It usually starts with tea.

Today it took a warm cup of oat milk mixed with Navitas Cacao Latte before the words started to flow. But it took two cups of Teeccino Vanilla Nut organic and a cup of hot water with lemon before that, to really get started.

Then there’s the choice of candle.

If it’s a busy day, a simple votive will do.

But if not … and I’ve splurged on something new from the Magnolia Home & Hearth collection at Target (my favorite for both scent and value), then that goes on the desk to create a deeper vibe.

Because it’s all about the vibe. Creating the space to drop into the zone.

There’s a small altar in the corner of the room. A place that brings sacredness to the act when so often it feels transactional and commercial.

On it, are a few fresh flowers, and a small, round, weaved Balinese offering basket that holds a couple of decks of tarot cards.

Ah...the tarot cards…

Do they show me how it’s all going or am I directing them? I’m never quite sure.

But somehow the tea and tarot seem to work magic together when I’m struggling with resistance and procrastination. To sit down and focus on the one task at hand. The thing that must happen today.

And as I move from pen and paper to banging away on the keyboard -- one or two sparks finally begin to fly. Now the mixture of frankincense and wild sweet orange slowly begins to fill the room from the doTerra diffuser.

I stare at the plum blossom tree in half bloom right outside my window.

My eyes move down to the sticky note on my computer that says, “Let’s just get it to crappy.”

It’s my new mantra.

Because from there we can work any kind of magic. Truth.

The tea and the tarot set the stage -- but it’s up to me to get it to crappy.

And usually, I don’t know how I feel or what I want to say until I get the words on the page.

This is why a generative writing practice helps me get out of my head -- to spill myself on the page. Like when the tea splashes on my notebook right before the cup hits the floor.

My head is a messy place. So I need to practice sifting through the dark thoughts to sink deeper into the knowing.

One that involves pen, paper, intention, and self-reflection.

It’s essential. For my health and my creativity.

Especially with everything that’s going on in the world.

So if you’re like me and you need regular practice, come join our next Scribbling Circle. That’s what they’re for.

To hold space for the messy parts of you. And to help you laugh as the tea flies through the air before it lands on your shirt.

Or shoots out your nose in front of someone you love.

This is a writing group where we take a prompt and freewrite together. It’s a safe, non-judgmental space for creative play and self-reflection. A place to empty out what’s been building up inside you.

I wanna scribble

Because sometimes life is all about, “Let’s just get it to crappy.”

See you on the inside.