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During the month of June I was “wrecking” {as part of the Wreck This Journal thang} … It has been a stretch for me {amidst lots — and lots! — of discoveries} thus, I comforted {and inspired} by starshyne’sWeek 4 video. More than comparing myself with others, I set {standards of measure} for myself. Standards that measure only the bottom line — not the sparkles and adventures in between.
That habit has been the reason I have not posted here for most of the past month. Inspiration came … I would begin a new post. But nothing seem connected enough to post.
Despite the discoveries I have jotted down, researched and recorded regarding giving yourself permission to allow creativity to facilitate order within your private world … I remain somewhat stalled in piecing everything together. And my {standards} are not helping me — not one bit!
Often times we must overcome the dreaded “What if’s” in order to discover the motivation to begin or resume a project. Despite the challenge, once we realize that Overcoming is simply the destination we arrive at by taking a step at a time — we are able to ignite the motivation to go on!
One of my closest and bestest sista-friends presented this journal to me during one of our road-trip/shopping sprees. Aside from being inspired by the giver, I adore this particular journal for several reasons — such as seeing the phrases on the cover — which inspired what I wrote inside!
But that is not the point of this post.
The point is: Journals host the footnotes of your-story.
A journal may be maintained in various formats: blog, photographic, collaged, hand-written. Journals can be where you track your thoughts, map your dream and even find comfort in your own words.
Historically, people have maintained personal journals via logs, letters and hand-written entries in cloth-bound books. Faded ink records the thoughts, feelings, hopes, and fears of people who served as world leaders, accomplished famous stuff and people who plowed fields, rocked cradles and happily lived anonymously.
Journaling for creative planners proves to be an excellent way to discover common threads of thought. And forget about rules such as “write everyday” … “proper writing” — and everything in between! Just begin. Discover what works with your lifestyle, schedule and artistic preferences.
There are moments in which we are somewhat paralyzed in our thoughts and actions. We can become overwhelmed with the amount of work we are facing, or simply overwhelmed with the idea of simply getting started.
Perpetual motion. Consider this your incentive to get started. Once in motion, consider Newton’s First Law of Motion (An object at rest tends to stay at rest and an object in motion tends to stay in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force.)
Getting started is the key.
Ah? How to get started?
Use a timer to designate blocks of time. Set a work time and allow the timer to signal “stop” …
Boxes, baskets, trays or other containers to divide and conquer piles and projects.
Eliminate — or at the very least minimize — distractions (phones, e-mail, twitter, Facebook, etc.)
So, pick a project — any project — and set a timer for 15-minutes (or 5-minutes!). Then just do it! Just begin. Physics will do the rest!
This week has been completely different than most of my weeks. In fact the past two weeks have been different than most of my weeks. Relationships have been {even more of} my main investment of time. My days have included rockin’ babies, being the best friend {and the eldest child}, strolling down memory lane {actually multiple lanes of memory …} as well as young children and hospitals.
Interestingly enough a break in my routine also provided a fresh perspective when I clocked back into {my stargardener routine} on Friday. Friday mornings begin with breakfast (and some of the best coffee I have ever tasted) and the inspiring company of other women who dream, plan and ponder their business ventures. It is a greenhouse for brainstorming our ideas. {And just plain having fun!}
The art of planning is truly art …
Especially for a right brain planner! It requires a collection of elements {such as brainstorm greenhouses} … of principles and methods — with splashes of creativity! It is appealing — {much} more than mere ordinary tasks lists and verbiage. My personal right brain {planner} has become more of {a record of studied action} — lists, notations, doodles of what has occurred within my days, compiled after the fact.
Deciding now frees up your most valuable asset, time, so you can go work on something else. What happens if, starting today, you make every decision as soon as you have a reasonable amount of data? — Seth Godin
Interesting thing, Procrastination. It is the twin to Productivity — um, without the accomplishment.
It is merely activity and the appearance of accomplishment, with no tangible rewards. Just the self-loathing that follows when we dance with Procrastination; when we realize how much time we spent — never to have back! — in our pursuit of Productivity.
Real obstacles don’t take you in circles. They can be overcome. Invented ones are like a maze. ~Barbara Sher
In our busyness, we deceive ourselves into believing that we have no time for the activities we enjoy, the goals we dream about — for creativity, for rest … for just plain fun!
It has become my focus to overcoming this malady; and I have been. Albeit, ever-so slow. Slow and steady wins the race! Especially for those of us who periodically run w-a-y too fast in random directions!
When we read books and visit Web sites of people who write “how-to’s” we often fall into the trap of believing they have {it} all together. They don’t. While experience and expertise are essential elements of having {it} all together — actually having {it} all together is about practice and habits. Regardless of how many letters (PhD, MBA, etc.) are next to the presenter’s name, we all wander from time to time.
So be sure to note that when you read something I have written, you fully understand that I write about it because I learned about it. Most often, the old-fashioned way: First hand and by working it out via trial and error.
I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And I will not let what I cannot do interfere with what I can do. ~Edward E. Hale