Tend the Flame

Thank you for tuning in and sharing this Tiny Takeaway on Tend the Flame with your community.This episode is a Tiny Takeaway to infuse your week. This episode invites us to look to the magic in the little spaces, under neath our feet & in the moment before the day rolls away from our grasp.Here are the great book quotes inside:* “You only need sit still long enough in some attractive spot in the woods that all its inhabitants may exhibit themselves to you by turns.” - Henry David Thoreau, Walden* “The answer must be, I think, that beauty and grace are performed whether or not we will or sense them. The least we can do is try to be there.”― Annie Dillard, Pilgrim at Tinker CreekWriter’s Things:* Claudine Wolk and I are teaching again with PennWriters. If you are writing this summer and want to make sure people find your book, this is the class for you — register here for our June Session.* If you have an idea and you want to work it out before the summer season, scheduled an Ignite Your Intention Creativity Call here. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit katebrenton.substack.com/subscribe

Hello Creative Family - -Quick podcast for you, to keep the flame of clarity bright as the end of year expedites itself and the internal realms quietly wait for you attention.Make some space for silence this month; it will serve you tremendously.This episode has 2 questions you can ask yourself to help come to clear action, no matter is being asked of you.Here are the 2 posts I referenced in the podcast and 🔗 booklists if you are looking for stocking stuffers suggestions:* 🔗 Writing Coaching * 🔗 Ignite Your Intention Mentorship This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit katebrenton.substack.com/subscribe

This time of year can push a faster pace, while you want to slow down and savor. This podcast is for you — especially for you. Instead of attempting to move the needle on the trends, choose to tend to your own circle, your own vision for your year, and your day. Choice is your creative power. Thank you so much for being here & choosing to listen to what you love. It matters more than ever. More soon, KateTend the Flame is a reader-supported publication, subscribe and keep the fire burning.In this episode I mention: Below you will find my reference to writing the year inside Tend the Flame as well as Analog Social. I forgot to mention I have been spending a lot of time 🔗 here, learning a lot of neat ways to better use my 🧠. If you have a book idea or a wisdom piece you are working on, let’s ignite your intention and create it this year. ✔️Write with Kate, small business sale is on! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit katebrenton.substack.com/subscribe

Welcome Creative One — Thank you to all the new followers and all those that have been siting here by the fire with me for quite sometime. This place is a wall-less, international, learning space to nourish and speak to your inner spark. The more you share this podcast the more we can offer that warmth to others. Thank you for sharing, liking, subscribing and the support of your presence.🔥Join us by the 🔥 Tend the Flame is a reader-supported publication. Thank you for becoming a free or paid subscriber.🎧 This week’s podcast talks about:* Looking to Nature for Answers* What to do after you Look Up for inspiration* What are you standing on?* How bird talk is a metaphor and if it isn’t yours — how to listen for your own* Why we need a stronger relationship with ourselves (inscape) now more than ever 🐦‍⬛ If you are new, welcome. There are a weaving of stories here and previous episodes are referenced to help you light your own way. Episodes such as: Press the Button + Antidote for Exhaustion.🌿 If you are ready to have a conversation where you invest in hearing yourself, and moving out of overwhelm into intention and inspired action, there are a few mentorship spaces open, 🔗 schedule a connection call here.What others have said: “You help me see the thing I have been tripping over. I get it.” - Deidre, massage therapist“I needed someone to give be back my words so I can write them. You have a gift.” Pamela, authorOne more announcement… Claudine Wolk and I are at it again. We can’t help it. When we get together, books bet written. We are being hosted in the Pennwriters Author series beginning this Tuesday at 7pm EST. It is a 4 part series. Come and join with other writers (birds of a feather) and take your idea from someday to the page!🔗 📕 Join Us! Register today Who is this course for?Writers who are ready to start writing a book (fiction or non-fiction) that they intend to publish. As well as writers who want to learn the basics of book marketing to begin a successful career as a published author.What makes the course unique?Two instructors, who are both published authors and speakers, focus writers on both the writing process and book promotion to launch a successful writing career. Each session focuses on sparking creativity, building confidence, and providing the skills and knowledge needed to go from aspiring wordsmith to accomplished author.How does this help the aspiring author? Is this a write-my-book course?This course gives you, the new author, the lay of the land, to travel from concept to completion. This class guides your inspiration into action, creating: a writing intention, a story arc, and destination. We also remove the guesswork of entering the world of publishing, laying down the fundamental groundwork for you to be an inspired, educated, and informed writer. You get to decide where and how to take this forward on your writing journey. But now, you have a map.Session One: Getting Started: Share Book Ideas and Publishing GoalsPublished authors, Kate Brenton and Claudine Wolk, briefly share how they help writers publish and sell their books. In this interactive session, Kate moderates a segment for participants to share their book ideas and ways to refine their focus. In the second segment, Claudine introduces crucial beginner publishing terminology including publishing choices, book distribution, and publishing timeline.Session Two: Focus: Your Book Idea Takes Shape & How Book Promotion WorksKate runs an interactive session leveraging inspiration and intention to guide participants through uncovering and deciding on a primary focus as well as the accompanying arc for their book. Participants will come away from this session with a decision of what they want to write and an outline for future writing goals. Claudine educates participants on book marketing and promotion, spotlighting the essential questions: what it is; how it works to sell books in today’s world; why authors resist selling themselves; and how authors can overcome that resistance. Together, Kate and Claudine show aspiring writers that their intention and marketing message are intertwined, and that is a good thing.We end the session with a Q&A period.Session Three: Create Writing Plan – “The Author Agenda” and Book Marketing FundamentalsKate runs a creative session on developing an Author’s Agenda — an action plan to complete a book. Participants build upon session one and two to start story mapping and choosing coherent themes to advance their book. Claudine runs an interactive session with handouts to help participants to identify the book marketing fundamentals for their book: message, audience and hook, plus an elevator pitch.We end the session with a Q&A period.Session Four: Fun, Interactive Evaluation and Sharing: Share the Elevator Pitch for Your Book, Resources and Next StepsIn Session Four, Kate and Claudine summarize the three sessions and give participants an opportunity to share where they are in their writing process. We also give participants the opportunity to share the “elevator pitch” for their book, within the boundaries of positive and constructive communal support. Next steps and crucial book marketing and and publishing resources for additional learning are shared.We end the session with a Q&A period.Thanks for reading Tend the Flame! This post is public so feel free to share it. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit katebrenton.substack.com/subscribe

Hello Creative Friend, While you listen to this episode we are gathering for Women & Birds and I wanted to give you a branch to land on in this short Wednesday podchat. This week’s longer podcast was released on Sunday and you can listen here.Look up & Listen, KateTend the Flame is a reader-supported publication. To keep the 🔥 burning bright, become a free or paid subscriber.If you are in discernment or looking to on-ramp a new project, consider a connection call to see if Root to Rise Mentorship is right for you. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit katebrenton.substack.com/subscribe

Hello Friend — Here we speak to the inner spark. I have an invitation for you to commune with creativity — starting this Wednesday in Women & Birds, register below.: * A place to create* Reset your rhythm, from frenzied to fortified* Nourish your mind through beauty, creativity and commune, over the isolation of a scroll/* Set the tone for end of year as hopeful We are releasing this weeks podcast on Sunday to help with your draft wind this week. It’s a good one.Thanks for being here, more soon, Kate 🔥 This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit katebrenton.substack.com/subscribe

Hello Creative Friends — Have you ever heard the word inscape? It was coined by Gerard Manley Hopkins in referring to the: “‘Inscaping the heart’ a recurring theme in the poetry of Hopkins. The heart concerns itself with beauty, directs the reader heavenward.” [Source]It’s the land inside of you that colors your world.It’s the space of your spark, the place where you sent the flame. 🎧 We talk about this inscape and nature’s landscape on this week’s podcast and how one is intimately connected to the other. There is also an invitation for you inside today’s pod chat 🐦‍⬛⬇️A page has turned and it is those who move in faith of purpose on the whispers that this week’s podcast is for. 🔥 Have you felt that things are changing - -but you aren’t exactly sure of the next step?Yes! So many of us are feeling the same way; the seeds that were planted so very long ago have finally rooted. Maybe like me, you had to get very quiet and still to hear what needed to fall away and what needed to be watered, congratulations. We have arrived at our next adventure.I am still in the process of untangling knots, yet I can feel a larger space and capacity. It’s a learn as you go process for me. How about you? To expedite the inquiry, I recently cleared out a closet, my phone, and removed the second best options everywhere I looked to make room for that which is waiting for me. 🎧 Story of found gold here (if you ever read, Women Who Run with Wolves, you have to watch this: https://www.instagram.com/insights/media/3728308714572164058/* If this is you:You can hear the whisper and you know, but aren’t sure. * Join Women & Birds. * 3 Wednesdays together together— “though it is the smallest of seeds, when it grows it is the largest plant that becomes a tree, so that birds can perch in its branches” (Matthew).It will be the time spent to pull weeds, plant (the right) seeds, and gather fruit. See you there & until then until this week’s chat on the the preciousness of the inscape,KateTend the Flame is a reader-supported publication. 🔥Add kindling to another’s flame & become a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit katebrenton.substack.com/subscribe

There are some of us that have tremendous belief, but we also have questions.And I don't think the two are mutually exclusive. - Tend the Flame In this episode, we drawer nearer to the flame. Set down your tasks, and slow into an invitation of the heart. What do you believe in friend? We are living in chaotic times that want to draw us out and away from ourselves, deplete our spiritual, emotional and financial resources to leave us too exhausted to do much else. In this wandering episodes, we walk into the territory of faith and why it is so important and to think about what YOU believe in and what YOU are here to do. 🌿This episodes was unplanned and chartered her own course. We will follow-up more on this concept and the ideas of guarding your gates and untangling your obstacles. We are here to create and love; that is a courageous choice in times of great darkness and chaos. Don’t let the flame go out friend. 🔥This online creative class is Monday at 1pm EST. It is a place to walk through a story, in the way the Alchemists used to. Place the story on the table, let it be melted to its parts, sift through to find what can be repurposed, to build again. You will find gold in the creation. Click the button to join us. Until then, may your confusion melt into clarity and may your purpose be easily recognizable,Kate“Ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened. For everyone who asks, receives; whoever seeks, finds; and the door will be opened to him who knocks.” Matthew 7:7-8 This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit katebrenton.substack.com/subscribe

Hello Creative Flame Tenders — This week’s episode talks about:* How journaling helps leave breadcrumbs back to your own advice.* Standing for something now is more necessary than ever* A shortened discussion on the steps of Alchemy (the actual process) and how it relates to you and story-telling* An invitation to alchemize our stories together on September 22, 2025 — which is also the 3 year anniversary of Rebirth. Our creative online class will be recorded in case life throws you a wobble, so sign up here and bring 📝💖 & 🪄When: Monday September, 22, 2025 1-2pm EST 🔗 https://buy.stripe.com/fZuaEXdECdY13DrgQi9EI0D🔗📚Rebirth the book.It is important to note that we all take turns forgetting who we truly are, what we are capable of, and that we are connected to something larger. It’s a part of our growth process. I believe the more we share our stories and our tools, the easier it becomes to remember who we are, what we are capable of, and why we are here. - Kate Brenton, Rebirth (*yes it is weird to cite yourself) This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit katebrenton.substack.com/subscribe

Hello Creative Family — Our last episode on embodiment, in the Substack itself I mentioned a new word that has been added to the dictionary. And I thought it best for us to carry that seed a little further. Take heart this week, it is a powerful place to reside.Love, KateTo Learn From Animal Beingby John O'DonohueNearer to the earth's heart, Deeper within its silence: Animals know this world In a way we never will.We who are ever Distanced and distracted By the parade of bright Windows thought opens: Their seamless presence Is not fractured thus.Stranded between time Gone and time emerging, We manage seldom To be where we are: Whereas they are always Looking out from The here and now.May we learn to return And rest in the beauty Of animal being, Learn to lean low, Leave our locked minds, And with freed senses Feel the earth Breathing with us.May we enter Into lightness of spirit, And slip frequently into The feel of the wild.Let the clear silence Of our animal being Cleanse our hearts Of corrosive words.May we learn to walk Upon the earth With all their confidence And clear-eyed stillness So that our mindsMight be baptized In the name of the wind And the light and the rain.~ John O'Donohue From: To Bless the Space Between UsTend the Flame is a reader-supported publication. A place to gather warmth, and rekindle your soul, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Hebrews 4:12: "For the word of God is alive and in action. It is sharper than any double-edged sword... and can discern the secret thoughts and motives of a human heart".* This episode was recorded on September 9th, 2025 This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit katebrenton.substack.com/subscribe

Hello My Friends — This episode was unexpected and dropped into my lap — my favorite way for us to connect; it’s like air to a flame. * Did you know you have more than 3,000 receptors in your fingertips? * True or false: Science has combined human tissue with AI?* Last, do you think your answers are within or sourced outside or a combination?Alright — you are ready for this week’s episode. ☕️ Enjoy it and let me know your thoughts in the comments. It will help inform where the next episode takes us. Let’s stay curious about ourselves this week, Keep Shining, KateP.S. Link referenced in episode below with an additional link to a YouTube on the human hand. “Maybe the desire to make something beautiful is the piece of God that is inside each of us.” — Mary OliverI highly recommend watching the video below, but first I learned a new term — wetware. Do you know it? I didn’t; I headed on over to a non-AI source on the Internet and pulled screenshots for you on the definition. Read them over before clicking on the YouTube below. Here is another definition from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wetwareHere is the reference video from the podcast on the marriage of human cells & technology:Curious about the nerves in your hand? Watch this: And for our humanity — Mary Oliver writing a poem on Franz Marc’s Blue HorsesImage citation: https://www.franzmarc.org/The-Tower-of-Blue-Horses.jspFranz Marc’s Blue Horses, by Mary OliverI step into the painting of the four blue horses.I am not even surprised that I can do this.One of the horses walks towards me.His blue nose noses me lightly. I put my armover his blue mane, not holding on, justcommingling.He allows me my pleasure.Franz Marc died a young man, shrapnel in his brain.I would rather die than try to explain to the blue horseswhat war is.They would either faint in horror, or simplyfind it impossible to believe.I do not know how to thank you, Franz Marc.Maybe our world will grow kinder eventually.Maybe the desire to make something beautifulis the piece of God that is inside each of us.Now all four horses have come closer,are bending their faces toward meas if they have secrets to tell.I don’t expect them to speak, and they don’t.If being so beautiful isn’t enough, whatcould they possibly say?​Feed Your 🧠: Learn More About the Artist Franz Marc and how he created beauty against all oddsIn the bleak winter of 1916, in the thickest darkness of World War I, several enormous canvases dappled in pointillist patterns of color appeared across the French countryside, …The painted tarps were military camouflage, designed to conceal artillery from aerial observation — the work of the young German painter, printmaker, and Expressionist pioneer Franz Marc (February 8, 1880–March 4, 1916), who had devoted himself to parting the veil of appearances with art in order to “look for and paint this inner, spiritual side of nature.”🔗 https://www.themarginalian.org/2021/09/08/franz-marc/ This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit katebrenton.substack.com/subscribe

Hello, hello. I have a favor. I would love to know your thoughts on this question— is it important to be human? And — what does that even mean? Post your comments below. In this episode we talk about:* Chat GPT recommending baseball bats* The most likely answer to : What do you want?* Bottom lines without factoring in the human experience* And why we do well when we Gather.Drop your comments below — no 🤖here. See you soon and stay 🔥✨ you beautiful soul,KateTend the Flame is a reader-supported publication. Add kindling to the fire, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit katebrenton.substack.com/subscribe

Hello hello — Today’s podcast is part reflection and part story-telling thanks to the natural world, always providing us clues to the answers we seek.“When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world.” — John MuirThis week we look at:* The habit of saying it’s fine — before checking in if the is true.* Our first reaction to that which we don’t know — oh, poor confused caterpillar…* What happens when infiltrators are removed with boundaries — oh, not so innocent caterpillars.* What we can do now for ourselves to glow-up and nurture our own roots — or wings.🗡️ If you are ready to move into action, clear out the confusion, book an Ignite your Intention call with 5 day containers here. The fall calendar is now opening for new clients.🔗Ignite your Intention 🔥*Fall price increase coming.🍂See you back here soon. With love,KateThanks for reading Tend the Flame! This post is created to share with your circle.🐦‍⬛ Learn more about it…For those whose curiosity is piqued on the bag worms, click here to learn more about these critters. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit katebrenton.substack.com/subscribe

Welcome back to the Tend the Flame podcast.We've been on a bit of a sabbatical for the summer.This podcast is a place for you to tend the internal flame, the one ofcreativity, divinity, and what gives you your spark. Thank you so much for tuning in.🐦‍⬛ We're going to talk about why all of this talk about birds, nature,what the invitation can be that you can bring into your own life.More soon. With big love, Kate This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit katebrenton.substack.com/subscribe

Hello Creatives!We are heading into our Summer Scheduling where we slow down on the recording a bit and speed up on our creating! Place your attention on what you want to nourish, do it enough and you may start to notice resistance. You may feel the twinge of how and why it can’t, but times are changing in front of us and you are here — in this life, and on this page because you have something to share. Time to create it.Thanks for tuning in!Every up level requires something of us. If you are looking for someone to help navigate the potential you know you are walking into — schedule a connection call — that’s a quick chat to ensure a good fit. Another person to hear you, see what is just outside your periphery and echo back your ideas can make such a big, big difference - -between someday and now. Kate’s Schedule: 🔗katebrentoninspiresAlso keep your eyes peeled for a summer offering to Create more than we Consume. It’s for women.XoKate This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit katebrenton.substack.com/subscribe

“The inspiration you seek is already within you. Be silent and listen.” - RumiHello Creatives - -This episode evolved from a talk I gave for the Inspire Create Manifest Soulful you retreat this year. It is a topic that is evermore on my mind: that the simple joys of being human are what leads us to our solutions. 🔗 This episode is brought by our Summer Session writing series. Curious? Hop on the waitlist for early bird pricing & having input on date selection for our June session.1:06 Time Magazine article declares modern exhaustion from an unsustainable lifestyle. 4:31 We are deciding to open our eyes to what is unsustainable5:21 David Whyte seeks counsel and the antidote is whole-heartedness7:48 A quick way to get mind out of overwhelmRemember you are designed to create not consume.Share your joy because rising tides, raise all ships, KateSpecial Invitation: Do you have a group of 8 writers that would like to move forward this summer? Reach out for group sessions, led with a seasoned teacher and friend of the written word. Curious about the Time Article? https://time.com/6694092/exhaustion-increasing-causes-essay/ This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit katebrenton.substack.com/subscribe

Hello Fellow Creative - This week’s Sunday stack is short and sweet, and builds on our last episode. Here we talk about algorithms versus relationships, likes versus support, and tech in comparison to Nature, who loves you.Did you know that trees emit a low-key, near infrared light, that they don’t use? I recently learned that blue light, like that editing from our screens and computers is unfiltered and gets ushered right into our retina. I never thought about that before. I did use to explain to students that reading or even listening to something can you the speed to decide if it sounded true, whereas imagery, flashes and gets into our system and if we are paying attention, we then question it. The very nature of consciousness seems to becoming more mainstream in ever-growing circles. When I asked the Internet (I am citing my sources here) about thinking of something and then seeing its ads, it answered very cleverly. It said :So what about those times when you just think about something, and then you see an ad?It can be difficult to wrap your head around, but it likely is less of a coincidence than you think. Any piece of information Facebook picked up (even just semi-related to the thought), either before or after your thought, could have led to the ad being served.Every move you make online fuels Facebook’s algorithm. Engaging with a post, liking a person’s photo, or even using your Facebook account to sign in to another online service are all examples of this.Essentially, a complex algorithm is “listening” to us, just not using microphones.* www.mcnuttpartners.com/why-we-see-digital-ads-after-talking-about-something/January 25, 2021 Digital Marketing / Marketing and AdvertisingNot sure that makes me feel better; it’s kinda like a pat on the head, saying it’s way worse than you can consider. In the same breath, there is a mockery of the Quantum Physics and the idea that where our focus goes, energy grows - meaning like often attracts like and such. Okay maybe not enough to explain much, but that is not the goal here. The goal is to question and consider. I’d toss in the idea of when you find out a shop, or a trail, had been in your neighborhood and you never, ever noticed it before. What changed that made the opportunity available to your perception? To note, I don’t think the universe is random, nor do I think it is for humans to control. I do think a bit of personal effort to build one’s life, can go a very long way. A way, indeed that can be upturned, but built again, perhaps even with a new found wisdom. What we say and how we say it matters. I am beginning to learn it may even matter more than I’d wish. Isaiah 55:11 So shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.This week’s focus is Notice & Nourish. Enjoy the invitation and maybe notice what you notice as you go about your days. I am still enjoying my bounty from the harvest. See you back here next week on Tend the Flame📚🔗Florence Scovel Shinn On the Power of the Spoken Word This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit katebrenton.substack.com/subscribe

Hello Creative Friend — May this episode find you enjoying all the available good. Happy Mother’s Day no matter how that phrase lands, in what season you are in, and what breath you are in-taking be one of beauty. 🌿 This Pod-chat Excerpt is honoring Nettle, Boundaries & Pacing:You could interpret obstacles as denial, as opposed tothresholds of discernment. I think Nettle is a phenomenal teacher of discernment.I am asking you and to coddle your eyes and take them off of a blue screen and turn them towards a blue sky this week.Notice what you notice.📍Share what you notice in the comments so that we can start conversations that flood our fields and the algorithm of our daily life about people noticing catbirds and, strawberries, and stinging nettle and children carrying dandelions and what takes our energy and what reciprocates our energy.🌿 Look for signs of life offering you discernment, so that there is more reciprocitybecause reciprocity also extends our capacity and we need people like you.Yes, you, at the full capacity.Thank you for expanding the flowering of this flame 🔥Tend the Flame is a reader-supported publication share this work with your social circle & watch the Flame grow This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit katebrenton.substack.com/subscribe

Podcast Snippet:Writing is an alchemy.It can give witness to something that has no business being witnessed by a human.You know what I mean?Maybe there's a situation that it's the time has passed that you can have theconversation with the person,but you can write it out.And if visualization makes the body feel the truth of something being achieved,then writing it out can give voice to,to silence that needs to be broken, ideas that need to be shared.Join Master the Mornings by becoming a paid subscriber today 🔥.Hello Creative One — Thank you for tuning in and I trust you will find 2 good things out of this episode. I wished I had remembered to recommend better books at the end. Do you have suggestions? Pop them in the comments. After the fact, I thought of this one and this one. I need to read more fiction — so I am really open to recommendations.Enjoy the podcast. And for our journals, our morning masters, get your pen, your notebook and your favorite mug ready for the morning. Until then, Kate This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit katebrenton.substack.com/subscribe

Last week we talked about experience over convenience. This week, even simpler — a 3 minute invitation — shorter than an IG scroll session.What can you create? With curiosity, KateTend the Flame is grateful for your support 🔥 Thank you for subscribing. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit katebrenton.substack.com/subscribe

Hello Creative Friend, Do you have 8 minutes to chat? We’re talking about one thing you have this week: a choice.🔥Snippet of this week’s focus:Is there an embodiment of warmth that you're paying attention to when you're cooking?Are youthinking about the flame, whether you're on gas or induction?Are you thinking about the element of fire, of light?If you are standing on a cliff and you've been thinking about all the unseen forcesthat are working against us,whatever that means,Are you thinking — since you're living in a world where there's two sides to every piece of toast — you've heard that you're living in a polarity environment,polarity aperture,there's infinite possibilities.If you can see or feel or acknowledge an unseen forcealgorithm that seems to be pulling everything apart in a polarity universe thatmeans there is a reciprocal force of equal magnitude that could join us together.🔥 See you back here next week! Before I go, can I ask you to share this episode with 2 friends? Let’s light up the world, KateTend the Flame is a reader-supported publication.Keep the flame high, become a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit katebrenton.substack.com/subscribe

Have you been in it this week? — This episode is for you. Mission: More people living in harmony with their purpose + more people living in harmony with each other. In this episode we talk about:* Specificity & Sustainability * The Change in Cultural Conversations* The Change of the past 5 years* Jesus & the Bible and the reclamation of personal, accessible truth —  direct relationship * Laws of Polarity* Price of Attention:🗝️ The Third OptionKeep growing,Kate📝 Ps. * Don’t forget to write it down. Learn why here.* Check out The Everyday Meditation MethodIf you can, now is the time to consider become a free or paid subscriber. Keep the fires burning bright 🔥 This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit katebrenton.substack.com/subscribe

We often use words to employ our doubts, but what if we used them to empower our belief?In this pod-chat we talk about the use of intention and focus, and the employment of prayer to better serve the very human reality of being here now in a way that feels real & good. Unless you power down the operating system that you're actively using, and let there be an eclipse moment for reset - so you may have a new operating system.When people say make an intention around the eclipse, what is an intention?It's an arrow of focus within a life of infinite possibilities.May you make the time to hear what you already know, KateTend the Flame is a reader-supported publication. To keep the fires burning, become a free or paid subscriber.* Do you have a calling, yet feel overwhelmed and not sure where to pinpoint your focus? * Do you want to stop wasting your time and feeling exhausted from confusion and frustration? 🔥 You’d do the work if you KNEW what to do. You found the solution ➡️ Ignite your Intention This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit katebrenton.substack.com/subscribe

We are back with some new questions for you on Tend the Flame. This episode is a bridge from claiming and learning the path to cultivating the space and trust to be present in the unknown, whether literally by letting your house go dark, or figuratively by being patient and peaceful with what you cannot yet see. Do you turn on all the lights when you wake up?Are you comfortable in the dark? Do you remember what it was when you were a kid to walk out and see the night sky and the stars twinkling back?✅This week: as the light grows (gratefully in the Northern Hemisphere) make some space for the dark.🌌 Leave your comments and memories - -let us know!📚Book referenced: https://bookshop.org/a/84615/9781948626729💡🔗 Alternative lightThe world threatens to numbMy soul’s powers.Therefore, step forth memory,Shining from depths of spirit,Strengthen my visionThat only by strength of willIs able to sustain itself. - Rudolf SteinerTend the Flame is a reader-supported publication, add the kindling of your spark 🔥by being a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit katebrenton.substack.com/subscribe

Hello Creative One — This morning’s session is lit. Grab your ☕️ and enjoy your Sunday Stack.If you are too busy — then you need this episode even more. See you inside, Kate🔥Podchat Transcript Excerpt“Here's the pivot:We're supposed to enjoy our lives.We're supposed to have a fire that's burning,that sometimes is a bonfire and sometimes is an ember,not constantly birthing and doing at a high voltage,but also not constantly hidden in the ash of the hearth.That's what Tend the Flame is about:Gathering, kindling, creating that reciprocal flame🔥 You know, fire brings comfort and calm.It draws humans still.And second best doesn't do it.LED candles don't do it.I love salt lamps.They don't do the same thing.Nothing captivates like the fire because it's alive.You are alive.The thousand things are not alive.You bring the thousand things alive.When you understand that an hour of focus can give you back weeks of confusion and you are ready to harness the forward motion, click hereXOKateIt's sexy to drink water without microplastics.What? ➡️A National Institutes of Health (NIH) study found that a liter of bottled water contained about 240,000 tiny pieces of plastic. 🔗 to article here. ⬇️ Get hydrated easily without the plastics & the chemicals. https://lnkd.in/epwQWPbHTend the Flame is a reader-supported publication, help light the fire, become a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit katebrenton.substack.com/subscribe

Hello Creative One — Here is your Sunday Stack. If you have been following along we are moving into the action of “no” with the stabilizing force of being honest with where we are and where we are going. Each episode stands alone, yet if you are in a spiral, head on over to this episode below and go on the journey of tending your flame. Why would I think you are spiraling? March is giving hints of wild ride, epic rebirths and New. To have new, we have Old. To have Old, we have endings. If we create a space to sit in our center and stay as connected as possible to the present, we have everything we will ever need. Even while there is laundry and lists, taxes and troubles, we are here. Let’s remember that. *Please note, I did not say want. I didn’t say you’d get what you want….you’d get what you…you know the tune.Clear it out and create a life you want to wake up to, KateHow to eat a Poemby Eve MerriamDon’t be polite.Bite in.Pick it up with your fingers and lick the juice thatmay run down your chin.It is ready and ripe now, whenever you are.You do not need a knife or fork or spoon or plate or napkin or tablecloth.For there is no coreor stemor rindor pithor seedor skinto throw away.Get Creative* When we allow ourselves to speak freely, clarity emerges and that includes silence. * Spend a few minutes each morning journaling out when you need to release or journaling in what this new moon, new month is calling forward for you.* Have an idea and ready to let in some help to get it going? Say no more. Click here. Grab a consultation with 5 days of voice note support to go from “I think” to “I can.” This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit katebrenton.substack.com/subscribe

As soon as you say you are off sweets, you have to have a chocolate. As soon as you say, I’ll exercise everyday — you stop. Until, you don’t until you have enough fire or momentum that you blow past a previous indecision to a new commitment. Universal law states that for every action there is an equal reaction. So as soon as you decide to up level anything, we expect resistance to knock on the door, and it is our job to send her elsewhere or put her to work.Let me know what you are taking captive this week & thank you for tuning in to the Sunday Stack. 🔗📚 Here's that book resource I mentioned.Also, remember to come to the 30 minute live co-work for our subscriber family📆Focus to Flourish February 26th 12- 12:30 ESTWhy?* Have you ever brought your to-do list to a co-work space where you set your intention and worked on it without wandering away to get a drink, empty the dishwasher, or scroll? Sh*t gets done quickly.* It’s a thank you for this growing community.* It’s a way to make our Sunday Stack’s more tangible in our lives.What?* We will do a quick check-in to set an intention for the work session.* We will mute ourselves and create. That can mean write, delete your e-mail sent folder (which is a real thing we all need to be doing), get your to-do list together, sketch out a blog post — whatever you need.* We will also select a focus for the following month. This has been such a valuable practice for me. I have a focus for the year, and a focus for the month that I break down into weekly goals professionally, personally and spiritually. It has been really helpful.* This one is for EVERYONE, free & paid subscribers 💚.That’s it. No pitch. No hitch.It helps me practice what I write and look for ways to harness the power of community for the good. I think if we focus on flourishing clarity and confidence will follow.Hope to see you there.📍I will post the zoom link on 2/26, but I wanted you to mark your calendars.Remember, the better it gets, the better it gets. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit katebrenton.substack.com/subscribe

Sometimes what we initially perceive as late, is actually right on time. I’ll keep this short & sweet and send you onto the quiet routine of your Sunday night.Tune in to challenge on this week’s #sundaystack🔗📚 https://bookshop.org/a/84615/9781668072240The Better it Gets the Better it Gets— do you believe that? KateTend the Flame is a reader-supported publication. Gather around the fire and share in the warmth, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit katebrenton.substack.com/subscribe

In our first Sunday Stack, we talked about the simple actions that can stop the big change. Our second Sunday, we talked about collecting the data (what are we really doing and what is working?)This week: Be. Do and then Have.🔥Thank you for all your comments. You are helping create the conversations, which means more of us are lighting the flames of clarity and moving into being, rather than chasing shadows, and doing from past-patterning. Keep it up because the better it gets, the better it gets.Tend the Flame is a reader-supported publication. To receive & ignite more sparks become a free or paid subscriber. Sharing works! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit katebrenton.substack.com/subscribe

🌅☕️Rise and Shine your Sunday Stack is here.This podcast speaks to your inner spark for a little weekly focus. Thank you for being here and welcoming the podcast and the long form into one space. I appreciate all of you who have reached out. The simplification feels great, affirming and easy. If you are waiting on your own consolidation or affirmation, consider this your go sign!This week we are tracking what is working and harnessing our focus. This works for everything. Next week I’ll share a real-life parenting how this translated for me. Business, life and inner-world work is all connected. So glad you are here. Here is my non-curated, old school checklist that I mention in the podcast & two resource links from the show as well.Tend the Flame is a reader-supported publication. Amplify the spark in your life and others become a free or paid subscriber.🔗 LinksMyron Golden Brighid and Imbolc 🔥Spread the spark & share with a friend. Thank you! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit katebrenton.substack.com/subscribe

Hello Creatives — It seems many of us are tidying up our desks, moving them to a new corner to get better sun and cracking out the good notebook. About 5 hours after I went and changed the title of the my substack, I got an email from fellow writer, Claudine, and it said: I am changing my substack. I sent a squeal of a voice note back. I really love a confirmation synchronicity — I share it with you as an introduction to our new space: Tend The Flame. It speaks to the spark inside. What isn't changing much: written content. We have always toggled between observation, inspiration and creativity.What is changing: I moved my podcast over here to keep things in one place. The podcast is not new; it is several years old, but last year it went under a new name: Tend the Flame. It was originally called Rebirth, but had nothing to do with birth, reincarnation, or the rebirthing technique. None of which crossed my mind when I named it. Rather, okay it was a little bit about birth, in that I was a new mom and I had lost my center and a good friend, now international coach, reached out and said: I think you should do a podcast. It was perfect medicine.That podcast became my first book. A lifelong dream came true. A bucket list wish crossed off. Check it out here. That book gave me so may gifts. Too many to get into here, but a lot of it was a newly earned awareness. I taught writing with a new vigor and purpose and I LOVED it. Still do. Then the time to reemerge out of my toddler cocoon, and personal rebirth I suppose. It was also time to get back into sharing my greatest offering — helping people believe in what’s possible. It might sound hokey, but I’ve realized that is what I do. I listen to stories, and I find threads. I put the pieces I hear on a metaphorical table, and then the person in front of me says, “oh.” And poof they have more space in their mind and their body, and a new harmony begins. But, I thought that was too crazy to say. I mean, who says that? Who has a lifestyle as a space-maker?Me. I do. It’s me, but I am not the problem. My sense of too muchness was. There I was yesterday talking to the same friend, 8 years later, Aligned For Greatness and I realize it’s time to let things be simple and all in one place, inside and might as well include my email thread while I am at it. That is the backstory to the podcast episode about Pushing the Button. The intangible hesitancy of switching podcast providers, which in itself was nothing, had an inner magnitude. Can you relate? The internal, emotional freedom only revealed itself afterward. I felt wildly lighter. I felt physically lighter when I pushed the button.This is a night to let something go.Let it die. Throw out the old jam jar, sweater, and personal criticism. Don’t go to the thing that you don’t want to go to. Normally, I say look for adventure. Live. Tonight I say prune. Be honest at what needs to fall away, and then protect the spark that remains. After you listen to the shortie episode, that is really a wish for to do your own little freedom thing, you can check out the harmless text thread below. It slipped in so unaware. Then it hit me: I’m not pressing the button. I just need to PRESS THE BUTTON. I did and here we are. Check out Claudine Wolk for all things writing, marketing, and the truth of baring it all. She’ll get you moving and grooving this year. So here is to a year of shedding; it is the collective year of the snake and I am here to celebrate it. It is also here the time to celebrate the fox and the flame. Do you know that story? We’ll have to share it here another day.Remember, the better it gets…the better it gets,Kate This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit katebrenton.substack.com/subscribe

Have you heard of this book? Grab it on bookshop here.I had it recommended to me by two very different individuals, living very different, successful, value-aligned lives. I am so glad I got it. You take one glance and you could miss how it is talking about everything. It is not merely a business book; it is a total mindset shift. It is NOT about more, it is about better. In a time of too much, living our fullest becomes deceptively harder than when less was available. ☕️I recorded a Sunday morning chat with you above on the idea in this book of living for need vs want and how justification trips up good intentions. * When you listen, I asked you to comment below if you found it:Inspiring, clarifying, and I think the 3rd word was helpful. Please correct me, and let me know what is one thing you got from this Sunday Stack.Grab the book, too. If you want it from a local bookstore, you can use the affiliate link I gave above. Otherwise, grab it on Amazon, Thriftbooks or your local library — but grab it. The better it gets, the better it gets,Kate This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit katebrenton.substack.com/subscribe

🔗📚Grab your own Friend Thanks for being here & letting me pop into your sphere with a poem.Do you have a favorite poem to share? XOKateSit & Write is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit katebrenton.substack.com/subscribe

The original post is here.📝 Curious about Sit & Write? Learn more about writing options here. And get your groove on with Smokey here: This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit katebrenton.substack.com/subscribe

For our first book recommendation here you go….Grab your copy hereI chatted about how much I am enjoying this book and why in the above love note to you (click the audio).I hopped on here to tell you that Claudine Wolk and I have to turn off the sale for Sit & Write tonight, so you have time to grab it before it returns to full price. This morning a writer and master manifestation coach sent me this note:It’s true. The secret ingredient to writing your book is the SAME magic that you need to manifest your best life. You might want to grab this inspiring and packed-with-insight self-paced class now. You’ll have life long access. Also, if you happen to be local, Sit & Write is doing a lunch & learn in Doylestown February 8th at Noon at The Coterie Commons on Everything You Need to Know about Writing Your Book. It is a beautiful spaced, created to bring people together to learn and enjoy. Check out more information here. Let me leave you this full moon with Ursula K. Le Guin:“If you can see a thing whole," he said, "it seems that it's always beautiful. Planets, lives. . . . But close up, a world's all dirt and rocks. And day to day, life's a hard job, you get tired, you loose the pattern. You need distance, interval. The way to see how beautiful earth is, is to see it from the moon. The way to see how beautiful life is, is from the vantage point of death."Keep expanding your perspective to include the unseen opportunities of now,KateSit & Write is a reader-supported, we need you to keep the Muse visiting us and sharing her wisdom. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit katebrenton.substack.com/subscribe

“For it is not inertia alone that causes the unspeakable monotonous and unrenewed human condition to repeat itself again and again. It is the aversion to anything new, any unpredictable experience, which is believed to be untenable.” - Rainer Maria RilkeI heard that to train an elephant they use heavy shackles to tie him to  a tree, realizing the predicament he is in he eventually resigns himself to domestication — once the elephant relinquishes, the elephant trainers need only rope for restraint. Apparently broken, the elephant could - but does not venture escape.We do this.We do this every day: “the unspeakable montonous.”We do this when we refuse to experience new places or when we only talk to people who think like us. We do this when we refuse to open up to a silly idea from a child or when we go home the same way from work - every. single. day. Did you know that a simple trick for re-sparking inspired, creative thinking is driving a different way?Why?Because when we do the same thing over and over again, the ever intelligent brain says: "There is nothing new to see here."  And doesnʻt even look.Have you ever taken an out of town guest to your favorite restaurant or coffee shop and they notice something you have never seen before? Itʻs because they are looking. They are seeing. Their brain is skrying the environment and noticing.What did you notice on your way to work? The sky? The birds? Your text messages (hope not, both hands on the wheel!) Or are you thinking about what happened before you left — or worrying about what is yet to come?Of course brainstorming and collecting thoughts for the day, or processing a conversation in the quiet of your car is great. But are we ever just present? Or radically grateful that we have a car to drive and a job to drive to?It might sound trite, but allowing new vision - not imprinting the past as the present- reorganizes how your brain works. Because in the present, there is possibility.When you are grateful — your brain says, “Oh, we are looking for things to be grateful for. What can I find now?“ and that sends a message through the neurotransmitters associated with dopamine, which incites the “Letʻs do this again” response. The brain - the ever wanting to please puppy, like all dogs when they have proper exercise, discipline, and affection — feels satiated by completing a task and receiving the reward of positive attention. So you can program your brain to look for things that make you happy.You can allow your brain to inspire you.Gratitude is one way. You can also slow down and notice. Slow down and be. Let new information come from within (put down the phone), take a walk, remember the feeling of inspiration. Can you remember your last true a-ha? Did you act on  the whispers?  Or did you find yourself explaining to friends after the fact, ”I knew it!” But did nothing.Seth Godin recently asked, “What would you do if all your meetings were cancelled? Go do that - now.”  Why wait? You already know what you could be doing if you gave yourself permission.As Elizabeth Gilbert says: "Consider this your permission slip." Now go have fun - be creative. Be a problem solver.When we give pause, we can notice. When we give ourselves permission to dream broader, we act accordingly. We notice a co-worker that needs a hand. We can revision a parenting or an accounting problem. We can have a moment of not-knowing and surrender to that instead of repeating ad nauseam what we do know — and changing nothing but increasing our desperation and therefore inflammation, which serves only to makes us more upset and bitter.To give space, to slow down, to notice beauty - in another, in artwork, in Nature — creates possibility.“You do not need to know precisely what is happening, or exactly where it is all going. What you need is to recognize the possibilities and challenges offered by the present moment, and to embrace them with courage, faith and hope.”  ― Thomas MertonTo notice that your life has changed and perhaps you were once shackled with immovable mental chains, but maybe you arenʻt now. Maybe you are a little wiser, a little kinder, a little more courageous. Maybe you made that move, or started a gentler self talk, or enrolled into ceramics / wine tasting / outdoor canoeing club, and you are not only exercising your mind, you are exercising  your right to joy — and you are letting more of that in. You are letting a little more inspiration shine. Maybe breath by breath and choice by choice that metal chain is becoming a rope — and you can choose to slip it off and walk away.*originally written November 13, 2017 This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit katebrenton.substack.com/subscribe

Hello!A colleague of mine gave me the idea to share more with our creative community here. Some of us prefer to listen to the substacks here, so this year I will be handpicking previous posts for a retelling and infusing the piece where needed. Enjoy!Kate This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit katebrenton.substack.com/subscribe

Sit & Write: Begin video classA self-paced, online class with insights and activities to support authors. It is for writers who have the desire & curiosity to learn what it takes to write & market a book and who want a clear starting point to begin.🎁 Holiday Gift Idea - Spread the Love! Purchase the Sit & Write: Begin course as a gift for a friend. When you purchase the course, at check-out mark it as a gift with the recipient’s information. What a treasure to receive the gift of learning how to make your writing dream a reality! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit katebrenton.substack.com/subscribe

Have you ever heard that when you set an intention a reciprocal force will meet you? Right before this podcast I took a walk in the woods & met a trinity of deer before recording the first chat-cast with my long time friend, Joe Longo. I thought with the new logo and the whimsy and wisdom we would have a slow conversation about the power of story-telling.We did, but it wasn't what I anticipated.We pivot quickly into the advent of the AI apps and held a conversation on opposing views with similar values and we arrived in a conversation of expansion and appreciation of the other, while contemplating what our roles are in our own lives to uphold our values and experiences and what is our responsibility to the generations that follow.Have a listed & chime in. This is a full on full moon conversation. Thank you Joe.Check out Joe’s Daily Shot of Inspiration podcast, and set your mind for success. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit katebrenton.substack.com/subscribe

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit katebrenton.substack.com/subscribe

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit katebrenton.substack.com/subscribe