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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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Gratitude Gently Grows Creative Flow

Creative Flow Grows From Gratitude

Gratitude increases flow.
Gratitude is an attitude that when practiced daily can grow creative flow even in harsh conditions.

Gratitude is a shift in attitude. It helps any situation become more bearable. How? First, gratitude helps us realize that there are silver linings within all situations. Also, gratitude makes what little good that is present seem to be enough. Finally, gratitude is a mind shift that not only helps ourselves, but anyone we interact with once we make the shift.

Take this heart I found on a sidewalk in New York City. It radiates warmth, care, and concern. Maybe the warmth came from the pink chalk? And, perhaps the care came from the symmetry of the rays coming from the heart? While I did not meet the artist, I did sense a sending out of these good pink heart vibes of concern for all passing.

The Art of Counting Blessings

Simply naming or listing the things we have going for us grows flow with gratitude. As the saying goes, it is better to light a candle than curse the dark. This intentional listing helps us move from a place of scarcity to abundance. Start with the basics creatives have: shelter, food, and clothing. Expand with the contacts, both personal and professional, experience, including education, and inspiration gleaned from it all. Finally, list the silver lining to the situation. Maybe wanting studio space is out of the question right now. The basement or garage provide adequate room to create. And, money is saved until the time comes to move into a studio. If that times arrives at all.

Your Turn

Take out your journal. List 10 situations that do not seem to be going your way. Choose one. Then, for 15 minutes brainstorm all the ways you can flip that situation. For example, if you think you need a studio to produce artwork, then rethink in your journal. Perhaps the kitchen table could be used a few times a week? Perhaps you live in a climate where you could set up outside. (If not currently, then when Spring arrives.) Describe to yourself on paper what an ideal studio looks like. Then, create a list of items you have and add a note to buy things you might need. Once the focus is turned towards what can be, then possibilities begin to arrive. Follow those leads. Be open to creating wherever you are.

Here’s to growing your flow,

Marisa

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Find Flow in Novel and New Approaches

Creative Approaches Enhance Flow

Liquid moonlight is used in a novel and new approach.
When liquid moonlight becomes a metaphor to inspire blog posts and collage, it is something novel and new.

Here’s to 2019 and novel and new ways to approach topics. Moreover, this new year rings in my use of a keyword or phrase for the year. They replace resolutions, because it is easier to focus on a single word or phrase than a laundry lists of musts. shoulds, and oughts. My words are within the title of this blog: grow flow. I like the sing-song rhyming of it. Reminds me of fun terms like flip-flops, chopsticks, and splish-splash. Choose any word or phrase to grow flow. Afterwards, look for approaches with these three steps. First, see the ordinary as extraordinary. Next, squeeze metaphors for more meaning. Finally, notice how these fresh takes create momentum.

Want more information on choosing a word or phrase? Here is a great article by Inc. columnist, Gretchen Ruben: https://www.inc.com/gretchen-rubin/a-fun-take-on-new-years-resolutions-choose-a-one-word-theme-for-2016.html

See the Ordinary as Extraordinary

Gain flow by noticing nature. For example, this morning I saw the crescent moon had a brilliant Jupiter near its edge. They blurred to become a jewel encrusted handle tilted to pour the fluid moonlight from the celestial cup.

Novel and new insight helps writers grow flow.
Flow is grown when we see the ordinary and treat it in novel and new ways.

Metaphors Bring Out the Subtext

I’m pretty sure Savannah, my elderly Aussie cattledog, did not care about this beautiful metaphor at 5:45am. Yet, I soaked my soul in the streaming image. It went from being a simple cup with a jewel handle to a chalice. The spiritual succor nourished me.  

Fresh Takes Create Momentum

Later in the morning, I began using the images in a mixed media collage. The images literally jumped from the sky onto my page. All that’s needed is a fresh take –  in this case within a collage – on the beauty of nature.

Bring It Together

Colaage of combined images of Jupiter and the Moon.
Combined images give a rush of fresh meaning when they are interpreted in mixed media using champagne foil wrap, Golden Book and magazine images, and a poem from William Carlos Williams, “The Winter Trees”.

Here’s to the first few days of 2019. Find flow in seeing the meanings in combined images. Move to a deeper meaning while consciously taking in the images as a metaphor. Finally, let the authenticity of the images bring greater creative growth in any professional or personal project. May the rewards be stunning!

Interested in learning more about using collage with journal writing to spark creativity? Look into the upcoming four-week online workshop beginning next week with my friend, Suzi Banks Baum. Look here for details: https://www.iwwg.org/online-digital-village/

Here’s to growing your flow,

Marisa

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Receptive Nature of Flow

Find Flow By Being Receptive to Intuition

Learning receptive writing practices can naturally lead to flow. Experimenting with a form of lectio divina, or divine reading, can help build an appreciation for the weight and power of words. The ancient art form is gleaned from holy scriptures or writings by saints. Let’s take that practice for the month of November, and give it a modern twist. All words are sacred utterances. The use of common words as transmitters of inspiration is a way to play along with divinely lead inspiration.

Where to Begin

Two days before I began this take on the Grow Your Flow blog, I took the practice for a test drive. I used my mother-in-law’s Random House  Dictionary of American Language and opened it randomly with eyes closed. I placed my fingertip on one of the pages. It landed on the word, supple. The idea of being pliant and yielding appealed to me. Don’t break or snap. Remain supple. That was the message that came to me as I wrote in my journal. Also, supple has the prefix sup- in it that sounded like street talk from my former high school students: Sup, Ms. M.? The prefix reminded me of other words that begin with those letters like support, suppose, and supersede.

Then, yesterday, I tried the practice again. Opened the book with eyes closed, and placed my finger on – nothing. As I opened my eyes I saw an empty half-page of the words beginning with E. I chuckled to myself. It was Halloween and that word and its spiritual denotations and connotations needed no embellishment. It stood solidly all on it’s own. It shimmers on its own, seemed to be the message.

Fast-forward to this morning in the pre-dawn hours when I again went to the dictionary for guidance. Receptivity was were my finger landed. The message seemed very clear to me: Are you ready to follow? Yes, I am willing to quickly receive knowledge and ideas. I am willing to have a receptive mind.

What to Observe Along the Way

November is associated with gratitude and the holiday of Thanksgiving. It has been overshadowed by the commercial overthrow of the Christmas season, but still exists on the fourth Thursday each year. I am receptive to being grateful for this new practice. I am curious to find out what messages will come up with each word every day. I will be sharing the word and its message with you in the Grow Your Flow blog.

Your Turn

Might you want to try you hand – yes, the pun is intended – at this practice? Give it a go and let me know how it works for you. The gratitude that exudes from this practice is palpable. Words carry weight and power. Seek to find the words you need to guide your creativity to the next level.

Here’s to growing your flow,

Marisa