0:17

Hey everyone, Larissa Russell of

0:17

Creative U Healing. And today I

0:21

have with me, Lauri Ingram.

0:21

Lauri combines over 40 years of

0:24

corporate experience and deep

0:24

passion for spiritual well

0:28

being, through creative

0:28

practices, grounded in mindful

0:31

practices. Lauri guides her

0:31

clients to discover their true

0:35

authentic selves. Lauri offers

0:35

both one on one work, as well as

0:39

small and large group

0:39

presentation, and workshops

0:42

offering practical and real

0:42

world ways to connect with your

0:45

true nature and allow your life

0:45

path to unfold. So welcome, Lauri.

0:50

Thank you very, very excited to

0:50

be here.

0:53

As always, yes. Well, I'm

0:53

excited to have you first time

0:56

on the podcast, which is great.

0:56

Thank you for that. And so for

1:01

those who don't know, can you

1:01

share some of your story and

1:04

what's brought you to where you are now? Sure, and it's, you know, my

1:07

story really has to I like to

1:12

describe it and to pass. You

1:12

know, like so many people that I

1:18

have met my age. I'm in my 60s,

1:18

full disclosure, when I was

1:23

growing up, I was very creative.

1:23

I was always coloring and

1:27

creating and just, I used to

1:27

create little worlds in the

1:31

woods, you know, I was always

1:31

there. But then moving into

1:36

adulthood, it became get a job,

1:36

right? Don't go to art school

1:41

like you wanted. And I ended up

1:41

in, in computer technology,

1:47

information technology. And I

1:47

just wrapped up about a month

1:52

ago, a 40 plus year career in

1:52

corporate information

1:57

technology. And the other half

1:57

of my path is I was raised

2:03

Catholic, and went to Catholic

2:03

school. And it never really

2:08

resonated with me. And I always

2:08

had this interest in I didn't

2:15

know what to call it. But I

2:15

always felt like there was

2:18

something else going on in the

2:18

world. Right that the, you know,

2:23

I used to, was interested in

2:23

oracle cards. And I remember I

2:27

changed and I had a Ouija board.

2:27

I was reading a lot I had this

2:31

existential crisis when I was a

2:31

teenager of of what happens when

2:37

I die, you know, and I was

2:37

always questioning, but I really

2:42

couldn't share that with anybody

2:42

at the time. So, so So take that

2:48

interest that was always there,

2:48

right. And this life of

2:51

corporate, you know, tamping

2:51

down my true self. Life happens.

2:59

You know, married, divorce had

2:59

all sorts of stuff. But 10 years

3:03

ago, I realized that I wasn't

3:03

thriving. I think that's the

3:07

word, right? My life, I was not

3:07

very fulfilled in what I was

3:12

doing, even though I enjoyed the

3:12

people I worked with. And I had

3:16

the opportunity to do some kind

3:16

of fun, creative things. And

3:20

that really propelled me on

3:20

pretty rapid, spiritual journey,

3:26

where I rediscovered my

3:26

creativity. You know, I ended up

3:30

in a seminary, I was trained in

3:30

different crystal modalities,

3:34

and it's all kind of come full

3:34

circle, to now, this is the work

3:40

I do with people. And the

3:40

creative modalities, I use it

3:45

primarily art journaling, and I

3:45

follow the Cosmic smash book

3:48

process. But I weave in the

3:48

spirituality and the crystals

3:52

and color and it all really ties

3:52

together. The journey that I

3:57

went on, I now share that, that

3:57

process with others.

4:02

I think that's so true of so

4:02

many women, right? They do what

4:07

they're supposed to do. Yes,

4:07

that yeah, go into corporate do

4:12

all the things that they're

4:12

supposed to do have the kid and

4:14

then they get to a certain point

4:14

in their life, and they're like,

4:17

whoa, this isn't really what I

4:17

want. Is this really what I

4:21

want? And I call that tapping

4:21

into your feminine divine when

4:24

you start to pay attention, and

4:24

you start to go I there's

4:29

something more for me, I know

4:29

there's something right. And I

4:34

think that's so important when

4:34

you actually follow that so

4:37

and follow the breadcrumbs as my

4:37

spiritual mentor used to call it

4:41

with me. She said, just follow

4:41

the breadcrumbs back one step at

4:44

a time. Just find that thing

4:44

that's calling to you. You know,

4:51

and I also went through to eight

4:51

years ago now breast cancer,

4:55

which really knocked me for a

4:55

loop and really gave me this

5:00

almost sense of urgency like,

5:00

wow, you know, Laurie, the rug

5:06

could, you know, you could,

5:06

everything could change,

5:08

everything did change in a

5:08

matter of, you know, a day,

5:11

right, everything in my life

5:11

totally changed. And that really

5:15

shifted my perspective a lot in

5:15

terms of, you know, don't waste

5:23

any more time. You know, when we

5:23

sometimes we say the, you know,

5:27

if you're not paying attention,

5:27

the universe kind of hits you

5:29

upside the head. You know, that

5:29

was my you know, but there's,

5:37

there's, there's gifts and

5:37

everything. And the gift for me

5:40

was really embracing who I

5:40

really am.

5:43

Yeah, I hear that from a lot of

5:43

people who have gone through

5:47

cancer, actually, that it really

5:47

is an eye opener in making you

5:53

pay attention to what you want

5:53

in your life. Am I really doing

5:57

what I want with my life?

5:57

Because, you know, this, this

6:00

could be a very limited, and

6:00

that's a wake up call. And so

6:05

yeah, we we have many

6:05

generations in my family of

6:09

cancer, women, breast cancer and

6:09

uterine cancer. And it was

6:15

definitely I think that wake up

6:15

point for everyone. If I think

6:19

back to, that's right. And so

6:19

it's like, let's not wait till

6:24

them, you know, after

6:24

generations, can we? When can we

6:28

start sooner? I didn't wait for

6:28

them. I did wait for you know, a

6:31

major depressive episode. almost

6:31

killed me. But yeah, let's,

6:38

and we all have those points in

6:38

our lives. And they come in many

6:41

different ways, right? It can be

6:41

that depression that you've

6:45

really struggled to get out of,

6:45

or the end debilitating anxiety

6:49

or the health issue, or there's

6:49

so many ways it can happen to

6:55

us. But it's that it's just that

6:55

listening to your heart and

7:01

saying what is really, you know,

7:01

what, is my soul really telling

7:05

me here? Can I hear it? And can

7:05

I honor it and follow it? And,

7:10

and, and for me, it was a little

7:10

bit of the time, you know, it's

7:14

been eight years of just eight

7:14

to 10 years of just trying

7:17

different things and following

7:17

what I loved and doing this work

7:21

part time. Until you know, I'm

7:21

coming up on on 65 And I said

7:28

you know if I don't do it now

7:28

when am I really gonna just do

7:32

this? Yeah, it really dive into it. So

7:34

yeah, it's, it's, it's scary and

7:40

exciting all at the same time. But it's funny you say that because

7:43

my granddaughter went into

7:46

kindergarten yesterday. And so I

7:46

talked to her the day before.

7:49

And I said, Are you excited?

7:49

She's like, excited and nervous

7:52

and cuddling. Yes. You know,

7:52

emotions are not just one thing.

7:56

It makes sense that you're more

7:56

than one. And yeah, it is. And

8:00

every day is a new adventure

8:00

when you work for yours.

8:04

I'm learning that actually, yes,

8:04

but it's but creativity to okay,

8:09

like I tell my clients is so

8:09

many things, right? It's, you

8:15

know, we're always creating,

8:15

even if we're not necessarily,

8:19

you know, we don't, I don't

8:19

consider myself an artist, but

8:22

we're always creating, whether

8:22

we're actually working with our

8:24

hands and color and painting, or

8:24

we're writing, I do a lot of

8:29

work with crystals. And I create

8:29

crystal grids with nature, you

8:33

know, there, that's creativity.

8:33

Just creating your day in your,

8:38

you know, scarf, you choose to

8:38

wear the it's, it's always a

8:44

creative process. And I say that often to people

8:46

who say they're not creative,

8:49

I'm like, You are alive, you are

8:49

creative. We are creating our

8:54

reality all the time we create

8:54

the day we how we you create,

8:58

you know, how we experience

8:58

things we create. For me, it's

9:02

spreadsheets, love spreadsheets. That's very creative. I think

9:05

that's why I was drawn to

9:08

computer programming. Computer

9:08

programming was very creative.

9:11

It was telling a story and

9:11

creating a story. And, you know,

9:16

and for me running the creative

9:16

part of running my businesses, I

9:20

do my own website, I do my own

9:20

social, because I love that

9:24

because that is that is a

9:24

different way of creating for

9:27

me. Yeah, absolutely. So creativity

9:28

is in everything we do, and we

9:32

just need to embrace that

9:32

embrace let's do it.

9:36

Absolutely. Absolutely. You

9:36

know, regardless of what you're

9:39

doing to there's always that

9:39

path to healing I you know, and,

9:44

and it's healing as well as it's

9:44

just self a lot of it is self

9:47

discovery. You know, just

9:47

finding what finding what really

9:55

calls to you and that's what I

9:55

love about the Cosmic Smash Book

9:59

process. It's an energetic

9:59

spiritual process of journaling,

10:04

and layers and colors and you

10:04

can make a mess or you can do a

10:07

collage, it doesn't really

10:07

matter. It's a lot, it's really

10:11

just creating space for

10:11

something to speak to you, in an

10:18

unexpected way. And anything we

10:18

do creatively does give us that

10:22

opportunity if we can, you know,

10:22

just being curious about that

10:28

healing, and that, that return

10:28

to wholeness that we are, we are

10:32

whole, we just sometimes need to

10:32

be reminded of how we get back

10:37

there. I find it's so interesting,

10:39

like, Kat has the Cosmic Smash

10:44

Booking. And it's something that

10:44

I've done for years and years

10:48

and years didn't have a name

10:48

that I loved, that she liked.

10:52

Yeah, made it a thing right

10:52

later the thing, you know what

10:55

that is now and, and it's just

10:55

made it such a thing. And it's

10:59

like, Yeah, cuz it's an amazing

10:59

healing tool. And you know,

11:02

different things like that I

11:02

love when it becomes a thing for

11:05

people. It's the same with near

11:05

near graphic art right now.

11:09

Popular, I have literally been

11:09

doing that since I was a child.

11:13

And it's labeled. Now it has a

11:13

name, now it has a

11:15

name right? Zentangle, that was

11:15

always, you know, that

11:19

zentangling when I was looking

11:22

at the side of your page. But it's but you're right, when

11:24

it has a thing, then people that

11:28

becomes more mainstream, and I

11:28

do does that abundance to the

11:33

more people that are, that it

11:33

reaches, whatever it is, the

11:38

more people It reaches, the more

11:38

we collectively heal. And that's

11:45

how the world changes, it's one

11:45

person at a time, right? It's,

11:48

it's each of us, you know, going

11:48

down that process. And then

11:53

eventually, you know, you get

11:53

this steamroller of, and the

11:57

community that comes with it to,

11:57

you know, the supportive

12:00

community that you have, that

12:00

all these different modes, you

12:03

know, different creative

12:03

modalities, all have these

12:06

wonderful supportive

12:06

communities, as well.

12:10

And that's one of the big

12:10

things, I think the internet has

12:13

changed things, the you know,

12:13

because we can collaborate from

12:16

around the world. But that

12:16

collaborative energy, I know a

12:19

lot of people, when they're

12:19

starting their business, they

12:21

worry about, you know, people

12:21

stealing their ideas or things

12:24

like that. And I find that whole

12:24

collaborative effort. And that

12:29

energy that we create together

12:29

is so expansive. And, and we

12:35

feed off of each other, and we,

12:35

you know, learn from each other,

12:40

we share from each other. I

12:40

don't know, it just gives me

12:44

goosebumps right now to think

12:44

about it. Because it has been

12:47

what I've built my business on

12:47

is that collaborative effort.

12:50

And I think it's so important in

12:50

changing the world

12:54

is it really it's amazing to me

12:54

when I when I do your different

12:59

the different summits that you

12:59

offer, and I'll go to some I'll

13:04

do, you know, one of the

13:04

sessions someone else offers and

13:09

something I've never tried

13:09

before. And I'll have fun, which

13:13

we often don't give ourselves

13:13

permission to but but then I

13:18

noticed that it unlocks

13:18

something as well in it. And it

13:22

just becomes this spaciousness

13:22

of new ideas start to emerge of,

13:28

oh, you know, I could do this,

13:28

or I could do that, or I Yeah,

13:33

does that enough time in a day

13:33

for all the things I'd love? I'd

13:38

love to I'd love to play with.

13:38

But, you know, for me, the joy

13:43

is when I work with a client or

13:43

somebody and they have an

13:47

unexpected aha moment. Oh, yeah.

13:47

Because, you know, you create

13:52

space for them. And, and, and

13:52

then they have this unlocking

13:57

of, Wow, I didn't realize what

13:57

was really at the heart of the

14:02

challenge that I have. Or the

14:02

other thing I do with my clients

14:07

is I it's a it's a process, it

14:07

takes several months, but I

14:12

actually work with them on a

14:12

spiritual life map. When we

14:16

actually look at our lives or

14:16

their lives, from a spiritual

14:21

perspective, you know, from the

14:21

time you were a child to now

14:26

what is your relationship been

14:26

with? Whatever you call Spirit,

14:31

God, universe, whatever. Right?

14:31

What is that relationship in?

14:36

When was when was spirit there

14:36

for you? When wasn't it there?

14:41

Right? When did it leave you

14:41

when did it you know, maybe let

14:45

you down? And what was that

14:45

relationship and how does it

14:50

inform you now in your

14:50

relationship, because most

14:54

people come to me because

14:54

they're seeking a deeper

14:58

relationship with their own

14:58

spirituality and what that means

15:03

in So looking at where they've

15:03

come from, and then having that

15:08

inform where they go now, you

15:08

know, and I have clients that

15:13

work with me who use different

15:13

creative ways to get there,

15:17

whether it's, you know, poetry,

15:17

you know, altered books, Cosmic

15:22

Smash Booking, whatever it might

15:22

be, it's amazing. When we look

15:28

at our lives as, as a process

15:28

that we're going, there's a

15:32

thread that follows our lives.

15:32

And we often forget what that

15:37

thread might be. But it's there,

15:37

we just need to look at our

15:42

lives perhaps a little bit

15:42

differently. And then just a

15:46

regular of story, you know.

15:50

And I think that reflection part

15:50

and looking at what those

15:53

threads are, what the patterns

15:53

have been things like that,

15:58

throughout your life is really

15:58

important, because we often

16:00

don't pay attention to that. And

16:00

that's when I say, spirit, you

16:04

know, hits me upside the head

16:04

with a two by four, because I

16:07

haven't paid attention to those

16:07

patterns. And so, if we don't,

16:10

then we have to repeat them

16:10

until we do. And so it's really

16:14

important to, to pay attention. My first work

16:15

with really healing art

16:19

journaling. Seven or eight years

16:19

ago, was taking pictures of

16:24

myself as a child with my

16:24

parents, and using those in art

16:28

journals, but but through kind

16:28

of a reflection, meditation,

16:33

contemplation, putting myself in

16:33

the picture, right? And really

16:38

feeling into, you know, what was

16:38

I thinking, then? What would

16:43

what did I perceive that I was

16:43

feeling, or my mother may have

16:47

been feeling of my father may

16:47

have, and that started my whole

16:50

process of journaling, which

16:50

then became art journaling, and

16:57

was a tremendous healing

16:57

opportunity for me. That really

17:03

helped me look at my childhood a

17:03

lot differently. And in

17:09

periodically, you know, you go

17:09

back to those pictures, and I

17:13

don't remember them. But yet,

17:13

there's something there. Right.

17:19

When you when you can travel

17:19

back to those moments and, and

17:22

and connect to it to Yes, yeah.

17:26

Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely.

17:30

So one of the questions I asked

17:30

all my guests is, what does

17:33

healing with creativity mean to

17:33

you? And I think we've talked

17:36

about it a fair bit, but maybe

17:36

you have a answer you'd like to

17:39

give, I liken it to, if we have talked

17:40

about it a little bit, but it's

17:45

really, to me a journey inward

17:45

and healing, healing now, those

17:51

parts of us that maybe we're not

17:51

aware of. So it's a combination

17:56

of self discovery, giving

17:56

ourselves permission. Um, it's

18:02

an exercise of letting go of

18:02

that inner critic that we all

18:06

have. But essentially, it's a

18:06

trip to authenticity, to get to

18:13

that essence within us, that is

18:13

perfect. That is whole that is

18:20

infinitely creative, where there

18:20

are just there's no limit to the

18:26

possibilities. But using

18:26

creativity and healing, that

18:29

kind of going through those

18:29

layers of the onion proverbial

18:33

layers of the onion to get

18:33

there. Yeah, yeah.

18:37

So it's funny layers of the

18:37

onion is such a common phrase

18:40

that's used, I've actually

18:40

started using, like a ball of

18:44

yarn, where you have the string

18:44

and there's like a knot. And

18:48

then you have to stop and untie

18:48

the knot and then pull the

18:52

string. I find that, because you

18:52

sometimes have to stop and like,

18:56

oh, yeah, and some of those

18:56

knots can be difficult to get

19:00

out. They can be knotted again,

19:00

that's a great analogy actually.

19:04

Might be stealing that one. But

19:04

that's fair. That's that is

19:08

create, you know, that is

19:08

creativity. And we were even

19:12

working in Cosmic Smash Booking

19:12

or anything I do with

19:15

creatively, I always stop and

19:15

say, when is it done? You know,

19:19

when you have anything if you've

19:19

made when is it done? How do you

19:24

know it's done? It's a good

19:24

practice of intuition of

19:27

listening. Of what does this

19:27

page have to tell you? Is this

19:31

page done speaking to you? You

19:31

know, and then how do you end it

19:35

and honor it? For what it's told

19:35

you? Yes. Yeah. Like, I've loved

19:39

this conversation that we've

19:39

been having. Is there anything

19:43

else you'd like to share with

19:43

our listeners that maybe we

19:47

haven't discussed today? No, I don't think so. I do. You

19:51

know, I do appreciate the

19:55

opportunity. I, you know, like

19:55

everybody else I'm exploring as

19:59

well. and everything I share

19:59

with with with folks has been

20:04

work that has been very valuable

20:04

to me on my journey. So I share

20:11

from whence I came, so to speak.

20:11

So I appreciate that.

20:16

Yes, that's excellent. And you

20:16

have a free gift.

20:20

I do, I created a little guide

20:20

that folks can, can can get. And

20:25

one of the things I do whenever

20:25

I'm creating is I create a

20:29

little sacred space can be

20:29

little can be big, it can be

20:34

temporary, it can stay around

20:34

for a while. But I wrote a

20:38

little guide on how I go through

20:38

the process, with some

20:42

suggestions on how someone might

20:42

begin that kind of practice, to

20:47

invite in divine inspiration

20:47

through create, and it's another

20:52

creative process, creating a

20:52

little you can call it altar

20:57

sacred space is lots of ways to

20:57

do it. So yeah, little little

21:01

file with pictures and

21:01

instructions and a little,

21:05

little something for everybody. So

21:09

while we will make sure the link

21:09

is there, because that can be

21:11

found on your website, I

21:11

believe. Yes. So we'll have the

21:14

link there. And I just want to

21:14

thank you so much for being here

21:17

today. Oh, thank you. Always a

21:18

pleasure. Thank you.

21:22

To our listeners. We will see

21:22

you again next time and in the

21:34

meantime, I wish for you

21:34

amazingly creative days.