This week’s Next Chapter topic comes from Chapter 3 of the 12 Secrets of Highly-Creative Women: Following your Fascinations. Jamie asks us to share what helps us find the courage to take the risks necessary to make our dreams come true, and then challenges us to take one brave step towards our dreams.
Encouragement
I believe that in every moment, whether or not I’m aware of it, I am always choosing my identity, and my world is always a reflection of this choice. And when I find myself mired in doubt or floundering in worry, what works best for me is to remember that, as the Field Center puts it, there is no time off from my consciousness. These reactions come about because I’ve lost sight of who I want to be; I am out of alignment with the me that I truly am. And so it’s a matter of coming back into alignment.
Easy to say, but sometimes very challenging to do! So here’s what I turn to when I find myself seeking re-alignment:
Imagination. I make the time and take the moment to embrace my imagination, and allow myself to feel everything I feel as the identity I’m choosing. This goes beyond mere visualization; I never know what might come to me, but I open myself up to the vision. I need to have the willingness to do this, but when I do, it can be magical.
Friends. I’m fortunate to have two different groups of very special women friends who are always there for me, who listen without judgment and offer tremendous support for the me that I want to be. They inspire me with their lives, and who they are, and their words of wisdom and support often lift me right out of doubt into the magic of flow.
Play. This can be writing, reading, taking out some of my art supplies and just having fun with everything. It can be watching a movie, listening to music, plotting out a story. It can mean taking a walk, going shopping, going online in search of inspiration. And the key is to have fun; I never get into that wonderful feeling of play if I haven’t first let go of the idea of results. Often it’s that feeling of “where will this lead me?” that leads me out of the dreariness of fear, doubt and worry.
Sleep. My greatest challenges seem to arise when I’m tired, exhausted, fatigued – I feel like I can’t access the energy to do anything, to be anything, to feel anything. Problems appear where there were none before, and trite things magnify, gain in size and loom over me, filling me with emotions I don’t want. And when that happens, sleep is the revitalizing ingredient. My body is telling me to take it easy, to rest, and when I honour this intuition, and rest, the energy inevitably comes back.
These are the things I reach for most often when I find myself out of alignment with who I want to be. They work – often it’s just a matter of remembering that each of these things are there to help me out.
One Brave Step
This week, I intend to (finally!) start prewriting with collage – it’s something I wrote about a few weeks ago, and I have this very strong feeling that it’s something I’m meant to be doing, that it will open up my intuition in a way I’ve been desiring for a long time. I felt so motivated and excited when I discovered this – and then found myself stuck in a week filled with deadlines.
The deadlines, I know, were simply a reflection of the fear I was feeling, that smaller me that I was being, the one who was unable to reach out and embrace the creativity that leads to the fulfillment of my dreams.
But I have the supplies. I have the time. And I have the encouragement of being part of this group of creative women bloggers, and truly, as I visit each one of you, I feel your energy and it is such an amazing, wonderful feeling. So this week, let this be my one brave step – plunging into the joy of prewriting with collage.
On Honouring My Inspirations
I didn’t end up writing a post last week for Chapter 2’s look at honouring our inspirations – I thought about it a lot, though, and I was able to get around to reading a few of the groups’ posts. So I wanted to finish up this post with my thoughts on what inspires me.
For a long time, I stifled my femininity. I found myself in a world where being a woman wasn’t much admired, and I fought for survival by pushing away all the parts of me that were feminine. And it isn’t such a surprise for me to look back and see that my creativity faded during this period of my life.
Eleven years ago, I left that life, and since then I’ve been on a journey of rediscovery. Slowly, I began to become open to the feminine within me, and I’m happy to say that I have reclaimed that part of me now. It’s been an interesting journey, especially since it wasn’t something I clearly understood at the time.
And so today, I honour the beauty and the inspiration of the feminine.
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23/01/2009 at 6:01 pm Permalink
‘no time off from my consciousness’ – what an amazing line.
Kudos to you on your well thought out ways of bringing yourself back into alignment.
I love your brave step. If you feel like it, I for one would love to see you post the results of at least one of these collages. When I clicked on the “prewriting with collage” and saw the details I got excited. I wanna try it too!
Lastly, I too honor the beauty of the feminine.
23/01/2009 at 8:16 pm Permalink
It IS a choice, isn’t it? And we’re fortunate that we get to make the choice over and over again. If we forget or get side tracked, it can just be a matter of bringing ourselves back to center.
23/01/2009 at 11:21 pm Permalink
I really am so glad I found you here, seemingly at a time I needed to most. I was at once surprised and relieved to read this post…to read of someone who gently prompts us to tend to our creative needs just as diligently as our physical needs. These are excellent reminders to us all about how we manifest our thoughts at every moment, and in order to cultivate a joyful, balanced life, we must cultivate happy thoughts and a happy body and mind. Thank you!
24/01/2009 at 3:26 am Permalink
Thank you so much for your lovely message to my blog. I am so happy to read about your journey into finding yourself and your feminine side of you. I actually have had to hone in on my masculine energy because I am very feminine and use more of that energy than the more masculine energy we all have within us. Balance is key which is something I work on all the time. I also love what you said about Sleep as I am quite the same way~
May all your dreams come to fruition~
Blessings,
Gypsy
24/01/2009 at 6:51 am Permalink
It’s so true! If you’re not getting a lot of sleep, creativity is really tough to conjure. And I love hearing that you’re tapping into your feminine side. I’m a tomboy and long to do that too! I think it can be very healing.
I also wanted to thank you for your recent comment. You are helping me feel more sane. I really think that once you’ve lived on the west coast, life everywhere else just isn’t the same. For me, it can’t possibly compare.
I hope that we both get to move back in the not-so-distant future. Truly, your comment MEANT something to me on a deep level. It was profoundly healing. So few people can understand what I am currently going through so thank you for that!
24/01/2009 at 9:32 am Permalink
I am very much looking forward to reading and seeing more about the prewriting with collage. It’s intriguing. I loved how you honored your inspirations.
24/01/2009 at 11:01 am Permalink
That pre-writing collage looks lots of fun!
24/01/2009 at 5:34 pm Permalink
The idea of a pre-writing collage is fascinating! Looking forward to seeing yours and hearing how it works for you.
24/01/2009 at 8:31 pm Permalink
Thanks so much for reading my post. Your blog is lovely and I am so intrigued by the idea of a prewriting collage. I love collage so much and find it is such an easy (and affordable) way to get the creative juices flowing. Several years ago I created a collage at a yoga retreat with an idea of visioning what I wanted for my future. And most of what was on there has come true (and much of it I didn’t even know that I wanted!) Collage can be very powerful…
25/01/2009 at 1:29 pm Permalink
I’m really going to have to read this book, I love reading about it on everyone’s blogs.
27/01/2009 at 1:59 pm Permalink
I used to deny the feminine within myself, too. I took great pride in being told I thought like a man. I’m so happy to be embracing my goddess and learning so many new things about myself!
Prewriting with collage sounds wonderful. SoulCollage is often used this way for different creative pursuits. I’m so glad you’ll be doing it this week. That collage is amazing. I want to go make one now!
27/01/2009 at 3:05 pm Permalink
Thank you so much everyone for all your wonderful comments. I’m still facing the pre-writing collage – so much so that I know the moment I sit down to do it, it will all come together. Something’s forming the obstacle – that something is within me, of course. And just knowing it’s there helps me to loosen it, unblock myself!
28/01/2009 at 2:39 am Permalink
Pre-writing with collage? My curiosity is definitely piqued!
Sleep is such an important part of feeling and being whole for myself too! Which is why it perplexes me that I don’t make it enough of a priority (like now, when I should be in bed already).
My feminine side wasn’t stifled when I was younger, but I didn’t have a very feminine example. The women of my family weren’t very much into womanhood and it’s taken me a while to blossom into my own as well. It’s only been lately that I’ve been embracing some of the joys that come with being a woman. Glad to hear that you’ve reclaimed that part of you!