CREATIVE LIVING WITH SUSIE HEMSTED

Caity: I would love to know a little bit about you, and who you be in the world!

Susie: I'm Susie Hemsted, and who I be in this world changes regularly so I really trust in the process of the ever evolving self. So right now, the majority of the work that I do is energy healing activations, working in the quantum and doing business coaching for female entrepreneurs who want to build an online business and online brand. I really work more with women who are wanting to build personal brands in the realm of creativity, spirituality, and weaving their spiritual nature through their business, whether that's public or whether that's just within their own process, within their business. I'm also a yoga teacher - I've been a yoga teacher for nearly a decade now, which seems wild, and that's kind of how everything began. I’m a meditation teacher, and I create online courses. So trusting the flow of spirit through me and what is meant to come through through for my community and audience. I'm a digital nomad, and in the past three years I've been traveling the world, living internationally, which is always the dream for me. I always wanted to run an online business so that I had that time freedom, financial freedom, location freedom; and with the Pandemic hitting in 2020, it was like I was basically thrown into that. Not out of choice. I lost all of my job security, and it was like, okay, the time is now. So, that’s who I be right now. I’m ready to plant my roots and be a bit more grounded in location. I feel like there's this potential from this routine and grounding in one place that things are going to be able to expand more in my business. I’m a Gemini Sun, Capricorn moon, Pisces rising, Pisces North Node - so, like spiritual business owner, traveller and multidimensional woman. 

Caity: I love that. And I'm curious, what does it mean for you to be a spiritual person? How do you explore this in your day to day life? 

Susie: So, for me, being a spiritual person is recognising that we are spiritual beings having a human experience. So our soul chose to reincarnate here on Earth at this time. So for me, what that looks like in the day is the pockets of time where I slow down and just allow life to flow, which being a Capricorn Moon can be very challenging because that's all about strategy and control and building and the Earth. It's intentional for me, some of the time, to drop into that space and carving out that time and I guess what that looks like in a more tangible way. For those who are curious about bringing more spirituality into their day-to-day it’s like just noticing the moments where you might receive something that doesn't make sense or an idea just pops into your head - in the shower on a long, meandering walk. And trusting these messages that we receive, this inspiration that we receive, and the synchronicities of life. 

Caity: How do you see the connection between spirituality and creativity? I know that's a big question… what’s the first thing that pops into your mind - in terms of your daily life or bigger picture context…

Susie: The first thing that comes to mind and that I'm seeing is the chakra system. And this is how I believe that we move through the creative process and how we manifest things. So taking something that is a spiritual concept, an idea, a download, and going through the creative process to make it earthbound. I think of it as moving through the human energy system. 

So first of all, the creative idea comes in and we see something and it's like, oh, my gosh, I want to create this in the world. Whether that be a physical product that doesn't yet exist or changing a physical product in the market to something even more refined and evolved. Or maybe it's a vision of starting a podcast or moving country or starting a business or starting a charity or any kind of creative endeavour. 

So first of all, it comes through the crown. The crown chakra is a few inches above the head. That's where we receive guidance from spirit or guidance from our guides, our angelic team, loved ones that have crossed over the universe, god, whatever mother nature, whatever you believe in, comes through the crown, and then it comes into the third eye. And this is when we'll often have the vision. So we can see that in our mind's eye of like, whoa, if this was to be made manifest, this is what it would look like. Often we can see that. 

Then we move it down from the third eye to the throat, and this is when we start to speak about it. So in my creative process, it's so important for me to have people around me that I can soundboard with, that I can grab my phone, give them a call, or jump on a session with my mentor or go into Voxer, which is like a business app, and speak to my business friends and be like, hey, this has dropped through my channel. I've had this idea, I've seen it in my third eye. I want to talk about it. And starting to bring that energy to life in the 3D, because everything is energy. And when we start to use our voice, we are expressing and bringing that energy into the world. 

Then from the throat, it goes down to the heart space. Now, this is when we drop into the heart and feel all those loving feelings around the thing, and the heart is also about connection. So this is where we start to pull in the people that we need to support us in our creative process. As we all know, nothing can truly be done fully alone. We do need other people or software or machinery. There has to be other people involved in that process. So this is when we open, expand our heart and start to bring in a community to help this vision come to life. 

Then from there we move down to the solar plexus. The solar plexus is the power portal and this energy really needs to be activated for us to have the determination, tenacity and will to succeed. So we really need to activate this space because creativity can be a very challenging process. We can receive many setbacks in the process apparent roadblocks and don't have the willpower and the will to succeed. Then we will get blocked when we get to this energy. So we want to be activating this space and it's really this warrior energy of defending your creative process and defending this idea and being like, this has to come to life. 

Then from there, we drop down into the sacral chakra, which is the birthplace. So for women, we have the womb space here. It's like literally the portal of creation. Like, it's where life is made. So the sacral chakra, whether you're a man or a woman, it's the creativity portal. And this is where really the juices start flowing and the creative process really comes to life. And this is when we're almost at the end of the creative process. It's like we're in flow state. I believe when we're in flow state, we are connected to our sacral. The sacral has that water energy element to it. It is a water element. 

So we are like in flow when we get to the sacral chakra, and then finally we move down into the root chakra, which is what connects us to the Earth. It's our stability. It's actually what connects is - it is , really the last point in the connection between the spiritual and the physical. And the way that I see it when I tap into the creative process is like, when we get to the root.

It's like a stake goes into the ground - your root goes into the ground and this ripple goes out across the earth. And this concept, this idea, this creative endeavour, it becomes manifest on the earth. So that's how I see the creative process and I can always see where I'm at in the creative process from where I am within the energy system. So I love seeing it like that and that's actually how I will teach manifestation.

Caity: So you feel as though you really feel those energy centres in your body and that's what you kind of somatically experience as it's happening?

Susie: It's such a good question, I think consciously I'm not tapping into that energy as part of the creative process. But if you were to ask me “where are you in the creative process?” I would know where I was within my energy system from the tasks that I'm doing and how far along I am in the creative process and how far away the manifestation is from being made manifest. Because I actually see the creative process as a manifestation process. Like they are the same thing. We're taking a concept and idea, a download and bringing it to life. So they marry together - the creative process and the manifestation process. I definitely know when I'm in my sacral and I feel like anyone who has ever created something or brought something to life will know that energy when you're in flow state. And I really like, this has only really just dropped in as I'm channeling this through now, that's where we are. When we're in flow state, it can feel quite sexy. The sacral chakra is our sex organs and our womb and our sexuality and sensuality. So when the creative process is feeling, like, really good, it's as though we're almost there. 

Caity: I love that. And is there something that comes to mind that you've created? And it could be because I see the creative process as it's like these big things we bring into the world, but it's also those micro moments in our day where we choose to wear something that we love or to treat someone with kindness. And I'm curious, what of those smaller, more macro things come to mind when in your daily life or in your business - like a process that you do behind the scenes that helps you connect with that sacral energy? Because we all have our quirks. For example, for me, it's like two minute lists, just like brain dumps that. 

Susie: For me, the first thing that comes to mind is my CEO days. I take a two hour process once a month and sit down to review my business. There is a strategy and energetics to this, and that is like a manifestation vortex - so it is a creative vortex as well. In terms of something that's a little bit more micro in nature. Let me have a feel into this… Do you know what I received? 

As soon as I closed my eyes - It was one of those moments where it's just like - it’s taking a moment and close my eyes and feel into this.

Caity: That is a creative process. 100%. Seems like a small one, although it’s probably the biggest one. It's that moment to moment awareness that you learn - similar to the yoga philosophy as well. It makes the biggest impact in your whole life, because you're able to regulate your breath. 

Susie: Yeah, it's taking that moment where you close your eyes and you close off the stimulation of the outside world and you just ask yourself the question and you will receive it in some way, whether that is somatically through the body or, a voice dropping through your head or just a feeling. Whether it's a yes/no feeling or a word … that’s really cool that I just had that experience. 

Caity: Very cool - this feels very potent, and is the key, you know? It actually allows you to show up more creative in the moment because you can choose differently or more that you're actually checking in with the situation at hand.

Susie: It feels like taking the sacred pause is not a widely accepted thing in society yet. But I know that when I'm in conversation with someone and they say, hang on a moment… “let me just feel into this” and they take a moment to lean back, relax their body, close their eyes. I just think there's so much beauty in that level of presence and space holding that you can give another human both ways. And imagine the creativity that could be brought forth into the world if we became a society where that was just like a widely accepted thing for a few seconds, just to drop into a mini meditation while you're in conversation with someone. Imagine that in a boardroom … 

Caity: To reflect back… it’s creative to listen? A creative process.

Susie: Yeah! For me, some of my greatest downloads drop through when I'm in a receiving space of listening. Because when we're listening, that's when we're fully opening ourselves up. We're opening our energetic field to receive what this person is wanting to share with us, and the vision that I'm having is like the crown, just like fully opening. And when we're in this open, feminine state, and that is the state we want to be in, to receive words from someone, to receive the next steps of our creative process.

Caity: Do you have a way of capturing/documenting those insights that come through? How do you anchor in those lessons? Or what are your practices, your processes that you do to kind of translate what's here, felt or experienced - to make it more tangible? 

Susie: I'm a one / three in human design - so often I just will do the thing. Experimentation is really important for me and learning through experiences. So I don't necessarily have a process where I write things down. Maybe I will write something on my phone to document it. But the way my energy likes to move through the world is like, boom, let's take action on this, or let's try this. And I also do have incredible mentors and friends who operate in the same sphere that I know that I can just drop a quick voice note and be like, I just had this download… I just want to share it with you. I like to anchor it in with my throat chakra, because that is the next step in the process for me. It comes through the crown, then the third eye, and then if I want to bring that fourth into the world, using my throat to express it. I also receive quite a lot through my dreams. I do take a dream journal to bed and in the morning I'll write down what happened. This morning I didn't, and I'm really annoyed. Like, a very interesting dream where I feel there's actually some strong things coming through for me and I literally can't even remember. I just can feel the feeling in my body. So that's worth noting for anyone who's reading this, that we can receive so much when we're not in that conscious state.We will receive so much when we are in that, very, very, very receptive state of sleep.

Caity: As you just said, it’s these feeling as well, even though you don't logically remember you're receiving so much just from feeling that thing.

I feel creativity is a big word and feel like a lot of people grow up not feeling like they're creative, and this upsets me. I'm wondering, if anyone comes to mind where you see them as being super creative… everything that they radiate is creative - and to pre-empt this with the note that everyone is inherently creative. Who’s someone that comes to mind? And maybe they don't see this in themselves, but you see them do something and you notice “woah, that feels rich and creative”.

Susie: So the first thing I want to share is, when you were speaking into creativity - the first time I've ever broken that word down to “create” is that creativity is just, something, anything. It doesn't have to be arty. And I think that’s maybe the angle that you were speaking into is, like, sometimes people think you have to be really arty and be able to draw a beautiful picture and get an A in art class, and it's like, no, that's not the full spectrum. 

The first person that actually comes to my mind is my sister. She is actually quite creative, and can draw although she doesn't use this in her work. She's recently married and literally rented a barn. It was like a shell, and she brought together this incredible day, and she saw that vision in her mind's eye, and she created something so beyond, so beautiful that required so many tiny little steps. Her folder was multiple pages long, and she had a checklist and all those kind of things. To see someone go through a process like that, that's so big, like such a big creative process when it's not something that they do for a living was incredibly inspiring. And I actually think she's probably one of the most creative people I know, but she doesn't necessarily use that in her work life. 

All Photography by Caity Duffus for Susie Hemsted