🎯 What Happens When You Choose Purpose Over Fear?
Hi there, lovely human! If you’re here, it probably means you’re curious about living with more intention, creativity, or just a little less dopamine chaos. I’m so glad you’ve landed on this corner of the internet-it’s one I pour my heart into.
If this article resonates with you or sparks even a tiny shift in how you see yourself and your habits, I’d be so grateful if you considered subscribing (it’s free!) or leaving a tip to keep this space alive. Writing is a labor of love, and knowing it reaches people like you makes every word worth it. Thank you for being here-for reading, reflecting, and showing up. You’re the reason I do what I do. 💛
Now, let’s dive in…
🎯 What Happens When You Choose Purpose Over Fear?
💭 Purpose Has a Funny Way of Finding Me
I don’t know about you, but I think about my purpose a lot.
Like when I finished a very intensive course that took a toll on my health only to be told that some positions wouldn’t be offered to me because the organization preferred Caucasians.
Or when I went against my imposter syndrome and raised funds through my first art fundraiser.
Or when I took a sharp pivot into creative wellness during a career quake.
Or when I’m walking in the mountains, soothing my nerves with the quaint fragrance of kaffir lime.
But every time I host a creative workshop, every time I share an illustration that laughs at life instead of crying I feel something shift. Every time I write my Monday Substack articles or when I am working on my book I get that same feeling…
Like I’m part of something bigger.
Like I’m contributing to a greater good.
📖 Creative Journaling Kept Me Sane, So I Had to Share It
Creative journaling kept me sane through my career quake and a demanding postgraduate degree. And I felt it was my responsibility to share this with more people because I had found something that worked for me, something that calmed my nerves, something that brought me joy.
Like they say: write the book you want to read. Well, I also believe in being the person I want to meet, someone who makes creativity accessible, joyful, and healing.
At first, I realized that creative journaling is amazing, but also resource-heavy. Unless you go to a workshop like mine where everything is prepared and laid out for you it's hard to engage in it outside of work or burnout mode.
🎨 Enter Illustrated Journaling, My Sweet Spot
That’s when I discovered illustrated journaling- a sweet middle ground between visuals and writing. Something completely mindful, easy to pick up, and deeply personal.
It’s perfect for documenting your life with creative freedom. Great for busy people who want a break, enjoy the process, and love seeing a finished result like a personal memory.
Accessible. On the go. Healing.
Perfect for that creative stuck place or for the person who wants to get back to their creative play and self-expression.
🌟 What These Sessions Have Taught Me (and Why I Keep Going)
So far, I’ve run three sessions of this initiative, and it’s taken shape so beautifully, mostly because so many of you resonated with it.
And honestly? Facilitating these sessions made me slow down and distill my own creative process in a way that made it easier for others to do the same.
Get this emotions bank for all types of facial expressions!
I felt responsible for empowering others with something that came intuitively to me and I was passionate about it because I know how much I look forward to those 30 minutes of documenting my day through those illustrated spreads.
How much I laugh at the ironies in my life now that I illustrate them.
The character I draw for myself looks very childlike. That’s because as a child, I wasn’t carefree. I grew up too fast mentally due to the atmosphere at home. Now that things are more settled, I’m healing my inner child through that character.
But beyond all of this, what keeps convincing me that this might be my purpose are the stories from my participants.
One wrote that she’d be using illustrated journaling to document her IVF journey , something I can barely imagine the emotional weight of. Another shared how my sessions inspired her to return to creativity and how much happier it’s made her.
Happiness is something we all want yet struggle to find. If my sessions bring even a little of that to anyone, that’s all the sign I need to keep going.
Reading that I inspired someone creatively is the most rewarding thing. This was from a fellow substacker who attended my session,
. Another participant said she loves drawing, learning and having fun and that she gets to do all three in my sessions.
The first cohort has turned into this beautiful creative community that feeds off each other’s enthusiasm and support.I knew I’d succeeded as a facilitator when my mouse stopped working mid-session and one of the participants,
, took over the banter while I had a mini panic attack trying to fix my tech. It was no longer a session I was hosting, but more like our session.
🎯 Why I Teach Differently — and Why It Matters
Creativity is often how we express our inner truth and when people feel disconnected from purpose, creativity can be a doorway back in. And through these sessions, I’m finding mine.
I’ve been an artist for over a decade, but I never really taught art except for a few workshops here and there. Because creativity is a gift and it needs to be nurtured, not forced. It has to be taught in a way that harnesses a person’s inner creativity and adds to it.
That’s why I never teach art in schools places that often crush creativity with rules, shoulds, and overwhelming technical instruction that focuses on the product, not the process.
So while planning these workshops, it was so important for me to be the kind of teacher who makes you feel equipped to create more not less.
And I am so glad to have y’all. 🥹🥹🥹
Having this little community and the camaraderie we share during and after the sessions is priceless.
I may be the one teaching, but like I’ve always said throughout my teaching career I end up learning just as much, if not more.
So much about the craft.
So much about the language.
So much about connection.
📝 Next Week: Reflections & Learnings From This Round
I’ve learned so many things that I’ll be sharing in next week’s post especially since this will be the last session of the current round. I’ll be reflecting on my process for designing these workshops, what worked, what surprised me, and what I’ll carry forward.
But before that happens…
📅 Join Me for the Next Round Starting July 11th!
If you’ve ever felt creatively stuck…
If you miss creating just for the joy of it…
If you want to explore illustrated journaling in a warm, supportive space…
Then I’d love for you to join us.
Seats are limited and we’re already filling up.
Give yourself and your creativity a chance.
Before I go, I’d love to ask:
What does creativity mean to you? How has it helped you connect with your purpose?
Drop a reply or comment I’d love to hear your story.
With warmth and wonder,
Urmila
Enjoyed reading this a lot, best illustration I've seen so far
One of the best things I came across today