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.

Radical Suggestions & Gentle Reminders ~ A Creative Oasis Manifesto

When we give ourselves permission to enjoy what makes our hearts sing and time fly we experience our Creative Oasis. You've heard me say this before but we can all use a gentle reminder from time to time, right?  

Because our Creative Oasis is unique to each of us and because there are so many fabulous, fun, fulfilling experiences out there waiting to be explored, I decided to write a free-form list poem of some favorite Creative Oasis moments to share as examples and before I knew it I'd written a full-blown manifesto! (Click here to download your free printable copy.)

Of course this list contains only a smattering of the oodles of experiences out there just waiting for you to discover, revisit, explore and savor...but it's a good start. 

Here are five quick and easy steps to help you use my new Creative Oasis Manifesto to spark some creative joy of your own (sooner than later I hope!):

#1 ~ Read the manifesto aloud with a blank piece of paper or your journal open to a new page. Each time you come to a word or phrase that gives you a tingly, energized feeling, makes you smile or sets you to day dreaming about doing that very thing, jot it down. Our body is like our own personal polygraph machine. If we pay attention to the signals it sends us (warm fuzzy feelings, sly smiles, jazzy jitters and what have you) we're sure to stay on the right track!

#2 ~ Next, read over the list you've written. Quickly and intuitively (without overthinking) put a star next to your three favorites. 

#3 ~ For each starred moment ask yourself: "What are three super small steps I can take to enjoy this Creative Oasis moment?" Write those down too. You may feel compelled to doodle hearts, stars, moons and smiley faces all around your steps. If so, my professional opinion is to break out the colored pencils and go for it!

#4 ~ Each day for the coming week, you get to choose one of your super small steps to enjoy! Repeat as time allows throughout the day and week. 

# 5 ~ To make getting to your small steps even easier why not add them to your calendar or day planner? This really helps give your creativity priority just like everything else on your to-do list. 

In fact, I'm going to radically suggest you put your creative small steps at the very top of your to-do list! That's right, you heard me. Puttering in the garden trumps laundry. Felting for a few minutes comes before your meeting. Pulling images for a collage has priority over making dinner. (We're only talking about 5 to 10 minutes here, so I feel safe in saying no one will starve as a result.) 

#6 ~ Also, what if you set a timer for just 5 to 10 minutes to lower the pressure and help you begin?Another benefit of practicing small bursts of creative joy throughout the day is it helps us practice getting to our Creative Oasis more often rather than waiting for those big chunks of free time that rarely, if ever, come our way! If you have time to do more ~ Great! If not, no worries. At the very least, you know you'll be enjoying a few minutes of Creative Oasis time most days.

If you have trouble breaking down your Creative Oasis moments into small, doable steps, please drop me a line in the comments below and I'll be happy to lend a hand.

Until next time, here's to gentle reminders, radical suggestions and the Creative Oasis Manifesto!

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.

Poetic Musings on a Tree Stump (What's Your Secret?)

While hiking in Breckenridge, Colorado with my family last week, I spotted this tree stump. I loved the way it looked so I asked my husband to snap a pic. It's long been a tradition in our family to spot and call out "Natural Art" like this when we're on hikes. "Natural Art" can be anything from a fallen log, to interesting markings on an Aspen tree, to a patch of wildflowers. You can see the example below from six or seven year ago – a fallen tree whose base made an enormous natural sculpture. (Can't believe how tiny my now teenage daughter looks!)

"Natural Art" on a family hike in Breckenridge, Colorado

Natural Art Rock Heart found on a hike today!

Looking through the many photos we've taken while up in the mountains this summer, I was drawn to the image of the tree stump up top. The tree had obviously been felled by a human (due to a Pine Beetle infestation up here, thousands of pine trees have died over the last several years and many cut down to prevent forest fires) but still counts as Natural Art in my book.

While searching for just the right words to add to the image, I came upon the super short, almost mystical poem by Robert Frost entitled, The Secret Sits. I read it over and over and pondered Frost's possible meanings. Then I did what it's so darn easy to do these days – I googled it.

I quickly found a half dozen plus sites sharing interpretations of The Secret Sits. You may not be surprised to hear that each of the authors offered a distinctly different take on the meaning of this concise little jewel of a poem.

Finding so many completely different takes on this piece (each author sounding completely confident that his or her conclusion was correct) helped me feel free to read the words once more and see what meaning shone through for me...especially in the context of pairing them with my tree stump photo.

So here's my two cents. The message I hear in "The Secret Sits" is that rather than looking to others for approval or their definition of success...happiness...creativity or whatever is important to us, when we stop to look inside and listen to our own wise inner voice...our heart...our intuition...our spirit...our center – that's when we tap into real truth.

Though I absolutely believe that lots of good can come from being a member of a group and great knowledge can be found outside of ourselves from books, teachers, friends, and family, as a Master Kaizen-Muse® Creativity Coach, I'm a big believer in asking ourselves small questions to tap into our own wise-inner voice. I think often believe we should know the answers before even giving ourselves to opportunity to ask questions.

So inspired by Mr. Frosts mysterious short poem (and a cool Natural Art tree stump,) I'd like to share a few questions that you might choose to ponder to access your own unique intuition.

"What's one thing I'm consistently doing for myself that brings me creative joy?"

"What's one more way I'd like to experience creative fulfillment in my life?"

"What's one small, easy step I could take toward that today?" 

(something that could be done in 5 minutes or less, and great news, daydreaming counts!)

I'd love to hear where these prompts lead you, how The Secret Sits speaks to you and if you're a Natural Art lover. Please feel free to share in the comment section below.

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

Jill

Jill Allison Bryan

P.S. – If you'd like to have Mid-Week Oasis Moments (bite-sized bonbons of creative inspiration) delivered each week please sign up here: http://www.creativeoasiscoaching.com/newsletter.html

You'll also receive a free copy of "Permission to Be Creative 101" – my short e-book that will help you take the first small steps to make the time and space for creative fulfillment – your Creative Oasis – in  your busy life!