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?

30 Days of Thanks – Day 14

I’m thankful for my girlfriends.

Last night my friend invited me to come over and make Christmas wreaths with her. It was heaven. For 1 1/2 hours I was child free. I not only started a fun project but finish it AND socialize with other moms who get it. I came home relaxed, happy and proudly showing off my wreath.

My 7 yr old was so impressed that I ended up going back to the craft store to get more supplies so the girls can make their own wreath today.

Mommy 1 Girls 1

Ahhhhh the first offical day of summer and I’ve already had my first melt down and my now 2nd grader (Natalia) has had hers.  Sam, my (now) third grader hasn’t had one…but the night is still young : D

I love firsts…first kiss, first car, first child, first house. There’s something about those firsts. Today is also the first day of my semi-sabbatical. I’ve already had a melt down about it. I now have a sense of what it must be like to quit smoking or some other addictive behavior because it drove me nuts to have a quiet Monday. I know intellectually it’s going to be great for me, my business and family to slow down this summer. I need space to allow the exciting things I want for my business to come in. I also need the slower pace to enjoy my girls this summer. I had no idea it was going to be so hard to slow down and feel good about it.

My husband says it’s going to be fine. I want to believe him. It’s not natural for me to not be juggling less than 5 things at once. This will be a growth experience. I do know that it’s now 5pm and I can in good conscience go to the kitchen, pour a much needed glass of wine and contemplate what a slow mo version of me will be like. Hopefully it’ll be prettier than it was today : D

Alone Time

I just discovered the other day a great way to have me time without a big production!  My husband and I decided that we wanted to pull up a part of our lawn in the back yard and make it a vegetable garden. So this spring we did the work and started planting our veggies. My thinking was that it would be a great way to introduce to my girls the idea of eating healthier and I love the idea of being able to grow veggies that I cannot get in my local grocery store.

Well….little did I know I was going to gain bonus alone time!  My girls are not only so not interested in the garden BUT when I go outside to work in it they stay away…knowing that I’ll eventually ask for help and they may have to work : D

The  other evening I had to go out and do some weeding and just check on things. It was just after dinner and it was still light and warm outside. I brought my glass of wine with me and spent 30 minutes in the garden.  It was heaven! I was outside, my mind was on the task at hand not on my to do list, I sipped my wine while pulling weeds and it was quite! The girls didn’t even make a peep!

My garden has officially become my sanctuary…my husband doesn’t even come out ; D I’ve gone out to my garden for some wine and weed pulling time and it’s been lovely. It’s nice to work with my hands and be outdoors after spending the day working on the computer.

What do you do that revitalizes you?

I Get It Now….

“Defibrillating Our Funny Bone” I love that! When I first started my VA practice I envisioned my life as being less complicated and easier. I no longer had to worry about calling in sick for myself or because of a sick child. My success didn’t rely upon another person’s vision and my opportunities are limitless. Well….fast forward 4 years and I’m more philosophical about working from home. My experience has been all that AND then some! I found out that it isn’t that life is less complicated…it’s just that the complications are different and some things are easier while other things have become harder.

Last week was rough. I had just gotten back from Las Vegas and the very next day started a 3 day marathon of birthday activities for my step-daughter. Not to mention we picked up our new puppy that weekend. When Monday came around I did a sigh of relief thinking OK back on schedule, lots to catch up on and made my plans.  Well…Monday afternoon found me at the veterinarian hospital with one very sick puppy. The Dr. gave him a less than 50% chance of surviving. Schmitty (that’s our puppy’s name) had Parvo (he was infected before we got him…but that’s another post). We decided to go ahead with treatment feeling that we couldn’t turn our back on him. I’m happy to say we brought him home on Saturday and he’s doing great!

Last week I lost all perspective and humor. I was physically and emotionally tired…I was calling it “pregnant tired” (No, I’m not pregnant!). I would have paid a lot of money for a “pause” button so I could catch my breath.

This morning I took a book off the bookshelf that I hadn’t read in a long time. This book had gotten me through some tough times. It’s called The Woman’s Book of Confidence: Meditations for Strength and Inspiration by Sue Patton Thoele.  I closed my eyes and said to myself “OK what am I missing”. I opened the book and then opened my eyes and saw that I opened it to “Defibrillating Our Funny Bone”. The passage reminded me that it’s important to not forget how important humor is in my life.

So today I’m going to “defibrillate” my funny bone by taking time to be outside in the sun and play with Schmitty.

What are you going to do today to add fun and enthusiasm?