Where Will Your Creative Clues Lead?

I hope you had fun collecting clues for your creative scavenger hunt last week. 

(If you missed my invitation you can find it here: bit.ly/huntvid1)

This week I'll share what comes next...ways you can turn creative clues you collect into hand-on creative fun & fulfillment. Click here for next steps, specific examples and to let the fun begin: bit.ly/mwomnext.  

Until next time, all the best from my 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.

Building Creative Confidence ~ April 18, 2015

"Jill's workshop gave me permission to take time for myself and 

not feel guilty about it. It inspired me and got me going!" 

~ Sherry Houpt, Creative Oasis Coaching class participant

My passion is to help people give themselves permission to make the time and space in their busy lives for creative fun and fulfillment. You can imagine how thrilled I was to read the above quote from a satisfied student in a Dallas Morning News article. 

The article by Jamie Knodel went on to share: "For years Sherry Houpt, a Dallas artist, put aside her projects and art while she focused on her kids and art projects for her students at Shelton School. But creative coaching classes helped her reclaim time and energy for her own pursuits. She's since been in multiple exhibits and joined a collective of women artists."

Houpt also said that Jill's creative classes reminded her of lessons that she's been teaching students for more than 28 years: 

Creativity is a gift that should be used. 

Don't be too hard on yourself. 

And, put a priority on your own creativity.

I couldn't have said it better myself! And remember, you don't have to be an artist to be creative!

In my book your Creative Oasis can be so much more that art, music, writing or other traditional artistic outlets. It's any activity or experience that makes your heart sing and time fly. 

It could be gardening, cooking, yoga, dance, entertaining, comedy, reading, scrapbooking...you name it. Whatever puts you in that lovely creative "freedom zone" where you're fully engaged in the joy of the process...that's your Creative Oasis and I'm delighted to help you weave those experiences into your life on a daily basis! 

I hope you'll join me for my upcoming workshop, Building Creative Confidence, where I'll introduce you to some simple and effective ways to move past blocks like procrastination, perfectionism and overwhelm and into the flow of creative momentum! 

What:

Building Creative Confidence Workshop

When:

Saturday, April 18, 2015

1 to 5 pm

Where: 



Creative Arts Center of Dallas
2360 Laughlin Dr. 
Dallas, TX  75228

Cost:
$65 for CAC members
$95 for non-members
plus $10 material fee

*Note: This workshop is limited to 10 participants with
pre-registration required.To register call the Creative Arts
Center of Dallas at 214-320-1275 or visit their website at www.creativeartscenter.org

“I absolutely loved Jill’s workshop.  I learned how important it is to start with small steps. I’m more mindful and aware of new ways to acknowledge and incorporate creativity in my everyday activities. I'm inspired to give myself permission to get the crafty stuff out and use it.  It was like a massage for my mind! Thank you!”  ~ Denise R.

Off To Paris With All My Heart!

Paris...City of Light...City of Love...place I'll go with all my heart (and my husband and daughter) this weekend to make a lifelong dream come true. 

But I'll be honest, along with the joy and excitement of my impending trip comes the shadow of overwhelm and worry. 

Thoughts like, "You're not packed yet!" and "You haven't stopped the mail or the paper yet!" and "You still need to pick up your euros from the bank!" and "You don't speak French!" jump around my mind like young, unattended children given espressos and free kittens. 

Once again I get to use the Kaizen-Muse Creativity Coaching methods I love so well to talk myself off the ledge.  Here are five I've used today alone as I prepare for my upcoming trip! How they might help you on your creative journey?

1. Quick Lists ~ Nothing helps calm me down faster than taking the whirlwind of thoughts twirling around my mind and writing them all down as quickly as possible in a list! (I visualize my overwhelming thoughts like the twister in the Wizard of Oz that Dorothy imagines after she's hit on the head.) Once I've written everything down and moved it from my mind to the page I can see it and instantly feel I have more control over the situation. 

2. Asking Compassionate Questions ~ What can I let go? What can I delegate? How can I make this more fun? How can I make this less stressful? Etc... Asking myself these kinds of questions helps me take action from a place of compassion rather than panic. 

3. Small Steps ~ "Pack" may seem like a small step, but I can actually break it down into eight smaller steps: check the weather in Paris next week...choose outfits...choose shoes...choose accessories...choose books...fold clothes...bring out suitcases...pack suitcases. This lowers the stress and makes packing easier. 

And going back to small questions if I ask "How can I make packing more fun?" I could listen to a podcast about Paris travel...I could light a candle...I could enjoy a cup of warm tea or a glass of wine while I pack. 

4. Mindsculpting ~ By taking a moment to close my eyes, take a nice deep breath and visualize myself snuggled on the airplane between my daughter and husband, reading a good book, enjoy a glass of wine and leaving behind my day-to-day schedule and worries as I fly across the ocean to one of what I believe will be my favorite cities in the world!

5. Credit Check ~ When I step back and take look at those scattered thoughts I shared above and think about what I've really done so far I realize though I haven't packed, I have everything I need. I've also added stop mail and paper to my list. I've ordered our euros and can pick them up from the bank today. And though I'm certainly not bilingual, I've been playing around with DuoLingo and learning a few French phrases for several weeks now...certainly enough to be polite and attempt to speak in the native language while ordering my croissants and cheese! 

Many of us tend to focus on what we haven't accomplished. That's human nature. Taking a minute to do a credit check (really a reality check) helps me release my freak out and feel much better about my situation. 

By using these same methods I use in my creative coaching, classes and workshops I'm already feeling much more peaceful about my trip. It's really amazing how quickly and how well these methods work! 

Do you feel overwhelmed when it comes to your creative dreams and desires? If so, I invite you to play with these creative coaching methods for yourself. I can tell you from personal experience (and the feedback of my happy one-on-one coaching clients) they work wonders! 

Well, that's all for now. I get to run to the bank to pick up my euros. 

Now I'm really ready to go to Paris with all my heart! 

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

Jill

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.

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!

5 Tips to Jumpstart Holiday Happiness

Click here to print out your free holiday mandala to color or paint!

Wow – the holidays seems to have come out of nowhere this season! With such a brief amount of time between Thanksgiving and the first of December, like many people, I feel a bit unprepared and overwhelmed.

Luckily, I know that the best thing I can do to defuse those feelings is to dip into my bag of Creative Oasis™Coaching tricks. Since I use these techniques myself, I thought I'd share them here to help you jumpstart some holiday happiness of your own.

5 Tips to Jumpstart Holiday Happiness

#1 – Reward Yourself with Short Creative Breaks

I printed out the free holiday mandala above to use as a fun and easy way to reward myself each time I spend a some time on a project or check something off my to-do list. I've been playing with it throughout the day in five minute bursts. It's great way to stay motivated and reward myself with a little creative play. If you like, why not click on the link under the mandala up top to print one for yourself? 

#2 – Say Ho-Ho-No

What if you take a look at your to-do list each day this month and chose at least one thing to let go? If we tend to have somewhat unrealistic expectations for ourselves, chances are that's even more true during the holidays. In addition to all of the things in our usual routine we're heaping on extra social outings, shopping excursions, baking, cooking, school and dance programs and the like. Toss in the unexpected weather snafu or two and you've got a recipe for instant holiday stress.

The truth is the world won't come to a grinding halt if we skip a thing or two especially if we've filled our to-do lists with more than we can realistically handle. How do you think it would feel to release at least one "to-do" each day and gave yourself the gift of letting go?

#3 – Take Elf-Like Steps

Any holiday happening, project or party – no matter how big – can be broken down into smaller steps. Planning the holiday get-together for your family is a large undertaking, but think of all the tiny steps you can take along the way. Does the thought of addressing and stamping all of those Christmas cards have you feeling Grinchy? What if you just did five at a time? Focusing on just one small piece of a project at a time or tackling a task in short ten or fifteen minute bursts helps diffuse feelings of overwhelm and increase feelings of comfort and joy.

#4 – Ask Yourself These Small Questions

Whatever the holiday event or project on your plate asking these two questions can be a big help:
"How can I make this a little easier?"
"How can I make this a bit more fun?"
Often we're running on autopilot and simply taking a second to ask these questions can shed new light for us. Even if it's something as simple as realizing, "Addressing these cards would feel a lot nicer if I was listening to my favorite holiday CD and drinking hot tea." Or realizing, "Hey - I have a teenager who can help me wrap all of these packages!"

#5 – Remember to Breath

This one sounds simple, but how many times have you found yourself holding your breath as you put the finishing touches on a present, project or pie? What if you add to the holiday decorations around your home by placing colorful sticky notes here and there with this gentle reminder: "BREATHE"
If you're anything like me, you tend to actually stop and take a deep breath when you read the word. Enjoying just two or three nice deep breaths will give you a refreshing pause, send much needed oxygen to your brain and rejuvenate you!

Here's my completed holiday mandala. I hope you enjoy creating one of your own this season. Here's to jumpstarting your holiday happiness!

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 Clues Found…What's Next?

Last week I invited you to embark on a creative scavenger hunt with me. (Click here for my post: Do the Muses and FairiesHave Your Attention Yet? and your free printable map.)  

Paying attention to the muses and fairies (as Elizabeth Gilbert suggests ) or, in other words, to the little twinges of excitement and wonder we feel, can lead to some telling discoveries about ways we might embark on our own Creative Oasis journey.

Whether or not you use the downloadable  "My Creative Clues" map I shared, if you simply bring your awareness to the things that energize and delight you on any given day, you take your first small step towards following your heart and uncovering your creative passions.

So let's say you now have a nice list of creative clues. What's next?

I'll use the examples I shared last week to give you an idea of what next small steps might look like for each of them.

*You feel a surge of delight everytime you walk past the beautiful veggie garden in your neighbors yard. (perhaps followed quickly by a "I could never do that" inner critic voice) 

To nip your inner naysayer in the bud your next small step might be to plant some seeds of your favorite herb in a little pot on your windowsill. (There may be a tomato plant in your future yet!)



* You realize that you love driving around town because that's when you get to belt out your favorite tunes along with the radio. 

What if you plan a night out for karaoke with friends? If that doesn't feel doable, could you turn on some music at other times of the day when you can have fun belting out tunes in the privacy of your own home?(Perhaps while vacuuming? This could be just the ticket to making housework feel almost enjoyable!)



* Seeing a photo of a women doing downward facing dog in the magazine you flip through at the dentist office fills you with the desire to stretch and breathe. 

No need to sign up for a class right away. What if you search YouTube for some quick and easy "How-to" yoga moves to try at home and just see how that feels? 




* You receive a card from a friend and keep it out on your desk because you just love its watercolor image. 

If you happen to have some watercolors hiding in the back of a closet, why not pull them out and play with copying the card on your desk? If that feels too difficult (or you can already hear yourself saying "But I'm not an artist!") what if you lower the pressure by giving yourself permission to paint the way a five year old child might? (*Hint - most 5-year olds believe everything they paint is a masterpiece and they're right, of course!)

These are just a few examples of the many small steps that you could take. If you like, why not try to come up with one or two other small steps for each of these scenarios. It's a great way to practice breaking things down into doable steps and releasing the "all or nothing" attitude that many of us go to as a default.

It's nice to realize we don't have to plant an entire organic vegetable garden to experience the joy of making something grow. We can start by planting a couple of herb seeds on our windowsill. We can even make a home-cooked veggie stir-fry and imagine what it would feel like to eat if the vegetables had come from our own garden! (Click here to learn more about the magic of mind-scuplting techniques like this.)

I'd love to hear about the Creative Clues you discovered on your scavenger hunt. Please feel free to share them in the comments section below. If you need some help coming up with possible small steps to move forward on the creative journey let me know and I'll be happy to share some ideas with you.

Until next time, here's to following your heart and embracing the joy and satisfaction that appears when the universe conspires to help you discover your own Creative Oasis.

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 by clicking here.

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!

Are You In Love With Your Life?

I like to think of myself as a glass half-full person, but I'm realistic enough to know that it's a tall order to love every single minute of every single day of our lives. Stuff happens...sometimes good...sometimes  bad. Many things that happen are out of our control...but we do have a choice when it comes to how we react to them. 

We really do. When I stub my toe in front of my little niece it hurts like hell, but I'm somehow able to keep the string of obscenities that I'd normally let fly to myself. When a car suddenly pulls out in front of me I can let it make my blood-pressure boil or I can let it go.  Either way, I can't change the fact that I've just been cut off in traffic, but I can choose to not let it bother me so much, take a deep breath and move on with my day. 

Am I able to make this grown-up, Zen-like decision every time? Of course not. I'm human and fairly new to this "letting things go" philosophy in the grand scheme of my life. But I can honestly say that when I'm able to take a deep breath and release things that are out of my control I feel soooo much better than when I give myself over to feelings of anger and frustration.

Great example of positive reframing via Blondie!

The flip-side of this coin is I can remind myself of the endless things that are within my control! 

The many choices that I can make on any given day that help me love my life a little more.

 For example, rather than watching mindless TV or surfing Facebook 

I can choose to spend five or ten minutes:

#1 – making a collage in my Creative Oasis Journal

#2 –  coloring in a mandala

#3 – reading an inspiring book 

 #4 – playing the piano 

#5 – I can remember that saying "No" to someone else's request means 

I'm saying "Yes" to my own well-being.  

Here are a few small questions that might help you love your life a little more:

What's a choice you can make that will empower your creative spirit this week? 

Who might you say "No" to in order to say "Yes" to yourself?

What's one small way you can love your life a little more today?

We'll be learning and practicing wonderful new ways to make more time and space for the creative fulfillment we crave in my teleclass beginning September 18, 2013.

Creating Time for 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!

Just Say No-No-No to Ho-Ho-Ho Overwhelm

Take a deep breath and repeat after me – “I will relax and delight in the holidays this year.” (Perhaps it would be a good idea to repeat this little mantra three or four times – especially if the idea sounds ludicrous or you feel like the woman in this photo.)

The craziness that overtakes us in the United States between Thanksgiving and New Years is the stuff of legend and cliché. We eat too much. We buy too much. We commit ourselves to too many social events. We set Martha Stewart expectations for ourselves. (even though we don’t have access to her multi-media empire or enormous staff – hardly fair!) And we make mile-long to-do lists that only stand a snowball’s chance in you know where of being accomplished if we commit to making due with a mere three or four hours of sleep a night. Baking and shopping and wrapping – Oh My!

As we take on more and more, we may find ourselves anything but jolly. In fact, we may feel a bit more like tripping anyone so much as resembling an elf if they get in our way during our frantic errand running. (Unless it’s David Sedaris, reading his Santaland Diaries – God love him!)

Allow me to share three small steps that may help you loosen your death grip on the reins as you gallop headlong into the holidays.

1. Give Yourself Permission. Permission to say no, to do less, to breathe more, to lighten up, to curl up in your favorite chair and watch your favorite Christmas movie from beginning to end – not while addressing envelopes, or wrapping presents or baking cookies, but while simply sitting on your tuckus, wrapped in last year’s Snuggie from Aunt Bertha (come on, you know you love it) while drinking a cup of hot cocoa or tea or toddy. (your choice!) It may help to say this out loud or write it down in your calendar – “I hereby give myself permission to…insert something here that will delight you.” If you find if too difficult to do for yourself, perhaps it will help if you receive a more “official” permission. So, allow me to give you permission (as I do for my creativity coaching clients).

"I, Jill Allison Bryan, creativity coach (trained and certified by the official Kaizen-Muse Creativity Coaching program), and founder and head chica-in-charge of Creative Oasis Coaching, hereby give you permission to… insert something here that will delight you.”

2. Let Go & Visualize. Take a look at your holiday to-do list. (I’m gonna go out on a limb and assume that it’s very long, and has quite a few things that you’re really not looking forward to doing on it.) Now, find a nice red pen and cross something off that list. Just one thing. (for the moment) Next close your eyes and imagine that you're holding a large red balloon, written across it is the thing that you just marked off your list. Let the balloon go. Watch it deflate and fly away. (now would be a great time to take another deep breath) Visualize how nice it will be to not feel that pressure/dread/stress that this “to-do” item was going to cause you. (You didn’t really need to make three different desserts for that party anyway, did you?) If that felt good, and relatively painless, perhaps you can let go of one small thing a day during the season in this same way. (or every other day…small steps ☺)

3.Give Yourself the Gift of Five Minutes. Each day, allow yourself just five minutes to do something that brings you true seasonal joy. Read a favorite holiday book with your kids. Light a candle and let yourself be hypnotized by it for a few moments of relaxation and unplugged joy. Print a coloring page off the Internet and color…with crayons or markers or pencils…color outside the lines if you feel like it. See if you can take a full five minutes to eat one single Christmas cookie. You may be surprised how that short span of time can re-energize you for the rest of the day. (There are 1,440 minutes in each day – you can spare just 5 of them for yourself!) If you're feeling really generous, give yourself the gift of a free 30 minute introductory creativity coaching session with me. (Sign up at jill@post-op.com.)

That’s it. Three simple ways to help relieve a little of the pressure we often put on ourselves this time of year. I promise I’ll join you in trying to cut myself some slack in the days and weeks ahead. First up - five minutes with a cup of hot peppermint tea and a book. Ahhhh.... Remember your mantra, “I will relax and delight in the holidays this year.”

All the best from my creative holiday oasis to yours,
Jill

p.s. - In the spirit of the season, I'm offering a special Creative Oasis Coaching coaching package through the end of the year - Six One-on-One Creative Life Coaching Sessions for the Price of Four. (you save $150) Schedule to begin now, or after the first of the year. A great gift idea for the struggling creative in your life - or split it with a friend and enjoy three session each. Contact me at jill@post-op.com for more information today.