|
 |
Coaching Currents |
 |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dear Subscriber, Welcome to the latest issue of "coaching currents from dbcoach"! Each month, this newsletter will offer you some thoughts and ideas based on my experiences as a coach. The New Year has started and it seems we are already back into the swing of things. We are set in our routine and New Year's resolutions have already been forgotten. This month's article is meant for all of you who want to incorporate meditation, creativity and feeding your soul this year. I hope you find this edition of the 'coaching currents' both practical and inspirational. Feel free to share it with colleagues and friends. Warmly,
Six weeks ago, I started reading a book a friend had recommended to me. The book had been on my nightstand for quite some time, but all of a sudden it was calling to me. I always have a stack of books on my nightstand. Over time I have learned to trust my intuition. I am picking up a book for a reason and when the time is right I will learn what the pages reveal to me. "The Artist's Way" is an inspiring book about unleashing your creativity. Keep reading, even if you don't consider yourself the creative type or especially, if you don't consider yourself the creative type. If you are working in the corporate world you might not think of yourself as being creative and yet you have to be creative as to how you market a product, how to find an engineering solution, how to be more green or how to best coach your employees. If you are an entrepreneur you have to create your business daily, how to get new customers, how to streamline processes, and how to manage the workload. Unfortunately, we tend to be so much in a 'let's get things done' mode that we tend to forget putting fuel into our creative engine. 'The Artist's Way' speaks exactly to that. One of the many great exercises recommended by Julia Cameron is called 'Morning Pages': The idea is to, first thing in the morning, fill three pages by handwriting whatever comes to mind. Three pages, no more, no less. If you can't think of anything to write, you put down: "I can't think of anything to write." It's that simple. Write down your pure stream of consciousness. I admit, I have started journals many times and stopped just as many. I always thought what you put down in a journal had to be superbly profound and I couldn't muster the discipline to keep it going. I have been writing 3 pages diligently every morning for 6 weeks now and I haven't missed one day! I find it almost addictive! I don't want to start my day without it anymore. It clears my head of any need to do items, frustrations and tolerations. It is a vessel for my thoughts and feelings. It let's me problem solve right in front of my eyes. It helps me be more grounded and centered. I don't have to hold on to any of it in my head anymore. I know it's written down and safe on a page. I have to mention though that you are not recommended to reread the pages, at last for a while. I haven't yet. These pages are also for your eyes only, they are not to be read by anyone else. So tuck them away. I have made remarkable observations since I started writing the Morning Pages: I can now remember my dreams, something I was never able to do before. Sometimes I write my pages in German without noticing it and not because I am in Germany at the time. (I know I think in German when I am in Germany). I see more synchronicities, like the day I entered a miniature chair contest (where little chairs were made out of supplies from champagne bottles), found the ideal reading chair, I had been looking for 2 years and having flashbacks seeing my mother take her 10 minute daily nap in her favorite reading chair. I have found myself to be more creative and incorporating creativity more in everyday tasks, such as cooking or rearranging my bedding. Or writing a hand written letter to a friend, which in this day and age seems to have become a thing of the past. I have recommended 'Morning Pages' to some of my clients and friends who experience similar and remarkable experiences. All of the writing in conjunction with the 'Artist Dates', which you will have to read about in the book (no I don't get any commission) have made me more creative and happier. I notice that when I am creative, I am feeding my soul. You can only be creative when you are being present. You can be creative when you are not thinking about yesterday's conflicts or tomorrow's worries. I find the 'Morning Pages' a wonderful ritual to start the day, a form of written meditation. I highly recommend it to all of you. What stops you from giving it a try? What do you have to lose? And what could you gain? Enjoy the journey into yourself. Please see details about the book below.
"Meditation is the tongue of the soul and the language of our spirit" ~ Jeremy Taylor
"The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity" by Julia Cameron Description: The Artist's Way is the seminal book on the subject of creativity. An international bestseller, millions of readers have found it to be an invaluable guide to living the artist's life. Still as vital today-or perhaps even more so-than it was when it was first published one decade ago, it is a powerfully provocative and inspiring work. In a new introduction to the book, Julia Cameron reflects upon the impact of The Artist's Way and describes the work she has done during the last decade and the new insights into the creative process that she has gained. Updated and expanded, this anniversary edition reframes The Artist's Way for a new century.
The Bucket List Synopsis: A long time ago, Carter Chambers' (Morgan Freeman) freshman year philosophy professor suggested that his students compose a "bucket list," a collection of all the things they wanted to do, see and experience in life before they kicked the bucket. But while Carter was still trying to define his private dreams and plans, reality intruded. Marriage, children, myriad responsibilities and, ultimately, a 46-year job as an auto mechanic gradually turned his concept of a bucket list into little more than a bittersweet memory of lost opportunities and a mental exercise he occasionally thought about to pass the time while working under the hood of a car. Meanwhile, corporate billionaire Edward Cole (Jack Nicholson) never saw a list without a bottom line. He was always too busy making money and building an empire to think about what his deeper needs might be beyond the next big acquisition or cup of gourmet coffee. Then life delivered an urgent and unexpected wake-up call to both of them. Carter and Edward found themselves sharing a hospital room with plenty of time to think about what might happen next--and about how much of that was in their hands. For all their apparent differences, they soon discovered they had two very important things in common: an unrealized need to come to terms with who they were and the choices they'd made, and a pressing desire to spend the time they had left doing everything they ever wanted to do. The list wasn't just a mental exercise anymore. It was an agenda. So, against doctor's orders and all good sense, these two virtual strangers check themselves out of the hospital and hit the road together for the adventure of a lifetime--from the Taj Mahal to the Serengeti, the finest restaurants to the seediest tattoo parlors, the cockpit of vintage race cars to the open door of a prop plane--with just a sheet of paper and their passion for life to guide them. Adding and crossing items off their list while taking in the grandeur and beauty of the world, they will grapple with the difficult questions and the even more difficult answers that plague all of us. And, without even realizing it, become true friends. With humor, insight, heart...and a fair amount of attitude. Sometimes you just need a deadline to get your life in gear.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
 |
