Discovering Unexpected Oasis Places

It always makes me smile to discover an Oasis in an unexpected place. Last week we took a family trip to Universal Studios in Florida and came upon this one, so I couldn't' resist snappy a selfie with it. Finding this fun spot reminded me that you never really know where you'll find your own Creative Oasis.

Sometimes we start out looking for one thing and wind up with something totally different. That's exactly what happened with me and creativity coaching. I went searching for a way to rekindle my own creative dreams of music, writing and acting and along the way discovered Kaizen-Muse Creativity Coaching and a new career as a creativity coach. (It's been an amazing journey!)

I believe that your Creative Oasis™is anything that makes your heart sing and time fly. I believe we can all enjoy an endless variety of Creative Oasis moments and experiences throughout our lives. The key is to be open…to stay on the lookout…to be willing to try new things and revisit long lost creative loves that we've given up over time. Have you discovered an unexpected Oasis of your own lately?

Once you begin to look for them…you'll find them everywhere. A theme park might seem like an unlikely place to find a Creative Oasis but I sure did. I adored leaving behind the "real world" for a few days and diving into the sublime fantasy of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. (The art direction was amazing!)

Spending time in Universal's version of Springfield, the hometown of the Simpsons. was a blast as well. We loved the crazy Simpsons' Ride, had a snack at Moe's Tavern and even hung out with the Simpsons themselves for a photo. (Again - the creative art direction throughout Universal Studios was marvelous.)

Taking a break from our normal routine and real world "stuff" and giving ourselves permission to enjoy the fantastical world of Universal was a great way to recharge after the holidays. 

Where did you find your latest Creative Oasis? I'd love to hear about it.

All the best from my constantly changing Creative Oasis to yours,

Jill

Jill Allison Bryan

www.creativeoasiscoaching.com

Cheers to Resolution Substitutions!

What if rather than making the usual list of New Year's resolutions we made an "I Get To!" list for 2014? How would they differ? Perhaps instead of telling ourselves we have to lose ten pounds, balance our budget or eat more kale we could shift our focus to things that energize and delight us. 

Here are some of my "I Get To!" possibilities for 2014:

I Get To Ride My Bike More Often

I Get To Learn To Make ZenTangles

I Get To Try New Restaurants

I Get To Host Game Nights

I Get To Find Fun Art Classes To Take

I Get To Read During The Day

I Get To Meet Friends for Lunch More Often

I Get To Make Up Songs With My Niece

I Get To Bake With My Daughter

I Get To Visit More Museums

I Get To Host More Dinner Parties

I Get To Make Music With My Husband 

I Get To Have More Massages

I Get To Write More E-Books

I Get To Plan A Trip To Paris 

(I may not be able to take it this year - but oh what fun the planning will be!)

Any time spent with these wonderful options would find me smack dab in the middle of my Creative Oasis™ – anything that makes my heart sing and time fly! How about you? What if you took the next two minutes and let yourself come up with a quick "I Get To" list for 2014? How might that feel different (better?) than a list of New Year's Resolutions?  

Of course, I know setting some goals for the new year is a good thing. Click here to read my recent article "Kaizen-Muse Goal Toolkit" written and published exclusively for the Business Bohemia Membership of Artella. Click here to sign up for your FREE sample Business Bohemia Adventure from Artella: Technology Trolley, which includes lots of fantastic tools, downloads and creative business inspiration.

Here's to resolution substitutions and the joy and satisfaction they can add to the new year for us all!

All the best from my "I Get To" Oasis to yours,

Jill

Jill Allison Bryan

www.creativeoasiscoaching.com

Merry Christmas from my Oasis to Yours!

…a few of my favorite things from our oasis to yours this season!

M - dolls from my trip to Bhutan made by disadvantaged young girls in a program that allows them to use their creative skills to empower and employ themselves. (www.bhutanyouth.org)

E - from the cover of one of my favorite Creative Oasis journals

R - silly santa doll

R - magnet from the amazing Nick Cave Sojourn show we saw at the Denver Museum of Art this summer

Y - colored pencils

C- prayer flags from our hike in Vail to raise money for 
Love, Hope Strength this summer

H - crayons

R - is for Riley Anna (my daughter)

I - nutcracker we've had for ages

S - a longtime favorite scarf

T - a clay cross purchased from a local artist on the White Rock Artist Tour

M - old metal sign

A - peanut nativity scene Riley Anna made years ago modeled after one that my brother made decades ago and still hangs on my parents' tree

S - part of the YES logo 

H - from an old holiday comic book

A - the little Christmas tree in Riley Anna's room

P - Riley Anna's first point shoe

P - the arm of a Santa mug from our dear friend Miss Ruth who passed away this year

Y - BATMAN

2 - from our advent calendar

0 - Disco Snowman Riley Anna made at Studio Arts years ago

1 - Virgin of Guadalupe candle

4 - pastels

Hope your day was merry and your New Year is happy, healthy and bright!

All the best from my Creative Oasis to yours,

Jill

Jill Allison Bryan

www.creativeoasiscoaching.com

Creating with Love for Gifts from the Heart

My dear sweet Aunt Suzy made this beautiful ornament for my birthday. In addition to being gorgeous and handcrafted using the pages of an old hymnal, this extraordinary present holds the greatest gift of all –  love. In fact, each and every fold (and there are dozens, if not hundreds of them) was made with a special prayer for me by my aunt. Wow! Amazing, isn't it? 

This unique gift is called a prayer ball and as you can see it must have taken quite a bit of time to create. The fact that my aunt shared her love for me in this special creative way fills my heart with joy and gratitude. She couldn't have given me anything in the world more precious and I will cherish this as a family heirloom always. 

As if I weren't blessed enough by my aunt's thoughtfulness, I next received this large paper snowflake made my my daughter, Riley Anna. In addition to being a pretty paper sculpture, she took the time to write things that she loves about me around the edges. Again, there's nothing in the world she could have purchased at a store that would even come close to how precious this gift is to me. 

These thoughtful presents have me thinking – how might we infuse our holiday gift giving with a little more love this year? What might that look like? And though I'm doubtful I have the skill (or patience) required to create something as beautiful as this prayer ball or snowflake, I can think of several ways I might sprinkle my holiday gifts and messages with a hearty dose of love.

#1 – Send a positive thought, love and light with each fold I make or piece of tape I use as I wrap gifts.

#2 – Take a moment to truly wish the recipients of each card I send a healthy, happy New Year and actually visualize their smiling faces as I do.

#3 – Do the same thing with each Christmas card I receive. 

#4 – Add a dash of love to each and every holiday goodie I make. (My sweet daughter has claimed for years that she can taste it when I add love to my recipes!)

#5 – Dedicate my morning run or walk to someone special. They don't even need to know about it. I think it's enough to hold them in my (rapidly) beating heart as I enjoy my morning jaunts around the lake.

What do you think? How might you add a dash of love to your holidays? Whether it's making homemade gifts, goodies and cards or simply taking a moment to send extra love and well wishes with each present or message your share, creating with love means gifts from the heart for the special people in your life.

All the best from my blessed and joy-filled oasis to yours,

Jill

www.creativeoasiscoaching.com

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!

Do Stuff…Even Without Inspiration's Shove

Holy moly, how I love this quote! There's a "teachable moment" (says the mom in me) in every single line. This quote shines (hence the star at the top) as an example of the wonderful tools and techniques we use in Kaizen Muse Creativity Coaching. Let's take if line by line, shall we?

Do stuff.

This one is fairly straight forward. Do stuff. Do the stuff you daydream about doing. Do the stuff you see other people doing and think to yourself, "I could do that." Do the stuff you used to love to do and haven't done in ages. Do the stuff you can't even imagine how in the world you'll possibly ever do, but you know if you do you'll be better off for it. Do stuff.

Be clenched, curious. 

I have to be honest. "Be clenched" threw me for a bit of a loop. To my mind, she's reminding us to always reach out for new experiences. In the spirit of "being curious" I did some research to see if I could find other interpretations of Sontag's meaning and discovered this wonderful blog post. The author of the post even prints Sontag's speech in its entirety which is absolutely inspiring! 

Be curious. Keep asking questions of yourself and others. Keep learning new things. Keep traveling to new places. Keep searching out new experiences. Better to be killed by curiosity than boredom, right?

Not waiting for inspiration's shove...

Ahhh…not waiting for inspiration. That was a powerful lesson for me when I first discovered KMCC. You mean I can just sit down at the piano, play around and see what happens? I don't need to feel any particular angst or joy? I don't have to wait for the muse to visit me complete with a gray, rainy day and candles to add to the ambiance? I can create pre-inspiration strike? That novel concept soon found me playing at my keyboard almost daily – writing new material because I wanted to write. If I'd waited for inspiration's shove, my solo CD, Dancing in Limbo would quite likely never have been born.

                              or society's kiss on your forehead.

That was another thing I didn't wait for when writing and recording my CD. This was about the time "they" started to say "don't bother making a CD - everyone releases music digitally now." Well, I had waited many moons to finally release my own CD, so I didn't listen to what "they" had to say. 

I've also met many people who don't seem to see the value in or understand what creativity coaching provides. But that's hardly going to stop me from continuing to follow my calling as a creativity coach. (Great news! That means I have more time to coach, teach and write for those of you who do get it. Yay!)

Pay attention. It's all about paying attention.

This one is all about awareness. Letting the fairies and muses have your attention. Looking for clues. Taking note of what lights you up.

Attention is vitality. 

Attention leads you to the experiences and people that energize and delight you!

It connects you with others.

When you follow your creative curiosity you tend to meet some pretty fabulous people. Sign up for a class, join a group or visit a place you've never been before and let the connections begin. 

It makes you eager. Stay eager.

By all means, stay eager. Eager to learn. Eager to create. Eager to explore. Eager to discover. Eager to connect. Eager to be energized and delighted by life. Stay eager.

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 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!

Embracing Lull With All My Heart

I post this in-between a lull-filled week in Santa Fe and a lull-filled Thanksgiving weekend with family.

I've been embracing Lull with all my  heart and it's done my heart (and soul) so much good!

So far, my restful time of rejuvenation has included:

*  lots of reading in front of a roaring fire

*the delight of being snowed in for an entire day (which meant mimosas, more roaring fires, hot chocolate, more reading, naps, staring out the window at the gorgeous white-tipped landscape in a blissed out state, languid conversations, etc…) 

*an incredible massage and private hot tub/sauna experience at Ten Thousand Waves

* meandering through Santa Fe with no particular plan being led by serendipity and my nose

* heemeesheemees galore (my word for serendipitous experiences) 

* and probably the most relaxing time my husband and I have shared in eons 

Now I'm off to spend more lull time with my family, catching up, seeing photos from far-flung adventures, enjoying magical time with my three-year old niece, and dipping my toes into the holidays with my enthusiastic teenage daughter – we would have put a tree up two weeks ago if it had been up to her!

My intention is to remain resting in the lovely state of lull for a few more days. 

I am so grateful for this time…for my family…for my friends…and for you!

Wishing you some lovely lull time of your own this Thanksgiving weekend even if it's something as simple as closing your eyes right now and enjoy three deep breaths and a stretch to the heavens!

From my restful Creative Oasis to yours,

Jill

www.creativeoasiscoaching.com