The other morning, a friend asked me how I stay inspired and creative. We were skinning up a mountain in the backcountry of British Columbia. The sun was shining, rocky, chalky peaks surrounded us, and the sky was infinite overhead. I was 100 percent in my happy place. As we quietly and meditatively glided up one boot in front of the other, I took my “podium” to talk about my favorite things: the well of creativity and inspiration. I began to pontificate about what I consider to be the three essential elements to inspiration – consume, reflect, create.
{Consume} reading books and articles, listening to podcasts
{Reflect} – making space to think and explore topics at a deeper level. Connect the dots of consumption.
{Create} writing, journaling, making videos using your hands, making art, building something.
I even went so far as to say that finding the discipline to do those things isn’t hard for me. A day isn’t a full day if I haven’t moved, consumed, reflected, and created.
And then I got home from this incredible place in the Purcell Mountains and … cue the record scratch.
I found myself dragging, both physically and mentally. The memory of a fantastic week had created a massive vacation hangover I was struggling to overcome. I texted one of my vacation mates, and she described it as an expansive nostalgia. I told her that was just a nice term for “being depressed.”
She asked what my medicine was for it.
Same question as before, only vastly different circumstances. Easy to say in the mountains, not so easy when you don’t have the mojo, and you aren’t in your happy place.
So now the question becomes a real test.
Here’s what I think. In the words of REO Speedwagon: “I can’t fight this feeling anymore.”
A medicine implies we are fighting something and fighting isn’t always the answer. We just need to make peace with it and work with what we have. Ok, so I feel “expansive nostalgia.”
How do I work with it? First, I recognize that this feeling is not permanent. This is a meaningful internal dialogue because I default to a sense of permanence in everything.
The reminder that whatever I’m missing will be back is powerful, so in the meantime, I do what I need to do to “take care of myself.”
A seemingly unrelated but constructive way is to remove stuff from my plate. I love saying no to stuff that doesn’t fill me up. Seriously. Just because the time slot is open on your calendar doesn’t mean you should say yes to the meeting. I don’t think I have to explain this further.
Take control of your calendar and, therefore, your time. Don’t be a people pleaser. If you are still arguing with me on this point, consider this: people don’t need to know the time slot is open and that you’re saying no because you need the time for yourself. In fact, people don’t need excuses as to why you can’t make this or that. Saying “I wish I could, but I can’t” works.
They even appreciate the brief answer, trust me. We don’t need your laundry list of everything that is the shit show of your life. We are all shit shows.
Why is this something I highlight to bring back motivation and creativity? Because when you make time for the stuff that matters, you get lit up.
Try it. And of course, let me know how it goes.
What I read in January:
Atlas of the Heart, Brené Brown: I haven’t taken the time yet to process my notes and reflect on this fantastic book. But you’ll be hearing more from me on this. I love that Brené Brown gives us a language around emotions because words are powerful (<—- turns out, I agree with her, and when we have a better-defined vocabulary around emotions, we can better communicate with each other.) The metaphor she uses is going to the doctor for excruciating pain in your shoulder only to arrive in his office with your mouth taped shut and your hands tied behind your back. How frustrating is it to try and express what is wrong?
Godspeed by Nickolas Butler: A great vacation read (fiction, yay!) that only sounds boring when I try to describe it, so I won’t. I couldn’t put it down. I’ll stop there.
Take care out there,
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