The best way to turn the impostor syndrome on its head is to get clear about who you are… and to do it creatively. If that sounds terrifying to you, fear not! You don’t need an entire dissertation on your life’s purpose or hours of therapy for this exercise.

1) Find some sacred space.

Turn on some good music, make a pot of tea, light your favorite incense and commit the next 10-15 minutes to your Self.

2) Grab a Magazine or two.

Any genre you have lying around will do.

3) Ask your Self, the Universe or your Higher Power a question.

Close your eyes, take a deep breath in and out and ask “Who am I when I’m at my most creative?” If that question doesn’t resonate, try “Who am I today, right now, in this moment?”

4) Flip through the magazine and rip out any images that catch your attention.

The key is not to THINK too much or analyze them, or second guess. Just whatever draws your attention.

5) Interpret your own wisdom.

Select 1-3 images that hold the most interest for you in the moment. Put them side by side and then see what they tell you about your creative state of being right now.

I did this activity a few nights ago with women from the Chicago Women’s Creative Collective. I’ll tell you what I came up with, but first I want you to do yours.

Go ahead. I’ll wait…

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Okay. Here goes…

1) An image of a woman in white meditating surrounded by lush green vegetation.

2) A river canal at dusk in a foreign country.

3) A deluge of storm water pouring down on a young man trying to ascend a stairwell.

 

When I am my most creative self, I embody peace, I feel adventurous. Being in nature and traveling to foreign lands both inspire me because my senses are fully alert. When I’m in the flow, ideas seem to rush in all at once like a torrential flood and my only task is to work hard to rise to the clarity at the top.