The Dragonfly Pattern

When Imagination Knows What’s Coming

Jul 01, 2025

I had dragonflies on my mind.

I-95 was empty for miles ahead, and all I could think about were dragonflies. For two hours straight, I saw them. They were black wings against a khaki-brown background, like printed gift wrap floating across my windshield. They weren’t real, but they were vivid, clear, and repeating. They didn’t let go.

A friend had invited me to a conference in Philly. That Sunday morning, the road from Baltimore was wide open, and my mind was too. That’s when the idea hit me.

I imagined the dragonfly pattern on a product. A journal, maybe, or a gift box. It was a retail brand I hadn’t built yet, but it already existed in my imagination. I didn’t have a store — just a wanting.

That pattern felt like a message.

I’d been reading The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron. The book reconnected me with a voice I didn’t realize I had stopped hearing. It was the part of me that created freely, without permission, logic, or proof.

It was pure vision.

The practice that unlocked it was Morning Pages. Three pages, written longhand, every single day. No editing allowed. You just write what’s there, even if what’s there makes no sense.

I’m not here to explain the practice. Julia already did that better than anyone. But I can tell you what it gave me back when the business world tried to logic me out of my own intuition.

It gave me back my imagination.

And if you’re building anything that doesn’t exist yet, whether it's a business, a brand, or a second chance, you will need yours too.

I brought my notebook with me on the road to Philly, planning to use it to take notes. But I couldn’t stop thinking about those dragonflies. Eventually, I had to pull over at a roadside stop just to sketch them out. They were rough and uneven, but real on the page. Rows of black wings, staggered like upward arrows. Flight paths waiting to lift off.

When I arrived at the conference, the room was buzzing. People were lined up like they were at a concert. Music played. A woman with curly hair checked me in at the front table.

And I stopped cold.

Her pants.
Khaki.
Black dragonflies.
Wings up.
The same pattern.
The exact colors.

She shook my hand and said, “Hi, I’m Sonia.”
I was too stunned to speak.

Later, she took the stage. “Thank you,” she said. “I’m Sonia Choquette.”

The keynote speaker. The guide my friend had urged me to come see. The woman wearing the pattern I’d seen in my mind on an empty highway hours before.

I would go on to work with Sonia, attend her workshops, and book private sessions. She didn’t teach me business. She didn’t need to.

She taught me how to trust my creative intuition again.

That skill saved me when my architect got poached by a competitor and I had to find someone who would stamp inherited blueprints. It saved me again when no lawyer would take my case and I had to build a team from scratch, one I could trust to guide me through something unthinkable. It saved me every time logic failed and I needed something deeper than a checklist to find the next right move.

The Real Lesson

Your creative intuition isn’t outside of you. It’s not a luxury, a side hobby, or a Sunday ritual. It is a core survival skill. Learn to communicate with it now, before you need it in the middle of a breakdown, betrayal, or boardroom. That voice knows what to do when logic runs out of answers.

Try This Tomorrow

Tomorrow morning, sit with three blank pages.
No edits, no expectations.
Don’t try to be brilliant.
Just let the ink spill.

See who shows up on the page.
They’re already on their way.

Creative Survival Tools

If you haven’t already read these classics, I hope you do. Both gave me true breakthrough moments in how I think, lead, and build.

The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron
This book reconnected me with the part of myself that creates without needing proof, permission, or polish. Morning Pages alone rewired how I process doubt and vision.
Your Heart’s Desire by Sonia Choquette
This one helped me rebuild trust in my own inner knowing. Sonia doesn’t teach manifestation the way the internet does. She teaches you how to listen again.

(Affiliate links may support this work. I only recommend tools I’ve personally used and loved.)