Throughout life, I’ve had this vague vision of how I want to be in the world. To create beauty. Help others. To explore.
A multitude of varied and seemingly unrelated experiences, both personal and professional are amalgamating into something wondrous. Something that feels like home.
This video is an expression of that, in a way. I might be doing it sideways, but I’ve never been known to do things in the expected way. It’s a leap of faith. One of my Oh s**t moments. A commitment to keep moving forward, step by step. Do the next right thing, however small it may be.
It almost didn’t happen. I could see it in my mind almost immediately, in it’s entirety. I started getting bogged down in what I thought were practicalities. How would I film it? Release waivers? And on and on.
Then I wondered about free public domain images. And found some. Created some music. Taught myself a little editing, and released it out into the world.
All of this so I can walk with you as you explore your own way of being in the world, and continue to explore my own.
I can hardly wait to see what happens. For this. For you.
“Even if you don’t call yourself an artist, you have the potential to be a dynamic creator who is always hatching new plans, coming up with fresh ideas, and shifting your approach to everything you do as you adjust to life’s ceaseless invitation to change.
It’s to this part of you — the restless, inventive spirit — that I address the following: Unleash yourself! Don’t be satisfied with the world the way it is; don’t sit back passively and blankly complain about the dead weight of the mediocre status quo.
Instead, call on your curiosity and charisma and expressiveness and lust for life as you tinker with and rebuild everything you see so that it’s in greater harmony with the laws of love and more hospitable to your soul’s code. ” ~ Rob Brezny ************************************** What do you envision when you think of creativity? An artist/writer/musician/performer of some kind? The act of making? Do you feel uncreative if you you don’t have output? Or if it isn’t “perfect”? If it doesn’t get recognition?
To me, scientists, mechanics, gardeners, teachers… anyone really, are just as creative as what is often thought of as such.
What if instead you shift your perspective to envision creativity as a state of being, rather than a state of doing? To being a continual process of making meaning in one’s life, rather than completion of a painting/novel/song/performance piece? To make for the joy of making, how it warps time and space and you get lost in it.
Being willing to seeing things differently.. to reordering routine.. having the courage to try something new… all of these can open up dimensions of reality and possibility that have remained hidden behind old perceptions.
For example, the next time you go for a walk, focus fully on the experience. The sounds around you, and of your feet, step by step. The textures, visual and felt. The smell of the air- the feel of it against your skin. How if the walk is strenuous enough, everything falls away other than the act of walking and your breath.
Do you feel other things arise? A solution? A song? A poem? A dance? Someone you’d like to visit?
All of this is creating and being creative.
We are, from birth to death, through all our experience, the embodiment of creativity.
Thank you for reading.
I love you. *************************************************** photo I took while hiking. And wondering if coyotes would play fetch with a tangerine.
I’ve never been much one for New Year’s resolutions. I’m more likely to set a theme for the year, and revisit it quarterly, when I do my personal rituals. Sometimes what you think is your theme for the entire year only serves you for a short while. There’s not need to stick it out for a whole year if it’s served its purpose.
Last year’s theme, if I formally set one, was certainly transformation. It started out in a pretty dark place, until by year’s end, I’m feeling so much more buoyant, light-filled and optimistic. Thanks for the lessons, 2019… so glad you are done!
I woke up this morning absolutely certain ACTION was the theme for 2020. I’ve already set in motion so many things based on my inner work of the past year, such as activating this blog and an accompanying Crafting the Spirit™ online community. Becoming debt-free in six months with a lot of hard work, when my plan forecast it taking a year and a half. Getting a ticket to a conference of like-minded people to expand my network… and so much more. And then I read this beautiful poem by Maya Luna, about it being OK to not have resolutions… to be the center of stillness instead:
“It’s okay not to have New Years resolutions It’s okay not to have big goals for your life It’s okay not to have plans you want to Manifest It’s okay not to chase your dreams That path is not for everyone Some walk the path of Unbecoming They are traveling the road Backwards Seeking the core What is basic and essential What has been there all along Though we may be headed the same direction Our spirals are mirror opposites Some walk the path of the visionary Creating abundance and Dancing inside a multiplicity of forms And Some walk the path of the serpent owl Becoming more and more naked Shedding layers of fantasy into the ash Night sky Sitting in the dark And seeing the way the wind moves They do not walk a line or poise their arrow to the target They sit at the bottom of the ocean And wait Letting the waves devour them They are following the pulse of listening To silence Like a tiger in the brush Waiting for existence to strike lightening Into the fire of the heart For this kind Nothing less will do Some are opening the palms of their hands And unraveling To become Less and less Until they are No-Thing To become the still point In the center of All You know who you are Keep going”
Not long after reading it, I was getting ready to go to the laundromat and realized.
I had no pants to wear to to the laundromat, and was going to have to go out to my car to rummage through the bags in my trunk waiting to go to Goodwill “forever”, and hope there was a pair of pants.
While looking (yay pants!), I started to laugh. Having the bags of clothes in my trunk for months was the total opposite of action. Good ol’ procrastination!
I then decided, that instead of action, my theme for 2020 is BALANCE. That there are times for action, being decisive and doing the deep work, doing all the mundane administrative things to move yourself forward, and there are times where the biggest act of self love is to simply be. I think that’s why I like hiking and being out in Nature so much. All the chatter in my head settles down, and I enjoy being in the moment, with each breath. Not thinking of the next breath, or my posture, or what’s for dinner. Simply being. Where I am. At that moment.
If you were to create a theme for yourself this year, what would it be? What will be your still point? How will you cultivate balance?
Building on exercises from this past year: What is the minimum viable action you are willing to take to bring your theme to life?
If you were to create a mantra around your theme, what would it be?
Are there some “what ifs” around your them you’d like to explore?
What would an adventure based on your theme look/sound/feel/smell/taste like?
How will mindfulness come into play?
Is there a daily practice you can begin to ignite your theme?
If you run into obstacles, how would you spend your 15 minutes of block busting to see if the theme is still a good fit?
Wow! We have explored a lot in a few months!
I would love to hear anything you’d like to share in the comments below!
Some of you already know my fondness for using what if as a point of exploration, rather than a source of anxiety.
This week’s topic and exercise is around “what if”.
Think about what-if as a treasure map, or a puzzle.
One thing I like to do, when feeling challenged, it to commit to 15 minutes for a practice. If that feels like too much, go for five, but not less than that. Set a timer if you like.
Get out your journal, paper, or tablet (although I feel the brain works a bit differently when writing with a pen/pencil/crayon than typing). At the the top write “What if I could…….” and then write! Maybe you already have a topic in mind. If not, go back to one of the early exercises about writing through creative block.
Dream big! Bring all your spicy wildness to the page!
Or small. Strive to set your mind free, beyond your comfort zone even.
What if I could travel for a year without inpacting my finances?
What if I committed to an hour a day to my chosen creative activity?
What if I could work up to touching my toes without bending my knees?
After you’ve written for five minutes, or fifteen, or until you feel you’ve exhausted the topic, sit back and settle into your body.
What would this what-if reality feel like? Sound like? Look like? How woud this ripple out into your every day creative practice? To your life?
What could you do right now to make this happen?
What do you need?
Write more if you like, or express this new world through your creativity… sing, dance, draw, bake, photograph.
I would love to hear what you come up with in your new what-if universe!
“You never know what you will discover, once you decide to do something, rather than dream about it.”
What’s the first thing that pops into your head when you think of adventure? Months of planning? Death defying feats? Taking a sabbatical from life? Do you then sigh and then tuck it way on a bucket list somewhere? Yeah. Me too.
And then there’s the someday list, usually beginning with “I’ve always wanted to “ or “someday I will”. On my list, these are smaller, more obtainable. And still, they get set aside.
But.
What if…..
You shift your perspective a little?
I remember doing some home improvement projects before selling a house years ago, and they were much more enjoyable, and not nearly as troublesome as my procrastination let me to believe.
The other day, I decided to go somewhere I hadn’t yet.. on my someday list, and chose to take a back roads way. On twisty mountain roads. Past random bee yards. “Eggs for Sale” signs. Where cars coming the other way slowed down to see who I was because they didn’t recognize my car. I took a hike on one of the mountains, and turned back when it started feeling too “snakey”. There was no phone reception, and I didn’t have a walking/whacking stick. As it turned out I was right about the snakes, according to a local.
All within 15 miles of home, and one of the largest cities in the nation! I came home feeling I’d had a mini-adventure, and also had done something on my someday list.
A few years back, I felt lonely on a holiday, and went on a hike in a park near me. I wondered how I’d managed to live here over ten years and not done the hike? It changed my life, and now I go out searching for parks near me to go hiking on a regular basis.
What is on your someday list? What are you willing to do on that list this week? Today? Even the smallest of adventures can be life-changing. You never know what you will discover once you decide to do something, rather than dream about it. Now get out there and make it happen. Let me know how it went!
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