Lotus Rising: Creativity, Soul Truth, and Inner Listening with Jennie Lee

For many women, creativity begins as something we do.
A practice. A hobby. A skill. A way to make beautiful things.

But at a certain point in life, often after change, loss, burnout, or awakening, creativity stops being about making something pretty… and starts becoming about listening to something true.

It becomes a conversation with your soul.

This is something I explored recently in a beautiful conversation with Jennie Lee — award-winning author, certified yoga therapist, and conscious creativity coach — and it is something I see again and again in the women I work with.

Creativity is not just expression.
It is revelation.

And when we stop forcing it and start listening to it, everything changes.

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Summary:

Creativity Is Your Soul in Motion

As Jennie shared, true creativity does not come from the mind trying to perform.

It comes from the soul trying to move.

This is why forcing productivity often dries up inspiration. We are trying to pull something from the surface when the source lives much deeper.

Your creative practice is not meant to be another place you push yourself.
It is meant to be a place you meet yourself.

A place where your inner world is allowed to speak in colour, texture, words, symbols, movement, or sound.

This is also why creative seasons change.

Sometimes we are in seasons of visible output.
Sometimes we are in seasons of rest, composting, listening, or inner reorganisation.

None of these seasons are wrong.

All of them are necessary.

Why So Many Women Feel Blocked

In our conversation, Jennie spoke so honestly about the inner voices that block us — fear, self-judgement, self-doubt, and the pressure to perform or produce.

Most creative blocks are not actually creative problems.

They are nervous system problems.
They are safety problems.
They are permission problems.

They come from fear of being seen.
Fear of being judged.
Fear of not being good enough.
Fear of wanting something different than what your life currently holds.

When the body does not feel safe, the soul does not move freely.

This is why gentleness matters.
This is why play matters.
This is why slowness matters.

Not as indulgences, but as prerequisites.

Stirring the Mud and Letting the Lotus Rise

One of the images Jennie shared that I keep coming back to is this:

Sometimes you have to stir the mud for the lotus to rise.

Meaning we do not need to know what is coming.

We only need to create movement.

Write one paragraph.
Draw one line.
Sing one song.
Cook one experimental meal.
Sit quietly with your journal.
Take one small creative step without knowing why.

Energy responds to motion.

When we move, something stirs.
When something stirs, something emerges.

And what emerges is often wiser than what we could have planned.

Creativity as a Spiritual Practice

Jennie’s work beautifully reframes creativity not as a productivity tool, but as a spiritual practice — a way to listen, integrate, heal, and evolve.

When creativity is treated this way, it becomes a place where we:

Listen to our inner truth
Witness our inner world
Soften self-judgement
Integrate life’s experiences
Rebuild trust with ourselves
Reconnect to meaning and purpose

It becomes a way home to ourselves.

Not so we can escape our lives, but so we can inhabit them more truthfully.

A Gentle Invitation

If you are feeling disconnected, uninspired, or restless in your creative life, I want to offer you this:

You are not broken.
You are not lazy.
You are not blocked.

You are becoming.

Your creativity is not asking you to do more.
It is asking you to listen more.

So instead of asking, “What should I create?”
Try asking, “What wants to move through me?”

And then take one small, gentle step toward it.

Stir the mud.

Trust what rises.

A Reflection to Close

What is one small, gentle, or playful way you could create movement in your creative life this week, without needing an outcome?

Just enough to stir the waters.
Just enough to listen.
Just enough to let your soul speak.

Take care,
Sam x

^{Jennie Lee}

_{Jennie Lee is a Nautilus Book Award* winning author of three books: Spark Change: 108 Provocative Questions for Spiritual Evolution; True Yoga: Practicing with the Yoga Sutras for Happiness & Spiritual Fulfillment; and Breathing Love: Meditation in Action. ( Nautilus Book Awards recognize books that “promote spiritual growth, conscious living & positive social change.” Previous winners include authors such as Marianne Williamson, Deepak Chopra and Eckhart Tolle.)}

_{Jennie is also a certified yoga therapist and conscious creativity coach who has counseled private clients for over 26 years. Her spiritual focus and pragmatic tools help people reconnect to their soul wisdom for joyful self-expression. Additionally, Jennie hosts yearly international retreats and is the Founder and Director of the Essere Writer & Artist Residency in Italy. Read more at www.jennieleecoaching.com}

_{Website: https://www.jennieleecoaching.com/}

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