Category: work

5 Reasons to Be Kind to Yourself

I get it. You don’t come to this blog to hear about self-care tips or anything like that. But did you consider that engaging in self-care is important to your creativity?

It is.

Here are five reasons why I believe you shouldn’t ignore self-care. (And I’m talking to myself as much as to you as well.)

1. Stress.

Think about it for a minute. When you;re stressed out, overwhelmed, or sick, your creativity stops. If you view your creativity as just a hobby, you might think this isn’t that big a deal. It’s more important than you realize. Why is the next reason.

2. Creativity itself.

Yes. Creativity itself can be an important part of self-care. If you ignore the creative aspect of our life, you’re cuttig yourself off from a great source of inspiration and relaxation. Even if you’re a professional creative, creativity is an important part of your self-care. Maybe more than if you have a more mundane/traditional 9-5 job.

3. Mental well-being.

I’m not a counselor/psychiatrist and I don’t pretend to be. I haven’t done the research into endorphins or seratonin or anything like that. I’m going based on how it works for me and second-hand reports from friends. Doing something creative can help your mental well-being. Recently, I had to have physicl therapy for tenodonitis in my left wrist. I had talked to the therapist about things I do, including writing and crochet. He said that I might need to slow down for a while, but he wouldn’t ever say I needed to stop completely, especially for something so important to my well-being.

4. Socializing/sense of belonging.

There are some groups that exist around getting together to do or talk about a creative outlet that you enjoy. I am a member of writers’ groups and knitting/crochet groups that get together for this exact reasons/. There are many more, I’m sure, around other creative pursuits. I mention this because although alone-time is good for self-care, so is interaction with other people. Especially if you work alone most of the time.

5. Self-Indulgence.

I hestitated to mention this one. i don’t want you to think that self-care is a bad thing because it encourages selfishness or anything like that. But sometimes the best reason to do self-care is because it’s something you want to do. You want to treat yourself to a mani/pedi or a massage, but such things seem indulgent. So do it. It’s refreshing and you’ll feel better afterward. Feeling better will lead to you doing your work better and being more creative.

I know there are more reasons to do self-care than these, but for the sake of berevity, I thought I would stick with five.

Question of the day: What is your primary reason for prioritizing self-care?

Here’s Your Permission Slip

On Monday, at the end of story time, I said you need to give yourself permission to be creative/call yourself a writer.

Well…

I decided some of you might want or need a permission slip. So here you go.

Save it to your computer and print it out. Sign it and date it. Tape it to your monitor or a mirror where you see it frequently.

Give yourself permission.

6 Keys to Creativity: Part 1

Today on the podcast we’re starting a series on the 6 Keys to Creativity that inform how I operate.

Let Me Tell You a Story

Have I ever told you how I started writing? Or anything about my creative journey?

No?

I want to do that now, then.From the time I was about 7 to 16 (I’m guesstimating), my mom was a babysitter. My job, if you can really call it that, was helping to entertain the kids.

That included telling stories.

Even my brother loved my stories and frequently wanted me to tell him a bedtime story.

Eventually, I started writing them down I would also write poems. I was on the school paper and yearbook. But even though I wrote, I didn’t call myself a writer. My writing was mostly just for me at that point.

Don’t get me wrong. I had teachers who encouraged my writing, but those were mostly on school assignments. I didn’t think it was really that big a deal.

Fast-forward to college.

I was waiting for one class to let out so my class could start. I think it was Introduction to Sociology, if I remember correctly. A classmate came and sat by me (on the floor in the hall) to wait, too.

I was reading Writer’s Digest.

Her: “Oh. Are you a writer?”
Me (hesitating): “Yes.”
Her: “What do you write?”

To be totally honest, I don’t remember the rest of our conversation. It was *cough*  years ago.

Why do I remember this much of it?

It was the first time I gave myself permiossion to say I was/am a writer.

This is why I say that you are the only person who says you can or can’t be creative. It’s why I say you have to give ourself permisssion.

No one else can do that.

If you hven’t yet given yerself permission to be creative, to be a writer, to be whatever, do that now.

You might have to do it more than once. That’s OK. Just keep doing it until it sticks.

What a Creativity Coach Does

As I mentioned in previous posts, creativity coaching is a subset of life coaching. But that doesn’t tell you what a coach does or even who they work with.

So let’s address the second question first.

A creativity coach works with creative people. By my definition, that would mean everybody. Since that isn’t possible, let’s narrow it down: artists, writers, composers, dancers, and actors. Just to name a few.

But now what does a creativity coach actually do?

Well…

That’s typically between your coach and you. Each coach has a different take on things and a different specialty. I could go all generic here and talk about creativity coaches in general. But we’re on my blog and talking about something I’m interested in and love to do. So I’m going to be talking about what I would do.

First things first, I would request that you book an initial consultation using the calendar linked here. During that consultation, which would be done via either Skype or Zoom, we would discuss what your issues are and whether we could work together.

Based on that conversation, I would make a recommendation for one of my coaching packages and we would take it from there.

My packages are a combination of email and video or phone chats. You will have a contract and homework to do between sessions. Everything is designed around you and what your goals are.

So while this doesn’t tell you exactly what a coach does, it does provide a framework about how I work so you have some idea of what to expect.

Have you ever worked with a creativity coach before? How was it?