Last night I mind mapped around the heart image- and one of the key “to-do’s” for 2019 is PAUSE AND REFLECT, BEFORE SAYING YES.
Tonight I spent time around the kitchen table, cutting and pasting stream of consciousness collages with my soul-sister Patti Henderson, as we chatted about life and about our vision and focus for 2019.
It always fascinates me how random cutouts from random unrelated magazines, and gluing whatever seems to come together, will always reveal the message you need to hear.
And there it is: the importance of being specific.
And beautiful found poetry comes out, like imagination bleeds faces.
Random images and quotes become particularly poignant.
Inspired by Caroline Myss’s book, SACRED CONTRACTS- awakening your divine potential, I am exploring/developing journaling exercises around awakening creative expression and tapping into the magic that makes you flow– that passion that fuels you, that call to action to step up and truly live a fulfilling life.
Have you ever wondered what your mission in life is supposed to be? … Your Sacred Contract allows you countless chances to grow and change, dependent only on your willingness to pick up the subtle clues and cues that appear along the way. Dreams, intuitions, apparent coincidences, and “chance” encounters are just a few of the cues that will lead you on the path to genuine transformation.
– Caroline Myss
Some of you may call BULLSHIT. But hey- does a little magical thinking hurt? Bullshit can be fertilizer, right? Fertilizer to encourage growth.
As my sister-friend, Patti, would say- sometimes you have to sit in your own shit to move forward.
For 10-15 minutes, write freely about your vision of your fully abundant future and success. Don’t censor or hold back! Follow Jennifer Lee’s BIG-VISION VISUALIZATION SCRIPT (p. 34-36)
This used to be hard for me. The anxious little girl in me would challenge any positive thoughts I had. But with practice, I have found it easier and easier. Now the words flow freely. Hell, I’m not even embarrassed by it anymore. TRY IT.
This time I wrote (unedited):
Where do I see myself the future? Now? Is it here? I am fully successful having integrated my facets (my multi-faceted interests and talents) into one vision- awakening creative expression. This awakening is both in myself and all those around me. My curriculum development is a huge success locally and globally, bringing in revenue that allows me to live fully and freely and abundantly. I no longer worry about money as all my ideas, projects and mission/vision have been implemented locally and globally in a sustainable business model that keeps me energized. I illustrate books. Molly is a huge success and her story engages the audience fully. Her story expands into a full colour book at [dream publisher] and I am honoured with speaking engagements, exhibits and awards. My next books flow easily. 2084 is fully illustrated and a huge success, reawakening the world to the illustrated book. Anna works globally to engage cities in the BPS vision and we are sought after globally for our curriculum events and art. We expand easily, keeping the model simple and manageable and sustainable. I thrive in my airy light gorgeous apartment and work from home. I wake worry free every morning and love life. The hard work I have done all my life has led to my current success. It just expands on itself. All my bills are paid, my savings account builds rapidly each month, my entire family is thriving and I travel as I like and need and reconnect fully with my roots in Sweden. I implement and oversee and enjoy watching people expand their lives with my program.
STEP 2:
Now create a mindmap– start with yourself in the centre and without hesitation write in bubbles as you contemplate where you are right now. It could mean where you are at this very moment or where you are this year and this place in your life. Write and draw freely, allowing the connections to happen easily. See where your facets and aspects relate into ONE YOU.
Stay tuned for Sacred Contracts Journaling Exercise Series, Part 2 of 8: where are your energy leaks?
Kat, do you ever stop? I mean truly just stop? Just taking a day and doing nothing, just drinking tea in pjs and doing nothing?
– Maryellen to me
I have to say the answer is no. Or more accurately, yes- sometimes– but when I do, I feel my body reacting. I feel the migraines come on- migraines that can start in the chest and move down to the stomach. I get the doubled over mom-stomach. Or it starts in the shoulders and moves up the back of the neck. That’s my genetics.
Many migraine sufferers complain of headaches on weekends, vacations, or after a period of stress. Researchers at the Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx… found that patients had 20% higher chance of developing a migraine 12 to 24 hours after their mood changed from “sad” or “nervous” to “happy” or “relaxed”.
So hmmm. It’s weird for me to stop. And as a single mom trying to keep up with debt, as an artist following her passion, as a self-employed and as a youth coordinator navigating the needs of an at-risk population, and as someone who always needs to feel productive… I can say my mind never does stop.
I am driven to follow my artistic vision and passion, but I am crippled sometimes by overwhelming anxiety and the need to stay on task, to keep at it. I use my journaling and anxiety tools and when I am in the creative process, I flow. I find peace . A reprieve from the debts and anxiety.
But since finding the right brain business plan, I find my wake-ups easier, my mind on task, my directions making sense, my confidence increasing– despite the continuous debts and hurdles. The toolbox is streamlining.
Chaos, control… you like, you like?
[Six Degrees of Separation]
I started using the right brain business plan book with my daughter as we created our business plan for by post street. Life-changing. There is a new sense of confidence and excitement that lifts me above the chaos of financial anxiety.
Now I am doing a new business plan as I work on my DRAWN TOGETHER workbook/workshop series that builds on my belief in the healing power of art and its ability to build connections. I am going deeper into the right brain business plan book by doing the online course and the process helps not only the project but my entire life.
So DO I STOP? No. But I can release. And decrease the stress. So that those moments where I may find myself in my fantasy cottage and just sitting, I may actually breathe in the springtime and allow the stillness to soothe me, and my stomach is quiet, my belly soft, my heart gentle, my neck flexible, and my mind still.
I think of [rest and sleep] as one big ball of goodness. The most important ingredient for either is to apply without guilt or shame. So many people rest or sleep secretly, or feel like they need to explain or justify it! Think of sleep and rest as pure goodness multipliers, and don’t let anyone else’s opinions in.
– SARK
My previous posts re my right brain business plan adventure:
Right-brain entrepreneur Jennifer Lee is a certified coach, writer, artist, yogini, and the founder of Artizen Coaching. Before pursuing her own passions full-time, she consulted for ten years for companies such as Accenture, Gap, Sony, and HP, helping leaders and organizations manage change. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area and her website is www.rightbrainbusinessplan.com.
Last Thursday, I led a group through the process of mindmapping using my usual techniques and incorporating tips from the right brain business plan.
[I look forward to actualizing a to-do on my current mindmap: taking the right brain business plan online course and then hopefully taking it even a step further and becoming a licensed facilitator!]
I shared mindmaps made by my previous students and also relayed how mindmaps have helped me for years to organize my life. I keep all my mindmaps as they are reminders of how far I’ve come and reminders for where I need to focus. They make everything relate to everything.
Mindmapping and the right brain business planhelped my daughter and I create the ultimate and ever-evolving business plan for our new business, by post street. It helps us stay sane as we maintain vision and keep moving forward on a miniscule budget.
Inspired by Jennifer Lee’s BIG-VISION VISUALIZATION SCRIPT (p. 34-36), I encouraged the group to write about their ideal future, to think big, to see abundance and success in work, in relationships, in spirit.
Personally, I found it very empowering to write about an abundant future. It’s a LIGHTENING experience and a good balance as I tend to write during dark and anxious times.
Despite my default setting of envisioning myself in a magical little cottage down by a little lake, what do I actually envision for myself when I really concentrate?My stream of consciousness writing shows:
a beautiful workspace
intimate corners
cozy couches and blankets
a library of books
supplies
airy and sunny
hardwood floors
garden, outdoor patio
kitchen, open space
coffee and fresh pie smells and fresh fruit
the pets
easy to have visitors and family over
but also private
a place to store my art
more income than expenses
time for me
time to enjoy
ease of mind
mortgage fully paid
lots of savings
blissful and at peace
the smell of fresh basil
flowers in vases
candles
online presence
ease of blogging and lots of followers
my art has a distinct vision and people are responding with ease and delight
I keep pushing the envelope and make new groundbreaking work
I have time to craft and explore new ways of manipulating art
there is an ease to waking up in the AM with a sense of acceptance and accomplishment
my books are best sellers and I mainly work on my own art which the world is hungry for
I found the process of envisioning an ideal future a cleansing experience. It is the opposite of processing the now or the processing of yesterday. It is a way to ease the heart and soften the belly.
And mindmaps (and visionboards) are a way to envision and put into practice [that cliché of] intention. This intention is thereby transformed into fruition. The process is not just an idealistic visualization but an actualization.
Right now I am organizing the massive amount of info in my graphic novel research using charts and mindmaps and magic markers.
On this rainy Saturday, it’s time to re-focus on the projects I am working on by using:
I am getting clearer as to the multiple directions in my life and how they actually all relate nicely to each other and feed each other into A LIFE OF ART. Each category needs full attention to come to fruition, but by relating them all to each other through imagery, connection and layout, I keep it simple.
To make the task more ME and to make me energized, I tend to collect images I love and draw them out.
For a visual learner and do-er like me, it’s the perfect way to stay on task and to have a check in and to ease anxiety.
Then I add notes and analyze and type out… It’s just SO MUCH MORE FUN doing it as a piece of art… Plus I practice drawing at the same time!
I keep all the boards and check in on all of them daily. Just a glance is enough to remind, to create inner dialogue, to stay on course, to trust.
I’m excited to watch the board develop and to reflect on it over time.
My children take flightSock monkeys will get me to New York, to SwedenThink BIG.Drawing on Menopause The world needs more you? The world needs more me? No. The ME needs more ME.
