🧠Weekly MindSweep No. 199 | Curated Conversation | Shame
🎉 Chickbook Creative is celebrating 5 YEARS! 🎉
Five years of brain-based strategy, creative clarity, and helping heart-centered entrepreneurs build purpose-driven businesses with a touch of neuroscience.
My idea of connecting creativity, cognition, and commerce has grown into a community of thinkers, doers, and dreamers who lead with both heart and mind.
For everyone who’s read a Weekly MindSweep, MindSweep Mapped an idea, or shared their story—thank you.
You’re the reason this matters.
Here’s to five more years of clarity, courage, and creativity — turning ideas into impact and energy into alignment.
With gratitude and so much love,
Jamie Chapman
Founder, Chickbook Creative 💜🧠🧡
November 2025
Week 198: Curator’s Perspective: The Unmasking
*Week 199: Curated Conversation: Shame
Week 200: Mind Your Business: Shame
Week 201: Manage Your Mind: Shame
Week 202: What’s On My Mind: Shame
Let’s sweep the brain…
🎬 Rather watch or listen instead of read? Now you can!
In the MindSweep this week:
Curated Conversation: with curated GIF’s & puns (for your entertainment).
Jamie’s Second Brain Corner: Links to references. Need a map? I’ve got you!
What’s Inspiring Me: Whale Eyes: A Memoir About Seeing and Being Seen by James Robinson, Brian Rea (Illustrator). A very special thank you to Kate Hollis. Writer. Editor. Librarian
Collaboration: with Shannon Giordano and the MetroWest Chamber of Commerce (First Friday of every month)
Massachusetts Business Network: Did you catch our Curated Conversation on Discernment? I expanded on our discussion in a new guest blog post!
My face đź’ś and a link to schedule your free consultation.
The Creative Shame Spiral
I’ve been staring at this empty Google Doc for far longer than I planned.
The cursor blinks, steady and patient, almost as if it’s mocking me.
This week’s topic: Shame.
And the irony isn’t lost on me.
Every time I try to start, my brain serves up the same internal whisper:
“Who are you to write about this?”
It’s a low, steady hum.
I sip my coffee, re-organize my Post-It notes, check my email…again, and promise myself five more minutes.
I scroll through my drafts, but nothing feels right. There it is again, the voice of self-protection: You talk about neuroscience and creative courage; shouldn’t you have this all figured out?
But the longer I sit here, the more I realize this is the story.
Shame rarely makes a dramatic entrance. It isn’t the big red X or a major failure; it’s quieter.
It’s the ache beneath almost enough, the tension between who you want to be and who you fear you are.
The Truth Beneath the Story
For creative entrepreneurs, shame is more like background noise: disguised as the “shoulds” of professionalism and the pressure to have answers.
Whether you’re the one with endless ideas or quietly managing chaos, shame shows up as humility, over-preparation, or the sheepish feeling of not “measuring up.”
As a guide, I see it in my clients with brilliant minds dimming their own shine for fear of being “too much,” “not enough,” or just “too different.” And, if I’m honest, I see those same patterns within myself, tucked between brave teaching moments and the not-so-glamorous wrestling matches behind the scenes.
That’s where this week’s MindSweep picks up the thread: shame isn’t just a personal quirk, it’s a shared challenge for creative entrepreneurs.
It wraps itself around our quirks, our ambitions, and our deepest creative instincts, inviting us to silence or sanitize the very ideas and methods that set us apart.
This month, we’ll bring those hidden threads into the open by looking closely at how shame works in our creative lives. By naming its tactics and tracing its patterns, we’ll give ourselves and each other permission to move from secrecy to self-acceptance.
The stories we tell (and the ones we hide) are just the beginning; understanding the terrain is the first step to rewiring the narrative toward belonging and creative freedom.
What Shame Actually Is (and Isn’t)
Brené Brown, whose decades of research on shame fundamentally changed the way we understand it, defines shame as:
“The intensely painful feeling or experience of believing we are flawed and therefore unworthy of love, belonging, and connection.”
Guilt says, I did something bad.
Shame says, I am bad.
That distinction matters, especially in creative work, where what you make often feels inseparable from who you are.
Brown’s research shows that shame thrives in secrecy and silence. It grows in the dark. That’s why naming it and saying out loud, “this is shame,” immediately starts to take away its power.
Most of us don’t recognize it as shame. We label it as something else:
perfectionism,
procrastination,
imposter syndrome,
And self-doubt.
Shame wears all of those masks.
For creative entrepreneurs’ brains, shame might sound like:
“I should be further along by now.”
“Everyone else seems more consistent.”
“I can’t believe I missed that deadline again.”
“If I slow down, people will think I’m lazy.”
“If I ask for help, they’ll realize I’m not as capable as they think.”
Sound familiar?
The Neuroscience of Shame
When shame hits, your brain reads it as danger. The amygdala sounds the alarm, triggering our built-in survival responses: fight, flight, freeze, or fawn. Meanwhile, the prefrontal cortex (the part that helps you reason and regain perspective) goes offline, which is why shame feels so overwhelming in the moment.
For ADHD and other creative neurodivergent entrepreneurs, that sensitivity is often magnified; even small criticism can feel like a full-body threat.
Shame doesn’t just hurt your feelings; it takes over your whole nervous system.
We’ll unpack how to re-regulate that response in two weeks when we dive into Manage Your Mind: The Neuroscience of Shame.
The Creative Shame Traps
Here are a few patterns I see most often among creative entrepreneurs (and myself):
1. The Productivity Hangover: You hit a hyperfocus streak, finish everything, and feel unstoppable.
The next day, your brain crashes, and instead of resting, you spiral: Why can’t I be consistent?
Shame tells you that stillness means failure.
2. The Idea Chameleon: In group settings, you change how you speak to sound more “professional,” swapping intuition for structure and metaphors for metrics.
You blend in, but lose a sense of yourself.
Shame trades authenticity for acceptance.
3. The Creative Freeze: You get an opportunity you’ve dreamed of, but your first reaction isn’t excitement—it’s panic.
You put things off, telling yourself you’re “thinking it through,” but really, you’re protecting yourself from being seen.
Shame tells you that being visible is dangerous.
These moments don’t define your worth; they show how you’re wired. The goal isn’t to get rid of them, but to notice them sooner and respond with more compassion when they show up.
Noticing Shame in Real Time
Let’s begin noticing shame in real time. Shame hides behind polite, productive language like should, supposed to, or enough. It shows up as body sensations before it becomes a thought. You may feel a tightness in your chest, heat in your face, or a rush of energy that feels both urgent and draining.
This week, let’s start with noticing:
1. Track Your Triggers: Ask yourself:
When do I feel the strongest pull to prove myself?
What situations make me shrink or want to hide?
Whose opinion feels most “dangerous” to lose?
Awareness helps you notice patterns. The next time your shoulders tighten and your inner critic speaks up, pause and name it: This is shame trying to protect me.
2. Separate Self from Story: You are not your last performance. You are not your inbox, your productivity, or your profit margin.
Say it out loud if you need to: I am separate from the thing I created.
Saying this helps your prefrontal cortex turn back on, which can calm your emotions and help you see things more clearly.
3. Find a Safe Witness: Shame cannot survive empathy.
Whether it’s a friend, coach, or creative peer, find someone who can meet your story without judgment. The simple act of being seen.
Without someone trying to fix you, you will literally calm your amygdala and lower your stress and cortisol levels.
4. Practice Gentle Curiosity: Instead of asking, Why am I like this?, try:
“What is this feeling trying to protect me from?”
Shame often hides a wish for belonging or safety.
When you approach it with curiosity instead of criticism, you create the sense of safety your brain needs to change.
A Personal Pause
I wish I could say that I write the Weekly MindSweeps in one smooth sitting, sipping coffee and feeling self-actualized.
I don’t.
You all know the creative process doesn't work that way.
I write them between long walks, deep breaths, and several bouts of staring at my reflection, thinking, Maybe I’ll write about something easier next month.
This topic called for honesty, not perfection. Maybe that’s the lesson: shame fades when we tell the truth.
For creative entrepreneurs, the goal isn’t to get rid of shame, but to notice it sooner, name it, and remember it’s just a signal your brain uses to keep you safe in a world that links worth to output.
The more we respond to that signal with awareness and kindness, the more creative freedom we get back.
Because when we turn down shame’s whisper, what we hear underneath is something far more powerful: our own steady, imperfect, and true voice.
Shame thrives in silence, but it softens in community.
Pick one moment this week to notice and name shame when it comes up. Write about it, share it with a trusted peer, or just say it to yourself.
You are not behind.
You are becoming.
My questions for you this week:
What would your creative process look like if I didn’t equate visibility with danger?
What might become possible if you treated shame not as a flaw to hide, but as a signal asking for gentleness and understanding?
Reply and share with me!
✨ From Shame to Self-Seeing
If this conversation stirred a quiet, familiar ache between confidence and doubt, know that you’re not alone in it.
Shame doesn’t mean you’re broken; it means you’re human. It means your brain is trying to protect what it values most — connection, belonging, and creative freedom.
That’s where the work begins.
If you’re ready to explore the stories beneath your self-talk and reframe the mental patterns holding your creativity hostage, let’s start there.
Join me for a MindSweep Mapping Session. Together we’ll trace the threads between emotion and behavior, untangle shame’s protective loops, and build a clearer roadmap back to creative safety and self-trust.
Your story doesn’t need fixing. It needs witnessing. Because when your mind feels seen, your creativity can finally breathe again.
🧠Your brain. Your business. Mapped.
👉 Book your free MindSweep Chat: www.chickbookcreative.com/mind-sweep
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Book a free consultation to learn how I can support you and your business.
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Jamie’s Second Brain Corner:
[X] What is Curated Conversations?
[X] Did someone say MindSweep MAP?!
[X] Follow Chickbook Creative on Substack!
[X] NEW>> Now on Apple Podcasts!
MONDAY: 8 am - Curated Conversation - Zoom
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What I’m reading
Whale Eyes: A Memoir About Seeing and Being Seen
by James Robinson, Brian Rea (Illustrator)d
My friends, Kate Hollis does it again.
Kate is a dear friend, a brilliant librarianist, and a phenomenal writer. When she comes across a book she knows will speak directly to my soul, she lands it—every single time.
From Emmy Award–winning documentary filmmaker James Robinson comes a breathtaking illustrated memoir for readers ages 10 and up—inspired by the viral, Emmy-nominated short film Whale Eyes.
Told through an experimental mix of intimate anecdotes and interactive visuals, this book immerses readers in James’s experiences growing up with strabismus, allowing them to see the world through one eye at a time.
Readers will get lost as they chase words. They’ll stare into this book while taking a vision test. They’ll hold it upside down as they practice “pretend-reading”…and they’ll follow an unlikely trail toward discovering the power of words.
With poignant illustrations by Eisner Award–nominated artist Brian Rea, James’s story equips readers of all ages with the tools to confront their discomfort with disability and turn confused, blank stares into powerful connections,
Find it where you browse for books. Check out James Robinson’s website.
Collaborations!
Join us on Friday, November 7, 2025 from 9am-11am.
For November, Shannon and I will welcome Tim Holtsnider of Passages
How the Workplace Has Evolved, the Challenges it’s Creating and Possible Solutions.
From Fortune 500 boardrooms to four continents, Tim Holtsnider has seen the workplace evolve. He’s sharing what’s changed, what’s next, and how to prepare. Join us!
Join us for this engaging presentation in community with other business owners. You'll leave with new tools to help you make connections and build your business!
Free; Registration is required: REGISTRATION.
Did you catch our Curated Conversation on Discernment?
I expanded on our discussion in a new guest blog post for the Massachusetts Business Network, exploring how intentional decision-making can sharpen both your business and your peace of mind.
👉 Read Choose Better, Not More: The Business Case for Discernment
In other news…
Feeling #FOMO about Curated Conversations? Join us!
