A New Year Dedication

Even at the cusp of the New Year, I still hadn’t decided on my resolutions. Many people I know had already given up on making any form of resolutions that required a continued effort beyond January 2nd. I didn’t want to conform to tradition, neither did I want to begin a new year on a cynical note. So I decided to dedicate the year to a broad area of personal growth instead of pinning it down to fixed ideas and ideals.

My new year is dedicated to openness and creativity.

What does that mean? It means I have vowed to remain open to all experiences without judgement. To accept impermanence as a part of life and learn not to cling to what I desperately want to remain unchanged. My new job as a story liner/senior writer for a miniseries is my first step in that direction. A six month contract and come July
1st, the world is my oyster once again.

It also means poking around in the forgotten nooks and crannies of my heart and mind, without fear of what I may find and with the faith that when I do find it, it will help me understand myself a little better. It means reconnecting with the creative child I left behind in order for me to become a ‘grown up’. It means experimenting with art, words, sounds and movement to tap into my inner creative self that has become so foreign to me.

As it usually happens, the minute I decided this, the path unfolded before me. This time, in the form of Julia Cameron and her book Vein of Gold. This extraordinary book contains teachings on the creative process and imaginative tasks, all designed to draw out your shy creative self. I’m only quarter way through the book and am completely blown away! My soul has come out to play and it is deliriously happy!

In my creative satchel are three tools that Cameron recommends be undertaken and continued for as long as possible:

Morning Pages. These are three pages of writing in LONGHAND each morning about anything and everything on your mind. Cameron says, “Morning pages prioritize our day. They render us present to the moment. They introduce us to an unsuspected strength and agility. They draw to our attention to those areas of our life that need our focus. Both our weaknesses and our strengths will be gently revealed. Problems will be exposed and solutions suggested.”

And why in longhand when we have come such a long way in techno-land? Because, “there is an energy of blood, of truth and knowledge that is deeper than skin. The blood remembers what the mind forgets, and when the blood remembers, it tells the hand. Writing by hand is like walking somewhere instead of whizzing there in car.”

I have begun my Morning Pages in an unassuming red diary gifted to me by my insurance agent. But its simplicity works, because it doesn’t intimidate me into writing something worthy of a Pulitzer. I can relax and the words can flow.

Artist Dates. A weekly date with yourself somewhere that will awaken all your senses. A sacred time of pleasure that nurtures the creative consciousness. And it has to be done solo, so you can hear your inner voice. I have just gone on my first Artist Date, which will be the topic of my next post.

Walks. Oh so easy, and yet so difficult. All of us have been there at one point or the other. But this time don’t think of it as exercise for your body but for your higher consciousness. Walk, take the leash off your mind and let your imagination romp wildly. The answers will come.

Try it. You have nothing to lose and so much to gain. And now I have to stop because I have promised my inner child that if she allows me to finish editing a script this afternoon, I will take her to the park. 