FOR CREATIVES WHO IMAGINE A BETTER WORLD
THE LEAP
a 6-month intensive in radical self-trust, recovering joy, & redefining your work
Take a second and do a thought experiment with me:
You’ve time-travelled one year into the future.
You’re reflecting with quiet amazement at everything you’ve created in the last year.
And not just in your creative work itself, but in your relationships, your daily routines, the way you talk to yourself when you wake up.
You now finish a project and feel a rush of pride because it captures something real and powerful.
Doom-scrolling? That’s not your go-to move. And if it does happen, you don’t dwell; you just gently move on.
Those big creative risks you keep thinking about? They’re part of your every-day life now. They’re not just ideas anymore, but facts.
Your notebook is bursting with new ideas, and you can’t wait to bring them to life.
You receive “feedback” with a wise smile. It doesn’t validate you OR take you down.
All the self-doubt, confusion, and perfectionism that used to feel so true has transformed into insight you now use to fuel you, to trust yourself more.
The best part is, you feel POWERFULLY ALIVE again. Whether you’re actively “working” or not. Because the relationship between you and your creative process is that good.
This is totally available to you in every step of the creative process: from the dreaming, to the confusing middle parts where you’re putting it all together, to releasing it into the world, to making new routines.
No matter how established you are (or aren’t), building a more intimate, trusting, exciting, and stable relationship with your creativity is the most powerful thing you can do for yourself and your work.
Once you’ve done this kind of work, nothing can take it away.
Hi, I’m Maria. I’m like a marriage counselor for you and your highest creativity.
Ever wonder what doing this inner work really means in practice? Here’s how it’s looked in my life:
Writing and finding a publisher for a whole book after struggling with writing anxiety for decades (Release date in early 2025)
Dropping out of a top-10 MFA program when I was almost done once I realized my work, and my life, was leading me elsewhere
Changing and growing in public, letting my work grow with me, even though I used to think I was a dyed-in-the-wool “perfectionist” who could never let people into my process
Creating a business that supports my family
Finding my people — brilliant, open-minded, fascinating people — who connect with my strange, uncategorizable work
How it looks for you will be unique and surprising. That’s the fun part; doing it your way. Creating this way is not painful, but it is different.
The old model of creating, based on the post-industrial rules rewarding constant productivity, force, and individualism, has seeped into a lot of well-meaning creative advice.
It leads to:
Bursts of creative output followed by long periods of drought and doubt
Feeling “meh” about your work — that it’s fine, but not as alive as you know it could be
White-knuckling through work that was supposed to be life-giving and joyful
Feeling weird about talking about and sharing your work
But it doesn’t have to be this way.
Here’s what some people I’ve worked with have had to say…
What we’ll look at in our work together:
With the caveat that your life is your curriculum.
I treat each person as a unique whole, so there is nothing one-size-fits-all to my approach.
Loving your so-called creative blocks so much that they turn into wise breakthroughs
Locating yourself in the creative cycle, so you know what to focus on and what you can let go
Practical and spiritual strategies to hear what your inner knowing is telling you
Honing your unique voice, as it is in this point of your life
How to stop working all the time
Cultivating supportive relationships and boundaries around your time
Embracing your so-called “ugly”, inefficient, unpopular qualities so they are celebrated in your creative process, not hidden or merely tolerated
How to get started:
Respond to the prompts in the application below — crafted to give you some mini-epiphanies
Once you hit send, book an intro call where we’ll get to know each other, create a plan, answer questions, and I’ll applaud you for your courage to explore. There’s no pressure to say “yes” on this call. If it’s not a good fit, it will still be a great use of our time.
The details: 6 months 1:1 coaching
Investment: $5000. Payment plan available with no extra fees.