One of my favorite business podcasters, Jenna Kutcher, who hosts the Goal Diggers Podcast, has this saying: Where the woo meets the work. 

In her words, it’s about honoring the woo, then following it up with the work. Meaning, putting the creativity crystal on your desk isn’t going to mean that you’ll wake up tomorrow and your novel will be magically written. Just because it’s on your vision board doesn’t mean that it will just appear if you don’t do anything to make it happen. That takes, you know, action. Also known as “the work.” 

I am huge woo girl. I believe that there are spiritual tools and practices that make things easier/inspire/encourage us to get to that place where we can make our biggest dreams happen. 

I also know that without pairing those things with the next right actions, you’re going to likely keep spinning around in the same place, never really getting anywhere. 

So here are my favorite ways to line up the woo with the work when it comes to writing. 

I make my favorite woo woo tools part of my writing ritual. 

For me, that looks like scheduling my writing time, then preparing my space. I talk in my membership about setting up your writing space so it’s a sacred space for you. So your muse knows where to find you, and when (that’s the scheduling part). If you don’t have a dedicated space that you’ve made your own, you can take a few minutes before your next writing session and put your favorite crystals out where you’re going to write as inspiration. Light some incense or diffuse some essential oils. If you’ve done a vision board, put that in your writing space so you have some extra motivation to stay in the seat until you’ve got your word count. 

I use meditation as an entry into creative work. 

Before I start writing, I like to do a short meditation. It can be guided or silent, but with that meditation I put the intention out that this session will be productive, that I’ll receive what I need for my project, and most importantly, open myself up to the possibilities of not having to do it all myself. I believe we get guidance from our muse, or whatever we want to call our higher power. Liz Gilbert talks about this a lot. (Don’t worry – this has nothing to do with any specific religion.) Opening our mind this way will open our creative channels. So when the meditation is over, we pick up our laptops or our pen and paper, and we write. 

I use oracle or tarot cards as inspiration. 

I love doing this when I’m stuck. Instead of slamming the computer closed and turning on the TV, I grab a card deck, pull a card, then—depending on the deck—I either have ideas for a character who isn’t behaving, or a little nugget to move the scene on which I’m stuck ahead. I really like doing this with tarot cards—there’s so many ways to interpret them and use them. 

I think woo AND work are both pretty important—especially if the woo makes you feel good, helps you make progress and inspires you to keep going. And paired with the work, there’s no denying the magic.