Hook up with your Creative Buddy

Today is Sunday.

It’s the day for inspiration. Only because I set myself a loose goal or direction to blog every day and Sunday seemed like a good day to write something inspiring. But honestly, it is just a day to DO that thing that has been on your mind. The thing that you have WANTED to do for a long time. Planned on it. Schemed about it. Played it out in your mind over and over. It’s IN you! But it just never feels like the right time to do it “today”—you never have enough time, or focus, or energy, or whatever. Or maybe too many irons in the fire to focus on it like you want to. Or treat is as important as it is in your heart. Because down inside, you know It’s super important. It’s been brewing for years in the back of your mind and dangling in the distance like a glorious carrot that someday you will finally get to sink your teeth into. When the time is right, of course. Oh, and when the stars align. And you know they will…. Someday. Hopefully.

But the years have rolled by. And guilt has started to settle in. Sure, life has been busy and there have been hundreds of important things to do—and they were important! And timely. But you flog yourself for all the moments you COULD have done it, but you lacked the focus or energy or mindset. Or just lost sight of the vision. Sigh…. Eventually you start doubting yourself and wondering, “um… like who do I think I am? OBVIOUSLY I don’t have what it takes or I would have been able to do this by now.” The Critic pipes up and joins in with “Yeah, you tried but you just don’t have what it takes. It’s sad. But hey, you still did a lot of good stuff.”  Sigh….

But your heart aches and knows that there is more. More that you are capable of- more that you have in you, if you could just tap in. You know in your heart there is that thing you were meant to do! That thing that will fill your heart with joy and satisfaction. Hmmm… what IS That Thing?

You might know EXACTLY what it is! You might have every detail imagined and orchestrated- illustrated and defined… OR you might be totally clueless, but you just have that gnaw in your heart for Something.

Wherever you are, close your eyes and SEE yourself doing it. Just THINK about it.

If you know what IT is, imagine you waking up one day and taking the first step, making the first move, doing the first part, and then feeling your heart expand and radiate warmth!

If you are not sure, or don’t know what That Thing is, close your eyes and imagine how you will feel when you step into your VIBE –how you want to feel, what you want to see, where you want to be…. But silence the chatter—remove the people who are naysayers in your mind. Think of where you are. What are your surroundings? What do you hear, smell, feel, see? Begin to piece together the details until the dream comes out of the fog and you can see it. Maybe it will take a while. Just jot down the thoughts and visions you see/feel and do it again tomorrow. The pieces will materialize and like puzzle pieces, will emerge as a picture, getting clearer and clearer.

And that’s it. Just think about it and imagine yourself doing the first step. Success is FIRST achieved in the mind. The first thing. Or finding the first puzzle piece that connects to another. Let yourself THINK about it. Stop all the chatter in the mind that pops up with all the reasons you can’t or won’t or who will not approve or support… Say to yourself, “Creator in me, what do You see?” Because there’s a Creator in all of us! (hey, isn’t that the tagline for CreativeLive?) It’s all true! Tap into that creator and dreamer inside of you and make friends! Realize he (or she) is your buddy! Your creator-buddy, partner in crime, silent partner, secret santa, mini-me, alter-ego, higher power, universe, design partner, confidant, spirit guide, whoever or whatever you want to call them!

Imagine your mind is a room. Perhaps a medium-sized room with four walls and a roof and windows and doors. You and your creative buddy are in the room together. You decide to have a conversation and scheme on ideas. Can you talk? Can you hear each other? What else is going on in there?

When I started this, I found my mind was so full of noise and distractions and people and animals and loud noises and worrisome things—all clamoring for my attention- I couldn’t even hear my creative buddy speak! I purposely envisioned myself opening the doors and kicking them out. Sometimes, I dragged them out kicking and screaming! I opened windows and shoo’d them away like obnoxious crows and slammed the windows shut! I ran around chasing out the dogs and cows and rolled out the tables and computers and stacks of crap to do… chased out the nagging children, the screaming mimis, the cats shitting in the corner…. I yanked the plug on the stereo playing THAT song—OVER AND OVER AND OVER! Aaahhhh, silence! My mind could rest for a minute….

OH- wait—here they come again!! And I would do it over and over until I could maintain some silence and peace and actually hear myself think! Or even hear my creative buddy. He seemed like he had a very soft voice back then. So hard to hear- but it was probably more a matter of me learning to hear. Just like a momma can hear the tiniest squeak of a baby in another room. It’s just a matter of learning what it sounds like, and tuning in.

Take the time now to silence the ruckus in your mind. Imagine yourself clearing out the room. Sit in the center with your creative buddy and rest. Enjoy the quiet. Imagine it. Are you sitting on the floor? Perhaps on a beautiful rug? A puffy couch? Sitting in director chairs or swinging in swings?