THE INSPIRATION PLACE PODCAST
[00:00:00] Miriam Schulman: How can artists maintain a strong sense of self-worth and overcome that fear of judgment when they’re sharing their work with others; especially since really good art requires vulnerability?
[00:00:11] Announcer: It’s The Inspiration Place Podcast with artist Miriam Schulman. Welcome to The Inspiration Place Podcast and Art World Insider Podcast for artists by an artist where each week we go behind the scenes to uncover the perspiration and inspiration behind the arts. And now your host, Miriam Schulman.
[00:00:33] Miriam Schulman: Well hey there, entrepreneur. Welcome to The Inspiration Place. This is Miriam Schulman, your curator of inspiration and your listening to episode number 269.
As artists, we often face inner battles of self-doubt, comparison and feeling, well, not good enough. It can be challenging to navigate the realms of creativity and maintain a healthy mindset while pursuing our passions. That’s why I’ve invited a truly inspiring individual to shed light on the subject and share her wisdom with us. So today we have the privilege of speaking with a renowned author, life designer and mentor to hundreds of coaches, change makers, and soulful entrepreneurs. With her extensive background and coaching and personal growth, she’s empowered countless individuals to break free from self-limiting beliefs and discover their true potential. Known for her a holistic and integrative approach, infusing spirituality, intuition, and connecting to each person’s unique gift into her coaching practice. And her Amazon top pick book Get a PhD in You, our guest shares openly her journey of overcoming struggles with body image, people pleasing, and the feeling of not being enough.
During this conversation, we’ll explore practical strategies and mindset shifts that can help artists cultivate self-worth, unleash their creative potential, and navigate the unique challenges of their creative journeys.
So whether you’re a painter, a writer, a musician, or any other type of creative professional, this episode is for you. Get ready to be inspired, motivated and equipped with tools to reclaim your self-worth and thrive as an artist. Please welcome to the inspiration place, Julie Reisler.
Hey Julie. Welcome to the show.
[00:02:30] Julie Reisler: Hello, hello. I’m thrilled to be here. Thanks for having me today, Miriam.
[00:02:34] Miriam Schulman: I’m so excited to have you as well. I love the color palette of your journals. Could you, like, hold it up for the people who are watching on YouTube? I’m sorry, podcast listeners. I will just describe it as if you can’t see it. So, like, it’s got this blue and pink watercolor bleeding type background and then like this sparkly glitter thing on, and then the font is just, like, super cool. Very, very, very cool. Thank you for sharing that.
[00:03:03] Julie Reisler: Yeah, thanks for asking.
[00:03:04] Miriam Schulman: She’s got this, like, crystal and candle and all kinds of stuff going on in her background, so fun.
[00:03:12] Julie Reisler: It’s my inner artist is always wanting to play. And so yes, I love being surrounded by things that are ethereal, that are beautiful, that inspire me and I love that you picked up on that.
[00:03:23] Miriam Schulman: Yeah. Well, you know, I’m always looking.
Alright, let’s start with your personal journey about how you overcame struggles with your body image and self-worth, and talk about, like, some of those key turning points that helped you on your path to recovery.
[00:03:40] Julie Reisler: I do talk about it a lot in my first book, Get a PhD in You. I talk about this. The truth is, it’s ironic, right? I would never in a million years have guessed that I would be talking publicly about this journey. This was something I was ashamed of. A lot of shame. And we know with shame you wanna keep that hidden right and not talk about it.
So for me, one of the most healing aspects of moving through food addiction, sugar addiction, I would say body dysmorphia, crappy body image, but also really this underlying current of, like, not enough, not good enough. For some reason I just picked up through comparison, I picked up through seeing others around me.
And I grew up in a very, very competitive, especially intellectually competitive arena. And just, you know, when you start – I was just talking to my oldest best friend and we were saying like to compare is to despair. You start comparing yourself, you’re never gonna come out in a loving light.
And I just really pushed down emotions I didn’t know how to handle. And I did that through, you know, abusing and using food for me. I know many I know, not alone. There’s many of us who’ve done that. I struggled with just growing up artists, but also dancer and pretty lousy gymnast and swimmer. I was, like, in this leotard bathing situation all the time, and it was like constantly on stages with others and I just sadly, you know, put myself down quite often.
It became, kind of, the way that I saw myself, unfortunately. It wasn’t until I really, I had a moment in my later twenties. I was married to my first husband at the time and just had this moment of, like, not really wanting to live anymore, which is so sad. I just felt-
[00:05:19] Miriam Schulman: I’m so sorry.
[00:05:20] Julie Reisler: Yeah. It felt really-
[00:05:21] Miriam Schulman: Yeah. And so, the eating disorder, you were bulimic? Is that correct?
[00:05:25] Julie Reisler: No, I was not bulimic. I would say I was your compulsive overeater. So I would binge and overeat and then I would try not to eat. So it was, kind of, like that yo-yo. Right? Of, like, undereating, more of the anorexic, overeating, using exercise. No, I had tried the world of bulimia and I literally – it just, it didn’t work for me. But it’s all guarded. Right.
[00:05:49] Miriam Schulman: It sounds, like, funny the way you like
[00:05:51] Julie Reisler: Yeah.
[00:05:51] Miriam Schulman: It’s like, damnit.
[00:05:52] Julie Reisler: Yeah.
[00:05:52] Miriam Schulman: Like, I only got the overeating part!
[00:05:55] Julie Reisler: I only got the overeating and occasionally the undereating. But, you know, it’s all the same type of thing. It’s just self-loathing. Right?
[00:06:03] Miriam Schulman: Right. I mean, I feel for you with that whole leotard description, because my mom was a dancer. And so she always stuck my sister and I into dance classes. And oh my gosh, I went through puberty when I was ten, so it was like all over for me and I was not a leaf.
[00:06:20] Julie Reisler: Yeah.
[00:06:21] Miriam Schulman: I never have been like, I’ve been always like, I’ve got boobs. I was like, here they come. My body just, like, grew and, you know, the girls in my dance class who were ten, they like were totally flat chested, no hips, no nothing. And so I always felt wrong, like wrong. And then just growing up…
And where did you grow up, Julie?
[00:06:41] Julie Reisler: I grew up outside of Boston, in Newton.
[00:06:45] Miriam Schulman: Oh, I know Newton.
[00:06:46] Julie Reisler: Yeah. I grew up in Newton and similarly started at, like, ten. I had boobs at, like, ten and period at ten. And, you know, I think my mom did the best she could. I don’t think there was somebody really there holding space. Being like, this is normal. It’s normal to feel really awkward. It’s okay that you’re not into having boobs yet. It’s okay that like you’re not built like everybody else. Also was never a leaf. Never. And, you know, it took years later.
I mean, I got myself into a 12-step support group and I worked with a therapist and I started doing a lot of deep inner work, worked with a coach. And I started to realize, oh my gosh, you know how we do one thing is how we do everything.
So I was so hard on myself and it was like, it didn’t have to be that way. But it just, that was kind of my journey. And you know, I really feel for anyone who’s struggled with not just addiction, but also that belief that somehow there’s something lacking or not enough or missing.
That’s probably part of the reason I fell in love with this work and even got into coaching. I was like, I need to help others that in any way are dimming their light because they’re feeling like somehow they’re not good enough. And you gotta look at, what the hell is even enough? What is that?
[00:08:00] Miriam Schulman: Right. Now, just to bring this very much home for the artists in the audience, they struggle with fear of not being good enough. And you know, whether it’s they’re not a good enough artist, or I’m not a good business person, or I’m not a good enough marketer, or I don’t have a big enough Instagram following. Whatever it is – there’s lots of not enoughness and there’s a big fear of facing criticism. So, just dealing with those universal feelings, how do you deal with those feelings? And what advice do you have for artists who face similar challenges?
[00:08:34] Julie Reisler: Yeah. You know, and look coming from – I have a lot. I feel, ya. If you’re an artist, if you’re a creative, I feel like we’re in the same soup. Right.
And here’s the thing. Right? Especially when you’re putting yourself out there – you’re putting you gifts, you’re putting your talents. One of the things that has helped me, and I’m just, I’m gonna go there ’cause it’s just, it’s what has helped me is really going to a deeper connection on a spiritual level with the part of why are you doing this work.
Getting that there is, in my humble opinion there’s, a co-creation going on where if I’m in my ego, then I’m really concerned and worried what you think, and many of us go through that. That’s okay. Right. That’s to be expected.
But when you start getting, ok this is for a higher purpose. Okay? There’s something greater here. There’s a divine, universal supreme force, there’s my higher self.
For my artist friends, you know, I grew up in a household with art; art and creativity, music. My mom was an opera singer, music teacher. I was in performances. I did a lot of painting, a lot of singing, a lot of, like, getting yourself out there. And I remember something that really stood out was like, oh, wait a minute, this wasn’t even about me. And that’s something I still lean into is remembering, you know, it’s not about you. Right? It is and it isn’t. You’re the channel, the vessel, you’re the creator.
Creativity is, to me, one of the highest expressions of the divine. But remembering the marketing piece, getting yourself out there, that there’s something greater going on. Going to your why. Why is this work important? Why do you do this work? Why do you, why is artistry – being a creative – why is that so important for you? How is that adding into the world? And then how do you take yourself out of it?
That has helped me more than anything is to remember that how much I sell or how many clients I have, or students in my program, it has nothing to do with my self-worth it. You come from there, you’re gonna always come up short versus how am I impacting others? How is this about delivering something that’s gonna, you know, elevate consciousness, open up hearts. And so it’s really where you’re coming from and I try to focus on that every time I produce anything.
[00:10:47] Miriam Schulman: I love that. I’m starting to study Kabbalah, and one of the things I’ve been learning is how we have two souls. Have you learned this aspect yet, or a study? So you have a creative soul and a sacred soul, and the creative soul cares about what and how. And a lot of us spend too much time there and the sacred soul caress about why and who.
[00:11:10] Julie Reisler: Yeah. Yeah. Exactly.
[00:11:11] Miriam Schulman: Do you wanna say anything more about that? If this is something that you’re with?
[00:11:14] Julie Reisler: Yeah. I’ve definitely studied Kabbalah a bit and also this idea that, whatever you call it, right, the light, that greater all-loving creative force for good is always, it’s we’re made of that. It doesn’t have judgements and grievances. It doesn’t. I don’t believe it does.
And so that sacred soul to me, what I’m really resonating with and what helps me is how do I align, sync up, remember, connect to my sacred soul. Right? We each have, we all have that. We all have that. Also connection to the, to that light and, questions like, how might I allow the light to come through in my work? How might I allow this work to uplift others?
Look, it’s above my pay grade to know how the universe works like that. I just think we show up. You start getting behind the why and why this is important for you, for others, for the world. Watch what the light is gonna do. Just watch. You’re gonna be amazed.
I track, actually, a lot of this Miriam. I have a whole poster board of like miracles and things that are manifested in evidence. I love to see it. It helps. It helps to be like, you know, there’s a part that we take action and then there’s the piece where we release, surrender, let it go and really allowing this greater light, this greater divine force to carry your message, to carry your work.
And that’s the piece that a lot of us get stuck into. It’s, like, that’s not up to me. I can only do my part more than halfway. I mean, I believe it meets us beyond – we literally just take a few steps. That’s all you really gotta do. And then you gotta take the steps and then watch.
[00:12:53] Miriam Schulman: Okay, so you mentioned infusing spirituality and connecting to each person’s unique divine gift in your coaching practice. How can creatives tap into their spirituality and intuition to enhance their creative process and their overall fulfillment in their work?
[00:13:09] Julie Reisler: Well, so I really – and a way to look at this is that we’re made of this creative force, of this light and love and creativity we’re made of that. And we live, I’ll just generalize, but we typically, most of us live in a pretty busy, unless you’re living off the grid or you’re really got some great practices going, most can get very noisy. It’s a noisy world. There’s a lot out there. And so, to me, one of the most important pieces is discernment and being able to hear and connect to your intuition, to your greater wisdom into that creative spark.
And, frankly, to do that we’ve gotta be able to be receivers of that if we can’t hear it, sense it, feel it. You gotta stay plugged into the greater wall of the divine, of light. And to do that, there’s some basic things. You know, that’s where we look at things like mindfulness practices, breathing, meditation, being in nature, journaling, intuitive journaling.
There’s a lot of different practices. You know, yoga, I mean, there’s not one right one. I just, what I have seen personally, is anything that’s gonna help you to shut off the noise, to tamper your stress response, to take you from fight flight fright to and fear to a calm awareness to realize you are the observer. Anything that’s gonna help you come back into your body, that’s gonna help you remember that you are part of this light force. It’s all good. And there’s a lot of ways to do that. It has to be daily. It just does because in order to, frankly, if you’re in a stressed state, it’s very hard to tap into something that’s of a higher frequency or vibration or higher creative force.
[00:14:48] Miriam Schulman: Okay, so it brings me to my next question. Beautiful segue. When artists have these self-doubts and these creative blocks, what are some specific exercises that you recommend that will help them ignite the inspiration and overcome these self-limiting beliefs?
[00:15:02] Julie Reisler: I’m gonna throw out a few. This is not an exhaustive list. Number one, it can be helpful to have a coach. I’m just gonna say I believe in this work. And having somebody, creative coach, life coach, somebody that can help you to look at the beliefs, to check them out, reframe them. I mean, it just does. I always have somebody I’m working with, always. That is one.
Another, I just think the practice of journaling and especially, you know, there’s gratitude journaling, you’re focusing on what you’re grateful for. There’s intuitive journaling, which is a very powerful practice where you can literally, you know, start dialoguing with that sacred soul.
So you ask yourself a question in the morning, literally open-ended question, like what would you want me to focus on today? And you’re asking your higher self that, and then you just free flow write. Sometimes writing with the other hand can get you outside of your dominant left brain, right, and can get you into a creative, more creative space. But asking these open-ended questions, what would you want me to focus on today?
How can I be more loving to myself and others? These wide open questions and journaling you might ask, the creative views within you. How can I connect with you today? How might I show up more creatively today? These are great ways to just unlock parts of you that often are dormant that are not awake. So journaling. I think a coach can be an excellent idea. And then of course, there’s, you know, literally breathing techniques. I mean, there’s so many kinds of meditation I would say. For me, I started with Insight Timer. It’s a fantastic meditation, mindfulness app.
[00:16:38] Miriam Schulman: And you’re on Insight Timer, is that right?
[00:16:40] Julie Reisler: I am now. It’s funny, I didn’t know this was gonna happen. I just, in my master’s degree program, we learned about mind-body science and meditation. I have a ton of meditations and courses up there, I do. Most are free.
So yeah, you go find a guided, a Yoga nidra, anything that’s gonna help you to breathe and get into your body. I think practices like Qigong, which moves energy. Reiki, which is self Reiki, like literally, if you’re not trained in Reiki, hand on your heart, ten minutes. Just lay and breathe slowly. Hand on your heart can balance literally. Help your nervous system to balance. Those are just some of the things.
Of course, walking in nature, but it’s gotta be daily connection. Otherwise, we quickly can leave our body. We can leave that feeling of presence and get very wrapped into the illusions that our lovely ego spins for us, and we wanna get out of that so that we can hear the higher source of wisdom.
[00:17:38] Miriam Schulman: When we return, we’re gonna talk about self-care. But first these words.
[00:17:46] Ad Announcer: And now a review of Artpreneur from Michael B. Michael Wrights. Change your Artist Mindset from starving to abundance with Miriam Horman’s, essential guy. Art Preneur is a comprehensive and invaluable resource that offers artists a step-by-step guide to transforming their creativity into a sustainable source of income. Written by experienced artist turned entrepreneur, Miriam Schulman. This book equips readers with the essential knowledge, strategies and practical advice needed to navigate the business side of the art world successfully. One of the book’s, notable strengths is its emphasis on providing a structured approach to building a sustainable, creative career.
Miriam writes in clear language and she described many of my self-limiting beliefs. I really like her action steps and her work charts at the end of every chapter are thought provoking and outstanding. So many are business books have they believe in yourself, words of fluffy advice. Miriam brings it all down to street level and tells you and teaches you step by step what to do and where to focus your efforts. I cannot recommend her book highly enough.
Thank you for leaving a review, Michael.
[00:19:05] Announcer: By the way, did you know that you can get the first chapter of ArtPreneur absolutely free? Just head on over to schulmanart.com/believe. Or you can also DM Miriam on Instagram. Her handle is at Schulman Art, and you can send her the word believe to get instant access to chapter one.
[00:19:26] Ad Announcer: And now back to the show.
[00:19:30] Miriam Schulman: All right, so let’s also talk about self-care. So what self-care practices do you recommend that artists can prioritize, that will help their wellbeing and nurture their creativity?
[00:19:40] Julie Reisler: Each of us are unique, so you gotta feel into what feels loving for you. I think nourishment is one that we’re all doing every day, and so self-care to me, you look at nourishment is kind of the overarching word. Right? Nourishment could be nourishing foods. Am I eating foods that are in their full whole form? I’m not judging if you don’t, but like, you know, getting some fresh berries, produce, things that are in their whole form to nourish yourself physically.
Nourishing thoughts, what do you say to yourself? I have mantras and things that literally come up on my phone as alarms every 20 minutes. That’s a little much.
[00:20:20] Miriam Schulman: That’s nice.
[00:20:21] Julie Reisler: But it reminds me. Really beautiful, beautiful things that I want in mind. I would look at what are you watching on tv? What are you listening to? What podcasts? This is obviously a beautiful one. What books are you reading? All of this is under self-care. And then of, course, there’s literal, like, you know, Julia Cameron talks about this in The Artist’s Way, taking yourself on an artist’s date. Right?
So self-care could be, I get inspiration when I go to anthropology. I love their colors, I love the feel in there. I might come back and just redecorate using what I have. I got inspired. So maybe it is a bath or a massage. I just, I think what we wanna look at from the umbrella perspective is what’s loving. What’s loving for you? Not what’s necessarily gonna feel good in the moment, but like it could feel good in the moment and you wanna make sure, is that really loving to your mind, your body, your soul, your wellbeing? And that’s the question. And if it fits, yes, to me, that’s self-care.
[00:21:18] Miriam Schulman: I love that. You’ve shared so much with us today.
I wanted to circle back to the idea of the creative process, how it involves so much vulnerability and exposing your inner world. To the public and, you know, we’re talking before about going from comparison really to confidence. How can artists maintain a strong sense of self-worth and overcome that fear of judgment when they’re sharing their work with others, especially since it requires – really good art, requires vulnerability.
[00:21:47] Julie Reisler: Yeah. Just understand vulnerability and sharing yourself. This is the currency of our heart. You wanna connect with our human beings, that’s the currency of the heart, is vulnerability, is courage. Courage core is heart in French. You’re using that, that, that heart, you know, to me, creativity, artistry, it’s all about expression from your heart. It’s all about expression from a higher, more connected divine place. We all have it.
And what are you doing again? Get out of the, are they gonna like it? I know you can train yourself to change your mindset and your heart set around this. Come from, how do I want to help people to feel? Right? Why is this work important? The more you can get into, it’s not even about me anyhow. I say this all the time, this is not even about me.
You know, when I’m writing this next book that I’m writing, like. Is it good enough? I don’t know what the hell is good enough anyhow? But it’s not about me. It is about the creatives, the artists, the healers, the those that wanna make a difference and wanna serve and I wanna support them.
So the more you can get outside of yourself and get out of the whole, you know, ego, which is fine, right? You’ve some ego. We all do. That often is the fear place. You know, that space in your heart that is your direct link to love and to compassion, and to sharing and to unity consciousness, and to making an impact. So if you’re in that place of judging comparison, notice it. All right, this isn’t about me. How can I make sure that I’m offering something that’s gonna add more love, more encouragement, more inspiration, maybe food for thought.
You know, being an artist, there’s so many ways to express that. Just, like, the divine infinite. Right? We share ourselves so that we can encourage and help others. We are modeling how to dig deeper into ourselves. So, I mean, you truly, anyone listening who’s an artist of any kind, to me, you’re on the front line. You’re demonstrating how to be that next level human. That human where vulnerability and courage and heart is the currency. Those are the attributes we value.
Yeah, money might follow, great. But it’s not just about that, right? It’s how am I impacting the world? How am I adding more light? How am I revealing more light in this work?
[00:24:00] Miriam Schulman: You know, I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone call it heartset and I love that and I’m stealing that. That is a beautiful thing. Did you make that up?
[00:24:09] Julie Reisler: I made it up and then I ended up, I did do training and work with the HeartMath Institute, and they do use that word and I didn’t know it. But I use it because, to be honest, mindset is great. I really, I mean, there’s a lot of science behind heart intelligence. It’s like, well, wait a minute – what is the heart set? What’s going on here? That’s the place to focus on first. So yeah.
[00:24:29] Miriam Schulman: Fantastic. Okay. So artists who wanna continue on this journey of self transformation and to reset their heart set and their mindset from comparison, despair, to more confidence I understand you have a tool set as a gift for our listeners. Could you tell us more about that?
[00:24:48] Julie Reisler: Yeah. I really wanted to offer something that takes my favorite practices, proven practices and tools. I’ve been coaching, you know, hundreds of leaders and artists for over a decade and these are the practices that I use myself and I’ve used with many, many clients. And so I put together a tool set. It’s a seven day workbook of these proven practices and tools to design your best life. They’re really, really powerful. It is a beautiful tool set. I love things that are beautiful and that feel also that are usable and user-friendly. So it’s for those that want it to look nice and be easy to use.
[00:25:24] Miriam Schulman: Yeah, we’ll put the link in the show notes. So just click on your podcast app and you will find it there and this is episode number 269. So schulmanart.com/269
All right. Do you have any last words from our listeners, Julie, before we call this podcast complete?
[00:25:41] Julie Reisler: Yeah. I think the one thing that I would just reiterate is, you know, to remember, I don’t remember the statistics. Right? It’s like one in fourteen, like, trillion, billion chances of being born. Okay? So the fact that you’re here and listening is a miracle. The fact that you have a desire to express this deeper creativity artistry through you is not to be underestimated. So digging into that desire, into that unique expression, that is what makes our world more loving, more connected, more full of light.
And so when you get in that space of, like, I don’t know if it’s good enough. Flip the question. Right? It’s not about that. You are a unique expression of the divine that is looking to partner with you to express, it’s almost like it’s incumbent upon you. We’re waiting for you to share. This is so important and I do think the world right now especially, is in need of more light and creativity and divine connection.
So just remember, whatever you’re desiring, there’s an equal need and response to be able to welcome in whatever it is that you are looking to share.
[00:26:59] Miriam Schulman: Yes. The world needs your art. Yeah. But they can’t enjoy it if they don’t know about it, which is why we have to get over ourselves and just put it out there.
[00:27:10] Julie Reisler: Yep. All right.
[00:27:11] Miriam Schulman: Thank you, Julie, for joining me. And thank you, my friend. It was so great to be with you here again. I’ll see you the same time, same place next week. Until then, stay inspired.
[00:27:23] Announcer: Thank you for listening to the Inspiration Place Podcast. Connect with us on Facebook at facebook.com/schulmanart on Instagram at Schulman Art, and of course on schulmanart.com.
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