Art Archives - Allison Crow

A Two Fridas Reading from Art is About Being Whole: A Memoir By Cindy Ingram

Elyse Rich — Sun, 05 Nov 2023 16:48:46 +0000

Hello Humans!

Thank you for your grace while I took some time and space.

For the last four years I have been in writing practice with my publisher and write as a group

One of my former clients and now friend and fellow author colleague has released her book
with Compassionate Mind Collaborative Publishing.

I want you to get her book and let it touch your heart.

Art is About Being Whole: A Memoir By Cindy Ingram

It is a visual and word soulful treat.

Love,

Allison

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Resources:

Visit: Website: www.allisoncrow.com
Find out more about 1:1 coaching with Allison
Internal Family Systems Coaching and a brief IFS Model Overview
Get your copy of UNARMORED: Finding Home in the Wild Edge of Being Human

The post A Two Fridas Reading from Art is About Being Whole: A Memoir By Cindy Ingram appeared first on Allison Crow.

Scribble Days are More Than Good Enough

allisoncrow — Fri, 27 Oct 2023 15:07:27 +0000

Despite what the gurus and social feeds suggest, it can be pretty scribbly to do the nurturing practices that support us. Some days it IS easy – and just know that if some days, it feels more like this photo – you are not alone.

It is normal to NOT want to move your body, or do your creative things, or take the extra steps of genuine

ly compassionate care when you are down. And down is not a moral failure.
Down is not a moral failure.
Down is not a moral failure.
Down is not a moral failure.

Sometimes is biological, or chemical, or circumstantial, or just time to rest more than your brain thinks is necessary.

I MADE myself walk today. More often than not, I’ve dragged myself to my creative practice a la War of Art.
Cheers and love to any of my fellow humans in a scribble season.

#nurturingpractices #walkeveryday #createdaily #restoften #warofart #humaning #selfcompassionjourney

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Cindy Ingram: Reinventing Your Business

Elyse Rich — Sun, 02 Jul 2023 14:58:18 +0000

Hello Humans, today we are jamming with fellow reinventor Cindy Ingram.

Cindy has a book coming out later in the year and today we are going to talk a little bit more about reinvention.

Reinvention shows up on the outside but it’s usually because things happen on the inside.

Originally choosing her work based on how it felt,
Cindy shows a certain level of self trust to choose those kind of things when we might think we need to do something different.

“It has to feel right whatever I’m doing” – Cindy Ingram

And it takes a big leap to move careers with full on structural reinvention.

Love,

Allison

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Step into the Making to Get Out of Your Head

allisoncrow — Wed, 04 Jan 2023 16:16:42 +0000

It’s post-book launch. I still show up for my writing practice group most days.

My favorite dog has died, the year has ended, and my nervous system is slowly recuperating from a year of challenge after challenge.

My writing coach asks each of us, “What are you working on today?”

Inside, a part of me feels lost and ashamed – I don’t know what I am working on today. That heady part looks for an endpoint, a goal, a result – something to give her certainty.

I have a list of ideas – each simmering in its own mental crockpot – yet none of them feel ready to put on the page. I find myself longing for the direction I had when I had the end result of a book on the horizon. Before that longing is even finished crossing my mind, I giggle at where I find myself standing once again.

I’m simply in the creative process. The squirrels and whirls, dead spaces, frustrations, deaths, and emptiness ARE a part of the process. My Gawd, how we hate and dismiss the mulching and fallow seasons. But they are the precursor to new life.

They are a part not only of our art but also of our humanness. They are also the nutrients our souls need. (This awareness comes at the exact moment I sip a slightly nasty but nutrient-filled green drink with the texture of dirty water – again, I laugh at how life shows me exactly what I need if I will just drop into the noticing instead of arguing).

Lately, I am passionate and frustrated and righteous that no one has taught us these aspects of being human. In the same way – can one even really “teach us” how to write, paint, or make art Nope. They can tell us the steps and give us the materials. But we must step into the physical process of the making to make sense of it all in our bones. And there is no linear path there.

Without the stepping in and making – I am only in my head, and my body gets left behind. When I do this, life starts spinning, and I start suffering. I lived there most of my life – in an analytical, head-led life.

The old residue of an incomplete belief, “change your thinking, change your life,” shows up. I’ve been so busy managing my mind -when stepping into the making is what makes everything make sense again. Bring my body to the practice begins to soothe my mind. It certainly slows her down. I remember that I am a maker, not so much a manager.

My head and my body make peace…and then we step into the process of making our art.

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Recovering Overachiever Complete

allisoncrow — Fri, 30 Dec 2022 16:01:24 +0000

Yes, it’s the time of year when I think about what I desire for the year ahead. And the slowness and space help me FEEL and notice my cravings (the deeper under the “don’t feel” cravings)…. and my feelings actually give me so much information. In the “coachy” and “mindset” world, we have been taught to ignore them…that they aren’t reliable.

I disagree.

When I really self-connect with the feeling parts of me, I get the BEST and TRUEST wisdom… I get information about what’s UNDER the feeling and emotion. Emotions are the means of getting my attention so that I might slow down to get curious and go deeper.

Even the deep pangs of loss and grief are my teachers and give me hope I wouldn’t have without the loss. Being willing to feel all the way to the edges of this human condition is giving me life!

Here’s what I sense for me for the coming year:

Yet, ANOTHER deeper layer of truly being ME – without the masks. Embracing my quirks of using so many words instead of being concise as a speaker and teacher. Living in my unfilteredness MORE instead of less because I feel shame put on my by the world’s SHOULDS.

Yesterday I was hit with a wave of business grief when listening to a podcast with Brene Brown, Adam Grant, and Simon Sinek. A younger part of me has longed for “notoriety” and success like they have for years. But wanting and having are two different things. And my reasons for wanting that have been healed more and more. I wanted that to feel significant. But now that I FEEL significant from within, I sense no need or desire for that and I certainly don’t want the effort and complexity of that much BIGNESS.

On that podcast, I was struck by two terms – and I’m stealing them and putting them in my own context.
Maker and Manager.

Having that much bigness requires a large portion of “managerness” just for function. And my system doesn’t function well at all with that much “managerness.” Even with leveraged help, my brain stalls with so much mental load.

I am a MAKER! Not a manager. I am a creator and a creative. I am sensitive and tender. I require excessive space to really thrive. I do love ideas, and coaching, and teaching, and writing, and making art. I crave connection and belonging more than scale.

Even though for years I have been living in my authentic self – there is another layer that has yet to surrender to who I AM instead of the pressure I take on to be.

Here’s a really private thought: Do you know how subconsciously I feel so much shame about my coaching income That I haven’t doubled or grown beyond what I make.

There are so many big swinging dicks blasting their million dollar + revenue in my professional world, and there is always the lure and pressure of scaling. Many of my own client’s incomes surpass my own.

What’s funny is – I’ve sustained a solid 175-210k a year gross for all but 2 of my years in this industry (the first year and the first year I went out on my own were both below 100k). Even this year, when I didn’t sell shit for the last 7 months of the year because I had to take care of personal things more than business – I thought my business would suffer – the money still came in. I usually net about 50% of that. This year my business will net less due to book and event expenses. My living expenses are deliciously low, and somehow my savings helped cover hospital and vet bills out the wazoo this year.

And my brain has been conditioned that that is NOT ENOUGH. Can you imagine being ashamed of that?
The fact that I have had a sustainable coaching practice for almost 20 years is an INCREDIBLE accomplishment. And I am done with the not-enoughness. I’m am done with MORE MORE MORE….

I wanna MAKE MAKE MAKE, Create Create Create, Play Play Play, and Connect, Connect Connect.
I wanna cultivate connection and be in my humanness – not drive drive drive. I wanna trust myself more than I ever have – 2023 has shown me that I CAN.
I wanna be in the PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE of living and creating to the wild edges of being human. I’d love to start speaking on stages again – as long as I am free to be me- no filters. I’d love to get paid for writing, and I’d love delicious coaching partnerships. I’ll keep getting paid for lots of the work I create and the help I offer. It’s just what I do. The significance and abundance I thought I didn’t have – has been in me all along.

As my husband once said so wisely, “Allison, I love that you are into growth and change- it’s one of the reasons I fell in love with you. But you try so hard to grow, I don’t try to grow at all and I still do.”

It’s been here on my wall all along on this poster. And as my system does, it starts in my cognitive brain, and slowly through space and practice it becomes REAL in my whole body and nervous system.

AND SO IT IS.

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“The Gritty Masks Faded Away”

allisoncrow — Tue, 27 Sep 2022 13:39:06 +0000

I just told my writing group peers that this is what I was going to write about . . .
. . . how after both completing a book called UNARMORED and having a life-affirming heart event – everything is different; how I have no filter, or mask or protective devices, but that I do have fierce boundaries.

How my entire system is ultra sensitive (body and emotion- I can no longer tolerate wine or coffee, and I FEEL everything somatically), and my clairvoyance is uncomfortably off the charts.

And then I pulled this card from my The Muse Tarot deck by Chris-Anne:

“. . . the protective facade . . .has finally dropped away. . . her gritty mask faded as soon as she realized her own internal light was the only way to internal safety & success . . . walking in the world as nothing but yourself and doing things your way, with your heart. . .”

You can see her beautiful card and the whole experiential reading at https://themusetarot.com/muse-tarot-meanings-9-of-materials/

I wish I could say I felt stable in the nakedness. And as my friend KB reminded me, there is no use in comparing Allison of this day to Allison of a month ago. She isn’t there. Just get to know THIS Allison, day by day… for the next year or so.

Who are you today Who are you at this moment And how might you completely and utter love THIS ONE HERE AND NOW

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The Heartbreak of Losing Your Hobbies

allisoncrow — Sun, 18 Jul 2021 14:30:02 +0000

You can’t remember the last time you painted, or went dancing, or threw some clay. Your crocheting yarns are in a basket in the back of the closet. Your oil paints are in storage…. (Most of these are stores my clients have told me….). Losing your hobbies is – the slow and subtle kind.

Long ago the business of everyday life took over. Your own hobbies seemed excessively indulgent- there were more important matters to attend to.

But what if I told you that making time for your hobbies could bring your zing back That sparkle in your eye?

You take care of everyone else… but your joy is left till the last moment… and those moments never seem to make it before you crash at the end of the day.

This is a reminder and a permission slip to do something creative and fun JUST for the sake of doing something creative and fun because you LOVE it!

What creative and joyful outlet would you love to either get back to or start?

Allison

Ps. Today I drew cheeseburger macarons.

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Pick your Creative Play Back Up

allisoncrow — Mon, 31 May 2021 15:49:30 +0000

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A post shared by Allison Crow 💛 Humaning (@allison_crow)

Something clicked back on in me this morning. Early March…. I knew I was tired. I knew I needed a break from work creation. I kept serving my clients. I delivered my event and a retreat… I even enrolled for my deep coaching circle – all heart tasks at hand…

But I had no vision. No juice. My soul felt dehydrated- I just needed the space of nothingness and I have slept obscene amounts over the last 3 months.

I knew just to let the ebb be (especially work creation wise). I’ve been doing some pretty deep inner work with my own coach/therapist …. I’ve been meeting parts of myself I’ve pushed away or dismissed for years.

A few weeks ago I started craving painting again, somewhat sad that in 2017 I essentially put all paintbrushes down. Looking back I can see where I stripped down to bare bones to survive some deep emotional stuff.

It’s a challenge to go slow in the ebb. It’s a challenge to trust the need for rest. And it always pays off.

Today at my desk…. listening to music and looking at Pinterest of all things….. something pierced through a wall in my heart… the tears flowed and I could breathe again. I remembered:

I AM a CREATIVE SOUL!

Creativity through art is my juice- through personal creative play – I REMEMBER who I AM.

So much of my creativity has been mental business building creativity- and it has served me, BUT left me dry and tired.

Today, I felt like ALL of me… when I got dressed. When I put on an old denim shit and a white tank…. when I sat down, not to plan for work… but to just creatively explore.

I Remember.

What do you need to remember ???

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BLBW EP: 33 Creatively Fit: Painting, Energy & Spirit with Whitney Freya

allisoncrow — Mon, 27 Aug 2018 14:54:24 +0000

Join me for an energetic chat about one of my favorite spiritual practices! Painting. My guest is Friend and colleague Whitney Freya. She is devoted to helping people to use art-making as a spiritual practice and expressive living. Whitney uses art as an energy work medium and as a portal to connect to the subconscious and Source energy, allowing for new healing insights and personal growth. Say YES to painting and let your Spirit come alive!

Site and gifts mentioned in this episode can all be found at

www.whitneyfreyastudio.com

Whitney’s Stencils

Thanks for spreading the word about The Better Life Better Work Show. And of course, I love your Social Media Mentions and Shares with #BetterLifeBetterWork @allison_crow on Instagram. @allicrow on twitter and Allison Crow on Facebook.

And, if you’d like to be a master student of Better Life and Better Work, I invite you to join me in the Soul-Full Success School for Life and Biz ~ My exquisite membership community where connection, coaching, teaching and most of all, YOU, matter.

The post BLBW EP: 33 Creatively Fit: Painting, Energy & Spirit with Whitney Freya appeared first on Allison Crow.

Can I Be Thankful for Losing My Shit and Coming Undone

allisoncrow — Thu, 24 Nov 2016 17:35:24 +0000

Is it possible to be thankful for coming undone For the unraveling and losing my shit over and over in the past year

I’m a leader. A small, but a still public figure. My life’s work is supported by being online, outspoken, and having a tribe.

I’ve been complimented a thousand times for my light and positivity. And in the last 14 months, I’ve lost my shit daily. I have felt more shadow than light. And I’ve certainly not behaved like the leader my early mentors taught me to be.

But I am not leading from a pulpit. I am leading by living my life- feeling it all and choosing to look for love in all of it. I am being me.

Coming undone is the scariest and most vulnerable experience I’ve had as a human. I’ve lost loved ones, and clients, and at times felt like I lost myself.

But really, in the loosing of my shit, I’m finding more of myself.

I had both a beautiful and frankly awful childhood. Trauma, chaos, raging, abuse and neglect set me up to be either a complete mess or a complete overachieving control freak…. to be a lover or a fighter.

I don’t know if it was choice- or my psyche- I was just so fearful of the pain I chose the rainbows and unicorns. I chose to fix things, to solve problems, to make peace. I chose to overcome vs succumb. I chose lemonade.

At 24 I was clinically diagnosed with anxiety and depression.

At 44 I finally know why. I’ve pressed all these shadow emotions down. I believed that if I let them out…..

– I would die from the pain

– people would leave me

– I would drag others down if I allowed those feelings to surface.

– I was crazy, or would be seen as crazy and this rejected

– it’s not ok to be a mess

– I had to be positive and choose love

And so much more.

I actually enjoy JOY. I enjoy seeing the glass half full. I enjoy feeling good. In well over 50k coaching calls, every client has ultimately wanted one thing- to feel good. Every goal, achievement, desire, healing– ultimately was for the purpose of feeling good.

Outside of coaching, in ordinary life, drinking, shopping, spending, small talk, diversions, and a list of a million more things…. were all for the subtle, and perfectly human desire to FEEL Good.

And then in September if 2015 the feeling bad started. Death of close loved ones, loss of stamina and physical health, deeper depression, tax burden, failures in business, parents aging and ailing physically and financially….. and me trying to FIX it all.

And clearly, from the moment it all began to show up in the tsunami that can be life is, I saw that no coaching or spiritual bypass would work here.

The only way out would be through.

The ONLY way to healing and JOY would actually be the allowing of the feeling bad… the coming undone.

They said I risked it all when I took off my clothes on stage last year in a talk about stripping down to my authentic self. But none of us knew that after getting naked, I’d have to turn inside out.

And here I am. Undone.

Not ready to make nice or smoke unicorn and rainbow crack. It feels riskier than getting naked because I could topple my business (which I put entirely too much of my self worth in). I could have another husband leave me, I could lose more friends for being “too much.”

And this season, feeling the shadow is the work I can’t not do. And I can’t not do it in private. It does none of us justice.

I always share behind the curtain. And so why stop now. HA!

The political and global climate of the last year, the election and in the current aftermath – has been my particular UNcorking. My Kracken is unleashed.

I have been without grace, overbearing and downright nasty and mean. I’ve had intentions of being curious and compassionate, fierce but loving…. and instead, I’ve yelled and accused and raged. I’ve sobbed and screamed and wept and been incapable or unwilling to listen. I’ve been overbearing and ugly. I’ve been terrified by the rage and fear and grief that clearly are alive INSIDE of me.

I haven’t, and I’ll bet most of you haven’t either, been taught to feel these feelings in a healthy and appropriate way.

I. Am. Still. Learning.

I don’t have answers. And today, despite the shame and guilt I feel, I also feel thankful. I am grateful that the ugliness in me has demanded to be seen.

It has not been pretty. And there is no quick making nice of it.

And as my beloved Thich Nhat Hanh says,

“There, there Anger, I see you. I will not leave you. I am here for you.”

“There, there, Terror and Fear, I see you. I will not leave you. I am here for you.”

“There, there, Pain I Think Will Kill Me, I see you. I will not leave you. I am here for you.”

Finally, after 20

years of personal and spiritual seeking and practice, I finally see you. I will not leave you. I am here for you

And I am grateful for you. And somehow I know that I will be put back together again. And I will have many more undoings as long as I am human. And I will keep going.

This is an entirely new version of love. This is an entirely new making and BEing of me.

Ps. I have not gotten here alone. The sacred space I’ve chosen to feel these feeling has been the Expressive arts with Chris Zydel. And I couldn’t have done this deep work if I hadn’t had the loving leadership of Rich Litvin who always supported and honored me being wholly and vulnerably me.

I have had the loving and allowing support of friends and colleagues in sacred containers and circles. 4pc, animal medicine sisters, my own clients, and my Expressive Arts training sisters.

And of course, my husband who is my rock. Heaven when he doesn’t understand or agree- he never leaves. He stays. And loves.

The story is not over… it is just beginning.

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