What does your ideal life look like?

Using the ancient practice of alchemy to transform your life.

“Every action you take is a vote for the person you wish to become” - James Clear

The ancient study of alchemy led to modern scientific theory, such as chemistry, in the same way astrology led to astronomy. What I wonder, is the further we got into proving the unknown, did we as a society began to reject the magical aspect of creation and transformation? Can we hold these two at the same time? The science and the magic?

In James Clear’s Atomic Habits, he lays out a plan for building the life you want to live, by starting with the type of person you want to be. He uses the example of someone who wants to change their eating habits. The suggestion is to ask yourself when ordering lunch “What would a healthy person eat?” He affirms that this thinking is a better motivator vs setting a goal weight you want to reach. After I took my sabbatical, going back to his process was very instrumental for me as I restructured my days. I knew I wanted to be a writer. How do you be a writer? Well, by writing- often. This type of system building has made Atomic Habits very popular, but the Secret, To Be Magnetic and similar platforms all do the same thing, they have combined the invisible work with the visible work: the alchemy and the chemistry, the magician and the scientist.

What Is Alchemy?

: a seemingly magical process of transformation, creation, or combination.

Infamously, medieval alchemists spent their days trying to make gold, elixirs and noble elements. They went from being admired and respected, to cast aside as pseudoscientists, as modern scientific theory emerged and religious leaders shunned anything esoteric. The alchemists, like scientist and researchers now, were indebted to their patrons. Already wealthy, and powerful figures became obsessed with funding the creation of gold, because it would make them untouchable, almost god-like. These vanity projects were seen as sinful by the leaders of the church and stopped. The sorcerers never produced gold, but they did invent experimental techniques, laboratory tools and discover an enormous amount about the nature of matter and how different materials could be isolated and combined. They handed this knowledge down to modern scientists.

Carl Jung incorporated alchemy into his work because he regarded the conjuring up of images of gold as symbolic expressions of the goal of his "process of individuation". Psychology and Alchemy (Jung, 1968) is Volume 12 of The Collected Works of C.G. Jung. The book is a study of the analogies between alchemy, psychological symbolism, and aspects of religion, human spirituality, and transcendence. Alchemy is central to Jung’s concept of the collective unconscious, his ideas about the aims of psychotherapy, and the analytic process in general. Jung highlights the importance of alchemy in relating to the transcendent nature of the human psyche.

Marie-Louise von Franz, a favorite of mine, studied alchemic manuscripts and urged these teachings should be understood as complementary to the modern sciences.

“At its essence, alchemy is a power or process that changes or “transforms” something in a mysterious or profound way. While many cultures developed a philosophy and proto-scientific art of alchemy, medieval alchemy was a speculative science and philosophy aimed at achieving the transmutation of base, vulgar, impure, damaged base metals (like lead) into a higher and purer form: gold. During the Middle Ages and Renaissance times, alchemy spread throughout the Western world and was further developed by Kabbalists, Rosicrucians, astrologers, and other occultists. It functioned on two levels: the mundane and the spiritual. On the mundane level, alchemists sought to find a physical process to convert base metals into gold. On the spiritual level, alchemists worked to purify themselves by eliminating the “base” material of the self and achieving the “gold” of enlightenment.” - ALCHEMY AND PSYCHOLOGY: ALCHEMIZING YOUR CHALLENGING EXPERIENCES WILLIAM BREITBART, M.D.

Your Own Alchemic Process

“Alchemizing” one’s emotions and experiences as an artist, is doing the invisible work before the visible. The magic behind every creation, is the life essence poured into it.

For a creative person, the invisible work could look like fighting your shame monster, dealing with imposter syndrome, and a plethora of other foils. The cliche and the stagnant nature of the tortured artist, doesn’t have to stay that way.

With Infinity Sessions, we are going to lead up to a launch of your own project this fall. We must begin with the alchemizing and the magic before we can start working on the tangible. I’m here as a facilitator, guide and resource for you. The goal is to create a launch plan that will not only be life giving, but sustainable for how you imagine your dream life.

Our first session in this alchemy process, is to daydream and plan your ‘Ideal Week’.

What Is The ‘Ideal Week’?

The Ideal Week is a template for you to craft your schedule around. Starting with the essentials, and adding time blocks or daily focuses will allow you to be more intentional about your week. We will begin with brainstorming what you want your life to live like and then fill in the template. It’s like doing a puzzle, but you make the puzzle pieces.

Weekly Agenda, 20/52

May 13, 2024

Daydreaming Your Ideal Week

This is a space for big ideas, dreams and high level aspirations.

01. Make a pinterest board.

If you were gathering photos of your life to make a scrapbook, what would you hope is there. Children? Traveling? Baked goods? A perfect pair of jeans?

Not just the highlight reel, but the everyday. Search photos, quotes, favorite movies, and other works of art.

02. Write a list of your identifiers.

Think of this like a word cloud. We will prioritize them later. What are some categories you fall into?

Mother, Daughter, Wife, Student, Gardener, Swiftie, Writer, would be some easy ones for me, but there are also things I’ve been labelled and want to reject, like Procrastinator. Write these negative ones out and cross them out. Throw in a few things you would love to be called, like Poet, or Barista, or Seamstress.

03. Imagine an ordinary morning at home.

Write about it if that’s your thing, but even the creation of this morning in your mind is the first step to making it happen. The goal to contentedness is found in our every day. Our lives consist of ordinary days, and the mornings are usually a symptom of the day before. Wouldn’t it be lovely if an ordinary day was your benchmark for your happiness?

How do you wake up? What time is it? Who is there? What do you do first? How do you look? What do you eat? How do you feel?

04. Sign up for my Infinity Session: Daydreaming Your Ideal Week

Put these skeletal ideas and musings to practice in our first Infinity Session. Excited to host you. Sign up at the page linked below.

Love, Britta

My name is Britta Newton-Tarron and I have been working in marketing & design since 2012. IN-ORBIT is my avenue to discuss all things creative entrepreneurship with curiosity. We will stay in tune with the seasons as we rotate in our orbit, and you can learn how to harness your own gravitational pull.