Happy Friday Reader

Welcome back to The 5 Things Friday Coffee Break! This is my weekly roundup of fun, creative, and personal growth-inspired finds that I think you’ll love.

In Each Issue:

☕ The Weekly Brew: A more personal note from me each week
​📝 Journaling prompts inspired by my weekly brew
🎨 Five creative, thought-provoking, or just fun things I’m loving
🖼️ A spotlight on one of my artworks (often with a special discount!)
📅 Upcoming events and offerings
✨ And who knows—maybe some surprises!

Had fun painting this in the weekly watercolor class I teach.

Feeling smitten with the artwork that's been pouring out of me.

Happy Friday Reader
Last week’s Brew was a long one—thank you to everyone who made it through! I’m in the messy middle of a lot right now, and I wrote more about that over on Substack if you’d like to read it: click here to read it.

This week, I want to keep it short and share something I’m really excited about:
​The 100 Days of RAW.

What is RAW?​
​RAW (Re-Awakening Wisdom) is a 100-day journey to help you reconnect with your creative voice, inner knowing, and natural rhythm.

It’s a sacred, supportive container for women who are ready to slow down, listen deeply, and commit to showing up for themselves each day.

With daily journaling prompts and live community calls Monday–Friday from 12:00–1:30pm EST, RAW becomes a devotional practice—not to productivity, but to presence.

This isn’t about fixing yourself.
It’s about remembering who you are—and making space for the wise, creative, and powerful woman within to rise.

If you’re craving deeper connection to your inner world and want to grow a creative or journaling practice with support, this is for you.

Want to learn more?​
Join us today at 12pm EST for a live call to get your questions answered and feel into whether RAW is right for you.

​Click here to register for today's call​
​
Together We Float,

• Where in your life are you craving more presence, not productivity?​
  (What would it look like to prioritize simply being over always doing?)
• What might shift if you committed to showing up for yourself—even just 15 minutes a day—for the next 100 days?​
  (Consider journaling, painting, meditating, walking… what would that devotion do for your spirit?)
• What part of you feels wise, creative, or powerful—but hasn’t had enough space to fully emerge?​
  (How might you begin making room for her?)

1) This week I read Others Like Me: The Lives of Women Without Children (a good read especially as a childless by choice woman). I also read The Body is a Doorway by Sophie Strand. I saw this quote by her on social media and it's what prompted me to read the book.

​
​This year, I’m keeping a running list of every book I read and sometimes what I thought — You can access it here, not everything can make it to this newsletter.
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2) In last week's coffee break, I brewed over my resistance to stretching a canvas myself. Phew! It was not easy but I followed my own steps and did it and made a video to share it with you. I've since put together and stretched a number of them and then painted on them. I'm happy to report it was completely worth it!

3) If you've been here for awhile you know I had a weekly podcast for a long time. I stopped because of burn out and financial constraints but I've relaunched it under a new name. The Awakening Wisdom Podcast. You can check out the first episode here! I'd love to know what you think and what you'd like to hear me to talk about? Please listen and leave a comment and rate and review! You can listen on Substack, Spotify or Itunes! I'm pretty much anywhere you want to listen and I want to make this impactful to you! If you have a question or a topic you'd like me to cover don't be afraid to hit reply and tell me. (I answer all of my emails in response to this newsletter myself).

4) This week the Colorado Poet Laurette Andrea Gibson passed away. They were amazing and lived fully in every sense. This was the pdocast episode where I was first introduced to them. I've listened to it a few times over the years and just gave it another listen this week. It's a powerful listen.
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5) This week I organized my studio, put down foam squares over my floor to protect it from paint and re-organized my paint into these heavy duty rolling carts. I can paint in a messy studio but I don't like to. My creativity has felt so much freer in my newly organized space.

Together We Float,
-Alisha