Hi! I'm Damon. I help creative businesses share their message online. I also send sporadic newsletters about creative life.
what I learned from 1,096 days of meditation 🧘
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How's it going Reader? This week for me marks 3 years of daily meditation practice. It's the only "daily streak" I keep, and I'm very proud of this commitment. To me, it represents a commitment purely to myself and my own peace. I don't like to talk about meditation as some kind of "stress management hack" that will then help you "focus better at work". Though it does reduce stress, my own practice is a spiritual one. It doesn't exist to just be a productivity hack. It doesn't exist to solve a problem. In the beloved book 'Laziness Does Not Exist', Dr Devon Price says: Meditation is the most important place to start because it's not intended to solve any problems. Like expressive writing and finding various ways to "do nothing", it's explicitly about abandoning goals for a little while, letting go of stress, and restoring energy and well-being in the process. The main benefit it's brought me is this: Awareness. Both internally and externally. I'm more able to identify which things in life are most important to me. I feel more capable of questioning why I think or act a certain way. For example, I recently realised that I build momentum in my work by completing things, not by finding motivation. Finishing things (even tiny things) reduces stress for me a lot more than planning things. Writing big "brain dump" task lists is supposed to make you less overwhelmed, but it does the opposite for me. If I get a clear "done" signal, I have energy freed up to do something else. Realisations like this help me find more ways to access a creative flow state. And make me more appreciative of my own inner experiences. There's also definitely a lesson in there about just "doing", without worrying about the outcome. In 'The Creative Act', Rick Rubin says: When we go inside, we are processing what's going on outside. We're no longer separate... Ultimately, it doesn't make a difference whether your content originates on the inside or the outside. If a beautiful thought or phrase comes to mind, or if you see a beautiful sunset, one's not better than the other. Both are equally beautiful in different ways. Externally, I'm finding awareness in my new hobby of stargazing. I started going outside every evening and looking for constellations. This links to one of my most important personal values: awe. As in, a deep wonder and appreciation for things that are greater than us. And drawing inspiration from them! When I look at the night sky, I feel so much inspiration, and a deeper connection to the world. I hope by sharing this, it can bring a bit of wonder into your life too. I don't really like acknowledging the end/start of a year as some kind of boundary or milestone. Feels kind of awkward and enforced. But in the spirit of things, next year I'm hoping to create more and connect with others more 😊 Take care, happy holidays, and I'll see you in 2026, Damon P.S. if you're looking for a fun and creative way to plan the next year, get yourself the 2026 Brilliant Year workbooks. There's a business version and a life version. I'm an affiliate for the digital ones, or you can get physical copies on Amazon :) 🌱 Stuff I'm Doing Recently 🌱December Week #3 Find me on: My Website | TikTok | LinkedIn |
Damon Siseman
Hi! I'm Damon. I help creative businesses share their message online. I also send sporadic newsletters about creative life.
How's it going Reader? I thought I'd do a little end-of-the-month review with you so we can discuss what's working or not working 🤔 Sound good? You're welcome to reply and tell me about what you've been up to! This month my theme was taking action + celebrating it as much as possible. A few months ago, I wouldn’t have had the capacity to: start selling consistently, show up on social media again, create new resources, or make decisions about pricing. It took time, patience, practice, and...
Hey Reader, I had a BEAUTIFUL burst of inspiration on Wednesday 😍 You know when you go to put some small tweaks on a bit of work... but then something clicks and you're like OH F*** YEAH and you spend the day redesigning the whole thing. This is what happened with my free content repurposing guide. I decided to watch Lizzy Goddard's "Clicks Don't Lie*" training. (*affiliate link. Plsss get this if you are offering freebies or digital products it is genuinely ENLIGHTENING!) I went to tweak my...
Pre.S. I'm going to be sending more emails about these new content repurposing offers over the next few weeks. Know you're not interested? Just click here and you won't get them, but you'll still get my regular newsletter :) Hey Reader, There’s a fun kind of exhaustion that comes from trying to make content when you’re already burned out 😑 As a creative, you care A LOT about your work. You have plenty of ideas. But every time you sit down to write content that SHARES your work, you overthink....