Good Morning.
Good morning!
It is good to be here, with you.
And also with you.
A new year. A new project. On creation, creating, creativity, creatability… I’m excited and grateful.
Thank you for the Presence Project. It was beautiful. I learnt so very much.
I am sensing that this project shall have no accompanying text. Is that right? (There was a clear message that this project is guided by a principle of Create>Consume)
Yes.
While I may still dip into books for inspiration and to settle in to the resonance required for these Dialogues. Right?
Indeed.
At the end of the Presence Project, in the last Dialogues of 2020, we established how this Create project might go – using a protocol we called:
Creative D.A.R.M.A.
- Download creative impulses whilst accumulating ‘present moment awareness’ (Michael Brown’s term from The Presence Process, eg via a 15min conscious connected breathing practice.)
- Act upon them (within 24h, if it feels right)
- Record outcomes and Reflect upon them
- Mention the outcomes (though not their source) to another person, to anchor the new creation in the world (and have them seen/witnessed, rather than hidden, I guess)
- Appreciate – and affirm to oneself – the source of the outcomes – to build confidence that ACTING upon our CREATIVE IMPULSES is a Good Thing.
And the idea is to see what happens when we ‘Create Something New’ each day.
I’ve got 2 notebooks and 1 photo album for this project:
- One notebook next to me here for the mornings – the Book of Creative D.A.R.M.A.
- and one notebook next to my bed called Today’s Creation to note down the #SomethingNew I created that day.
- I’ll also photograph each Daily Creation and put it in a special album on my phone at the end of the day.
It’s a top and tail approach to the day, to keep consciousness of the ‘Create’ theme burbling through my days, and to assist in ‘creating something new’ becoming embedded as a ‘habit’.
In sum, my intention for 2021 [Google doc here] is to #CreateSomethingNewEachDay, and the Create Project will hold space and structure to nurture this new muscle.
It’s not just about exploring the ‘creative Source’ within us all, it’s also about laying to rest old paradigms of reactivity, perfectionism and overstimulation.
I have had experiences of the wonders of creative expression, and I want to embed such wonder in my daily life, as an act of sovereignty, self-care and self-love.
Let’s go in and accumulate some present moment awareness…
***15minBreathingMedwithInsightTimer***
Today’s Creative Impulse: (it was clear image in my mind’s eye!)
- Take the flipchart outside (it’s bright and sunny though 2 degrees!)
- Re-listen to the NVC audio programme I’ve been listening to this week
- Create an NVC infographic on the flipchart
- Share it to the SoD instagram
Ok! I can do that! Would you like to speak to this a little?
You’ve been wrestling with a difficult conversation you need to have. You want to be kind and exemplify the traits of the mediator you are. This will be helpful.
Thank you. Yes, I sense that. I hope to follow it up with a phone call. And then do all my Christmas thank yous and greetings – answering all the messages.
Does it feel good to start the day with the Creative instead of the Reactive?
Yes!! Yesterday, new year’s day, I created my first #SomethingNew – a 2021 colour-coded wall calendar. It took me an hour or so, spread out over the sitting room floor with stickers and pens. And afterwards, I felt such wellbeing. Such a sense of fulfilment, satisfaction and optimism! Maybe if we create enough, the reactive work is easier because our reservoirs are full.
‘Our reservoirs are full’ is exactly the phrase. Creativity draws down source energy into our being… and allows it to flow out to the seen, physical world. This enlivens us.
Like art therapy. Or gardening.
Yes, some people think these activities are mere ‘distractions’ for addled brains. Far from it. To create is to return to our very own Source. How you live without active creation is beyond us.
Tbh, I think it’s beyond us too. Our epidemic of mental ill-health could well correlate with the degree to which we minimise and disenfranchise our creative spirits. And so…
Buckle up, buttercup! You’re in for a ride, not least because you will be creating New Things, but because this will bring you face to face with all the elements of you that would deny your creative spirit. Exciting, huh?!
Haha! Sure thing! Well, let’s do this. Am I or am I not a creator of my own reality?!
You most certainly are. Let’s go create!
I am a creator
PS. Remember: work softly with any resistance which arises. Working with the ‘resistance to our creativity’ is where the good stuff lies, because that uncomfortable ‘resistance’ is simply an invitation to embody greater self-compassion, self-love, self-care. Learn to interpret that discomfort as just such an invitation – and act accordingly – and you’ll be on your way to a whole new way of life. <3