If you want to be creative and make art, you have to be poor. That’s a belief that many of us, especially in Bushwick live every day. It is a repetitive pattern: you have a crappy day job in exchange for a paycheck, and work on the things you truly love after hours. But what if I told you it’s only that belief that is holding you back from doing what you love and receiving abundantly?
Impossible, you say? Maybe Darcy Skye Holoweski can change your mind. Darcy lives with her husband in Bushwick and makes her living as an inner wisdom coach. It’s a career she’s created for herself in order to fulfill her purpose and follow her deep passion to be of service to people. In addition, she is a reiki master and she teaches reiki at Jai Yoga Arts in Bushwick. Darcy virtually changes people’s lives through career coaching, energy work and counseling. However, it wasn’t always like that and Darcy herself experienced the same journey to self-discovery as she’s taking her clients on.
She graduated with a bachelors degree in ecology and biology and was began to teach science and environmental education. Despite doing all the “right” things and having the right relationship, she felt this internal angst and emptiness. “I kept looking for that fulfillment outside of myself. I just kept feeling like the next thing, the next job or the next place I move to will maybe fill this internal void that I didn’t know how to talk about,” Darcy said. After a couple of years of living everything that should be good for her, Darcy found herself constantly doubting her career path. Then even the relationship that meant to her so much ended. “That pain really let me to be open to things that I would never be open to before,” said Darcy about her joining a 3-year long energy medicine school.
Despite being constantly skeptical about the energy medicine school, she kept on taking little steps and completing the program. “It’s called the divine paradox,” Darcy smiled. “The choices that seem the biggest are the smallest and the choices that seem the smallest are in fact the biggest, and the truth and the power is always hiding in the bushes. Gods never show off, they don’t have to. And so the path that I took was the smallest choice next to the smallest choice. Each step seemed in the whole continuum of my life as a random choice but when I look at it now that’s absolutely how our lives unfold just by taking the next small step…”
“The choices that seem the biggest are the smallest and the choices that seem the smallest are in fact the biggest, and the truth and the power is always hiding in the bushes. Gods never show off, they don’t have to. “
Through reiki and energy medicine work and couching, Darcy discovered that all the answers she was looking for were inside of her. “I found out that I had the ability to know what I wanted and go for it; feel creative, and feel the sense of passion and purpose. I really reconnected, and once I did that I was able to create a career that really matches. Cooper [Darcy’s husband] and I got back together and we were able to create a relationship that was real for us instead of all the shoulds and have tos.”
So …are you feeling any more compelled to change your life? So how does it exactly work? We asked Darcy.
What is it that you do exactly?
I call it inner wisdom coaching. It is about helping people to align their heart with the work they want to do in the world, and really bring more of who they are in everything they do.
You are operating here in Bushwick, in the heart of creative community. How do you think you can help creative professionals?
I think the biggest point is to transform the idea of starving artist. A lot of us have this connection that if we do what we want and what is really calling to us, we also need to be poor; we can’t have both – abundance and be fully engaged in our passion. That’s something that I find to be completely untrue. It is actually that belief that stops us; the idea is we have to trade off being creative and making money. We operate from the understanding that we just assume that we are going to be poor. I think it’s absolutely important that we get away from the belief that those two things need to go together; and instead operate from the possibility that when you fully follow your passion, and you are giving yourself in the exact way you’re meant to, you can receive even larger than you’d be able to if you fit yourself into some career box that was tight and didn’t fit for you. We think that we have to be certain way in order to be able to make money but that’s really locking the flow of what’s natural. It’s really natural for us to be connected to our creativity, connected to our inner power. It is also natural to be in a giving and receiving relationship with money, abundance and all those kinds of things. It’s like breathing; we inhale and we exhale. They are even.
“A lot of us have this connection that if we do what we want and what is really calling to us, we also need to be poor; we can’t have both – abundance and be fully engaged in our passion. That’s something that I find to be completely untrue.”
Interesting….
Yeah, and it’s controversial. A lot of people have a strong believe that it’s not possible, and that’s ok. It’s ok to just notice what our beliefs are, and what happens when we follow our passion. For myself I know that in the beginning I felt so lucky to be in a path that follows my passion that I expected to be poor, and I expected to not receive from it. That expectation meant that that’s what I got. It wasn’t until I realized that it’s my birthright to be very open about what I give and receive… and when you’re fully pursuing your creativity, you’re in a place where you are fully giving out, which means you can also fully receive back.
Yes, and then as a result people with money are handling the entire artistic community in a way that suits them. In Bushwick, several artists that I know are leaving because they can’t afford their rent anymore.
Yes, and the idea that we’re making a trade-off continues: because we’re following our passion, we’re going to be poor, we’re going to get kicked out of the areas as they become nicer…
My husband is a visual artist, and I can see that that world is really challenging, so I know that these things are not simple and that there is no quick fix to shifting the paradigm. It’s really important to be aware and notice this paradigm: that being an artist means being poor.
How does reiki and energy work come together with this counseling for the community?
I see reiki and energy work as a tool for being able to connect with ourselves. When we’re fully connected with ourselves, we’re confident, we can really feel what our passion is, what our purpose is, and so we’re not as easily sued by rejection. We are not as timid to reach out, to connect with people, to be at the openings we need to be at, to offer our work to places that we think are above us. When we’re connected to why we’re here, we really feel the power and the sense of ourselves, that’s when we’re the most effective and we can connect with the idea that we can be both creative and abundant. When using reiki to help someone to relax we use our hands. We’re not asking for any external relationship to save us or any external power to help us or that call from a gallery owner to save us. We really see that all the power we need is inside of ourselves. So it’s a way to feel stronger.
You might put a smile on your face and other people will say: “She so great, she’s so sweet.” but inside you constantly want to cry in the bathroom. You feel like inside it’s a totally different environment that what’s on the outside, that face you’re putting out there. That’s a real sign that the inside is not aligned with what is happening on the outside.
What are the most common signs that people are disconnected from themselves?
One way is when we know that we are productive passionate people, but we feel a sense of energy drain throughout the day, we have no motivation for doing things, we know that we should be doing things but we can’t get ourselves to really do it. That sort of general laziness that we feel. Often that is a sign that you’re not connected with yourself. Another way comes out as angst. You’re always so angry internally. You might put a smile on your face and other people will say: “She so great, she’s so sweet.” but inside you constantly want to cry in the bathroom. You feel like inside it’s a totally different environment that what’s on the outside, that face you’re putting out there. That’s a real sign that the inside is not aligned with what is happening on the outside. That’s a real energy drain for you. It takes a lot of energy to put that mask on everyday and so as you continue to do that you just loose motivation and you have a general sense of wanting to give up. Or you’re feeling stuck; feeling trapped like none of your options is a good one. You’re tired of the same pattern, you don’t know what to change or how to change it.
When you reconnect with yourself it allows you to be in touch with all the different possibilities that are there and you see them very differently.
Can you recommend something really simple, besides calling you directly, that the people can start doing already now, at this moment?
One of the ways to shift energy is a breathing exercise. Close your eyes, and take a few nice deep breaths, in through your nose and out through your mouth. With the breath you feel yourself releasing all the anger, angst, frustration, whatever you’re feeling. Also bring your attention to your spine, vertebrae after vertebrae and rest on your tailbone. When you bring your attention to your tailbone, it brings you back to your body. As artists and creatives, we spend most of the time up in our heads thinking of new ideas, creating new things – and that’s great in a sense, but we’ve got to stay in our body. Then you just keep taking those breaths and you put your hand on your heart, and just get quiet. It doesn’t take very long. Set your timer for three minutes and this is all it takes to just settle in your body. And then notice as you come back, wiggle your fingers and walk around, notice how your internal environment has changed, there was a shift. If the next email you get is a rejection, it’s not going to be the end of the world.
If this speaks to you, we really recommend scheduling a session with Darcy Skye Holoweski. Not only she can change your life, but also you’ll get a 20% off if you mention Bushwick Daily. Call her at 734-277-2629 or email her at [email protected].