BLOOM BLURBS

  • I AM THE MOUNTAIN

    “I was panicking, and I thought to myself, ‘I am the mountain.’ – Suddenly, I was unmovable. I was solid. I was ancient.” – Hannah McPherson

    Today, I was having a particularly hard time at work with a rush last minute deadline. I could feel the panic welling up in my chest like a tidal wave.

    Before I could react further, something inside me simply said, “I am the mountain.” – Now it has become my new mantra.

    It also became this song. Now I have an anthem.

    I keep repeating it in this post because I’m still trying to get it to set in. There is so much power in being a tall standing, unshakable, larger than life mountain.

    To be a solid form of land and rock that strikes the sky with its peaks, to be older than anything that could stand on it, out of this world structure of nature, is to be untouchable.

    I think mantras are very important to training the brain for positive and imaginative thinking. They are keycodes to bring you back to a moment or a feeling, especially if they’ve been picked up in a moment of inspiration or connection. They don’t have to be cosmic in nature, but I find it is fun when they are.

    If you repeat things to yourself, your brain gets to really dive into the meaning making process, adding layer after layer of emotional and physical and mental memory to your understanding of whatever it is you’re repeating.

    This can be said for positive and negative things.

    If I had simply reinforced my panicking with a mantra of, “I am panicking” then I don’t think I would have made it confidently striding back into the building but rather would have spiraled into a sort of impulsive need to jolt from the property.

    So, if you’re going to repeat things, try to find things worth repeating. If you’re going to tell your brain what to do, make sure it has an effect on you that is desirable to you.

    The brain listens to the body. Today, my brain told me I was a mountain, and the body listened.

  • A GOOD DAY TO BE TIRED

    “Hot Take: It’s a gift to be tired.” – Hannah McPherson

    Today, I find myself alive and energized. I am grateful for these moments.

    I have no doubts that later in the day, I’ll hit a wall and be tired. Life tends to wear us out.

    I had a friend who was telling me she was tired; not sleepy but in her being, that life had just taken her for a ride, and she was feeling the effects. I resonated with that.

    However, my advice to her was that it was a gift to be tired. I think Earth does that to us. Being “beings” is exhausting. There is a cost of energy that we must pay to participate in existence.

    Whether the things you’re going through in life are good or bad, we’re all paying the energetic price.

    I’d like to open up a framework in your mind to consider, no matter the way that life is treating you, you can be grateful to be tired.

    Someone who is having a really hard time might think I’m insane to say so, but hear me out:

    Tiredness can be evidence that you have lived and that is the whole point.

    From the good times to the bad, if you are living, you are doing something right. Tiredness does not mean that you have failed. It’s quite the opposite actually. If you are still here to be tired, then you have made it through whatever it is life has given you.

    Tiredness is an unavoidable part of life.

    Yet, if you don’t fight it, and allow it to be part of your being’s experience in this life, if you choose to be grateful for it, then the path to healing, the path to energy opens up.

    We have ways of replenishing ourselves: rest (first and foremost), self-care (whatever that looks like for you), relaxation, meditation, comforting ourselves with positive affirmations, breathing exercises, etc.

    So, being tired is an opportunity to replenish. It’s your body telling you it’s time to take some time to do what makes you energized.

    For me, this is being creative. For me, this is feeding my soul. For me, this is a requirement of everyday life. Physical, Mental, and Spiritual Health is the most important part of my day, everyday.

    Because being tired is the cost of life, taking time for our health trinity is the currency we pay it with, and it is a gift to be able to even transact on this system at all.

  • CHOICES

    When all your paths cross somewhere in a yellow wood, diverged from what you feel you should, focus on everything good that brought you through it

    Crazy how we ended up here my dear, all the right things suddenly appeared, every possibility laid out before ya, the universe said, “honey, I adore ya.”

    So if you can see the forest for the trees, do it all and do it how you please, it’s not about the legacy you leave, but it’s in the love you release

    When it’s time to make a choice try to block out the noise, and follow where your heart might take you, remember it’s all up to you, and it really doesn’t matter what you do,

    Crazy how we ended up here my dear, all the right things suddenly appeared, every possibility laid out before ya, the universe said, “honey, I adore ya.”

    So if you can see the forest for the trees, do it all and do it how you please, it’s not about the legacy you leave, but it’s in the love you release

    Make a way, take your place, disappear without a trace, it’s all your day, it’s all your day,

    Crazy how we ended up here my dear, all the right things suddenly appeared, every possibility laid out before ya, the universe said, “honey, I adore ya.”

    So if you can see the forest for the trees, do it all and do it how you please, it’s not about the legacy you leave, but it’s in the love you release

  • WAKING UP CREATIVE

    “There is no better way to start the day than being creative.” – Hannah McPherson

    Here I sit, in a space surrounded by my art. I have a cup of coffee and a candle lit. I have a new website and a dream to keep me inspired.

    My dreams are like stories. I will not share them unless they are especially interesting, because most of them are random and personal. However, I will say that I keep a dream journal.

    I keep many kinds of journals.

    Before this site, I would keep all my morning musings to myself.

    Today, I’ll share it with you.

    Kindly Keep On Going

    “I’d like to say,

    there is a way,

    to make all your dreams

    come true.

    But the best of these,

    if you please,

    is to simply just be you.”

    – HM.

    I’ve designed all these graphics myself, and I’ve always been quite fond of Photoshop’s overlay features. I love what it does to the lights in the image. My corporate day job, which I have to get ready for shortly, does not have a brand standard that allows early 2000’s design styles, unfortunately. (I don’t blame them) – However, since it’s my intellectual brand I will do as I please.

    I’d like to make a closing note here about doing what you love while doing what you have to.

    Would I love an infinite amount of time to write, instead of having to squeeze it into my morning and afternoon routines? Yes.

    Yet, the bills must be paid and the house taken care of and social life must continue and family is important (even chosen family), and so through the hustle and bustle of productivity culture, of balancing it all and doing everything – make sure you’re making time for your dreams.

    Whether that is your real-life goals, or your actual sleeping movie shows, there is something to be said about following your hearts intention.

  • the creative process

    “I just feel like I’m not good enough for creative spaces. I am worried people will judge me. I’m scared people won’t like me.“ – Hannah McPherson

    These are real things I’ve said.

    Today, I made a website, I made graphics and branding materials, I made videos and I made art.

    I made an attempt to get my voice out into the world. I should be proud.

    Instead? I’m devastated.

    Why? It’s not perfect. I’m going to be seen and I don’t like that the simple act of being seen these days has consequences.

    Or worse, I may not be seen and I won’t feel like I’m enough.

    This is the wrong way to do things.

    I was in my creative space and I was sitting in total darkness except for a candle like I was some midnight Victorian lady. I was going into the classic shame spiral. The one that most artists suffer from.

    I realized something important, though. I could let this defeat me, never touch this website again and continue my life unbothered.

    The only problem is that I really would have been bothered; bothered by not trying, bothered by not letting myself share my creations, and bothered by the looming feeling that if I don’t ever do it, I never will.

    As much as I can’t stand to be imperfect, I also will not stand for giving up before I’ve even started.

    If you’re someone out there who feels this way sometimes, I have a few things to tell you.

    BE GENTLE ON YOURSELF

    I had forgotten to turn on my favorite nebula light. I turned it on, and I instantly felt better. Remember that self-care is important. Give yourself the things that you need to be in your best mind-space.

    BELIEVE IN YOURSELF

    You were not put here at random, at least I don’t believe we are. It helps to know that you are an entire existence, and though it is limited, you have purpose and power in your free will and choice to live it as you please. The best use of free will is to follow your heart, and if your heart is telling you to create, then create.

    WORRYING STEALS OPPORTUNITIES

    If you never got out of bed this morning because you didn’t want to seize the day, I get it. If you didn’t chase that opportunity because you weren’t sure how it was going to work out, I understand. However, every doubt is a wall in your way. You have to break down those walls, or jump over them, to get to the next opportunity is on the other side.

    LAST THING: CARPE DIEM

    Everyone feels a little down, a little uninspired, a little worrisome about how life will treat them; You are not alone. Yet, when the day comes to put your creations out there, you take it. That day can be today. That day can be as soon as you finish reading this post. Why? Because you want to. If you don’t, and you’re just here to appreciate, that’s fine, but I hope that day finds you. The joy I feel we humans get from creating is a rare gift; not because not everyone has it, but because few people actually want to use it. I know I will use it every chance I get, because there is no greater reward than sharing my expression with the world.

    Run out with your rallying cry of, “I THINK, Therefore I AM!!!”

    CONCLUSION:

    I turned on the nebula light. I made a post about being insecure. I let the website be imperfect. I let the video I made sit for a minute. I left the candle going, and I took a moment to reflect. I will be okay, and hopefully in these moments you will be too. The answer was to love myself enough to let myself have what I want, while being afraid of it.

  • the clock is unforgiving

    “breaking down and breaking ground, bucking up, riding the crowd, reaching for the crown, something dark trying to be let out, but I serve the light now, nobody ever did the same as me thanks to different dreams, nobody knows how I do it, making art and making music and expressing myself, but I’ll tell you the secret, living life with no regrets, the way I spend my time holed up in my room, wishing for something better to do, so I make my way, and transmute my pain, into something from which I can gain, and maybe someday somebody can relate, instead of waiting for a later date, because time is ticking and the clock is unforgiving,

    the clock is unforgiving, so you better be living, making the most of the time you’re given, find out what is and isn’t fitting, and go out there and get to living,

    I lay awake at night and contemplate this very plight, calculating exactly how much time I have between now and when it’s over, knowing that every passing second I get a little closer, but no one really understands, how it’s all in your hands to make the most of it, to shape and mold it, each day is clay and you’re the sculptor, got to ignore all the vultures, and vulgar opinions that keep you stuck in your head, when it comes to yourself, make the bet, make the bed, and when you get your chance, live life like it’s all you’re gonna get

    the clock is unforgiving, so you better be living, making the most of the time you’re given, find out what is and isn’t fitting, and go out there and get to living,

    the clock is unforgiving, so you better be living, making the most of the time you’re given, find out what is and isn’t fitting, and go out there and get to living…”

    This is one of my favorite tunes I’ve written. Ai made the artwork (a clip from a little music video visualizer) and it made the voice and music. I am an artist who thinks it’s great that we have Ai to make our dreams a reality.

    The lyrics are 100% original. That’s what matters most to me. I just save time with representation of my writing.

    This song was written from a place where I felt like time was creeping up on me, but in actuality, I have my whole life ahead of me. I often think about how other people may experience this feeling of running out of time to follow our dreams. The key is to stop worrying, and just go out there and get to living.

  • The art of inner literacy

    “I want people to feel comfortable in their own mind.” – Hannah McPherson

    I wanted to explain what I was feeling; it came so deeply. I thought of how science had not yet come across a way to measure the subjective experience, so it doesn’t get talked about nearly as much.

    But what if we found a way?

    I want to teach an ‘Inner Literacy’ course, which would be me learning alongside others.

    This course would outline and help me and the fellow students identify their internal world and how it signals our thoughts.

    This is not a therapy, this is not a crisis center, this is not forced participation in a group setting. ‘Inner Literacy’ is designed for those who want to get to know their own inner voice better. It is for people who want to find a system to learn about their internal self.

    How does it work?

    We notice a feeling, name a feeling, then pause to reflect on it, we weigh the possibility of action/reaction, and then we make an informed decision on how to proceed or integrate the feeling.

    Will there be more to come on this?

    Yes, I just want to give a light introduction to the topic. A lot of my work currently revolves around this subjective experience course framework, so I just want to give a definition. If you see a reference and are curious, I’d be open to discussion and discourse about the idea.

  • What is BloomSurge?

    “This is a brand for my ideas. I think everyone should brand their own intellectual property. I think that everyone should think about thinking out loud.“ – Hannah McPherson

    When I started Bloom Surge Creative Consulting, it was about a year and a half ago. I was just a girl with a logo and a dream.

    Today, I’m still just a girl with a dream, but one that’s coming together quite nicely.

    I decided to dive into the creative process before starting the public facing project. I wanted to know what made my mind tick, and more importantly, what would be great for my audience.

    This brand is meant to host ideas I have, to inspire ideas in others, and to make impact in the creative and intellectual world.

    What is Bloom Surge?
    It’s me. It’s you. It’s the very idea of being creative. It’s a vehicle for collaboration. It’s a costume I can wear to feel comfortable allowing myself to be seen. It’s an invitation to a space where you have permission to exist creatively.

    What does Bloom Surge do?
    Well, so far it’s a lot of writing in my bedroom. Eventually, I plan to host creative sessions with willing participants looking to explore their imagination. I also plan to launch Inner Literacy activities, to help people get in touch with their own subjective experiences. I want to help people find their voice, get through a brainstorming session feeling alive with passion, and I want to inspire them to create.

    What do you need to do to participate?
    Simply viewing the page makes you part of the process, but if you’d like to get involved or collaborate, you can simply message on social media, send an email, or comment on a post. I’m open to creative projects, brainstorming, reflective conversations, and collaborative ideas, as long as they are thoughtful, ethical, and aligned with the spirit of this space. I’m looking forward to your interest and want to thank you for being here.

    Welcome to Bloom Surge.

    (This makes me feel “Eeeeeep!”)

    Yours Truly,
    Hannah McPherson

  • Trying it on for Size

    This is a hope,

    This is my dream,

    I pray it turns out

    The way that it seems.