You know that moment when you are consumed in the act of creation, doing something that you love? Inspired, you forget time and place, you forget self-consciousness. You feel powerful, lit up. It’s one of the best feelings in the world.

The next day or a week later, you struggle to even get yourself to begin that same activity. You avoid it and make excuses and procrastinate.

You blame yourself as lazy, weak-willed, lacking in some essential quality that “other creative people” must have. You question yourself, what you are doing, your life. Ugh.

The same thing happens with our big life dreams. One day we are so empowered to move towards them, feeling on top of the world. The next, we are crushed, hopeless, feeling like “What’s the point?” or “What’s the use?” or “Maybe I’m just being ridiculous to try for this.” or “Maybe I don’t even want this.”

Why?

What I have found, again and again, is you are usually missing one or more of the 6 essential ingredients for all artists and dreamers to be able to live a brilliant, beautiful life:

1) Community: Other creative, interesting people you trust to share your process with, your ups and downs, get feedback and encouragement, where you can be vulnerable and real and feel understood. Dialogue that keeps you inspired and believing in yourself.

2) Focus: A do-able project, goal, performance, deadlines–something concrete and specific to work towards that motivates and inspires you and ultimately gives a sense of completion and satisfaction. That way, you aren’t facing the blank page or empty canvas or your whole life with nowhere to begin.

3) Audience: As terrifying as this is for some, we all need a way to complete the circle of creation by sharing our work and seeing its impact, even if it is just with one person or a few people. (You might also call this Appreciation.)

4) Inspiration: Many creative people neglect the need to take in regular doses of inspiration. We get caught up in the busyness of life and don’t make time for reading, seeing, hearing, tasting, touching, engaging in things that inspire us to create and fill us up with great ideas, images, experiences from which to make our brilliant creations. You have to keep re-filling the well, not just emptying it into your art and life.

5) Structure: Regular habits, a schedule, an outline, a map of where you are headed and how you are getting there, some way to keep track of your progress. Creative people often resist structure, and have a very hard time creating it for themselves and sticking with it. Yet without it, they do not thrive. They often feel frustrated and guilty, watching time go by and not much getting done towards their dreams. A look at the lives of successful artists will show you how helpful structure can be.

6) Mentorship: Most, if not all, great artists and accomplished people rely on this throughout their lives (not just as something to have in college and then you’re on your own). This was a great surprise to me when I discovered it. You need someone who knows the way, to point out the pitfalls and steer you around and through them, to inspire and encourage you, to help you with the major obstacles of self-doubt, self-judgment, with your inner demons, as well as life’s outer challenges, to see your blind spots and gently point them out. Someone who has a system, method, tools that work and can guide you.

When I share these ingredients with my students, and they start to have them in their lives, amazing things happen, and they say, “How did I not know this? How did I ever live without this?”

Yet, it’s so easy to forget and to let these slide and, pretty soon, find yourself in the doldrums again, wondering what went wrong.

Now I have created a way for you to have these vital ingredients in your life, so you don’t have to spin your wheels, struggle alone, blame yourself or make it all way harder than it needs to be.

It’s called Brilliant Playmates, and it’s a monthly membership program. I am opening this up to you and inviting you into my inner sanctum.

Become one of my Brilliant Playmates and get the essential ingredients of a brilliant life now and for as long as you want them at a ridiculously affordable price.

This won’t give you absolutely everything you need (nothing will), but it will give you a good dose to help you really blossom and thrive, and, over time, I will show you to how to get more of each ingredient in your life.

This is designed to be easy, inspiring, fun and to fit into your everyday life. So you can be brilliant, real, and walk your path of heart.

Join me now! I have a very special offer for those who sign up by July 15.

I created Brilliant Playmates for you because I truly care about you and your heart’s dreams. I care about them because I know what happens inside of you and what happens in the world around you, when you follow them. And there is nothing more important than that, dear ones. Nothing!

“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”
—Howard Thurman, philosopher, educator and civil rights leader

So, please do yourself and me and the world a big favor and give yourself the support, structure, guidance and friendship that you need to shine your light. Become a Brilliant Playmate.

To your inspired life,

maxima

P.S. What would become possible for you if you had more community, inspiration, mentorship, structure, focus, and appreciation in your creative life and in living your dreams?

It’s time to become a Brilliant Playmate and find out. Play With Me Now!