Creative Oasis Mantra #1

I'm so excited to begin sharing my new series – Creative Oasis Mantras – simple thoughts to inspire small doable steps to help you embrace a more creative life. Look for them to pop up randomly in
Mid-Week Oasis Moments through out the year.

If you like, use the following prompts to ponder the mantra above and see how you might infuse a bit more creative joy into your life this week:

* One of my favorite simple pleasures is…

* Thinking of simple creative moments makes me feel…

* Though I haven't tried this yet, I love the idea of simply…

* I haven't done this since I was a kid, but I used to love…

* One small step I could take to revisit this childhood pleasure might be...

Here's to filling our lives with the creative pleasure of simple moments (like flowers in a mason jar) and saying yes to our own Creative Oasis in the process!

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

Jill

 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 e-booklet 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!

Say Yes to Creative "Me Time" with this Fun Mini-Retreat May 18, 2014

SAY YES TO MORE CREATIVE “ME TIME” THIS SUMMER

Fun Permission to Be Creative 101 Mini-Retreat will help you spend more time enjoying the creativity you crave

 
Do you have closets filled with creative projects you haven’t touched in ages? Do you dream of painting, planting a garden, taking up sewing, writing a blog or finishing a photo album? Do the creative activities that energize and delight you seem to end up slipping to the bottom of your to-do list again and again? 

If so, I'd love for you to join me for my upcoming Permission to Be Creative 101 Mini-Retreat designed especially to help you make more time and space for the creative pursuits you love.

I'll share easy and effective ways to help you make room for the projects and passions that tend to fall by the wayside in your busy life.

Permission to Be Creative 101

Sunday, May 18, 2014

11:00 am to 4:00 pm

$85 for CAC members

$115 for non-members

 plus a $10 materials fee

Creative Arts Center of Dallas

2360 Laughlin Dr.

 Dallas, TX 75228 

214-320-1275

 

Class sizes are limited and require pre-registration by calling the CAC at 214-320-1275. Are you ready to stop making excuses and start enjoying true creative fulfillment? Join me for this fun creative mini-retreat and dive into summer giving yourself permission to easily embrace more creative “me time” with joy! All the best from my Creative Oasis to yours,Jill

 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 e-booklet 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!

Me, a Monk and a New Way of Living

Ugyen Penjor and me…Docha La, Bhutan – 2011

"You don't think your way into a new kind of living. 

You live your way into a new kind of thinking."

                                                    – Henri Nouwen

I love this quote! When I found it, I read it again and again, savoring Nouwen's words like a delicious sip of wine or bite of dark chocolate.  

Maybe because it's the last day of my Colorado Cleanse and I'm particularly tuned into all of the energizing new ways of living I've practiced for the past two weeks. (This could also be the reason for the wine and chocolate reference.)

I'm always reading and learning about different ways to live a more healthfully. But by taking the plunge and committing to the cleanse (which was flat out monk-like compared to my normal diet) I experienced changes in a very real way rather than just thinking about them.

That meant two weeks with no sugar…no dairy…no wheat…no caffeine…no alcohol…only the occasional avocados and seeds for fat…and eating three times a day with no snacks. But guess what – I showed myself that I could do what I once thought impossible. (or at the least highly unlikely for me)

In fact, not only could I do it…but I could enjoy doing it. After the initial couple of detox days I felt fabulous! We drank lots of lemon water in the final phase…so I literally made lemonade out of lemons, without the sugar, of course.

After two weeks of living with what first seemed like drastic measures, I now see how gently adding some of these new habits into my day-to-day life is doable. (Though, believe me, wine and chocolate will be joyfully embraced upon their return…just on a much less frequent basis than before.)

So what can this mean for our creative lives?

When we allow ourselves to go for our creative dreams…try things that at first seem radical or undoable…embrace experiences we dream of doing someday right now rather than waiting…step way outside of our comfort zone and stay open to whatever experiences may come…that's how we begin creatively living our way into a new kind of thinking.

Why not start by pondering the following prompts? If you journal, you might want to visit these prompts two or three times in the coming week to see what comes up for you.

To me, the difference between thinking about my creative passions and living them is…

One thing that seems almost too extreme to even try is...

But, if I let myself be really brave I might be able to…

I can live my way into a new way of thinking about my creative life by…

Traveling to Bhutan where I would hike to the Lungchutsekah Monastery, be blessed by the monk, Ugyen Penjor (pictured above), and witness a pristine view of the Himalaya mountain range in Asia was another experience I've had that seemed like an impossibility…until it happened.

Click here if you'd like to learn a more about how heemeesheemees (my word for serendipity) and belief in the impossible preceded my once in a lifetime trip to Bhutan.

Take it from someone who never thought she'd see the day when a carrot would taste like dessert, when we dive in and live our way into a new way of thinking some pretty amazing things can happen…even the seemingly impossible can be doable.

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

Jill Allison Bryan
www.creativeoasiscoaching.com

  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 e-booklet 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!

How Does a 3-Step In-Box Detox Sound?

Does your in-box overflow with e-mails, marketing messages and newsletters that leave you feeling overwhelmed? I can relate.

That's why I invite you to join me for an easy 3-Step In-box Detox!

I have detoxing on the brain lately since I'm doing my first ever cleanse. Scary...but doable...and it has me feeling a little like Wonder Woman right about now having made it to the half-way mark and lived to tell the tale.

It also has me contemplating the many ways letting go can be good for us. The Colorado Cleanse has been a great opportunity for my body to release toxins and to let go of old habits that were no longer serving me.

Spring is a nice time for...well...spring-cleaning. It's a great time to dust off the cobwebs and clean out our lives in lots of ways...from our bodies... to our closets...to our in-boxes.

If this sounds good to you, I propose this 3-Step In-box Detox:

Step #1: Take a few minutes to peruse the emails, newsletters and reminders you receive each week and ask yourself, "Does reading this feel like a Get-To-Do or a Have-To-Do?" 

Step #2: Over the next week simply notice which messages tend to pile up before you read or delete them. (For me, a dozen is usually a good indicator that I'm no longer interested.)

Step #3: Give yourself permission to unsubscribe - guilt free! That goes for my Creative Oasis Pages and Mid-Week Oasis Moments too.

If what I'm sharing isn't truly serving, inspiring or enlightening you in some way right now by all means, please unsubscribe. I promise my feelings won't be hurt and the last thing I want is to add to your e-mail overwhelm. If you decide to return in the future you'll be welcomed with open arms.

If you still enjoy receiving my creative inspirations and updates please know that I'm so honored and happy to have you as a member of the Creative Oasis community!

Look for some brand new on-line programs coming soon to help you enjoy more creative fun and fulfillment in your busy life!

Here's to saying goodbye to things that no longer serve us and making room for our own Creative Oasis - the joyful things that make our hearts sing and time fly – kind of like Wonder Woman! 

Jill

  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 e-booklet 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!

When You Wish Upon a Tree?

Can you guess how delighted I was to come upon this glorious Wishing Tree on my final morning in Portland, Oregon after my Art & Soul workshop last week? (If you guessed “extremely delighted” you are correct!)

My best friend and I were heading home after a lovely walk through the brilliant flowering trees (plum, cherry, dogwoods, magnolias etc…) when we were stopped in our tracks by the sight of hundreds and hundreds of tags attached to a big old beautiful tree. 

Hanging on the trunk from a rusty nail was a clipboard with a pen, a plastic bag filled with empty paper tags and an invitation for people to share their wishes.

The tree was brimming with the handwritten messages that upon further examination ranged from a wish to do well on final exams to a wish that 4^th grade had never happened to a wish to find a new job to a wish to find true love and many, many more.

How cool that someone chose to transform this tree into a constantly evolving work of art and a living creative experience!

I immediately added a couple of wishes of my own to the tree. On one side of my tag I wished things just for myself and then to spread the love I wished for some major love, light and peace for the rest of the world on the other.

The giddiness I felt upon discovering something so unexpected, creative and enchanting brought to mind a wonderful childhood memory of wishing on the first star of the evening. I remember the words we used felt like an mystical incantation: “Star light…star bright…first star I see tonight. I wish I may…I wish I might have this wish I wish tonight.”

I still believe in the power of wishes but I also believe that we need to be active participants to help make our wishes come true. Sometimes we just need to be reminded that wishing is a great first step!  

Here are five super quick prompts to put you back in touch with the power of wishing and your creative dream. If you give yourself permission to do this exercise quickly and intuitively without over thinking your answers I promise it will be much more powerful, not to mention more fun!

1. My favorite creative wish is that someday I will…

2. When I allow myself to daydream for a minute or two about being in the creative flow with this wish I feel…

3. One small step I can take this week to help my creative wish come true is to…

4. One way I could make this small step even easier is to…

5. One way I could make this small step even more delightful is to…

Here’s to taking time to honor our creative wishes and then taking the small steps necessary to help them come true! I truly believe that wishing can open the door to doing if we let it.

I’d love to hear what about your creative wishes. Please leave a message in the comments section below and let me know what these prompts brought up for you.

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

Jill

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 e-booklet 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!

Mother Nature Makes a Good Point

Mother Nature gave me a wink and a nod last week when my friend took me to the beautiful Multnomah-Wahkeena Falls. As we hiked lush trails that wove in and out of moss-covered trees and flowing waterfalls I snapped photo after photo while soaking up nature's powerful inspiration with delight. Talk about Creative Oasis Moments!

Since the name of the workshop I'd come to Art and Soul Portland to teach was entitled, "So In The Flow" (Maintaining your creative moment even after the retreat) the serendipity of having the opportunity to spend time trekking alongside these falls was not lost on me.

I hope the above image and haiku serve as a nice reminder that the free feeling of being in the creative flow is as natural as a waterfall - not to mention as energizing and refreshing!

Here are three simple ways we might take a page from Mother Nature's book:

#1 – Water flows downhill. It doesn't fight gravity. It literally goes with the flow. When we remember that the struggle is optional and we can choose to try things the easy way rather than the hard way, we open ourselves up to enjoying our creative pursuits more easily and frequently.

This may be as simple as remembering to ask ourselves, "How can I make this easier?" or "How might I make this more fun?"

What's one creative project you might try this with today?

#2 – Running water is an extremely powerful force. It can move heavy tree limbs, boulders and people down a mountainside with great force. Our creativity gives us super powers of our own.  When we embrace our creative flow we have the awesome ability to turn bad days into good days…wash away negative thoughts from our inner critic…and add positive energy and joy to the people in our lives.

What if being in the creative flow was your super power? How might that look? How might that feel?

#3 – Simply taking a moment to drink in the beauty of a waterfall feels like a sacred creative act.  Giving ourselves the opportunity to just enjoy the creative output of others is an important and delightful part of the creative process that we sometimes forget about. We become so focused on producing…doing…making…checking things off our list that we forget the importance of filling our own well.

Why not read an inspiring article or gaze at the lovely images in a coffee table book…watch a good movie or listen to a new style of music…take a walk in nature or enjoy a stimulating TED Talk video?

What's one way you might enjoy creative exposure this week?

Until next time I'll leave you with a few seconds of the lovely sound and image of a waterfall and the the wish that you'll give yourself permission to try at least one of the suggestions from above to dive into your own Creative Oasis flow very soon!

All the best from my Creative Oasis to yours,

Jill

www.creativeoasiscoaching.com

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 e-booklet 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!

Are You Making Enough Messes?

The marvelous mess above was created by the wonderful women in my Creating Time for Your Creative Oasis class last week.

The pigment splatters on the paint trays (recycled deviled egg trays from Whole Foods), the wadded up paper towels, the jars filled with colored pens, the torn paper scraps and scribbled notes blend to together to create a beautiful messy reminder:

“No chaos, no creation.”

Isn’t that what stops us from diving into our creative passions much of the time? Fear of making a mess?  Fear of adding chaos to our perfectly scheduled lives?

And yet, how many delightful creative moments are experienced without a little mess or chaos of some kind?

Case in point: my daughter’s earlier attempts at baking. (Come to think of it, her current attempts are none too neat, but that’s not the point, is it?)

The point is that usually

A Little Mess + A Little Creativity = A Lot of Fun

and sometimes a batch of tasty muffins in the bargain!

How might you make a little mess or create a little chaos today in the name of saying yes to your own creative joy? Don’t know where to begin?

* When’s the last time you experienced the joys of finger painting? There’s a reason kids love to finger paint – it’s all kinds of crazy fun! Bonus – when you complete your masterpiece you can hang it up on the fridge just like your mom used to do. (If that never happened when you were a child – all the more reason to do it for yourself – you’re the boss now. Woot!)

* What if you whip up a new dish for dinner tonight using whatever you have on hand in the fridge and pantry. Try to make it as colorful as possible and for bonus fun talk like Julia Child while you prepare it!

* Ever heard of a Chaos Garden? I recently read about this concept and just love it! You just toss random seeds out and plant them where they fall. Imagine how surprising and delightful it will be when random flowers and plants begin to pop up!

* Have some of random fabric lying around? Why not create a crazy quilt? You can use any material you like, cut into any shapes you like, using any stitches you like! Doesn’t that sound fun? (Want to lower the pressure even more – why not start with a crazy napkin – much smaller than a quilt!)

Here’s to making messes, embracing chaos and nourishing our creative spirits in the process!

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

Jill

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 e-booklet 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!