Creative Zen Transitions

Tracking Wins

One thing I've found to be really helpful is tracking my "wins".

A win can be a really huge project, but it can also be all the little individual steps you take to accomplish the project. It can be something tiny that you've been wanting to do for ages, but haven't gotten around to because it felt too scary. It can be something you've done a hundred times before, but you are now doing with a new attitude. It can be anything you are especially proud of. It can be something that only you know took a lot of courage.

One reason to track wins is to acknowledge and appreciate what you are getting done in a world where it sometimes feels that there is too much not getting done.

We can also track our wins as part of a gratitude practice, to add to our awareness of what is going right in our lives.

Tracking your wins also lets you see what isn't working in your life. Are your goals showing up on your wins list? If not, you might want to make some adjustments.

Each year, I do a year-end evaluation. My wins list is a vital part of this event, which helps me plan for the new year. If I don't know what I did in the previous year, I have problems planning the next year. And if I'm not making progress on something I consider a goal, I want to know why.

Tracking your wins is easy. You can jot it down daily in a special place on your calendar, or you can set up a weekly task to record everything. By recording your wins in real time, you are less likely to lose track of the smaller, but still significant, wins than if you try to reconstruct events.

You may be surprised when you look over your list at the end of the year to find that you got a lot more done than you thought you did. You may even inspire yourself for the new year, which is a great reason for tracking your wins in the first place!

Babysteps and Goals

Last time we talked about motivation, this time we're looking at creating individual steps to move forward on our goals.

I learned a lot last year getting ready to be a vendor at an art fair.

Believe me, preparing for this did not come naturally!

It required me to list everything I needed to have in place on the day of the show, and work backwards. I had to consider timelines -- getting things to the printer early on so there was time to get them back -- priorities -- having inventory to sell was the most important thing! It was not an exact science. Sometimes I had to just guess on what needed to be done by any particular time -- a very big leap of faith for my rational mind.

I had to get things onto my schedule, so I was not trying to do everything the very last week. For me, it was an exercise in planning unlike anything I'd previously done, and it taught me a lot.

The biggest thing is probably how to break a huge project down into individual steps and get those on the calendar in plenty of time so that everything mostly works out right.

And while I had to schedule things pretty tightly, it was nice to feel like the individual steps were attainable.

Flash forward to 2010 planning, trying to get some things I am resistant to on the calender, in real time, so that they will get done. Is it possible that my steps for 2010 are simply too large and vague?

Once I started breaking these down, I ended up with steps like this: go to website and bookmark it. Wow! That seems ridiculously easy. How can I have any resistance at all to a step like that? And how would it feel at the end of the week to check off a couple of those? Well, silly, in a way; and yet at the end of the year, I can see that I will have made progress. And who's to say that I won't start gaining momentum once I get used to handling these incredibly tiny steps regularly?

The point is that some projects need much smaller steps than others. If your goal is to paint the house, and you've done it before, and it is an easy project about which you have no fear, resistance, or confusion, perhaps you could put it on your to do list that way and get it done with no problem.

However if painting the house is a big project that is a challenge, for whatever reason, perhaps stopping by the hardware store for color swatches -- three or four times -- is your first step. Just keep breaking things down, getting more specific, until you feel that you could get up tomorrow and do the first step without any stress.

Don't worry: if you keep working those babysteps, you'll still get the whole house painted! 

Motivation and Goals

While it is important to take the time to figure out what our goals or intentions are for the new year, a bigger question is sometimes how to accomplish them.

Lots of people have goals, and many remain unrealized because we get stuck on how to move forward.

Accomplishing goals is made up of two parts: what we do, and how we motivate ourselves to do it.

Having a goal that is worthwhile and makes sense is not always enough.

Daniel Pink's recent book, Drive, talks about what motivates human behavior.

There was a time when we thought there were only two motivations: intrinsic and extrinsic.

Intrinsic behaviors arose from the desire to gratify biological urges: thirst, hunger, sex. Extrinsic behaviors were the traditional reward and punishments handed out by external forces.

Frequently when we are trying to establish new habits, or meet our goals, we attempt to use the extrinsic model, vowing to reward ourselves if we accomplish something, like daily exercise, or to punish ourselves for not accomplishing something.

If you find this model is not working for you, you might consider another motivation for behavior that scientists discovered later: the joy of the task itself.

How do we make a task joyful? By making it interesting, by making it a challenge that feels good to accomplish, by removing fear and replacing it with pleasure.

Let's go back to our example of daily exercise. If getting on the treadmill for half an hour a day and checking it off your to-do list, with some appropriate reward at the end of the week is not doing it for you, perhaps what is missing is the joy.

Would it be more fun to walk around the farmer's market on Saturdays? To listen to an audio book from the library? What would it take to engage you in the joy of the goal? Maybe it is just a matter of being in touch with how your body feels while exercising, rather than how your mind is protesting.

When faced with a task that I am anticipating with dread, sometimes I do what I call an "exploratory run" if I feel my attitudes are getting in my way. I let go of my expectations for how it is going to be, and simply explore and observe. This is a great way to approach tasks where you have built up a big negative charge around them. Many times you find that they are much simpler than you thought. Other times, exploration reveals that something is indeed complicated and time consuming, and you can rethink your task or goal.

Engaging in the joy of a task is sometimes as simple as changing the way we are expecting it to be.

The Energy of the New Year

I am very aware of the energy I am bringing to the new year.

Last year, I brought a sense of enthusiastic empowerment, and was quickly challenged by unexpected family health difficulties.

I started the year believing I had more control than I did, and finished the year feeling like I had no control at all!

Though I am happy to be leaving 2009 behind, I am not yet embracing 2010 with that same enthusiasm as I did last year, and I feel a little like I am letting myself down.

It is unrealistic to think that what happens to us will not affect our attitudes, and yet our attitudes are a great determinant of what we will create in the coming year. If I feel disempowered, I know that I will create less than if I feel powerful and energized. It will also be more of a struggle and less fun.

So I am starting by forgiving myself for getting so drawn off course last year, and for not having the appropriate level of enthusiasm for the new year. I am trying to rebuild a belief that I can get things done with the knowledge that things will surely come up that will draw me off course.

I am also looking at my schedule with an eye toward a way to plan that will allow me to keep working toward my goals, even when things come along to distract and delay me. In other words, to have a plan that keeps me roughly on course, even when I'm being blown about.

I know that with time and cultivation, a new attitude will emerge in 2010. Something somewhere between feeling completely in control, and feeling rudderless at sea.

Until then, there is faith and planning.

Goals and Support

It's great to be totally self-reliant when it comes to achieving our goals.

That works fine if your goal is fixing a healthy breakfast every morning. Here's my healthy breakfast: frozen blueberries, plain yogurt, flax seed, homemade granola. Stir it all up. Yum. My other healthy breakfast is steel cut oats cooked with frozen blueberries, cinnamon, ginger, walnuts, then top with flax seed, margerine, brown sugar, and soy milk. Again, yum.

However, if your goal is more elaborate, it is wonderful to have support from others who are working toward a similar goal, or who are just committed to supporting each other.

In a sneaky way, this is what, say, a model railroad club is: a group of people who get together to share and support each other in a hobby, whose unstated goals are setting up a cool model railroad, learning how to put up neat little model buildings and trees, and probably how to avoid getting your spouse exasperated at how much room your hobby takes up. Okay, I'm guessing here, as I've never been in a model railroad club. But you get the point. We just don't usually think of these things as "support groups" with "goals". We think of them as fun. Hobbies.

So why shouldn't you have at least that much support for your creative goals?

Writer's groups are legend. People get together, exchange manuscripts, get critiqued, revise, and send out their work with the goal of getting published. Great idea!

Ever heard of a Painter's group? Well, I haven't, but there's certainly no reason there couldn't be one. If you can't find one in your area, maybe you should start one!

I ran into a woman the other day who was in a Piano club. Every week or so they get together in each other's homes and play the pieces they have been practicing. Outside of being in a local symphony, I'd never heard of folks doing that. Great idea!

Maybe you know just one other person committed to the same goal you're committed to. That's fine also. Working with a buddy is a great way to get support for your goals.

You'd think that family would be a great place to get support. Oddly enough, unless you have an extremely enlightened family, it may not be. Family members tend to have a lot of dynamics going on that may interfere with their ability to support you, and they may think that it is okay to speak to someone they have known so long in a way that they never would speak to strangers. Ouch!

Coaching groups are another great way to find support, as coaches can act as impartial guides to keep group interactions supportive and productive. Coaches also add perspective and experience, and keep the group on track.

One important part of finding a good support network is finding a safe environment. If you don't leave feeling energized and creatively affirmed, find another place to get support. If you dread getting together, and feel resistence, find another place to get support.

Your support network should lift you up, not keep you grounded. Your support group should focus on action, and moving forward, not staying in the same stuck place -- you can do that on your own! 

There are plenty of places to find like-minded people: on the internet, on bookstore bulletin boards, in library newsletters. If you don't find what you want, take up the mantle and post the group meeting yourself at a library, coffee shop, or bookstore. There are plenty of safe public places to meet. See who shows up!

Don't be afraid to set up some ground rules to promote kindness and support within the group.

Reaching out to find like-minded others for support is a great way to find traveling companions on your journey to achieving your goal!

Goals and 2010

Aside from connecting with our values to make our goals inspiring, there's another question to ask: Where do I want to be a year from now?

Do you want to be in the same place you are now? No matter how lovely it is, if you are reading this, you probably want to be in an even better place a year from now!

In fact, the idea of being in the same place a year from now could be a real downer. Is that how you feel? Good. ;-)

Because knowing that if you don't work on your goal you'll be in the same place a year from now can be very motivating!

When you do a year-end review, you get used to seeing progress on a yearly basis, and it is a lot easier to visualize your progress, and to believe that you can manifest it. It's also easy to see the things that you didn't work on, which you made no progress on. Ouch!

Some people can plan everything out with deadlines, charts, etc.

So far, I'm not one of those people! For me, if my goal is not time-sensitive, then I'm happy as long as I'm moving ahead, making progress. Maybe that's why keeping track of my wins is so important to me.

I'm also very aware of how much I do not want to be in the same place next year. But if we're not focusing our awareness on our goals, and the steps we need to consistently take to accomplish them, than we're unlikely to push ourselves to get those things done, and unlikely to reach our goals.

So while you may not know exactly where you want to be in 2010, you know that you want to be further along the road toward your goal. And whether you set up a plan to take consistent action, like exercise regularly, or have an elaborate roadmap with specific deadlines, work your plan with an eye toward where you want to be in 2010. Or what you want to be able to say next year.

Otherwise, you'll be saying the same thing year after year.

Goals and Values

A great way to create inspiring goals is to understand how a goal connects to your values.

Figuring this out is as easy as asking yourself what you value about a goal.

Let's look at exercise as an example. Maybe you love how your body feels when you exercise every day. Maybe you want to be healthy and independent as you grow older. Maybe you want to lose weight for a special event, like a wedding.

"Exercise every day so that I feel great!" is a more inspiring goal than "exercise daily."

"Exercise regularly so that I remain healthy and independent" is a different goal, too.

"Exercise three times a week so that I look great for my daughter's wedding" is another goal. Notice that this last form focuses on the part that is really important: the feeling you have at the event, knowing that you look great.

The point is that when you understand how goals tie in with your values, you have tailored your goal to fit you like that comfy shirt. It will be more inspiring, and easier to reach for.

When resistence comes up in the form of a whiny voice that says, "But I don't want to exercise today!!!" then you are able to shift to a higher point of view that ties into your values.

Then the message changes to something like, "No, I don't want to exercise today, but I value my health and independence, so I will exercise anyway, because it moves me toward that goal, and it aligns with my values."

At that point, your choice is to change your values, give up on your values, or to take a break. You always have a choice not to exercise on any given day -- that's okay. If you always choose to avoid exercise, and exercise ties into your values, then you are not in alignment with your values. Over a long period of time, that can undermine your belief in your integrity, or your belief in yourself.

We all have individual steps to our goals that sometimes feel like a drag. Sometimes we can find a way to modify those steps so that they are easier and more fun.

Sometimes the steps just have to get done. Sometimes what we need to modify is our attitude. Remembering the bigger picture, why we value our goals, and what we're accomplishing, is a great way to do this.

Creative goals

Ever been outsmarted by "smart goals"?

I have!

Smart goals are a very linear process, and that can make them a challenge for creative folks.

That said, there are still some qualities there that are worth exploring.

Smart goals are:

Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-referenced.

I mentioned previously that our goals should be comfy, the first thing we reach for, not straightjackets. So if smart goals are too inflexible for you, don't worry.

Below are some other guidelines that may fit your creative soul better.

Make it Positive. Goals written in a form to get you to stop doing something are not inspirational, but like a big Stop sign in your life.

Make it Flexible. Don't box yourself in with goals that are so inflexible that they don't fit into your daily life.

Make it Inspirational. It's no fun to fail at goals that don't inspire you. It's not even all that much fun to succeed at them! Pick something that inspires you, and you make achieving it easy, or at least fun!

Make it Easy. I still drive a car with a stick. When you're letting out the clutch, you go from standing still to moving slowly forward. In an automatic, this seems to happen effortlessly, because the transmission does it for you. When meeting your goals, you are in charge of the clutch! So ease into things slowly. Ridiculously slowly, if necessary.

Make it Renewable. Make it easy to start over when you "fail." Don't beat yourself up, just begin again. Begin again every day, if necessary. Don't set your goal up so that if you fail one time, you give up.

Make it Consistent. Maintain awareness, and work consistently toward your goal. If you do this, you may not need more rigid time-referenced goals.

You may find that making your goals inspirational, easy, and flexible gets way more done than making them Smart.

That's what I call Creative Goals.

Comfy Goals

I have a great comfy shirt. It is a pale violet, wide-wale corduroy. It is big, and soft, and one of the first things I reach for when I want to snuggle into something warm.

Ideally, this is what our goals should be like.

How many times have we written goals that feel like a straightjacket, with no flexibility?

How many times have we written goals that are like a hair shirt -- itchy and uncomfortable?

When I write goals these days, I do it with an eye on comfort and sustainability.

I want my goals to fit me just like a comfy shirt. I want comfy goals! I don't want to be wearing someone else's shirt, or someone else's goals. I want the shirt, and the goals, to be mine. I want them to fit into my life.

Just like the comfy shirt, I want to be comfortable reaching for my goals each day.

When our goals are comfortable, they're also sustainable. We don't spend the year struggling, we spend the year comfortable.

And when we're comfortable with our goals, it is easy to make a little bit of progress each day. By the end of the year, we've come quite a way.

Goals and Perspectives

I was doing a year-end review of 2008 last week, and I noticed something interesting.

During the year, there were many times when it felt like I wasn't accomplishing much. Things that I wanted to do weren't getting done. Or weren't getting done fast enough. Many times I felt frustrated or disappointed.

But when I reviewed what I'd actually accomplished during the year, from let's say a higher altitude, I saw that I'd actually gotten a lot of things done ... especially a lot of new things! Yay me!

What amazed me was the difference between the high altitude view, and the in-the-trenches view.

This perspective is one of the great things about a year-end review. You can make this a really easy process by simply keeping a list each week in your planner of what your wins were. Anything that moves you toward your goals is a win. Large or small, keeping track gives you a much clearer picture of things you would otherwise discount, or forget altogether.

A year-end review helps you remember that it is the accumulation of everything you did throughout the year that makes a difference, not individual missteps or disappointments from day to day.

For 2009, I now feel like letting go of a lot of those feelings of frustration, and focusing my energy on just keeping on going, moment to moment. I'll also keep my wins list handy and updated.

Happy New Year!

Thanksgiving and Gratitude

Thanksgiving is a great time to reflect on what is in our lives that we are grateful for.

Thanksgiving for the good

Family, friends, home, health, food, creativity, sunshine, rain, trees, and so many other things. Everyone's list is different.

Take a few moments this season to be grateful for the obvious bounty of your life.

Thanksgiving in adversity

It is easy when things aren't going well to get caught up in negative energy, but when we focus on gratitude, we realize that there is always something to be grateful for, no matter how small or simple. There's no question that there are times when it is a challenge to find that sliver of gratitude, but when we do, it helps us to reorient toward the positive.

Take some time to consider a situation that's got you down. Find one thing that you are truly grateful for.

Thanksgiving for yourself

How often do you notice and express gratitude to yourself?

Do you appreciate the wise choices you make, the kindness you give to others, the time you took to work on your creative project despite feeling a bit rushed?

It is easy to overlook these and focus on all the "mistakes" you make. Would you treat a friend the way you treat yourself? Probably not. Most of us are more compassionate with our friends than we are with ourselves.

Children learn best by hearing praise for what they've done right, not being continually criticized for where they have fallen short. How would your life be if you started praising yourself for the things you did right?

Take a few minutes during this holiday to explore being grateful to yourself for all the things you do "right". Notice every time you are kind, courageous, wise, determined, and caring. At the end of the day, recall what you really appreciate about yourself, or the actions you took that day, and share some feelings of gratitude with yourself.

Thanksgiving every day

When Thanksgiving is over, keep doing this! Take a few moments every day to list a few things you are grateful for, and be sure to include something about yourself! Being grateful helps us focus on the good things in our lives, and may encourage the Universe to send more good things our way. After all, it is much more fun to give a gift to someone who enthusiastically receives it!

Don't forget to express your thanks to others as well. It is always good to hear that others appreciate us.

Including gratitude in your daily life requires only a few moments of time, and will gently shift your outlook toward the positive. What a great space to create from!

Thanks to all my readers. I appreciate your encouragement! Have a wonderful day of gratitude, companionship, and delicious food!

The Power of Comfort

Another thing we learned in the Wilderness First Aid class is that the care we provide goes beyond the physical. Once the bleeding is stopped, or CPR is done, it also includes providing comfort and reassurance to the injured.

Maybe that is another part of the sacred I referred to last time.

It seems especially kind to ease someone's worry under difficult and uncertain circumstances. Just having someone speaking to you in a calming tone of voice, giving you water when you're thirsty, touching your arm gently -- all these things are compassionate caring and have little to do with physical survival, but much to do with comfort.

In one of our training scenarios, I encountered a fellow student who wasn't going to make it. There was nothing we could do to save him, but there were still things we could do to help. Even knowing that there was no real emergency, I had a physical reaction to the idea that this fellow was going to die and I couldn't stop it -- I guess that is one of the lessons of the class as well. I found that the things I did to provide comfort helped me, as a rescuer, as well as the person I was tending to.

What I find interesting from all this is not just what we do in emergency circumstances -- I think many people are naturally compassionate and want to provide comfort -- but what we do in our daily lives.

When was the last time you offered comfort to someone?

Maybe it was a friend or family member, and you took the time to listen to their worries and say a few kind words of reassurance, or give them a hug.

Have you ever done that for a total stranger?

I am suddenly reminded of a situation in a large veterinary hospital that was part of a veterinary school. People were there from all over the country with very seriously ill pets, myself included. I had been there for many days, when a woman came in with a large dog who was could barely walk and was obviously very ill. The woman was there alone, and sitting with her dog just sobbing inconsolably. Although I am fairly shy with strangers, I was moved to go sit with that woman and put my arms around her, sharing her grief for awhile, trying to give her comfort. It seemed to help both of us with what we were going through. We didn't talk much afterwards, didn't exchange names or addresses -- we remained strangers. Yet I still remember offering her that comfort during a time when we were both in pain, and I'm glad I did. For her sake, but also for my own. Maybe I couldn't stand to see someone suffering without it being acknowledged. I chose to be a sacred witness to her love and her grief.

It seems sometimes like our society feels there is something wrong with offering someone comfort and kindness. Maybe it is a fear that we will get caught up in their problems.

When we offer first aid and rescue, then we are definitely getting caught up, at least for a period of time, in their lives. However it is possible to offer a little comfort to a stranger or a friend, without choosing to get too involved, simply with a bit of understanding or a smile. Over big things and small, we can all use a bit of comfort in our lives.

So in a way, that is what it comes down to in life. We choose whether or not to provide comfort, and whether or not we will be a sacred witness for what others are going through, whether they are our family, friends, or total strangers. Our choice affects us as much as it does them.

Being a sacred witness is part of what art is all about, too. That need to reflect compassionately to others these life transitions is part of our creativity and part of our humanity. It is part of what makes art sacred.

The Sacred Art of Rescue

In preparation for leading hikes and nature retreats, I took a Wilderness First Aid class recently.

One of the more interesting things I learned had nothing to do with splinting and bandaging. It happened when we were practicing carrying a patient to safety.

I was the patient.

Five strangers I'd only just met the day before gathered around me. They'd never done this maneuver before, and I'd never been carried as an adult, so we were all a little apprehensive.

Carrying someone is very hands on. You don't carry them at arms length. You have to stand close for leverage -- closer than normal for strangers in our society. And you also are physically touching someone you don't know very well. In the case of a carry, people are touching your calves, thighs, lower back, upper back, head -- places you definitely are not normally touched by strangers. Yet our discomfort at these familiarities was set aside by the need to learn how to do this properly on an injured person, so as not to cause them more pain or greater harm.

One held my head gently while the others put their hands under me, then each lifted me up onto one of their knees. They put their arms under me, and on a count of three, lifted me while they stood up. It was smooth and graceful, though they'd never done it before. I closed my eyes and trusted that they would not drop me.

As they carried me around the sporting store where we were training, past tents and trophy elk heads, I was filled with a feeling of gratitude. Even though it was training, and I wasn't needing their services, I was so appreciative of how careful and attentive they were. Everyone wanted to get their part right. No one wanted to be joking around and jostle the patient, even though in reality I was just fine. There was sincerity, but also a genuine caring and respect. If that was how it came across in training, I can only imagine how wonderful it would be to receive that kind of caring when you actually needed help.

Perhaps others would characterize it differently, but to me it felt like there was an element of the sacred in this coming together to help another human being. In a real scenario, people put themselves at risk to help not because they know and like you as an individual, but because they recognize the essential value of all human beings. Perhaps also because there is something within us that needs to honor the value others inherently have by not leaving them hurt, scared, helpless, and alone. Maybe we are honoring the divine within ourselves.

Perhaps there is a sacred connection that flows between strangers, that when we are at our most vulnerable, there are always those willing to help.

The Power of Belief

I was having my car serviced the other day at the dealership. It was fairly routine, except for the guy who coordinates the service. I've known him awhile now, and what always impresses me is his customer-oriented attitude.

This guy is amazing! From the moment I walk in, I feel like I am the most important thing on his radar screen. I'm even the most important customer of his day. Getting my car right is the most important thing that the service department has to do.

While I appreciate all this, in the scheme of life, I am really not that outstanding a customer. And his job as vehicle service coordinator is ... well, it's not the most important job in the world. In fact, most people in the dealership act like it's totally meaningless.

He acts like it is deeply meaningful ... and because he acts that way, the job IS that way! I'm betting that every customer who interacts with him feels well-cared for at that dealership, they feel like their concerns are heard and addressed, they have confidence that the work is correct, and they pay their bills feeling like they have been treated fairly. What a boon for the dealership!

Do the customers then listen more carefully that day to their own clients, employees, co-workers, friends, neighbors, and family? Well ... maybe!

I found myself wondering what kind of attitude I would bring to that job ...? Would I get up every morning, as this service guy likely does, believing that treating each customer with respect and attention was my first priority? Or would I slouch in with the tired realization that car care just ain't an issue of global importance? Cars get serviced regardless of my attitude, so what's the difference?

Hmmm ... I wonder. What is the difference?

I can tell you that for me, having that kind of attitude greet me when getting my car serviced makes a huge difference in my day. I don't worry about what they're doing, or telling me they're doing, I am happy to go back there again, I'm happy to give him leeway if my car isn't ready on time, and I'm always willing to tell management what a professional employee he is.

He has a very big personal benefit: he feels good about his job and enjoys his work day. That's not to say he loves his work and everything's a piece of cake. It's to say that he keeps a good attitude that is grounded in his personal values, regardless of politics, bosses, downsizing, and irrational customers.

So lately I've been asking myself what attitude I bring to my life.

Do I bring that sense of purpose and meaning to the activities in my own life? Do I bring as much commitment and enthusiasm to what is important in my life as my vehicle service coordinator brings to his job?

In the end, maybe it comes down to respect. Not just the respect we hold for others in our lives, but the respect we hold for ourselves and the respect we hold for our life itself.

I've also been wondering what attitude I bring to my creativity. Sometimes it seems like we spend a lot of time searching for meaning in our creative projects. Maybe instead we should be exploring how we value, honor, and respect our creative efforts, and how that attitude breathes life into their purpose and meaning.

Do we wake up every morning believing that our creative projects are one of the most important things in our lives? Are they a top priority? Or do we dismiss them as not of global importance, because they haven't changed the world? And how will they ever get the opportunity to change the world if we don't commit to them?

What if our creative projects are meaningful because we believe they are meaningful?

Simply beginning again

In early January, I encouraged you to view every day of the year as a new beginning for your creative projects. When you fall off track, that you simply choose to begin again.

Now I'm in the position of having to take my own advice!

I've gotten away from this blog and my newsletter, distracted by another project that took more energy than I expected. So now, with minimal drama, I am getting back to this creative project. When I felt like scolding myself for not being able to do both, I remembered what I'd written here for everyone ... and decided to be kind to myself, and to simply begin again.

It would be naive to say that from here on out I will always be able to write on schedule, while life is happening all around me. I have a keen awareness that I have always been easily drawn off course by events in my life, and am still learning to moderate that.

As I've written before, it is frequently not that we don't have the time, but that we don't have the energy to create. This was very obvious to me in this recently concluded project, which didn't actually take that much more time, but definitely took a lot of energy! It is important to take care of ourselves in a way that replenishes our energy. However, sometimes life events simply don't leave us much energy to create. Each of us is different in terms of how easily we get distracted, depleted, or discouraged. By knowing ourselves, and taking care of ourselves, we can help minimize these effects.

The key is finding that balance where our life, including our creative projects, is sustainable. Yes, we go through times where there are simply too many demands -- sometimes by choice, sometimes not -- but it's vital to make sure this is not our usual way of living. If it is, we never have room for creating. We may choose to limit our lives in some areas in order to be able to create, or do anything else. It's good to remember that while we can often do anything, we cannot do everything. We need to pick our anythings carefully!

Creating is sometimes a strange combination of courage and opportunity. When we are brave, we don't always have the time; when we have the time, sometimes our courage deserts us. I find it is in that willingness to be vulnerable that I am able to create most easily. Maybe that is where courage and opportunity meet for me.

When I am considering a new project again, I'm going to look at it from the realization that my life is pretty much in balance as it is, and taking on just one more thing may mean letting go of something that I care about.

Pancakes in a Can!

I came across another bizarre modern "convenience" the other day: pancake batter in a pressurized can. Evidently you just shoot 'em out onto your hot griddle!

I guess this is in case it is too much trouble to take a scoop of mix from the bag and add milk, or water, and stir.

If you read my previous post about the pre-made frozen PBJ, you've heard my rant about corporations disempowering us, and how that damages our belief that we can create anything, including a tasty lunch for ourselves. All that still applies here.

I'm actually not a luddite. I love my computer and use it often. It's a truly amazing machine. Nothing else can do what my computer can do. Nothing can take its place.

And that's the point here.

With a lot less packaging waste and less money, I can whip up pancakes in under a minute. Why would I want to pay for pancakes in a can? I have to deal with their expiration date ... and if I want more pancakes from my mix, I just whip up another batch on the spot. If the can is empty, I'm out of luck.

So the bottom line is that it seems wasteful to me, and a big hassle, to buy pancakes in a can. There are simpler alternatives to them, unlike my computer. Lest you think I am unnecessarily harsh, I really don't advocate gathering the whole grains and grinding them for pancakes. A bag of mix seems like a nice compromise.

I believe in using the appropriate level of technology. That may be arbitrary, I know.

I'll be happy to take reuseable bags to the store for the rest of my life in order to save plastic to make IV-bags and dialysis filters in the future. Anything can carry my groceries; not many alternatives to IV-bags, though I have hope they'll come up with one before we're out of oil.

It's really a matter of resource allocation. Use resources where there are no alternatives, like computers and medical products, and use the appropriate level of resources for everything else, like pancakes and shopping bags.

Resource allocation is also vital to our creative projects, though usually we are dealing with the resources of time and energy. Are you allocating those most precious of resources for the most important things in your life -- like your creativity and your family? Or are you using them on the equivalent of pancake batter in a can? Something to think about.

Time does move on, and perhaps products that make no sense, like pancakes in a can, will simply disappear, providing us a moment of humor and nothing more significant.

After all, think of biscuits in a can. Actually, I could never make biscuits that flaky -- I make chunky, crunchy drop biscuits, and every now and then long for a flaky, tender biscuit. So perhaps those things do have a place, and I am judging pancakes in a can too harshly. I'm sure there are plenty of cooks who scoffed at the newfangled idea of biscuits in an exploding can.

When I was ranting about pancakes in a can, a friend pointed out that his mother had the same reaction when they started selling the outrageous luxury item of chickens cut up in pieces instead of whole.

Hmmm ... so maybe pancakes in a can do have a purpose ... allowing us to laugh at ourselves!

Needs and the Consumer World

One thing advertising is great at is revealing a need we didn't even know we had ... until we saw their advertising!

No wonder so many people have trouble identifying their true needs. Advertising is constantly telling us what we "should" feel like we need, and what "everyone else" is needing.

Part of the reason advertising works is because it touches on the underlying need, then tries to convince us that their product fills that need.

For example, if you have a need for security, all sorts of products are sold by tapping into that underlying need: insurance, emergency vehicle assistance, incontenance medications -- the list continues.

Some products are valuable, some probably not. The bigger question is: does having the manufacturer's product meet our need?

If the answer is yes, then purchasing the product will solve things once and for all, freeing energy up to live our lives, and work on our creative projects. Great!

If the answer is no, then purchasing the product will only bring temporary relief, before we feel that need again, and they try to sell us something new and even better!

Maybe financial security doesn't mean some sexy financial product, but simply 6 months of savings in the bank. Nobody makes much money on us saving, so that won't be the product they're trying to sell you, even though it might be the best solution for your need.

So part of getting your needs met is determining what the underlying need actually is, and how to best meet it.

Businesses are busy trying to convince us that we can't meet our own needs, but that their products can. Many times they're not meeting that underlying need, but only a symptom of it, and only for a short period of time.

When you understand what the underlying need is, many times it is something we can provide on our own through a new way of thinking about something, a healthier habit, a different way of being in the world, rather than looking outside for a new product.

Spend awhile focusing on the advertising around you, and try to figure out what underlying need is being touched upon. Ask yourself if their product is the best way to meet that need. Come up with a few alternatives that you might try.

While you're studying the ads, take note about what appeals to you, and start a list of what underlying needs of your own are at play. Decide if you'd like to take action to get those needs met, and if so, what no-cost or low-cost options you could try.

Identifying your needs and getting them met is a great way to improve the quality of your life, and free up energy for your creativity ... just make sure the solution really solves the problem!

Self-Care and Creativity

When dealing with the topic of self-care, it is impossible to miss the huge impact of our society.

Here in the U.S., especially, it is considered virtuous to have no time to care for oneself.

Why is that?       

Our physical need for sleep is subjugated to the virtues of being sleep-deprived.

Savoring the leisurely preparation and consumption of a meal is now considered so unusual that there’s a whole movement around it: Slow Food.

And not having time, or energy, to exercise is a national sport of its own!

The thing I find interesting is that for every area of self-care where society has encouragingly disempowered us, there is a profit mechanism that has sprung up.

Around lack of sleep, there are energy drinks and stimulant pills to keep us awake, and sleep aids to help us fall asleep immediately so that we’re not wasting any time dozing off too slowly.

Around food, there is fast food because we don’t have time to eat, convenience food because we don’t have time to cook. There are diets and drugs for when the fast food gets to us.

When our health fails because there is no time to exercise, there is medical care (instead of preventive care), pharmaceuticals to treat preventable diseases, and gyms to rehabilitate us.

If we need peace and quiet, most of us could arrange something in our own homes; instead, we are encouraged to indulge in a relaxing spa experience!

I’m not saying all these things are bad, or slamming guys who’ve found an inventive way to make a buck.

All I’m suggesting is that taking care of yourself first will save you a lot of money, and provide you with a lot of peace.

Maybe spending an evening creating homemade pizza with your family could replace an unhealthy meal out followed by an expensive movie. You could even take a walk after dinner, and enjoy the peace that comes with the first stars coming out.

If that sounds boring, then it’s a sure sign that you need to try it!

Need a spa experience? Go into your own bathroom with candles, a book, a glass of fruit juice and seltzer, music, chocolate, bubble-bath, and create your own spa experience.

Are you getting the pattern here? When there is no time to care for your needs, you rush through everything in life. You neglect your physical, emotional and spiritual self.

How can you connect with your creativity when you aren't connected with any other part of yourself?!

Instead, slow down, relax, experience simple things deeply.

That’s what self-care is all about – reconnecting with your authentic self.

Creative Seeds

The Svalbard Global Seed Vault opened last week in Norway.

The Norwegian government spent nearly 10 million dollars to build this facility, which is dug into the permafrost. Walls of blue ice lead down a corridor to three vaults, where nearly 4 billion seeds from around the world will be preserved in the extreme cold.

They are an insurance policy, there to be retrieved if man so completely screws things up that we have to begin again from scratch.

Lettuce seeds, at the short end of the spectrum, are only expected to be viable for 50 years. Sorghum will likely last 20,000.

Imagine going into that vault in, say, only 200 years. What will the world be like if we so desperately need those seeds that are being set aside today? There are definitely some serious implications associated with this project, but we’re going to focus on the positive aspects.

First of all, there was the creative dream that got this all started. Whether we ever need it or not, we now have this safety net because people believed it was important and acted upon it. And their actions moved governments and organizations around the world.

The opening ceremonies were a fascinating blend of pride and international cooperation that demonstrated that the participants still had great hope for our future. There were even musicians performing!

One speaker described the international effort as a way to cultivate peace in the world, and I can really see how the project succeeded in that regard.

Africa, for example, is being devestated by environmental change, and the idea that their seeds were being preserved was of great importance to them. It was almost as though their difficulties were being acknowledged, and the value of what they had to offer was being honored.

Another speaker said that Norway is a country that can be trusted. Ouch! It is unfortunate, though perhaps understandable at this point, that the international community didn’t feel it could look to us to safeguard our planet’s future in this way.

But the concept of saving seeds brought me around to creativity.

What do we do with those seeds of creative projects that we have? Are they in cold storage, or out in the world, being nurtured into living, breathing creative projects?

The seed for the seed vault was nurtured and grew into something that may one day make a huge difference in the world. The time for the project to grow was now, even though the time for the physical seeds in storage to grow may yet lie in the future.

Eventually, seeds in storage lose viability, and are unable to sprout and grow. When we put our creative ideas into the deep freeze, “saving” them for the future, we run this risk. The most common reason to save them is fear that we cannot bring them to fruition.

The time to plant and nurture your creative ideas is in the present, while the seeds of the idea are still fresh. This freshness translates into passion for the idea, which will inspire the whole project.

If we are always afraid we will mess things up, then we will never be able to create. The only way to do it is to plant, and keep planting, and tend what we have planted. Fear may be our companion, but we move forward on our creative projects despite our fear.

The same way fear may be our companion while we build a seed vault that houses hope for the world. We build it anyway.

Creative Self-Esteem

Self-esteem is a huge advantage in life.

For creatives, poor self-esteem may show up as an unwillingness or reluctance to show their creative gifts to the world. It may even cause them to stop creating altogether.

It certainly makes it challenging to believe in your dreams.

And yet, it doesn’t mean success is impossible, so long as you keep trying.

Take the story of Paul Potts.

Born in the UK, this 36-year-old mobile phone salesman began singing shortly after he was able to talk. Singing was his escape from childhood bullies.

Despite chronic self-esteem issues, Paul managed to perform with Bath Opera, but he was unable to commit to trying to make it professionally.

On his website, he writes: “When I sang, that’s when I felt I was myself – the real me.” When singing, Paul was able to be his authentic self.

He eventually appeared on Britain’s Got Talent, a reality TV show. His web site is sketchy on how this came about. Perhaps he finally decided to just go for it. Maybe he had a friend or mentor who encouraged him. Or he realized that he had to let his authentic self show up and be seen. Regardless of how it happened, he won.

When you watch the video, you can see the incredible courage it takes for him to appear on the show … and see the audience moved to tears by the beauty of his talent, a beauty that has remained mostly hidden for decades.

He says of the competition: “When I stopped singing, there were a few seconds when my heart was racing because I had absolutely no idea what the judges were going to say.”

Imagine that … a man so immensely talented that he wins the competition, and he has so little belief in himself and his creative gifts. Yet how many of us are in exactly this position?

This is why self-esteem is so vital. If he’d had it, he could have been acknowledged for his singing, and followed a career doing what he loved. Instead, he’s only coming to that now, at 36, and lucky that his talents didn’t remain hidden forever.

He acknowledges that the support he’s received has helped his confidence. That support can help all of us do great things, which is why having friends or a group that supports your creativity is so important!

Ideally, we get it in childhood, and have wonderful self-esteem. If we don’t, which is true for many, we have to surround ourselves with people who believe in us, so we can learn how to believe in ourselves. Even when we don't believe, with support we can still let our talents shine, and reach for our dreams!

If you want to know how far that can take you, just look at Paul. He's got an album out now, and is touring as a fully-fledged opera singer!

New Standards for Caretaking

There are times when people need our help caring for them. However there are also times when we end up caring for someone when they are able to care for themselves, simply because we are in the habit of caring for them, or because it is easier on us. This may even be true of relationships!

I knew a woman who swore she had no time to write, but she still did her 16 year old son's laundry!

Teaching kids how to do things is great, because you’re preparing them for life on their own. Is keeping them dependent on you for super white underwear worth your creative time? No! Teach them to be independent. Spend a moment briefly overwhelmed with pride, then go create with that extra time.

There is a psychological comfort in knowing they still need us, so find another way to get that … like always being available to listen.

There may be a tradeoff in having your kid clean the floor – it may not be too clean for awhile, until they get the hang of it. Actually, it may never be clean again! Is having time to paint worth having a streaky floor? Yes!

I have a friend who lets her 97 year old mother do her own laundry.

Many of us are assuming caretaking roles for our parents. Stepping in too early robs them of independence and dignity, even though it feels good to be able to help out. It might be easier and less stressful on us to do it ourselves, rather than worry. If they are able to do it, and want to do it, give up worrying, and let them do it. Let them keep doing what they are able, for as long as they are able.

In relationships, are you the one who is always calling, setting up time to get together? Are you the one always listening to your friend’s problems, issues, and worries? Is there sharing, or are you caretaking the relationship?

In a long-standing friendship, there is a great deal of loyalty, and guilt may show up when you consider restricting the relationship, even if it is no longer nurturing you. You may be surprised to learn that your “dear friend” was actually a huge drain on your energy, and seeing them twice a year is more than adequate.

Don't be fooled into thinking that giving up one draining relationship is the same as abandoning all your friends. Or that making your kids learn how to clean the floor is child labor, or that a streaky floor means you’re a bad housekeeper. Or that making mom wash her own dishes means you’re a bad daughter.

They’re all just signs that other people are able to take care of themselves and their own lives. And that you are taking care of your own, by spending time creating!

Time Guardians

So how do you make room for creative time in your everyday life?

One great way is to use time guardians.

Say you have two favorite TV shows that you watch every night. Let’s say there’s a half-hour break in between them. You may be tempted to stay on the couch and veg in between because there’s not “enough” time to do anything.

Surprise!

What you have there are two fantastic time guardians for your sacred creativity practice. You know where you’ll find half an hour every single night that is free for creating!

It doesn’t sound like a lot of time, and that’s the point: it is completely manageable to include in your schedule every day.

If you've been living with a creative mindset, you have ideas ready to take action on immediately. Working this way, you begin to understand that your creativity is always “in process”, and never done. Half an hour is plenty of time to write on a story, or select a paint color for the next night's work.

One of the most important aspects of bringing creativity into your daily life is that it be sustainable. Time that is protected in this way is sustainable, as long as we’re able to remember that our projects are always in process, and focus on making just a little progress each day. It's just like the dishes. Each day you wash a few, and by the next day, there are a few more needing to be washed.

Don't think in terms of having to have a few hours free to write a chapter. Just work a little bit, knowing you'll return to your work the next night.

Obviously, there are times when your art demands more than 30 minutes. But if you can learn how to use half an hour effectively every night, then you are on your way to being able to use bigger chunks of time more effectively.

Using time guardians is a great way to turn time wasters into creative time, and to use your schedule to help enforce that time.

The Puppy Bowl

Tired of the Super Bowl with the attendant hype?

Next year watch the Puppy Bowl instead! You can catch it on Animal Planet.

The Puppy Bowl is three hours of puppies playing in an enclosure that looks like a miniature football stadium! It is sooooo adorable!

There is no “game” per se, just puppies running all around and jumping on each other, wrestling, playing with toys and generally doing puppy stuff.

The water bowl has a clear bottom with a camera mounted beneath it for a fantastic view of puppies drinking and stepping in the water bowl.

There is a referee, who occasionally adds and removes players from the game, and calls penalties and “personal fouls” when the inevitable happens. They even take the opportunity to use one of their sponsor’s air freshener products at that time.

There are ads on the sidelines, just like at a regular game. It’s a great venue for the sponsors.

They play the national anthem at the beginning, complete with flag graphic and misty photos of the “players”. There is an online vote for the MVP – Most Valuable Puppy, of course.

There is even a halftime show with kittens!

It might not change the world, but it sure gave me a laugh!

On the other hand, when we think about the purpose of creativity, one thing it gives us is a choice outside of what is expected. It is expected that everyone wants to watch the Super Bowl. What the Puppy Bowl gives us is proof that we’re not the only ones who don’t want to watch it, and that there are fun alternatives. And it appears that this is the fourth year they’ve done a Puppy Bowl, so it sounds like there is considerable viewership for it.

It will never rival the Super Bowl for attendance or profits, but it is darned creative! And a whole bunch of fun to watch. What a creative solution for alternative programming that playfully pokes fun at an American icon!

Creativity and Control

While walking in my neighborhood today, I saw a beautiful tree.

Unfortunately cables that had supported the tree in its early years of growth, had never been adjusted as the tree matured. They'd been left there so long that the tree had grown around them, and now they were part of the tree. It spoiled the tree's beauty, and was a little painful to see these cables growing through its heart.

One of the wires was attached to a cable box, which seemed a totally inappropriate support structure.

All four cables were on one side of the tree, obviously trying to force it to grow in a different direction than it wanted to grow, and no-one had ever re-evaluated their usefulness.

These people had been trying so hard to control this tree, rather than letting it just grow and develop on its own, that they'd ended up harming it's growth and beauty. Maybe there was a need to support and direct it when it was just starting out, but that had changed long ago, and what had originally been a support structure grew to something that was harming the tree and interfering with its growth. They had an ideal of how the perfect tree looks, and by clinging so tightly to that ideal, they had spoiled the actual, living tree.

This tree brought to mind our creativity, and how hard it is to provide the right support at the right time, and to also allow it to grow into what it wants to be. By hanging on so tight, by struggling to control every aspect of how our creativity shows up, we can end up stifling ourselves, until nothing shows up.

For creating, we may have support structures like getting up early for a few weeks to write. If that isn't working, however, we need to adjust our support structure. We may set an intention to create every day, but after months of being unable to meet this intention, we may have to accept that creating on the weekend is the form our creativity naturally wants to take. This year, I had to accept that although I have always been "told" to create first thing in the morning, when I'm "fresh", that my creative time naturally wants to be late at night, when I am naturally creative. I've learned how to let go of wanting to control how my creative time shows up. Now, I work late at night, when I feel creative.

So yes, there is an appropriate time to have support structures, for our trees, as well as our creativity practices. When we're first starting out, it's good to get a certain amount of directed growth in, so that we are pointed in the right direction. But once an appropriate basic form is established, things change and need to be periodically re-evaluated. Forcing growth into an unnatural direction for an individual, human or tree, may be too hard, and counterproductive.

Trees have their own natural, beautiful shapes, and so do our creative practices. Don't be afraid to let go and allow a natural shape to be established. You might be surprised at how beautiful it can be!

Meaning Making

There are many reasons we create. To commune with the Divine, to inspire, to connect, to tell a particular story or point of view, to be able to eat.

But also to understand why life is as it is. To retain our sanity in an impossible situation. To process what we've been through so that we can live with it. I call this meaning making.

I came across two great examples of it this week.

One is about groups of veterans who are getting together, writing their stories, and reading them aloud. One veteran related that he'd been on the verge of committing suicide before entering the group. Now he's been with the group for years, and credits it for saving his life. One leader was skeptical there would be much interest in another program, funded by the NEA, until 150 vets showed up to attend. When asked why they were there, in addition to wanting to process their own experiences, they also wanted the next guy to know what they'd gone through during war, so that they won't feel so alone. Hundreds of veterans have participated in groups like these, writing and sharing their stories, and in the process, transforming their experiences of grief into peace. You can listen to this story at NPR.

The healing powers of telling your personal story cannot be underestimated.

The other example is of a journalist with cancer who has been writing a blog, posted on NPR, for the past year or so. I haven't been brave enough to write and ask him about how creating has affected his experience of dealing with cancer. He's still posting, so I am going to assume that he is finding it helpful. It seems obvious from the outpouring of comments, sometimes hundreds for each daily post, that the people who read it find it a source of hope, strength, and solidarity in dealing with their own illnesses, the illnesses of loved ones, or just life itself. I think we gain a unique understanding of how precious life is during these times. How generous that he is willing to share what is happening in his own journey. He is making meaning, not only for himself and his loved ones, but for all his readers as well. You can read his story here.

This brought to mind a documentary I saw a few years ago called So Much So Fast about a 29-year-old man with ALS. His family allowed a video documentary to be made of his journey into the painful depths of the disease. They captured joy, but also a lot of sorrow, and I always wondered if the video helped them come to terms with what was happening. Perhaps no answer is needed other than acknowledging that they kept filming until the end. One of the people making the film had lost her mother to ALS, and wanted to tell the story of ALS in a very personal way. The family members who appeared on camera for four years had such a high level of participation that I think they qualify as creators as well.

Three amazing examples of how using our creativity helps us to transform and make meaning of what happens in our lives, and in our world, and to be at peace with it.

Creative Inspiration

Where does that spark of creative inspiration come from?

For playwright George Packer, author of Betrayed, it came from voices of people he'd interviewed that just wouldn't go away.

The fascinating thing about this story, is that George Packer was previously a non-fiction writer. I heard his story on NPR.

He'd gone to Iraq, and interviewed Iraqis who'd worked with Americans as translators, drivers, and others helping to rebuild their country. Labeled as collaborators by their countrymen and threatened with violence when their true identities were known, these Iraqis were living a secretive life caught between people who saw them as traitors, and our government bureaucracy insistent on proper procedures, while Americans sympathetic to their plight watched helplessly.

Their heartbreaking stories captured his imagination.

He wrote his interviews into an article for the New Yorker, and still those voices were with him.

He wrote a whole book, The Assassin's Gate, and their stories were still with him, demanding to be heard.

Rather than deciding that his creative work was done with his non-fiction pieces, he paid attention.

He wanted to bring these voices to life in a way that his other writing was unable to do. He decided to step aside and let those voices speak for themselves, which is how he selected the vehicle of the play.

When he began the play, about half the material was fiction, and when he finished, it had increased to 80% fiction. He'd used all of what he'd learned in real life to transform his art, even if only 20% of it ended up as "fact" in the finished play.

The question that stays with me is what drove someone who was already creating, to choose a different creative medium? Even non-fiction writing uses a lot of creative skills -- putting together sentences artfully, arranging information for ease of comprehension, generating a mood or scene. But this wasn't enough for Mr. Packer. I don't know if he had a long-held secret desire to become a playwright, or if the material was so emotionally compelling that it demanded him to move to a different medium. It's an interesting question.

Either way, he apparently felt there was some essential truth belonging to these people that could be better conveyed through the fictionalized medium of the play.

How wonderful that he listened to his intuition and followed through on his creative inspiration, rather than questioning the wisdom of writing a play about Iraq.

A Funny Thing About Ferrets ...

I heard a story on NPR last week that still has me amused. It is about Paul Tolme, Journalist and wildlife writer, who wrote an article about the endangered black-footed ferret of South Dakota.

He was, evidently, a victim of plagiarism. You can read his account at newsweek.com.

You might think that someone writing a book on ferrets or small mammals might have swiped his copy.

You'd be wrong!

His scientific description of ferrets ended up as dialog in a romance novel! Yes, I'm still laughing too.

His description makes it sound like the writer did not take what he'd said and dress it up to sound like realistic dialog, take a few facts here and there and sprinkle them in, then cite him as a reference; it was more a cut and paste affair. Now, if you can imagine a wildlife writer's description of ferrets and their behavior simply cut and pasted into a "he said, she said" type format ... you get the idea!

Obviously I don't think plagiarism itself is funny. But if you're going to write hundreds of pages of romance, and someone else has done the ferret research for you ... at least spring for writing the dialog yourself and giving them credit!

Mr. Tolme seems to have a pretty good sense of humor about it. The wonderful thing is that he has gotten a huge amount of attention for the black-footed ferret's plight! He's also received a lot of attention as a writer, as the story appeared in The New York Times and the AP. After 15 years as a journalist and nature writer, and hundreds of stories, he's never before gotten such an overwhelming response to his work.

And the romance writer? Well, she's gotten a lot of attention, too, just not the kind a book author usually wants!

The Creative Necessity of Sleep

How does fatigue impact our creativity?

Sometimes I get great ideas when I'm fatigued, the kind that come when your rational, conscious mind has left the scene. While I recommend capturing these ideas when they arrive, as I do all your creative ideas, I don't recommend this as a way to routinely generate ideas!

I find that I get a lot of high-quality creative work done late at night, when things are quiet, and there is nothing else I "should" be doing. I think another aspect of this is that I am just a little bit tired at the end of the day, so my mind is a little more tolerant of wandering down those creative paths that it might not permit exploring mid-day.

However there is a difference between being pleasantly relaxed at the end of the day and totally exhausted, just as there is a difference between having one glass of wine and drinking the whole bottle. When I am bone-tired fatigued, especially over an extended period of time, I am just not able to gather the energy to create.

I came across an article recently on the NPR website called: In Today's World, the Well-Rested Lose Respect, by Margot Adler.

While the title really says it all, the article discusses how it is nearly a badge of honor in our society to get by on less sleep, even if it means we are tired, groggy, eroding our physical health, and decreasing our quality of life! I think about this in terms of how we are depleting our creative resources as well. Many people advocate getting up earlier to schedule your creative time. That's great, if you can spare the sleep. I'd rather sleep and weed out some other time-waster from my schedule.

Workaholism is also considered a virtue in America. The funny thing is that if you go to other parts of the world, it's not seen that way. People expect to actually sleep and have a life!

How is it that we've gotten to the point that there is considered something wrong with people who want a full night's sleep?

One thing you can do for your creative life is to look at how much sleep you need, and how much you are getting. If you are consistently shorting yourself -- falling asleep at odd times, feeling groggy during the day, or "making up" for it on the weekends -- consider granting yourself the gift of increasing your sleep. Not only will you increase your health and the energy available for creating, you'll also increase your quality of life!

Self-care is a big part of a sustainable creativity practice. So claim the sleep you need ... you'll lose no respect from me ... I'll probably be napping myself!

Creative Vision

Another observation from the piano recitals, where a total of 133 pianists from 19 countries competed.

This is another example of what I mean about viewing life through our creative eyes. It's not meant to show that I am particularly brilliant at this, just to try and give a more concrete example of what I mean when I refer to this. I hate it when people tell you to do something, but don't show you how!

A friend invited me to the recitals, and I attended with my creative vision, looking for things I could use here, on this creativity blog. By capturing my observations here, I'm also preserving them for possible future appearances in my fiction writing.

So what is the difference between just attending a piano recital and viewing it with creative vision? I think it is in the way we pay attention to detail, and how we analyze what we're seeing in the present moment and making connections to other things. For example, as I went in intending to write about the creative process, what I noticed were the parts of the creative process that were evident by observation, the things contestants had in common, and how they differed. Those observations were connected back to themes related to creativity. What I was seeing was fresh in my mind's eye, because I was viewing it with the creative eye, what they call in Zen the beginner's mind.

Another part is recording our observations. When we record them, we preserve them for future use, but more than that, we are forced to articulate the finer nuances of what we've seen. As a fan, we may be able to get away with just saying it was "fantastic!" When we are using creative vision, we characterize what we saw in minute detail, what it meant, the audience reaction ... things like this all become our report of the event. We can even ask those around us what they thought, or what something meant to them, and include that in our accounting.

We may capture a mood or feeling, lighting, or specific details. A deep blue dress with a long row of buttons down the back. A participant's slightly smudged, thick glasses. These details, whether captured in words or a sketch, can be used later to create art. In some settings, a snapshot might be appropriate and useful -- alas, not at a piano recital! But perhaps a street fair or another event. You can use the photographs to capture a mood, an emotion, or an image that would otherwise be lost, then use it later in your art.

This brings us to one of the primary reasons we need to get out and do things like this, rather than live in our comfy little routines. Getting out gives us practice seeing with our creative vision, and that is great. We are seeing new and different things, which makes it easier to see those things creatively. It also supplies us with lots of material for our creativity, which is always easier than creating in a vacuum. We may only use 5% of it, we may use none of it; all still helpful to our creative practice.

The final reason is that getting out in it may also get us in that mood to create. Part of it is that feeling you get in your stomach looking at a really great piece of art -- say a painting -- where you start wishing you could paint, even though you're a writer; you may be inspired to write by that painting. Or maybe you are a painter, and then you really want to go right home and create!

That tug of desire to create is a reminder from our body, our subconscious, our soul, that we love creating. That it belongs in our daily life.

This inspiration to create that comes from within is what sustains us in our creative practice.

The Pianists and Emotions

I wanted to share another observation from the piano performances I saw the other night.

I was seated in the first row, which may not be prime acoustical space, but was perfectly adequate for my listening pleasure.

From that position, I was able to see the musicians' faces very closely. I suppose I've never watched one highly skilled person perform from such a close distance before!

The first thing that amazed me was the extent to which each pianist's entire body was involved in their performance. Hands and arms, of course, as they worked the keyboard; feet and legs as they worked the pedals. But also shoulders, hips, spines, necks, and heads. Eyes, eyebrows, lips, brows, cheeks, tongues, and even, it seemed, noses and ears, though I won't swear to those last two!

Their bodies were involved and consumed in creating to the point where I was certain they were not even aware an audience was present. If we'd all stood up and left, they would have continued until they finished. They were so involved in the music, that at times they looked almost grotesque, their bodies twisted, heads hunched low over the keyboard. It was irrelevant. Everything was secondary to the performance -- both for the musicians and for the audience.

The other amazing part of this performance was the range of emotions that appeared on their faces while they played. A common one that showed up was apparent surprise! There was passion, transcendence, joy, amusement, an almost maniacal glee, crushing sorrow, despair ... almost every emotion showed up at some point.

And seeing the emotions along with hearing the music reminded me that one of the purposes of music, as well as art in general, is to evoke those emotions. Popular music can cheat a bit by using the lyrics to bring out the emotions they intend to using words, whereas classical music is mute in that way. And yet the message still gets across ... perhaps imperfectly, as it is more difficult to judge sometimes what the composer intended, but we are still moved in some way.

So when considering our creative efforts, I'm wondering how often do we create using our entire bodies? Writers, for example, can sit motionless for hours at a time, except for our hands, and the occasional arm movement as we reach for a teacup! Dancers use their bodies the entire time they are creating. So between these two extremes, how can we take an opportunity to use our body more, perhaps not during the actual creating, but as short breaks of movement during our creative time? Does being present in our body actually enhance our creating in some way?

The other thing I'm wondering is how our emotions play into our creating. I'm not suggesting that the pianists are actually feeling those emotions, but they do seem to be experiencing them at some body level, which has to affect their creating. Do we use this in our own work by feeling sadness when a character does? Feeling happiness as we paint a sunny scene? How does this translate into other arts? Perhaps it only translates directly into other performance arts. Still, it's an interesting idea, this emotional connection between ourselves and our bodies, and our art.