Be present & mindful in your life

​Being creative, taking the time to calm our mind, quiet our nervous system and let our thoughts, our fears, our anxieties, and our joy rise to the surface is something that our busy world doesn't allow on a regular basis for most of us. We're running around, going to jobs, raising families, going to the grocery store, doing so many things in such a short period of time that it results in a sense of urgency in our brains and a fragmentation of our thoughts. I experience this all the time.  My creative practice helps me bring everything down to a level foundation and to hear what it is I really want, what I really think, and what I really need. This is important. This is a skill that will affect how you live your life and how you experience every single day.

This is your precious, beautiful life, friend. This is important because being present, being mindful, and being aware during the moments of your life is really all that we have. This is how we experience moments which add up to a life. A creative practice can help you do that in so many ways. When you have an idea and you translate that to another medium - paper, paint, music, clay - , whatever you choose, that connection between your head, your hands, and your heart is really, really powerful. 

We are a society disconnected from our bodies. This practice of creating of doing something tactile, of bringing something unique and new into the world is a really excellent way of reconnecting that - of hooking back into our physical, spiritual, and intellectual bodies.

This is so, so important and so valuable. Finally, I believe that there is a language, a way to express ourselves in this world, that doesn't easily lend itself to spoken language and creative work can help us to cross a bridge from one side to the can help us to express our feelings in a way that is healthy, safe, and solid.

Once we express our feelings, our and our fears,, then we have something to work with.  They're much easier to handle if we have processed them and placed them somewhere safe onto paper, into a journal, or into a song. Creative practices can help you live a better life by making it a more mindful and aware life.

Here's my challenge for you this week, take a moment to just try it. Don't overcomplicate it. Don't make it a big event. Just sit down and doodle, empty your mind and see what rises to the surface. If you need help getting started I'm here and I love to help people get started.