Everything Matters – Danielle LaPorte – Ep 132

Danielle LaPorte loves simplicity. She is an author, philanthropist, and heart-centered leader. And the closer she gets to a heart-centered life, the more she craves it. It’s become a spiritual practice. She doesn’t buy mindlessly. Instead, everything in her home has a story, a reason behind buying it. Everything matters.

Simplicity requires letting go. It requires loosening your attachment to things that don’t matter. Are you able to take this approach in your art and your life? To be willing to make a different mark, make a mistake, and start over?

Go on a journey with us as we explore the art of letting go, shifting to simplicity, and of having the courage to make the first mark on a blank page.

Listen if you are interested in…

• How Danielle responds to those in need [2:53]
• Coaching in the matters of the heart [4:45]
• Learning to let things go [7:59]
• Learn about the Art2Life retreat [22:34]
• The journey to loving yourself [23:44]
• What you need to learn will reveal itself [26:42]
• What to do when you don’t like your creation [31:09]
• Why you’re never starting with a blank page [34:57]
• How Danielle is nurturing her community [39:11]
• The year of the heart [47:16]

Embracing the ebb and flow of life and art

Danielle believes that our culture is addicted to productivity. We think we’re experiencing “writer’s block” but we’re actually out of sync with the normal ebb and flow of life. Why not enjoy the ebb? If you push yourself to make things when you’re not ready, they won’t be good. They won’t feel connected.

Likewise, you can’t be afraid to take chances and change your work. It can’t be about pleasing the crowd. I change up how I’m painting to introduce uncertainty and risk. It makes the art more interesting. I may have to let it all go and burn it down. But if I make something that encompasses myself, the work will feel bigger because it has more of me in it.

Learning to let go

When Covid hit, Danielle spent time thinking about her deepest desires. She sold her house, got rid of her car, and started to shed everything that wasn’t necessary. When you’re deeply willing to let everything go, it transforms you.

She believes the last four years have been a call from the divine to let go of things we don’t need. She doubled down on her desires and took a gamble on herself. She took radical responsibility for her life. She chose to believe that what she desired was aligned with the divine.

When there is pain associated with letting someone go, we push it away. We ghost them, block them, and don’t talk to them anymore. Sometimes that’s required. But that pain won’t leave you until you bless it and let it go. It’s about recognizing that without that pain, you wouldn’t be where you are.

When your life is your content, you’re never starting with a blank page

Danielle fleshes out her ideas with a Moleskine pencil. She starts with a beginning and an end before diving into the middle. She works with the ingredients she has—what she’s already written about in a blog, posted on Instagram, or placed on a sticky note.

By the time she writes a bigger piece, she’s curating the last 6–24 months of her thoughts. When your life is your content, you’re never starting with a blank page. There is always overflow. Anything that is cut will live somewhere else and nothing is wasted—even if it’s just one great paragraph. Why? Because everything matters.

Resources & People Mentioned

• The Creative Habit by Twyla Tharp

Connect with Danielle LaPorte

• Danielle’s website
• Connect on Instagram
• Friend on Facebook
• Follow on Pinterest
• Danielle’s books and courses

Connect with Nicholas Wilton and Art2Life

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• Art2Life Retreats: www.artlifedream.com

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