Shine a Light on Your Sunflower Power!

Want to tap into a feeling of more freedom and ease this summer? Why not take a cue from the sunflower and reach toward the light? When things on your to-do list start to feel overwhelming, difficult or unappealing try lightening them up by asking yourself these questions: 

* What's one small way I can make this easier?

* What's one small way I can make this more fun?

* What's one small way I can make this more doable? 

* What's one small way I can reward myself when I've finished?

It's simply amazing how asking ourselves these simple questions can help shift our perspective and shine a light on a whole new way of looking at situations and responsibilities that have us feeling bummed out, bogged down or blue.  

If you like, click here for your free Sunflower Power Reminders printable. You can post it on your desk, tape it to your fridge, keep a copy in your car, or add one to your day planner  to help you remember you have the power to lighten things up. All you have to do is ask!

Click here for free printable – Sunflower Power Reminders

Another easy way to embrace a summer that feels light, fun and free is get yourself a copy of my new Create the Summer of Your Dreams Kit. 

Take a look at all of the easy, breezy do-it-yourself creative fun that's included in each kit right here!

You can also quickly and easily purchase your kit now

for just $19.99 by clicking the "Add to Cart" button below.

Until next time, here's to tapping into our own sunflower power and reaching toward the light!

Jill

Jill Allison Bryan

www.creativeoasiscoaching.com

Say "Fun Summer Sunflower Printable Fun" 5x Fast

Clearly Henry James held a special affinity for the summer afternoon. Had he lived through a typical blistering Texas summer he may not have waxed so poetically. (If you've ever slogged your way through two or three weeks of triple digit temps you know what I mean.)

Heat waves not withstanding, I do have wonderful memories of the summers of my youth, even those spent in the sticky Texas heat. Summer has a special place in my heart for the promise it holds...whether or not that promise is always kept.

The promise of a day spent lounging in a pool…of savoring the year's best tomatoes straight off the vine…of reading a stack of good books…of slicing into the perfect watermelon…of fantastic firework displays…of making homemade ice cream, taking road trips and naps and more…

Sadly, as card carrying grown-ups, all too often we find our youthful dreams of summer remain just that…dreams. Especially our Creative Oasis dreams...our Creative Oasis being anything that makes our heart sing and time fly from painting to writing to reading to gardening to baking…you get the idea, right?

To help you make at least a few of your Creative Oasis dreams come true this summer, I've created this special do–it–yourself kit: 

Create the Summer of Your Dreams – A Do-It-Yourself Creative Oasis Kit to help you dive into a summer filled with creative satisfaction and fun! 

(Click here for all the sweet details and to order your copy!) 

You can also quickly and easily purchase your kit now

for just $19.99 by clicking the "Add to Cart" button below.

Want a free taste of some sweet summertime creative play? 

Then break out your colored pens, pencils or crayons and click here to download your "Free Fun Summer Sunflower Printable" (for added fun try saying that 5 times fast) and enjoy a few minutes of pure summertime fun. (Hint: printing on card stock or matte photo paper is a great option if you'd like to play with watercolors or markers.)

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

Jill

Jill Allison Bryan
www.creativeoasiscoaching.com

"Create the Summer of Your Dreams Kit" is ready and waiting for you!

Woo-hoo! I'm so happy to let you know that my Create the Summer of Your Dreams™ kit is ready and waiting for you today! I've been writing, crafting and creating this fun do-it-yourself Creative Oasis Kit for weeks and it feels great to finally be able to share it with you – just in time for summer! 

 Create the Summer of Your Dreams is for you if:

*You’d love to experience the joy and fun of creative fulfillment this summer                                        * You have lots of creative ideas but your never-ending to-do lists and other people’s stuff seem to take up all your time

* You crave relaxed creative “me” time – like you enjoyed when you were a kid

* You’re worried that summer will come and go before you have the chance to dive into even one Creative Oasis moment (As a reminder - your Creative Oasis is anything that makes your heart sing and time fly!)

* You feel blocked by procrastination and perfectionism 

* You have a tough time giving yourself permission to enjoy your creative passions

With your Create the Summer of Your Dreams kit you’ll enjoy:

* Permission to enjoy Creative Oasis time this summer – that’s time doing the things that make your heart sing and time fly!

* Printable fun sheets with step-by-step exercises to help you decide which summertime creative experiences you crave the most 

* Easy, low-pressure ways to dive right into your own Creative Oasis moments

* Enlightening creative prompts, activities and reading suggestions to help you easily and intuitively create the summer of your dreams 

 You can purchase your kit for today just 

$19.99

The Create the Summer of Your Dreams kit includes:

#1 – 35-page how-to booklet featuring
step-by-step guidance and compassionate support

        

#2 – Five creative fun sheets including:  

* Summer Permission Slip

* Summer Dreamin' Quick List

* Oasis Treasure Map

* Instant Oasis Ideas

* Oasis Journey Options

         

          #3 – A Creative Reading Resource Guide featuring five of my all-time favorite creative books

You can purchase and receive your Create the Summer of Your Dreams kit immediately for just  $19.99 using Paypal by clicking the "Add to Cart" button below:



Or you can receive a complimentary kit as a gift with your purchase of a 4-session one-on-one 
Creative Oasis Coaching package between June 1 and August 1, 2014. 
(Click here for more info on all of my coaching packages.) 

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

Time is most definitely flying…are you having fun?

The phrase "time flies" has been in the forefront of my mind this week. Mostly likely because the cute little kindergartener I dropped off for her first day of "big girl school" just yesterday (or so it seems) is somehow already a tall, graceful teenager who graduated from junior high this week. What?!?!?!

I feel like I'm experiencing some sort of space time continuum issue that could best explained by Spock on Star Trek or perhaps Dr. Who.

Whatever happened, the past nine years have indeed flown by…the fun and the not-so-fun times included. (Thankfully they've been mostly fun!)

Just as the years are whizzing by, I know that the summer months will be upon us and gone in a flash with the first day of high school here in the blink of an eye.

That's why I've decided to update one of my favorite Creative Oasis teleclasses to create an all new self-paced e-product – "Create the Summer of Your Dreams – A Do-It-Yourself Creative Oasis Kit" that will help you dive into a summer filled with creative satisfaction and fun.

Create the Summer of Your Dreams™ is for you if:

*You’d love to experience the joy and fun of creative fulfillment this summer
* You have lots of creative ideas but your never-ending to-do lists and other people’s stuff seem to take up all your time
* You crave relaxed creative “me” time – like you enjoyed when you were a kid
* You’re worried that summer will come and go before you have the chance to dive into even one Creative Oasis™ moment (As a reminder - your Creative Oasis™ is anything that makes your heart sing and time fly!)
* You feel blocked by procrastination and perfectionism 
* You have a tough time giving yourself permission to enjoy your creative passions

With Create the Summer of Your Dreams™ you’ll enjoy:

* Permission to enjoy Creative Oasis™ time this summer – that’s time doing the things that make your heart sing and time fly!
* Printable fun sheets with step-by-step exercises to help you decide which summertime creative experiences you crave the most 
* Easy, low-pressure ways to dive right into your own Creative Oasis™ moments
* Enlightening creative prompts, activities and reading suggestions to help you easily and intuitively create the summer of your dreams 

I'm putting the finishing touches on this special summer offer now. Look for the release of Create the Summer of Your Dreams™ next week when you can purchase your kit for just $19.99 or receive a complimentary kit as a gift with your purchase of a 4-session one-on-one Creative Oasis Coaching package between June 1 and August 1, 2014. (Click here for more info on all of my coaching packages.)

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

Jill

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!