Intention Inspired

Today, let's free ourselves of tension by resting with appreciation and satisfaction.

Explore today's full session at https://intentioninspired.com/creative-autumn21

We covered a lot this past week on our Autumn Creative Journey.

It is so curious and exciting to stretch our imaginations and consider all possibilities ... like creating loving connections and imbuing our creations with love and healing. That process of expanding the box we live in makes our creative journey magical.

Autumn changes quickly.

The weather has turned at my house.  It has gotten wet and windy and colder than I like.  The garden is mostly gone...a few onions remain.  We are moving towards Winter in a slow, wet, colorful spiral.

​   REPEAT WITH RELAXING INTENT   

"I am always exactly where I am meant to be.

I am never behind, never slacking, lacking, or procrastinating.

I am right where I am meant to be—in this moment.

I give myself the rest I need."

Today, have fun!

"As I rest in this moment with contentment,

I feel grateful for ___________________ "

Rest and Reflect today.

There are infinite possibilities and we are growing and creating, adding wonder to the collective field.

What is one way you will allow yourself to relax today?

Please share your observations and creative musings in the comments below or the Art Room Activity Feed at https://intentioninspired.com/art-room

Today, let's joyfully create with surrender, curiosity, and love.

👁 Explore today's full session at https://intentioninspired.com/creative-autumn20

The most important part of this journey is to CREATE.

Create with abandon.  Create with Curiosity.  Create to Heal.  Create with Love ... but by all means, CREATE.

Today, we aren't going to broaden our view of creativity out to all things created.  Today we are going to bring it home and CREATE!

🍂 INSPIRATION FROM AUTUMN:

Autumn is a very creative season.

Up to this point, our focus has been on the power of creativity in all experiences.

Creativity-Expanded Version ... as in, We Are Creating our Reality.  A Study of Creative Self Awareness.

The rest of our journey will be Creating ... the making of ... using our imagination, getting curious, being courageous, and creating from our Soul with Compassion.

What will you create today?

📣 TODAY'S AFFIRMATION:

Prime the heart, body, mind and soul with creative intent by repeating the following affirmation out loud:

"Creating clears my mind and heals my heart.

I Create to Feed My Soul.

I Create to Heal.

I Create to Understand."

📓 CREATIVE JOURNAL PROMPT:

1. Begin with a circle.

2. Inside the circle make a square.

3. Inside the square draw a heart.

4. Inside the heart make a triangle.

5. Around the circle write about what you love and how love feels.

6. Now give it all waves of energy.

🙏 A MOMENT OF GRATITUDE:

"As I focus on the things that bring me joy,

I feel grateful for ___________________ "

💬 COMMUNITY CONVERSATION:

By now (hopefully) you realize that creativity has more to do with healing and self-expression than artistic ability.

Creating with intention allows us to release what does not serve us, heal our emotional pain and raise our consciousness. That is an ability available to ALL.  (I think this bears repeating so I am leaving it here today.)

What is one thing you are excited to create today?

Please share your observations and creative musings in the comments below or the Art Room Activity Feed at https://intentioninspired.com/art-friend

Today, let's imbue all our creations with soulful intentions of love, healing, and growth.

Explore today's full session at https://intentioninspired.com/creative-autumn19

When our intention is to let our souls "speak" we can heal and we can grow.  We can raise consciousness for both ourselves and the planet. This expression of feeling has been present since the first cave drawing was created and our souls feel it.

📿 TODAY'S MANTRA:

"Creating with intention sets me free."

🍂 AUTUMN INSPIRATION:

When we are intentional about our creative process we serve this field.  When our alignment is toward healing and a feeling place of love and compassion we raise the consciousness of the field.  That in turn raises and heals all consciousness.

Each time we create (whether that is soup, a song, a painting, a mutually respectful conversation, a business...or of course, our journal pages) we imbue our creation with our energy.  That energy lives in our creation.  If our intention is to act and create with love, that soup, that song, that business, that page vibrates with that loving energy and is passed on...either to ourselves through healing or to other energy that connects to it.

📣 TODAY'S AFFIRMATION:

"My creative expression is intertwined with my spirituality and my self-awareness. I offer myself through my intentional practice. I intentionally create my life."

🙏 A MOMENT OF GRATITUDE:

"As I embrace gratitude as essential energy that brings health and well-being,

I am grateful for _________________________ "

💬 COMMUNITY CONVERSATION

By now (hopefully) you realize that creativity has more to do with healing and self-expression than artistic ability.

Creating with intention allows us to release what does not serve us, heal our emotional pain and raise our consciousness.  That is an ability available to ALL.

What is one way you're inspired to create with more soulful intention today?

Please share your observations and creative musings in the comments below or the Art Room Activity Feed at https://intentioninspired.com/art-friend

Today, let's explore how creativity enhances our connection to all things.

👁 Explore today's full session at https://intentioninspired.com/creative-autumn18

We hear from many different sources that "we are all connected".  What does that actually mean?

Not only are we, as humans, connected but all things are connected by energy on a quantum level.  (Studies have now been done that validate this but ancient wisdom has known this for years).  What that also means is that our "feeling place" (vibration, if you prefer) emanates out from us, affecting the energy in this connected field.

Our internal creative practice brings our focus to this moment with an intention to grow and heal.

Through this courageous, curious, self-aware process we observe and shift our conditioning.  This balances our "feeling places" so that we are generally adding "love energy" to the field. When that is our general state of being ... a love for peace, a love for the planet, a love for others...we not only create miracles for ourselves but contribute to the peace and healing of the planet. We begin to fully and deeply understand and feel connection.

🔬 SCIENCE SHOWS:

Humans are inherently social creatures; we are biologically, cognitively, physically, and spiritually wired to be loved and to belong.

Studies show people who feel more connected to others have lower levels of anxiety and depression, stronger immune systems, live longer, have higher self-esteem, greater empathy for others, and are more trusting and cooperative. Connectedness generates a positive feedback loop of social, emotional, and physical well-being.

🤝THE ART OF CONNECTION

Probably one of the most important tools to greater communication and connection is the art of listening.

Listening is more than just remaining silent while another person speaks.

Good listeners amplify, energize, and clarify the speaker's thinking. They make the speaker feel better by being actively supportive.

💬 COMMUNITY CONVERSATION

What is one way you enjoy connecting to Nature and Others?

Please share your observations and creative musings in the comments below or the Art Room Activity Feed at https://intentioninspired.com/art-friend

Today, let's get more clear about what's most important so we can live in more alignment with what makes our soul sing.

Explore today's full session at https://intentioninspired.com/creative-autumn17

The world is in the midst of great change and transformation. Change can be scary but we know, deep within, that this change is necessary to restore balance and connection. We also know that balance and connection must be restored within the individual for transformation to occur. This change and transformation is guiding us towards our preferences.

📣 TODAY'S AFFIRMATION:

"I pause to make sure I am aligned with what feeds my soul.

My values are clearly defined. I prefer to live in alignment."

🍂 AUTUMN INSPIRATION:

Autumn is the Season of change and transformation.

The time to intentionally practice our preferences. It seems like that would be easy enough but often we make choices that are counter to who we are, our values, and the life we want to create. In many cases, we are taught to disregard who we are and what feeds our soul. Over time this conditioning leads us further and further from our "true" values and purpose. How do we know what we prefer?

🙏 A MOMENT OF GRATITUDE

"As I observe the characteristics, behaviors, and beliefs that are the most important to me,

I am grateful for _________________________"

👯‍♀️ COMMUNITY CONVERSATION

Knowing what you prefer as you tackle the challenges of the day and as you create will produce a balanced, peaceful feeling place within you.

That feeling place is your guidepost to whether you are in alignment or not. Once you know your preferences you can make the choices that align you with your life of purpose. Your purpose.

Please share your observations and creative musings in the comments below or the Art Room Activity Feed at https://intentioninspired.com/art-friend

Today, let's break the momentum of past conditioning by returning our focus to the abundance of this moment.

Explore today's full session at https://intentioninspired.com/creative-autumn16

To be aware and mindful of what we are feeling ... in this moment, what is happening, in this moment ... the abundance around us, in this moment allows us to break the momentum of past conditioning.  We may also realize that in most cases we are safe and whole and secure ... in this moment.

📣 TODAY'S AFFIRMATION:

"When I drift to past moments or worry about moments to come, I take a breath and bring myself into this moment.

I am fully present in this moment."

🍂 INSPIRATION FROM AUTUMN:

As we practice what Autumn has to teach us, we can be mindful that we are in a cycle of preservation and gratitude for our abundant "Harvest".   We can honor and accept the dark and the light.  We can prepare for a future of our choosing from our point of power in the present.  We can examine the past, intentionally to observe our successes, behaviors and lessons in small doses.

🌻MINDFUL MOMENT

Sit quietly for a few minutes, taking long, slow breaths.  

Ask and observe:

How often does my mind wander to the past in a day?

When in conversation with another what stories do I tell?

How often am I anxious or worried about the future?

📓 TODAY'S CREATIVE JOURNAL PROMPT:

Capture the present moment. Bring yourself into this moment ...  How do you feel?   What can you hear?  What catches your attention?  Can you smell or taste anything?

Around the "captured moment" write answers to these questions.

How does presence feel?

🙏 A MOMENT OF GRATITUDE

"As I bask in the feelings of this present moment,

I feel grateful for _________________________  "

👯 COMMUNITY CONVERSATION

So many things are designed to distract us and keep us worried about the future or focused in the past (including our own conditioning).  What will always ring true is that there is nothing but the present moment and that is where our point of power to become aware, create and grow will always be.

Please share your observations and creative musings in the comments below or the Art Room Activity Feed at https://intentioninspired.com/art-friend

Today, let's accept the inevitable contrast and celebrate periods of balance.

Explore today's full session at https://intentioninspired.com/creative-autumn15

📣 TODAY'S AFFIRMATION:

"I accept the contrast and celebrate periods of balance.

My creative process is in equilibrium."

🍂 AUTUMN INSPIRATION:

Our whole system longs to maintain its equilibrium.  We are noticing the natural world continuously moving towards balance and we experience it thoroughly in Autumn.   Darkness and light, birth and death, giving and receiving are the push and pull of this season.

Equilibrium is not something we want to "lose".

I enjoy exploring all that Autumn has to show us and applying its lessons to my creative practice.  "Letting go" of perfectionism, insecurities, and critical thoughts.  Pausing to center myself, bring myself into the moment, break the momentum of conditioned reactions,  preserving my creative time and space and the healing benefits I receive daily.  Honoring the "harvest" that is every page of my journal.

📓TODAY'S CREATIVE JOURNAL PROMPT:

When you engage, daily, with a creative process your being returns to balance.

1. Draw a line down the center of your page.  

2. On one side, write for at least three minutes about what it feels like when you lose your equilibrium (Creatively, Emotionally, and Spiritually).

3. On the other side, write for three minutes on what it feels like to be "in balance" in these areas as well.

4. Create a page, over your writing, that symbolizes BALANCE.

🙏 A MOMENT OF GRATITUDE

"As I notice what shows up when I ebb and flow in and out of balance,

I remain grateful for ____________________ "

👯 COMMUNITY CONVERSATION:

Balance is very important to my growth on all levels.

Maintaining that fine centerline is not always possible but accepting that the heaviness will change, the swinging scales will balance again and there is much learning in this process if I observe with curiosity.

Please share your observations and creative musings about your equilibrium in the comments below or the Art Room Activity Feed at https://intentioninspired.com/art-room

Today, let's rest and reflect with curious observation of our seasonal cycles.

Explore today's full session at https://intentioninspired.com/creative-autumn14

📣 TODAY'S AFFIRMATION:

Read today's affirmation out loud with purpose and intent:

"Rest and reflection allows me to do my best work.

I connect to the seasonal cycles, allowing myself to rest and reflect."

🍂 AUTUMN INSPIRATION:

As we look towards Winter we get to choose how we proceed as the days get shorter and colder.

We can allow the approaching winter to hamper our "forward motion" and fight against it or we can use our time to go within and focus on creative pursuit.

Autumn cycles suggest that we meet change with grace.

One way to ease into and choose how the changes affects our lives and decisions is to take the time to rest and reflect.  Reflection allows us to observe the changes with curiosity and make the choices that further our growth.

📓 CREATIVE JOURNAL PROMPT:

As we Rest and Reflect today, let's do whatever we feel called to do in our creative journals.

🙏 A MOMENT OF GRATITUDE

"As I take time to rest and reflect,

I feel grateful for ___________________ "

👯 COMMUNITY CONVERSATION

Even a creative pursuit can feel forced and challenging at times.

This is one of the reasons we observe our thoughts and feelings as we create. Curious observation as we create can impact every facet of our being.  Whatever we have observed can be thoroughly examined when we rest and reflect.

Please share your observations and creative musings in the comments below or the Art Room Activity Feed at https://intentioninspired.com/art-friend

Today, let's take stock of our internal landscape and choose a path that feeds our soul.

Explore today's full session at https://intentioninspired.com/creative-autumn13

📣 TODAY'S AFFIRMATION:

"When I pause and take stock of my internal landscape, I am able to intentionally choose a path that feeds my soul. I pause and honor this cycle with grace."

When we feel that there is so much to do we fall back to our old patterns quickly. We may experience feelings of overwhelm and anxiety.  We may begin feeling our life as a hamster wheel...round and round, endlessly "doing" but not moving forward much.  We are busy people and that is why the Pause is so vital to our well-being.

If we can Pause before the overwhelm and anxiety takes full hold we can use the tools we've been learning to honor our cycles with grace. Our commitment to our creative practice is a wonderful way to pause and reassess our choices, beliefs and behaviors.

Other creative tools that can facilitate the Pause (and reset) are meditation, taking a breath, napping, tapping (EFT), connecting to Nature.  My favorite is my journal. Getting fully present and in the flow with a page allows me to pause and reenergize my whole being.

🍂 INSPIRATION FROM AUTUMN:

Autumn is a mixed bag of energy.

In many ways it feels like there is much more for us to do as we prepare for cold and dark, holidays and winter introspection. The transformation also brings with it a bit of sorrow as, once again, everything is ending and changing. Internally we understand that this is part of the cycle so there is excitement in the possibilities to come and new beginnings. Summer was warm, fun and in motion. Autumn suggests that we pause and allow the changes and energies to BE with grace.

With so many feelings and energies wrapped around Autumn, a pause becomes all the more therapeutic.

Pausing to allow ourselves to stop and reassess can ward off overwhelm and anxiety but a pause can have other benefits as well.  

A Pause before answering allows us to collect our thoughts and give a response that is true to ourselves.

A pause also allows us to reframe a response, bypassing our conditioning and triggers and speaking with clarity and compassion.  This pause only takes a breath (two, maybe, if you're already triggered).

A Pause can break the momentum of a thought or feeling that you can't get rid of. 

Breaking the momentum allows us to focus intentionally on what the thought and feelings actually are.  We give these thoughts and feelings a voice and then let them pass through leaving our mind freer.

A Pause will bring us back to this moment and place our focus on what will best serve us.

Being in this moment can turn our attention towards appreciating the beauty all around us, returning to the awe, wonder, and curiosity that we knew as children.

A Pause helps us tune into our body and focus on what it really needs.

Am I hungry?  Have I been sitting too long?  Do I need water?

Consciously and intentionally pausing can literally change your life.

📓 CREATIVE JOURNAL PROMPT

Today is a doodle or scribbling day.  

Both of these activities allow us a Pause.

🙏 A MOMENT OF GRATITUDE

Pausing to remember all that we have to be grateful for is a wonderful way to reset and reenergize.  Stopping to write down five things that you are grateful for can shift your whole being.

I am grateful for

1 _____________________

2 _____________________

3 _____________________

4 _____________________

5 _____________________

👯 COMMUNITY CONVERSATION:

A Pause can change your life.

What is one of your favorite ways to pause?

Please share your observations and creative musings in the comments below or the Art Room Activity Feed at https://intentioninspired.com/art-friend

Today, let's be wholehearted in our service by upholding loving boundaries that allow for authentic transformation.

Explore today's full session at https://intentioninspired.com/creative-autumn12

📣 TODAY'S AFFIRMATION

“As I identify and alter my conditioning, I embrace wholehearted giving and lovingly set personal boundaries.”

Setting boundaries is essential if we want to be physically, spiritually, mentally, and emotionally healthy.

It is also a kindness to others (though it may not seem that way). Boundaries lay a strong foundation for our authentic and desired participation in this life journey and also gives necessary information to those journeying with us. Personal boundaries help define where you end and others begin on all levels. They help you decide what types of communication, behavior, and interaction are acceptable to you and are true to your values.

Setting these boundaries can also be one of the most challenging tasks we undertake.

Many of us have had counter conditioning. This counter-conditioning indicates that “keeping the peace”, “protecting ourselves from trauma by agreeing”, “staying invisible so we remain undetected”. There are thousands of possible scenarios. Each one is designed to protect us in some way but keep us locked in a prison (sometimes for years). Setting boundaries lovingly is the path to freedom.

💬 TODAY'S QUOTE

"An intimate relationship is one in which neither party silences, sacrifices, or betrays the self and each party expresses strength and vulnerability, weakness and competence in a balanced way."

~Harriet Lerner

🍂 AUTUMN INSPIRATION

Autumn is a time when we gather the earth's riches.

A time when we may come to realize that what matters in life is not productivity and having things but human connection and being of service. While the “service” of our conditioning can often set up frustration or resentment, we have been intentional about being of service to ourselves. Not a selfish pursuit, as our Ego or critics may attempt to indicate, but a necessity to living our highest truth.

It is Autumn; we are experiencing transformation and it is both exciting and bittersweet as change often is. To ease into this transformation we can begin by laying a good foundation of boundaries.

📓 CREATIVE JOURNAL PROMPT:

List your top five values. List your top five “truths” about relationships.

Choose five important relationships. Make a map using each person as their own “state”.

Get creative by visually expressing the boundaries needed for these “people states” and the options available for a true and mutually satisfying connection. Get clear on the boundaries you need to set for your own well-being.

Keep in mind that sometimes the most healthy boundary you can set might be letting go altogether.

😄 A MOMENT OF GRATITUDE

“As I reflect on my top values and relationships,

I am grateful for _____________________ “

👯 COMMUNITY CONVERSATION

Following the transformational tenets of Autumn brings us freedom and allows us to expand our vision of a whole, creative life.

Sometimes the lessons are more challenging…like setting boundaries. The more compassion we have with ourselves, the easier this transformation becomes (and the more compassionate we can be with others).

How can you express your own values and needs more clearly? What boundaries speak to your soul?

Please share your observations and creative musings about boundaries in the comments below or the Art Room Activity Feed at https://intentioninspired.com/art-room