Creative Mamas

Hi there Creative Mamas! You know by now how hyper I am about knowing the precise definition of a word so I have provided some Googled definitions for the word "manifesto" below:

Definitions of manifesto from Google:

Isn't that neato. Check out number 3. I had a fairly good idea that a manifesto was a public declaration of what you stand for, but I had no idea that there was a history of artistic manifesto. Which leads me to the question - What is your artistic manifesto? What do you stand for? What theories, feelings, perceptions, social causes do you long to express? Answering these questions in your journal may lead to an enlightening conversation with yourself. This process can open doors through which your passion and vision can be released with greater energy and purpose. The process of writing these is not a "get it right" exercise but rather an invigorating and energizing exercise that will evolve with you. I invite you to declare your artistic intentions and empower your creative vision.

You may want to have different manifestos for different portions of your life: mother, writer, artist, daughter ...

I've rewritten the Creative Mamas homepage to reflect my personal manifesto on what it is to be a creativity coach. And I am in the process of brainstorming my manifestos as mother and writer. I will share as they come to life and I invite you to share your manifestos by posting a comment below. I would love to hear from you!

Declare yourself, Mama! Let's go!

Technorati : abundance, creativity

The last post Shift Your Mood to Shift Your Life has inspired a new Creativity Map Workbook Exercise! Try it for yourself. You can download the workbook pages here for free: The Creativity Map Workbook

I hope you enjoy it. Let me know!

Technorati : coaching, creativity, journal, workbook

I don't love mornings. That's putting in mildly. And my dislike for mornings has been passed on genetically to my daughter. Neither of us want to get up. The covers are warm. We are both dreamers. When the alarm goes off I am usually starring as the lead in a very exciting cinematic action epic. I put the alarm clock across the room so I have to get up to turn it off. Even with that strategy I am still capable of walking across the room, hitting snooze, and crawling back in bed in an effort to continue the story where I left off - not once, but three times.

When I do finally decide that I absolutely must get up, I am usually in a hurry because I hit snooze three times. Have you ever tried to get a grumpy seven year old to hurry. Ha! I know better - yet still I try. So what happens we end up walking out the door fuming at each other because we have been bickering for the last 30 minutes about getting ready, finding shoes, brushing teeth, and arguing over what is appropriate for a seven year old to wear to school. Bicker, bicker, bicker. It ruins half the day for me and probably for her too. And it isn't the relationship I want to have with her. I hate it.

Lately, though, things have been great because I have been waking up my usual sleepy self - reluctant to start the day, taking the dog out while half asleep and crawling into the shower.

Here comes the shift. 

As soon as the warm water hits my body I consciously choose to shift my mood. I get happy. I get excited. Whatever it takes - singing, telling jokes, pretending I've won an Oscar (you should hear my brilliant acceptance speeches) - I decide right then and there that I am going to be happy and excited about the day. I want to emphasize here that this does not come naturally to me. I have to make a conscious choice and take action.

I've been doing this as a little experiment for the last week and the rewards have been phenomenal. I get out of the shower all hyped up and happy and wake up my daughter. She hates to be woken up. She's grumpy. She hasn't accepted her Oscar yet. But, mom is in a good mood and good moods are contagious. Eventually she warms up to it and we figure out a way to have fun and hurry at the same time. She loves to compete so we have been having races to see who can get dressed the fastest. Who can get to the door first. Who can finish their morning chores and find what they need for the day (car keys, backpack, permission slips) before the other one can.

In the car, she tells me stories as opposed to me lecturing her about how it is her responsibility to know where her shoes are. She sings. She talks about the funny things her friend Ellen said in circle time. I laugh. We sing to the radio. It is almost as if the old Kirsten and Emma, the fuming bickering ones, have been kidnapped by aliens and replaced by unknown happy people. The difference is that amazing. And the benefit is we are having the relationship I have always wanted to have with her. The love has always been there, but now we also have the fun. This alone is worth my weight, her weight and the car's weight in gold.

And here's the kicker...

The hidden benefit is my creativity is ROCKING! My mind is free and happy and the ideas are flowing. That time in the shower has washed away all the funk and gunk that has been clogging the creative flow. There has been a shift from...

working to be creative
to
overflowing with creative energy.

This has changed my life. My guess it that it could change yours too. Okay Mamas, get in the shower and accept your Oscar! If like me you aren't a morning person, it may feel like a "fake it till you make it" performance at first, but I guarantee it will be the performance of a lifetime! Have fun! Get flowing!

Technorati : creativity
Del.icio.us : creativity
Ice Rocket : creativity
Flickr : creativity
Zooomr : creativity
Buzznet : creativity
Riya : creativity
43 Things : creativity

I need to tell you a little story explaining how this article came about. The whole thing came to me as I was walking down Ocean Parkway on my way to the F Train. I was stewing about a workshop I was scheduled to deliver in two days at the ASGPP’s national psychodrama conference. The title of my workshop was “The Coach’s Role in the Director’s Shoes”. I knew what I wanted to do, but I had no idea what I would say. How would I talk about coaching and explain the coach’s role without repeating the same old jargon that I’ve heard and said a thousand times? From experience I knew that the same old lingo usually left people with a blank look on their face. (Not a fun experience when facing a room filled with 20 of your professional peers.)

The standard lingo sounds like this:

“A coach helps you make the changes you want make in your life.”
Or
“As a coach I partner with you to help you realize the life of your dreams.”

Whenever I talked about coaching using language like this I would see people’s eyes glaze over and I knew they had just turned down the volume button on their ears. Or, I might get a reaction similar to my Great Aunt Tilly’s, “That’s nice dear. But, what is it you actually do?”

So there I was walking down Ocean Parkway on my way to catch the F train having this conversation in my head when a truck horn blared in my ear and woke me from my trance. When I looked up, there was a huge MACK truck coming straight at me. Fortunately it wasn’t coming very fast. I even had time to give the driver one of those, “Yeah, thanks buddy. Back at you” kinds of waves people in Brooklyn are known for.

But I took a second look at the truck because something caught my eye. On the front of the truck there was a tinted plexi-plastic bug shield with the words “Live Your Dream” painted on it in beautiful pink and purple script. My first thought was, “Live your dream? What a weird thing for a trucker to have painted on a bug shield.”

Then it hit me. Dare I say like a MACK truck! A coach is exactly like a MACK truck with a great big “Live Your Dream” bug shield on the hood. A coach is there to help you get from Point A: where you are to Point B: where you want to be. A coach is exactly like a full-service “Live Your Dream” Trucking Company. So, as your full-service “Live Your Dream” Trucking Company, here’s what a coach can do for you:

1. Where are you moving? The coach is there to help you define a clear vision of your Point B (the life you want to be living). So when you get there, you know you’re there.
   
2. Where are you now? And how many miles are there between here and there? The coach helps you plan your course and create the map that will get you from Point A to Point B.
   
3. When do you want to get there? You will work with your coach to create a realistic timeline.
   
4. How much stuff are you taking with you? The coach will help you assess what is working and what isn’t working. They will help you load the truck with the things that are working and leave as much of the rest behind as you can.
   
5. How many boxes and how much bubble wrap do you need? The coach encourages you to take very good care of yourself. Roads are bumpy. Change is hard. The better care you take with yourself and your packing, the more likely you are to arrive at your final destination in one piece.
   
6. Hit the road. Mile by mile and step by step your coach is there to help you take the actions you must willingly take to reach your dream.
   
7. Careful unpacking. Now that you have arrived the coach is there to help you create the new environment that will allow you to sustain your dream.

That’s it. You’re done. You have arrived safely. You can say thanks and so long to your coach. But, be sure to keep the number of the “Live Your Dream” Trucking Company handy because you never know when you may be ready to make another move.

Finally, I arrived safely at my destination, the F train. The workshop was a success. I even got some people up on their feet, on their way in their figurative moving truck, and one more mile closer to their “Dream” destination.

Go Live your Dream. Have fun. If you want a coach to help you make your way, give me a call. In the meantime, I’ll be off hunting down another metaphor to club relentlessly.