Friday's Special Moment of Gratitude

 



   Linking to Paint Party Friday a wonderful place to visit.



 

 

I usually end my Friday's post sharing something that I am grateful for experiencing during the week.  Today I wanted to share a note that I received from a friend this week.  We have never met in person but have corresponded through our blogs for many years. We worked together a few weeks ago and then this week she sent this note and said that I could share it in whatever way I saw fit.  It is definitely a testimonial for creativity coaching and for Circle of Dreams but I really think it is so much more.  It is an honest look at what it means to live a creative life.  She happens to be a wonderful writer and photographer but her experience could happen to anyone.  Although she said that it was a rough piece of writing and that I could change whatever I needed to change, I thought it was perfect just the way it was.  I hope that this note will remind you that as creative people living a creative life we all experience some of the same things as we continue on our  journey each day. It is nice to know that we are not alone and that there are people who are there to support our dreams.

This summer has been a challenge for me.  I had lots of personal issues, which took energy to deal with.  Anyway, my creativity went into a deep freeze, even though the temperatures where I live were in the high nineties. 

Then I visited Ginny’s site one day. Ginny is a Kaizen-Muse Creativity Coach. I decided to give her a call and find out just what a Creativity Coach is. We set up a session. What I learned via this session was very helpful.

Through our work in that one session, I realized writing, for me, isn’t about the end product as much as the journey. Writing is a place where I step into a whole different world – it is imagination, freedom to play with words and a place where I willingly forget time. 

The core of my session with Ginny was a reminder to listen to my heart when I write. When I’m writing from my heart, I have fun. I’m like a kid who finger-paints. I don’t know where the story will go or how it will end. Instead, I put my fingers into the words, swirl them around and around, letting them join others to make something new.

There’s something in any creative endeavor that defies definition. It’s so much more than the end product. It’s also about the emotional roller-coaster of being creative. I know in my case, this summer I’ve had days when the fingers flew across the keyboard and then days when they hovered and all I could do was stare at the empty white page in front of me.

This brings me to the other lesson I learned from my session with Ginny; the reminder I’m not alone in my creative process. Just talking to her made me feel better. She understood where I was coming from. She made me realize one of greatest resources creative people have is each other, but too often we forget to share the emotional ups and downs of creativity. 

Ginny’s starting a Circle of Dreams group in September. This is opportunity to not only embrace your creative dreams, but also share your doubts. You never know when a gentle nudge, a tiny suggestion or a new way of looking at something may spark your own creativity to new levels.

I was deeply touched by this note.  It is not always easy to talk about the times when we face writer's block or didn't  know what to paint next.  It's not always easy to start a project when you are working alone or to keep going when things seem to be taking longer to get off the ground than you had anticipated.  It does make it easier to know that you are not the only one who struggles from time to time.  As I said in the beginning of this post, I always end my Friday's post with something that I am grateful for.  Today I am very very grateful that a friend took the time to share her journey in order to help me.  That is true friendship and true support!

 When you share your dreams and talent with the world, magic happens.  Let the magic begin!