wholeness: the art of embracing life as it is

why wholeness matters for creatives

What does it really mean to bring wholeness into your life?

And why should you prioritize it—especially as a creative being?

At its core, wholeness is about grounding in the frequency of acceptance—not just in the easy, joyful moments, but also in the discomfort, the struggle, and the uncertainty. It’s about realizing that everything happening in your reality right now—whether painful or pleasant—is an essential part of your path.

Creativity, too, moves in cycles. Inspiration and stagnation, flow and resistance, expression and introspection. To live in wholeness means recognizing that the contraction we instinctively want to avoid is actually necessary for the expansion we often crave. Like jellyfish drifting through the ocean, the contraction is what sets the stage for the expansive propulsion forward. The darkness we resist is often the very thing that shapes the light we seek.

Quite literally, you can't have one without the other.

breaking free from illusions

One of the greatest sources of power you can cultivate is the ability to step back in challenging moments and recognize:

"Even in this darkness, I trust that what’s in front of me is shaping me into who I am destined to become.”

This realization is liberating, because it frees you from chasing illusions in an attempt to escape discomfort—not just in life, but in your creative practice.

Of course, there’s nothing wrong with wanting nice things. There’s nothing wrong with desiring the perfect home, the designer clothes, the dream lifestyle, or the curated social media feed. But often, these desires aren’t rooted in truth. Instead, they come from an unconscious place, driven by our most primitive instincts:

🔥 Seek pleasure. Avoid pain. Feel safe. Be accepted.

And, in a world designed to exploit these instincts, where the systems around us thrive on making us feel like we need to buy more, do more, produce more—it’s easy to forget what truly nourishes us in sustainable reciprocity.

The same applies to your creativity. If your artistic expression is fueled by external validation rather than inner truth, you may find yourself stuck in a cycle of perfectionism, comparison, and burnout—never quite feeling “enough.”

the power of sitting with yourself

If you’re grinding yourself into exhaustion just to afford the latest [insert thing here], are you really pursuing happiness, or just participating in the illusion that consumption equals fulfillment?

If you’re drinking every weekend to escape the weight of your emotions, is it really freedom, or just numbing?

And if you’re constantly creating to prove your worth—for the purpose of being seen, praised, or validated—is it really self-expression, or just another way of running?

When you stop running from your own emotional depths, a shift unfolds.

You realize that the heaviness you’re instinctively trying to escape (as an animal with a body) is not some enemy to get rid of. It’s a part of your human experience that, when embraced, becomes a doorway to something greater.

Instead of chasing what you’ve been told will make you feel whole, you choose to sit with yourself—to actually listen to the emotions and thoughts that are REALLY here. To be HONEST with yourself about them. And from that place of deep presence, you can begin to ask:

💫 What do I actually want to express?
💫 What truly nourishes my creativity?
💫 What would it look like to create from a place of authenticity rather than being motivated by external validation?

(easier said than done, of course!!! It takes a huge amount of bravery to choose the road less traveled… but if you’re reading and resonating, I have a feeling you have what it takes 😉)

redefining what matters

When you embrace the full spectrum of your experience, light and dark, you reclaim your power to decide what actually aligns with you:

✨ If not chasing beauty standards, maybe you start defining beauty on your own terms—an authentic definition of your own presence that can’t be diminished just because someone else is considered "hotter." (and it doesn’t have to involve rejecting your desire to feel beautiful.)

✨ If not chasing empty social escapes, maybe you seek to build real, nourishing community—where you can share honest grief and joy in equal measure and still be seen, held, and loved.

✨ If not chasing career status, maybe you begin carving out your own unique definition of success: one that feeds your soul, not just your resume.

✨ If not chasing external validation for your creative expression, maybe you begin exploring what it means to create for yourself—to let your art be an offering of truth, rather than a performance for approval.

the choice is yours

Life will be challenging either way. You can conform to the expectations of society, or you can choose yourself.

And yes—there’s a whole spectrum in between.

But when you open yourself to the possibility that every part of your human experience is worth being present for, you reclaim your infinite creative power as a conscious being.

💫 You stop chasing. You start becoming.

And that’s where the magic blooms.

If this message resonated with you, let’s continue the conversation. Sign up for my biweekly SNAKESKIN love letters for more reflections on creativity, liberation, and self-discovery.

✨ As a bonus, you’ll receive my personal recentering playlist—a collection of grounding sounds I turn to whenever I catch myself resisting the full spectrum of my own life experience.