Making Space to Create

Have you ever felt the need to create something truly wonderful? 
You get a great idea and are so excited, motivated, and can’t wait to start.
And sometimes you do just that and the magic happens.
And other times you sit for a bit too long on the idea before taking action.
Your mind kicks in and starts to wonder if it’s really a good idea to create at this moment in your life. 
You think about how busy your life is and wonder if you should be adding yet another thing to your long to-do list.
And this great, inspired idea that you had goes to the back of your mind and gets filed as a “dream,” and never really makes it to an actual “creation.” 
Only when we become aware of how our minds and fears can stifle our creativity can we begin to make changes. 
And once we recognize this pattern, we can learn to stop these fears before they take over.
One way to do this is to stop the overwhelming feelings before they start. 
When you get a creative idea, immediately make space to bring it to life. 
If your creativity comes out in a physical form (e.g., painting, crafting, etc.), clean your studio to make room for your new creations. 
If your creativity comes out in the form of words, clean up your desk – recycle all of those old papers that are just taking up space. 
Fill your workspace with positive mementos/photos/quotes. 
Get organized in your mind and in your surroundings. 
Get rid of the energy zappers in your life. 
Unfinished projects.
Lists and lists of to-dos. 
Messy studio spaces.
When you do this, you will immediately feel the energy flowing again.
And by clearing out the energy drains around you, you now have actually made more space for something positive and creative.
This will help you from feeling overwhelmed from the start.
And even if you don’t have something creative in mind – just the act of clearing space and making room will allow creativity to come out and blossom.
I will be doing this process over the next few days, too.
Give it a try and then come back and share with us what you were able to create because you made some space! 
🙂

Remembering to Breathe

I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed. 
We are still looking for the kitty’s home.
We are working on our biggest order to date that has a hard deadline.
And my body doesn’t seem to want to cooperate and has started to rebel. 
So it’s definitely time to remember to breathe.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Repeat.
The universe never gives us more than we can handle – this I know for sure.

There are many great techniques we can use to calm 
ourselves down when life feels overwhelming. 

Here are just a few:
Breathe. 
Stay present and mindful. 
Meditate. 
Be grateful for everything that is working in your life.
Shift your focus.
Switch gears – do something completely different that has nothing to do with the tasks at hand. This will help you get perspective, so you can come back fresh with a clear head. 
Do something fun. 
Organize your tasks so that they are more manageable. 
And then only focus on one task at a time. And if that task is large, turn it into micro tasks. This will help you stay focused and not spiral into the “Oh my gosh, how will I ever get this all done?” mode. 
Feel free to share ways you stay focused and calm when you start to feel overwhelmed.
For now, let’s all take one more deep breath together.
Inhale.
Exhale.
And let it go.
Ahhh…