Hello. I am so glad you are here. Let's jump right in and set the space. If you scroll down you will see the Weekly Content, but first things first: Do you have your intention near by? Think on why you are here and let those key words from your intention flavor your ideas of how to create some structure that makes room for the creative. You will notice that there are hyperlinks to resources that go deeper if you wish.
If you picked up a dedicated journal (you did, right? Like we mentioned on the Welcome Page. You aren't calling on the Muse on the back of bill receipts -- which are fine on the run to grab the tail of a thought, but you musn't ask the Muse to sully her gown while stepping into your abode; create space for her - welcome her) you can journal through your answers as you read our space + routine setting, in other words, we are laying our foundation here first.
Create Space "You must have a room, or a certain hour or so a day, where you don’t know what was in the newspapers that morning, you don’t know who your friends are, you don’t know what you owe anybody, you don’t know what anybody owes to you. This is a place where you can simply experience and bring forth what you are and what you might be. This is the place of creative incubation. At first you may find that nothing happens there. But if you have a sacred place and use it, something eventually will happen." - Joseph Campbell
If your inclination is to say - I don't have time for this. In some cases, this is true. And your hour may be 30 minutes, and your room may be your favorite chair, or kitchen table converted for Inspiration and that is lovely. That is why picking up a new journal, setting out some fresh flowers, or just clearing the counter and committing to showing up at certain time is important. So create some space. Then schedule it. Yup, put it in the calendar with the same ferocity that you would enter a business meeting or a doctor's appointment. If you don't take it seriously, neither will Inspiration. (Pro tip: as soon as we claim space you may experience someone or something attempting to occupy it - "for every action there is an equal an opposite reaction" - yes, you are being tested. I have complete faith you will choose the sanctity of your space and your commitment. At least now you know it is coming). Morning Routine First things first: What are your mornings like? Are they varied? What is the first thing that you consume? Is it noticing your breath? Is it attending to your child? Is it Facebook? Is it your phone? Ask yourself - do I enjoy my mornings? If so - why? If not - why?
Many experts say that how you spend the first moments of your day - dictate the rest of your day. From something as simple as making your bed (click here for the infamous navy seal speech), or having your whole first 60 - 90 minutes planned. As you will see or hear (if you want to listen to Tim Ferris interview varied people on how and why they conquer their daily routine, click here), it is not necessarily that you are making your morning morebusy, but rather you are committing to feeding your precious morning time with nutritive habits- like, gratitude journaling, meditating, stretching, reading something inspiring or something of your own choosing.
"There is not enough poetry in the world." - Pam Woolway "If you are not making your work + sharing it, you are missing half of the experiment." - Austin Kleon
"If there is effort, there is always accomplishment." - Jigero Kano
For this week, and for the duration of this class, remember this: Tiny is huge. If you are here, there is something you are looking to create, change or explore, and the most dangerous thing we can do is ignore the smallest step, the one that can be taken today. And where you read references to "your work" understand this: your life is the culmination of many masterpieces. So f you are using this class to help find a new way to approach your established workplace, good; your need to be transformed workday, good; your parenting, good; your personal sketchpad that you haven't let anyone see, good; your boredom and confusion, good. Let us give each aspect of our lives, our creativity, its fair respect and place at the table. That is where inspired living truly flourishes.
Listen to It: I am sharing a phenomenal interview with Austin Kleon (whom I have become obsessed with, everytime I watch this I learn something new) who shares a fun + less intimidating perspective on creating and living that I believe everyone can get a gem from. Plus we will be delving into his black out poetry next week! Please take the time to listen to this, especially if you think you are not an artist. One of the intentions of this class is to expose ourselves to content from verticals of life we may not be exposed to, it helps broaden our vision and thus our possibilities.
Meet a Friend: Meet my sweet + talented friend Damini Celebre, a tremendous healer, artist and human being who created a video for us about her drawing a day process. This summer I picked up Damini's book and loved the simple invitation to return to the creative, to allow the process and the enjoyment to be enough. Both Damini and Austin share the same sentiment of doing something small everyday, and letting failure and fear be right there with us for the ride - but, as Elizabeth Gilbert says, not allowed to take the wheel or change the radio station. Let the impetus of the creative begin to reveal Herself to you in the teeniest ways. You can follow Damini on here or go to her daminicelebre.com to check out her offerings + her book, Painting the Landscape of Your Soul (also on Amazon).
Do one thing: At this point, you have content to listen to, journals to write, gratitude to collect and a body to move. On Wednesday, I will post a check-in in our Facebook group. On Friday, in our Facebook group I will ask you to share a photo of Inspired Beauty you created. It doesn't matter what it is - big or small. Clear or metaphorical, but by the end of this week, and every Friday, we will share some Beauty we have poured into our lives, lives of another, or our precious Earth. Yes, that can mean absolutely anything, so as you move through your week: create beauty, your beauty - the world needs it.
Favor: if you post photos on your FB account or your IG account, and please do!, please add the hashtag #whatsyourstory so I can easily find what you're doing, and others can do the same.
"Creativity is conceived as a reproductive act with a tangible result -- a child, a book, a monument -- that has a physical life going beyond the life of its producer. Creativity, however, can be intangible in the form of a good life, or a beautiful act, or in other virtues of the soul such as freedom and openness, style and tact, humor, kindness." - James Hillman
“Let what you don’t know come into your eyes.” - Ursula K. LeGuin