The Quarantine Chronicles: Day 2

Today's creativity prompt includes an excerpt from Julia Cameron, author of The Artist's Way.

"It is valuable to think of creative artists as being like skittish racehorses, nervous until they are out the gate and actually running.

In my experience, no artist is ever immune to or beyond apprehension in many forms. Successful artists have learned to identify and deal successfully with these close-sibling emotions. It helps to make a few important distinctions, distill a few working definitions...

Panic is an escalating sense of terror that can feel as if we are being flooded and immobilized by the glare of change. Panic is what you feel on the way to the altar or to the theater on opening night, or to the airport for a book tour. It is rooted in "I know where I want to go, but how am I going to get there?"

I really like Julia Cameron's definition of 'panic'. I think it's a different kind of feeling than worry or fear, and the differentiation is important...especially in the times we are currently facing. Defining the terms is helpful because we can turn it on its head and use it in the most powerful positive way possible.

The fact is, the more active - and sometimes even the more negative - your imagination is, the more it is a sure sign that you are full of creative energy. The more panic or terror you are experiencing, the more potential you have to experience the opposite emotions... things like ecstasy, DELIGHT, BLISS!

I don't know if you are anything like me but I canNOT watch scary movies. My imagination is just too powerful. I know this about myself. And in challenging life circumstances, sometimes our imaginations simply run wild. I know, that there have definitely been times during the last month of this pandemic, when I have created possible scenarios in my head full of what 'could' happen that would be a frickin' FABULOUS thriller film. If you can relate to that as well, I'm so sorry. It's been kinda tough the last few weeks but we are trekking through and we will come out strong on the other end!

As creatives, we must learn, and we can learn, to flip the switch on our imaginative energies, and turn panic, worry and fear into invention. If we want to live expansive lives and experience life to the fullest, (which we doooo! Right? Right?!) we must be just as open to the positive possibilities as we are to the negative ones.

So today, take your pen in hand and write out what your ideal day might look like. Just as Julia Cameron's definition of 'panic' used the words "an escalating sense of terror that can feel as if we are being flooded and immobilized by the glare of change", let's turn this definition on it's head and imagine our perfect, ideal day, that just has an escalating sense of ECSTASY and DELIGHT! A day that just keeps getting better and better as we go through it, that feels as if we are being flooded with liquid love and immobilized by the glistening radiance of pure BLISS.

Haha! Are you with me? Are you feelin' it?! Start writing about your ideal day as if you are just waking up...what kind of bed would you want to be waking up in? Is it a royal, luxurious 10,000 thread count, silky-sheeted, 4 poster bed with a luscious, thick mattress in a modern-day, Norwegian treehouse? Or is it outside, camping next to the ocean with the sound of the waves gently waking you up? Who is with you? What kind of breakfast would you eat? Is it room service or cooking by the fire? Is it breakfast in bed prepared by your children or are you waking up at noon and ordering chinese?

Write about your perfect, most enjoyable day and let your emotions and imagination run absolutely wild, up, up up that escalating experience of ecstasy...what are the BEST possible things that you can imagine happening?! In the realms of relationships, career, accomplishments, meaningful exchanges, finances, travel, people calling you spontaneously on the phone...'oh, the King of England is calling? Great, tell him to hold, please.' ;.) Let nothing be too frivolous.

Allow yourself to be flooded with liquid love and pure bliss as you feel the power of your positive imagination.

This is real life. This is your creative energy working for you. You can choose this in any moment. You are powerful beyond understanding.

If you feel led, take those feelings and that energy into movement and dance, write a song about it, draw or paint or collage some images of how this ideal day might look.

Let's turn our panic into creative energy!

Massive love to you today,

JennyRebecca