positivity when we aren’t in the space for it. While those tactics can be helpful in some ways, we’re taking a look into shifting our critical mind into a place of neutrality when it comes to self-perception. As you listen along, consider the language you use on yourself. This could be through talking with others, or the way you respond to certain thoughts. It can even determine how you show up for yourself. Language is also a great tool for building strong boundaries! Check out these 5 steps to infuse rock solid boundaries in your daily life!

One of the hardest things to consider when putting yourself out there as a creative entrepreneur, is showcasing your work. It’s easy to hide behind perfectionist tendencies as we go back into the planning, drafting or revising stages of our creative projects, but it’s another thing to say “this is it, this is me, here you go!” Today's episode delves deeply into the concept of authentic self-expression, emphasizing the importance of genuinely putting yourself out there. It highlights the significance of clarity in both intentions and messaging, illustrating how this clarity facilitates stronger connections with your audience. As you listen, consider how you show up for yourself as a creative entrepreneur. How can you embrace positive change and confidence in what you do? Looking to infuse rock solid boundaries in your daily life so you can keep moving forward along your creative journey? Check out our free Build Stronger Boundaries worksheet!

So… at this point into season two, you’ve made time to reflect on your “why”, you’ve been honest with yourself about the spaces that no longer align with you, and you understand what cleansing the creative palette means to you. Now what? In today’s episode, get ready for some mindset shifts as we explore the role of accountability in our creative lives. Much of this is related to bringing awareness to your energy levels. At Breathing Space Creative, we are always encouraging folks to consider their energy before taking action with their projects. This looks like: Assessing their priorities Observing limiting beliefs that set you back And being honest with how you can meet your needs right now. Open your mind to the idea that it’s not about needing more time, but learning how to better manage your energy. If you’re interested in learning more about protecting your energy and the things you want to focus on this season, join our free Say No With Love workshop on April 27th, 2024.

Today's episode is for all the listeners who are trying to balance creative work with entrepreneurship among all the other demands of daily life. Life won't always take us where we might want or expect it to, and our special guest is here to remind us that ultimately, it's because something better is coming. Carol Good is a writer, artist, and crafter, living the entrepreneurial life. When she isn't creating new journals and greeting cards for her shop Good Wares, she's busy working on her manuscript. Follow Carol on instagram @c.a.good and @good.wares to learn more about her journey! Carol is also a long-time member of the Forever Writers Club, and a contributor and associate editor for lifeasahuman.com.

At Breathing Space Creative, we are always discussing the evolution of our own creative journeys. Sometimes this involves letting go of spaces that no longer align with who we are. In today’s episode, Chelene discusses the importance of prioritizing our needs to make space for a healthy creative balance with guest Natasha “Tash” Helwig. Natasha is the Founder of Broken Heals Inc. where she works as a Facilitator, Coach and Writer helping women grow, love, heal and be heard for over 9 years, and recently she has become the Founder and COO of The Birdhouse, an initiative focused on providing workshops focused on inclusivity and creating a sense of belonging within organizations and amongst teams through storytelling and active listening workshops. Today’s heartfelt discussion takes an honest look at what burnout truly looks like in a post-pandemic world. As you listen to this episode, take an honest look at the spaces you’re already in. How are they holding you? What changes might you need to implement in order to protect your energy and time for things you love? Sign up for our upcoming Free Say No with Love Workshop today! You can learn more about Tash’s Deep Work/Soft Landing workshop or find her on Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/natashalhelwig/ and https://www.instagram.com/broken_heals/

Here at Breathing Space Creative, we don't believe in writer's block... The reason you're not writing or creating probably has a LOT to do with how you're approaching your work. In today's episode, Chelene discusses the importance of cleansing your creative palette - otherwise known as learning when to reset your mind so you can go back to doing what you love the most. Give yourself a chance to truly pause and be present with yourself. How can you give yourself more space to cleanse your creative palette? What kind if unstructured play brings life into your art? Looking for more essential tips and guidance to keep you aligned with your creative energy? ⁠Start with our Identifying, Preventing, & Resisting Burnout worksheet!⁠

What happens to big ideas with small dreams? They're easy to abandon. In today's episode, Chelene taps into her coaching experience to explore what holds creatives back from following through and having confidence in their work. Listen to this episode through the lens of your own creative journey: Are you more focused on the end goal rather than how you feel during your creative journey? Can you slow down and pay attention to your inner dialogue? Are you supporting yourself in a way that welcomes change? It’s time to start dreaming big! Looking for more essential tips and guidance to keep you aligned with your creative energy? ⁠Start with our Identifying, Preventing, & Resisting Burnout worksheet!⁠

"The tortured artist trope is out of style, it's dead, we need to leave it there." - D Fretter. In today's special episode, guest D Fretter is here to talk all things creativity and self-love to remind you that... it's okay to let your art be a part of you. Step into that vulnerable space of understanding who you are. When you discover what you need in order to be yourself, you'll learn exactly how to prioritize your creative pursuits. Today’s guest has a lot to say about that. He is a poet/spoken word artist who teaches workshops in schools. On tiktok he’s developed the reputation for being a mental health advocate and a big believer in self-love/healing. Some of you may know him from his poetry books, “It’s all the same” and “Joy+Misery.” Find him on instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_dfretter/ Interested in the THRIVE coaching program? ⁠Visit our website.

Welcome to Season two of The Balanced Creative where we will be centring conversations around bringing your project into the world, despite the noise of your everyday life. For more insights and clarity, sign up for our Say no With Love newsletter! In today’s episode, we’ll dive deep into reflecting on your project’s why, and explore how that seeps into your everyday life. Many people in the creative field like to make the assumption that we all have the same why. This can often lead to feeling misunderstood by others, and misguided in your own direction. Take some time for yourself during this episode to really pay attention to your responses to the insights shared. You might find yourself anchored in a whole new perspective that can help you carry through your project. Interested in other methods that are part of the THRIVE coaching program? Visit our website.

Welcome to Season two of The Balanced Creative where we will be centring conversations around bringing your project into the world, despite the noise of your everyday life. For more insights and clarity, sign up for our Say no With Love newsletter! In today’s episode, we are kicking off a new year with the launch of Chelene’s fourth book, Let it Go: Free Yourself from Old Beliefs and Find a New Path to Joy Tune into another episode where Mar interviews Chelene on everything behind the scenes of writing this book, along with the first ever read excerpt from Let it Go!

Are you ready for season two? As of January, we will be starting up with biweekly episodes of The Balanced Creative. This time, we're going to take a more hands on approach. If you're a Creative with an idea or project you’re feeling stuck with, this one’s for you! In celebration of our Thrive Coaching Program, we are going to give you a taste of what this intensive transformational experience entails. Through these episodes, you’ll be guided to discover your project’s why, make more time using clear boundaries and intentions, and redefine how you show up for yourself. Tune in to The Balanced Creative and make that thing you’ve been putting on the back burner a regular part of your life - for good!

Hello friends! In this very special episode, your host Chelene Knight will be in the hot seat. We’re going to learn more about who she is, what she does, and most importantly, her WHY. Let’s get to know our host even better with some personal Qs. Producer Mar Tezak will be hosting this episode, asking Chelene about her journey of leaving the 9-5 to pursue the creative life of her dreams. Looking for a good read that can help you make space for yourself along your creative journey?Checkout Chelene’s book Let it Go: Free Yourself from Old Beliefs and Find a New Path to Joy Looking for tools to learn about the Say No With Love Method? Sign up for our free workshop!

This one’s for all the nine-to-fivers out there! As you know, being a creative, your brain doesn’t just shut off during your day job. There are always ideas waiting to be expressed through your preferred medium of creation, but how can you keep that going when you’ve got other tasks to prioritize during the day? In today’s episode, let’s dive deep into the ways creativity can be used to give you what you need during your day, so you can feel refreshed when you turn to your creative practice. Looking for more ways to bring balance into your creative life? Visit https://www.breathingspacecreative.com/ for more info!

Promoting yourself and your book is often hard for a lot of writers, but it is also a necessary part of the job. But how do we make sure that we take care of ourselves in the process? In this episode of The Balanced Creative, Guest Sophie Jai and I dive deep into the pros and cons of self promotion for authors and why author care is an essential consideration for all authors. Sophie Jai is the author of WILD FIRES, her debut novel. Most recently, it was shortlisted for 2023 Rakuten Kobo Emerging Writer Prize and the 2023 Fred Kerner Book Award. It was the winner of the 2019 Borough Press x The Good Literary Agency Prize, and longlisted for the 2019 Bridport Prize Peggy Chapman-Andrews Award. Jai has been a Writer-in-Residence & Visiting Fellow at the University of Oxford, where is currently working on her second novel.

In today’s episode of The Balanced Creative, I hope to clarify what it means to say no with love, how this connects to ripples out into your creative practice, and how this is the nucleus for the work we do in the Thrive Coaching Program. What does it even mean to say no with love? To know something isn't for you right now and to accurately and confidently communicate it based on how you want to show up that year, what your “word” or general focus is for the year, and what are the handful of priorities you want to touch this year. Sign up for our free Say No with Love Workshop Saturday, September 9 today!

In today’s episode of The Balanced Creative I am excited to chat with author editor extraordinaire, Jen Sookfong Lee about all things writing and money: Where does our ‘writing' income come from? What are all the ways we can make money from our books aside from just book sales? How can we get excited about money? You don't wanna miss this one! JEN SOOKFONG LEE was born and raised in Vancouver’s East Side, and she now lives with her son in North Burnaby. Her books include The Conjoined, nominated for International Dublin Literary Award and a finalist for the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize, The Better Mother, a finalist for the City of Vancouver Book Award, The End of East, The Shadow List, and most recently, Superfan. Jen acquires and edits for ECW Press and co-hosts the literary podcast Can’t Lit. Check out Superfan: How Pop Culture Broke My Heart BSC Creative Calls https://calendly.com/breathing-space-creative/inspire-creative-calls-with-chelene-knight?back=1&month=2023-05

In today’s episode of the balanced creative, I hope to inspire you to flip the narrative on how you manage stress by calling on your creativity. I think it’s fair to say that we have all been taught to view stress in a negative light and we’ve fallen into the narrative that when we are stressed out it should be a terrible time, it’s supposed to be a terrible time. but what if we wanted to unlearn this? Using our ALARTT method as a way of slowing down long enough to take a bit more control over how you respond to stress is the focus of this month’s episode!

Magically making more “time” for your writing isn’t going to make you love the process or get joy from it. But being present with your writing plays a huge role. We aren’t present for our writing when we are rushing around just trying to keep our heads above water. In this month’s episode, we look at three ways prioritizing your year can create more joy in your writing process. In today’s episode of The Balanced Creative, I hope to encourage folks to look at how we can create more flow in our days to create the headspace that gets us excited about our work again. So here are three ways prioritizing can help you fall in love with writing again: When you prioritize your year, everything will feel more intentional and you will be more present. Being present allows you to connect with your creativity in a different way. For writers, you will notice that you can zoom outside of your manuscript more than when you are so close to it. This can transform what you get on the page and even how you revise. When you prioritize for the year, you’ll notice that the work you take on (or the commitments you say yes to, will magically connect and inform your writing When you prioritize for the year, you will have more energy (we can control energy a lot more than we can add more hours to the day) Need help with this? Stay tuned for another offering of our popular Say No With Love Workshop! (formerly the Priorities Alignment Workshop) later this year! Get on our email list to stay in the loop!

What does author care mean and how can we start to be proactive about it? What can we do now, to not only support future writers as they publish and promote their books, but how can we preemptively tackle imminent burnout and prevent writers from giving up on their creative talents because of the abrasive nature of publishing, the current state of the world? How can we build the conditions needed to create in a healthy way? It starts with the self. Today’s guest, Kim Pittaway is a cohort director in creative nonfiction in the limited-residency MFA program at the University of King's College in Halifax, NS. She is the co-author, with Toufah Jallow, of Toufah: The Woman Who Inspired an African #MeToo Movement. Join us as we dive into the creative writing program realm and discuss what care can really mean. https://kimpittaway.com/ Learn more about our Thrive Coaching Program here https://www.breathingspacecreative.com/thrive-coaching-program

In this solo episode of the Balanced Creative, I explore instant gratification and how it can hinder our creative process. I also brainstorm possible pivots and small movements that can help us protect our boundaries and bring back the joy of creation. Can we slow down long enough to make this happen? Let’s do it! Visit https://www.breathingspacecreative.com/ to help you become a Balanced Creative