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TGIF – Thank God, It’s Friday (and Flow)

Cliché Finds Flow on Friday

Grow flow on Friday with gratitude.

Congratulations, you’ve made it to Friday. And, at the workweek’s end, there is time to find flow. But, where do you go to find flow? First, realize that flow can happen anywhere at anytime? Need proof? Look at this week’s post on finding flow in a card and party goods store. Simply click right here: https://wewriteitright.com/visit-flow-in-a-party-goods-shop/

How Gratitude Leads the Way

Use grateful eyes to take in the world around you. Then, instead of planning to hit the bars and clubs when the clock strikes 5:00 PM, other options present themselves. Why not tour a museum? Or, take a walk through a park? Or, head home and spend an hour working on a poem, and essay, or a blog post. When you are grateful for the transportation home – even if it happens to be your own two feet – then that is enough.

Your Turn

Think back to grammar school, junior high, or middle school. Think about the electives that you took that helped round out your schedule. Did you take dance or music classes? Intramurals? Or, perhaps, like me, you did candle making. Whatever it might be, try to reunite your lost teen with your adult self. Take time to write, dance, sing, paint, or play with your Etch-a-Sketch!  You’ll be glad you did!

Here’s to growing your flow,

Marisa

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Bloom Where Planted for Flow

Find Flow: Prepare to Bloom

Bloom Where planted to create more work.
Bloom where you’re planted to grow your flow.

Sometimes the easiest way to find flow is preparing to bloom. This past month the Grow Your Flow blog has focused on finding self-care routines to nourish our creative souls. Getting ready for new growth works in the simplest ways. First, we care for our physical bodies. We eat nutritious foods. We move our bodies in pleasing ways – like dance or swimming. And, we learn how to deeply relax in places like a yoga mat or a hot salt bath. Next, we care for our feelings. We give ourselves permission to cry, to vent, or to sulk to get over a sticky or harsh situation. Finally, we rejuvenate our minds with exposure to the arts, including childhood crafts, gallery tours, and the like. Then, just as pods are shaken and blown, our creativity goes to seed. We come to a place where we need to honor the stillness that comes pre-project.

Resting in the Soil

Resting in the soil means having the patience to germinate, grow, and bloom where planted. Also, it means putting forth consistent enthusiasm to a creative endeavor. During her recent Oscar award speech for Best Song of the Year for Shallow from A Star is Born, Lady Gaga nailed why it is important to show up passionately to work each day. She said: …All I have to say is this is hard work. I have worked hard for a long time, and it is not about winning but it’s about not giving up….

Your Turn

How do you show up for your creative work? Take out your journal? Set a timer for 15 minutes and write about how you prepare to succeed each day. Do you have a routine you follow? When working on a book, do you have a daily word count you must achieve before you stop writing? If you are an artist, do you require yourself to warm up in a sketchbook? Need a routine? Then, list the names of some people in your field and ask them how they prepare to succeed each day. Give one of them a try!

Here’s to growing your flow,

Marisa

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Music’s Rhythm Rolls in Flow

Roll with Music’s Rhythm for Flow

The Rhythm is gonna get'cha!
Take a music break to find flow through rhythm.

Music’s rhythm is a great self-help tool. Creatives can easily put it into practice. The spontaneous drum beat, rattle shake, or chime ping finds flow. How? There are a few reasons. First, movement is forward reaching. Each sound created resonates into the future. Next, the strumming, tapping, or jiggling is a pleasurable physical sensation. The action moves us outside the current situation. And, the rhythm is comforting. Finally, music and other art forms re-enforce the experience. Bongos patted during an enhanced poetry reading is an example.  A synergy heightens both the drummer and the poet. And, that interaction influences anyone listening in a positive way, too.

The Sound of Music

Having assorted instruments in an office makes it easy to take a music break. Then, when tension builds over a looming deadline, a few minutes spent plucking a juice harp can help. And, of course, a guitar or miniature xylophone, or even the soothing sound of a metronome, can do the trick. The point is to find sounds that feel reassuring. Or, satisfying, to listen to or create.

Your Turn

Over the weekend, take time to dig out your harmonica. Or, find the bugle that is in the attic from marching band in high school. Polish up the instrument. Need to buy one? Look at thrift stores or music shops for used triangles, tambourines, or other small-scale instruments. Put them on a shelf in your office. There they will be at the ready for a spontaneous jam session. Work out any block with ease. Realize that the music literally lifts your vibration internally and externally.  As Gloria Estefan and The Miami Sound Machine reminds us: No way, you can fight it every day/ But no matter what you say/ You know it the rhythm is gonna get’cha…. Want the whole song? Click here to watch after the ad: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-INTCDod2TA

Here’s to growing your flow,

Marisa

 

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Grow Flow With Random Acts of Kindness

Practice the magic of kindness to grow flow.
Kindness comes in a lot of forms. Why not extend the power to help transform someone’s life beyond Valentine’s Day with some magic of your own?

Kindness Creates Space for  Flow

Kindness creates space for flow in a number of ways. First, it makes us feel good to help others. Next, kindness is contagious. It causes a ripple to go from a recipient to recipient. So, we may think we are only helping one person, but in reality the chain reaction goes far beyond anything we can imagine. Finally, performing random acts of kindness (RAKs) enables us to practice being conduits of flow. The more we give without expectation, the more we are open to receive.

Care Moves Beyond Valentine’s Day

In her new book, It’s Not Your Money: How to Live Fully from Diving Abundance, Tosha Silver discusses becoming a source of kindness. She writes: You have to want to let God use you to give. You have to want to be part of the Flow, not only financially, but in every way. There are many ways to give. In turn, it allows us to receive in countless ways, too. Flow is a major theme of all of Silver’s books, seminars, and teachings. To learn more about her offerings, see her website: https://toshasilver.com/

As a former Girl Scout leader, I had the troops craft and deliver valentines to the folks at the Soldiers and Sailors Home where we lived. The veterans were so touched that these youngsters would make them cards and spend time chatting with them. Then, the girls voted to expand the card making and delivery project to include Veteran’s Day, too. The supplies for the craft were simple. And, so were the messages, including Happy Valentine’s Day!  and Thank you for serving! 

Your Turn

Take a clue from Glinda, the Good Witch of the North in the Land of Oz. Get out your (invisible) magic wand and create kindness wherever you go. Find ways to ensure others of their own talents, gifts, and/or goodness. Call or visit an elderly relative. Share a plate of cookies – or a box of Girl Scout Trefoils – with a new neighbor. Let someone go ahead of you in line at the grocery store. Hold the door open for a mother with young children. You get the idea. Go for the Girl Scout motto: Turn a good dead daily! And, then for a moment feel the warm sense of flow that floods your heart. At the end of the day, take 15 minutes to journal about the experience. Consider some of these questions as you write:  Who did you help? How did they react to your kindness? When will you take time to do RAKs again? Hopefully soon!

Here’s to growing your flow,

Marisa

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Early Morning Walk Boosts Flow

Early morning walks increase flow.
Here comes the sun. Take a walk with that Beatle tune to grow flow at dawn.

Encounter Flow with Walk at Dawn

Taking a morning walk is part of my daily self-care routine. Wailing helps me to focus. First, it improves my attention on my surroundings. Then, the joy I find spills over into what I am trying to achieve with business, which includes much writing. Finally, it helps me process my life in general. Moreover, I look to experts on creativity for a continual source of inspiration. Let’s take a look at two of them below.

How Experts Walk Towards Creativity

Creativity expert, Julia Cameron’s diamond-like fire is found in her creativity. Her brilliance flares in her work. She is a playwright, poet, movie critic, composer, and fiction writer. Furthermore, she a forerunner in creative awakening. One of the tools of The Artist Way, a self-paced or group 12-week course created by Cameron, is a daily morning walk. Cameron believes that walking is half of a communication set. First, she advises her readers and students to write three stream-of-conscious pages by hand. She coined the practice, Morning Pages.  Then, she says to take the walk. Here’s why: The first asks questions or renders prayers to God. Then, the other allows us to receive directions and flashes of insight, she explains in The Artist Way. Cameron appeared yesterday in The New York Times. There she discussed her take on living a creative life. See the article here: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/02/style/julia-cameron-the-artists-way.html

Another expert on creativity is my friend, Kelly Dumar. She, like Cameron, is a multi-facet jewel of a literary artist. She’s a playwright, fiction writer, author, poet, lecturer, and creative workshop leader. And, a fine and caring friend. She frequently encourages me and many others to write daily. In her daily blog, #NewThisDay Writing from my Photo Stream Daily Blog, Kelly gives her readers ponderings of family life, travel, and work through the prism of her nature photography. These photos are shot during her morning walks – often with her faithful dogs, Charlie and Suzi. She leads a full and busy schedule, which is anchored in her ritual of early morning walks. To see more of her intriguing work and learn about her workshop schedule, look here: http://www.kellydumar.com/blog

Your Turn

Make a commitment to walk this week. Whether it is first thing in the morning, as recommended above, or at different times of the day. Try a variety of routes. If you need inspiration to get started, see this week’s blog posts for cityscapes, beach strolls, and walks in the woods. You never know what you might find when you actively seek creative flow.

Here’s to growing your flow,

Marisa