Empowered Living Show

Michelle Walker is a Creative Catalyst

Michelle runs an internationally-renowned and respected visual thinking company as well as her flourishing coaching practice – all from her 170-acre farm called “Serenity Hills” in rural Australia which she shares with her husband, Lulu (her German short-haired pointer), the cows and oodles of wildlife.

Anyone Can Create a Life of Abundance

Michelle believes that anyone can create a life of abundance. She gets excited helping people get out of procrastination and get connected, feel into their dreams, make decisions and take inspired actions to make those dreams come true.

Science, Art and the Intersection

Michelle has worked in the public sector as a professional in environmental management. She looks back at her travels on the journey to where she is now and realizes that there are many overlaps that have allowed her to manifest things that haven’t existed before. She has created a belief that she can continue to do this.

All her life, she’s lived with a false belief that there is a duality in science and art; professional and creative. While running her own business successfully for over 5 years, she stumbled upon the recognition that there is no separation between science and art. But this realization came after studying science and being in the public sector for over 14 years. She was very passionate about her impactful work with Australia’s environment. Now in her current business, she’s able to make a positive impact on people in a different way.

In 2008, she stood at the end of her fine art degree. She had a business running workshops within communities helping with strategic planning for their environment. She had her business in one hand and in the other, she had the experience of 4 years in college being creative every week and having the absolute joy unfolding for her. They weren’t connected in any way in her life. She looked for the overlap and how they could intersect.

It stayed unclear for another year and a half but she knew something was brewing. She felt that she needed to allow it time to become solidified because if she grasped at it too soon, it would evaporate. Her analytical mind wanted to drill down and examine every part of what was going on. Although she knew if she allowed and trusted, it would unfold, take form and manifest.

Curious Minds Company Was Developed Through Her 2010 Epiphany

She had a joy for working with groups designing learning experiences and her interest was in how to get people to think as creatively as possible. The first thing that sprouted out of this fertile bed she had been nurturing was her visual thinking company called “Curious Minds Company”. This allowed her to be a creative workshop facilitator. She discovered in 2010 that what she did had an actual name called “graphic facilitation”. This validated the path she was on and she knew that she was going to completely change her business. This was the turning point. She knew she wasn’t going to stop there.

She grew her company which now has an international standing. She was invited in 2016 to Washington DC to train other people in her field how to run thriving businesses. She describes this experience as a “real privilege”. She’s had the honor of being able to travel around Australia and oversees training people in this area. She knew it was the sweet spot- helping people progress their professional skill-set and to share and engage with their messages in a very noble way using visuals.

Curious Minds has grown and flourished. She has a group of alliance partners that she’s trained and that she continues to work with. Much of her work involved being on the road. During this time, she kept seeing Serenity Hills in her rear-view mirror as she drove down her driveway off to work.

She Opened, Allowed and Manifested Abundance

Six years ago, Michelle and her husband moved to Serenity Hills full time. They ran away from the big city life and came to the 170 acres for her serenity and peace. This has filled her abundance bucket. She now takes what lights her up and coaches others helping people connect with their natural creativity. She also helps them discover their own beliefs that limit their creativity and prosperity. She helps entrepreneurs who are blocked and feel stuck understand how to move forward into their most creative, awesome, radiant selves in this world.

Creativity- The Broad Definition

Michelle explains creativity in a broad definition. She says most of the time when people think about creativity, they think about fine art: Painting, sculptures and drawing. But creativity is much broader. You can be creative putting ingredients together to make a delicious meal from items in your home.

There are so many ways to be creative including creativity at the brain-science level. She talks about a client who wanted to create a health and wellness business but couldn’t take the leap because she felt the need to be anchored financially. Michelle explains that when we are in stress-mode around our money or any other stressor, you are in your back-brain- your survival programming mode. This is where you try to figure out how you’re going to get through the next week or month.

Brain Science and Creativity

The part of the brain that does the creative thinking is the pre-frontal cortex. At a basic neuro-biological level it’s important to realize how much stress we carry which interferes with our creativity.

Michelle explains that curiosity and openness are the fertilizer for our creativity.

We squash our creativity in 3 major areas.

1. The first one is routine (such as the 9-5 job). To remedy that, do something different every chance you get. You can drive a different way to work or brush your teeth with a different hand to awaken the brain.
2. The second area is stress. Stress is a neuro-biological killer of creativity. We are alert to things that we see as risky that cause stress and put us into fight/flight syndrome which sets off a stream of biological responses blocking the creativity. When you’re stressed your brain is in survival mode. Many people are in a chronic state of stress and they don’t realize how much it closes off their ability to see possibilities as well as their ability to be present, open and aware.
3. The third area is our habitual limiting belief about creativity such as: I’m not creative or I can’t draw. Everyone can learn to be more creative however we are all creative intrinsically. Michelle explains that we just need to get out of our own way.

Creativity is a Process, Not an Outcome

Michelle uses creativity as a process. Creativity is about being present as you put paint on a canvas. It’s about being aware of your thoughts and how you dance with the creative process. Does your inner perfectionist come to the forefront? What thoughts are coming up?

Your Life is Your Canvas

Michelle leads women’s retreats that help participants see their life as a canvas. Michelle believes that you are the great creator and artist in your own life. She wants you to know that using the creativity process, you can change things at any point in time. It doesn’t mean you’re wrong, you just paint over it. If you don’t like that perspective, flip the canvas. It’s all about the process and what it teaches you about your life. A blank canvas is a metaphor for starting a new chapter in life.

The Swing Principle

Michelle has many principles she’s accumulated in life and her favorite is the “Swing Principle”. This principle came about as she and her husband were walking past a playground and Michelle said, “I love swings”. Her husband stopped them in their tracks and questioned “and why aren’t you going over there and swinging on it”? It hadn’t occurred to Michelle to do that. She realized what stopped her were her thoughts about the need to be an adult or that she’s grown up now. She also entertained thoughts about it being inconvenient. She went over to the swings and played for several minutes allowing the experience to fill her up with joy. She understood from that moment on that she would always make time for things that bring her joy.

Michelle’s Free Gift

Creative Magic Inspiration Cards are a series of creative cards that can be used as reminders that you are a creative being at your very core and you can express that daily. She recommends downloading those that inspire you and putting them around your house to keep you inspired with creativity. https://www.michellewalker.com.au/
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