A Special Interview & Winter Offerings

Plus, thoughts on closing out the year

Hello & Happy December!

In my last newsletter, I mentioned the idea of reviving this Substack offering as a “creative care package.” While that’s still simmering on the back burner, I’m excited to share something special with you: an interview I did with my amazing artist-friend Betty-Ann Lampman for Issue No. 83 of Feed the Monster, “an art journal for the creative and imperfect.”

In our conversation, I share thoughts on rejecting productivity culture and embracing a “relational approach” to creative practice. We also talk about creative growth phases, the three most common struggles creators face (in my experience) and what helps, as well as why “making things and embracing joy are acts of resistance with profound power.”

I’d love it if you hopped over to Betty-Ann’s Substack to read the interview (one reader even commented that she made notes!). Please also show Betty-Ann some love while you’re there—likes and comments mean a lot—and consider subscribing if you haven’t already. Her monthly newsletter is truly a treat.

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This is also a heads-up that intake for the Winter Follow-through Sessions has just begun. These sessions often fill up quickly with returning participants, and right now, only four spots remain.

Additionally, The Seasonal Creator Winter Workbook: Attuning Your Practice to the Energies of the Season is now available on my website.

I’ll share more details about these two offerings at the bottom of this email. You can also follow the links to learn more. (And if you’re interested in my personal work, I’ve also created a 2025 Pressed Flower Moon Calendar, now available for purchase.)

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Finally, let’s talk about the end of the year.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that instead of pushing ourselves to the end of the year with endless tasks, now is the perfect time to start lightening our to-do lists, if we can. Letting go of expectations and the vision we had for ourselves can be hard (I’ve just been through this myself), but making space to truly enjoy the holidays and mentally prepare for winter is far more nourishing.

As I say in The Seasonal Creator Winter Workbook:

“Winter is a quiet time of less doing and more comfort and reflection. It’s a time to surrender and connect with stillness. Perhaps most importantly, in winter our job is to rest as much as we are able so that we can integrate what we’ve learned over the last year, clear our heads, dream our future, and make space to grow. It’s a time to sink into ourselves and receive our own inner wisdom and guidance and to discover what glimmers are within us that would like to be turned into seeds we’ll plant in the spring when we are renewed.”

Wishing you all things merry and bright,

Jill

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JOIN THE WINTER FOLLOW-THROUGH SESSIONS

Now open for intake, these quarterly sessions are designed to provide a full season of accountability, encouragement, and support for creators. Hosted on Zoom, every second Monday from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm PST, the winter sessions will run from January 6th to March 31st.

This offering includes:

• Seven live group sessions

• Weekly check-ins in a private Facebook group

• A spiral-bound workbook and planner

• A one-hour, one-on-one Shine Session with Jill

Currently there are only four (of eight) spots available. Details can be found here.

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DOWNLOAD THE SEASONAL CREATOR WINTER WORKBOOK

Attune your creative practice to the energies of winter with this 12-page downloadable PDF workbook. Designed to be printed and filled in by hand on or around the Winter Solstice (December 21st, 2024), it’s a perfect tool to prepare for the shift of seasons. Inside, you’ll find:

• Introduction

• Attuning Your Creative Practice to the Energies of the Season (reasons and benefits)

• The Energies of Winter (what’s happening in nature and metaphors you can draw on)

• Winter’s Shadow (what to look out for)

• Energetically-Aligned Kinds of Creative Work for Winter (five specific ways you may choose to focus your attention)

• Reflection Prompts (15 questions to get you ready for winter)

Get the winter workbook here.