Unleashing My Inner Artist

Last night, Tracy and I got together to create inspiration journal samples for the Unleash Your Inner Artist playgroup we are facilitating at the Joyful Living Center on October 8.

It was so fun to get together and play. For one, I so enjoy Tracy and her radiant, joyful and grounded energy.

And it was a reminder of how important it is for me — for everyone — be in a space of play when creating.

When I'm this kind of space for creating, I lose track of time and, in some ways, I lose track of my mind. There is an "unthinking" quality to when I'm fully present — playfully present — in the joy of the creation. Often when I emerge out of this zone, I'm often surprised by what I've created.

That's my favorite way to create. Without focus on the outcome, or whether it's good enough. Just loving the feeling of cutting and pasting and choosing images. Or spilling words onto the page.

In this kind of space, magic happens. We reconnect with our inner child, who has never forgotten to how to play. We allow our inner artist — who is always with us, noticing, capturing and delighting in life — full expression.

We re-discover that creating is inherently joyful, easy, flowing, connected. It is our birthright and what we already are — creators.

Admittedly, I'm not yet always able to access this kind of space. Sometimes my self-doubt or my inner critic can get in the way of the flow.

But increasingly I find that when I approach whatever it is I'm doing with a spirit of play, openness and childlike presence and wonder, what I experience touches me as blissfully joyous — and amazingly easy.

Tell me, when  — or in what areas — do you feel like you are playing in your life?