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10 Ways to Live in Creative Flow
by Julie Jordan Scott

Take a moment and hold fast to a vision of life continually in the flow. Meandering down the river, and even enjoying when the rapids get rough! Knowing in your heart and soul that the one consistent piece of the puzzle is that you remain in the "flow" mindset.

1. Take time daily to set your intention for the day. Create an environment in which you can readily attract the resources you need to have the day you desire. This may mean chunks of time, it may mean financial resources, it may mean networking with a key person.

2. When in productive parts of flow, write idea files, outlines, mindmaps or whatever seeds you can think of so that when the times come when ideas are not being birthed easily, there is a never ending supply of ideas to rejuvenate your stagnant creative process.

3. Determine what false beliefs you have been holding tight to, and commit to divorcing yourself from them. How have false beliefs benefitted you? Can't think of a single thing? Thats what I thought. Trash them. Now!

4. Always be alert! There are possibilities for creative thinking and activity in everything, you simply have to tap into your flow. A conversation between two kids on the playground, a scene in the grocery store. A dog at play. Rush hour traffic. All the answers are there, ready to be "de-coded", embraced and invited in!

5. Look at movies and live theater as your own personal laboratory. The stories told there are great to reach out to others as they provide a point of connection. In turn, you can then tell the stories to other people, and weave your lesson into the telling. Illustrations from movies and plays provide excellent bridges for growth and learning.

6. Continue to be a student of life: allow yourself to explore new ideas, people and places. Recently, I discovered the writing of Thomas Paine and the poetic musings of Henry David Thoreau. Yes, I had learned of these thinkers at a younger age, but I never really dug with any depth about their philosophy. Now, I am researching Heuristics and Directed Creativity just for fun. See something that strikes an interesting cord? Do a web search, and take 15 minutes a day for a week and see what you can learn. Watch the invigorating thought that develops!

7. Find a Partner or Buddy to work with. If you work in a solopreneur setting, find a like minded fellow solopreneur, and arrange to speak for ten minutes daily. If you work in an office setting with other people, find a colleague there were you can express yourself authentically without politics entering in and muddying the waters. If you have larger issues to discuss, set an appointment to talk for an hour one day a week as well. The daily check in will serve you both, providing mutual support.

8. Participate in joyful exercise or movement activities on a regular basis. This may mean skating, dancing, running, playing in the playground with the neighborhood kids, a strenuous hike through the urban wilderness. Simply get moving. It is amazing what a pumping heart and strengthened muscles will do for the creative brain.

9. Envelope yourself in nature. Take time to really observe your surroundings out in the magnificent world we live in. Maybe for you, this will mean sitting in a neighborhood park. Or maybe it will be traveling to a natural preserve within close driving distance. It might even be planting a houseplant for your city apartment. Learn from the plants, the fertile soil, the animals who roam about your neighborhood. What are they telling you?

10. Remember and embrace the fact that being at peace and being in the flow does not mean life will be perfect each and everyday. The song "Peace like a river" points to the fact that even in the rapids, staying in the water is what counts! The peace remains even in chaos if you invite it in regularly.

Copyright © Julie Jordan Scott

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