Reconnecting To Creativity Through Fun
Sundays are generally days I like to unplug and rest up for the week ahead; I like to be in full form before I head into a week of serving my clients and holding space for people going through transformation and moving through self-imposed blocks (whether they realize they’re self-imposed or not).
This Sunday though, I could feel some energy tapping away on my shoulder, urging me to get ready for the coming week. Almost as if to say the time for rest is coming to an end, it’s time to get your ducks in a row. I am familiar with this proverbial knock at my consciousness as it generally takes place at a time when I’m striving to uplevel something in my life. After two solid years of committing to my coaching business in a full-time capacity, with a cycle of go-go-go, integrate-integrate-integrate, re-set & re-vision, rest and repeat. I’m coming out of a rest phase and it’s time to repeat!
I approach life as multi-layered, with business being only one aspect of what brings me joy; physical, emotional and spiritual health, personal connections and relationships with a final layer of fun to be the icing on the life-cake. In my 2018 year in review, I identified that I didn’t put enough effort into the fun zone of my life and that needs to change. I realized that much of my time and mental energy has been focused on building my coaching practice and getting back into physical and emotional health. While I enjoy my work and going to the gym, those are definitely activities that serve a specific purpose, they aren’t things for the sake of having fun. In fact, when people ask what I do for fun, it catches me off guard! Can I count going to the gym at 6AM as fun?.. Not really ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ And… Shovelling is DEFINITELY not in the fun column. Nope.
For me, fun can be found in activities where I am able to lose myself and have time pass without awareness of it, feeling infused with joy, laughter and a sense of lightness. It’s a form of self-care, but different from a day at the spa or getting a mani-pedi. I feel this way when I paint, when I read a good book, cross-country skiing, swimming, catching up with a friend and having deep belly-laughs. Board games, learning something new for the sake of the newness rather than for a specific purpose. I like there to be some element of frivolity to it, so it feels like the only necessary component of it is to, as Marie Kondo might say, spark joy.
Here’s the added benefit of adding more fun into my life: it actually fuels the creative process that is essential in the rest of the life layers. Being in a creative space of being enhances the brain’s ability to problem-solve. The creative space allows you to shift outside of the mental boundaries that naturally form when you’re in a set routine; when you get into those grooves of the routine, your thought patterns can become trapped in them. Of course those traps are all in our mids, which is the point of shaking things up a little (or a lot).
So what kind of ways to you have fun? Are you looking to reengage with that fun part of yourself? Do you have resistance to surrendering to fun without purpose? I suggest starting with an Artist Date (which applies to anyone, not just people who identify as artists). Coined by Julia Cameron in her book The Artists Way, the Artist Date is “a once-weekly, festive, solo expedition to explore something that interests you. The Artist Date need not be overtly “artistic” — think mischief more than mastery. Artist Dates fire up the imagination. They spark whimsy. They encourage play. Since art is about the play of ideas, they feed our creative work by replenishing our inner well of images and inspiration. When choosing an Artist Date, it is good to ask yourself, “what sounds fun?” — and then allow yourself to try it.”
If you decide to take yourself out on an Artist Date, I’d love for you to share what you chose and how it went for you! If the thought of any of this is overwhelming, I invite you to schedule a Clarity Session with me so we can help you uncover what lies beneath that resistance. For now, I wish you a week filled with creativity, unstructured fun and laughter.
XO Jessica