🧠Weekly MindSweep No. 202 | What’s On My Mind | 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
Let’s sweep the brain…
🎬 Rather watch or listen instead of read? Now you can!
In the MindSweep this week:
Weekly MindSweep: 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.
Illuminating Shame: A Heart-Centered Reflection On Who We’re Becoming
Shame unraveled me in ways that I didn’t anticipate.
It wasn’t in a dramatic, on-the-floor-with-tissues kind of way. But in the slow, creeping realization that shame wasn’t the antagonist this month.
It was the narrator. The guide. The flashlight. It was not here to destroy, but to reveal.
I didn’t expect that.
Looking back on the past four weeks of our Shame series, I realized that each MindSweep peeled back a layer that I didn’t know was still there.
And as much as I wrote these for you, my creative, ADHD, neurodivergent entrepreneurs, each week reshaped something inside of me, too.
A Month in Review: The Themes We Didn’t Realize We Were Living
As I reread the last four weeks, I could see how each one was its own chapter, and how they layered together to build a deeper understanding of shame.
We started with the armor we wear:
the polished competence,
the curated ease,
the performance of “having it together.”
Masking was never about deceit; it was about protection. It’s a nervous system strategy and a survival tactic disguised as professionalism.
We named the cost of wearing that mask: a slow erosion of self-worth, dressed as exhaustion, perfectionism, and the need to prove ourselves.
Week 199 — The Creative Shame Spiral
Then we brought into light the creative shame spiral:
Comparison
Overthinking
The fear that our messy middle makes us less legitimate
We talked about the isolation that grows quietly when you internalize your struggles rather than share them.
Brené Brown reminded us that shame thrives in secrecy, and we saw how true it is.
Week 200 — The Price of Proof
We rolled up our pant legs and waded into the way business shame shows up in:
Pricing
Proposals
Feedback
Visibility
Opportunities
We explored how quickly a proposal can trigger a shame narrative, turning a neutral email into a threat to belonging. We named how our businesses often become mirrors reflecting unresolved stories about worth.
We explored how shame isn’t a money problem — it’s a memory problem.
Last week, we explored the neuroscience of the shame flood.
We unpacked:
the amygdala
the survival circuits
the prefrontal cortex shuts down.
the fight-flight-fawn response
the speed at which RSD activates
And once again, we returned to the power of the pause—a short breath, a softened shoulder, a moment to interrupt the spiral. That week helped us see shame not as a character flaw, but as chemistry.
And chemistry can be rewired.
What’s On My Mind as We Close This Month
My shame doesn’t show up where I’m weak; it shows up where I’m stretching. Where I’m becoming more visible, where I’m doing work that matters to me, and where I’m stepping into the creative trailblazer I’ve quietly known I am.
Through our reflection, I’ve gained a new clarity about the gifts I bring to the world and how valuable they are, especially for minds that see differently than mine. I didn’t know this was the theme I was writing toward.
Shame is not the enemy. It’s the signal. The spotlight. The invitation to look closer.
Every moment shame rushed in this month was pointing toward something I care deeply about:
meaningful work
belonging
clarity
authenticity
impact
connection
Shame doesn’t appear in the places where you feel nothing. It emerges in the places where something matters. That realization changed how I see shame entirely. If shame arises out of meaning, it’s not here to punish you; it’s here to protect you.
Messily.
Inelegantly.
Irrationally.
But protect you nonetheless.
Five Takeaways I’m Carrying Forward (and I hope you will too)
1. Shame doesn’t show up where you’re failing—it shows up where you’re growing.
If you weren’t stretching, risking, creating, or becoming more visible, shame wouldn’t bother you. Its presence can be evidence that something meaningful is happening.
2. Being misunderstood does not mean you’re unclear—it means you’re original.
Innovation is almost always misinterpreted before it’s valued. You’re creating things that do not yet exist. Your work isn’t meant to be instantly recognized; it’s meant to be lived into.
3. Your nervous system reacts fast. You get to respond slowly.
A single breath can reconnect you to your prefrontal cortex. That pause is leadership. That pause is power.
4. You can’t outrun shame, but you can out-awareness it.
Noticing the pattern—the heat, the tight chest, the urge to justify—shortens the spiral every time.
5. Self-trust isn’t built when shame disappears. It’s built when you stay anyway.
Confidence isn’t the absence of discomfort; it’s the practice of holding steady inside it.
The moment you open the email, hold your rate, speak your work aloud, or let your real self be seen, you build self-trust brick by brick.
And that kind of trust is unshakeable.
The Truth Beneath It All: You Are Becoming
Here’s what I know about you, not in theory, but from sitting with creative, ADHD, neurodivergent entrepreneurs over the years.
You are not behind, no matter how often your brain tries to convince you otherwise.
You are not fragile, even when your emotions show up loudly.
You are not “too much,” even when your ideas feel bigger than the room.
And you are certainly not misunderstood by accident.
The very wiring that makes you feel out of step with the world is often the same wiring that makes your work extraordinary.
You are becoming.
Not all at once, not in a straight line, and not in some dramatic moment of reinvention, but slowly, steadily, through the way you meet yourself in these small, uncomfortable moments.
You are becoming braver than the version of you who used to shrink. Clearer than the version of you who used to bend to fit expectations.
More grounded than the version of you who believed every dip in energy meant something was wrong. More visible than the version of you who learned to tuck parts of yourself away.
You are becoming more you.
Shame didn’t interrupt that becoming this month; It revealed it.
It illuminated the places where something inside you still aches for belonging, where being understood matters more than you want to admit, where you’re ready to be seen without softening the edges of who you are.
That awareness isn’t a setback; it’s an invitation.
A quiet but clear opening to step into deeper self-trust.
As we close this series, what’s on my mind feels simple, steady, and universal: shame wants connection, safety, and belonging. And the truth is, so do you. That longing isn’t weakness; it’s human.
It’s the heartbeat behind creativity.
It’s the oxygen of entrepreneurship.
You don’t have to prove your worth to keep your place. You don’t have to earn legitimacy through pieces of paper, perfection, or polish. You don’t have to shrink to be understood. You don’t have to outrun shame to build a life or a business you’re proud of.
Your work matters because it moves people.
Your voice matters because it shifts conversations.
And your nonlinear, intuitive, inside-out way of thinking will become part of someone else’s story about how they finally felt seen.
Here’s to noticing the patterns instead of fearing them and naming what hurts so healing can begin.
Here’s to gently rewiring the stories your brain picked up along the way and becoming the version of you who trusts your voice, your pacing, your wiring.
And here’s to doing all of it in community because shame loses its grip the moment we stop carrying it alone.
My questions for you this week:
What would belonging feel like in your business?
What’s one place this month where shame revealed a part of you that’s ready to grow?
Reply and share with me!
✨ Work with me
If this month stirred something awake in you — a truth, a tenderness, a knowing you’re finally ready to honor — you don’t have to navigate it alone.
This is the heart of my work.
Helping creative, intuitive, neurodivergent entrepreneurs untangle the mental clutter that’s been running the show and support them to build a business that actually works with their brain.
If you’re ready to understand your patterns, reclaim your energy, and build from a place of clarity instead of shame:
Let’s do this together.
Join me for a MindSweep Mapping Session.
In just one conversation, we’ll map the way your brain processes ideas, emotions, and decisions, and turn that map into a customized plan you can actually follow.
If you’ve been feeling stuck, swirling, hiding, or trying to “fix yourself” into someone you’re not, this is your moment to come home to how you work.
🧠Your brain. Your business. Mapped.
👉 Book your free MindSweep Chat: www.chickbookcreative.com/mind-sweep
Already know you’re ready to build something powerful, sustainable, and true to you?
👉 Book a free consultation to explore how I can support your business and your brain — as a strategist, creative partner, and thought-partner who actually gets how you’re wired.
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Jamie’s Second Brain Corner:
The words in bold within the Weekly MindSweep are all topics we’ve covered in Curated Conversation. You can dig into them here:
Did you miss our month on Expectation
Did you miss our month on Confidence
Did someone say MindSweep MAP?!
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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.
Join us Friday, December 5th, 2025 from 9am-11am.
Join Shannon and me at the MetroWest Chamber of Commerce for an inspiring session with Andy Hoffer, a former rocket scientist turned mindset mentor.
Andy helps professionals and entrepreneurs identify and overcome the mindset blocks, self-limiting beliefs, and money stories that hold them back from success.
Discover how shifting your perspective can open the door to greater confidence, clarity, and abundance—in business and in life.
This event is free; REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED
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!
