Who is Hollie Ziskind?

Hollie Ziskind is a mindfulness teacher and creative consultant, and founder/creator of Pen and Portal and the KEY Method. Using a mindful approach in 1:1 consulting, and group programs and workshops, she helps women experience transformation and healing through their creative practice. Certified through the Awareness Training Institute, Amherst Writers and Artists, and the Transformative Language Arts Network, Hollie has been featured in Choose901, Swimming with Elephants, Meniscus Journal and Chrysalis.

Have you ever felt stuck? Or even just plain lost? As women, we have a certain way of getting lost sometimes, taking care of children and parents and partners and everyone else before ourselves. We hustle to climb the ladder, to do the thing, letting life sweep us off our path and, more often than not, along the way we lose something that used to be incredibly important to us: our creativity. We forego writing, drawing and expressive arts for paying bills, making to-do lists and picking broken crayons off the kitchen floor. Hollie knows what it’s like, and she created created Pen and Portal as a place to find yourself again, and to be found.

We at Pen and Portal believe that true creativity is an expression of the soul. So by losing touch with that creative flow and expression, we lose a certain connection with the truest, deepest part of ourselves. Through our courses, programs and one to one support, Pen and Portal helps women reconnect with the creative beings they once were, in order to reclaim their sovereignty and restore internal balance. We believe that all art, when held gently, cultivated with care and connection, is a path to truth, a soul-fortifying offering for both the creator and the world.

What is the KEY Method?

The KEY Method is a strategy that uses mindfulness and inquiry, among other tools, as touchstones for creative inspiration and flow. These practices make it possible for you to create more, and procrastinate less. 

This method provides an opportunity to begin to step away from the default of doubting yourself, to know that you were born with everything you need to write, and create. There is no course you need to take, or degree that needs to be earned in order to find your creative groove. So lean into the knowing that you are in exactly the right place, and this is exactly the right time. 

Sharing and feedback in the KEY Method offers thoughtful contemplation and feedback, and spans a wide range of voices and writing genres. The inspiration provided here is a surefire way to develop, or re-develop, a consistent and mindful creative practice. Almost every day someone tells us, “oh I don’t have a creative bone in my body.” But that’s like saying “I don’t have a mouth.” Just like the physical pieces and parts that make us uniquely human, creativity abides within us all, and always has. It’s there, often just waiting patiently for its turn. 

So go ahead, bring your creativity to life!

The practices available here connect you to yourself, through creative expression, and by being present and awake to your own thoughts, experiences and feelings, they will connect you to the very heart of the universe, and to every living thing. Your observations of the world, of your own experiences as they continue to play out, develop into awareness of your relationship with others, which evolves into recognition of the fact that we are all a universe, within a universe, within a universe, which brings a level of presence and compassion that maximizes the ability for self expression and connection.

You become who you are by taking up the pen and writing on the pages of your life; looking backwards, forwards or straight on, or sometimes, on the worst days, hobbled and blind, making it up as you go. But it’s all a path to the exquisite beauty of your own unique voice.