How To Keep The Spark Alive…In Your Life
Do you ever wake up in the morning wanting to get right back under the covers? You swing your legs to sit up and notice the stiffness in your back or the fogginess in your mind. Then you stand and draaaag yourself to your morning tea or coffee. As you run through the items on your to do list you realize, nothing excites about this day. Ok, maybe that’s just me. Lol! Hopefully you’re not feeling that way right now but if you are, there’s a way to revive yourself when life gets dreary.
Everyone faces depressing, stressful, daunting and frustrating news, especially these last three years. Kids have had to learn how to go to school without social connection (one of their number one needs), adults have had to learn how to do everything from work to working out, from therapy to going to the doctor from home. People of all ages have been deprived of not only physical affection but emotional connection and we’re still facing threats of new challenges to how we thought life was supposed to be lived. So how do you bring the joy back to getting the dishes done and responding to those 10 emails in your inbox? Get creative!!
In my experience creativity and even more specifically rituals help draw the magic out of the everyday, mundane aspects of life. And in the West we often forget about the importance of magic as well as hard facts. For example one of the things that makes music so magical is the fact that we can’t see it or touch it. Music touches us but it is intangible and therefore has a kind of mystery to it.
We all have lists of administrative tasks, domestic duties, practice sessions and various phone calls to tend to. Some of these to-dos are fun and some are not. But you don’t want the general terms of being an adult to kill your creative spirit.
What if you could bring the sparkle, or glimmer, back to life when you’re feeling low? Not for nothing but being inspired is good for your health! It’s good for your mind, your nervous system, relationships, not to mention your art and art making process and more. A lot of times when I find myself moving about without interest, I know it’s time to shake things up a bit.
A Mini Ritual For Creating Magic In Your Day
Connect with an intention. You can set an intention, wish or gratitude before doing absolutely anything. From running errands to having a difficult conversation. Think of something you’re grateful for. Even the most benign things make me feel different in my body like “Thank you for such a relaxing shop at the grocery store” or “I’m so grateful for fresh water”.
Close your eyes and breathe thinking of your intention. This can take 1 minute or 30. It's up to you. It’s just a way to change your thinking and the way you’re experiencing life.
Light a candle or some type of scent you really like. Waking your senses is a way to shift your state of mind as well. Often when you’re working on autopilot, grumbling about the woes of life, you’re not as in touch with your sight, sound, smell, touch or taste.
A ritual is a feeling of making things sacred to you. A next step can be finding a form of accountability from a group to a partner, coach, mentor or therapist. This month I am beginning another month of my Tuning In monthly artist support group for women/nonbinary folks who want to create with the awareness of what feels good for their bodies, minds and spirits. That way they don’t wind up steam rolling over themselves and their feelings (which never works) and then have to go back and redo what they did in order to find a sustainable way to work. Come join in this month to create more sparkle in your life and art:).