Welcome to Day 15 in The Joy of Writing Journal: Spark Your Creativity in 8 Minutes a Day.
In today’s video, Sherry Burton Ways Steine, author of Feel Good Spaces, shares three tips for enhancing your writing space for creative flow. Then, it’s time to address today’s prompt in your own feel-good writing space!
Today’s prompt about sprucing up our writing space to enhance creative flow took me in an unexpected direction when I journaled. I explored the space inside my head—my thoughts—and how to clear them up!
An interesting question: How to clear up the inner space, not just the space that surrounds us, outside of ourselves.
Of course, our outer space often reflects our inner space; doesn’t it?
Your Turn to Share
Has today’s prompt inspired you to make changes to your “outer” space? Your inner space?
What came up for you today?
Did you feel inspired by the post to make changes to your writing space? Did new ideas emerge about your relationship to your environment when you write?
Share a snippet or some of your experience in writing today.
Day 15 – Enhance your writing space – Prompt – By preparing my inner space
I sometimes write in nature, though mostly at the table, where I give Astrology readings. It was my deceased mother’s kitchen table, which holds a loving presence for me. On all sides of the table I have windows with a gorgeous view of nature inspiring me. One side of the table holds a myriad of sacred objects given to me by others that contain great value for me. As I write, my glance travels to different objects to enjoy their beauty and significance. Sometimes my eye catches the small sparkling golden, crystal bowl housing the tiny translucent, golden shells I have collected on the beach; I can glimpse the vase of turkey feathers left behind on the land, which brings a smile to my heart or my vision can leap to the little orange and blue dish from Greece with the image of three female muses dancing, playing the lute and harp given to me by my deceased friend Clara, who owned Harold’s book store. Before I begin writing, I spend a few minutes on preparing my inner space by dancing to stimulate blood flow, spin 10x to clear my field and light a tea candle to set my clear intentions for creativity to flow. I’ve discovered it’s important to practice these little rituals, which can change over time, in order to shift gears from outer world focus. After a while, my mind/body immediately responds by putting me in the Zone, as Lisa would say. That 30 days to create a pattern really works!
Wow, Deborah. That sounds like such a powerful way to get into creative inner space. I love that you nature, movement and objects that hold meaning for you.
In my experience, when we stimulate the inner muse in such ways, the muse responds with delight. The inner muse / creative source loves playfulness, symbols, meaning-making.
I’m having an AHA moment about a space to write. My modus operandi is to take a seat at my desk when I can find a few minutes, open up my laptop, and try to focus on the LCD screen and not the bills, to do list, binders, pencils, quotes and a myriad of other distractors. There is an acute absence of Zen in my writing “experience”.
I am fascinated by Deborah’s cleansing rituals, dance and presence of sacred objects to set the stage for her writing. Sherry’s video beautifully illustrated 3 simple steps for creating a space conducive for writing. I am wowed by how we have the power to make writing a daily ritual of celebrating your life each and every day.
I am super excited to create a space in my home for writing. It feels like taking my knee skinning efforts to write out of the closet and into the light of day. Could writing be a real thing more than a passing whim? I will go to Sherwin Williams to look for a paint color I love, curate artifacts that set my imagination on fanciful flights, sacred objects like my miniature lapis pyramid and Woodstock single chime that clears the energy in a room, seagrass and shell treasures, a photo of my ancestors, and a classical music playlist to listen to in the background.
All this I will do in service of awakening a consciousness beyond being mindful or present. I want to rouse all my senses to play with not the least of which is my “sixth sense.”
This is so exciting Mary Ann. I bet your muse is jumping up and down for joy! If you want, post an image of the colors you are thinking of – or a before and after of your writing space. It would be fun to see the transformation and celebrate it with you.
I’m looking for a one inch picture frame, a la Anne Lamott in Bird by Bird. I want to set it on a tiny easel to sit on my desk and remind me that I don’t have to do the whole thing at once. I just have to focus on one square inch at a time.