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!

It's kinda all Midnight, all the time over here in Alisha Land

Studio organized with new carts and foam mats on the floor.

Happy Friday Reader
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When I hosted the morning journaling group RAW during the pandemic (the one I just relaunched), we’d sometimes pull a card from Kim Krans’ Animal Spirit deck. Now and then, the Phoenix would show up.The Phoenix is about rising from the ashes and becoming your truest self.
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It’s a reminder that sometimes—just sometimes—everything has to burn down for the gold to surface.
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That new life you say you want? The one with space, clarity, alignment, love, peace?
It often lives on the other side of letting go.
As the Pinterest quote goes: the price of your new life is the old one.

This week I’ve been grappling with, surrendering to, and trying to make peace with the direction the Great Creator is steering my life.
In essence: letting go of the life I’ve had.

This is my year of sweeping change.
On one side, there’s cancer—and everything that comes with it. There’s the end of a five-year romantic partnership.
It’s the burning down of so much I thought I could count on.

But on the other side?
My friends are showing up in deep, unwavering ways.
I’m writing more than I have in years.
And my art… oh, my art.

Nothing has stunned me more in the past decade than realizing: I’m an artist.​
And not only am I an artist, but people want my art. They want it on their walls, in their homes, in their sacred spaces.
That truth alone might be transforming me not into a Phoenix, but into a beautiful Fourth Wing style Dragon (I'd rather be a dragon than a phoenix).
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No one asks for the fire. No one wants the destruction.
I wouldn’t wish the ashes on anyone.
But I’m beginning to see the shape of my own wings.
And maybe—just maybe—the Dragon doesn’t rise because she wants to.
She rises because she must.

Maybe you’re in the ashes right now, too.
Maybe something is crumbling around you that you didn’t ask for.
Or maybe you’re feeling the first flicker of what’s beginning to rise.

Wherever you are, I hope you’ll remember:
Destruction isn’t the end.
It’s often the beginning of something so special you could never have imagined it.

Together We Float,

• What parts of your life feel like they’re burning down—or have already turned to ash?​
  Reflect gently on what’s being cleared away. Is it a relationship, a belief, a way of being? What grief or release is present in letting it go?
• What might be trying to rise from those ashes?​
  Even if it’s just a whisper—can you sense a new chapter forming? A truth, a version of yourself, or a calling asking for space?
• If you were to imagine yourself with wings—Phoenix or Dragon—what would they symbolize?​
  What would it mean to rise, not because you want to… but because your soul knows it’s time?

1) This week I read In Five Years by Rebcca Serle. And I'm reading Letting Magic in a memoir of becoming by Mia Toll and LOVING it!
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​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) Did you know that I am a HUGE Hilma Af Klint fan? I think her work is brilliant. Last year I went on a deep dive listening to her biography, and reading historical fiction about her etc. I really enjoyed this podcast episode from the Creative Codex on Hilma. I can't really speak for the podcast other than this particular episode which I enjoyed and I can't wait for the other episodes in this series.

3) As i've been convalescing after surgery's and through some pain that's taken me out of commission from my normal activities. I've been watching a lot of Netflix, I know I'm 14 years late to the party, but I've been enjoying Scandal.

4) If money were no object I'd be all over these red pants Ripley Radar just dropped, for their fall collection.
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5) The coffee getting me through these days is a local roaster Fireweed Coffee. I LOVE these beans. If you like coffee you might like them too. I just wanted to plug my favorite roaster, since I'm pretty sure they will ship!

Together We Float,
-Alisha