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Mermaid Inspired Self-Care Routine Creates Flow

Balance leads to flow.
Move into flow as a mermaid through balance

Mermaid Swims Towards Flow

To increase creative flow, make like a mermaid. Remember Ariel, the beloved Disney princess? Her father, King Neptune ruled the under water world in the animated feature, The Little Mermaid. Creatives can take several cues from Ariel and her sister mermaids to swim towards flow. First, they can sing for pleasure. Any song that feels good fills the bill. Second, these creatures of sea folklore provide random acts to protect and guide sailors. Finally, they rest in the sun on rocks to restore themselves. We, too, could employ these tools to feel more creative.

Sing a Song for Pleasure

I honestly think my mother is part mermaid, because she loves to sing Patti Page’s Mockingbird Hill. As long as she’s surveying her kingdom from her windowsill – whether folding clothes or making dinner – things are swell. Everyone knows that as long as she is singing that all is well in her world. Not familiar with the 1951 classic? Check out the video with lyrics here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7zrMzVNYwo

Provide Secret Kind Acts

Ariel saved Prince Eric from drowning after his shipwreck. We, too, can offer to assist others who may need some guidance to get their business sea legs. Help entrepreneurs engage more clients through referrals. Make donations to scholarships for college students. There are always ways for even the busiest creatives to lend a hand.

Find a Rock and Rest

Sunning yourself at a sunny office corner or on a patio is restorative. Find ways even in traffic to be grateful for the pleasantness that nature brings.

Your Turn

Take a trip to the children’s library. Look through stacks to find The Little Mermaid. Check out the book or video and spend time enjoying the images it stirs.

Here’s to growing your flow,

Marisa

 

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Pool Play Splashes into Flow

Find Flow While Swimming in Pool

Pool play adds to flow.
Take time to play in the pool to splash into creative flow.

Playing in a backyard or public swimming pool creates flow. There are many ways that taking a dip can increase creativity. First, water is refreshing. The tank’s temperature stimulates the senses. Secondly, jumping in the water engages the brain in spontaneous play. It clears the brain’s cobwebs when writing all day. Finally, moving the body releases fear, tension, and anxiety that builds during a work day.

The Games People Play

Remember childhood pool games? Two favorites are Marco Polo and Dive for Coins (or weighted rods). Perhaps seeing who could hold their breath the longest found its way into your swim memories, too? Writers need bodily experiences to create literary bodies such as plays, short stories, and poems. Even yelling Cowabunga! during a cannonball is enough to enter flow. Looking for some ideas to get the party going? Check out blogger Laurie Turk’s post on 20 Fun Swimming Pool Games here: https://tipjunkie.com/fun-swimming-pool-games-for-kids/

Play incxreases flow.
Get into flow with a coin toss or round of Marco Polo!

Your Turn

Enjoy an swim. Find a  a public pool such as the YMCA or YWCA. Or, jump in a private pool. Play in whatever way feels authentic to you. When you get done, take out your journal and record the experience. Hopefully, it goes swimmingly!

Here’s to growing your flow,

Marisa

 

 

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Squeeze Juicy Ideas to Create Greater Flow

Creative Compression Creates Juicy Flow

Squueeze joy out of life to create more flow.
Squeeze creative flow out of everyday actions to enjoy more productivity.

Getting juicy ideas for creative projects is easy during citrus season. Yesterday, my husband and I took our visiting relatives to Davidson’s Jelly and Jam Factory in Dundee, Florida. While the workers were on display making and packaging the delectable offerings, there were also a direct ship section. There customers can either send or grab-and-go whatever fruit is currently in season. The honeybells, named for both their sweet taste and their globed shape, were piled in displays for purchase.. We got a quarter-bushel to enjoy. And to send to loved ones up North. Interested in learning more about Davidson’s? Look here: https://www.davidsonofdundee.com/

Where to Find Inspiration’s Fruit

Inspiration is everywhere to compress into art. Look at produce, such as the crate of honeybells in the photo above. What ideas do they bring up? How can ideas be extracted – or inspiration squeezed – to help creativity? Perhaps sketch produce or write a haiku about the citrus bin. Also, I looked at the names of the jams, jellies, and candies. The term delicacies really says so much about the ways common candy can convey richness in life. Think about the way these products are made. The fruit juice and sometimes rind are slowly cooked down until it creates a given product. Creatives, too, write, then edit, and rewrite, until their product has jelled into a poem or flash fiction piece. Anything that tugs an emotional response is ripe for the picking to use for creative flow.

Your Turn

Every region is known for some kind of product or service. Take yourself on an excursion near home – Julia Cameron coined these Artist’s Dates. Notice a bagel bakery or a chocolate factory. Enter and take in the aroma, which may lead to some childhood memories. Jot them down quickly in a journal. Play with the words and phrases that bubble up. Then try to use them in a short form like a haiku or sonnet. Or, perhaps they might find their way into a chapter of a novel you are writing. Finally, treat yourself to a bagel, piece of chocolate, or other confection as part of your creative exploration. Eat it slowly to bring out the greatest satisfaction in the event.

Here’s to growing your flow,

Marisa

 

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Grow Flow With More Laughter

Laughter Leads to Greater Creativity

Laughter creates flow.
Striking a silly pose or telling a joke can create a sense of flow through the confidence that follows the laughter

My first formal photo shoot for my company ended in laughter. It was stressful to strike the power poses, looking intellectual and approachable all at the same time. My photographer, the talented Jennifer White of Acacia Studios, remembered that I had an upcoming speech. It was at a women’s club during their annual tea. She rustled up a tea cup and saucer and got me laughing. We ended up using this photo in the promotional materials, because it was fun and authentic and, well, silly.

Jen travels widely for her work. If you are interested in knowing more about her studio, look here:

 https://www.iloveacacia.com/

Learn One Good (Clean) Joke

When our youngest daughter was a preschooler, she entertained my husband and I – and anyone else who would listen – with her favorite joke. And, the groaner went like this: A mushroom walks into a bar. The bartender said, Hey get out of here! The mushroom said, Why? I’m a fungi! And, she always added: Get it, Mommy, a FUN GUY! emphasizing her point with her small hands holding one word, then the other in the air above her head. Fast forward a few decades and she is STILL telling jokes. I think one of the reasons she is successful as a fine artist is due to her playfulness. Want to see more of her paintings and sketches? Look here: https://coloredbycass.com/

Your Turn

How can you lighten up and find pleasure around you? Laughter is often found in the free association of words and images. Try this: find a silly illustration online, in a book, or a magazine. Then, write a limerick around the image.  And, if you are going to share the poem, try to keep it PG-13. The point is to try something funny, then see where the mirth bubbles up. Just go with the flow!

Here’s to growing your flow,

Marisa

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Ash Smudge Reminds Creatives of Their Unique Journey

Find Focus with Ash Smudge

Ash smudges liead to creative flow for some.
Remember the path you are on as a creative. It always leads to rebirth.

Today is Ash Wednesday in Christian churches worldwide. Ashes are distributed at services to literally and figuratively mark the beginning of the Lenten season. This liturgical time marks the six weeks before Easter Sunday. In this tradition, Christ’s suffering, death, and resurrection are remembered, recalled, and, in the end, celebrated. To learn more about the history of Ash Wednesday, look here: http://time.com/4210001/ash-wednesday-ash-forehead/

Creatives, too, have cycles in their growth. We can feel persecuted for our faith in creativity – especially when it is blocked. We may figuratively die from the harsh criticism from others or ourselves. Yet, in the end, we, too, can rise in creative flow.

Remembering the Path

Creatives need to remember that our path is not a linear one. We encounter successful highs, dreadful lows, and winding literary transactions as we proceed with our journeys. Remembering that these paths are supposed to be this way, instead of a one-size-fits-all roads, helps us hit the ground running. Why waste time cursing the curves when we can appreciate that our trips are tailor-made for our creative growth and development?

Your Turn

Take a walk. It doesn’t matter whether it is in snow-covered woods or along a sunny strip of beach. It might be near a busy city street or a manicured residential neighborhood. If you are so inclined, walk to a church, temple, or synagogue to take in a service or to simply look at the architecture, statues, and stained glass. Stroll for 20-30 minutes. Then, return to your journal. Write for at least 15 minutes. Note everything you saw and any symbols that the journey offered. Note what feels like it is dying and what is rising in its place. Just make note of it. The change is happening within you as you become open to the path. Nothing else is needed of you at this time.

Here’s to growing your flow,

Marisa