2 Live Inspired

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So many people forget their childhood dreams and passions. They lose
track of the big picture that they once held for themselves and begin to
accept an increasingly smaller set of possibilities, goals and options.
It’s as if somehow the universe were tightening in around them as they
grow older, compressing them and their ideas about what they are
capable of, until all that’s left is a confused and tired skeleton of the
once vibrant, wildly creative child-self.

But there IS a way out of this rabbit-hole…

You don’t have to know the way, or have a road-map, or even a plan.
You just have to have enough faith to put one foot in front of the other
as you take one step at a time -
back in the direction of your true creative Self.

In this series, I want to give you some tools to help you reconnect with
the creative genius that lives inside of you.  It’s always been there,
despite what “they” told you in school or at home when you were growing
up. And it’s in there now, waiting for you to rediscover and reconnect.

Is There A Daily Exercise To Help Me With The Process?

There is a powerful exercise,  taught with great success by creativity experts
including Julia Cameron (The Artist’s Way) and Natalie Goldberg
(Writing Down the Bones and subsequent titles), that has helped countless
people tap into their creativity. It’s called morning pages – three pages of
longhand morning writing about any topic. It sounds so simple but this little
exercise really has helped countless people, from all walks of life, move more
effortlessly into working on their creative projects. It has helped me!

This is not the same as writing a journal with a specific goal in mind.
This exercise gives you the freedom to randomly ramble around into every
corner of your consciousness, sweeping up as you go.

Give it a go. What have you got to lose?

You can stock up on cheap spiral-ring notebooks, ignore any feelings of
preciousness about this aspect of your writing and just dive in. A fair try requires
a twelve weeks commitment. That specific length of time, with consistent daily
writing will create a noticeable change. 12 weeks. You may even discover that
the exercise becomes an enjoyable habit – especially once you begin to notice
the positive changes in your life.

I will be working with ideas and guidance from various sources to support you
over the course of your 12 weeks, should you decided you are ready for change.

Other Tools to Help The Process

Julia Cameron teaches two other tools that I have found to be valuable:

1. The artist date. Again, you don’t have to be an artist to appreciate and
enjoy this. Treat yourself, once a week if possible, to a solo expedition.
Do something that pushes your envelope a bit, moving you a little beyond
your comfort zone. It can be something as simple as checking out a new
book from the library on a topic you’ve always been curious about to taking
a field trip to a new park with your dog. Use your imagination. Be creative.

2. Go for a 20-30 minute walk. Stretch your body and your mind.  Daily exercise
will help keep things moving: as your body moves, your mind shifts and realigns
into healthier patterns. It’s amazing how exercise always helps you shift gears!

Finding ways to be creative within the life that you already have is the key to
being able to use these tools in a sustaining way throughout your life.
.

Echo Of Experience

I wrote morning pages for most of the years that my two sons were growing up.
Raising them as a single mom, it was very helpful to have the practice of morning
pages into which I could pour myself early each morning. Working as a self-employed
artist, I simply couldn’t afford the time to have any “creative blocks”
(not that I never did….but this practice really did make a difference.)

At one point though, years ago, during a particularly difficult stretch, I strayed away
from my morning pages routine. By the time I realized how much I’d been missing
them, it wasn’t exactly easy to make the space and time (in my mind) to reinstate
them back into my daily routine. Fortunately my inner voice kept nagging me until
finally, I listened.   I found an empty notebook laying around and started writing.
Three pages every morning. Within days I noticed the signs of change: more inspiration,
bits of dreams, hints of something new, fresh takes on old ideas. It was working.

What Are Some Common Creative Blocks?

1.    Don’t be a perfectionist!  Forget about any writing rules you remember from school,
at least for now.  Morning pages are for YOU! A completely safe place where you can
show up in your sweats, face unwashed, hair unbrushed and just let yourself be you -
all raw, uncensored and untamed.

2. Don’t worry about what anyone else thinks. The “pages” allow us to take risks, to be
adventurous, to shout and scream or whisper and whine.

3. Give yourself the gift of 20-30 minutes!  If you aren’t diligent, “time” or rather, the
perceived lack of it, can becomes yet another common creative block. You know how
it goes: I’m just too busy for that! (translation: “Maybe I’ll think about doing it some day
when I have a vast expanse of time stretched out before me.” – something which, by the
way, none of us ever have!)

What creative blocks get in your way? How do you deal with them? There are too many
blocks and tricks to mention here but if you have some ideas that might help someone
else I hope you will share them in the comment space at the end of this article.

Morning pages teach us a lot about self-respect.
Over time, this practice will also instill a greater sense of self-confidence. (A note to the wise:
keep an eye out if you tend to complain…and try to focus on other thoughts).

Here’s another excerpt from my own life:  Over the past few months, I drifted away from
my practice of morning pages. Not only that, I could hardly even seem to find time to paint -
which is my passion and also, my primary business.

But you know how it goes – I was focused so hard on trying to get a new business venture
up and running that I allowed myself to be completely consumed by it and neglected the
things that feed my soul and keep me feeling inspired and alive and happy. I was choking
off the source of my own creativity.

Now, I know what you might be thinking – that being an artist puts me into a different category.

But I don’t think so. It just makes the example easier to see more clearly…because maybe it
would just take someone else a little longer, or a lot longer,  to notice that they were
turning off the flow.

Why do you think there are so many stress-related illnesses and heart-attacks anyway?
I have a theory, backed by plenty of anecdotal and scientific research that says: staying in
touch with your creative juices helps reduce stress and leads to a healthier, longer life.
Think about it.

Recharge Your Inner Batteries

When I finally carved out time in my schedule to start painting again, it was like a dam
broke lose and started filling up my well immediately. I felt happier, more relaxed and more
creative than I had in months. I started having a flood of fresh new ideas. Back in the groove
again, I now look forward to climbing out of bed 30 minutes early every morning to do my
pages before the day begins.

I also suddenly had the Eureka! moment about what to do with this blog:
OH, I’m supposed to focus on Creativity!…
because I finally realized that, just as everyone had been saying, I do have valuable
content in my life that is worth sharing. AND SO DO YOU!

The big message is – don’t wait. Recharge your Inner Batteries Today! Do something
TODAY that is fun and different and just for you!  Something that will help you feel more
alive and more connected to your source. It doesn’t have to be a big deal, or take up a
bunch of time or cost any money.
Even simple things can help a lot and make a noticeable difference.

What’s available to you?

~ A 20 minute walk…with no agenda?
~ Starting your morning pages?
~ Taking a 15 minute break to sit in the sun with your eyes closed?

Whatever it is, when you are in that moment, allow yourself to really stop and relax
(hey, I know you’re busy, but this is really important!

We’re talking about the quality of YOUR life here).

How Does Tapping Into Creativity Benefit You In A Positive Way?

When people are not in tune with their inner creative lives, there is a sense of something
missing.  Over time, it can begin to feel like an inner failure. Pushing one’s self to test the
waters beyond one’s comfort zones increases a sense of self-respect. When creative risk
is avoided, respect for self diminishes. As you work on and expand your creativity,
you are working on your whole life.

Believing in oneself is a critical component to success. It’s something that hasn’t always
been easy for me in my own life, so any suggestions I make will always have evolved from
personal experiences and experiments on myself. It takes courage to push forward into the
realm of the creative and a life of freedom. YOU CAN DO IT!

The more you believe in yourself and the more you believe in a higher source of inspiration,
the closer you will move toward conscious contact with a power greater than self. When
I am feeling inspired and creative, everything takes on a deeper, richer meaning and I
become more innovative and more productive. The cycle has an upward spiraling motion
that improves every facet of my life.

The quest for a creative life is worth everything you can invest in it. It will pay you back in
more ways than you can possibly ever imagine.

I’d love to hear what you think about all of this? Are you totally connected with your creativity,
with ideas of your own to share on this topic? Do you think I’m full of crazy notions?
Let me know!
If you try any of the things I’ve suggested in my articles, I would value your feedback on whether
or not you think that any of it has helped you in any way. I care about you!
Suggestions for future articles will also be considered.

To creative freedom and true abundance,

Buff Elting

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