January 14, 2019 By Marisa Moks-Unger

Sow Flow: Visit Antique Shop

Enter Treasure House to Sow Flow

Open heart, open mind. — Sometimes the best way to prepare to plant is to be open to receiving inspriation from the Divine Gardener.

Want to sow more flow in the new year? There is a surefire way. Visit an antique dealer, thrift store, or junk shop. While this post discusses a recent trip to one treasure house, inspiration abounds at any such venue for a number of reasons. First, entering such an adventure opens our creative souls to the Source, who I like to call the Divine Gardener. Second, when we are open to our creativity, we collect more seeds or ideas to plant. Third, we prepare our projects lovingly when we sow with safety in mind. Recently, I took a trip through an antique mall, which is appropriately called, Treasure House. Visiting Central Florida in the near future? Check out the Facebook page to learn more about Diego and Susan Barriero’s rambling antique hive at: https://www.facebook.com/treasurehouseone/

Receive Inspiration from Divine Gardener

Having the desire to go on a hunt for story leads is one way to contact the Divine Gardener. All any of us creatives need to do is to be open to receiving the inspiration handed to us. I find that I have the best connection with this experience when I go into a shop with absolutely no expectations. I trust that the Divine Gardener will provide the seeds – the experiences linked by intuition – for any future project. And, then, just without the strain of needing to find things to write that’ll sell – the perfect objects appear. Often, they’re reminders to be patient enough to wait. Then, to receive that which is in need of the right soil to grow.

Start with Many Seeds to Add Variety

Make sure you have a variety of seeds for a variety of work.

When we are open to ideas, they pour forth through the odd associations in the objects’ placements. Look for the metaphor and it will lead you to the free-wheeling beginnings for poems, plays, flash-fiction pieces, and more. Notice that as I moved throughout the Treasure House that the objects simply appeared to me in the order I needed. They were in three separate areas that were interconnected. I delight in the Divine Gardener’s ease.

And, the One pouring out these leads, ideas, and connections has more than any of us could use. We just need to continue to trust the flow as it grows. One image – one inspired seed – at a time.

Cold Frame Safety for New Projects

Start from seed and watch your flow grow. — What could you grow if you gave it a beautiful shelter?

What if we gave our new projects the same care that the Divine Gardener does? First, use extremes-in-temperature protection . Have a planned daily writing schedule. Avoided on-going heated writing streaks. Or, the opposite dry seasons we will upon a seed. It happens when we lack trust in our own words. Next, avoid sentimentality. Too much emotion will kill a project. In other words, let the Divine Gardener tend to the impact the words carry. Simply get the message down. Finally, give the project streaming light. Perhaps, as I learned in the Advent Dark Journal journey I recently took with Suzi Bank Baum, a blessing or prayer before working on the project is in order? As Suzi suggested recently, maybe saying Thank you, seeds! is all that’s needed. Curious about Suzi’s multi-discipline approach? See more at https://www.suzibanksbaum.com/

Your Turn to Grow Your Flow

Take out your calendar. Mark off an adventure to an antique dealer, thrift store, or junk shop. Look for associations with the items that catch your eye. Click a few photos. Say a little prayer. Then, get to work writing the words that the Divine Gardener planted within you during the experience. Next, help them sprout by tending to them daily. Finally, tenderly shelter those words as they continue their journey.

Here’s to growing your flow in 2019 and beyond,

Marisa

About Marisa Moks-Unger

"Grow Your Flow" is a creativity blog by Marisa Moks-Unger, who has over 20 years of professional writing experience. If you enjoyed this post, please share on your Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or Instagram accounts.

Scrabble Words for Flow

Create a Word Bank from Scrabble

Word Lists from Scrabble — First play the game, then get writing from your curated word list.

Sunday afternoons find my husband, mother-in-law, and I playing Scrabble. This ritual helps us to pass the time during the pandemic. The games usually run one to two hours. We have taken these games to a new level by anticipating them each week, then carefully crafting our word choices. It helps that all three of us are avid readers and come up with a variety of interesting diction.

Also, the game gets my mother-in-law’s mind off of the local paper’s with its teeming death notices of Covid-19 victims – most from local residential living facilities. And, she is now interested in the fact that I am using these word lists to write from professionally.

Next, free write for a few. Make a list of the words developed during the game. Then use the list as a springboard to write a creative piece using as many of the words as possible. Play with long and short lines. Add some rhymes. Look for alliteration. Give yourself about 10 minutes. See what images appear.

Then, select a genre or two to carry through. As a theme arises from the free write of the word list, follow the lead. Perhaps a poem rises up. Or, a one-act play. Or, both! Choose one genre knowing that you can come back and create more works from any single topic.

Now, it’s your turn! If you have a Scrabble game somewhere hidden in a hall closet, it is time to get it out and try your hand at this writing tactic. It employs procrastination by allowing you to blow off writing at first by playing a game. Then, you are rewarded for the time you invested in the game by writing a piece from the words you and others generated.

Here’s to growing your flow,

Marisa

TGIFF – Thank God It’s Friday Flow

Cliché Finds Flow on Friday

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 past 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 during these times of pandemic. Why not take a virtual tour a museum? Or, take a walk or bike ride through a park? Or, spend an hour working on a poem, and essay, or a blog post. When you are grateful for the options you have – even if you are working from home amid shutdowns – then that is enough.

Your Turn

Playtime creates greater flow. — Spirographs, Etch-a-Sketch, and Slinkys are just a few ways to re-enter flow through playtime. What was your favorite activity as a child? When was the last time you tried it as an adult?

Think back to grade 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? Weight training? 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 Spirograph! You’ll be glad you did!

Here’s to growing your flow,

Marisa

Enter Treasure House to Sow Flow

Receive Inspiration from Divine Gardener

Start with Many Seeds to Add Variety

Cold Frame Safety for New Projects

Your Turn to Grow Your Flow

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About Marisa Moks-Unger