– Elizabeth Gilbert
Most of us move through life carrying more than we realize: different dreams, different energies, different longings. Some are loud and visible, others live quietly beneath the surface, waiting to be seen.
We often learn to lead with only a few of those parts: the capable one, the responsible one, the driven one. But what about the sides of you that are softer, wilder, more intuitive? The ones that don’t fit into your to-do list but hold the key to your creative power and direction?
I think about Virginia Woolf and her call for a room of one’s own, a space where a woman could create, think, and simply be. And I wonder how much has truly changed. Even today, in modern life, we so often don’t give ourselves the space to meet all the parts of who we are.
There are so many sides to you.
But how many of them do you actually let into the room?
Over the years, working with women from all over the world, different cultures, stories, and life chapters, we would explore their essence through my Personal Blueprint™ method. Together, we mapped their passions, strengths, lived experiences, and purpose to create something that felt aligned: a vision, a body of work, a next chapter that was truly theirs.
For some women, everything aligned on paper: the direction, the ideas, the strengths. Yet something still wasn’t fully embodied.
Clarity, while essential, wasn’t always enough.
They were still holding themselves back.
Not because they lacked vision or drive, but because they couldn’t fully see themselves.
That’s when I began to notice the deeper pattern. There were parts of themselves they didn’t feel were theirs, traits they hadn’t tapped into, roles they didn’t believe they could hold, shaped by old stories and unspoken beliefs from childhood.
If you’ve spent years hearing you’re too much, too quiet, too emotional, not creative, not a leader, it leaves behind a quiet voice that slowly settles in and over time, becomes a belief.
And if deep down you don’t believe you’re someone who can lead, heal, speak up, or create… You won’t act on it even when the path is clear.
It wasn’t just about the why or the how. It was about owning their direction, their identity, and the future version of themselves.
That’s when I realized: mapping the Personal Blueprint™ your lived story, talents, and gifts was only one part of it. There was also something softer, deeper, more intuitive: an energetic blueprint of your inner muses, feminine archetypes, traits, beliefs, emotions, and inner rhythm.
These evolving traits guide your choices, shape your desires, and help align you with your purpose. They shape how you make choices, how you express yourself, and how you feel safe taking action. They are the instincts, urges, and longings that live between all the doing.
That’s where The Muse Within was born.
▸ Discovering Your Inner Muse Archetypes
The more I worked with women, the more I saw it:
We are not just one self.
We carry many sides.
Sometimes we lead with the visionary, the one who sees beyond.
Other times, it’s the changemaker, the healer, the seeker, the maker.
And sometimes, the most powerful parts of us remain unseen, not because they’re not there, but because we’ve never been taught how to recognize them.
These are the inner muses: the archetypal energies and strengths that live quietly within us.
But life gets busy. We perform. We provide. We play roles. We follow rules.
And somewhere along the way, we leave entire parts of ourselves behind.
▸ The Unseen Self: What Happens When We Can’t Fully See Ourselves?
You can have the right plan.
The right skills.
The right message.
But if you don’t truly see and trust who you are becoming… you’ll hold back.
You’ll question your voice.
You’ll doubt your ideas.
You’ll keep rewriting the vision instead of living it.
And I know that space well.
There was a time when I had all the pieces lined up, but something still felt off.
Not in my work, but in how I saw myself.
It wasn’t until I paused and looked inward, not just through a business lens, but through a lens of self-perception and belief, that I realized how much I was the one holding myself back.
I hadn’t made room for the parts of me that didn’t “produce” something.
I hadn’t made room for the emotional, creative, intuitive parts that I once thought were too soft, too much, or not useful.
And without them, I couldn’t access the courage, vulnerability, or fearlessness I needed to grow.
That’s when the mapping began.
▸ Mapping Your Inner Muses: A Different Kind of Self-Discovery
Mapping your inner muses isn’t about becoming someone new.
It’s about tapping into parts of yourself you may not have thought were yours, to access energies you’ve dismissed, traits you’ve been discouraged from showing, or strengths you’ve never owned.
It’s about making space for all your sides, whether they’re bold or vulnerable, structured or spontaneous, pragmatic or emotional, and seeing how they can live together.
It’s realizing that maybe the reason you’re stuck or unsure or hesitant is because you haven’t permitted yourself to explore who else you could be.
It’s a new lens. A way of seeing yourself more fully.
To meet the muse who leads with ideas. The one who dreams of beauty. The one who speaks through intuition. The one who longs to build, to guide, to shift the world.
We all carry different longings, and sometimes, the part of you that’s most needed is the one you haven’t fully recognized yet.
I guide women through the Muse Mapping™ method, inside my The Muse Within experiences and workshops.
But even if you haven’t joined one yet, you don’t have to wait to begin.
You don’t have to guess what’s missing. Begin exploring with the reflections below.
▸ Reflection Prompts: Begin Your Muse Mapping Journey
Start here, with these reflection prompts for self-discovery:
/ What’s a trait I admire in others, but haven’t fully owned in myself?
/ Which strength from childhood was dismissed or undervalued, and how might it still live in me?
/ What belief about who I am no longer feels true, but still shapes my decisions?
/ Where do I feel most in alignment, and what part of me is leading there?
/ Where do I hold back from expressing my true energy?
/ Which inner muse might help me expand?
/ What part of me have I been afraid to explore, because it doesn’t match how others see me?
/ Where do I need to develop new traits not to change who I am, but to support what I’m creating?
▸ How You Show Up—For Yourself
As you explore your muses, remember: it’s not just about how these traits appear in your work or relationships.
It’s also about how you show up for yourself.
In my corporate life, I rarely said no. I worked long hours, delivered for everyone else, and carried the weight of always having to perform. When I started my business, that pattern continued in different ways. I was still holding space for others, and I had to learn how to set healthy boundaries. Over time, I began attracting clients who saw that as normal, who respected the space I held.
Without realizing it, I was beginning to cultivate the healer muse, not only in how I cared for others, but also in how I cared for myself. Setting clear boundaries was just the beginning.
Rest became a choice rather than a reward. I started moving my body with more intention, eating differently, taking time to detox in places like Sri Lanka, and listening inward more deeply.
As I continued this reflection, I noticed so much more.
The Curator Muse had always been there. Long before I started my own business, I was curating global brands without even realizing it. Today, I help women do the same: shaping their unique signature into something they can fully own in life and business.
And then I asked: Where have I been playing small?
For a long time, I told myself that creating products was too complicated. But lately, I’ve let myself play with that part of me to follow what I’m drawn to and create pieces I’d love to gift or use myself. Tapping into the Maker Muse.
That’s how The Muse Within self-discovery set came to life, born from a quiet longing and elevated by the designs of a dear client and artist whose work I deeply admire. It was made for those moments when you want to reconnect with parts of yourself in a way that feels both grounded and personal, tools I now share in workshops and retreats around the world.
This is what mapping your inner muses does: it helps you see beyond who you think you are, and into who you’re ready to become.
If you feel called to explore your inner muses, I invite you to start with the discovery kit or join one of our upcoming The Muse Within Course. This isn’t about becoming someone else, it’s about coming home to what’s already within.
Because your next chapter isn’t just about what you build.
It’s about who you allow yourself to be.
RESOURCES:
▸ Learn more: nomadatelier.com
▸ Access Design Your Signature Business in 7 Days Course
▸ Instagram: @nomad_atelier
▸ Book a Discovery Call
LINKS:
▸ Access the Awaken The Muse Within™ Course
▸ Experience The Muse Within
▸ Download free Personal Blueprint Workbook
