Welcome to the amazing Miki Devivo for the very first Moxitious guest post.  I truly appreciate her contribution to the conversation here on Moxitious, and I know you will too.  Make sure you leave a comment to keep the dialogue going!

I live in the desert, and I do mean that literally.  So when people come to visit, they are always taken aback by just how very dry it is here.  As a result, as you can imagine, they drink lots of water.  Lots and lots and lots of water.  They fill up.  Again and again.

Those who have lived here for a while though, sometimes we forget.  Our systems have adjusted.  We don’t realize how dry we really are.  We forget just how much our cup needs filling.

And the same is true for our creativity.  We get a new idea, we travel to a new place in our process and we drink from this inspiration until our cups run over.

But at other times, we get distracted. Or we get scared and think that nothing will come when we sit our butts in the chair. We think, “Oh, I’ll just write it tomorrow.” We turn away from the source of creativity within us and we forget. We forget what it felt like to be in the flow, to be full of inspiration.  To be deeply connected to ourselves and our creativity.

And one day we wake up and wonder where all the sparkle went. We know we used to have this feeling, long ago, somewhere.  We used to be able to lose ourselves in the moment, let ourselves be carried along as we played, as we created.  Just for the fun of it.  Just to see what goes where and what would happen if.

Like the feeling of trying to recall the beautiful ending to a faintly remembered dream, we find ourselves searching for how to get back to this place.  How to return to that sense of effortlessness, that rush of energy, that certainty of meaning.

So we turn to things that we think will help us feel connected, sparked—TV, Twitter, organizing your office, again.  And these things do work.  In the short term.  Maybe some long-lost friend has sent us a Facebook message.  I’ll go check.  Maybe that guy will finally get voted off the island.  Better go watch.

We’re trying to get back to this place of deep knowing and connection. Of being both us and not us at the same time.  But we don’t know how to get there.  We don’t know how easy it can be if we let it.  And so, to distract ourselves from this sense of aimless longing, we numb.

But we are wrong.  This way lays listlessness, distraction, disconnection.  For it only takes a small shift to get us back to where we long to be.

When you are thirsty, you must go back to the well. When you are yearning for connection, flow, inspiration, you must go back to the source of deep knowing and spark within yourself.  Return to the things that inspire you and turn away from those that numb you.

Turn off the TV.  Close the computer.  Sell your iPhone and buy a notebook, a journal, a sketchbook.  Get out your paints, your pens, your camera, the pots and pans, the knitting needles.

When you are feeling creatively dry, the only way to quench that particular thirst, to soothe that longing to make meaning, to see beauty in the simple joys that surround you each day, is to go back to the well.  Go back to the source. And keep going back over and over and over again.  Every day, every hour.  With every word.

You must create. You must.  You know you must or you wouldn’t be feeling so deeply drawn to do so.  Give yourself the permission to do it.  Create.  Tap into that source of knowing within you.  Ignore the voices telling you that you can’t in a hundred sneaky little ways and begin.  Don’t think about it, talk about it, pine for it.

Do it.  And then do it again.

When you go to the well, you will get water. When you put pen to paper, words will come.  When you lift the camera to your eye, you will see beauty.  But you must take action, you must do the work.

Go to the well and see what meets you there.

~~~

Now it’s your turn…Get out a pen and paper.  Yup, we’re going to do this the old fashioned way.  Something happens when we write things out by hand, a sort of magic occurs, and we realize things about ourselves that we didn’t know we knew.  Ready?

1. What are you longing to create?
2. What things are you doing that you think will fill you up, but are really making you feel more disconnected?
3. What one action can you take today that will bring you closer to the feeling you seek, back to the well of your creativity?  What one thing can you do tomorrow?
4. How will your life be different when you choose to turn away from those activities that numb you and instead choose to return to the well everyday?

I’d love to hear the answers to your questions in the comments.  We learn so much from hearing the experiences of others.  Your insight could be just the thing to inspire the needed movement for someone else.  If you’d like to keep what you learn private, that’s ok too.  You can still benefit from the exercises on your own, or you can feel free to email them to Amanda or me.  And thank you.

About Miki

Hi.  I’m Miki.  I create and tend spaces that nourish mothers of little ones through a focus on mindful parenting, creative flow, & spiritual practice, quieting the noise so you can hear the wisdom that flows within you.  I believe that we can each design our lives so that they are grounded in and flow from that which we hold most dear. Won’t you join me?  Visit www.thestillspace.com to pick up your free copy of “Find *your* Still Space Now ~ 10 days to let go of overwhelm and build a grounded vision for your life” or join the conversation on twitter @MikiDevivo.

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