Creative Coaching Approach, Practices, and Philosophy
Each session is a new, customized adventure! We might explore Neurographic Art, mindfulness practices, techniques inspired by traditional art therapies (like color association or feeling maps), or other mediums like image association, cooking, or self-care routines if pen and paper aren't your preference.
Your journey is unique to you, so our approach will be too! If an exercise doesn’t resonate with you, we’ll find other creative avenues to help you reach your goal.
My philosophy is rooted in harm reduction— making minor, sustainable adjustments to reduce negative impacts without making them the sole focus. Big changes are hard, little ones make all the difference in the world!
My personal motto is “It’s ugly until it’s pretty.” It reminds me both as an artist and in live that everything comes in layers, it takes time and building to make everything right. There are times you are going to want to scrap everything and start again, but then I remind myself that it’s ugly ‘til it’s pretty and I just keep moving.
How I got here…
What I had been doing to calm my mind became a business. I had never thought to sell my art, it was only for myself, but I was approached by someone who really liked it, then another and another, until it became obvious that this was meant for me. I named my business Moody Magpie Creative as an homage to where I was and who I have become. My last name is Moody, but here it’s also a play on the fact that I was once ruled by my emotions. Magpie was the nickname once given to me to chide me for being talkative, but they are beautiful birds and their “chatter” serves a purpose in their life. Taking this name for my business allowed me to take the power back from these two negative connotations with a playful pun.
But creativity is far more expansive than just lines on a piece of paper. With a touch of creativity, everything you do can be more enjoyable. Finding joy in the mundane everyday tasks that must be completed can lead to finding pleasure and excitement in things you thought were painful. My unique perspective, the one that allows me to find creative pathways forward was built through my struggle with my family. Once I did it for myself, I was able to do it for other members of my family, then my friends. Now I want to show you that your special interests and hobbies can actually lead to productive purposes in the rest of your life.
I am not here to tell you what to do, I am here to show you the places in your life that you can excel, those places you no longer see, those talents you forgot along the way and how they really do apply to who you want to be.
My story
The Challenge & Search
Years of abuse at the hands of a narcissist left me riddled with anxiety, depression and self-doubt. I found myself in a constant cycle of self-sabotage. I had tried medication, and both trauma and talk therapy, nothing seemed to help. My therapist suggested that I try meditation, but my mind was so chaotic that I couldn't focus for longer than a few minutes. I was given a diagnosis of CPTSD and a late diagnosis of ADHD. I thought my lack of center and inability to focus was just a given, that I would never be able to meditate again because I was broken.
A New Path: Movement and Mindful Art
A friend that practices Buddhism explained the idea of movement in meditation. I learned that moving while I meditate, instead of trying to sit still I could get myself out of my mind and into my body. When I was focused on simple repetitive tasks, my body could shut off that inner dialog that was constantly pulling me away from my goals and ambitions. I first discovered "Zen-tangles". A process of doodling lines to create patterns in a repetitive motion. Much like the tradition of making a mandala in Buddhism, the art is not meant to be permanent, it's about the process, not the goal. All you need is some scrap paper and a pen or pencil. When you are done, there is a cool looking doodle and sudden calm.
Lessons: From Creativity to Freedom
When I finished my first work of art, I realized that the joy was in the process, not in the outcome. All art is ugly until it’s beautiful, then it is done. It’s the process of building and layering, creating, then letting go that continually shows you how everything is a cycle and when one ends, another begins. There’s no point in worrying about the past or the future, find the peace in the now and keep moving forward. Everything is a cycle of suffering and joy. The key is to teach that part of your brain that is always looking for the pain to look deeper, past the pain to find the solution.
Each step in my creative journey has given me life lessons that have allowed me to disprove the faulty beliefs programmed into me in my childhood. When your life has been hijacked by someone else's damage, and all you know is suffering, you need to practice to learn. Years of damage can’t be erased through any other path than repetition, and there’s nothing more gratifying than to discover parts of you that had been suppressed actually have a valid place in your life.