Your Most Creative Year

There’s something powerful about the start of a new year — not because everything magically
changes overnight, but because we’re given a moment to pause, reflect, and choose how we want to move forward.

You can stumble into a new year and hope for the best…or you can gently, intentionally create it.
In this yearly planning session, I invite you to do something a little different. Instead of jumping
straight into goals, schedules, and to-do lists, we begin by listening — to your intuition, your
inner artist, and the parts of you that already know what you need next. This is about creating a year that feels nourishing, creative, and aligned — one step at a time.

If you’d like to experience this process you can watch the full video here:

Two Ways of Knowing: Thinking + Intuition

When we talk about planning, we usually live in the thinking side of the brain — the part that
organizes, schedules, analyzes, and problem-solves. That side is incredibly valuable.
But creativity doesn’t live there alone.
Creativity is born from the relationship between imagination and will — intuition and action,
dreaming and doing. When we invite both sides of ourselves into the process, planning becomes
something entirely different. It becomes expansive instead of restrictive.
Some of us lean naturally toward intuition. Others feel safer in structure. Both are perfect. The
goal isn’t to change who you are — it’s to let all of you participate.
So before we ask how anything will happen, we start by asking what wants to happen.

Looking Back: When Did You Feel Most Alive?

One of the most powerful places to gather information isn’t in the future — it’s in the past. Think back over the last year… or even your life as a whole.

• When did you feel most alive?
• Most yourself?
• Most creative?
• Most joyful?
• What were you doing?
• Who were you with?
• How did it feel in your body?

These moments are not accidents. They’re clues. The more we understand what truly lights us up, the more intentionally we can weave those elements into our daily lives and creative practices.

Looking Ahead: Dreaming Without Limits

Now comes the fun part. Imagine the year ahead with no constraints — no “shoulds,” no practicality checks, no editing. If this year unfolded better than your wildest dreams:

• How would you spend your days?
• What would you make?
• What would you learn?
• What skills would you love to grow or explore?
• Maybe it’s a quilt you’ve been dreaming of.
• Maybe it’s learning color more deeply.
• Maybe it’s play, rest, travel, connection, or simply having more fun.
• There are no wrong answers here — only honest ones.

How Do You Want to Feel?

Before goals come feelings. How you feel on a day-to-day basis shapes everything else — your energy, your choices, your creativity, and ultimately your life.

Ask yourself:
How do I want to feel this year?
When we prioritize feeling states first, goals naturally align to support them.

Clearing Space for What Matters

Creativity needs room to breathe. As you think about what you want to grow or create this year, it’s equally important to ask:

• What might get in the way?
• What’s filling my plate right now?
• Where am I overcommitted?

Sometimes the most loving creative act is saying no — clearing space so something new can
arrive. Nature loves a vacuum. When we intentionally make room, life rushes in to fill it.

Creating Supportive Structure (Without Losing the Fun)

Structure doesn’t have to feel rigid or restrictive — it can be supportive, gentle, and freeing.
That might look like:

• Setting aside regular creative time
• Working in small projects or studies
• Exploring techniques one month at a time
• Creating accountability through community
• Allowing yourself to play without pressure to finish everything

Some people thrive with schedules. Others create best when following curiosity. There’s no right
way — only your way.

Choosing a Theme for the Year

Rather than a long list of resolutions, you might choose a single guiding word or theme.

Wild creativity.
Play.
Rest.
Exploration.
Connection.

Let it be something that feels alive in your body. Write it down. Put it somewhere visible. Let it quietly guide your choices throughout the year. Once the dreaming is done, we gently invite structure back in.
What would support you?

• A class?
• A creative community?
• A series to work within?
• Small, approachable projects?
• Dedicated studio time?

Inside Meander, there are many ways to support this kind of intentional creativity — from
technique exploration and design work to color confidence and working in series. These tools
exist to serve you, not the other way around. 

FREE DOWNLOAD

I encourage you to download the accompanying planning guide and spend a few quiet moments working through it. Notice what stood out, what energized you, and what you’re longing to make space for this year. Those insights are worth paying attention to.

Creativity Is Imagination + Will

Everything you create — a quilt, a habit, a year, a life — begins with imagination and is brought into being through will.

First, you imagine.
Then, you take the next small step.
That’s it.
I’m so excited to create alongside you this year. Please share what you’re dreaming, making, and
exploring. There is art only you can make, and we cannot wait to see it unfold.