The Creative Life Can Be Unyieldingly Difficult
It can feel overwhelming — especially in a competitive space that never stops moving.
I know this firsthand. After I began my creative life, I fell victim to the same fears and limiting beliefs that 99% of my colleagues did:
A lack of self-confidence
A scarcity mindset
Crushing imposter syndrome
A debilitating fear of failure
Even a fear of success
In the chaos that followed, I found myself searching for clarity, calm, and a new direction. Nothing made sense any longer.
Something had to change.
A few Zen practices provided the calm I needed
I wasn’t a Buddhist when I adopted the Zen practices that helped me find my way back to a calmer center. That would occur years later.
It was through solitude, simplicity, and three other Zen-inspired practices that I began implementing that I soon started feeling less overwhelmed, less stressed, and experiencing fewer panic episodes.
With practice and some guidance from a mentor or teacher, I developed more confidence and less doubt.
These are the same practices I share in my book, My Journey from Chaos To Clarity.
When You Wish To Go Deeper
My frustrations with organized religion centered around what I saw as passive control. Buddhist ceremonies initially affected me the same way other religious traditions did—as methods to control followers by urging conformity to certain behaviors.
Although I understand how ritual can keep one on a spiritual path during times of apathy, it sometimes feels controlling.
Through daily practice, I kept returning to three foundational elements for anyone wishing to establish a meaningful Buddhist practice separate from organized communities: meditation, mindfulness, and compassionate kindness.
"Practical Zen" emerged as an appropriate description for a minimal, more accessible triad of Buddhist practices.