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?

I Am Not At Your Service!

I have a sneaking suspicion that my year of “ease” is going to be hard on family members.

I recently made a decision that made my life “easier” for a few hours. The decision didn’t make everyone happy.

Last Monday Nat asked if her girlfriend can come over for a play date after school. I said no because Sam had karate. I then did something I normally wouldn’t think of doing (just because it’s not in my nature to ask for help – something that I am working on!). I asked her friend’s mom if it’s OK for the play date to be at their house.

And like that I was minus a kid. Easy – peasey.

When Sam and I got into the car – she wasn’t happy. She asked why Nat got a play date. I said “because it was easy” She said “well if it’s so easy for Nat to have a play date – then it should be easy for me to have one with my friend on Thursday”. I said “not necessarily”

I went on to explain why it was easy.

It’s easy because other than picking Nat up after karate – no other action was required on my part (I’m starting to get the hang of this ease thing ; D ). So it was very easy for me to say yes to a play date on an otherwise busy afternoon.

Thursday isn’t so easy. Nat has dance at 4 and Sam has karate afterward. It would be too difficult to fit in a play date on that day.

She said then on Tuesday. I said it depends on what is going on that day. I suggested Friday.

She wasn’t happy with me.

This year of “ease” may very well become a “teaching” year.

A year where I teach my girls – that while I may work at home and have a very flexible schedule  (compared to other working parents) it doesn’t mean I’m at their service 24/7.

Happy New Year!

I can say with absolute certainty that I am soooo glad 2009 is over! I completely understand that there is great growth and understanding when presented with challenges – but that doesn’t mean I can’t do the happy dance when the challenges are behind me!

I’ve never been one to sit down and plan out my year or make resolutions. It usually sets me up to fail. Instead I choose a theme. Last year it was self awareness. I was all about learning what my self sabotage habits are and how to recognize the triggers.

This year I am pulled into the direction of ease. I am really good at making things harder than they need to be. My challenge this year is to train myself to not make things so difficult. I’ve decided on a safety question -  to help me. My safety question is kinda like the safe word we came up with our girls. If a stranger comes up to them and says they need to go with them – the stranger has to give them the “safe” word. If the stranger cannot then they run! My safety question is “Will this make my life easier?”.

If the answer is no – then I run : D

We’ll  see how this goes. Changing a habit I’ve had for 41 years won’t happen over night – but I should be able to make some headway over the course of a year (I already started making things easier by giving myself time and space to change!).

What’s your theme for the year?

Happy Birthday!

December 11th was It’s a Mompreneur’s Life first birthday! Wahoo! It’s been an amazing journey and one I never anticipated.

My blog started out as therapy for me. Working from home can be isolating at times and mix in being a mom – it can get complicated. It’s a Mompreneur’s Life was a way for me to reach out to the world, share my story and hopefully connect with other mom’s like me! I never anticipated the response I would receive nor the opportunities that have been presented.

I’m looking forward to what 2010 has in store!

Shaking Things Up

I’ve been using a dedicated email address for all my blog, ezine and special offers that I subscribe to. I’ve found over the years it’s much more efficient to have them separate from my main Inbox.

I had forgotten I took the URL this email address is attached to off of auto renewal. The URL expired last week. At first I panicked. I lost all my subscriptions (and after having had that address for 5 years I had a lot of subscriptions!). Then I realized I was given a clean slate. I created a new email address (one that won’t expire!) and immediately went to re-subscribed to the few blogs and ezines I read every time (which was about 1/3).

Looking back- I can see this was a gift. Losing all my subscriptions forced me to look at what I was really reading. Then it dawned on me – I created a bubble of information and was missing out on some really cool blogs and ezines.

This event left me wondering what other bubbles have been unknowingly created and what else needs to be shaken up….