by Naomi | Jan 17, 2017 | Creative Life
Creativity often shows up at the intersection of various thoughts. Here are three on the importance of rhythm … what do they spark for you?
“To live is to be musical, starting with the blood dancing in your veins. Everything living has a rhythm. Do you feel your music?”
― Michael Jackson
“Comedy isn’t necessarily all dialogue. Think of Buster Keaton: the poker face and all this chaos going on all around him. Sometimes it’s a question of timing, of the proper rhythm.”
― Clint Eastwood
“If you have pendulum clocks on the wall and start them all at different times, after a while the pendulums will all swing in synchronicity. The same thing happens with heart cells in a Petri dish: They start beating in rhythm even when they’re not touching one another.”
― Bruce Lipton
by Naomi | Jan 3, 2017 | Creative Life
I hope you took some time off over the holidays. While you were off, I hope you took time to play. And if you’re now back, I hope you’ll continue to carve out space for joy-filled moments.
The thing is, even when we’re on vacation, play doesn’t simply happen.
In order to play, we must say YES. You’d think this would be an easy thing to do, but … well, we all know how quickly “no” springs to our lips.
Dave, Turley and I had a wonderful break. We all love the snow, and spent a good part of a couple days stomping around in snow-shoes. Turley has snow-boots and socks, which mysteriously are the only thing that will keep the shoes on his paws … no one knows why. Still, we’re grateful we found a solution to the painful ice-balls that develop on his paws otherwise.
Even while snowshoeing, it was tempting to take myself way too seriously.
Snowshoeing is supposed to be a workout, right? But on the third day out, we decided to stop for a minute and create a snowman. The snow wasn’t at all right for snowman-making, but we didn’t let that stop us. The challenge made it all the more fun. Plus, we got creative about our snowman … my favorite part were the antennae.
You may have read that I’m launching a new mastermind this year called The Journey Project.
I truly hope you’ll join us. Why? Because I know that if we’re intentional, we can have a joy-filled year AND we can accomplish meaningful work. What if 2017 was the year that you never answered the question, “How are you?” with “I’m so busy!” What if instead, stories of memorable moments bubbled out of you? It’s all about the frame you put on your year.
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by Naomi | Dec 22, 2016 | Creative Life
When I was a little girl, I made most of my Christmas gifts for others. My mom had a sheep collection–ornaments, knick-knacks, and everything in between. One year, I decided to add a new sheep to her collection. What could be easier? A little paper mache, some paint, and wha-la! I busied myself with glue and paper and created the cutest little sheep. I waited for him to dry, excited to add the final details. But then, I noticed an odd smell. Every day, the smell grew worse, until the stink filled my closet. It took a while for the penny to drop, but finally I remembered that when we’d made paper mache in school, we’d used a balloon and a thin layer of paper and glue. Inside my sheep was a wad of paper soaked in paper mache … the smell was my sheep rotting from the inside out.
More than any of the other presents I’d made, I’d been looking forward to giving the sheep to my mom. Now, what should I do? Should I toss out the stinky sheep? If I did, what would I replace him with?
In the end, I wrapped him up and put him under the tree. Yes, I did. I was hoping for a Christmas miracle, I suppose. I hoped his insides would finally dry and the stink would magically disappear. No such luck. We still laugh about the look on my mom’s face when she pulled that rotting sheep out of the tissue paper.
But the snort-hiccuping full body laughter that followed the unwrapping of the sheep did feel like a miracle. I did not create a work-of-art sheep. But, somehow even in my failure, I created the space for our hearts to connect.
My wish for you is that you experience a Christmas miracle of your own. Maybe it will be a fail, or it may be a win … or something in-between. But, it’s funny how failure sometimes offers the best kinds of surprises, the kind we can’t plan for, the kind that help us truly connect with each other.
And speaking of connection, I want to thank you for being such a special part of my year. I look forward to sitting down to write to you, my heart to yours. Thank you for reading, for giving me reason to write, for all that you create in the world.
Lots of love to you. See you in the New Year.
by Naomi | Dec 19, 2016 | Creative Life
Creativity often shows up at the intersection of various thoughts. Here are three to ponder … what do they spark for you?
“From this point forth, we shall be leaving the firm foundation of fact and journeying together through the murky marshes of memory into thickets of wildest guesswork.”
― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
“What a wonderful life I’ve had! I only wish I’d realized it sooner.”
―Colette
“Study the past if you would define the future.”
― Confucius
I love all of these thoughts because they cause me to give myself permission to be firmly planted right where I am on the journey … rather than rushing ahead to whatever is next. Speaking of, I’m offering a special opportunity that’s all about journeying with a close-knit community next year. If you’re longing for a rich and meaningful year next year, consider joining us!
by Naomi | Dec 15, 2016 | Creative Life
Yesterday, I turned on the Christmas tree lights, lit the candles and curled up on the couch for what has become one of my favorite activities of each year.
I don’t call it goal-setting anymore, though when the tradition began, that’s probably how I would have labeled the process. Now, I think of it as my Journey Project. This simple, meaningful project gives structure to my year in the way that goals might, but it is heart-centered rather than perfection-centered. Rather than being a laundry list of gold stars I hope to achieve, the Journey Project situates me as a character heading out on a journey, taking on some important challenges.
Here’s why goal-setting wasn’t working for me.
Maybe this happens for you, too. When you set a goal, you aim at an achievement. You become so focused on this destination that you don’t see the value of the steps between. You’re a hiker aiming for view at the top of the mountain, barely noticing the beauty that the rest of the journey offers. So much of what matters about pursuing goals in the first place … the growth, the connection with others, the daily joy … is lost.
What you measure matters.
If you measure life in words written, pounds lost, and to-do’s checked off, you’re setting yourself up for life on a hamster wheel. There are always more words, more pounds, and more to-dos. I’m an off-the-charts Achiever on the Strengths Finder scale, so it took me quite a long time to stumble across this truth. When I did, I realized I needed to make a change.
But I wasn’t willing to give up goal-setting.
If what I measure matters, not measuring anything is possibly worse than measuring the wrong things. So, I started reflecting, but I kept hitting dead ends. I had no idea how to measure courage or creativity or connection in any tangible way. One morning, I was writing a lesson about using the Hero’s Journey as a structural tool for plotting, and the realization hit me.
Life is a story.
And if it’s a story, it has a plot. Any writer can tell you that plots are unwieldy and difficult to plan ahead of time. Still, stories have a reliable general architecture at their core. Twists and turns are to be expected, but if a character keeps taking action without giving up on a heart desire, his or her journey arrives at a resolution. Often, the character achieves something beyond the original goal. In fact, the reasons a character sets out are most likely only a first step toward an authentic discovery that is much deeper, more thrilling, more growth-producing, and more satisfying.
So, my year is a story?
Yes, and since it is, your year can have a plot. Over the past few years, I’ve played with this idea and ironed out many of the challenges posed when using story as a planning tool. Tracking my journey has become a touch-point for me annually, monthly, and daily. I’ve experienced tremendous growth, and moved past blocks I would have told you were simply givens in my life. I’ve definitely achieved goals (Hooray, says my Achiever heart!) but more importantly, I’ve experienced the journey in a heart-felt way.
When I curled up on the couch to reflect on last year’s story, and to consider next year’s possibilities, I saw clearly how powerful this experience has been for me year after year. And I realized that it will only become more meaningful for me if I share it.
Would you like to set out on a journey of your own this year?
I’m inviting YOU to be part of a small group of travelers.
- We’ll kick off the journey with a meeting to discuss the landscape.
- You’ll receive a handbook and a series of videos to guide you along the way.
- Plus, we’ll meet quarterly for campfire (ahem … Google hangout) meetings.
- We’ll also have a private Facebook group to connect and share stories.
- I’ll drop in from time to time for Facebook Live sessions to discuss questions, successes and discoveries.
Join this facilitated and supportive community of travelers:
- $35 monthly (10 payments)
- OR one-time payment of $315 (one month free)
The Journey Project will run through the year, starting the week of February 6, and ending the week of December 12. Because traveling groups will be kept small (6-8 members), we have limited spaces … don’t wait to apply!
