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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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Tears: Self-Care Tool Most Avoid

Self-Care Through Tears

Dogs lead with compassion.
Dogs help us to remember that there is always room for kindness.

Sometimes self-care is something we avoid, because it involves tears. And, many folks perceive a good cry and as weakness. If anything at all, tears are a sign of surrender. First, they allow bottled up emotions to find a safe escape route. Second, they help us realign with our inner-strength. Finally, tears help us to move beyond keeping up appearances to make others feel comfortable when a good cry is needed. For these – and so many other reasons – tears are an under-appreciated self-help tool.

Surrendering to Present Emotions

Tears sting. Why? Because they remind us that pain has found a way to escape our hearts through a cry. And, just like others, I try to avoid crying at all costs. Yet, I find myself surrendering to tears more and more as situations warrant them. For example, my dear 14-year old dog, Savannah, is winding down. She has late-stage kidney failure, which was diagnosed over a year ago. While she has been taking a bite or two of food and a few sips of water over the last week, she has lost her zest for life. Sleep, rest, and recovery from the simplest walk outside to relieve herself, consume her days.

She has struggled more lately with keeping her balance as she moves.  As a result, she fell into the deep end of our swimming pool. Luckily, my husband rushed to lift her doing the doggy paddle, wet and shaking, onto the walkway at water’s edge. Soaked, she shook it off as her instincts dictate. Later, sitting on the floor of my office, I read to Savannah from Margaret Atwood’s book of poetry called, The Door. And, when I got to Dutiful‘s second stanza, my voice snagged in my throat and tears flowed as I read: Still, why do I feel so responsible/ for the wailing from shattered houses,/ for birth defects and unjust wars,/  and the soft, unbearable sadness/ filtering down from distant stars? And, yes, for the poolside mishaps of my aging, furry friend, too.

Your Turn

Open your journal and free-write for 15 minutes on any unresolved issue that causes pain. And, by pain I mean anything that hurts emotionally, mentally, physically, or spiritually. If a mix of the four tumbles out of your pen, then that is fine. Reread what you wrote. Make time in your week to give yourself the room and space to cry. You can tap into them in a variety of ways. Look through an old photo album or in your cell’s photo stream. Watch a sentimental movie, like My Dog Skip. Listen to some soulful music, or, like me, read some poetry aloud. Then, write in your journal about how that felt, too.

Here’s to gently growing your flow,

Marisa Moks-Unger

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Walk on Wild Side for Flow

Groove Into Flow with Wild Whirl

Who doesn’t want to take a mid-week walk, maybe after work, on the Wild Side? And not the Lou Reed Wild Side. But a trip to a part of town where there are abundant ethnic restaurants, vintage clothing shops, and a yoga studio or two, can be a fun way to find flow.

Wild Side inspires flow.
Wow! You never know what you will find in an after work stroll on the Wild Side.

Look for the Advant-Garde

Be on the look out for new, unusual, or experimental ideas in bohemian neighborhoods. For example, vintage clothing stores are great places to consider storylines, develop characters, and define settings. Just going through the racks of dresses, which are usually grouped by color, can give you inspiration for new complications. Where else would you see a sleek silk scarlet gown with a mandarin collar next to a red with white polka dot Minnie Mouse-inspired number? If you are in Ybor City near Tampa, check out La France, which is chocked full of inspirational clothes and accessories. See their page on Facebook, here: https://www.facebook.com/lafranceybor/

I stayed a summer in New York’s Lower East Side. Wrote my first chapbook of poems in a four-story walk up on Clinton St. right off the Williamsburg Bridge. The restaurants alone became backdrops for poems, as did my first experience using the Chinese laundry around the corner. But you do not need to travel to New York to find flow. Keeping your eyes open for the cool yoga and dance studios, the pet shop, or the candy store in your town can drift you to flow, too.

Your Turn

Take time today to check out the record shop or the old-fashioned five-and-dime you’ve been meaning to encounter. Linger over the stacks in an old bookstore. Let the environment speak to the ear of your heart and whisper inspiration to you at every turn. But, most of all, have fun. You will go back to work energized from taking it all in.

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