Hello beautiful soul,
You know the saying, where attention goes, energy flows.
Attention is so important to the creative process. And it’s totally our choice where we place our attention. What I mean is that we can let ourselves get distracted by the hamster-wheel-thinking or we can be mindful and place our attention consciously in ways that support our creative expressions.
Having the capacity to place attention where we want is gold. And yet, we rarely take advantage.
If you’re like me… a human being.. your attention often pulls you around like a slave and you’re hardly aware that you are following it wherever it meanders.
In the digital world we live in, it’s easy for attention to run amuck. To get sucked into the endless vortex of distraction. Not good for creativity.
I can say this from experience. But I have gratefully gleaned a few skills from yoga and mindfulness to help me regain the throne and choose where I want to focus my attention. Only on the throne can I command, lovingly of course, where attention is placed and have it serve in a way that enhances my creativity.
When I notice my creating time has dwindled to hardly any time at all I begin to sense that slave-like feeling. Day after day of no creating is the BIG signpost that I’ve been dethroned.
The good news about being dethroned is that it’s YOU who has the power to be dethroned OR to reclaim the throne and reign your queendom And it’s important that you do.
Not expressing your innate creativity has consequences. Burnout, overwhelm, frustration to name a few.
As Brene Brown has said, “unused creativity is not benign. It will make you sick”.
There is a defined amount of energy bestowed upon us and the question is… What would it take for you to use it in the most joyfully creative way?
Here are some tips to help you become more mindful of where you put your attention and how to regain the throne of your Queendom AND your creativity.
MAKE SHIFT HAPPEN
1 – Observe
Make time to observe what’s around you outside of your digital devices or even to get out of your own head obsessed with thoughts. This is not another ‘to do’. Keep it simple. It’s daily consistent practice.
Look around you with curiosity and really perceive what’s presented before you. Not what you think you see, but what you actually see as if for the first time. This is a simple beautiful meditation where you learn much, get inspired, and relax.
Enjoy the simplicity of observing people, colors, anything in nature, clouds, insects, birds and try not to name what you see. Instead get interested in details of a shape, feeling, texture, sound …. take notes on what pulls your attention and interest. Was it a particular colour, or an object, a person? Do this daily for at least a week.
Log your observations in a journal and only review at the end of a week. So much fun to go back after a week and notice what’s revealed in your log.
2 – Question
Ask the question, Is this the best use of my attention right now? Each time you ask the question helps rewire neurological pathways and the question repeated like a habit will help you re-focus your attention many times throughout the day. Like building a muscle you will get better and better at getting out of your thinking head to observing with your whole body.
3 – Commit and Create
However much time you think this will take, cut that in half, and half again. When we make it small, it feels doable and we’re more likely to actually do some creating and making ‘art’ on a consistent basis. The idea is to do something consistently that can be only 10 minutes a day. Then the “I don’t have time”, might just collapse.
For example if you want to write … don’t fall for the illusion that you must write for a big chunk of time, like 8 hours, half it to 4, and half that again and then again until it feels doable (you can always add on as you get into a rhythm). You can start with as little as 15-minutes of daily writing time and then commit to doing that.
Keep re- focusing your minds attention on a broader observational perspective and your creativity will flourish. The above are a few suggestions.
If you have discovered other ways that give you space away from distractions and helps your creative flow please let me know so I can share it around.
p.s.
I want to help you continue to make your ‘art’, whatever that is for you. That’s why I write this blog. To support you to skilfully navigate your creative process and birth those soul-seeded ideas into the world. Those ideas are meant to blossOm. Do whatever it takes to nourish them and make them a reality..
