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Windows & Doors Open to Flow

For Flow, Crack Open Windows and Doors

When a door closes, look for an open window for your flow.

Remember in The Sound of Music when Maria says: When the Lord closes a door, somewhere he opens a window? That can be said for our intuition, too. Our flow grows where our focused energy goes. This makes sense for a few reasons. For example, we may not feel like we are growing in business, because a door is closed and we are waiting for it to re-open. Or, we may thinking that all the exits are blocked and feel scared. Let’s consider it below.

Which Ones are Stuck Shut?

With 800,000 federal worker told that they will head back to work – temporarily – people are concerned with jobs, paychecks that may or may not stop and start again, and bills. Career doors can slam shut. For freelancers, sometimes clients pay in a halting fashion – or not at all. Sometimes people are there for you and other times, not so much. Figuring out which doors and windows are stuck is important. Why? Because when you can pinpoint he problem, then you find answers.

Where’s the WD-40?

The late motivational speaker, Loise Hay, had a mantra she taught anyone with ears to listen: Out of this situation only good will come! Having a positive mindset helps us appreciation the truth in the matter of the closed doors and sticking windows. Better not to curse the jam, but to thank whoever invented WD-40. By looking for solutions, they do indeed seem to appear more quickly. And, with them, flow.

Your Turn

Take out your journal. Set the timer for 15 minutes and think of all the ways you are procrastinating when it comes to creating content?  Also, jot down people or activities who keeping you from your energy. Next, list the possible solutions to these energy jams. Take time to open windows and doors by adjusting what you are doing and who you spend your time with to improve your flow. In doing so, you begin to see openings where there previously were none.

Here’s to growing your flow,

Marisa

 

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Sometimes Go with No to Flow

Just Say No to Go with Flow

Sometimes you just need to say “No!” to get flow growing. Most of us think that muscling our way into the next project or chapter or grant proposal writing section is the way to go. But when we stop resisting the negativity of a situation, then we can find our point of re-entry quicker. It seriously beats digging heels in and fighting the set back with more hard work.

Sometimes you just need to say no to go to flow!

Refrain from Resisting the No to Flow

Refraining from fighting the desire to let go of a project – if only temporarily – to find flow is wise for a few reasons. First,, the struggle to create when the fuel tanks are empty just causes a grind. Second, most projects can be put off a day or two, or even an hour, for a walk outside or around the block. Breathing fresh air is important to the thought process. Third, recognizing that there’s a need to take some free time to doodle or color a page in an adult coloring book can help get creativity back on track. What our brains need at this point is permission to rest. Looking for a fun way mandala book with attitude? Try Ugh, I Can’t Even by Papeterie Bleu. Get ordering information at http://www.papeteriebleu.com/

Point of Re-Entry Opens with Rest

How does anybody rest when under deadline? The same way expectant mothers rest between contractions. They breathe. They distract themselves with a hand massage. My favorite way to rest when performance is needing to be sustained is to take five minutes and do the Relax app on my Fitbit. When really pressed for time, I do the two minute version. Then, when I begin to write again, I feel more grounded to complete a project. Sometimes it really is worthwhile to go to no for flow.

Here’s to growing your flow,

Marisa

 

 

 

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TinMan’s Gratitude Grows Flow

Register Emotion with TinMan’s Flow

TinMan is literally rusted in place when we meet him along the Yellow Brick Road. He knows he needs help, but is literally and figuratively stuck in place until help arrives. And arrives it does in the form of two travelers going to Oz with problems of their own. Haven’t we all had a sense of grinding writer’s block that seems to freeze us in anger, fear, or resentment?

Want to grow your flow? Take a cue from the TinMan, who used appreciation to lead to flow.

Grab the Oil Can of Helpers

Just like us, Dorothy and Scarecrow are vulnerable. TinMan is no exception. They find  him rusted shut. Yet, TinMan is tenacious in his quest to speak and repeats, “Oil Can!”, in muffled speech until the Scarecrow recognizes the TimMan’s need for oiled joints. Upon application of the oil, TinMan is grateful to be moving again. He may be creaky, but his radiant smile shows his gratitude to his peers as he links arms with Dorothy and Scarecrow and dances down the road. In a sense, we all have had experiences like TinMan. We stay stuck until we find a critique group or writing mentor or online workshops to help move us forward on our creative trail. It all begins with the willingness to ask for assistance along the path. One great resource is found in the International Women’s Writing Guild’s Digital Village. Learn more about the Digital Village here: https://www.iwwg.org/digital-village/

Risk Heartbreak for Experience

In the last scene shot in Oz, Dorothy, her friends, and Glinda are all on the platform where Professor Marvel’s balloon has just launched. Glinda lets Dorothy know Kansas is as close as a few clicks of her heels. She begins her tearful goodbyes. As she hugs TinMan, he exhibits a flow of painful emotion, which most of us would call grief. Now I know I have a heart, cause its breaking. Dorothy hands him back his oil can so he won’t rust up again. In doing so, we know he and his friends will go on with their duties in Oz. He has come a long way from his frozen state to one of deep flow. My how he’s grown for the better.

Your Turn

Who can you ask for help in a writing project – or in any life matter – to regain your forward momentum of flow? Take out your journal and list friends and family who would be willing to lend a hand. Then, risk the awkwardness to write on the subject of your choice once again. You need not share the early work with anyone. Simply write to get back into flow.

Here’s to growing your flow,

Marisa

 

 

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Three Ways to Bust Writer’s Block

Writer’s Block Breaks When Viewed as Gift

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Writer’s block. It seems to hit at the very worst time.  During a deadline with a new client. During an mid-afternoon work session that needs to be completed by the close of the business day. During a project that can make or break career advancement. Writer’s block can feel and look like paralysis. Nothing gets written, but a lot of paper gets balled up as quickly as the stomach knots set in to contort the sufferer. Seen as a malaise, writer’s block will deliver a double-punch to both the ego and the brain. But seen as a gift? Is that even possible? Yes, observed as a gift, writer’s block can accelerate the business of writing. Try the following strategies to get the flow back to any project. ASAP!

First, consider sculpting. An artist chisels away a bit at a time to come up with breathtaking busts of figures that are withing the rock. A few years ago when I was experiencing writer’s block, a friend of mine, Linda Leedy Schneider, a poet and psychotherapist, recommended brevity. “Try writing in 15 minute sessions,” she suggested. Worked like a charm! Why? After the first session is over, a second or a third can be added. And as the words that were so painfully slow to come melt through the warming of confidence, so does the writer’s block. Sheer and brief movement is the gift that gets passed the block.

Second, write with the audience in mind. When an assignment gets personal and that person or group can be visualized, words seem to begin to flow. Want to stay stuck? Consider writing as a struggle – uncomfortable and painful – and that is exactly what will stick to each and every syllable that is keyed on a page. Consider the audience’s needs, wants, desires and get those items answered in as few words as possible. As another friend, author, Mel Ryane, has told me and others in her “From the Page to the Podium” workshops, “It is never, ever, about you!” The delivery of a speech has the same requirement as a piece of writing: remember that the audience is the focus. And there is no room there for a whiny writer. The gift here is a fresh perspective, which goes beyond the self as a writer.

Finally, write with authority to crush writer’s block. Write as quickly as possible to get the main idea out. Forget about spelling, punctuation, grammar rules and the like. That is what the editing and proofreading stages are intended to catch. Exude confidence, even if it feels odd. The projection of success will be found in the gift of words that multiply and spill onto the screen.

Now, time to start picking up those nasty paper balls all over the desk and toss them away!