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.

3 Easy Ways to Creative Play Inspired by Mother Nature

As the temps continue to cool down a bit here in Dallas, I find myself drawn more and more to the outdoors. And, while I enjoy my walks and runs in the lovely fall weather, I'm once again inspired by the innate creative brilliance of Mother Nature.

In the same way flowers beautifully bloom 

(without asking anyone's permission), 

swans glide gracefully across the lake 

(without wondering if they're doing it well enough) 

and leaves seasonally change into their autumn colors 

(without second-guessing their choice of hue) ~ 

I invite you to embrace your own creative spirit with that same inherent knowing and ease.  

Here are three quick Creative Oasis prompts using nature's inspiration to help you do just that:

#1 Color Yourself Creative ~ Step outside and take a look around. After scanning your surroundings choose a color in your immediate view that appeals to you. 

Next, set a timer for 5 or 10 minutes and create a color page in your journal or on a blank sheet of paper.  Creating a Color Page is as easy as filling every inch of space with the color of your choice using any creative supplies you like: collage, crayons, pastels, paints, markers or all of the above. 

I love Color Pages because they offer a super low pressure way to play with creative materials. It allows us to put the emphasis on the joy of using our creative supplies rather than worrying about the final outcome. There's no right or wrong way, so you get to dive in and play!

Here's an example from my Creative Oasis Journal. As you can see, even the "rules" of creating a color page are very loose, thus the splashes of gold and other colors on my primarily blue page.

#2 Shoot the Moon ~ or the sun, or the clouds or that spiderweb on your front porch. These days it's easier than ever to take photos with our phones and iThingies. 

Once you snap a shot of some bit of nature that catches your fancy you might choose to add a quote  or play with manipulating the image using a creative app. (Click here for a list of the top 32 photo apps via Creative Bloq.)  

I used the app "Photo Studio" to create the above image combining a quick pic of my Japanese Woodblock calendar and a simple haiku I wrote. It was fun, creatively satisfying and took about 5 minutes to do it all.

#3 Wok Out ~ Take a stroll through the produce section of your grocery store (or better yet, outside at a local farmer's market) and choose a variety of veggies solely on the basis of their color and shape. If you're feeling adventurous include at least one veggie or herb that you've never tried before.

Throw together a colorful stir-fry for dinner enjoying each step...choosing which shape to chop each vegetable...deciding on a sauce...even picking which plate or bowl you'll use to serve up your bright, delicious, nutritious, creative concoction. If you like, it might even be fun to create a special name for your dish as well!

Here's to taking cues from nature and looking for easy ways to add a dash of creative joy to our days!

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

Jill