You, the Creative Genius

You, the Creative Genius

One of my very most favorite things about being a human is being creative. Now, I will say that I am a very creative person. You are, too. We often discount our creativity because we don’t think of the channels where we use it as being creative channels.

What the heck am I talking about, you ask?

Well, like so many other things, the more we use our creativity, the more creativity we get. I’ve been writing to you every day for nineteen months. I wouldn’t have thought I could before I did. Here, my creative mind is a huge asset, and cultivating it in this arena makes me happy, and helps me stay focussed on what matters to me.

But we have places where our brilliant, creative minds do us a spectacular disservice.

Did you ever wonder how Stephen King came up with all those creepy, scary stories? If you think that he sat around in a lovely, cozy, sunny room with lemonade and cake, you're wrong. Poor Mr. King came up with those from his own, anxious worry, and terrible nightmares. He discovered that he felt some relief if he wrote them out.

He cultivated his anxiety and worry, and it almost killed him over and over. Poor Mr. King. At least he won fame and fortune, even if he was miserable.

When we are worrying, we are composing fictions. Unless we are writing it down and selling it for thousands of dollars, it is not benefiting us in the least. In fact, it is literally eating up our bodies. Worry, anxiety, and guilt are the cannibal emotions, devouring our physical bodies, our spirit bodies, our emotional bodies, and our mind.

They are the heartless, and heedless emo zombies. They make you feel like you are doing something productive, and don’t care that when they have killed you from within, they must find a new host body. There is always a new host body. Bwahahahahah!

Ok, I am being silly, but being creative in our worry and guilt is dumb. Stop it. And seriously, that’s what we have to do.

We can take ameliorating drugs, but they don’t change the thought habit, they only fuzz it up. It’s up to us to use our creativity to stop ourselves from going there.

I used a rubber band on my wrist and snapped it whenever I start into worry or anxiety. I would say, “Stop it!” outloud and then push my mind into something pleasant. I had to make lists of nice stuff to think about because I was so used to wallowing in dark, stinky places in my mind, and when I got into those places, there was no such thing as sunshine or joy.

When it’s the middle of the night, and you are lying in bed with the emo zombies chomping on your peace, and you can’t seem  stop them there, get up. It’s worth losing a little sleep to slay them. Make a list of things you are grateful for, or things you appreciate, or love, or things you like to do. Clean something, learn the words to a song you like, or a poem. I love you, but I cannot stop your emo zombies, only you can. Choose. Decide. Act.

By using our creative minds for good rather than for evil, we change our world at it’s innermost point, maybe by only one degree, but as that single degree moves out from that center, it encompasses more and more of our own life, and creates a happy and peaceful space for our loved ones and extended community as well. That’s means that when you choose to slay your zombies, you are saving the world.

You rock.

How have I changed from treating my emo zombies to the best of me, to using my creative genius to save the world?

(c) Pam Guthrie 2013 all rights reserved 09212013

Doing What I Like, Liking What I Do

Doing What I Like, Liking What I Do

Oh, the joy of doing! I love to do. The world is fair to bursting with fun stuff to do, and somedays I wish I could do all of it.

Back in the olden days, I slept very little, so I could do more. And then I was discussing my plans for my first trip to Hong Kong. I said, “I don’t think I will sleep at all: I’m afraid I will miss something!” My friend said, “Even if you are awake twenty-four hours a day, you will always miss something.”

I still don’t sleep much when I travel, but I got it.

I have amazing powers, super powers. You do, too. Or at least we all have the potential for amazing super powers. The power of choice. The power of creativity. The power of relaxation. The power of trust, just to name a few. These are so worth cultivating. When you have control over these, not only will your own life change, but you will have a wonderful impact on the people around you. Hot dog!

One of my favorite super powers is the power of judgment. I’m not talking about negative emotional judgment, you know, the one that looks at that person over there with scorn. I’m talking about positive emotional judgment.

Exercising my positive emotional judgment grants me freedom. And I love feeling free. Warren Buffet and I both have the same number of hours in a day. Mother Teresa did, too. Some days I am thrilled to spend them lazing about reading and petting cats for hours. But I also have things to do.

When I am at my Clark Kent job, I do a lot of reframing to make my tasks enjoyable. Sometimes I look at them as meditations. Sometimes I think of them as service work. Somedays I’m just bored to numbness. Yeah, still working on it.

Then I have the not-at-work time, with time I get to decide about. Of the three million things I could right now, what will I derive the most satisfaction from? I’ve spent time on what I am best at, where my gifts lay, which is why I can write to you every day. The hour or so I spend each day to write this is a valuable and worthwhile use of my time.

Playing solitaire on my phone isn’t so much. Watching TV, also not very worthwhile. Like candy bars for the spirit, fun at the time, maybe not so much in the long term.

In comes my super power of positive emotional judgment. If I feel tired everyday, a good judgment is to go to bed a bit earlier. If I feel better when I practice my qigong daily, a good judgment is to practice every day. If I feel worse when I eat a lot of sugar, a good judgment is to enjoy a different snack. If spending time with someone leaves me feeling angry and defensive, a good judgment is to spend time with someone else.

Practicing my positive emotional judgment on a regular basis keeps it all juiced up and ready to go for when I need to make bigger decisions. I will either be exercising my positive emotional judgment or my negative emotional judgment, so even just deciding which way I wanna go will help.

Over and over, the quality of our lives depend on the thousand tiny choices we make each day.

How have I changed from choosing poorly to choosing well?

(c) Pam Guthrie 2013 all rights reserved 09072013

Dangerous Ideas Inside

Dangerous Ideas Inside

Warning:  Deep, strange conceptual stuff ahead. Read at your own risk.

So I’ve been thinking a lot lately about reality, and how it really isn’t at all what we think it is. I buy into the idea that stuff exists outside of me, but until I become aware of it, it doesn’t exist as far as I’m concerned.

That is so weird.

We talk a lot about relying on our senses -- “I’ll believe it when I see it,” but, yikes, if we really did that, stuff would be a whole lot weirder. You’ve seen crazy optical illusions, and heard auditory illusions, and you’ve experience touch illusions, too.

What is real?

I take it on faith for day to day stuff that “out there” exists, and that I’m not dreaming it. Sometimes I forget.

I can only know what I know.

When I am in a flow state, almost nothing exists except what I am grooving on.

When I am sleeping nothing exists unless I am dreaming.

The reality of a pre-school teacher is very different from a neuro-surgeon from a test-pilot from a quantum physicist from a baby.

I’m not denying Reality. I’m just saying that my reality is waaay more fluid that I tend to think. I’m just saying that my POV will shift things around in a heartbeat. I’m just saying that I have a whole lot more choice, control, creativity when it comes to reality than I will own most of the time. I’m just saying that it’s all out there for me.

This is mind-blowing stuff, so take it slow.

When I accept that all creation is for my benefit, I can mold and model my reality to suit me.

When I accept that all creation is for my benefit, I can see easily that I have unsupportive beliefs and that I can change them.

When I accept that I create my reality, I can stop doing things that hurt me, and can start doing things that make my heart feel light and my spirit soar. I can change what I identify with. I can change my physical experience. I can almost anything.

When I accept that I create my reality, your presence in my life is way more significant, because, in a way, I create you. You create me in your life, too.

When I accept that I create my reality, I claim my power, and release ego. I am free to create the world I choose to live in.

That’s all for now.

You may now return to your regularly scheduled reality.

How have I changed from feeling buffeted by winds of fate to knowing that I am my own Creator?

(c) Pam Guthrie 2013 all rights reserved 08162013