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Q: What made you decide to shift gears, quit your day job, and follow your creative dreams?

A: The decision was probably 40 years in the making. I've loved writing since I was a kid, but I came from one of those homes where a practical, money-making career defined success. My marketing career really took off when I lived in Israel. I was able to start my own business and really loved what I was doing. The intensity of living in that country stirred up emotions that I could only release through writing. I also developed a huge desire to paint, which I'd never done before.

When I left Israel, I settled in the San Francisco Bay Area, where I finally had the courage to take my first writing class. I also took some expressive painting classes and began working with a writing coach. Working in Silicon Valley after the dot com bust was challenging. I survived ten rounds of layoffs, and found the work environment increasingly unfulfilling and frustrating. One day, I walked into my boss' office and asked for a sabbatical. He said he'd give it to me, but only if I agreed to come back — and he had a feeling I didn't intend to come back. He was right. I asked him to make me a consultant instead, which allowed me the freedom to explore my options further. That year, while consulting for a few clients, I worked with a career coach, wrote, painted, and interned with a documentary filmmaker.

I wanted to write books and help people change their lives& … but when another business opportunity came around, I took it. I had this notion that if I could create a business around some of the things I loved, it would eventually afford me the luxury of writing. I started an online community of artists who sold handcrafts from around the world. After two years, it wasn't getting me where I wanted to go, so I decided to do something drastic. I cut back on my marketing freelance work by 90% and went back to school for an MFA. By the time I did this, I had no savings left. I was terrified that this road would lead me to financial destitution, but I knew I had a story to share with others and it was time to face my biggest fears.

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Q: What challenges did you face making this transition?

A: In a few words: beginning as a beginner at all levels. When I started this new adventure, I felt completely disoriented. Some of the working patterns from my business life no longer worked for me. Rigid project timelines and to-do lists, or too much structure and discipline, can actually cause creative blocks. Working for hours on a piece of writing felt amazing, but the solitude of being a full-time writer was making me a little crazy. I was doing a low-residency program through Lesley University in Boston and I was living in a new city, Atlanta, so I had a very limited support network locally. In my marketing career, I was used to working on multiple projects and interacting with people, and now I was alone. Fear of not having enough money also caused a lot of anxiety at the beginning, which I eventually came to terms with.

I not only embarked on a new career, but I had to create a new lifestyle to support it, learning new ways of working, living and thinking that accommodated the nature of the creative process. Building a business around a new creative career came a little later. When I started my other businesses, I was well known in my field, or at least I knew what I was doing. It was so easy. Now, I had to create a name and following for myself and my work in a totally different realm, at the age of 41!

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Q: How did you deal with these challenges, and what have you learned from your journey?

A: It was funny. When I finally went back to school for an MFA, I realized that I didn't need it. I had been working with a writing coach for three years and had an amazing writing group in Atlanta, so after one semester, I dropped the program. Instead, I found a creativity coaching program, Kaizen-Muse Creativity Coaching, developed by Jill Badonsky.

I thought about coaching others, and I needed coaching myself so I enrolled in the program. I learned that everything I was experiencing was not only normal, but that there are very effective, simple tools that can support you through transition and the creative process. By that time, I looked at my life as an experiment of sorts, observing everyday challenges carefully, trying new approaches to overcome them, and writing about the process.

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Q: What advice do you have for those hoping to make their own transitions from day job to dream job?

A: Have patience. It could take months or years. It's a process. Time is irrelevant. What's more important is that you incorporate something you love to do into your life on a regular basis, so you can experience the joy that comes from connecting with the deepest core of your being. Give yourself permission to be a beginner, and know that it's okay to do it badly at first. You'll get better. Just have fun with it and see where it leads you.

You don't have to turn off your old career and skill sets altogether. Your experience, skills and talents will serve you well in your new life. During transition, you may have to juggle multiple jobs until you start bringing in revenue from your new career.

The trick is learning how to reallocate old skills into new projects or jobs, and find the right balance between what you love to do, and what you can do. It takes time to learn this. When I was attending the MFA residency in Boston, I met many writers who wanted to know how I'd been successful at writing marketing copy. They were intrigued by the idea of making money from any type of writing, while I had been looking forward to the day when I wouldn't have to live in that world anymore. Over time, I learned to embrace all of the opportunities that are available to me, and I still do a small amount of marketing work today. Too much financial stress can create terrible creative blocks.

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Q: What are you working on now?

A: Right now, I'm working on completing an article for publication called "Order in Chaos: From Electronics to Art," which is a story about an amazing Cuban artist. I interviewed him while I was in Cuba last year. He was an electronics technician who just started painting one day and became successful immediately. I'm also working on a series of articles along the lines of the ones I publish on my blog. I will be compiling them into the book called Outside the Sealed Room: On Transitioning to a Creative Life to help others who are in the midst of life transition.

Q: What inspired you to begin this book?

A: My own transition inspired me to write this. I had been working on another book called I am Spam, Spam I am for three years, and the main reason I decided to enroll in the MFA program was to finish the manuscript. As I transitioned into this new life, all of these issues started coming up for me, and I knew I needed to write about them to try to make sense of it all. And to keep me writing about it, I started my blog. It was so rewarding to finish pieces and send them out to the world. The whole book idea was unexpected, really. I was committed to finishing my manuscript, but it felt like it was time to stop revisiting my past and pay attention to the transformation I was undergoing. I thought that this writing might be able to help others too.

I may finish I am Spam, Spam I am someday — it contains some of my best writing. I feel this book could help people in so many ways, particularly the story, "Sealed Room." It's the story of how I fell into a life I didn't really want, and takes place in Israel during the Gulf War. I've learned that creative projects have a life of their own and will let you know when they're ready to be born.

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Q: In reading your posts, I get the sense that you were a very serious child. As an adult, how do you keep that childlike playful side alive in your creative work, and in other aspects of your life?

A: I feel like I'm aging backwards. I have lots of toys in my workplace. I play on slides at the park. If I get stuck in my writing, I write out my ideas using crayons. And if there's something I really, really don't want to do, I put on my toy tiara. Or I'll stomp around like a kid to let out a big tantrum. I get really, really excited about very small things like the perfect cupcake, and I am in constant wonder of nature. I have a favorite tree who is a good friend. When I take walks, I notice the flowers and skies and clouds. Sometimes I take pictures of them with my cell phone and send them to myself or to my friends with happy messages. Since I have such a strong connection to the six-year-old in me (I actually feel like a six-year-old), I've recently started experimenting with writing picture books.

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Q: How are your corporate consultation services different from working with individuals in a one-on-one coaching session? Do you use different skills, tools, and techniques for each type of work, or are there some aspects of your teachings that cross over?

A: At the beginning of this year, I realized that the creativity coaching approach I use could be very useful for corporate environments. From my Silicon Valley days, I still remember how demoralizing it can be to survive multiple rounds of layoffs. Plus, creative teams always have a lot of pressure to remain creative. So I decided to offer workshops, group and one-on-coaching to help organizational teams increase creativity and productivity and help laid-off employees through their transitions. The basic approach and techniques I use are the same, but modified for corporate environments, where there is a structured framework to contend with.

Most recently, I was hired to develop a retreat for a non-profit my client had founded two years ago. Her board members weren't actively participating in the activities necessary to promote the organization's mission. As her creative coach, I'd helped her move through her own fears and blocks. Now, she wanted me to do the same with her board members. I spoke with each one individually to discover the root of their frustrations. Then, I custom designed a five-hour retreat which included brainstorming, improv exercises, a group coaching session, a capabilities presentation, and collage work. It was the perfect combination of my creative, coaching and business skill sets coming together to help an incredible organization. And my client was amazed by the results. The evening after the retreat, her board members began taking on active roles for the first time.

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Q: I'd love to know more about your "Dreaming with Words" and "Unleashing the Words Within" workshops.

A: They're a lot of fun. "Dreaming with Words" is a powerful two and a half hour workshop that uses playful guided imagery and free-writing to help participants begin the process of shifting their thinking and behavior to enable change. It helps them envision a new future for themselves, and prepares them to recognize and receive their dreams when they arrive.

"Unleashing the Words Within" uses different modalities, including music and movement, to help participants relax and play. In disengaging the left side of our brains, the richest words easily flow onto the page from the deepest parts of our beings. Established and first-time writers are surprised by the quality of writing and general revelations that result from this process. It's great for anyone who's in transition, or curious about creativity.

I just finished training as a facilitator for Jill Badonsky's Modern Day Muse Workshops®, and I'm currently developing two workshops based on these principles. They will enable participants to experience their lives through different lenses each week. Each lens is an essential element of the creative process and any type of sustainable life transition.

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Q: I loved your post about butterflies disseminating pollen as they fly. Just wondering — in your creative flights of fancy, what types of seeds are you planting? What do you hope will grow from these chance pollinations? What's blooming in your inspiration garden?

A: None of us really knows whose lives we're touching. I'm always surprised to hear what helps my clients during our coaching calls. One small question, comment or exercise may make all the difference one person needs to shift her perspective and start believing that anything is possible. My hope is that my work, writing and art will inspire people to take that one small step towards whatever it is that makes them happy, even if they're afraid.

Like all creative people I know, I have a million ideas in my head for projects I'd like to complete in my lifetime: starting a non-profit creativity incubator for artists and writers, developing a documentary on my parents' incredible stories. I have twenty characters romping around in my head, until I create places for them to live. For my coaching services and workshops, I have many plans ahead as well. I plan to take my workshops internationally and to package them. There are a few other coaching bundles I'd like to offer in the future combining other modalities, like photography and collage work. I just completed Svaroopa® yoga training, so the first new bundle will offer coaching clients one-on-one yoga sessions to further support their journeys through change.

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Q: What wisdom would you like to leave with us?

A: Start each day getting centered. Walk, meditate, do some yoga, journal. Don't feel bad about taking the time to do it. This is the most important time of day, because it will clear out any negativity and make you more productive for the rest of the day. And amazing ideas surface during this time too!

Surround yourself with your best cheerleaders and meet regularly with at least one person with whom you can discuss what you're working on. You'll be surprised how much energy you'll gain from this.

When you decide to change your life to design it the way you want it to be, your whole universe opens up and begins serving you incredible opportunities. You grow in ways you never thought possible. It's a lot to process. Take your time, and do it your own way. There is no right or wrong. Listen to your intuition. One day, you'll look back and realize how each step you took along the way led you to exactly where you needed to be. ☙

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Next: a href="/cca/rita-farin/expressive-movement-art-forms.html">Expressive Movement and Life Lessons

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Enjoy more of Rita Farin's creativity coaching illumination on Creativity Portal. Her blog is also an inspiring treat — a real look at the creative challenges faced by a woman who is living her creative dreams and writing about them at ritafarin.blogspot.com.

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©2009 Molly J. Anderson. All rights reserved.

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