Creativity

I had an amazing conversation with my client Bryn a few Mondays ago about creative time. After we had hung up I still was thinking about creative time and it made me realize that creative time doesn’t always come when you block the world out – for me at least it comes when I am relaxed and enjoying myself – but not necessarily by myself in a quiet space or surrounded by beauty.

I’ve been swamped this whole month and while I enjoyed my work – I’ve been so focused on getting things done I didn’t realize I hadn’t written a blog post for awhile and for a few days I didn’t write anything.  Then last Friday  I went into Nat’s class for Art Docent (the monthly art class that I facilitate) and by the end of class I was swimming in new ideas for my blog.

I realized that my creativity isn’t dependent upon me being by myself or by having a quiet space or being in a beautiful environment. My creativity is dependent upon me being in a space where I am doing something for enjoyment and being in the moment. Believe me doing an art project with 21 8 yr old’s does not leave me much time or space to reflect – but what it does demand is that I be totally in the moment and suspend all judgment. As one kindergartner told me a few years ago when I asked him about his rainbow colored pig – he told me – “pigs can be rainbow colored too”.

Yes they can.

It’s so easy to get into the shoulds and must dos. Especially as an entrepreneur. With a bazillion articles and books written about how to be more creative, how to connect with more people, how to connect with yourself – its easy to get overwhelmed with processes.

I’m not bagging these books. I buy ‘em and read ‘em. It’s how I gain new ideas and insights. Ultimately I’ve learned I need to take these processes and methods and tweak them to fit my life.

Not stress so much about getting enough “creative” time and just let it flow.

And if I create my own rainbow colored pig – it’s OK. How else will I stretch if I stay within known boundaries?

My Kryptonite

I’ve been super good about eating right. I started around November when I was having problems with sinusitis. I gave up dairy, processed sugars, processed foods and stuck to only whole grains, veggies and chicken. I not only felt better but I also went down two pant sizes! The weight loss was a bonus – not an intended outcome.

The hardest part was not eating cheese. After I started feeling better I eased back into eating pizza – but always asking that they only put 1/2 the amount of cheese on the pizza that they normally would.

Giving up processed sugar was easy. I started buying the vegan cookies that were sweetened with apple or pear juice.

I’ve been so pleased with myself sticking to this healthier way of eating.

Then yesterday the Girl Scout cookies came home. Both girls are in Girl Scouts and we ended up having a couple of boxes of their favorite cookies (my dad was happy to buy 3 boxes of Thin Mint cookies and then promptly gave the cookies to my girls’ for them to have – how nice of him).

I felt the siren call of Thin Mints and its been torture the last few days. I’ve broken down and had a couple yesterday and a couple today. I don’t know whether to give in, sit down and eat a box of  cookies and get over it or resist. Although resistance has been futile. If it were up to me I’d throw the cookies out but it wouldn’t be fair to the rest of the family who has no problem eating the cookies and has not joined me in my healthier eating habits.

So do I eat the cookies a few at a time and hate myself or do I preserve my mental health eat a few cookies and know eventually they will go away – and that I’ll still live? Either way the cookies will get eaten – maybe I can balance the cookies with extra veggies at dinner? A compromise…hmmm that might just ease the guilt! Or with all that extra sugar hitting my system maybe I’ll take Schmitty out for a longer walk.

Enough Already!

I’m in month two of a new year and new decade and my intention of “ease” is harder to obtain than I thought! I’ve been thinking of ways to make life easier and I came up with two ways.

1. I need to implement the hated word “structure” into my work day. I have a thing against words that elude to restraint – but I’m seeing that more structure in my business would actually give me more freedom….hmmmm now that’s something to ponder!

2. I need to accept the fact that I am simply going to have to walk away from certain things. No matter how “big” or “important” it may be if its not working for me – its not working and its time to walk away.

One of the things I’m walking away from is Twitter. I actually had a conversation about this the other day with a client of mine. She asked me about Twitter and tweeting.  And I told her that I was going to quit Twitter for awhile until I can figure out a better strategy. But the more I think about it the more I wonder if it won’t be a permanent thing. As much as I love the idea. As much as I love the fact that you can connect with so many ideas and people – I’m finding it overwhelming. I simply don’t enjoy it anymore. There’s too much noise. I find that I’m feeling guilty about not being more active. It’s a drain. I can’t keep up. And now it’s time to pull the plug. I’ll still keep up with Twitter news and what people are saying about Twitter and its uses in business. I still need to be knowledgeable. But I don’t have to be an active participant.

I’ve tried scheduling time to tweet through out the day. I’ve tried tweeting on the fly. I tried tweeting while at my daughter’s dance practice – but you know what? I happen to like watching my daughter practice. I like chatting with the other parents. If I have a few minutes free I’d rather write a post for my recently neglected blog. So that didn’t work.

I read this post by Naomi Dunford (caution she uses strong language in this post) and what she says pretty much sums up how I feel sometimes about Web 2.0!

My Financial Sweet Spot?

A few weeks ago in my TTFY book salon we read Chapter 4 – Invest in Your Financial Health. The author coaches you to take a look at your financial health and take steps to create a financial life that supports you – not one that drains you.

For the most part I’m in good shape. Hubby and I regularly save for retirement, we work with an accountant and a financial planner and we have an emergency fund. There are a few things that we can work on – mainly my impulse trips to Target but for the most part we’re doing good.

But it got me thinking – what is my financial sweet spot? How much money is enough? I’ve never been one to work a ton to make a ton of money. I’d rather do with less things and have more time to spend with family.

I sat down the other night and started thinking about my financial sweet spot. What would it look like and more importantly feel like. To make enough money to keep what I have but also allow for some more breathing room at the end of the month.

Here are the first three things that came to mind when the thought of making a little more money would do:

Reaching my financial sweet spot would mean I wouldn’t cringe when I have to pay for Nat’s dance fees. I know what each item/fee costs individually (competition fees, costume fees, dance class fees, travel to competitions etc) but I haven’t had the nerve to total it up. I’m sure it’s in the neighborhood of $2,500+ a year. And next year it’s about to get more expensive. She’ll be considered a youth dancer and the costume fees go up. Same with Sam and her karate fees. You have the monthly class fee, the belt testing fee and assorted weapons fee (gloves, sticks etc).

Reaching my financial sweet spot would mean I can stop feeling bad about blowing our grocery budget by buying the extra healthy food.  Healthy food is expensive – just ask Brian. He has in not so many words let me know that I spend a lot on groceries. And our grocery bill has gone up since I’ve been super careful about what I buy (i.e. no processed foods, whole grain only and low sugar). But we’re eating better and feeling better. I’ve lost close to 10 lbs alone by just cutting out 90% of the diary (mainly cheese and milk) and processed sugar that I use to eat. When I can buy a loaf of white bread for $3 less than whole grain or pay $4 more for whole grain pasta than the regular pasta…it adds up. But then again – it’s worth it to stay out of the Dr’s office!

Reaching my financial sweet spot would mean that I can comfortably get my acupuncture treatments twice a month – without having to cut somewhere else. I love these appointments. Sitting at a computer 6+ hours a day isn’t exactly healthy but it’s what I gotta do if I want to be a VA. So besides eating right and taking lots of walks – acupuncture helps keep my body and mind healthy. (How it does it is a whole ‘nother post!)

One thing I realized is I don’t necessarily want more things but I do want to have some breathing room at the end of the month. Like I said I don’t want to work a ton of hours to make a lot of money (no matter how many people on the Internet say you can make millions by following their system and how easy it is…you still gotta put in the time!) but I’m willing to put in a few more hours to make more dollars to create that breathing room.

I just don’t know what that dollar amount is yet AND more importantly how that translates into how much time….