Your word is IDENTIFY

There’s a voice that shows up when you sit down to create — the one that says “who are you to make this?” or “this has already been done better” or “you’re not really creative.”

You’ve heard it. You’ve been noticing it for a while.

This word is about giving that voice edges, so it starts being something you can work beside.

This is how I practice it. Your way will look different.

Sit with it

Close-up of a watercolor painting with wavy, multicolored lines, a paintbrush resting on the paper.

Try this

The next time you feel resistance, you don’t have to push through it.

Name it. Ask: “When did I first learn this story?” It could be childhood. It could be this morning.

I’ve named voices that go back thirty years and voices that showed up in the middle of a sentence I was writing last week.

They’re all workable once you see them.

Sit with these

  • Whose voice is loudest when I think about sharing my work?

  • What story am I telling myself about what I’m allowed to create?

  • If I removed the word “should” from my creative life, what would be left?

Carry this

Naming my resistance doesn’t make it disappear. It makes it something I can work beside.

If you want to go further, you can

This is one word in a practice with six. If you want to sit with all of them — the prompts, the questions, the space to write — the RIPPLE Practice Workbook is the companion I made for that.

Get the RIPPLE Practice Workbook →

It's free. I just ask for your email so I can stay in touch.

A Gentle Reminder

Your creative needs shift with life’s rhythms. The word that found you today is simply a reflection of where you are right now — not where you’ll always be.

If you took this quiz next week, next month, or next year, you might discover a completely different word calling to you. That’s not inconsistency — that’s being human.

Your creative spirit is allowed to need different things in different seasons.

Take the quiz again →

An illustration of handpainted leaves.

The Practice Deepens in Community

There are many ways into this work. Where you go next depends on how you process — not on what your word was.

Be With Mansi is a monthly live gathering on Zoom.

No agenda. No performance.

Just a space to sit, create, reflect, or simply be—together.

If you’ve been craving connection without pressure, this is where we meet. Come when it calls to you. No need to commit.

$10/sliding scale

Inside the Studio is where the work between the work happens.

The beginnings, the experiments, the things that don’t quite work—but matter anyway.

If you want to stay close to my creative practice, you’re invited in.

$10/month or $108/year