Body, Mind, and Creativity

I have decided to lose weight.  I have done this before. I had a major setback, and now after three years all sixty pounds are back--and I hadn't reached my goal back in 2007, either.

What does this have to do with creativity? Everything.  Not because being thinner will make me more creative. Not because losing weight is particularly a creative activity--although it can be when you start playing with recipes and things like that.  For me, being overweight directly affects my creativity because of all the mental time and space and energy it takes up.  Then there's the added bonus of being depressed over my physical condition--that eats up quite a lot of my creative space, too.  And the low self-esteem and general self-loathing I've dealt with my entire life because of my weight.  That takes a chunk of my heart and soul that could be going into my creative work.

That's just the emotional and mental stuff.  Add in that the last sixty pounds I gained and lost and gained back is due to physical issues--constant exhaustion and pain and the lethargy that comes with those and not exercising because of said exhaustion and pain.  While the physical issues happened before the last bit of weight gain, I know that they are also made worse from being so overweight.  And yet I can't seem to get myself moving and do something about it all.  And that just makes me feel worse, more down on myself and depressed and hopeless.  And then that leads to more of all of the above!

I need to lose weight.  For my mental health. For my physical health.  For my creative health.  Last time, I did it by getting completely caught up in working on diet and exercise plans constantly.  And I realize it's going to require focus and attention, the same way anything important does.  I need to make sure that I can still give focus and attention to my creative work, though, because last time I only had eyes for the weight loss and didn't really do any creative work for seven months.

So that's where things stand right now.  I need to lose weight and get stronger physically.  I need to heal the mental wounds surrounding my physical self.  I need to do this without losing touch with my creative activities. The how?  I guess that's something I'll be blogging about now and then as I figure it out.  Wish me luck!

Wishcasting Wednesday--Creative Wishes

Jamie asks the best questions for Wishcasting Wednesday!  This week: "What do you wish for your creativity?"

I wish to be unafraid.  I wish to banish every thought of getting it wrong or doing it right.  I wish to learn how to sink deeply into the joy and meditation of doing and not worry about finishing or outcomes.  I wish to give myself the time a project needs so I can really see what I can do instead of always waiting until the last minute and so creating a rushed version of my real vision.

Dreaming and Doing

Today I ran across Andrea Schroeder's website, ABCcreativity.  I am joining in on her "Creative Dreams Come True" free e-course.  Although nothing says I have to go back to the start in January, I am doing at least some of the older exercises.  The first exercise is to make a list of 100 things you wish for.  I don't know what to write!  I've made it to twenty--you can see my list in the "Pages" section to the right under "100 Dreams."

Today I'm feeling a little dreamless.  I'm tired and kind of achy, I am working on a homework assignment I wanted to have done on Sunday but I can't figure out what I want to say, and I still need to capture an idea for this week's art experiment for MuseCraft.  So twenty things is probably a decent sized list.  I did notice as I went along I started getting more specific; my first wishes are really broad.  Now I will need to look closer at my wishes and see how some of them might break down into smaller, more precise wishes.


Meanwhile, I am going to go cruise the web for an experiment for the week.  I'm going to do some stretching and drink some water and maybe put my head down for a few minutes to see if I can perk up.  And then I'm going to dinner with an old friend who is passing through town for work.  And I'm *not* going to worry about not having a photo to go with this post!

New Year, New Post

A few days past the start of the new year, but I think that's all right. After all, I haven't set myself any resolutions. I do have plans and goals and desires. But no resolutions. Why? Because resolutions are generally so targeted, so specific, that they're too easy to fall away from. And then if you stray just a little bit (oh no, I was going to write every weekday, and I missed one!), it's way too easy to just give up, set the resolution aside to start again "tomorrow" or "later," "next week" or "next month" or "next year," and fall back into the old patterns you were trying to step out of.

Instead of a resolution, or multiple resolutions, I'm doing something different. I've been seeing an intriguing idea around the internet--people are picking a word as their guide word for the year. One of my friends chose "move" for this year. I like this idea quite a lot, but I was still feeling a little restricted by having to choose just one word. I didn't feel that I could fit all the things I want to focus on under the umbrella of one word, so I chose three.

My words for 2010:

Create

Thrive

Explore

Yeah, I think that should about cover it. All of it.

Create--my new business, stories, art journal pages, embroidery pieces, anything else I feel compelled to make during the year all fits under this. Creating a new way of life can fit here, too.

Thrive--get healthy, exercise, eat well, organize my house, clean the house, make a living space I feel happy in.

Explore--new places, spirituality, new ideas, new books.

That's what I'm looking for in my new year. I'm helping myself keep my focus by creating Vision Cards as discussed by Jamie Ridler. I'm working on them now; when I'm finished, I'll post some pictures. Meanwhile, what are you planning to bring into your life this year?

A Hodgepodge

Great news! The Eric Maisel creativity project I am participating in as a blog correspondent launched this week. You can see it here: http://www.ericmaisel.blogspot.com. If you want to see my first post, you can find it here: http://ericmaisel.blogspot.com/2008/07/muse-quest-pdx.html.

I started it out with one of my favorite quotes from Charles Kingsley: “We act as though comfort and luxury were the chief requirements of life, when all that we need to make us really happy is something to be enthusiastic about.” I keep circling back to this quote. It pokes at me, trying to tell me something, but I’m not completely sure of the full message yet. I definitely have enthusiasms. I often think I have too many. I think the quote is my reminder that I have to nurture my enthusiasms, but I also have to figure out which ones are real passions and which ones are passing fancies.

Writing is a real passion for me. Even when I am not writing as regularly as I would like, I am always thinking about writing, thinking about my stories, studying writing books, reading what other authors have to say about writing. That one’s a definite and will always be on the list of things that deserve my attention.

What else? This is the hard part! Embroidery/fiber arts. I think I’ve been doing it long enough and find it fascinating enough that it falls into the “keeper” category. I really do love the fabrics and threads and colors and textures.

Reading. I nearly forgot this one because in a sense, for me, it’s part of writing. But I couldn’t live without books. Why would I even want to?!

Is there room for anything else? That’s the part I have to think about. I have other hobbies that take up my time, and I really enjoy them, but I don’t know that I can call them passions. I can definitely get enthused by them, just not on a continual basis. So do those things deserve my time and attention? And how do I make sure I’m not giving them too much?

This balance question is probably the biggest issue modern people contend with. I don’t have answers. I am getting close to my own answers, I think. How does everyone else decide what gets time and attention? How do you find that balance? And can someone else’s formula work for other people?

Hoping to hear some answers…