One Word ...

It only takes one word

one step

one thought

one idea

one spark of anything to begin

Here is my one word:

WELCOME

Welcome to this journey into the heart and soul of creative living.

But what does this mean exactly? Most people hear "ART" when we mention creativity, but I assure you that art is only one small part of the whole. For that matter, ART can mean various things to different people. It's only when we open our heARTs and minds and provide ourselves with the opportunity to ask questions, while being open to new answers, that we discover the true ART of LIVING!

This is what this journey is about, finding new answers, thinking new thoughts, adding a new level of warmth and love to these thoughts and questions, and as a result, creating new experiences. It doesn't take much to do this. There is nothing to buy, nowhere we must be, no special equipment or supplies. In fact the only thing that is required is a desire to experience something new. In fact, we can begin right here and now, starting where we are, with all that we have, because the truth is this: what we have is overflowing with potential and an infinite number of possibilities.

Did you hear a sound today that lifted your heart?

It was there. Did you experience it?

Did you see a spark of light today that caught your attention because of the beauty that was created by its presence?

It was there. Did you notice?

So often our minds rule our worlds, keeping us stuck in the boredom of the ordinary, when the ordinary contains so much more to be seen and heard and experienced. Thankfully, it only takes one small shift in thinking to change all of this and in the process we can create a life that contains multiple moments of authentic joy, regardless of what is happening around us. This I KNOW to be true.

Seven weeks ago, my son Liam passed away unexpectedly. He was only 25 years old. For the first two weeks my body, mind and emotions were in severe shock, crushed by the weight of this devastating loss. Often I wondered how I could possibly recover. How can a parent ever recover from a death of a child? They can't, but even in the midst of the greatest tragedy of my life, I have found sparks of happiness. How could this be? There are many things that I have been doing to help myself. One of these things has been working with the RETICULAR ACTIVATING SYSTEM.

For over 25 years, I have trained myself to look for sparks of happiness throughout the day, and to expect that they are present somewhere. Thanks to the reticular activating system, I found them, and you can too. This is how it works: when we expect to see something good or bad, we usually do. With practice and intent, we can use this part of the brain to our advantage. So the question you might be asking is, "How do I do this?"

First, it's important to understand what this system is. Quite simply, the Reticular Activating System, or RAS, is a part of the brain responsible for sensation, consciousness, attention, and the sleep-wake cycle. How can knowing this help us to experience more happiness in our lives, even when our worlds feel like they're crashing in upon us? Here is a quick way to begin:

USE YOUR IMAGINATION

Daydream about what you would like to experience in your life

CHANGE YOUR EXPECTATIONS

Expect to see these things that you know will bring you joy

VISUALIZE WHAT YOU WANT TO SEE

Filling your daydreams with as much sensation as possible, using all 5 senses

and

PAY ATTENTION

To begin, start with something simple. Think of something small and uncomplicated that has lifted your heart in the past. For me, I love the sound of birds, especially when they are wild and free. I expect that when I hear them, I will be happy, and when I go outside, I do expect to hear them. Sure enough, I there they are. Now, this is not where it ends my friends. When I take time to slow down and pay closer attention to their songs, my heart fills with light and I instantly experience a shift, sometimes the shift is subtle, sometimes all encompassing, regardless of the intensity though, what matters is that I am able to experience a moment of happiness, and all of these moments add up. It doesn't take much to do this, but the little bit of effort required can pay off in some pretty amazing ways. As with anything, the more that we practice this, the better we get at it.

Flowers are another thing that lifts my heart. Regardless of where we live, or what season it is, there is always the possibility of seeing flowers at some point in the day. If I haven't gone out anywhere, I may see them on the internet. Other times, I may catch them in the wild. The question is, how often do we stop and pay attention to these moments? BINGO! This is the secret ingredient to the process!

Even a split second of true acknowledgment can make a difference in how we experience a moment, NOW, if we add to this a sprinkle of gratitude and appreciation, the results are multiplied exponentially, and have power to create true change in our lives, lifting us up to greater levels of consciousness and in the process increasing our resilience when life smacks us upside the face with some unexpected tragedy. How's that for time well spent paying attention to what we want, rather than moving through the day wearing blinders or worse yet, focusing on what we do not want?

We all know that not every day is going to be a good day, but we can definitely find something good in every day. I am deeply grateful to have been practicing this technique, among others, for as long as I had before Liam died. If I hadn't, I think I may have died alongside him.

We owe it to ourselves to imagine a world where we have the ability to create moments of happiness in our days, every day, and we owe it to ourselves to practice the techniques that can make it easier to achieve this.

THIS IS LIVING CREATIVELY

In closing, I want to thank you for reading to this point, and I want to say that through this blog, my intention is to share with you the techniques and information that I have learned over the past 25+ years, simple things that can make this process easier and more enjoyable, and more compex things that can open new worlds in the process. I have MANY THINGS to share, and I am grateful that I can share them with you.

For the good of the whole, my dear friend, I wish you a creative day, filled with moments that lift your heart.

May the blessings be.