“Let yourself be silently drawn by the
strange pull of what you really love.
It will not lead you astray.” ~ Rumi
If you're human, when you try to meditate, your mind wanders.
After years of instruction, daily practice, silent retreats, and the best meditation apps available .... the mind still wanders.
Maybe after dedicated practice it wanders a little less, you may feel more tuned in to joy, and when the person next door is using a leaf blower on a Sunday morning, an intercepting daydream may want you to dismantle said blower and reassemble the parts in a piece you eventually call "Birds in Flight" to place in the front yard of the offender, but because you meditate, you might just say to yourself, "Let it be, this too shall pass" or sometimes more effectively, "Well, bless their heart." Breathe.
The mind also promenades with distractions during the creative process to the expense of an idea that would like to shed its many layers, take you deep into its rich possibility, inspire your genius, then reward you with an aha-moment that guides you to a glorious fruition-that requires faithful concentration. I confess, I have high velocity distractibility exacerbated by irresistible pets soliciting constant attention.
What I know for sure is I'm not alone but I am in charge, so I'd like to share some simple tricks that keep my clients and me coming back for more, both in the meditation and creative spheres; all made possible by the intersection of mindfulness and creativity:
1.The Welcome Back
Rather than berate myself, I welcome myself back to focusing on breathing or my creative pursuit. The discovery of a distracted mind can be reframed as a triumph not a reason to berate myself.
When I notice the habitual trance intercepting my preferred concentration, I choose relief rather than torment to return me to breathing, well-being, and the resting void of a smiling existence. Catching myself fall off-track then becomes a pleasant experience and helps me look forward to starting again with warmth and welcoming. Since perseverance is vital to success in just about everything, making it a more desirable experience to show-up is just smart. Why would I show up to someone who's constantly disappointed in me? I'm done with that.
2. Applied Rumi
I remind myself what I love about both meditation and creativity: The freedom, transcendence, otherworldly experience, depth of living, calm, timelessness, and undescribable wonder of creation.
I am silently drawn by the strange pull of what I really love. It will not lead me astray. Like Rumi said. This makes showing up effortless versus a struggle.
3. The Sanity Choice
Both meditation and creativity keep me sane and content in an insane world... and sanity often comes in handy. It helps me begin again.
Distracted? Begin again.
The 12-week Nine Modern Day Muse Facilitator training begins again Wednesday, September 1 on Zoom. Come traverse the creative journey with ten creative principles in the guise of nine Mindfulness Muses and a Bodyguard, and learn how to run your own creativity workshops, step-by-step, for joy and another stream of income. Three spots open. More info here
Jill
I carried out a vow to stay focused for a year on my A Muse's Daydream podcast. No small feat with the fickle nature of my attention span. The podcast is celebrating its first year anniversary. The Anniversary episode, The Underwhelm Reloaded, has a drawing you might be interested in to celebrate; New, out of print Awe-manacs, $35 gift certificate to Bookshop.org, original artwork. Listen to the episode for details.
Join the A Muse's Daydream subscriber club at your favorite Podcast platform: Apple Stitcher, Spotify, etc. Here are all of the episodes at The Muse is In website. Write a review, share with a friend, write me a note. xoxo
All podcast episodes are based on principles, tools, and liberating thoughts from the the Kaizen-Muse Creativity Coaching Certification training. In its seventeenth year. Next training is January 2022. More about KMCC here.