Posts tagged ‘Finding Inspiration’

April 24th, 2010

How Goofing Off Can Make You More Productive

I’m stuck on item #6 of The Joy Diet and would like to stay here awhile please. Making 2 treats a part of my every day has been a blessing. Not just for my soul, but for my wallet too.

Sometimes we get so focused on our goals or obsessed with daily superficialities (iphone, ipads, gossip, buying a home, etc.) that we lose sight of the here and now. This actually works against us and our ultimate goals-to be happy, successful and to feel whole.

I know because I’ve been a workaholic lately. Digging my nails deep into the present and throwing it all in there. I’ve been reading books and articles online, crafting not2shabby things and taking classes all in the hope of making me better at something. I ended up spreading myself thin with nothing left to give and worse-with nothing left to show for it.

Have you ever been there before?

Sometimes like the empty room in a home that needs to be filled we allow worry and fear to inhabit it instead of giving time, patience and faith to let things fill it organically.

Know what I mean?

It’s what happens when an empty dining room table gets replaced with junk or why the fear of no job/relationship makes way for jobs/relationships you don’t want. Out of fear comes desperation and more things we don’t want or need in our lives. Out of faith comes the life we’re destined to live. The latter takes courage to get there.

Goofing off helps.

Last week of The Joy Diet was an easy one. And surprisingly it brought my passion back. I stopped crafting, writing, and reading things related to my career. Instead, I flipped through fun magazines and watched a few episodes of Oprah. It just so happens that I caught two shows related to my passions (Earth Day and a show about people in their dream jobs). It reminded me about my passion to help the environment, why I write, and why I sacrifice time and money to do what I do. It inspired me to write this post and gave me the hope I needed to continue on the journey in faith, not fear.

Here’s a Joy Diet Challenge:

Take an hour or a few hours a day or even a week if you can and devote the time solely to you and your passion. It could be riding a bike, taking a hike, rediscovering your love for art by visiting a museum or watching a movie. Just do something unrelated to your career. Have fun and you’ll see passion, excitement and joy returning to your life-the fuel necessary to help manifest the life of your dreams.

CategoryFollowing your dreams | CommentNo Comments »

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September 15th, 2009

Free Your Fears and Let Your Inspiration Soar

I’ve been procrastinating-fingers numb, heart tingling, and palms sweating whenever I think about this subject.  I’ve been postponing writing about it since I returned from Hawaii several weeks ago.  But the fear has been holding me hostage.  Inspiration has been drying up and all of a sudden I started wondering where did my passion go?

Did you ever see “Something’s Gotta Give?”  Well if you haven’t seen it yet, I recommend you rent it (or wait for it on TV-TBS plays it like every few weeks).  You aspiring writers out there will get a heart flutter or at least a good chuckle at Diane Keaton’s emotional vulnerability.  I for one LOL every time I see it even though I’ve watched it at least 5 times.

The part that gets me is watching how she uses her passion (in this case her heartbreak from Jack Nicholson’s character) and throws it into her work like fuel to the fire.  Believe me when I say it’s a beautiful thing to watch.

Her courage is her ability to let go and fully experience pain which is both heartbreaking and heartwarming because it is so indicative of what it means to be human.  I admire that.  And the result was that she was able to create her best written work yet.

Whenever we try to quell the flame by burying our pain via alcohol, drugs, food denial, (you name your addiction), or as Alanis Morissette said in her huge cult following song You Learn, “Swallow it down, what a jagged little pill,” we also kill inspiration, passion and our poor muse with it.  Our desire to cover our fears by denying them also takes a toll on our dreams.

How do I know?

Well I’m sitting here typing away at 10 ’til 11 pm, no closer to writing the topic that I’m afraid of writing about let alone think about.

What’s the topic?

If I could write it, it would be written.  It’s between me, my keyboard and my fear of experiencing what the story will do to me.

I know eventually I will get there-mostly because it has to be written.  But I wonder how much of us sacrifice our life’s purpose because we are afraid of what that change will bring.

If you are feeling stuck like me, you might be wondering what’s up?  Is it writer’s block?  Mid-life crisis?  It could be that your emotions are stuck.  It’s kind of like playing a video game but getting stuck at the same level.  You may need to experience something different, learn a lesson, feel your fears, have a good cry or find a new path to get unstuck to get yourself courageously on to the next level.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nhv81QCDzLo]

CategoryFacing Fears, Freelance writing | CommentNo Comments »

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March 19th, 2009

From a Spark to a Flame: Aspire to an Inspiring Life

When the stressors of day to day life begin to take its toll on me, I know it’s time for me to go on an adventure. Whether it’s by taking a hike out in nature, meditating, getting lost in a good book, or by exploring a new interest, I believe that it’s vitally important to my health, to make fun a priority.

When you put yourself first and engage in an activity that interest you, it brings new light, perspective and creativity into your daily life. Solutions to old problems may come to the surface since focusing your energy in a different direction, makes room for and attracts new ideas into your life. For example, I took a one day, three hour course in interior design. What that short course taught me was how to declutter, organize, set goals and create a plan of action before inviting anything new in your home. That design specific information also could be applied in a broad way to life. It’s given me a focus and a realistic perspective of how to bring about positive change. I need, for example, to be clear about what it is I actually want, organize my thoughts, and then create steps to ways to get there. It has also given me insight to the ways we declutter our homes and our lives in order to fill empty spaces-perhaps out of fear and lack of control of it ever being filled the way that we want them to.

The next time you are feeling out of sorts, take a little time to focus on an interest or hobby you’ve always wanted to take up. Then, have the courage to pursue it. Like the effects of that pebble thrown in the river, you never know how that small, seemingly insignificant action could change your life.

CategoryHappiness | CommentNo Comments »

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