3 Steps to a Creative New Year

In the spirit of celebrating the coming New Year, I invite you to try this simple 3-step process to help set your intentions and spark a year of joyful creative living in 2015.

Grab some colored pens or pencils (I love writing with colorful felt-tip markers! ) and a blank piece of paper or, better yet, a beautiful journal you haven't been able to bring yourself to write in yet because you don't know where to start. Click here to download the prompts in printable form below if you'd like.

Ready? Let yourself answer the following questions quickly and intuitively without overthinking them. Your first answers are usually your best and most true.

#1 ~ Give Yourself Credit ~

~ What creative projects, pursuits and experiences did I enjoy most in 2014?
~ What helped give me permission to enjoy these creative experiences?
~ What worked well when it came to living a creative life last year?

#2 ~ Give Yourself Ideas ~

~ Which creative projects, pursuits and experiences would I like to continue in 2015?
~ Which new creative projects, pursuits and experiences would I love to explore in 2015?
~ What's one small way I can experience creative joy every day in the coming year?

#3 ~ Give Yourself Permission ~

~ Where can I find compassionate support to help me make time and space for my creativity? (Think friends, groups, classes, coaching, etc...)
~ How can I practicing giving myself permission to enjoy creative experiences more often?
~ What's one loving way I can allow myself to experience more creative joy than ever in the coming year?

Here's to living the creative life in 2015! May your year be filled with many wonderful Creative Oasis moments, laughter, love and light!

Jill

Wishing You These True Gifts...

In celebration of the Christmas season I wish you peace, love, light

and permission to fully embrace your creativity in 2015! 

How have you delighted in your creativity this season? 

How will you embrace and enjoy your creativity in the coming year? 

How will you nurture your creative spirit? 

Here's to good self-care, laughter, love, light and

fabulous creative experiences that make life worth living ~
at Christmas time and throughout the year! 

Merry Everything from my Creative Oasis to yours,

Jill

Jill Allison Bryan

www.creativeoasiscoaching.com                                        

Why I’m a Happy Bad Ass 50-Year Old

This week I celebrate my 50^th birthday.

And I while not obsessed about it, 50 is something of a milestone, so I can’t deny it’s been on my mind.

Mostly I feel grateful to have my health, my awesome family and friends and a passion for my creative coaching business where I get to serve and connect with amazing people like you!

Winning two awards from my personal trainer, Pauline, at the annual Garage Fitness holiday party certainly didn't hurt either.

I won a "Gold" award (for a year-long challenge) and a "Hot Shot" award (for consistently showing up to the gym (Garage Fitness) at 6 am three times a week with very few exceptions) that I get to add to the "Bad Ass" awards I've won in previous years. What can I say? I love to work out and I’m grateful I’m wired that way!

To celebrate my birthday I saw Fleetwood Mac in concert yet again and let me tell you, they are back and better than ever!

They were all wonderful...energized...in good voice and seemed to be having a blast! 

Seeing one of my musical idols, Stevie Nicks, look and sound so good at age 67, doing what she most loves to do, was absolutely inspiring! 

Eleanor Roosevelt's wise words also inspire me to keep living a creative life and embracing my life as a work of art.

I believe your life is your greatest creative project no matter what your age and I look forward to embracing every moment of the beautiful non-linear path I’m on for decades to come.

I hope you’ll continue to join me!  

If you've been contemplating one-on-one creative coaching with me, why not let 2015 be the year you live the creative life you've been dreaming of? Drop me a line here so we can chat about the possibilities. 

Until next time, all the best from my "Celebrating 50" Creative Oasis,

Jill

Jill Allison Bryan

www.creativeoasiscoaching.com

P.S. ~ If you enjoyed this post and would like to receive bite-size bonbons of creative inspiration like this in my Mid-Week Oasis Moments plus a free copy of my e-book, "Permission to Be Creative 101" please join me by clicking here.

Recipe for a Dreamy Little Christmas

How are the holidays treating you so far? More importantly, how are you treating yourself?

I'm enjoying a rather smooth transition into the Christmas season. Not to toot my own horn, but I have to admit Create the Christmas of Your Dreams seems to be major reason for this!

Here are a few ideas that are helping me and the lovely members of our CTCOYD support group the most:

~ Any project, plan or party can be broken down into small, doable steps ~ or as I like to call them this time of year, Merry Little Movements.

Imagine my delight in realizing one Christmas project in particular could easily be divided into more than a dozen small steps. So long overwhelm ~ hello creative joy!

~ Enough really is enough. 

For example, I gave myself a decorating deadline. That meant any holiday decorating I intended to do needed to be finished by Sunday, even if that meant not putting out every single decoration I own. And you know what? It was not only enough...it was plenty!

~ Creative joy can be experienced in small little burst of creative play. 

Five or ten minutes coloring in a holiday mandala, creating a Christmas card or digitally enhancing a photo sparks creative satisfaction that lasts for hours. Here's a pinterest project using rolled magazine pages I'm creating during some of my brief of Christmas Oasis Moments.

~ Permission to embrace what's most important and release the rest. 

Rather than show up to a holiday gathering feeling frazzled and fatigued because I felt the need to create some gourmet dish from scratch along with everything else I had going that day, I chose to show up rested and ready to party with a store bought appetizer and a smile.

~ Good self-care is not optional ~ it's essential. 

With the social invitations rolling in, the pressure to finish shopping mounting, not to mention "end-of-year-everything," it's easy to tell ourselves we simply don't have time.

That's why it's so nice to be part of a group that knows the value of taking good care of ourselves, especially during the time of year we're often running on too little sleep, too many treats while dodging the omnipresent cold and flu bugs.

~ Good self-care is easier than you might think.

Something has simple as using some nice, rich hand cream, taking a walk around the block or enjoying a few deep breaths and stretches can revitalize you and keep you going strong throughout the holidays.

I invite you to use the recipe above with your choice of ingredients from the list below to create a dreamy Christmas of your own!

Click here to download your complimentary printable "Dream Christmas Ingredients" list.

Until next time, all the best from my Dreamy Christmas Oasis to yours,

Jill

Jill Allison Bryan

www.creativeoasiscoaching.com

P.S. ~ If you enjoyed this post and would like to receive bite-size bonbons of creative inspiration like this in my Mid-Week Oasis Moments plus a free copy of my e-book "Permission to Be Creative 101" join me here: http://www.creativeoasiscoaching.com/newsletter.html.

May Your Heart Shine Like a Peace Sign

I took this photo of our vintage marquee peace sign for Day 30 of my #100HappyDays challenge.

The idea behind the #100HappyDays challenge is simple and inspiring and that's why I love it so much! 

Each day I get to take a photo of something that makes me happy and post it. Easy-peasy! (Click here to visit my #100HappyDays pinterest board to see the crazy variety of things that have made me happy over the last several weeks.)

The purpose of the challenge is to help people realize that it doesn't take a lot of time to be happy.

As a result of #100HappyDays I'm focused on seeing something good in my life at least once a day. Even the simplest things like a fluffed up bird sitting in a tree or the fact that tasty orange cuties are in season bring me happiness. Focusing on what brings joy to my life, even for the few moments it takes to snap a photo and post it, also brings me peace.

This aligns so nicely with my philosophy that even small amounts of time spend enjoying your Creative Oasis (whatever makes your heart sing and time fly) is time well-spent! 

This is the time of year we often hear the message "Peace on earth ~ good will toward men." Ironically, it's also the time of year that can stress us out so much we end up spending much of the time feeling quite the opposite of peaceful! 

So, what can we do about that? How can we experience more feelings of peace during the Christmas holidays?

When we make our own self-care a priority that helps us handle all of the relationships and responsibilities in our lives with more grace, ease and joy. This in turn helps the people in our lives to also experience more happiness, grace and peace. And so on...and so on...and so on. (If you're of a certain age please pardon the shampoo commercial reference.)

As the Christmas season begins, I invite you to choose an easy-to-do, soul-satisfying, peace-inducing creative challenge of your own. Here are a few ideas to help you begin...

~ Join me for the #100HappyDays challenge 

(www.100happydays.com)

~ Choose one thing you're grateful for each day in December and

write it in your journal, post it on Facebook or simply keep it in your heart

~ Ask yourself "What's one easy way I can help myself feel peaceful today?" 

(*Hint ~ it could be as simple as taking a few nice deep breaths.)

~ Enjoy 5 minutes of "I Get To" creative time 

(Easy ideas: doodling, coloring in a mandala, writing a haiku, stringing popcorn & cranberries)

I wish you many peaceful moments and a season filled with lots of love, laughter and light ~ especially the kind that makes your heart shine like a big ol' peace sign!

All the best from my Creative Oasis to yours,

Jill

Jill Allison Bryan

www.creativeoasiscoaching.com

P.S. ~ When I began playing with words to add to my peace sign photo for this post, I was delighted to realize that the "earth and heart" are anagrams. This felt like a special heemeesheemee to me. (*Heemeesheemee ~ my word for a serendipitous occurrence.) 

An Alternative to Cyber Monday Craziness...An Invitation to Create the Christmas of Your Dreams

Like you, I’ve been barraged with emails and ads for Black Friday and Cyber Monday...for doorbusters and price slashers and midnight madness.

Sound more like horror films than the beginning of the Christmas season, doesn’t it?

If you’re already over the over-the-top commercialism and stress the holidays can bring, I invite you to join me for “Create the Christmas ofYour Dreams” ~ a creative teleclass and support group designed to help you embrace holiday happiness, creative joy and good self-care this season.
(*Note: Registration closes Wednesday 12/3/14 at 11am central)

This class if for you…

~ If using your creativity more than your credit cards sounds like a good idea.

~ If you’d like to make at least one handmade Christmas gift or card this season. (Perhaps one of the approximately 738 you have on your pinterest boards?)

~ If you wish you could release the need to meet other people’s holiday expectations. (Hint: Martha Stewart is not my role model!)

~ If you’d like permission to enjoy some good self-care, even when there’s so much else to do. 

(BTW - the top three self-care contenders from my holiday survey were meditation, walking and massage and we'll be discussing ways to weave those into your schedule too.)

~ If you look forward to doing some holiday baking and want to feel that using premade cookie dough & pie crusts is not a punishable holiday crime this is the place for you!

If you can relate to any of these Christmas wishes, then I hope you’ll join me for Create the Christmas of YourDreams.

Once a week beginning this Wednesday, December third, we’ll meet up by phone to enjoy some creative prompts and play and I’ll share simple ways to experience a Christmas season that feels the way you’d like it to feel.

Giving yourself the gift of just one hour of Creative Oasis “me-time” for the next three weeks will help you feel energized and joyful rather than Grinchy & stressed out this month.

For about the price of a mani/pedi ($49.94) you’ll enjoy three one-hour phone sessions, including a packet of interactive creative sheets for each call, lovely e-mail follow-ups.

   

Click the button below to register.

                            

I’m really looking forward to sharing these simple and fun creative coaching tools & techniques to help your Create the Christmas of Your Dreams. (*Note: Registration closes Wednesday 12/3/14 at 11am central)

Just click here to register and I’ll send your first creative packet right away. I’ll even send you the recording of the “Warm-Up” call we had before Thanksgiving if you’d like to get started before our call this Wednesday.

I look forward to sharing this special time with you. I know that together we can hit shift from feeling like “The Nightmare Before Christmas” to “It’s a Wonderful Life!”  

All the best from my “let’s all take a nice deep breath” Christmas Creative Oasis to yours,

Jill

Jill Allison Bryan

www.creativeoasiscoaching.com

Have Your Mind Blown

So, yes...I had my mind blown (in a good way) last weekend at the "David Bowie Is" exhibit at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago. 

Experiencing the exhibit ~ a retrospective of Bowie's career ~ felt a bit like swimming through a magical underwater sea of sounds and sights...or perhaps better to say like floating through an intergalactic dream filled with curious, colorful creations while listening to some of my favorite songs of all time.

Actually, neither of those descriptions does the experience justice.

Perhaps I should just stick with I had my mind blow ~ in the best way imaginable ~ while walking through a multi-media time capsule overflowing with layer upon layer of the wildly imaginative and ground-breaking songs, videos, photographs, sketches, fashion, sculptures, hopes, films and dreams of David Bowie.

Yep...that sounds about right.

This was a deluxe "exposure" experience of the first degree. A chance to step away from my own creative passions, pursuits and dreams and let someone else's creativity wash over me and enjoy the inspiring high of simply soaking it all in.

The experience left me with an ultra-energized feeling of creative possibility...as if I could do, create, share anything I could dream up...as if I could envision, embrace and be anyone I wanted to be...no matter how crazy or out there that might seem to anyone else.

Which, of course, is always true to some degree...but I just needed to be reminded of it. Don't we all?

Since taking a trip to see a once-in-a-lifetime exhibit that will travel to fewer than a dozen cities around the world doesn't happen every day, how can we have our minds blown closer to home? 

A few thoughts come to mind (along with some extremely random examples)...

#1 ~ Movies...a few personal favorites include Koyannisqatsi, Inception, Midnight in Paris, The Prestige (in which David Bowie plays Nikola Tesla), The Illusionist, What the Bleep Do We Know, The Zero Theorem, Brazil, Twelve Monkeys, Being John Malkovich and The Wizard of Oz. (Come on...admit it...the first time you saw the Emerald City you're mind was blown just a little, wasn't it?)

#2 ~ Books...Almost anything by Tom Robbins (including his recent memoir Tibetan Peach Pie) or Kurt Vonnegut or Margaret Atwood, Ishmael, Naked Lunch, A Wrinkle In Time and The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe (two of my childhood favorites, I still love!)

#3 ~ Music... Joni Mitchell, Miles Davis, Pink Floyd (pair Dark Side of the Moon with a viewing of The Wizard of Oz for an exceptionally mind blowing effect), the Beatles (Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and the White Album perhaps) ~ headphones and incense optional and, of course, David Bowie.

Add to this short list your choice of live music (you haven't lived until you've witnessed Sir Paul McCartney perform Live and Let Die complete with pyrotechnics), performance art (Cirque du Soleil anyone?), theater, museums, planetariums, arboretums...spectacular natural settings and manmade places (a village of Earthships just outside Taos, New Mexico), even a TV show (Cosmos comes to mind) and you start to feel the tremendous potential for having your mind pleasantly blown in a gazillion different ways.

Whether or not these experiences such as these blow your mind, hopefully they'll at least give you a fresh perspective and inspire you to release a few limiting beliefs about what you can and can't do...even if only 5% more than usual.

I'll leave you with a small question and creative challenge...what's one way you might enjoy an experience that will blow away preconceived notions and open your mind to new creative possibilities in the coming week?

All the best from my reenergized Creative Oasis to yours,

Jill

www.creativeoasiscoaching.com

P.S. ~ If you enjoyed this post and would like to receive bite-size bonbons of creative inspiration like this in my Mid-Week Oasis Moments plus a free copy of my e-book "Permission to Be Creative 101" join me here: http://www.creativeoasiscoaching.com/newsletter.html.

Shift Your Attitude With Creative Gratitude

No matter how stressed out, overwhelmed or in a funk I may feel...when I remember to be grateful for something or someone in my life I instantly feel better. 

Even if it's just 2% better that's usually enough to swing me around to a more positive way of thinking and my attitude starts to shift.

There's a lot of talk about gratitude this time of year with Thanksgiving just around the corner and that suits me just fine. Can we ever put too much focus on being thankful? I don't think so! 

That's me in Breckenridge, Colorado during a beautiful hike with my mom and dad last summer. When I look at this photo feelings of gratitude come flooding over me. 

Instantly I'm grateful for so much!

~ Spending special time with my awesome mom and dad 

~ Calling Breckenridge, Colorado my home away from home for over 15 years now

~ Having the strength, health and desire to hike 

~ Appreciating the majestic beauty of nature

~ Hiking boots that have served me well for years and year

Here's a creative way to tap into your own gratitude quickly and easily the next time you're feeling wound up, bummed out or knocked down by life. 

Spark Gratitude with a Favorite Photo and Simple Creative Play

#1 ~ Find a favorite photo. 

#2 ~ Set a timer for one minute and write down as many things as you can think of that you're grateful for inspired by the picture you chose. 

#3 ~ Take a nice deep breath and really let the words you wrote sink in and allow yourself to truly feel the gratitude throughout your mind, body and spirit. 

#4 ~ Enjoy some additional creative delight: Set a timer for 5 or 10 minutes and let yourself play with some free-form creative fun inspired by your photo, your words and your feelings of gratitude. For instance, you might create a page in your visual journal, write a poem, doodle or enjoy some other creative activity. Pick something that sounds fun, easy and doable!

I hope you enjoy trying out this creative prompt and join me in embracing this season of thanks!

All the best from my grateful oasis to yours,

Jill

Jill Allison Bryan

CreativeOasisCoaching.com

P.S. ~ If you enjoyed this post and would like to receive bite-size bonbons of creative inspiration like this in my Mid-Week Oasis Moments plus a free copy of my e-book "Permission to Be Creative 101" join me here: http://www.creativeoasiscoaching.com/newsletter.html.

Create the Christmas of Your Dreams!

Can you relate to any of these Christmas wishes?

You'd love to make at least one handmade gift for someone special

(perhaps one of the 867 Christmas projects you have pinned to your Pinterest boards?) 

~ You think it might be nice to use your creativity more than your credit cards this season

You'd like to feel energized and joyful rather than 

Grinchy and stressed out during the month of December

~ You'd love to create special holiday memories that you and your family will cherish 

~ You want to experience what’s most important to you rather than get swept up in the holiday hype

You wish you could release the need to meet other people’s expectations

(Example: you believe using pre-made pie crust is not a crime)

~ You'd like to embrace simplicity rather than giving into the "more is better" mindset 

You'd love the gentle support of a group of women with the same Christmas wishes as you

If you can relate to any of this, I hope you'll join me for Create the Christmas of Your Dreams.

What is Create the Christmas of Your Dreams?

A 3-week teleclass and support group 

to help you embrace holiday happiness, 
creative joy and good self-care this season

What does Create the Christmas of Your Dreams include?

~ 3 weekly calls with beautiful e-mail follow-ups
(all calls will be recorded and shared for those unable to attend live)

~ Enlightening creative prompts to help you 
easily and intuitively choose the Christmas experiences you most want

~ Printable interactive fun sheets

~ Easy and fun dive-right-in creative activities

~ Simple, low-pressure ways to help you enjoy your favorite holiday experiences

~ Permission to practice good self-care 

~ Gentle accountability and support from a compassionate 
group of women who'll be creating the Christmas of their dreams too

~ A private Facebook group for additional support and sharing 
(this is an optional bonus for those who like the idea of having a way to 
communicate and support each other throughout the week in addition to our calls)

If this sounds good, click the button below to quickly and easily register 
and give yourself one of the nicest Christmas gifts ever.

Our first call will be December 3, 2014
1 to 2pm (cst)

Special Early Bird Bonus!

Sign up for this special class by midnight Wednesday, November 26, 2014 and you'll receive a bonus one-on-one 15-minute creative coaching session during the month of December. (This is a special offer worth $25 and only available to members of the Create the Christmas of Your Dreams support group.)

You might be thinking, "Jill, this sounds really good, but..."

~ I'll be too busy during the holidays. This one hour a week will help make the other 167 hours so much more pleasurable and peaceful. And 3 hours of class time averages out to less than 10 minutes per day! As I love to remind my clients, 10 minutes is less than 1% of your day. Don't you deserve something that energizes and delights you for at least 1% of your day – especially during the holidays? Math may not be my strong suite, but I have to hand it to myself in this instance. :)

~ I shouldn't be spending money on myself now. For the price of a mani/pedi you'll enjoy three weeks of creative experiences, compassionate support and a peaceful perspective on an otherwise somewhat crazy season. Doesn't that seem like a reasonable gift to give yourself? Not to mention the fact that by showing yourself good self-care, you'll much less likely to be Grinchy during the holiday hustle and bustle...something your friends and family are sure to appreciate as well.

~ I've never taken teleclass before. Have you ever talked on the phone with a friend? That's what I thought. You've got this! Join me for the free "Warm-Up" call on November 19th to check it out and see how you like it. (Click here to take my quick 5-question survey and register for the free call.)

I'm truly looking forward to helping you Create the Christmas of your Dreams!

Ready to say yes to doing things differently this December? 

Click the button below to join me. 

                                          

If we haven't worked together yet, this is a great, affordable way to experience Creative Oasis Coaching with me. And if we have, welcome back! I'm excited to have you be a member of what I know will be an amazing group!

Remember, if you sign up for this special class by midnight Wednesday, November 26, 2014 and you'll receive a bonus one-on-one 15-minute creative coaching session during the month of December. (This is a special offer worth $25 and only available to members of the Create the Christmas of Your Dreams support group.)                                                                                                    

                                   

creativeoasiscoach@me.com

www.creativeoasiscoaching.com

Looking at Life Through Crazy Glasses

The more I look at the photo above, the more I think I look a little crazy. And, I'm okay with that. 

It was taken a couple of summers ago during a super fun getaway weekend in Breckenridge, Colorado (my home away from home) with my dear friend Jane Baldwin. (Check out her wonderful blog here.) 

We came upon these silly sunglasses while shopping around town and snapped a few pics. 

This photo reminds me that it's so important to get away, spend time with a good friend and embrace that "childish enthusiasm" Fellini mentions.

In her book, Nine Modern Day Muses and a Bodyguard, Jill Badonsky introduces us to Bea Silly, the Muse of Play, Laughter and Dance. According to Badonsky, Bea Silly is the go-to muse when you need to:

~ Relearn how to play, lighten up, release rigid thinking 

and remember how to make creative expression fun

~ Remember and reawaken to the wonder of being a child 

and know the positive implications this has for your creativity

~ Release resistance towards your creative process because:

   A: You just don't seem to want to do it.

or

   B: You feel a childlike power struggle inside you. 

You want to do something creative, but you never  

        actually do.

Any of this sound familiar to you?

If so, I invite you to join me to put on your crazy glasses and tap into your own childlike wonder and enthusiasm today.

Need help getting started? Here are a few prompts to help with that:

~ Think of a creative activity you loved to do when you were a kid. 

Such as: 

* Coloring in coloring books 

* Dancing

* Playing in a treehouse with friends

~ Ask yourself, "What's one easy way I could enjoy that activity or something similar right now?"

For example: 

* Color in a mandala

* Turn on some music and dance

* Doodle plans for your what your dream treehouse might look like now

~ Then ask yourself, "What if I put on my crazy glasses?"

You might: 

* Draw a huge mural on your driveway with sidewalk chalk 

 * Turn on some music and dance ~ in your front yard!

* Create a space in your home (inside or out) that feels like a tree house 

~ Give yourself permission to spend five or ten minutes enjoying your chosen creative pleasure. 

(Remember that ten minutes is less than 1% of your day 

and you deserve to enjoy some creative fun!)

Until next time, all the best from my sometimes crazy Creative Oasis to yours,

Jill

P.S. ~ If you enjoyed this post and would like to receive bite-size bonbons of creative inspiration like this in my Mid-Week Oasis Moments plus a free copy of my e-book "Permission to Be Creative 101" join me here: http://www.creativeoasiscoaching.com/newsletter.html.

5 Quick Questions to Help You "Create the Christmas of Your Dreams"

Click here to take this fun short survey and grab your spot for my free "Warm-Up" teleclass for: 

Click here to take this fun short survey and grab your spot for my free "Warm-Up" teleclass for: 

 Create the Christmas of Your Dreams ~ 

 3-week Teleclass and Support Group 

where I'll help you embrace holiday happiness, 

creative joy and good self-care!

November 19, 2014

1 to 2pm (CST)

(Call will be recorded & shared if you're unable to join us live.)