Want to Be In Love With Your Life? 10 Quick Questions to Help

Want to be in love with your life?

Specifically, do you want to be in love with your creative life? (Or as I like to call it, your Creative Oasis.)

You know those creative experiences that fill you up with happiness? Anything from gardening to yoga to painting to writing to making music to art journaling to traveling to visiting museums to cooking to photography...all of the creative experience that makes your heart sing and time fly!

Today I'm sharing 10 quick questions to help shift your focus to what's working well and what could use a little help in your creative life. (You know how I love questions! Asking them tends to lead us straight to the good stuff!)

Doesn't it make sense that the more time you spend having creative experiences you love the more you will love your life? (Jack was onto something! Woot!)

To join me, set a timer for 5-minutes and quickly write your answers in your journal or on a sheet of paper.

Either way, please try writing them down somewhere. There's something powerful in the act of writing your thoughts on paper rather than just thinking them in your mind.

Ready? Here we go...

#1 ~ Are you in love with your creative life? 

#2 ~ If yes...what do you love about it? (If no...skip down to question #6.)

#3 ~ What's one simple way you can expand what's working well to enjoy it in a new and different way? 

#4 ~ What's another creative experience you've been dreaming of that you haven't yet tried? What's one small step you could take toward making that happen next?

#5 ~ What if you take a moment right now to enjoy a nice deep breath of gratitude for your wonderful creative life?  (Yay! Gratitude works like fertilizer to feed the flowers of our creative spirit and keep it growing strong! Please proceed to question #10.)

#6 ~ If no...what's worked well in the past? What's one small way you could revisit that?

#7 ~ What's one new thing you'd like to experience that you've never tried before? What's one small, doable step you could take to help make that happen?

#8 ~ If you're feeling stuck coming up with answers for 6 and 7, where might you find help? 

#9 ~ What's one way you can show some compassion and be kind to yourself around this? (*Hint: see question #10.)

#10 ~ How can you spend the next 5 to 10 minutes in a way that feeds your creative spirit and energizes and delights you?* 

(*Ideas: doodle, color, take a few photos with your phone, write a haiku, play a song on the piano or guitar, make a meal using as many colors as possible, take a walk around the block and look for pink things, write your creative self a letter telling her all the things you wish for her!) 

Questions are creative lighter fluid! Here's hoping that by pondering these questions you'll spark your creative curiosity and passion today and move one or two steps closer to being in love with your creative life!

Still need help? The one-on-one creative coaching I offer provides compassionate support, gentle accountability and ongoing inspiration to help you stay motivated and loving your creative life!
Learn more about it here.

You'll also find easy-to-use creative instigation and motivation in my "Create the Summer of Your Dreams  Kit" available here.

Until next time, all the best from my "I Love It!" Creative Oasis to yours,

Jill

www.creativeoasiscoaching.com

P.S. ~ If you enjoyed this post please share on Facebook and twitter using the buttons below!  If you'd like to receive bite-size bonbons of creative inspiration like this 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.

The Secret of Great Creative People, Einstein & Fairy Godmothers

Feel stuck...unmotivated...less-than-inspired?  

Try asking yourself these 5 questions: 

1. What sparks my curiosity? 

2. What do I find myself googling again and again? 

3. What's my favorite section of a bookstore? (Remember those?)

4. Which pinterest boards (or magazines) could I pore over for hours at a time? 

5. What do I find myself daydreaming about when I "should" be doing something else?

Pondering the answers to these questions can help you tap into the things you're curious about to help you quickly and easily reignite your creative energy! 

In her book, The Nine Modern Day Muses and a Bodyguard, author Jill Badonsky introduces Albert, the muse of imagination and innovation inspired by Albert Einstein. 

In the Albert chapter Badonsky writes: 

"Curiosity is an attitude that can be cultivated and expanded. Our curious attitude can find new possibilities in anything. Curiosity is a form of wonder ~ being in a state of wonder is being open to all there is still to learn. Being in wonder is to be in love with life. It is a return to childlike expectations, untainted by adult rigidity and cynicism." 

What's one small way you can use your curiosity to tap into the wonders of life and play with new creative possibilities in the coming week? 

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

Jill

Jill Allison Bryan

www.creativeoasiscoaching.com

P.S. ~ If you enjoyed this post please share on Facebook and twitter using the buttons below!  If you'd like to receive bite-size bonbons of creative inspiration like this 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.

Creative Potential - Use It or Lose It

Is it time to tap into your creative potential?

It’s there you know…inside you…waiting to be set free.

What’s one small way you might tap into your creative potential today? How might you give yourself permission to spend even just five or ten minutes experiencing some type of creative joy?

(Remember, whatever makes your heart sing and time fly, that’s your Creative Oasis!)

What if you create an empowered quote? The above combination of Robert Greenleaf’s words and mine is an example of an Empowered Quote. (Click here for more on how to create your own.)

What if you took a photo with your phone? (Click here foranother creative fun with your phone idea.) 

What if you wrote a haiku? (Click here for more haiku play.) 

What if you set a time for five minutes and colored in a mandala? 

(Click here for mandala making magic.)

Dr. Wayne Dyer says, 

“Don’t die with your music still inside you. Listen to your intuitive inner voice and find what passion stirs your soul. Listen to that inner voice, and don’t get to the end of your life and say, ‘What if my whole life has been wrong?’”

I love the basic meaning of his words, but since I’m a stickler for positive language and asking rather than telling, I say, 

“What might it feel like to set your inner music free? What if you asked your wise inner self what stirs passion in your soul? What if you listened to your intuitive inner voice as if it were the voice of an amazing creative expert (because it is!) and said Yes! to your passion? How wonderful would it be to get to the end of your life and say “My life has been a more wonderful, joyous experience for allowing myself to set my creative spirit free!”

If you like, use the above questions as journal prompts and see what comes up for you.

Better yet, if you'd like to share, please post what your wise inner voice shared with you in the comments section below. It's always so inspiring to hear what your wise inner voice has to allow.

Need some help making time for your creative potential? Join me for 

Creating Time for Your Creative Oasis,

my upcoming 12-week teleclass where you'll explore fun new ways of using creativity to

reinvent the clock, reclaim your life and rejuvenate your Creative Oasis!

(Click here for all the details.)

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 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!

Creative Oasis Day Trippers™ Ride Again!

Do you ever marvel at the cornucopia of creative experiences available in our world? I know that right here in my hometown of Dallas, Texas there are more intriguing things happening on any given day than I could ever hope to experience.  A few years ago, feeling frustrated by my propensity to clip information about upcoming exhibits, shows and events I'd hoped to attend only to find the clipping at the bottom of a pile on my desk two days after it had closed, I created the Creative Oasis Day Trippers™.

Once a month (sometimes more if time allows) I send out an invitation for the Day Trippers to join me as we explore an art exhibit, lecture, music, culinary event or some other hands-on creative experience, class or workshop. Once you sign up, you receive a pre-trip creative prompt and usually we share some sort of experience during our time together. Then I'll send a follow up email for ideas of how to continue the creative thread on your own at home. This gives you the opportunity to not only get out and enjoy some fun and camaraderie with other creative spirits, but to explore the event in greater depth and use it as a jumping off point for your own creativity.

We have two wonderful outings scheduled for February and March. Check out all the details below and then drop me an email to register and join us for one or both.

The best way to keep up with where the Day Trippers are heading next and all my Creative Oasis offerings, is to sign up for my Creative Oasis Pages newsletter here.

FEBRUARY TRIP

What:

"Cosmic Telephone Party Line" 

Large scale portraits of outsider artists by Tim Kerr

When:

Saturday,  February 23, 2013

1 to 3pm

Where:

Webb Gallery

209 - 211 West Franklin

Waxahachie, Texas 75165

Cost:

$15 Creative Oasis Day Tripper Fee

Exhibit is free

Save your space by emailing me at creativeoasiscoach@me.com.

MARCH TRIP

http://artisticgatherings.com

What:

Pottery Painting Party

When:

Thursday,  March 14, 2013

1 to 3pm

Where:

Artistic Gatherings

Casa Linda Plaza

9440 Garland Rd., Suite 138

Dallas, Texas 75218

Cost:

$15 Creative Oasis Day Tripper Fee

plus the price of the pottery you paint (varies by piece)

Save your space by emailing me at creativeoasiscoach@me.com.

For now, Creative Oasis Day Trippers outings take place in and around the Dallas/Ft. Worth metroplex, but someday will wander further from home...perhaps the Hill Country...Round Top...Austin...Marfa...skies the limit I suppose. Where would you like to go for a creative get away with the Day Trippers? Put on your thinking cap, and I'll do the same. I'd love to hear your ideas.

Until we meet again, all the best from my Creative Oasis to yours,

Jill

Jill Allison Bryan

www.creativeoasiscoaching.com

Yay! My Video for Michael's CR8TIME Campaign is up!

CR8TIME™ page on Michael's website

If you're familiar with Creative Oasis Coaching™ then you know that helping people make the time and space for creative fulfillment in their busy lives is my passion. So imagine how thrilled I am to be part of the new CR8TIME™ movement, sponsored by creative companies like Michael's, Jo Ann's Fabric & Craft Stores and more.  

CR8TIME™ aims to help people find ways to explore and express their creativity no matter how busy their schedules. You can learn all about the CR8TIME™ movement by visiting their website at www.CRE8TIME.org. On Michael's website, you'll also find a CR8TIME™ page under their LookBook section that features a series of "Why I Create" videos. You can watch the video featuring me and some of my beautiful clients below. 

This video is a wonderful representation of my Creative Oasis™ classes and workshops and I have to thank all of the people who made it possible. The video was shot and edited by Sandy Abernethy and produced by Amy Lou Abernethy of Abernethy Media Professionals. The class was held in the beautiful, inspiring setting of Pigment School of the Arts run by Tori Pendergrass and a place that I am always delighted to share workshops. The lovely class members (have you ever seen such gorgeous smiles?) are all women who attend Creative Oasis™ events and never cease to inspire me every time we're together! 

I think this video does a great job of explaining what it is I do as a creativity coach, and I am so grateful to be able to finally share it with the world. I'd love to know what you think about it so please feel free to leave me a message below if you like and be sure to share it with any friends you think would enjoy it. 

This spring there's a lot happening with Creative Oasis™.  If you're interested in upcoming classes and workshops visit http://www.creativeoasiscoaching.com/classesandworkshops.html. Be sure to sign up for my Creative Oasis Pages™ newsletter here to learn about upcoming teleclasses, workshops, my new line of ebooks and Creative Oasis Day Trippers outings. 

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

5 Reasons I'm Thrilled About This New Book About Creativity

#1 – The Muse Is In: An Owner's Manual to Your Creativity is the third book to grace our planet by the out-of-this-world imagination of Jill Badonsky. (my mentor, friend, creativity coach, founder of Kaizen-Muse® Creativity Coaching and author) Her previous books include the life-transforming The Nine Modern Day Muses and a Body Guard and The Awe-manac - A Daily Dose of Wonder – essential reading for any creative type out there - but especially ones who need a reminder that creativity is important, who are plagued by inner critic voices in their heads, who are prone to procrastination or perfectionism or...wait a minute...that's 99% of creative types, isn't it? These books were written for us!

#2 – It's a user friendly owner's manual for your creativity! Like The Awe-manac, The Muse Is In is a book you don't have need to read from front to back. You can pick it up on any day of the year and digest a few creative nuggets of inspiration and encouragement. It's filled with interesting tidbits, thought-provoking quotes and fun creative prompts to set you on your way to enjoy your own creative process.

#3 – On the December 16th page (which happens to be my birthday), you'll find a quote about creativity there by yours truly, Jill Allison Bryan. How cool is that?

#4 – On the Thank You page, Jill was kind enough to include me and my fellow Master Kaizen-Muse® Creativity Coaches as well as lots of other really cool and special people who I am honored, surprised and tickled pink to be grouped with.

#5 – Next week, January 23rd, Jill has agreed to stop by here and share some tidbits about her fabulous new release - The Muse Is In: An Owner's Manual to Your Creativity. If ten or more of you leave your comments and questions for her here on my Creative Oasis blog, we'll do a drawing and one of you will win a copy of her new book. (she's cool that way)

I'm off to dive into the pages of what I can safely say is the only owner's manual in my life that I've ever actually looked forward to reading!

Hope to see you back here next week - January 23rd as Jill Badonsky's blog tour stops in for a visit.

Til then, all the best from my creative oasis to yours,
Jill

Mandala Making Magic

This week the Creative Oasis Day Trippers headed to PigmentSchool of the Arts to make our own mandalas. I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t spend as much time playing with visual art projects as I’d like. I tend to gravitate toward writing and music for my personal creative time, but I still enjoy making collages and water coloring, ect…

That’s why it’s so wonderful to have a group like the DayTrippers that gives me the opportunity to make a creative play date and dive into something I normally wouldn’t – such as creating my own beautiful mandala and inviting others to join me!

Tori Pendergrass who runs Pigment School of the Arts provided us with a basic outline, loads of great art supplies to play with and gentle guidance when we need it. I provided a creative pre-trip prompt that asked us to consider what we may want our mandalas to represent. (and also gave full permission to just have fun with it and forget the representative part if that didn’t resonate) I’m very attracted to mandalas and their many meanings, hence my Creative Oasis Coaching™ logo!

A few of Tori’s weekly adult students were also in the studio space with us. The atmosphere was inspiring, congenial and chatty. Creative camaraderie was another reason I created the Day Trippers. It’s so nice to get out and meet other like-minded creative spirits. (I wish I had taken more photos – but I was pretty wrapped up in making my mandala.)

Our two hours of drawing, doodling, cutting, gluing, painting, chatting and sharing creative inspiration flew by and this is my end result. I got to play with collage, tissue paper, watercolors, colored pencils and glue! To me, my mandala represents organic growth, radiating positive energy in life, natural balance (rather than perfection), and joy! But it was also simply a blast to create. There was no pressure for it to be one thing or another. All of our  mandalas turned out so differently and so beautifully. (again – I wish I’d taken more photos!) Here's mine:

How would it be to make your own magical low-pressure mandala? Lowest pressure? Simply draw a circle on a piece of scrap paper and doodle it in. Have a little more time to play? Draw a circle on a piece of cardstock and use a variety of materials to fill in the space. It can be asymmetrical or not. It can use one medium or five. It can be one color or many. The main thing is to just have fun. Time a concern? How would it be to set a timer and give yourself just ten minutes to see what you come up with? If you’re having fun and have the time – you can keep going. If you’re having fun, but need to wrap it up, what if you came back for ten more minutes the next day?

My Mini-Mandala on tiny post-it note created in less than 30 seconds!

For follow-up ideas as to what we might do with our mandalas I shared these “what ifs”:

What if you posted your mandala on your fridge for the next week to remind you how good it feels to take time out for creative play?

What if you cut your mandala up and created a collage or a card to share with it?

What if you wrote a poem or song or created a dance inspired by your mandala?

If you live in the DFW area, I hope you’ll join me and the Creative Oasis Day Trippers for future outings. If you don’t, I hope you’ll consider scheduling a creative trip of your own very soon.

Until next time, all the best from my creative oasis to yours,

Jill

(Any typos, grammatical, tactical, or deisgn-related errors were purposefully left in this blog post to uphold the non-perfectionism that Creative Oasis Coaching advises and supports in the name of getting sh*t done!)

Great Discount for Creative Arts Center Mini-Retreat Early Registration!

* Early Registration Discount through 

January 4, 2012*

(space is limited - 

so register now to save your place and money)

PERMISSION TO BE CREATIVE 101

A fun mini-retreat introducing easy and effective

ways to make the time and space for creative fulfillment in your busy life

Ever feel like procrastination, perfectionism and feeling overwhelmed by your busy schedule keep you from enjoying your creative passions? (If your answer is a resounding – "ABSOLUTELY!"  – you're not alone and good news – there's hope!) 

My Permission To Be Creative 101 mini-retreat will introduce you to gentle, joyful and powerful ways to move past those blocks and begin to easily make the time and space for creative fulfillment in your life. 

You’ll experience writing prompts, collage, doodling, mind-mapping, guided-imagery and many other fun methods designed to energize and enlighten you. You'll also learn some unique and amazingly effective tools and techniques from Kaizen-Muse® Creativity Coaching that will help you tap into your own creativity on a more regular basis. You’ll enjoy the delight of creative expression for the sake of pure joy. You’ll also begin your own Creative Oasis™ Journal – a self-created manual of inspiration filled with insights from your inner wisdom and accessed by utilizing these unique tools and techniques.

This mini-retreat is also a wonderful way to grow your current creative practice, strengthen your creative habit and consider new creative possibilities.

When:

Saturday, March 3, 2012

10am to 3pm

or 

Saturday, April 28, 2012

10am to 3pm

  (*Note: Pre-registration required) 

Where:

Creative Arts Center of Dallas

2360 Laughlin Dr.

Dallas, Texas 75228

214-320-1275

www.creativeartscenter.org

Cost:

$75 for CAC members

$105 for non-members

plus $15 materials fee

(Please bring a sack lunch.)

To register contact the Creative Arts Center at

214-320-1275 or visit their website at www.creativeartscenter.org


Here's what people had to say about my December 2011 mini-retreat:


"I loved Jill's class on creativity. I enjoyed the playful atmosphere and the permission to be who we really are! I feel inspired to make some small and gentle changes to make my life work better. Thanks, Jill!"  
Suzanne M.


"This class made me stop and think, look into my brain and know what I want to do next. I feel that my creative juices were massaged and ready to take action."      Sandra T.

photo by Kate Mackley

I myself have enjoyed tremendous personal growth and creative satisfaction as a result of learning and using these methods – from writing and recording my debut solo CD, "Dancing in Limbo," to creating and hosting a CD release/silent art auction benefit that raised more than $10,000 for Women for Women International (Infinite Possibility – A Night of Music, Art & Women Helping Women,) to founding my own business, Creative Oasis Coaching™. (All this from someone who was once a world-class procrastinator and the queen of not following through!) 

Now, as a certified Kaizen-Muse® Creativity Coach, my passion is sharing these methods with others so they too can experience creative joy and fulfillment in their lives. I fully believe if I can do it, anyone can, and this mini-retreat is a great place to begin!