Creativity
To think outside the box
Season: Spring
Element: Wood
Moon: Quarter
Sense: Sight (Eyes)
External Work: Office / Workout Areas
Internal Work: Anger (Imbalance) & Patience (Balance)
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I will also be hosting a Substack Live on Thursday, March 26, 2026, from 1:00pm - 1:30pm EST for a Qi Gong Practice. The 30 minute practice will consist of a relaxing yet energizing set of movements focused on the wood element and creativity. I will also be putting the video up for FREE that evening for those of you who are not able to make it in the afternoon. The video will go into the paid feed the following day, so don’t miss out by becoming a paid subscriber:
Finally, I will be hosting a feng shui workshop at The Leslie Studio, 4290 Cascade Rd. SE
Grand Rapids, MI 49546, on Saturday, April 11, 2026 from 10am - 11:30am. The workshop will feature the bagua and tips and tricks on how to apply it to aspects of your life. Reserve a spot by contacting The Leslie Studio via phone at 616-942-9322 or their website.
Wednesday is the first quarter moon in the feng shui element of wood and the season of spring here in the Northern Hemisphere. Per Sarah Faith Gottesdiener’s The Moon Book, “This phase corresponds with balance. This is a perfect time for integration.” In feng shui, the first quarter moon is associated with wood, which is the element we are now in during spring. If you have not done so yet, try to integrate the attributes of this element into your everyday: embrace creativity, grow into new ideas, and expand your mind.
If you are reading this, I know you are trying to grow and expand (bravo!), but I also know it can be very difficult. Learning new ways of doing things and deprograming from what no longer serves us can be challenging, so don’t give up and go easy on yourself. If you struggle with creativity, I highly recommend Rick Rubin’s The Creative Act: A Way of Being. Rick Rubin is a nine-time GRAMMY-winning producer and has collaborated with artists from Tom Petty to Adele, Johnny Cash to the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Beastie Boys to Slayer. The book does not have chapters per se, but 78 areas of thoughts such as “Everyone is Creative,” “The Source of Creativity,” and “Why Make Art?” It has become a daily practice for me to read a thought or two each morning for reflection and to get the creative juices flowing. If you want an introduction to the book, you can listen to Rick Rubin’s On Being with Krista Tippett interview.
When I find myself struggling with creativity during these trying times, I turn to a toolkit I created to help me stay sane and to combat the negativity I see in this world. The toolkit is as follows:
Know my values and keep coming back to them
Befriend my fears
Listen deeply to myself, others, and the world
Create calm with inspiration
Be authentic
Let the creative juices flow
Shake it off
Give myself permission to REST
Because when we know our values and listen deeply, we can fight fear and lies with inspiration and evil and harm with creativity. We can be ourselves, we can shake off negativity, and we can let go of what is no longer serving us. And once we know ourselves and are unburdened, we not only can create something new that is truly unique and miraculous but we can also rest.
Creativity doesn’t just apply to art or music. It relates to everything. It also has a lot to do with thinking outside the box because limits often create the best conditions for creativity. Here are just a couple of creative endeavors that are making me hopeful these days:
Communal Businesses & Spaces - with many small businesses being gobbled up by large corporations and many spaces being privatized, I am always happy when communal businesses and spaces pop up. As a multi-family interior designer, I am so happy when my clients add communal gardens into areas around the apartment development. And check out Green Hill Food Co-Op and Jason Simon of The Homemakers video about this communal grocery store in NYC.
Connection to Nature - with humans’ “power over” past with nature, we need to get back to our connection with the plants and animals around us. This could look like adding green roofs or walls to buildings or listening to plants on a walk or in your house. It could also be using technology to integrate plants into building supplies or packaging. Check out Grown Bio, Plantwave, The Great Reserve, and VTN Architects.
Independent Media - with legacy media being bought out by giant corporations or owners muzzling reporters, I am so happy that there are independent news sources on Substack that are being really creative with articles and videos. Check out News Not Noise, The Bulwark, and The Hopemakers.
Zero Waste Products - with consumerism and extraction running amok, I am so excited about products created from “waste.” So many companies are working to come up with new techniques to stop endlessly adding to landfills. Check out Fab_Brick, Long Wharf Supply Co., and Suay.
Hope the above inspires you to think outside of the box and to get creative!
Rest Reading
Check out all of the rest reading recommendations in Resources on my Substack page.
Rest Recipe
The other week I went to Otto’s Turkey Farm and picked up a smoked turkey leg. While at the store, the clerk recommended that I use the leg in a split pea soup. Since the weather is still chilly here in West Michigan, I thought it was high time to make this soup. So, here is the recipe for Split Pea Soup:
12 ounces dried split peas*
2 tablespoons avocado or olive oil
3 carrots
1/2 cup onion
2 stalks celery
2 cloves garlic
1 smoked turkey leg
4 sprigs thyme leaves tied with kitchen string
1 bay leaf
6 cups cool water
Salt and pepper, to taste
Peel the carrots and onion. Dice the carrots, onion, and celery. Peel and mince the garlic. In a large Dutch oven or stockpot, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat. Add the carrots, onion, celery, and garlic. Sauté for five minutes until the vegetables are tender. Add the smoked turkey leg, dried split peas, water, thyme leaves and bay leaf. Stir and cover. Heat to a boil and reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer for one hour with the lid off or set askew so steam can escape. When the peas have broken apart and soup is thick it’s ready. If the soup is too thick, add additional water one cup at a time. Remove turkey leg and let it cool until you can handle it. Pull meat off the bone and dice or shred it into bite-sized pieces. Stir in the turkey and heat through. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve.
*Split peas are considered a good food for improving sleep quality. They are packed with fiber, magnesium, and tryptophan, an amino acid that helps produce serotonin and melatonin—the hormones responsible for regulating sleep.
Rest Ritual
I am sure many of you watched the 2026 Winter Olympics and/or know all about Alysa Liu, the gold medal winner for women’s figure skating, but I had to put a special shout-out to her in this newsletter since I am still in awe of her creativity. Not only did Alysa achieve an epic comeback that culminated in a gold medal, but she did it on her own terms — imposing strict conditions for her comeback including full creative control, no weight policing, and prioritizing her enjoyment to avoid the burnout she experienced earlier in her career. By selecting her music, designing her costumes, styling her look, and crafting her choreography, Alysa’s creativity was on full display and she was joy incarnate when she was on the ice. She looked healthy, happy, and utterly relaxed. Thinking outside the box, Alysa cared more about her creative freedom than medaling. If you missed her performance and want a wonderful model of creativity, check out Alysa Liu’s gold medal performance at the 2026 Winter Olympics:
Please pass this Substack onto a friend or family member to broaden this amazing CRC community and to give the gift of rest to those who need it. As Tricia Hersey writes in her aptly named book, Rest is Resistance.
If you would like to hold a Rest Curation in your local community, please email me at abby@cascadefengshui.com for the script and music information. Or email me if you would like to organize a private pop-up Rest Curation for friends, family, or colleagues.
And if you are interested in my feng shui and interior design services, please see my website at www.cascadefengshui.com and contact me at abby@cascadefengshui.com.