As creatives we have an unprecedented opportunity to live lives of our own making, and prosper based on our talents, ideas and creative energy. You know what I’m talking about. It’s called the internet and it’s fomenting a revolution.

I’m here to join in.

I want to build a world out of connections between people who have found their passion. I want to know and associate with these people, and collaborate with them to build incredible things.

But too many of us aren’t there yet.

And that’s a problem, because I can’t have me my mythic world until more of us get there.

 

That’s right. I want to build a mythic world.

Mythic? You mean like make believe?

Yeah. That’s what I mean. I want to create a fantasy world filled with strange—NO that’s not what I mean.

I mean mythic as in rooted in the unseen deeps of who we really are. As in awesomeness born of struggle. As in creative power unleashed everywhere you look.

Mythic with a capital M.

I mean a world a where possibility is alive and well, and taken seriously. Where barriers like fear and hesitation get crossed on a daily basis. Filled with people who have too much cool stuff to make to let hesitation stop them.

A world where people stand up, take the risks, stick their necks out and do the work their dreams require.

MYTHIC.

 

Does that sound make believe to you?

It does? Well, that’s a problem, too. Because creativity is what we are.

Life is making. And if you’re not making, you’re not living.

Too many of us are trapped inside limited notions of what is possible.

Too many of us fail to see how much creative opportunity there is in the things we do every day.

Too many of us don’t know how to anchor our ideas in concrete action and make them happen.

 

We need to re-engage

We have to work to break through the barriers that divide us from our creative goals. Find ways to:

• Manage doubt, hesitation, comparison more effectively through compassion
• Bust through the lack of ideas (Actually there’s no such thing)
• Get past the laziness (Yeah, let’s just call it what it is.)

We need an integrated approach to life that connects our inner and outer worlds:

• Manage your creative life in the context of your whole life.
• Discover the time in your busy day to do your creative work.
• Balance the demands of your creativity with the needs of the people who love you.

It’s a goal of mythic proportions: to live a life of your own making. And it’s only reached by a mythic road that leads through adventure before ending in reward.

 

So, who am I?

Peter Crowell.

Oh, and uh…

I used to be a monk

I was a Catholic monk for six and a half years. Four of them were spent in the high desert of Colorado in a little house without plumbing or electricity. Two and a half were spent in Ireland.

That phase of life taught me a ton about the inner wilds: how to begin the journey, how to survive, and how to thrive using your talents and ideas as your equipment. I fell in love with the mythic metaphor and discovered that, yeah, it’s really not a metaphor.

Life actually is an adventure.

Then I became a publisher

I Ieft the monastery and moved to San Francisco. I started a self-published book project with a kid’s fantasy novel I wrote and spent the next few years promoting it.

I quit jobs and traveled the country to visit schools and do bookstore events. I had a lot of fun and made a lot of mistakes that taught me a whole bunch about creative entrepreneurship. I’m still at it, and now I’m building my project for the Kindle and POD.

I’m also a husband and father

Life with my family calls on parts of me I would not otherwise need to access. It helps that my wife and son are my two favorite people in the world. But getting the time I need to do my creative work is not a given. It requires a lot of communication.

My wife knows how much my creativity means to me. We work together to make sure we both get the time we need together and apart. My son is little, so he can’t always tell me what he needs. I have stay sharp so I can hear what he’s saying with his behavior.

And I’ve been in therapy for a long time

Some people think 10 years is too long to be in therapy. They will insist something isn’t working.

False.

That presumes limits to the amount of growth you can achieve, the depths of yourself you can reach, and the potential you can realize.

There are no such limits.

In therapy I build bridges between my grown-up parts and my little-kid parts, so I can have access to my power when I need it most. This has made me strong in useful ways, relevant to the direction of my heart.

Why would I stop doing that? Are you gonna tell me I’m sitting still? Not trying? Bailing out?

Let’s get coffee so you can tell me that to my face. And pay for the coffee. Large double latte, no foam. That’s right, no foam. There’s one more thing you know about me.

And a lemon poppy muffin. Got it?

Okay, this is long enough. If you want to know more about me you’ll have to ask. I think there’s a contact page around here somewhere.

Thanks for reading.

 

Attributions

Leaf image in The Falling Leaf signup badge by Ninjatacoshell