Today is International Women’s Day, a time to consider the achievements and accomplishments of women all over the world.

Lately, I’ve been thinking about the particular challenges faced by women in our quest to live according to our creative passions and inclinations. Although the specific history, sociology, psychology, and spirituality of women has been part of my consciousness at different points of my life, I’ve been less inclined to frame my and other women’s challenges in that manner in recent years.

But it’s essential to take into account the distinct issues that are part of many women’s experience. Issues like always putting others’ concerns before our own, or of giving away our power to authority figures, or of being afraid of rocking the boat, of speaking too freely, of being too much!

Here’s an exercise from Gail McMeekin’s wonderful book, 12 Secrets of Highly Creative Women, that I did recently. Describe in detail 10 “acceptance fantasies” in which your work is seen, accepted and/or purchased. I had tremendous resistance to this exercise, couldn’t possibly imagine citing 1 fantasy, never mind 10 – but I was astonished by the ease with which I was able to come up with 10 deliciously outrageous examples of my creative success.

I was also amazed by how much fun it was; by how successfully it challenged my lifelong habit of self-diminishment; by how it definitively forced the gremlins into retreat; by how it energized my day and supported a sense of optimism, possibility, and joy; and by how it facilitated access to “the wild woman within,” who is a critical ally for me in my creative journey.

You’ve got a pen, you’ve got paper, you’ve got half an hour. Do the exercise and prepare to be infused with joy, with abundant energy to do the work you were born to do!

As Marianne Williamson has said, “There cannot be too many glorious women.” On this day, International Women’s Day, I’m feeling re-inspired to make articulating and addressing the concerns of creative women an important part of my work as a creativity coach. Given that such concerns have been with me since I was a young woman – and still are – it just makes sense,