When Inspiration Comes at Night, but You Need Sleep

What happens when sleep can’t wait any longer?

Learning to Shift My Creative Rhythm Without Losing My Muse

For the past few years, my creative ritual has looked the same: the house is quiet, the lights are low, and I slip into my little art world long after the day has ended.

Since 2019, I’ve done most of my artwork at night, after homeschooling, after coaching, after motherhood. It started as a way to make sure I created daily. But over time, it became a pattern so automatic that it started to feel like my inspiration only lived in those late hours.

But recently, I’ve felt the cost of this routine.

Why I’m Rethinking My Creative Schedule

Doing art late at night worked… until it didn’t.

I found myself going to bed at 1:00 or 2:00 a.m. more often than not. And while my art was flowing, my health was quietly asking for help. My sleep suffered. My hormones felt off. My body was telling me what my creative mind didn’t want to hear: this isn’t sustainable.

I knew I needed to shift.

But when you’ve trained your nervous system to link inspiration with the dark hours, change can feel more complicated than just “go to bed earlier.” I wasn’t just battling schedule change, I was trying to rewrite a neural groove that said “this is when the magic happens.”

The Emotional Tug-of-War

I’m not grieving my old routine. But I do miss the easy flow of creativity I used to find at night.

Trying to shift my schedule has come with unexpected friction. Because I homeschool, our shared family space is constantly buzzing with activity, and it’s also where I create. Finding a new time and a new emotional rhythm for my art has been more challenging than I expected.

And while there’s a small voice inside that whispers, what if the inspiration doesn’t come earlier in the day? I know that’s just fear, not fact. Creative inspiration can live anywhere. It just needs new pathways.

Rebuilding a Rhythm That Honors My Body

Right now, I’m experimenting with gentler routines. I’m allowing myself to rest more, get better sleep, and explore what it would mean to create during the light hours instead of the dark.

I haven’t cracked the code yet, but I’m asking new questions:

• What if a morning walk opened my creative channel?

• What if I set up a small, mobile sketching station away from the main study space?

• What if “daily art” could be redefined, not by time spent, but by presence?

I’ve always known my body is part of my art practice. It’s not just my hands that create, it’s my whole nervous system, my energy field, my breath. So I’m listening. I’m learning. And I’m letting my body be my guide.

What I’m Learning (Even Without Daily Art Time)

Even though I haven’t been creating as frequently as I used to, I’m learning that rest is part of the creative process. It’s giving me more clarity, more energy, and more access to the kind of work I want to create, not just the work I feel pressured to complete.

Sleep is not a threat to creativity. It’s an ally.

When I care for my body, I’m caring for my channel. And when I nurture my channel, I deepen my art.

For Artists Trying to Shift Their Rhythm

If you’re trying to shift your own creative rhythm maybe to care for your health, make more space for family, or honor a new season of life. I want to say this:

It’s okay if things feel off right now. You are not broken. Your creativity is not lost.

You’re just rewiring.

Changing your habits might mean you miss a few days. You might feel like you’ve “fallen behind.” But nothing is lost. Every pause is part of a larger rhythm. Every change is an opportunity to build something better.

Your body is a sacred part of your creative practice. Treat it with care. Give yourself permission to make new promises to yourself, ones that honor where you are now.

Want to See How This Unfolds?

If you’re curious how I’m shifting my rhythm in real time, come join me on Patreon I share the behind-the-scenes of my process as I rework my schedule, my art time, and how I build my creative life around both vision and well-being.

And if you’d like to explore how to gently rewire your own patterns using visualization and somatic dreaming, the Starlight Dream Lab is a beautiful free tool to help you align your big dream with your nervous system and begin installing the creative habits that actually serve you.

Final Thought

Making beautiful work is not about pushing harder. It’s about listening deeper. Sometimes the most radical act of creativity is to choose rest, reset, and trust that inspiration will find you again.

Because it will.

You are still an artist, even when you’re sleeping.

Creating from My Channel: What It’s Like to Receive Art Spiritually

A dreamy little painting from my 2024 gouache sketchbook.

There’s something indescribable that happens when I create from my intuitive channel ; a deep sense of ease, connection, and purpose that reminds me my art isn’t just coming from me, it’s coming through me.

Over the years, I’ve come to understand that my most resonant, collected, and deeply felt pieces arrive when I allow myself to open, receive, and let Source energy flow through my hands.

In this post, I want to share what that experience is really like — not just the outcome, but the energetic receiving process behind the art.

Receiving the Vision

When a piece wants to come through, I often receive it as a vision. The image arrives in my mind's eye fully formed complete with its layers, textures, and energy. It’s more than a concept, I feel the experience.

The feeling of receiving it is similar to sliding into a hot bath: deep relaxation, openness, and a quiet certainty. These visions often arrive in the liminal moments, during meditation, after I’ve moved my body, or just before sleep and in dreams. My nervous system needs to be relaxed and open, otherwise I can't hear the whispers of my creative channel.

Sometimes I even receive instructions, like a tutorial from Spirit. Over a decade ago, I was shown in a dream exactly how to create a painting on wood and finish it with beeswax. I remember being confused in the dream, and the scene literally rewound and slowed down so I could understand it more clearly. That painting sold immediately. I’ve never forgotten that moment.

Channeled Art Feels Effortless

There’s a distinct difference between trying to think up an idea and receiving one. When I try to create from effort, it feels tight in my body. I overanalyze. The inner critic gets louder.

But when I channel it flows. There’s no “trying” involved. The piece unfolds organically, and I feel connected, curious, and excited. My job becomes simply to stay open and keep going until it’s complete.

How I Open My Channel

I don’t need a big ritual to connect, just presence and preparation. I always start by moving my body first. I’ve learned that moving the body moves the mind and movement opens my channel far more effectively than stillness alone.

Once my body is relaxed, I may sit in meditation or simply remain in a state of quiet receptivity. I’ve also had incredible moments right before waking up or during sleep where pieces arrive as full downloads. These are the pieces that feel sacred, almost like gifts.

The Pieces Always Find the Right People

The most magical thing about creating this way is that the right people always seem to find the work.

Many times, collectors will share with me that a painting felt like it was made just for them. Sometimes these are pieces I never fully understood until someone else told me what it meant to them, how the symbols and colors held significance I hadn’t even considered. That’s the moment I’m reminded again: I’m not the source of my work. I’m the channel.

That’s why I’ve always said: I’m not the artist. I’m the paintbrush Source chooses to use for this particular work.

Why This Matters to Other Creatives

If you’re an artist, a visionary, a soul-driven creator… this is your permission slip to stop forcing and start feeling.

Your best work doesn’t come from the ego, it comes from the part of you that knows. Your inner mystic. Your intuitive self. Your higher guidance. And the more you open to that, the more easeful, connected, and impactful your art becomes.

You are a channel. And your job isn’t to be perfect, it’s just to be open.

Want to Strengthen Your Connection to Source?

If this post lit something up inside you, here are three ways you can go deeper with me:

• 💌 Join Patreon — where I share my process in real time and let you vote on the characters and pieces that get created.

• 🌠 Download the Starlight Dream Lab — a free guide to help you uncover your big dream and connect with your higher creative vision.

• 🌟 Join the Epic Year Workshop — to map out your dream life and creative goals using soul-aligned tools like numerology and astrology.

Final Thought

You’re not imagining it , your visions are real. Your art matters. And every time you create with intention, you become a bridge between the visible and invisible worlds.

Keep your channel open.

Keep your heart open.

The work will find its way through you and to the people who need it most.

Why You’re More Ready Than You Think: A Love Note to Artists Who Doubt Themselves

My open letter for the creatives wondering if they’re behind, or not good enough…

Dear Artist,

If you’ve been quietly wondering whether you’re too far behind, not talented enough, or still too unclear to really step into your dream as an artist, I want you to know something from the deepest part of my heart:

You are more ready than you think.

I know those thoughts. I’ve had them too. The ones that whisper:

• “What if I’m not good enough to sell my work?”

• “My style isn’t clear enough yet…”

• “There’s still so much I need to learn.”

• “Other artists are miles ahead of me.”

They sound so logical. So reasonable. So convincing.

But just because a thought feels true doesn’t mean it is.

In fact, I want to gently offer this:
Self-doubt often shows up right before we’re about to grow. Not because we’re failing, but because we’re expanding.

Growth feels unfamiliar.

You might be standing in the middle of your next level right now and not even know it because you’re still waiting for it to feel safe. Or perfect. Or polished.

But here’s the truth:
Your style is not hiding from you. Nope, not even close.
Actually, it’s being shaped by everything you’re doing right now.

All those quick sketches? They’re helping.
Every unfinished piece? It counts.
And all the tiny decisions about what colors, textures, and characters you’re drawn to? That’s your style, showing you where it lives.

Style isn’t a mystery to be solved, it’s a pattern of preferences that emerge from action and play. It’s born from permission, not pressure.

And that voice telling you you’re not ready? That’s not your highest self.
It’s a ghost of a past belief that somehow you just were not enough. That’s the part of you that wants to be perfect before it allows you to be seen, simply to protect you.

But here’s the thing...

There is someone out there right now who is looking for the exact kind of art that only you can create, the kind that hasn’t been “overworked,” or “over-trained,” or “perfected” into something generic or robotic.

They’re looking for your color sensibility.
Those quirky lines you love to draw.
Your tender characters.
They are looking for your perspective and voice.

And they will only find it if you keep going.

Gentle Journal Prompt

Take a deep breath, and ask yourself:

What if I’m not behind at all? What if I’m exactly where I’m meant to be and my dream is already unfolding through me?

Let that question sit in your body.
Then, just write. Let it move through you.

Affirmation to Keep Close

“Every piece I create brings me closer to the artist I’m becoming. I don’t have to be perfect, I just have to keep showing up.”

Keep Growing with Me

If this letter landed in your heart, there are a few beautiful ways you can walk this creative path more deeply with me:

• 🎨 Patreon: Join my behind-the-scenes art journey from sketches to finished pieces, and receive monthly rewards like stickers, postcards, and art prints that carry intention and magic.

• 🌙 Starlight Dream Lab (Free Tool): Discover your big creative dream helping to anchor it into your nervous system. This tool is for artists who feel something BIG inside, but can’t quite name it yet.

• 🌟 Epic Year Express: A self-paced workshop that helps you turn your big soul-aligned dream into a strategy you can actually follow. Especially made for sensitive creatives and intuitive thinkers.

Final Thought

If you can imagine the life you want to live and the art you want to make, or the world you want to build, it’s not because you’re delusional or unrealistic…

It’s because you’re being shown what’s possible.

You are a creator. You are already doing it.

And no matter where you are in the journey, someone out there is grateful you haven’t given up.

💖
With love & belief in you,
Therese