Creativity, Oxygen & Chocolate...the Essentials.

If you're still laboring under the illusion that time spent enjoying creative endeavors is a luxury, I invite you to flip that belief upside down and consider creative time as a necessity to your well-being...as essential as oxygen, water and, in my case at least, dark chocolate.

As I love to say, your Creative Oasis is whatever makes your heart sing and time fly. It's any and all creative experiences that energize and delight you from writing to gardening to painting to meditating to cooking to choosing what jewelry to wear.

Too often our creative joy is the first thing to fly out the window when we find ourselves over-scheduled and under-nurtured, which quite frankly, is most of the time for many of us.

Here's a quick and easy three-step process I've created to help you practice spending a bit more guilt-free time in your own Creative Oasis starting right here and now.

#1 ~ Breathe. Yes, I know you're already breathing or you wouldn't be able to read this, but I invite you to take two or three nice deep breaths. You may even want to close your eyes to allow yourself to really focus on the fabulous, nurturing feeling that deep breathing can bring.

#2 ~ Listen. To your own inner wisdom that is. Now that you've enjoyed a few deep breaths and feel a bit more relaxed than you did a minute ago, ask yourself "What creative experience is calling my name right now?"

Perhaps you'd like to read an article you've been saving...enjoy some low-pressure doodling...flip through a cookbook to choose a new recipe to try...take a quick photo with your phone...write a note to a friend...maybe you want to simply sit quietly and enjoy a few more deep breaths in peace and quiet. What sounds good to you?

#3 ~ Begin. What if you set a timer and give yourself permission to spend the next five or ten minutes enjoying one of the the Creative Oasis experiences your wise inner voice shared with you just now?

I invite you to savor this time as you would a delicious piece of chocolate knowing that by giving yourself even just a few minutes to rejuvenate your creative spirit, you're taking a wonderful step toward good self-care, stress relief and personal fulfillment.

So, how about it? Why not step away from the computer for a bit and dive into something you've been longing to do but haven't had the time.

I promise that when you've finished enjoying your Creative Oasis moments your family, work and home to-do lists will still be there waiting for you. The only difference is you'll meet them with a renewed sense of energy, peace and satisfaction.

If you'd like to share something about your creative experience below in the comments section, I'd love to hear from you!

If you enjoyed this post I invite you to share it with your friends! 

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

Jill

Jill Allison Bryan

www.creativeoasiscoaching.com

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!