THE INSPIRATION PLACE PODCAST
[00:00:00] Miriam Schulman: Once you realize that the worst thing that could happen is you just feel bad and that you can, and a feeling is just a vibration in your body and you can handle any feeling. It’s like, okay, well, let’s go.
[00:00:12] Announcer: It’s The Inspiration Place Podcast with artist Miriam Schulman.
Welcome to the Inspiration Place Podcast. An 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.
[00:00:34] Miriam Schulman: Well hey there, artpreneur. This is Miriam Schulman, your curator of inspiration, and welcome to the Inspiration Place Podcast. You’re listening to episode number 274.
So before we bring in today’s guest, I wanted to share a conversation I recently had with one of my accelerator clients, Bel Mills. Now you’ll be meeting her in a future episode in October when we’ll be talking all about her own online class journey. She is an online class teacher. She teaches people how to upcycle books and do really beautiful creative things with their hands that are just amazing. But what I wanted to share with you in this conversation is she shared with me some wisdom about learning new skills. And instead of paraphrasing it, I thought you should just listen to Bel explain it in our own words.
[00:01:31] Bel Mills: Can we talk about your art supply stash? Like artists tend to get really focused on supplies. And like we can’t resist buying more and more. Can we just talk about art supplies? Because my studio is like an art supply graveyard. Like, it’s so full of, like, stuff I don’t like anymore, rubber stamps I used twice and got tired of. Like, all of this stuff. And when I start to calculate, like I have over 200 rolls of washi tape. When I start to calculate, like, the money that I’ve invested in supplies that no longer light my creative fire, like it can be sort of distressing. And they said, one thing I realized is that I have never felt that sense of waste and regret about art classes. Like, upgrading your skills is something that you’ll never regret. Skills don’t dry out. They don’t get broken. They don’t need to be cleaned. They don’t need to be fixed. They don’t lay down your luggage and an art retreat. They don’t get lost. You don’t have look an hour looking for them in your studio.
[00:02:26] Miriam Schulman: Now you might be wondering about teaching your own online art class or making art videos, and if that’s so I have some good news for you. I actually put together a brand new list of the nine things you absolutely need to have to create beautiful art tutorials. So whether you’re going to use these videos to teach or sell an online class, Or you just want to create videos to highlight your own artwork. Just as Bel says, learning new skills is never wasted. So to get your hands on that free guide, hop on over to schulmanart.com/tech T E C H – tech. The guide is a hundred percent free. Alright, now back to the interview.
Today we have the honor of welcoming a truly remarkable guest who combines intuitive guidance, sound alchemy, and multi-dimensional business mentorship. We’re gonna dive deep into the intersection of marketing and mindset for artists. As she shares her profound insights and experiences. We’ll explore how conscious awareness, authenticity, and intuitive gifts can enhance the entrepreneurial journey, and practical techniques to help you overcome blocks and blind spots and the power of infusing soul essence into marketing strategies.
Please welcome to The Inspiration Place, Emily Ghosh-Harris. Well hey there, Emily. Thank you so much for joining us today.
[00:04:05] Emily Ghosh-Harris: Hi Miriam. It’s such an honor to be with you today. I am so excited to be here.
[00:04:10] Miriam Schulman: Well, I’m so happy to have you, too. So remind me again where in the world you are?
[00:04:14] Emily Ghosh-Harris: I’m in Tampa, Florida.
[00:04:16] Miriam Schulman: Near the scary bridge?
[00:04:18] Emily Ghosh-Harris: Mm-hmm.
[00:04:18] Miriam Schulman: I just had another guest who was near the Scary Bridge, like the St. Petersburg scary bridge.
[00:04:23] Emily Ghosh-Harris: Yeah.
[00:04:24] Miriam Schulman: For those who don’t know what we’re talking about, it’s like riding up a rollercoaster.
[00:04:27] Emily Ghosh-Harris: Yeah. People will go out of their way, actually, to avoid the bridge. Like some people will drive an hour just to not go over the bridge.
[00:04:35] Miriam Schulman: Oh, 100%. Like, this is how I learned that my husband did not like bridges. Very early on in our marriage when we took a trip, my late grandmother at the time was living in Clearwater and we wanted to go to Sanibel Island, and then we didn’t know about the bridge to get there.
[00:04:50] Emily Ghosh-Harris: Yeah, you can tell right away if somebody is a bridge person or they’re not.
[00:04:55] Miriam Schulman: I mean, even somebody who would normally be a bridge person could be nervous on this bridge. It is. It is a little scary, I have to say. And I like, I usually don’t care about bridges – but my God.
Okay, so I have so much to cover with you today. So, first of all, let’s talk about why you say the path of entrepreneurship is a spiritual journey. How can you explain how to bring conscious awareness, authenticity, to enhance this journey for creatives like the artists who are listening today?
[00:05:26] Emily Ghosh-Harris: Yeah, absolutely. It’s such a beautiful question, right? Like I believe one of the big reasons why we’re here on earth is our spiritual journey and our growth. And so a spiritual journey, I feel, it’s amplified; meaning that we will just simply be met where we are, and we’ll have the reflection of our business. And sometimes we can see this in the form of a partnership. We can see this in the form of our family members. A business holds a steady mirror to show us exactly where we are and exactly where we need to evolve. Where the blind spots are, where some of our, perhaps, limiting beliefs are. That’s definitely been my own personal journey, and it’s been the journey of so many clients that I work with, is that when we bring the conscious awareness, the healing energy work, and really understand that it’s more than just our output, it is the inner energetic ecosystem that we’re building, that inner foundation from which we share our gifts with the world. We’re able to do so in a way that much more sustainable, much more harmonious, much more inflow with our own authentic truth and path.
[00:06:45] Miriam Schulman: Alright, so let, let’s get practical about this. What are some practical techniques or exercises our listeners can apply to this? Because it sounds like, you know, so cool and nice, but like how do we actually do it?
[00:06:59] Emily Ghosh-Harris: I love the practicality. And so one of the ways that we can do this is just really have an awareness practice. And journaling can be such a profound tool for this. Meaning in our business, we have blocks or we have limiting beliefs that can arise. Right? And I know your show. I love your show. You know, and you provide so many helpful tools to help people overcome these blocks. And they’re common. Right? You know, if you’re listening, you probably know what they are. You know, maybe they’re, it’s a fear of being seen. Maybe it’s a fear of rejection. Maybe there is. A belief around receiving abundance and perhaps being more in scarcity consciousness. Right? So these are some of the common blocks that we grow through.
And so when we see that arise, like perhaps we have a situation with a client or selling our artwork in the world, and it’s not. Being received quite in the way that we would like it to. We have something that’s triggering for us. We’re not getting the sale that we want. We’re not able to show up and be seen in a way that we really feel like we want to be doing. We can go into that limiting belief, and this is a practical practice to help us unpack some of the areas of resistance and perhaps do a little bit of re-parenting and work of finding safety in the nervous system, finding safety and support.
And this really goes to our chakra system. Right? Our energetic pillar of light. Because the root chakra is the first of all chakras. It’s that primal face of the spine chakra that helps us to feel deeply safe and supported in the world. And when we don’t feel safe and supported, it’s really hard to do this thing. And feel like we’re in a state of fight or flight, or like there’s a tiger chasing us.
So the first thing that we wanna do really is create the safety so that we’re able to move forward with greater grace and ease, whatever it is that we’re finding the resistance around. And so that could be with feeling worthy of receiving. That could be feeling safety around being visible and being seen. So that’s one of the practical tools that I would really recommend is to go in the back area, to do a little excavation, do a little journal writing, and also to do a little bit of re-parenting around those areas so that we can feel greater safety.
[00:09:37] Miriam Schulman: Do you have a journal prompt to get people started? ‘Cause I know people looking at a blank page may feel like, Ooh, now I have homework that I don’t know how to do.
[00:09:46] Emily Ghosh-Harris: What is the best that can happen? That’s sometimes a really powerful question to ask. We can go into, you know, the what ifs or the fear, but what is the absolute best that can happen? And when we go into that, you know, there we might find that something pops up. But what about this? And that’s when we can do a little bit of the deeper excavation.
[00:10:12] Miriam Schulman: I love that. What is the best that can happen? Sometimes I actually do the reverse with my clients. What do you think is the worst thing that could happen? And oftentimes when we dig, when we peel back the layers, the worst that could happen is that they’ll feel bad. Like that’s what they finally admit to me is, well, I guess I’ll just be embarrassed. I was like, what’s, what’s so, what’s wrong with that? They’re like, well, I guess I’ll just be embarrassed. It’s like, okay. Can you handle being embarrassed?
[00:10:38] Emily Ghosh-Harris: Yes. That is such a powerful question as well with the, what is the worst that can happen? And then we go into that fear and realize, you know, it’s like looking under the bed and realizing, oh, there’s nothing there.
[00:10:49] Miriam Schulman: Right? Like, if you, once you realize that the worst thing that could happen is you just feel bad and that you can, and a feeling is just a vibration in your body and you can handle any feeling. It’s like, okay, well let’s go. That’s right.
One thing you talked about when we had you for the book bonus, which by the way, when you order Artpreneur, one of the bonuses is there is a spirituality panel and Emily was one of our VIP guests for that. I seem to remember that you talked about automatic writing. Is that right? Okay. Could you tell us more what automatic writing is? ’cause that was new to me during that panel.
[00:11:28] Emily Ghosh-Harris: Absolutely. Automatic writing is such a powerful practice to connect with our higher self, to connect with our guides, to connect with the infinite wisdom. And you know what this is, is really because sometimes we get writer’s block, and so automatic writing takes that out of the equation there. We take the judgment, the thinking mind out of the equation and just put the pen onto paper. Sometimes what can be really fun with this is to, like, play some music or light a candle and get into the flow state where it becomes a joyful practice. Not something that like I’m doing the thing or the homework. Right? It’s like this is actually joyful and fun. And then the idea here is to invite the allowing of the pen just not to leave the paper. Because whatever comes out, and maybe it’s just scribbles in the beginning, maybe it’s like you’re writing your name and then all of a sudden like truth starts to flow forth. And sometimes, and I love that you brought through, like, the idea of asking a question because sometimes with this practice, if I really want to know, like, what does my business need in this moment, I will ask that very question and that will be the prompt to really allow my higher guidance to flow through.
[00:12:49] Miriam Schulman: I love that. What does my business need? I’m writing these things down ’cause I am a student as well as a teacher. So, I mean, that’s the most fun part of having the podcast is I get to talk to experts who, and I’m sure you agree with me, Emily is like, oh, I learned.
[00:13:05] Emily Ghosh-Harris: Well, yes, exactly. Which by the way, we can share with listeners to catch your episode because I loved having you on the Soul Collective and that was my, one of my favorite parts is just taking notes the entire time.
[00:13:19] Miriam Schulman: We’ll make sure we link to your, that episode in the show notes.
Okay. So one of the things I wanna make sure I talk to you about because, and I have some questions. So I know you have a background in astrology, human design, energy, and healing techniques. But what I really want to dig into, because this is like one of your zones of genius, and I don’t speak to too many people on the podcast who this is their zone, is the astrology piece. Because the planets are shifting in a big way this year, in 2023. And I wanna hear from you what those shifts are and what have you seen so far? What can we expect to see?
[00:13:59] Emily Ghosh-Harris: Yeah. So one of the biggest shifts is a nodal shift. And these bring up, the nodes of the moon, stay in two signs for 18 and a half months. And when they do, they really have an effect on collective consciousness and they bring themes to the surface that help us move towards our destiny. They also bring up some areas of shadow work that we really need to, or we’re invited to, purge and release. And just yesterday the nodes of the moon change signs into Aries Libra. So which does this mean? Why is this significant? Right? Well, Aries and Libra are the polarity of me versus we. It’s the first house in astrology, that’s the house of self identity, of self expression, of mastery, of you know, Aries is the fire sign. You know, cardinal initiator energy, the pioneering energy leadership, sovereignty, self, self mastery, and we balance that with Libra. Which is the sign of peace, of diplomacy, of balance, of collaboration, of partnership. It is also because the south node is in Libra about the lower expressions that we’re invited to release and let go of. And the shadow expressions of Libra are related to people pleasing, to placating, to really saving our truth at the expense of not wanting to rock the boat. And so we can see how these themes are really prevalent in our lives and in our business because what we’re invited to let go of during this time is perhaps the people pleasing that kept us small, that kept us from shining our light. And we’re really invited to go into the courage and the healthy selfishness of balancing ourselves versus others.
[00:16:10] Miriam Schulman: So we move from, it’s the me versus we. Are we moving from we to me or me to we?
[00:16:15] Emily Ghosh-Harris: We’re moving from the Taurus Scorpio, access to the Aries Libra nodal access, which brings up that polarity and that balance between myself understanding who I am and know knowing in my heart that I am a part of the all that is, that we are all connected.
[00:16:37] Miriam Schulman: Okay.
[00:16:37] Emily Ghosh-Harris: And yet my expression is a vital piece of the whole, and this is why it’s so important, I feel, for creatives, for visionaries, for entrepreneurs to really lean into this because it is our own unique gifts, our own unique light that is so needed in the world right now.
And what’s interesting right now is that Pluto is wearing the nodes, which creates an added form of tension. This is happening until November. And so when there is a square in astrology, there is this added tension, this added conversation of being invited to move forward towards our destiny versus falling back into the familiar, into what is comfortable, into the status quo. And so we definitely see that perhaps at play the next few months.
[00:17:30] Miriam Schulman: Okay, so this definitely makes sense in terms of a business decision that I made, which I’m gonna share right now. So for a few years in a row, I had been an affiliate partner for somebody, I’m not gonna say who. They did nothing wrong. But it had come time to do the affiliate promotion again. I mean it’s, right now we’re recording this in July, but it normally happens August, September. And I was feeling, like, really nauseous about the idea of promoting. And then I, like, had some idea that I didn’t wanna do it, but I felt like I should do it. ’cause I made a lot of money. It served a lot of people, you know, I’ve always done it. And actually I kept pulling cards from my friend’s card decks and it was like new moon, first light, which were all cards that all meant the same thing, which is like, it’s time to shine my own light. So, and it’s not a question of. Not serving people and only serving myself. ‘Cause either way I was gonna serve people. But it was definitely a question of not doing what was familiar, not doing what might please somebody else and their business, but focusing on serving people only through my own business. So that was definitely a shift that happened during this time right now for me. And it just feels so good right now and so in alignment that I made that decision.
[00:18:56] Emily Ghosh-Harris: What a powerful example. And that is the exact example of having the courage to invest in yourself.
[00:19:04] Miriam Schulman: That’s right. So I’m assuming I will. I mean, did I say how much money I made from this? I mean, we’re talking about, like, I made $40,000 from this affiliate promotion last year. So it’s a significant chunk of change. And my faith is that my own business will also earn me that by not promoting somebody else, that I will be able to serve people in a different way, in a bigger way. So…
[00:19:29] Emily Ghosh-Harris: How inspiring. And it’s also, like, what that really brings up is the foresight to understand that the time and the energy of pouring into yourself is gonna pay off in the long run, you know, and in the short run as well. But really having the foresight and the vision to look at it, and that is another quality of Aries is the visionary leadership. That allows us to have that pioneering spirit.
[00:19:54] Miriam Schulman: Okay. And then I want you to speak a little bit, not so much about the astrology piece of it, but here I was getting actual signals from my body. Like I told you, I was feeling nauseous. Like I was, but then I wasn’t ready to listen. ‘Cause I was trying to be logical. Like, no, this is, you know, and I was like fighting against my own intuition. Can you speak a little bit about that? About like when we get signals from our body versus trying to, listening to our minds that are giving us different messages?
[00:20:26] Emily Ghosh-Harris: There’s so much to say here. Right? Because we are taught, I feel, by society to really be in our thinking minds, to be in the beta brainwaves. And so really when the magic happens is when we can drop down into the alpha B brain wave state into those kind of slower, deeper, more expansive states of consciousness and really tune into our heart center.
And I feel like having this spiritual journey, you know, however that looks like for you, will bring up this invitation to tune into your heart, to tune into your intuition, into your deeper knowing. And we feel that in the body. We feel that in the body. It might be like, you know, your throat chakra closing up. You know, when you’re, like, not with something that’s inauthentic. Right? Because, but energy centers in the body are so powerful for us to actually perceive and transmit signals. We’re actually feeling that in our energy centers, in our chakra system. And so for the throat, like we think of it as speaking our truth and expressing, and yes it is, but there’s also the connection with our throat chakra with being able to hear, being able to discern what is truth, what is authentic, hearing our guides or our own wisdom. And so it feels like what you’re sharing is so profound because it’s like you are feeling actually a palpable reaction in the body that is saying, Nope, this does not feel good in my system, and I’m going to honor that.
[00:22:07] Miriam Schulman: Yeah, exactly. So when we come back, we’re gonna be talking about healing techniques that you can use to help understand your own divine blueprint. But first these words.
All right, so as the kids go back to school and fall is in the air, at least at this side of the world, you may be thinking yourself about school. Whether you’re looking to learn new skills yourself, or maybe you’re even thinking about teaching your art online. Hey, you know me. I’m Miriam Schulman and I’ve been a professional artist for over 20 years, and I started teaching online in 2013, which was, well, wow, that’s over 10 years ago. And I knew a thing or two about teaching online art classes. So I made my mistakes along the way, and by now, you know, I like to help you skip over those mistake-making process. You just wanna learn it, you wanna get it right the first time, you don’t wanna fail, which is why I put together this list which you can get at schulmanart.com/tech, which is exactly the tools that I use to create my own art videos. And I’ve been using Reliably for the last 10 years. So, if you wanna get your hands on it, because you wanna start making art video tutorials, whether that is to teach others, or perhaps you just wanna learn how to make videos so that you can showcase your own art. Maybe you wanna put your own art process on TikTok or Instagram or YouTube and you wanna know how I do it. I got you covered. Go check out the nine essential tools you need for making art videos. Whether that is so that you can learn new skills, like the kids are going back to school, or you can teach it yourself. schulmanart.com/tech TECH. Alright, and now back to the show.
All right, welcome back. Is there an energy healing technique that you can share that will help artists understand their divine blueprint?
[00:24:27] Emily Ghosh-Harris: This is a beautiful question. Right. So, you know, I would say, I mean astrology is one of my favorite modalities and tools for us to really understand our divine blueprint. And there’s many ways for us to really connect with our blueprint, with our souls and paths and, you know, in terms of bringing forth an energy modality or technique to really remove what I call false frequencies, which are the small self or those voices that really keep us from understanding the full magnitude of what we’re here to share and express, to really understand like the massive path that we’re on. You know, our souls plan. Because I’ll tell you like we get a little bit at a time. And this is because we are not to get overwhelmed with the full picture. Like, Miriam, you had known everything that would be required, everything that you would be doing when you first started your business. You know, it might have been overwhelming. So I feel we get like these little glimpses at a time. And so when we use energy healing modalities, what it’s doing is basically removing those false frequencies that keep us playing small.
[00:25:55] Miriam Schulman: I love this. Okay. And one of the most powerful healing modalities is actually to connect with sound. And connect with our own voices. There’s a reason why public speaking is the number one fear, and that is because our voices are so powerful, we can actually speak things into existence, and we’re actually doing that through our thoughts, our words, our vibration, you know?
And so how often will we say like, I am gonna try to do that, or, you know, I can’t do this. Right? Like, we’re actually speaking that into existence. And so the first thing to recognize is how powerful our voices are and how we actually have the power to speak things into existence. The second part of this is that when we get more in touch with our own authentic resonance and begin to use our voice in a healing way. This can be very simple. So this could be even just in a simple chant or, you know, working with the valves with actually just humming. Like, humming is so simple. Right? That anybody can do it and it has a profound, ripple effect because we’re able to access the true resonance of our voice and begin to really remove some of those false frequencies that keep us small.
That is so beautiful. Alright Emily, so just wanna wrap up. But before we do, can you tell us a little bit more about the Shine Your Light? Tell us a little bit more about the program and how it can support the creative entrepreneurs and my audience with aligning with their unique soul essence.
[00:27:45] Emily Ghosh-Harris: Absolutely. So Shine Your Light is a three month, one-on-one mentorship journey where there’s 12 different modules. We go into your most magnetic ways to communicate, building a strong and sustainable business foundation, showing up on social media and creating a magnetic offer. It’s really just such a beautiful journey where we work on the inner and outer energetics of building sustainable and thriving and prosperous business.
[00:28:14] Miriam Schulman: All right, fantastic. So we’re including the link to that in the show notes. This is schulmanart.com/274, so you can check out everything that we talked about during today’s episode.
Alrighty, Emily, do you have any last words for our listeners before we call this episode complete?
[00:28:34] Emily Ghosh-Harris: Well, yes. I would love to share in the spirit of the nodes changing from Aries Libra invitation to let go of any places and spaces where we’re holding on to people pleasing. And this can be really subtle, but it might be in the message that we’re showing up on social media or how we’re being seen. It’s really letting go of other people’s into center, into your home frequency of knowing that your voice, your unique creative gifts are needed, and letting go of what other people think, other people’s approval, and knowing and trusting and having the courage to really shine in your unique radiance.
[00:29:21] Miriam Schulman: That’s fantastic. That’s what I’m naming this episode. It’s time to shine your Light. Thank you so much for being here with me today.
And you too, my friend. Thank you so much for being with me here today. I’ll see you the same time, same place, next week. Until then, stay inspired.
[00:29:39] 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 schulman art.com.
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