Pockets and a New Practice

i rarely buy any clothing that doesn’t have pockets anymore.  here is a typical setup for my daily morning walk:

sweatpants left pocket:  ipod

sweatpants right pocket:  point and shoot camera (most of these shots are from this morning’s walk)

sweatshirt left pocket:  tissue in case of runny nose

sweatshirt right pocket:  doggy poo baggy (even if she doesn’t walk with me i keep it there because, well, i will need it sooner or later!)

 

so what does all this have to do with starting a new daily practice?? i’m getting there!  i’ve been wanting to initiate some simple practices to help me stay on course with my “imagine” word-of-the-year.  i’ve noticed that during my morning walks my mind wanders around a lot and sometimes it bumps into an idea.   an idea that i want to keep.  i try to hold the thought, but if there are too many of them or if i don’t WRITE IT DOWN, well, off into the atmosphere it goes….

 

so, back to the pockets.  i now have a little notebook in with the doggy poo bag (yes, the bag is empty!) and a pen in with the tissue.  oh my goodness, i am LOVING this!  i just write random stuff down while i walk.  can’t believe how many snippets have crossed my mind and are now in writing!!  i call it JOTTING.  of course i have to follow up later in the day – see what can be acted on, crossed off and so on and i still try to spend part of my walking time in a more meditative way once the thoughts are out…. but i’m feeling like just this one little practice is going to impact my life in a very good way!!!  give it a try - it may work for you too!!

 

Imagine!!

"If you can imagine it you can create it. If you can dream it, you can become it."   

william arthur ward

"through imagination, we can visualize the uncreated worlds of potential that lie within us."
stephen r. covey

imagine the possibilities

i want to flex my imagination muscles!!

although i have been gradually accepting the fact that yes, i am a creative being, i still don’t feel that imagination is something that i excel in.  and i think that it is, at least in part, a learned behavior.  i want to exercise those tendencies and see where they lead.  i want to imagine wonderful things for my retreats (i keep forgetting to mention – there is an update on my retreat blog).   imagine new forms of art to create in my little studio.  imagine workshops that i can present or take part in.  imagine new ways to contribute.  i want to put in place some (daily?) practices that will enhance and nurture imagination.  and see where it leads.

 

it seems my life consists in large part these days of moving *stuff* from one location to another.  i thought i had done so well in paring down and decluttering on a regular basis... until the flood waters came in and everything in 5 rooms of our home had to be moved to new locations.  some short-term.  some longer term.  some just while the workers are doing their thing.  and then back again.  some is going in the trash.  some is going to goodwill.  some is going in boxes and bins.  a lot of this is in preparation for painting and then new flooring, at which time pretty much everything will have to be moved and then put back again.  daunting.  

i need to learn how to incorporate imagination and creativity right in the thick of all of this.  it’s challenging.  between the building of the studio and now reconstruction from the flood there are workmen at my house most days.  sometimes they don’t show up when they say they will.  sometimes they show up when you don’t expect them.  i’m used to a lot more privacy.  i feel like my creativity is on the back burner.  if i can figure out how to use my imagination and be creative in these circumstances, it should be a breeze when things get back to “normal’.  after all, it’s always the challenges that prompt the most growth, right?  i’m growing…

when i was mulling over possible words of the year in december, this picture was in the newspaper, honoring john lennon on the day of his death.  that pretty much clenched it for me.  oh, and i like the word so much i decided to name my little studio after it.  just imagine.....