The Portal

The Artist’s Way Portal is designed to guide and support you through the twelve-week process of reacquainting yourself with your desires and truth. It is safe place to land in as we learn to name fears, remove perfectionism, and find joy in the progress of building a deeper relationship to our most authentic self. In this portal we celebrate trying, embrace the humanness of committing to a process like this, and build new neural networks that more deeply support your personal truth. This is a spiritual experience and undertaking.

As a group, we move through each week discussing the themes that have come up, checking in with our progress and engaging with tasks from each week. We’ll also use this space to regulate ourselves and build personal symbolism that reaches beyond this portal and into the depths of your life and meaning. We will have two meetings each week to give an opportunity for different schedules and they will run for 45-60 minutes.

Ultimately, The Portal is a place to support your accelerated creative uncovering that emerges through this process. It holds you accountable, normalizes the struggle and invigorates a deep sense of community.

You don't have to identify as an artist or even want to be one to do this work. It is about unlocking our power to create our lives and be the creator of decisions that empower us. We are all inherently the creator of our lives, this process is about deeply tapping into that power and potential.

We work together to unblock, unlock and decode the inner worlds stories and yearnings through daily Morning Pages, weekly tasks and artists dates - and of course through each other.

Outside of developing a tightly knit community (which truly is the highlight of the entire experience) you’ll gain practical and applicable tools to dive into yourself so you can glean the truth from your thoughts, actions, and stories.

In a world that so desperately tries to keep us from connecting to ourselves meaningfully, this is revolutionary work that will reveal to you what you truly want and how to make your life feel alive and full in ways that were before hidden or elusive. We will eradicate limiting beliefs, name the voices in our head that inhibit us, have examples of progress over perfection and be deeply held by a community of people who are doing the same work and able to gently + lovingly witness you in whatever you uncover during our time together.

I like to engage with it as a period of dating myself. When I'm showing up within these weeks I know I am prioritizing the best care for myself I can muster. I know I am committed to going deep, too guiding myself (and others) through imposter syndrome, dreams, hopes, fears and blockages. It is a great honour to do this work, especially alongside so many. I’ve guided hundreds of people through this course over 2 years of hosting these portals - each is so unique, inspiring, and has my heart bursting for the connections that are created. As you allow your authentic self to try on living life, so do you give permission to those in the portal to do the same. We all walk each other home - truly like a date where you don’t want the night to end. We can take our time, meander, go on little side quests together or for ourselves.

We will have a group chat in a WhatsApp channel so that we don't need to use social media to connect with each other, where we can share our experiences and actively have a place to build these connections in the foundations of us. The most amazing part of the connections in these portals are that we are all doing the work to reveal our most authentic self. We get to witness that AND be witnessed in that. It can be messy and beautiful and forgiving and tender.

All meetings will be held on zoom - they will not be recorded for sake of privacy.

This is the seventh? eigth? group I am leading through this and each time the knowledge gained about facilitating, practice, and needs have grown and refined themselves. Whether you've done this before and are tuning in again, have always wanted to try or are just hearing of it for the first time… all are welcome all into the portal for support and enrichment during this experience. It is not about doing it perfectly or all of us being on the same page at the same time; it is about surrendering to flow and having support in wherever you are at to stay the course even if our paces may vary. It is about learning to be human in the pursuit of pleasure in progress instead of robotic in the pursuit of perfectionism in completion.

The Process

Every Monday Evening and Thursday Morning for 12 weeks we will have meetings to check-in with the work we did the week before and get ready for the week ahead. This isn’t about keeping up with an exact schedule or timeline - this work is deeply intimate and often feels like self-therapy. In any therapeutic practice we need time to integrate, evaluate, feel, ruminate… That’s what our time together is for. We listen to each other; sometimes that’s all you need, to be in space with everyone. Sometimes you need to talk. Ultimately the zoom room is an altar space for our community to show up in the devotion for whatever they need in the moment.

Twice a week there will be a zoom link sent out with a reminder of the meeting coming up. This is helpful so that the "out of sight, out of mind" that we alllll go through is minimized. It's okay if you can't make it to every meeting every week, that's not the point! It's about prioritizing what it is that you are showing up for in this process and creating pathways that make accountability easier. It’s about learning to return and know you will always be welcomed and never judged.

The ultimate thing we learn is how to be accountable to what is important to you. Learning what it feels like to be devoted to your values, know what those values actually are, and how aligning with them helps you step deeply into your worth - transforming your life.

There will be no late sign-ups to the program, so the cut-off date will be Sunday, December 3rd 2023 for this round. The evening before our meeting you will get your package with everything. The Artists Way PDF, the calendar, a bingo sheet, a toolbox, and more. This will come as a zip file with everything included for you. You will only need to acquire a journal and pen - if you wish to have a physical copy of the book then you can also acquire that!

Our first meeting will be introductions to the Portal and the people, signing the "creative contract" with ourselves to commit to the work ahead, answering any questions and initiating the beginning of the first week. Weeks will run Sunday-Saturday.

The Items

There are a few things you will need for this experience that you are responsible for getting. They are very minimal but are essential for moving through the course.

• new notebook (I recommend spiral bound, but really the most important thing is that it is pleasurable and you want to pull it out to write)

• Voice Notes app (to record yourself)

• good pen(s)

• The Artist's Way book (in pdf, physical, or podcast - the pdf version will be given to you in your toolkit before our first meeting)

The first and most essential, is a fresh notebook. I personally recommend a simple, spiral bound notebook as it is easiest to write in but please choose whatever feels good for you. The original intention set out by Julia Cameron is to write 3 pages everyday, but I think it’s important to just learn how to come back to ourselves - our notebooks will be the #1 place we do this so choose one that you love to write in, look at, that feels like you. I like to engage with this in a more just write every day, but it is good to consider the size of pages and your handwriting when choosing a notebook. Of course, if you don't have access to one then please use what you have! Even a dollar store notebook can work wonders during this process. I personally like to collage the front of mine and make it fun to work with (this is also a great idea for an Artist Date).

Alongside this, a pen is always an essential element. Find one you love to write with. Or pencil crayons or markers or whatever feels good. There are no rules you just need a writing utensil.

Voice Notes will be a part of what I introduce through our exercises. While we are using The Artist's Way as a guide, I will also be taking from my own experiences and offering new + alternative ways to check in with yourself that feel accessible + impactful.

Cue Cards will also be a part of the exercises I bring into this experience. We will be using these during our check-ins and through out the experience. It's okay if you don't have them or don't want to get them - they are not necessary but are definitely a fun addition!

The second most important thing (although last on the list) is The Artists Way. This isn't first because you do not need a physical copy to do this course. There is a free PDF that I will send out to everyone. I love using the book, but I have also been very drawn to my iPad lately for notes and reading. You can use it on a computer, tablet, phone, or print it out if that feels good for you, too.

Pricing

I offer this at Sliding Scale to make it accessible while also recognizing the work that goes into something like this. It takes an immense amount of devotion to show up in the work while leading others through it, as well as planning and distributing information and creating content for the Portal.

The pricing has shifted as the course has developed, and this also accounts for you being able to receive a free PDF of the book vs having to buy it. I ask you to kindly sit and see what is truly feasible for you in this offering, what 12 weeks of guided meetings, community support, and activities is worth and also what this transformation is equally worth.

Price Breakdown:

If you still have problems accessing the course at these price points, please email forestgreenwell@gmail.com with the headline The Artists Way Pricing and we can discuss payment plans to make this accessible. Payment Plans will have no additional cost to them and will be the same as purchasing outright. There will never be any questions asked or need to prove anything to receive support with this program.