Sunday, November 6, 2011

Creativity Cleanse: A 21-Day Adventure

I have a touch of discontent.  I'm not sure where it's coming from but I've noticed it over the past few weeks.  Perhaps it's because, in a strange way, my life is so good.  I've survived the past five years and have even written a book about it. (Title:  Joy after the Fire, when grief, loss and despair turn into New Seeds of Joy and Growth and it is winding its way through the Apple approval cycle and should be in iBookstore in a week or so.)  Many miracles have shown up in my life and maybe this discontent is just life settling into a less-dramatic, more "normal" level.

This low-level malaise is like a psychic hangnail, little but irritating.  I want to move past it.  Today I was struck by a program Laura Hollick offers called a 21-day Creativity Cleanse.  Laura is a stunningly beautiful woman and she explains the concept in this video ... while taking a shower and painting on her shower curtain!

I immediately realized that I had no idea what a "creativity cleanse" meant but something in me said that's exactly what I need.  The idea, if I understand it correctly, is to think about something you'd like to accomplish and then use creativity to help clear the blockages and barriers between where you are now and where you would like to be.

I'm sure Laura's program is terrific but I think I need to figure this out for myself.  But, I did go through a lot of Laura's materials and will pass along three tips she offers in one of her videos (she has a bunch on YouTube):
1.  Give yourself permission to fantasize, dream and imagine.  Put yourself in the land of possibility about what your life could be like.
2.  Honor your ideas as much as you would money that came to you unexpectedly. Write them down and celebrate them.
3.  Do some action that moves you in the direction of making the idea real.
So, my creativity cleanse starts tomorrow and I'm not sure what it will entail but I've decided that it needs to be physical, mental, spiritual and emotional so it will involve the following:
  • creating physical art ... mosaic, draw, color, paint
  • making a daily list of gratitudes
  • reading something uplifting every morning
  • indulging in sweet fantasy instead of sugar and junk food
  • being physical every day ... walk, yoga, aerobics
So, tomorrow morning begins the first of the 21-days.  I decided I might need help so I conjured up Dream Dancer (the image above) to guide me. We'll see what she brings me on this journey.


  1. Thank you Joyce! You inspire me -- and my blog this morning.

  2. We'll follow along and give support. Am interested to read more about this.