EP 62 - Autumn Skye (updated encore presentation) Intuition, Surrender & the Sacred Act of Creativity

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EPISODE SUMMARY

Our guest today is Autumn Skye - an incredible artist with a massive online following, and when you see her work you’ll immediately get it. Her pieces are equal parts painstakingly detailed and evocatively magical. 

This is a deep and deeply nourishing and expansive feeling episode. We cover a lot of ground from the practical to the esoteric. I came away from this conversation feeling more spacious and filled with a sense of possibility and wonder than I have in a long time.

If you’ve been on the fence of stepping into yourself as an artist you’ll want to hear the amazing things she says about how art can serve as a tribute to the past, a processing of the present and of forward visioning. And how as artists in this potent time in history  we get to ask ourselves what we want to put our energy behind and what vision we want to create for our future to invite others into their own creativity and healing. 

My favourite part comes towards the end when she shares the ritual she does whenever she goes to a new city that deepens her connection to creativity and presence instantaneously - and then connects it to how we can be in our creative lives. I loved it and cannot wait to try it out next time I go on a trip

Autumn was one of those lucky individuals who was encouraged to nurture and follow the creativity in her from a very young age. This resulted in her being fairly unencumbered by distracting limiting beliefs that so many of us have to navigate when it comes to creativity.  She has a beautiful, generous soul and is passionate about sharing the wonder and power of creativity - helping people free themselves to infuse playfulness, curiosity and discovery into their own creative journeys through teaching engagements and retreats 

She’s partnered with Alana Fairchild and created artwork on the Sacred Rebels oracle deck, has her own beautiful self published deck, and will once again be working with Alana on a new oracle deck in the coming year. (more information on that at the end of the show) 

Things we talk about in this episode

• Her powerful advice for anyone experiencing fear about beginning to express creativity (hint: it's something you could go out and do today)
• Her mission through her artwork
• What is creative Draino and why is it so important?
• Her understanding of the creative process, how it works and what it is trying to do through us
• How being willing to be surprised is a key in the magic of her artwork
• Surefire ways to stop epiphanies and creative insight and how not to do those things
• What intuition feels like for her
• Incorporating muscle testing in the creative process as a way to cultivate intuition
• What she does when she bumps up into limiting beliefs (and it’s not about silencing them!)
• Using limiting beliefs as a catalyst to not only do the thing, but do the thing and then some
• How to approach our creativity in a way that helps it feel safe to come out
• Our tendency as women to dim our own light. Loving advice for the person who feels they don't even have the right to try - or may have been bullied by a loved one not to shine brighter than them.
• How artwork can be like a map for humanity as well as shape our reality - it is at the tip of the spear of cultural revolution
• Her poetic and inspiring definition of what creativity (which might be the best definition of creativity I have ever heard) truly is that might just change how you look at every single moment

Resources discussed in this episode

• Liz Gilbert (fear being a passenger in her car)
• Sacred Rebels Deck
• Alana Fairchild
• GOOGLE HER DECKS AND LINKS to them

ABOUT

Autumn Skye lives, breathes, and dreams art, and has done so since she was old enough to hold a pencil and reach for a piece of paper. Her childhood and early adult years were spent traveling the landscapes of both her wild Canadian backyard and distant international shores. Through her wanderlust she developed a deep reverence for the beauty of nature and the diversity of humanity, and continuously endeavors to translate this inspiration through her work.  As a self-taught artist she is forever a student of the intuitive, creative process. Autumn Skye perpetually explores and plays in many artistic mediums and modalities, from music to sculpture, cooking, event production, sewing, interior decorating, and jewelry making. However, her sustaining focus remains primarily in painting, and finds acrylic paints to offer the most freedom, luminosity, and versatility in her intuitive art-making. Her style gracefully weaves together refined realism, iconic imagery and symbolism, and subtle energetic geometries. She’s inspired by the beauty of this incredible planet, the potency of these extraordinary times, the mysteries of the cosmos, the resiliency of the human spirit, and the intricate connections between all facets of life. 

Autumn Skye's meticulous and poignant paintings continue to gain expanding recognition, attracting audiences, collectors, and students from around the globe. She exhibits and teaches worldwide, and otherwise thrives and paints in the beautiful temperate-rainforest of coastal British Columbia, Canada. Considering herself immensely blessed to do what feeds her soul, she strives to support others through creative empowerment, the gift of beauty, and the perpetuation of inspiration.

Autumn Skye website | facebook | instagram

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FULL TRANSCRIPT

 If you stand in front of one of my paintings and, and you are feeling some kind of experience that, feels personal to you. That means I was successful in getting out of the way. The more profound your experience is with the artwork, the less credit I can take, or the less credit Mozart can take.

As skilled and phenomenal craftsman of music as he was, If you are transported by that gift of that creative example, then it means it's connecting you, looping you back to the divine. To that genius.

Hello, creative genius fam. You can hear in my voice, I'm still sick. I've been really, really sick. It's not COVID as far as I know. Although it might as well be because it really was all the same symptoms. and the brain fog actually. Has been one of the most. Like frustrating and surprising ones.

I'm forgetting words and I'm dropping things and I'm exhausted.

Late last year I started working with sounds true, which is a book publishing company out of Boulder, Colorado. Their founder, Tami Simon is a personal kind of hero of mine.

I really love the work that she does and has done in the world. Their tagline is waking up the world. And I feel like she's inspired so much of what I do. Oh, without knowing it I've never met her. I reached out to them because I read so many of their books anyway and admire so many of their authors and I just thought. How amazing would it be to have a lot of them on the show? So they've been. Kindly sending me wonderful authors. So I had an interview yesterday. I have to today. And I have two tomorrow, and these are interviews with authors who have written. You know, 300 page books on really deep topics. And I've had to read the books and prepare for the interview and sound kind of smart.

It's been a little bit crazy. ,

I'm trying to give myself a lot of grace. I ran out of steam. I wasn't actually able to finish the episode. That was scheduled to come out for next week on time.

And I'm having to delay that by two weeks. I don't want to let you down. I don't want to let the other listeners down. I feel a tremendous responsibility to the guest to get their episode out there in the world as soon as possible, because it's truly amazing. that conversation Is with. Absolutely beautiful human named Lama, rod Owens, How about his absolutely beautiful new book called the new saints from broken hearts to spiritual warriors. It is a beautiful book. I gave myself to reading this book and preparing to interview Lama rod. And, uh, I was actually very nervous and intimidated , to approach interviewing him. He is one of the most. Bright lights. I've met. You know, you meet people who are just like extremely compassionate and. Plugged into something that's way bigger than just the human realm. that's him.

And I was a big deal for me to get this interview.

It's a great conversation and I've been really looking forward to getting it to you. So the decision to delay it for two weeks to let myself have some time and grace to really heal from being so sick. So that I could actually give this interview the edit and the attention . And the depth that it needed, you know, I listened to it over and over again, and I'm pulling out the, the nuggets for you and

want to do it justice I want to do it justice for Lama rod. I want to do it justice for me. And I want to do it justice for you. , one of the listeners sent me a clip this morning of Rick Rubin.

Who's another person I'd really love to get on the show. And he was talking about , the work that we create, our creative. Expressions and our creative work in the world, whether that's music or writing or the cake or a book or a podcast. Is it devotional act. It's not about creating something , with an outcome in mind, it's not about creating something so that you think, oh, and then this will happen and this will happen.

And this is how it will land. And when I applied that filter to this episode, I realized that my devotional act. Of creating this podcast is to make it. The best I possibly can and then put it out in the world. And I couldn't do that from this place of being really sick. So the Encore presentation we're doing is amazing. It's one of my favorite conversations from last year.

It's with a woman named autumn sky. Who is the kind of artists that I think so many of us painters. Would love to be her mastery. And her abilities are incredible and she's worked really hard to get there

autumn and I talk about the creative process. And how important surrender is in it. We talk about things like being willing to be surprised by our own work. how to , cultivate the conditions for epiphanies, we talk a lot about limiting beliefs, and there's a really amazing part of the conversation where we talk about how artwork can be like a map for humanity. And I want you to listen to that part and let me know what you think, I came away from this conversation feeling more spacious and filled with a sense of possibility and wonder than I have in a really long time. So it feels like an honor to be able to share that now with you. , Robin wrote in with a review for the show. She writes, this is a great podcast for everyone. I'm an artist and I love listening to other creatives talk about creating. I work slash create from home and it can get a little lonely at times. Kate and her guests make me feel like I belong to a group of creatives out in the world and so much more connected.

Thanks for sharing what a creative life is about and how everyone really is creative. Robin, thank you for that. That, that is exactly why I created this show. And I'm so glad that it's reaching you and that you love it. To everybody listening, thank you for listening. And if you haven't yet, please leave a review.

If you'd like to support the show, you can become a patron by going to patreon.

com slash creative genius podcast, as you're listening to the conversation today, please think about somebody in your world who you want to forward this show to. We get so much feedback that this show is changing people's lives. And with your help, we can spread that love even wider.



What's been put in front of me lately by life or God or the universe or whatever you want to call it. Has been an invitation to deepen my own willingness to surrender, to open, to be led. Too.



Reject. The urgency and the fear and the anxiety that ego wants to give me to push me down a certain path. And to open with curiosity. In a sense of possibility. To this other part of me, that's quiet and wordless and wants to take me somewhere even more magical.

And a lot of that is just listening. A lot of that has been about noticing, you know, when I have an idea pop up. Trying to find out what accompanied that idea was. Is there a sense of tightening and constriction and fear that's associated with that idea? Cause if, so that idea is probably woven together with ego and fear and anxiety. But if there's a sense of possibility and wonder, and open-endedness then probably that's coming from this other place that I'm trying to dwell more and more in. And the knowing that I had to postpone Lama Rod's episode came from that place. And as soon as I acknowledged that I needed to do that and allowed it. It was almost like a flash of lightning that I knew that it was Autumn's episode that was going to replace it this week.

That was so fascinating because it did not come from my rational mind. And I have to believe because of my own life experiences, that that knowing comes from a place that this is the episode you actually need to hear today. So I hope you love it.

I hope it serves you and meets you where you are and takes you where you most want to be going.



And I'll speak to you again in two weeks.

Autumn Skye 0:00
But it's this like, simultaneous self existing, this paradox that both are true that it's meaningless, and it's frivolous. And it's just pictures. Making a mess on a piece of paper or canvas is just mud, or charcoal or whatever it is. And it's the most important thing we can do as a human being in this lifetime, is to open that channel and let the creative life force through so that it can help heal ourselves and therefore the world. It's a microcosm, macrocosm. It's an ebb and flow of creative expression, and inspirational intake of this in breath out breath.

Kate Shepherd 0:59
Hello, there, I kinda can't believe it. This is it. This is the last episode of season one of the creative genius podcast. It's episode 24. It has gone by so fast. It's been a truly incredible year, I've learned and grown and stretched myself beyond what I thought I was capable of doing and had conversations with the most incredible people. And I've connected with some of you, who are the reason I'm doing all of this. So thank you, to everybody, for everything. We're going to take a little bit of a break over August. We have some fantastic things up our sleeve that we're working on for you. And I wanted to give you a chance to go back and listen to some of your favorite episodes. You know, I get a lot of feedback from people who say that they have listened to multiple episodes multiple times and how new things come out at them each time and how somebody even wrote to me the other day saying she felt like it was going to therapy listening to some of these episodes. So download a couple of your favorites. And if you're on a road trip or you're on an evening stroll one night this summer, have a listen to them. And and tide you over do that to tide you over until until we're back together in September. And oh my goodness, what an episode to go out with our guest today is autumn sky. And autumn is an incredible artist with a massive online following. And when you go and see her work, you're going to immediately get it her pieces are both painstakingly detailed and evocative. There's this other worldly, beautiful light quality to them. Our conversation was a deep and deeply nourishing conversation. For me, we cover a lot of ground from the practical when it comes to creativity and how to unleash it to some of the more esoteric aspects of creativity and what it is and how it works and what it's trying to do. And I came away from this conversation feeling more spacious and filled with a sense of possibility and wonder than I have in a really long time. So it feels like an honor to be able to share that now with you. If you've been on the fence about stepping into yourself as an artist, you'll want to hear the amazing things that Autumn says about how as artists in this potent time in history, we have an opportunity to ask ourselves, what we want to put our energy behind, and what vision we want to hold because those things are going to be what creates our future because that as the role art plays in cultures is the sort of leading Arrow tip I think are the words that she uses to describe what role art plays in culture and society and how stepping into that role as an artist you get to be a part of that. That creation of that vision and of that new future. One of my favorite parts of this conversation comes kind of towards the end. When she shares the ritual she does whenever she goes to a new city and she it's something that she does to deepen her connection to creativity and to the presence and to the moment that she's in and explains how we can use that ritual to deepen our daily creative practice in our normal lives. It was lovely, I loved it. I can't wait to try it and I can't wait for you to try it. Autumn was one of those lucky individuals who was encouraged to nurture and follow her creativity from a really young age. This resulted in her being fairly unencumbered by a lot of the distracting beliefs that so many of us have to navigate when it comes to creativity. She has a beautiful, generous soul and is passionate about sharing the wonder and power of creativity that she can help people free themselves to infuse this playfulness and curiosity and discovery into their own creative journeys. And she does that through teaching engagements and retreats. She also does that through some beautiful decks that she's created oracle decks. She's partnered with Elana Fairchild, who you might know from her own series of beautiful Oracle deck and they worked on one together called sacred rebels. Autumn has her own self published deck which is gorgeous and she explains how it grows with you every We're, which is a little different from all the other oracle decks. And I thought that was a really interesting thing. And she explained that towards the end of the show. It's a terrific episode, I really am excited to share it with you. And before we do I want to read you Robin Rodin with a review for the show, she writes, this is a great podcast for everyone. I am an artist and I love listening to other creatives talk about creating, I work slash create from home. And it can get a little lonely at times, Kate and her guests make me feel like I belong to a group of creatives out in the world and so much more connected. Thanks for sharing what a creative life is about, and how everyone really is creative. Robin, thank you for that, that. That is exactly why I created this show. And I'm so glad that it's reaching you and that you love it to everybody listening. Thank you for listening.

And if you haven't yet, please leave a review, head over to Apple podcasts and scroll down to the bottom you can leave us some stars and a review. It means more than you might then you might guess. And we really appreciate it helps us grow the show helps me know that what I'm doing matters and is important to you. If you'd like to support the show, you can become a patreon by going to patreon.com/creative Genius podcast. Or you can go to Kate Shepherd creative.com as you're listening to the conversation today, please think about somebody in your world who you want to forward this show to, we get so much feedback that this show is changing people's lives. And with your help, we can spread that love even wider. I'm so glad you're here. And I can hardly wait for you to hear this conversation with autumn sky. Enjoy. Welcome, Adam. It's so nice to meet you. Thank you for coming on the show today.

Autumn Skye 6:35
Thank you for having me, Kate. It's an honor and pleasure to sit with you looking forward to our conversation together.

Kate Shepherd 6:41
Usually at the beginning of every show, I take a minute to share with you and the listeners why I started this podcast in the first place. And it really was in response to these widespread limiting beliefs that I saw so many people hooked into about creativity. And what it is that it's only available to certain rare chosen people, you know that the products of it have to look or feel or sound or just be a certain way to be acceptable or okay, that you'll probably get it wrong if you try. So you might as well just not even try to engage with it and leave it alone. But the thing is, is that when people believe these things about creativity, there's this automatic disconnect that happens with this part of ourselves that I feel like, isn't just the most magical part of us. But it's this actually the most sacred and important part of being a human being. It's critical, this part of us for functioning as a healthy whole human being. It's our it's our inner GPS system. It's our source of inspiration. It's our innovations, where is where intuition and desire and innovation come from when I sort of saw all that it was a little over a period of time where I had these like series of epiphanies where I was seeing all that. And I when I when it really sort of all land at that that was what I saw going on, it became really clear to me that this had to be my life's mission to help as many people as I could remember what is true about creativity, which is that it is in all of us. And that learning how to access it is quite possibly the most important thing we could ever do for ourselves as individuals, but also as people living in the world. That's what I wanted to dig in with you today. And we'll do that in a minute. But before we dig into that, I wondered if you might start us off by telling us a little bit about you and your work. And so that people can have a sense of who you are as we're having this conversation.

Autumn Skye 8:29
Thank you and thank you for the work you're doing this is everything you said was completely resonant. And I also am on that mission of really empowering people to step bravely into their creative being. It's amazing, and so sad to the level that everyone struggles on some in some way with the surrender, and with the allowance and with the permission of the creative process. And a lot of people carry a lot of burdens around that. So it is also my mission in the world to help enliven and infuse curiosity into people's creative process. I've been creating art since I can remember since I was old enough to talk or walk my mom says I was making pictures. And it's been a huge part of my life. The main focus of my life really, even when I was told to go play outside I would gather up my art supplies and go hang out under a tree and and that was my way of playing outside. Really. Horror was building forts or little cities for our hot wheel cars or houses for my troll dolls or whatever it was cooking, sewing, dancing, singing, always always in their creative focus and And it was just so freeing for me as a child, I didn't really realize how blessed I was. And it's still coming to me in waves and layers of how truly, truly rare it is to be given full permission to be creative, and to explore and to play. I was never told not to make art. And that is the greatest blessing of my life. And the greatest mobilizer, I would say, of my creative path and of my career is that I am now as an adult able to just continue on a path that I never got off of, I'm able to surrender to that creative flow, because I don't have these voices in my head, that so many people have telling me that I'm not good enough or to get a real job. Or that it's, it's a waste of time. And though I have my own voices of perfectionism and deep, relentless drive to create is its own thing to navigate. It really, it's a beautiful path. And it's a humbling path on a daily basis, the creative process, to sit in front of a canvas or in front of a project and to run into these, like veils of uncertainty. And to just keep on showing up. As these layers and levels of the painting or of the the piece of art crystallize. We want to have all the information and have the big picture and know what it's going to look like. And we want it to have happen quickly and instantaneously and be fabulous and be wildly marketable. And so much of the creative process is about listening, and surrender, and persistence in the showing up so that we can get out of the way. And allow what wants to come through come through. And a lot of it's just, like tedious work. It's like not overly glamorous, it's detailing I work in sort of a magic realism style, of, of like highly detailed and refined edges and subtleties. That takes an enormous amount of time.

Kate Shepherd 12:38
Yeah, tell us a little bit about your work so people can have a picture of it as they're listening.

Autumn Skye 12:43
Absolutely. So I work mainly in figurative. And I work for the most part in acrylic, so acrylic on Canvas, or acrylic on panel, and usually centered around the human form in some way, whether it's what I call soul portraits, or portraiture in some way that becomes more surreal or magic realism or visionary. There's lots of art movements that could vaguely sum up some of my work, but they always are a little bit different, but still echoing with the themes of humans. In there, interconnection with nature, with animals with spirit, with the earth. And with the cosmos. There's so there's often creatures and patterns and mandalas. And

Kate Shepherd 13:34
there's, they're so beautiful. I want for everybody listening, as you're listening, if as long as you're not driving, stop what you're doing right now and actually just look her up and have an have a few peeks at some of her work as we're talking because they are really They're awesome. They're so beautiful. They're, they're evocative, I wanted to ask you, I want to go back for a minute and talk about something really important that you brought up, which was around how you were you were really supported by your family, you acknowledge that is quite rare. That is really rare. So many of us didn't have that experience. And actually, probably, I would say, a good chunk of people experience some degree of even shaming around expressing their creative selves, whether that came in the form of like, you know, don't don't do that it's messy, or don't do that. You can't make a life out of doing that, or don't do that. It's inconvenient. Or, I mean, there's a million different ways that story animates itself, but for the person who is listening to this right now saying, well, because because the reality is is that even if you get shamed, and even if you get you're not supported that intelligence in you, doesn't go away. Right. So it will be with you. And so for a person who's sort of feeling a resurgence or like an of an up swelling of that energy and a yearning to connect with it, that is dealing with like that part of themselves that they shut down to survive that kind of conditioning or that kind of situation. What what do you want them to know? What would you tell that person?

Autumn Skye 14:55
Oh, a lot of things. Number one is is be willing to make a mess, like you say there is. So there are so many of us that are told as children, not to make a mess or not to wastepaper, if you're coming to it now, after years, and with so many stories and ideas and pressure and expectation, and the burden of perfectionism, and all of these voices that we've carried with us for years, which have now been internalized and have become our own voice of, oh, I'm not good at art, or, Oh, it's silly. I used to love to make art. But, you know, it's I was, I was no good, or whatever it is, like people say to me all the time, Oh, I love to paint I paint all the time, not like you. And my response to them is, of course, not like me. And I can't paint like you. Only you can paint like you the creative energy, or life force or God or spirit or inspiration, whatever name you want to give it, that is coursing through you, and longing to pour out of your fingertips and your voice. And through your limbs as you dance. That energy is life. It's our birthright. It's like you said, it's what makes us human. And what makes us alive and it doesn't go away, we might have so many voices and layers that it it changes and distorts. And it just feels like anxiety. Or it might feel like emptiness. And there are many things that we might fill that space with in the seeking to feel whole and to feel heard and to feel held and expressive. And so if you're feeling that urge, because it's in every single one of us, if you're feeling the urge to create, and it's terrifying. Know that it's okay to be scared. And then that fear doesn't necessarily go away. Because there's nothing scarier than a blank white canvas. But there's nothing as freeing as a blank white canvas either. So if you're sitting in front of something so pristine and perfect as a blank white canvas, I would say, grab a paintbrush fin down a color doesn't matter what color doesn't matter what medium but make it nice and thin. And just start splashing it on. Go outside into your driveway if you need to, like make a real mess if you need to get your body involved and just obliterate the white. They will never be white again. Too late, You wrecked it now you're free. Or if that's even too scary or if you'd you don't want to mess up that perfect canvas that you have big plans for and instead you use like a creative Drano. If you think of yourself as a channel, and you're all plugged up with expectations and stories and demands and perfectionism and procrastination and all these things, build up and solidify and, and plug the channel. Then what you need is creative Drano. And I think of creative drain out as anything that is no mind body expressive play. So it could be dancing, it could be singing in the shower, it could be drawing on the driveway with your kids with chalk, or going to the beach and using your whole body to draw in the sand. or going to the recycle depot and getting like one of those fridge boxes. And lay it out and get like some mud or some charcoal from the fireplace and smear it on and get your limbs involved and like move and make a mess. And then burn it or put take it back to the recycle depot or let the waves come in and take the sand sculpture away or the the rain come and wash the driveway clean, whatever it is just let it out and through. And then when you do go and sit in front of that blank white canvas, it will be a little less intimidating. And you'll be a little bit more free to play.

Kate Shepherd 19:30
I love that so much I wrote down creative Drano as your love that image. So I wanted to ask you about your creative process. You make these beautiful paintings, you're just talking about the minute go how detailed they are. And when I look at them, they're just like, I actually can't even imagine how you how you do it. And I love you as I read somewhere that you wrote that each Canvas takes you on a journey and I and I love that and I wondered if you could tell us a little bit about like, what a journey of creating a painting is for you.

Autumn Skye 20:03
Yeah, it takes me really on this incredible voyage of discovery, it might start

with just the seed of an idea, or a figure or an emotion, or a color even. And as I work, different pieces come. So really, it's, it's this balance of yin yang, left brain, right brain of showing up and doing the work. And getting out of the way, and surrendering and listening, and being willing to be surprised, being willing to go in new directions, that might feel risky, or might mean that I actually am going to change something significant to what I thought it might look like. It's always a process of peeling back layers, discovering where the piece wants to or needs to go. It really is so often surprising, and it's just, it's delightful. And if I'm sitting in front of a canvas, wondering what the next step is, and what the answers are to that painting, you know, what is she holding? Or what's the background? Or what is this object that that figure is looking at? If I'm sitting there and like demanding of inspiration that it gives me answers, weighing pros and cons and like, brainstorming it. That's not usually when the creative flow, gifts me with epiphany. I don't think inspiration is overly enthusiastic about about when I sit in front of a canvas with my arms crossed, and, you know, eyes squinted, grumbling at the canvas and saying, what is it like, Tell me tell me, instead, my ideas come mostly, and most easily, when I'm already in the creative process. And they come at the perfect moment. If I don't know what the figure is holding, it's probably that I need to actually just focus on the hand, or the background, maybe they're holding something so delicate that in retrospect, if I was to gallop forward by, by painting, the thing that the figure is holding, it would have created a whole bunch of nightmare for me, it's like having to paint around all this like intricate detail. So it always makes sense in the long run. And I just need to be patient, and just allow it to come sometimes, I'll as I'm drifting off to sleep, I'll just picture the painting in my mind's eye and just see if anything pops into my into my mind. And when the ideas come, whether they're I'm working on that piece, or a different piece, or I'm if I'm cooking, or if I'm driving, or if I'm drifting off to sleep, if it's right, for the painting, it feels right in my body. And that's what it's really taught me, the creative process has taught me to trust my body more than anything has. And it's something that's translated into the rest of my life. It's been a huge teacher and such a blessing to get to know intimately the sensations in my heart and in my hands and my guts and in my solar plexus Plexus of what feels true. What makes me feel alive, and what makes this like electric sensation course through me. On the other hand, and what drains me of energy when I speak untruth, when I have thoughts that are diminishing, or disempowering, to really feel the difference in my body, if you've worked at all with muscle testing, and kinesiology, that's what it's all about is like the tapping into the wisdom of ourselves and of our bodies of the water and the fire within our being. And really listening to that in a very tangible way where you can feel that your your muscles strengthen or weaken depending on on whether something is for your best or not. And so I use that in a more subtle way in my painting and just allow ideas to come. And when they feel right, it's sometimes so subtle, but so powerful that I just act on it. And like I said, sometimes it means that I'm going to sacrifice maybe three days of work for changing directions in that painting. But it's always for the best. And it always takes me to places that I wouldn't have been able to foresee and plan. And often when I'm finished the painting, and I am able to then step back and get to know it from an objective observing perspective. Then I don't even necessarily remember the creative process. And I might even look at and be like, cool maths, got a lot of work and in it,

but it feels it almost feels like someone else. Was there painting with me, or something else was painting through me. So even though I can like in the moment, I feel like oh, I've got I've got a lot of time left on this painting. There's also a point of stillness and meditation that really carries me through.

Kate Shepherd 26:06
One of the things I want to help people practice and get in touch with is those another way of saying what I think you're saying is like finding out what feels like a yes, and what feels like a no, like in really broad terms. I have little kids, I have a seven year old and a nine year old. And the other day, I was like, you know, there's no way that I could possibly tell them all the things that they should and then shouldn't do as they emerge into the world and become responsible for their own decisions I can't cover at all, the best thing I can do is teach them how to learn how to feel that feeling you're talking about as they walk through their lives. And I feel like that's one of the things we get from a creative practice is contact with that this is a yes or no more like this. So this is a no, this is a because you were telling me that I wanted to know if you could describe what those feelings feel like so that within and I asked you with the intention of helping somebody who maybe has no frame of reference for that. They might go Oh, yes, I know that feeling I get that feeling as opposed to like, what does it feel like if can you describe it,

Autumn Skye 27:05
it's an aliveness, an electric swelling in the body. And on the other hand, if that if it's a no, it's sort of a constricting, dampening, downward feeling. And like I said, it's very subtle, but it is tangible. And it's maybe like, I think it can be really, really easy to get confused. In our mind, between intuition and fear, or excitement, and anxiety, we can really get those all jumbled up in our mind. But if we tune into our heart and our body, I think that that we can definitely distinguish between something that our body and our spirit is warning us against, and something that maybe feels risky, but makes us feel electric and alive. And if you can't tell the difference, that's okay, too. And just keep listening. There's a lot of different ways to muscle test if you want to just fine tune and then get used to what that feeling feels like. There's some people do like a push up pulling your fingers apart, leaning forward or backward. A lot of doctors now will use kinesiology with having you hold supplements to your chest and hold your other arm out and they'll push down on your arm and to see whether that's a medicine for you or not. All of those are can be useful, but to me there's there's still a bias involved. So I use a weight. Sometimes it's my my purse or my basket or a potted plant or something that I can easily hold that's around five to seven pounds. Like if you're a pretty strong person, you might want more like 10 to 12 pounds and for a few just dislocated your shoulder it might be more like two to three pounds. Just find what's comfortable, find something that you can lift with a straight arm directly away from your body. And you can lift a few times without exhausting yourself but that you still have to engage your muscles and then make true or false statements and lift. So I always start with my name, my name is autumn sky lift. My name is not autumn sky lift. My name is Sabrina Johnson lift my name is not and then and so on and then I get into it is for my highest good that I moved to Venezuela Lift There's nothing you know you can make. You can test big decisions on it and feel the difference. And if you can't feel the difference, the weight might be too heavy or not heavy enough. Or maybe you just need to make a decision. And there's not actually highest good in either direction that both options. But you can usually especially with your name, you can fine tune and you can really feel the difference. And the more you work with it, the more You can feel that difference in your body without actually lifting. And that's, that's the like filling or draining sensation that I'm speaking of. And that's what I think kids feel like when they, when they reach for markers, and want to draw or when they reach for a sparkly dress and it makes them feel excited like these kinds of like expressive, fried, uninhibited desires. It's sparkles and rainbows, rainbows and unicorns and, and electric feelings. And it's, it's also very quiet. And we have to learn to listen

Kate Shepherd 30:45
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Autumn Skye 31:45
They'll always be there I think limiting beliefs are they're not all bad guys. Sometimes they're they're tools of growth, and tools of expansion. And, and then sometimes they're just old stories that we might have picked up from parents or siblings or teachers or peers or the media or whatever it is, they can come from a lot of different places. And I think that when we experience limiting beliefs, it's not only about silencing them, but it's also about compassion for them. You know, if you if you've been fed limited beliefs by somebody else, then it says more about that person than it does about you. And to bring in the compassion for your inner child who might have heard that and adopted that as their own, as well as the person who gave it to you. It really can liberate both of you. And then you can learn to work with it. For my own path i i definitely on a regular basis have voices, or ideas in my head that feel stifling or disempowering. I don't buy them in and I don't subscribe to them. And I don't give them much power other than shrugging them off a little bit or laughing at myself for or using it as actually a catalyst to not only do that thing, but to do it and then some to reach beyond where the belief says that I can't go and actually go further.

Kate Shepherd 33:37
Oh my gosh, I love that so much. Yeah, like rebel rebel energy, like I'm very I'm a very obedient person. And so when I all my limiting beliefs, I'm often just like, okay, yes, you must be right. And then they kind of caused me to freeze up and so when I hear you say that I just this like little kid in me is just like, that's possible I can, I can like challenge a limiting belief and, and then prove it wrong. But exciting.

Autumn Skye 34:04
It's there's like a fine dance between self criticism and self compassion. And there's been many studies made on self compassion actually being a much more motivated motivating force, and that we're actually much more productive with more compassion than we are with being really hard on ourselves. They're two sides of the same coin though. And so how can we when we hear that voice comm that limiting idea that says, You're not good enough for get a real job or whatever it is, or stop wasting your time? We can look at the other side of that coin and have compassion for ourselves and say it's okay. Like if you were sitting with your inner child at the kitchen table with some scrap paper and crayons, what would you say to that inner child as they sat in front of a blank? Make a piece of paper, you're not going to say, don't mess up that piece of paper, you're gonna say, What do you want to draw? Let's go, let's start, I just start scribbling, maybe we can scribble and then make a picture out of the scribbles. Or you love flowers that's draft flowers or put your handout in front of you, let's try to draw our hands. Like, there's so many different ideas that if we can approach it in that way, from a sense of wonder, and play, and compassion for the inner child, that we can actually overwrite those voices, and free ourselves, and that child sitting next to us, and the fear might not go away. And that's okay. There's a great quote that says, courage is not the absence of fear. It is fear walking forward. And so this idea of like, the fear will be a constant, and it's okay. But you don't have to buy into it. And you don't have to give it power. Liz Gilbert talks about fear being a passenger in her car. It's like you can sit there, but you're not touching the wheel. You can like sit in the front seat, even, you know, we can talk but you're not in control. And I love that.

Kate Shepherd 36:10
I really love that too. I was reading a stem conversation in a Facebook group the other day, and it was it was a bunch of female artists, and they were talking about things that they inherited from their moms. And it broke my heart because quite a few of them. Were sharing that what they inherited from their moms was something along the lines of Don't you dare shine brightly? Don't you dare shine brighter than me, don't you dare. There's almost like a wordless shame and fear. Like that's, you know, there's a word that there's just like invisible bully, it doesn't have to be a mother, it could be anybody. It was just that this was this group was talking about that. When there's an idea, like, you can't do that. It's very clear, like that's a, that's a black and white thing you can walk yourself through and say, Well, I'm gonna prove that. But when it's like you don't even have the right to try. How do you start to work with that? How do you start to undo that? Or have compassion for that? Or even just be with that?

Autumn Skye 37:02
Good question. It's really something I think that all of us are working through right now. And especially women, but not just women, this tendency to dim our own light, so that we don't make other people feel inadequate, or lesser than, or intimidated, or jealous, or whatever it is. I think it's something that's really been passed down through other generations. But it's also been something that's passed through the media, through the beauty industry, through movies and TV shows, and, and rumors and like, even the concept of starving artists and like competition amongst artists and competition amongst women, it's sort of that like, leave before your left kind of myth or, or be stronger against the bully, but without even giving the possibility. That sly, like sideways glance that you just got from the girl down down the table from you, is actually like, maybe they were thinking about something else. And they weren't even looking at you. Or maybe they were looking at your your hair and saying, oh, that's she's got lovely hair, or, Oh, I have the same top or Wow, she's pretty or Oh, I think I know that person. Like there's so many different stories. But we see it, we see that look. And we immediately use it to confirm our fears that we're unloved, unlovable, and not enough, or that maybe we're a little too much. And that we need to tone it down and be nice and play it small. And stay out of the way. I think all of those can be can exist simultaneously. And really, though, like so many of us probably have witnessed on one side or the other that often like the snobby girl is actually insecure girl. And she actually just needs a smile and to say hello. And then all of a sudden you you discover this incredibly interesting, super funny, creative, playful person there. But we can pass judgments so quickly, because we feel that those judgments are coming at us but it's really these like this feedback loop of judgment that we're only internalizing, it's just swirling around inside of us. I'd love the saying of you would care a lot less about what other people thought about you if you realize how little they did, because most people are paralyzed by their own internal struggles. When we can step past those even through an act of a smile or Hello, or even holding compassion in our heart and softening energetically to someone, we can see that actually, we're the same. And everybody's going on their own journey. But we all are on this journey together too. And we we echo each other's stories, and each other's traumas and each other's burdens, and hopes and dreams and love, and that were actually perfect puzzle pieces to each other's needs and gifts. When we can collaborate and come together and celebrate each other's victories and celebrate each other's success and share in each other's grief and support each other in loss, then we see that it's, it's all us, it's not you or me anymore, it's all us. And we see that we each have a perfect role to play in that that's completely unique. And simultaneously, part of a larger tapestry,

Kate Shepherd 41:00
when I see people holding back, so somebody, let's say, who's, you know, just getting into painting or, or doing some sort of creative activity and holding it back and not sharing it, I feel like that's kind of tying into what you're saying, like we, when we can be brave and share little bits of ourselves, we start to see that, Oh, you didn't come out perfectly being able to do this. And I can share, and you can see something in me that I can't see in you. And we can,

Autumn Skye 41:26
and by discovering creativity, at any point in our lives, even if you're at and you're like, Oh, I remember I love to paint when I was a teenager, and it might have been like, could be 65 years since you've picked up a paintbrush. But even then, if you can give yourself permission to play, and maybe it's just playing with watercolors on a little pad of paper, or whatever it is like just give yourself permission. And then as scary as it is, show someone, maybe show a couple people and see how much it lights them up, and how much it gives them permission then to explore, like, what was it for me that I'm not doing that I love to do, we're really liberating each other as we liberate ourselves. And it's this like, simultaneous self existing, this paradox that both are true that it's meaningless, and it's frivolous. And it's just pictures, like making a mess on a piece of paper or canvas. It's just mud, or charcoal or whatever it is. And it's the most important thing we can do as a human being in this lifetime, is to open that channel, and let the creative life force through so that it can help heal ourselves and therefore the world. It's the microcosm, macrocosm. It's an ebb and flow of creative expression, and inspirational intake of this in breath. outbreath says, we're all in it together. And we all give each other permission and encouragement and inspiration with every small act of creativity we do.

Kate Shepherd 43:18
It reminds me of something I read on your website about how artwork has the potential to be like a map for us. And I wanted to ask you to say more about that.

Autumn Skye 43:29
Well, Art has always been has been a tool of culture and a shaper of our reality. So through the ages, like all the way back to cave paintings, it's it's been sort of a at the front of the, the tip of the spear of cultural evolution and then through the medieval times and Renaissance, and then through cubist period and the Surrealists and the minimalists in them, modernist and the post modernists all the way through, it's been these, these forward waves of awakening and realization and growth and potential. It's simultaneously that that forward reaching and for provisioning as well as a tribute back because everything we create is inspired by things that we've seen through our lives, whether it's a direct inspiration and portrayal of something we've experienced or something, some other art that we've seen, or whether it's an integration of many facets in a new way. It's also a way of processing pain and trauma of culture of personal experience of society of war. A famine of so many different heartbreaking eras that human It has moved through. So you can see a lot of these really painful portrayals in historic art. Also, I guess, battle scenes were glorified and often hired to produce. There's so many ways that we that we see pain being transmitted through art and turned into something quite beautiful or quite evocative. So it's, it serves as all of these tools, it serves as a tribute to the past, a processing of the present of a way of integrating our experience in the now and then also of this forward visioning. And I think the point that we're at now in our cultural evolution in the evolution of humanity and spirit, and the awakening, spirit and mind of our global family and beyond, you know, however, far out you want to reach that there's something very exciting happening right now. It's tumultuous, and it's expansive. And there are so many unknowns, you know, we can look in any direction and see 100 problems, and 100 solutions, and 100 things that will bring us to our knees in tears, and 100 things that will fill us with hope, and delight. It's all of those things together right now. So what do we want? What is the future we want to co create? What do we want to carry with us from this present moment? And what do we want to let go of? And I feel that, as artists, at this incredibly potent and profound time in history, what do we want to put our energy behind? And what visions do we want to create, to share with the world to help people step up and step into themselves and step into their healing, or their wholeness, or their creativity, or into their connection with themselves with nature with each other? And so paintings as a mirror, because I believe that all artwork is a mirror? If you stand in front of a painting, looking to see the artists do you usually just see yourself? And so we stand in front of a painting as a mirror? And where does it point us? So if it's a map for our future, what does it show us as a possibility, and it might not be like a pastoral scene with cool geodesic dome houses and people dancing in the garden. So it could also be that it could be more of an emotional feeling. It could be abstract, but it fills us with something that leads us forward in our day, with an optimism. It's a map forward. It's a signpost.

Kate Shepherd 48:12
I feel like creativity. Well, first of all, maybe we could have a quick definition of what creativity is because I feel like our definition of creativity so far culturally, in our in this world that we're currently standing in, is really narrow and really limited. And most people can't find themselves in it. So maybe just a quick if you could, ideally define like, give the ideal definition of what creativity is, what would you say it is?

Autumn Skye 48:36
Creativity, I think is our lifeblood. It's not necessarily something that translates into painting pictures that become museum focus points. It's more of an active meditation, that can be translated through any medium, be it cooking, dancing, walking in the woods, poetry, talking to friends, music, painting, lovemaking, it can be anything that we do, sweeping the floor. When we do it in an active presence. There's some energy that becomes alive in us and will translate into everything we do. It doesn't need to have the end goal of a piece of art. For it to be creative. It just needs to make us feel alive. And often I think that happens without us even realizing. And we might just find ourselves smiling as we arranged the salad in the bowl. Or as we brush some sticks off the trail as we're walking and delighted by the birds and the way the sun is hitting the moss. Creativity can be experienced, even just in the way we see the world. By the way, we appreciate the moonlight on the puddles, or by the way that the raindrops twinkle off the tips of the leaves outside of our window, or the fringe appreciating the fringe of the carpet in our living room, or the craftsmanship of the home in which we live. Creativity is a breath. And so it's it's equally important to breathe in as it is to breathe out. It's it's an act of living, an act of living, and an active living. It's both. It's all of it.

Kate Shepherd 50:49
That is the best definition of creativity I've come across so far. I love it. I feel like we need to call the Webster's the dictionary people and say that we've got a new definition for them for for, for creativity in the dictionary. And I really feel like when I talk about creativity, I talk about it as like it's an intelligence that's alive. And I often say I feel like it's the intelligence that's animating the entire universe. And I it really seems to me like it's putting a tremendous amount of effort into getting our attention, that creativity really seems to want to show us something to take us somewhere. And I'm smiling. I can see that that you know that obviously, that seems a little bit true to you, that feels right to you. What do you what do you think it's trying to tell us? What do you think it wants us to know? And where do you think it wants to take us? Why is it doing it all night? So much energy and all of this right? In all? Its because it's everywhere? Like you're just that beautiful? It's everywhere? Why? What's it? What's it doing? What's the demo?

Autumn Skye 51:53
I don't know if we ever need to understand why. And that's what's so fun and interesting and mysterious about it is that you know that we're searching for the meaning of life. We're spending trillions of dollars breaking apart atoms or reaching to the farthest ends of the universe to understand like, why and what and how big and how small and and I don't actually think that part. I don't, it's not that it doesn't matter, because it matters. It's sort it's all that matters, I think. And I don't think that we need to understand it in a way that we articulate. Because when you're in that flow state, in that Samadhi as it's called, or meditative space, or creative groove or whatever you want to label it as when you're in that space. And whether it is just dancing through the woods on your hike or focusing on a painting. And in that sort of that rhythm when you experience that. And you feel the aliveness of it. That's the answer. That's why because it connects us to something bigger than ourselves. And it reminds us that we are so much more than this individual little point of experience, that we are a part of something so vast, and so miraculous, that all of the questions can dissolve, and just become wonderment. I love that your podcast is called creative genius. Because the idea of genius of not a genius, but the genius, as an energy or as an inspiration or a spirit, or as God or as this source flow that can touch down into individuals through time and space and dial through them something profound, that will send ripples all over the world, you know, like like Mozart, writing the songs that will last for eons to come. It's it's all of these, these moments that the divine has so clearly spoken through the creative channel of the individual human artist. That reminds us that we are all connected to that When we are moved by a piece of art, or moved by a piece of music, or even a good meal, or whatever it is dance, when we are brought to the present in an experience of someone's creative genius that they're expressing, I think we are actually moved by the mirroring of our own connection to the divine. So if you stand in front of one of my paintings and, and you are feeling some kind of experience that that feels personal to you, that means I was successful in getting out of the way, the more profound your experience is, with the artwork, the less credit I can take, or the less credit Mozart can take, as skilled and phenomenal craftsman of music as he was, if you're transported by that gift of that creative example, then it means it's connecting you looping you back to the Divine to that genius.

Kate Shepherd 56:13
What was coming out from you. And you were saying that was it? It's the image that I got was that this intelligence, this entity, this, this thing, and I, I know, let's just acknowledge that we can't name it really ever properly, really just wants us to receive? Really, that's, I mean, all it boils down to it seems like it's just an invitation to receive,

Autumn Skye 56:42
receive and share. Just become in the loop. Yeah, become a clear channel. I feel like when we don't allow it through us, we might separate at one point and say, Oh, it's coming from me, it's coming from my mind. We might overanalyze over intellectualize it. I think that that is, you know, one way of cutting off that flow, or maybe it's coming in, but we're so stifled by perfectionism, or expectations that we don't actually let it through, wherever it is that we block it in our body. And in our spirit, I think it can create disease. I think that that, that blocking, and that stopping of the creative flow can really wreak havoc on our, on our systems in a in a very physical and metaphysical way. And I believe that if I didn't make art, it would make me sick. It's such a big energy pouring through that, if I step away from painting, for a prolonged period of time, I actually like start picking up my fingernail. So like, I feel like it's like a low level anxiety almost. Because if I'm in a creative flow, and all of a sudden, I stop, unless I'm then active into something else, even if it's just active into breathing consciously, it really can, it can solidify in me. And so I think it's just as important to receive as it is to give, because it's that in, breath out, breath, stay open, stay clear, let it through. And don't get too hung up on what it looks like or what it is. Maybe you don't feel like painting. And instead you feel like making a cake, or carving a little apple flower and trying your hand at like food sculpture or, or gardening, whatever it is. Last year, I had a garden for the first time in many years, as I'm sure many people did. And there was like two and a half months that I didn't really paint because I was just trying to get up to speed on all the weeding and planting and, and veggie starts and, like, catch the season. And it. It was like, it was so fun and so exciting. And also all the voices in my head that said you should be painting and like, oh, how dare this garden take all this time from me and like all the different ideas around the shoulds and shouldn't when Meanwhile, I'm there on this beautiful land with my hands in the dirt and the sun on my back growing food. And that is one of the most effective forms of creativity we can possibly experience. So it's all okay, just let it through whatever direction that channel wants to point.

Kate Shepherd 59:50
Yeah, and I feel like I mean, one of the things that I say a lot is humanity is glitching because we've cut it off we have you know, we've got all these limiting beliefs. That's stop us from even feeling safe enough to play or explore or try or dip our toe in or think it's okay. And it's caught. I mean, I believe with my whole being that every problem that we have on Earth today can be traced back to humans, cutting themselves off from this intelligence from creativity. And it's why we're glitching mental, I mean disease, as you say, I think depression, and I've heard so many stories of people, sensitive people who, as children just had this like deep raw, natural, rich connection with art and painting. And as they got older, you know, it was like time to go to college and pick a career and now you've going to study law, or whatever it is, your parents kind of nudge you towards, and then a couple years into college, now you're, it's a suicide attempt. And here's the thing of depression. And life led you down this path of cutting yourself off from this thing. And I love that we can have, that doesn't ever leave us that we can come back to that at any point. And just begin, even if it's through a garden, or like, as you said, the little watercolor notepad in your bag or on your desk, and just start to play with with that part of us again, and it can guide us, it can guide us back home. I have one more question that I Well, first I want to tell you, I will tell you something, every at the beginning of every show, I have this little heart shaped wooden bowl that's carved carved out of wood, and inside it are all these little cards, and I pull out a little card with a word on it for every show. And I do it about an hour before I kind of sit in meditation. And my intention is to try to tune in to everybody who's listening. And the intention is to reach as many people as we possibly can with this permission to create to connect with this intelligence. And so then I pick this word, and it's crazy to me how it's always it doesn't even surprise me anymore. I used to just go like, what how that's the perfect word. Now I'm just like, yeah, here's the perfect word for the show. I knew it. It just came up. So the word I picked today was spontaneity. And where it came up for me in the show was when you were talking about being in the moment with one of you in on one of your journeys with your with your paintings, and allowing yourself to be spontaneously moved by that intelligence, whether it was like start all over again, paint over that. Just that willingness to be spontaneous, how important it is. But I wanted to ask you just quickly what, how does, how does spontaneity fit into your to your relationship with creativity,

Autumn Skye 1:02:21
I think spontaneity is really born of presence. Because if we're truly setting, inhabiting the moment, all the sudden we're able to receive or hear what wants to come through. And if we're speaking of creativity, it's like just being present. And it doesn't mean like keeping your mind focused on something so tangible as like, I'm gonna just like keep looking at this one little spot, so that I can not let my mind drift. It's not about that at all. It's just about breathing into a present moment of experience. And that often becomes almost a place of no mine. So it's sort of an oxymoron, this, like presence, meditation, samadhi, like trance space, that all can coexist, and just allowing the mind to wander. But really just keeping the breath as the constant keeping, like the feeling in the body, the fingertip feeling and the fingertips of maybe it's a paintbrush in our hand and the way that the paintbrush drags across the grains of the canvas says we're painting the flower petals, whatever it is, that keeps us present, will help us fully inhabit that space of that moment, and allow whatever it is that wants to come through the clarity and spaciousness to enter our consciousness. And that's I think, when spontaneity happens, is because we are sitting open vessels in our joy in our creative flow, in our faith in the creative process, and the surrender of it, that when an idea comes and it feels right, we can act on it immediately. And we can commit to it in a way that might feel illogical, or risky or unpredictable, but it is absolutely perfectly timed one step in front of the next if you've ever traveled to a foreign city and and my favorite thing to do when I arrive to a new city or town is just to get lost. You're just walking down the street and oh, there's a little alley I'm gonna go down that alley. Oh, there's another street. Oh, I'm gonna go towards that cool building. I can see the roof line up, and you just start guided by your curiosity, and by the feeling and your guts, and the feeling of your feet on the pavement or on this stones, and you just take corners in this spontaneous way. But you come across these, these moments and these experiences and these vistas that are so perfectly timed, and so beautiful and so enriching and inspiring. And it all makes sense. And if you were to look at an aerial view map of your path, it would all just weave beautifully. And maybe it would spiral, or it would loop around, or it would make these petal shapes or the star pattern or whatever it does. But it's all part of the greater journey. So think of the creative process almost like that of walking down, maybe it's a forest path, and you see these branches off of the path into various different parts of the forest and just let yourself just move, let your body just turn down that path without overthinking it. Just go to the point that you might even your brain might even be surprised because it might have to catch up with your body and be like, Oh, wow, okay, just go in this way now, and just let your body lead you. Because our body is a translator I think is a is a medium for our spirit. And we can we can really feel that aliveness when we just allow the journey to unfold in front of us and stay curious.

Kate Shepherd 1:06:42
And imagine a life that was led that way, every step of the way. Imagine the adventure.

Autumn Skye 1:06:48
They may not look like your lawyer parents wanted it to look, but it'll sure be interesting.

Kate Shepherd 1:06:54
Oh, gosh, I've loved this conversation so much. I have one last question for you. It's the billboard question. I asked this at the end of every show. So if there was a billboard that they said, Okay, awesome. It's your turn to fill up the Billboard, and everybody in the world who has these stories that they can't access this or that they don't have this? Yeah, everybody else has it, but I don't or that somehow they're, they're not able to access it. They would see this billboard, and they you would get their attention. What would you? What would you put on the Billboard,

Autumn Skye 1:07:22
I would probably put a sequence of words with something like, play, surrender, show up, dive in and share.

Kate Shepherd 1:07:33
Thank you. So where can people where do you want people to go to find out more about your work and to see your amazing pieces and learn more about

Autumn Skye 1:07:39
you can find me on Instagram if you want to sort of stay up to date on sneak peeks of new paintings and little progress shots and various updates and poetic pontifications that I might be inspired to share. On Instagram. I'm autumn sky art at sky with an E like the Isle of Skye. And on Facebook. I'm also autumn sky art. My website is autumn sky art.com. Etsy is autumn sky art. Can you sense a theme? So you can pretty much find me at autumn sky art. Yeah, and on my website, I've got a mailing list that you can join. If you're curious about retreats, or my various teaching engagements or new paintings and shows and all that.

Kate Shepherd 1:08:25
And your you have a beautiful deck that you just a deck of cards that you just created recently that people should also really know about, do you want to tell them a little bit about that?

Autumn Skye 1:08:34
Yeah, I've got a couple decks. But my most recent is the inspiration deck, I call it and it's a self published living deck. So in the sense of living, it's a deck that every year I added 11 new cards, and it grows with you. So it started as 33 than last year it was 44. Now it's 55. And I'll keep on adding to it so that you can find in my Etsy shop. And it comes a little satin pouch. And it's just very simple insights on the back of each card. So they're very intuitive and and intended to really nurture your own creative intuition and higher knowing. I also have the sacred rebels deck that I did with Elana Fairchild, many years ago, and that's available through Blue Angel publishing or on Amazon or a lot of fear. A lot of metaphysical stores carry them. And Alanna and I are actually in the process of working on a new traditional tarot deck. So that's really exciting as well, that probably will be out within the next year.

Kate Shepherd 1:09:37
Oh, that's really exciting. I'm gonna put links to everything in the show notes of this episode, so people can don't have to worry about writing down everything that Adam just said. We'll write it. Well. We'll put it in the show notes. Thank you so much.

Autumn Skye 1:09:49
Thank you, Kate. It's been a pleasure to connect with you and thank you for this potent work you're doing to empower and inspire people and to really help them tap into their creative essence.

Kate Shepherd 1:10:04
So much of what autumn shared with us spoke directly to why I created this podcast. You know, when she talked about how if she doesn't paint for an extended period of time, she starts to get a little twitchy and picking out her nails. And I just thought that was such an amazing and powerful image of what I feel like is happening when I say humanity is glitching. And we have this current of creativity that is primed to move through us waiting for us to open and allow it to move through us. And when we succumb to the voices of these limiting beliefs that we've been surrounded by many of us from the time that we're very small, it does build up in layers in us and, and it dampens that light, it changes and distorts this creative energy that's inside of us. And until we're willing to be brave enough to let it out, the can come out that distortion can come out in strange ways, like anxiety, or this feeling of emptiness or this feeling of Something's just not quite right. And I'm glad that she named what she named about what can happen in that kind of holding back of that energy, you know, as we seek to feel whole, and that feeling of all is right with the world that happens when we are able to express our creativity fully, we can start to look for ways to fill that, that void in us and to to feel heard and to feel held and to feel expressed. And it can come out in weird ways. You know, dysfunctional behavior. And I think it's really important that we take a minute to really let soak in what she said about how that distortion that comes from not expressing the creative energy can cause all kinds of problems in our life. That is the glitch I'm talking about. I love that she reminds us of the importance of being willing to be surprised and to let the answers come at exactly the right time. And again, this is the very last episode of season one. So I want to thank you for being here along this journey with us. I want to encourage you to go back and listen to the past episodes again, to tide you over until September when we get back. We have some incredible guests lined up for you. And there is a creative energy that's coursing through you. There's a powerful lifeforce that's longing to pour out of your fingertips. And it is your birthright, and it won't go away. It can't ever go away. One of the big reasons that we aren't able to express this beautiful energy is that we're scared of making a mess. We're scared of being wrong. We're scared of getting it wrong looking silly. I want to invite you to put all that aside. Let yourself make a mess. Let yourself look silly. And if you have to do that alone, at first, do that. But don't let anything stop you from your quest to allow your creative genius out. There's a rising happening right now. We've dimmed our light for so long. We've held this energy at bay. It's just built up and it's ready to explode out of us. And this is a movement and these conversations are important. And the last thing I'll ask you before we close out season one is to please take a moment to forward this podcast to a couple of your friends and encourage them to listen maybe pick out your favorite episode and send the show to them. I feel so sure that empowering each other to express this beautiful creativity inside of us is the way for please help me reach as many people as I can. Make sure you're signed up for my newsletter. I pick a random person from my email list once every month and send them an original piece of my artwork. It's one of my favorite things to do. It takes a lot to put together the show. Please consider supporting me to do it. You can visit patreon.com/creative Genius podcast to find out more. And please keep my jewelry or paintings and especially gratitude birds which keeps selling out in mind. Next time you're looking for a treat for yourself or for a loved one. You can find everything I've mentioned on Kate Shepherd creative.com Thank you for being here, for opening your heart and for listening. My wish and intention for the show is that it reach into your heart and stir the beautiful thing that lives in their may you find and unleash your creative genius