How & Where We Find Inspiration

Bloom in Winter with Candace Rardon

Throughout the month, we have explored the season of winter as a pathway into our meditation practice. We have looked at winter in our external landscapes, as well as our internal landscapes. We've listened to the sounds of winter, we've talked about wolves and our animal nature, and today, we're going to dive a little bit more into the creativity and inspiration of winter.

I was deeply inspired by a recent essay written and illustrated by Candace Rardon titled, ‘Like A Garden in Winter’. Candace is an author, illustrator, visual storyteller, and creator of Dandelion Seeds (one of my favorite publications on Substack). She is also the creator of many of the sleep stories you might have listened to on Calm.

Together, Candace and I chat about what it means to bloom in winter, the season of hibernation. We talk about finding inspiration and meditative moments in the world around us; the art of visual storytelling, what makes a good sleep story and so much more.

This conversation was such a joy to record; I hope you find as much inspiration in it as I have.

At the end of today’s interview, Candace offers us a mindful reflection and journaling prompt born of the beauty of Snowdrops. So grab your notebook, a cozy seat, and join us!

In this episode:

01:10 Exploring the Creativity of Winter

03:12 The Art of Visual Storytelling

03:49 The Journey of Moving Continents

05:28 The Power of Collaboration in Creativity

14:44 The Evolution of 'Like a Garden in Winter'

23:42 Finding Strength in Winter: A Metaphor for Life

24:35 Journey into Mindfulness through Travel and Art

27:09 The Role of Creativity in Mindfulness

30:35 The Magic of Sleep Stories

41:05 Lessons from Winter Blooms

44:26 The Joy of Spring: A New Chapter

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This Week’s Mini Meditation

Just the meditation; just for you!

Grab your journal and tune in!

All the images in this newsletter are illustrated and hand-lettered by Candace Rardon

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Behind The Scenes: Sources of Inspiration

Staying inspired is vital to any creative, and how and where we find inspiration is as unique as each of us. I thought I’d share a few of the places that, like Dandelion Seeds, provide joy, insight and creative nudges for me -

• My meditation + journaling practice

• Mindful time in nature

• Books. All the books. {Not sure what to read? Visit your library and check out the new releases!}

• Podcasts {in particular Emergence Magazine, For The Wild, Living Myth, and Atlas Obscura are frequent favorites for me!}

• Dreams

• Divination with oracle cards

• Deep, connected conversations

• Poetry

• Music {Sam Lee singing with Nightingales changed the trajectory of my year in 2023}

• Substack {check out my recommendations}

What else? Where does inspiration find you?

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*all of the content shared in my podcasts, newsletters & meditations is written by me {Meryl Arnett} without the use of AI. If you catch a mistake or typo, I hope it makes you smile knowing a real person is behind every word published 💛