Previous Post Updates #1

I've been making some claims and promises here to accomplish a few things.  Time to honour accountability.

For my word for 2012,  I chose Commit.

Go here for a list of the things I wanted to commit to.

And this is my progress on:  Happiness.

So, here we are nearing the end of March and I can definitely say that overall, I have been a happier person .

I find January and February to be such challenging months, both in maintaining emotional balance and functioning energy levels. However, with the practice of Julie Cameron's morning pages in January (issued as a challenge for the month by Jamie Ridler), I feel I gained a leg up on beating the winter blahs this year.

Of course, I still experience the odd "down days", just noticeably fewer of them!

Adjusting My Focus and 31 Things I Enjoy

In my last post, I talked about the fact that I have no problem with beginning projects…it’s the completion that tends to challenge me.

Part of the reason for this is a lack of focus. I often lack focus because I am interested in so many different creative pursuits and I want to do them all. Right. Now. And so, I have come to recognize that I need to proceed with a bit of caution when my attention is grabbed by every shiny, sparkling, creative opportunity that comes along and say "Whoa! Wait a minute. Is this truly something I can afford to spend my energy on?"

Other wise I get spread too thin and quite frankly, I prefer a more concentrated me. Less water, more juice! Except when it comes to drinking habits, then I’m all for more water, less juice… (See what I mean? My focus, she wanders off….)

Which brings me to my point (you just knew it had to be coming).
The Artist’s Way (TAW)… I had intended to join a group of Bloggers that began to work through TAW a few weeks ago. Go here to read all about it.

I have a great love of Julie Cameron's Artist's Way and have worked through the book before, but have never completed it, (although I did write about it here) which is why I thought that joining this group would be a great activity for me.

As much as I love the idea of doing this, it is one of those items which I just can’t afford to place my focus upon, just now. There simply isn’t room between my yoga and musical practices (which take priority) to follow the daily requirements of morning pages and find the time to do and then blog about the weekly assignments.

All that being said, I am totally cheerleading for those bloggers who are working through TWA . My BB (blogger buddy) Kavindra quite wittily writes about her aversions to TAW here. So creative, talented and funny this lady is, check her out!

Another extremely creative blogger, Serena Lewis has a lovely post and she is managing to follow and do her homework too. In fact, her post inspired me to (although I am not committing to follow along weekly) at least make a list or two. Because, well I just enjoy making lists so darn much.

So, randomly and in no particular order here is my list of 20 things that I enjoy!

1. Snuggling with my Fishguy
2. Cuddling with my Sugar Plum little girl (who just turned 8 years old)
3. Eating fresh ripe peaches yummy!
4. Singing
5. Playing my guitar
6. Getting together with loved ones around a campfire to sing and play guitars
7. Swimming in da River
8. Being naked… outdoors
9. When I am struck with the inspiration to write a new song
10. Dancing around the house
11. Going dancing at a night club with some girlfriends
12. Painting with watercolours
13. Having hot and steamy sex (I never see this on anyone’s list. Is it TMI?)
14. Facilitating yoga classes
15. Puttering around the house in the evening while listening to music and having a glass of red, just rearranging and organizing shelves or books or countertops etc. just to make things pretty and homey, without any urgency or schedule restricting me
16. Going out for sushi
17. Getting together with old friends I haven’t seen in ages and staying up way too late talking
18. Being at the river
19. Stroking a cat on my lap
20. Reading with my girl
21. Blogging!
    
    Okay, so that’s 21, but I could not very well leave out blogging, on my blog! I just wrote this list and out of curiosity, I decided to dig out my notes from about 18 months ago and compare the two. So, here is my old list.

• 1. Sleeping in, a day in bed
• 2. Singing
• 3. Songwriting
• 4. Going out for dinner
• 5. Going out for sushi
• 6. Getting together with friends
• 7. Swimming
• 8. Dancing
• 9. Going to see a live band
• 10. Playing guitar
• 11. Painting
• 12. Working with clay
• 13. Drumming
• 14. Cooking
• 15. Scrapbooking
• 16. Yoga
• 17. Browsing bookstores and libraries
• 18. Browsing downtowns
• 19. Making love
• 20. Writing stories

I found ten common things on the two lists, so I think it's pretty obvious what I enjoy the most!! What things do you enjoy doing?

6:00 a.m. Ramblings

Ahh, the morning pages. A daily writing exercise designed by Julia Cameron in her book “The Artist’s Way” in which one writes (long-hand) three pages of stream of consciousness, first thing in the morning. It generally takes me about 25 minutes.

I have been rifling through my morning pages because sometimes, not always mind you, but sometimes, something really great comes out of them.

An idea for a piece of writing. A revelation. A spark. An insight.

Most days however, they are simply a means to clear out the clutter inside my head, to make space for the rest of my more creative ideas. Often I use them as a self dialogue of what’s on my mind first thing in the morning, which is usually the long list of Things To Do. This works quite well for me since, once I’ve written down my TTD, I know that I’m half way down the road to having them accomplished.

So today, I thought I would post a random selection from my morning pages. I know that morning pages aren’t intended to be read by anyone but the person who wrote them and I’m not putting this out here as any form of polished literature by any means. Just as a sample of the ramblings that go on inside my head at 6:00 a.m. This is usually one long non-stop block of writing, but I have broken it up a bit for easier reading.

Yikes! I work an extra few hours this week and the house falls apart! I have little fires burning all over the place. But I can and will get on top of them in very short order. All I need to do is spend a few minutes here and there putting them out. First though, 15 minutes here, an abbreviated session so at least I write something today.

I need a lap top! That’s all there is to it, I could get so much done writing wise with a lap top. I could work (write) on my break at work or today when I am off at 1:30 and don’t know what time Fishguy* can pick me up. And in the evening when he is on the comp—all evening long… Which reminds me I better e-mail Sonja this morning. And call Susan.

After I am done this I am setting my timer 3 times for 10 minutes each to tackle:
1. the dining room floor area which has become piled up with THINGS
2. the coffee table
3. my desk and filing cabinet.

These are my usual hotspots. So yeah, 30 minutes and the fires should be under control. Then another 15 minutes on the kitchen and the dishes from last night. Note to self: Stop leaving the dishes until the morning!!

And then what. Hmmmmmm. Oh yes pull the laundry out from the washer and hang it up to dry. I don’t think it’s going to rain today, but if I hang it outside it likely will. Wake Fishguy* and Sugar Plum* up out of bed and….Oops where is my guitar practice gonna fit in there?

I would do it at 7:00 usually, but we have to leave the house at 8 this morning since I have to work at 8:30. Yikes. Well I may just have to practice when I get home before going back to work for a staff meeting @ 5:30.

Ah well. Now the other writing I need to do. The Newsletter. The Blog. The Flyer. The workshop. I must work on that @ 1:30 today when I get off work. I must get that flyer printed today and posted around town. I must call Judy @ the town office @ precisely 8:00 to confirm booking the library for Thursday evenings. And now the timer just went off and it is time to set it for 10 minutes and become a fire fighter!

So that’s a typical day’s worth of morning pages for me (well that’s actually only a page and a half, but it gives an idea).

* I haven't quite decided yet, what to call my partner and daughter in this Blog. For now I’ll be referring to my daughter as “Sugar Plum” and my better half, her dad as “Fishguy”.

I’m curious what sort of writing the morning pages produces for others who practice them. Do you also list your Things To Do? Do you record your dreams from the night before? Do you write creatively?

A Spiritual Path to HIgher Creativity

I must remark on something that grabbed my attention while I was blog surfing in recent months. When following threads of curiosity, (see previous post) I found it interesting how often I came across references to renowned author and creativity guru, Julia Cameron and her seventeen year old publication, The Artist’s Way. Of course it is not really surprising, the book is practically sacred text among like minded creative spirits.

This book was introduced to me just over one year ago (synchronicity?). I’m only a recent disciple of The Artist’s Way. While I have followed my heart in many aspects of my life (in love, travel and career choices), I never openly believed in my creative nature. I’ve never been to art school, nor did I study any of the arts such as music, visual art or drama in high school (so long ago), although I was always drawn to literature and writing. So,while I had not been living under a rock, I did managed to avoid learning anything about Ms. Cameron until February 2008.

I became aware of the book when I was nearing the end of my year long Yoga Teacher Training Course. While at the lodge one weekend last February, I noticed an unfamiliar title on the common room coffee table. (btw, I think the “coffee table” should undergo a facelift and become the “herbal tea table”, but that’s another post all together).

Curious, I picked it up and immediately became engrossed. An hour or so later, a yoga-training mate told me that she had borrowed the book from a friend and she had never been able to get through it and that, by all means, I was absolutely welcome to borrow it. Anyway, she said she couldn’t believe that “someone as creative as you has never come across it before!”

And thus began my journey.
My morning pages.
My lists.
My Artist’s dates.
My creative affirmations.
My mourning and letting go of years of lost possibilities.

I am pretty faithful to my morning pages, I don’t write every day but I average about 4-5 times per week. Living in a small rural community, having a tight schedule and lacking a vehicle have all made The Artist Dates challenging for me, but I try.

I have started playing my guitar more regularly than I ever have in the past 20 years that it has been in my possession. I’ve been writing songs and stories (that’s been going on for a few years). I joined a magnificent choir and I recently discovered that I love to paint with my daughter’s Elmer’s paint pens.

I’ll now add my post to the multitudes in recognition of an amazing creativity coach. Here’s to Julia Cameron and The Artist’s Way, I certainly am enjoying this Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity.