Hi Reader,
The theme for this week in The Everyday Artist Community is: Permission to Focus.
Some of you may know but I am really into Fascial Flossing - a movement practice that uses low impact movement and resistance to literally floss your fascia to improve……well everything lol (I'm obsessed - my body feels amazing).
It’s rooted in Traditional Chinese Medicine and as of last week, we officially entered Spring season with the Spring equinox and in Traditional Chinese Medicine that means that Wood Season has begun.
Wood season governs the liver and its organ pair, the gallbladder, so the teacher has been running a Spring Refresh Challenge that focuses the zoom sessions on movements/flosses that support both.
In one of the videos she discussed that one of the roles of the liver is around desire and she asked us, for this week of doing the challenge, how can we utilize the energy of the liver to hone in on where we desire to get unstuck?
As we shed the last little bits of winter, what are the patterns / habits / routines / mindsets we may have picked up or leaned more heavily into during that time that we can also let go of? So that we can more readily receive the gifts of spring's energy and momentum?
How can we utilize the energy of the liver as a permission slip to find more freedom?
I really loved those questions and the first thing that came to mind for me was how easily I’ve been distracted the last couple of months and how I want to bring my focus back.
It's not that things don't get done; it's that there's been a lack of ease in the process of doing so and part of that has been because of the distractions and modes of escapism that I can fall prey to.
And I've seen the same patterns showing up with my 1:1 clients - this deep desire to get unstuck, get focused and move their creative ideas, visions, businesses, dreams, etc. out into the external world.
And if you've been here for awhile, you know that, yes, I do believe distraction in this day and age is very real given all of the technology etc. but what I also know is that distraction can also be a form of procrastination and procrastination is a form of a 'freeze' stress response.
As I was reflecting on her questions, the phrase “Permission to Focus” popped into my head and I felt it resonate in my whole body which I knew to be a sign of “yes.”
So now, I am sharing it with all of you to see if it supports in your creativity this week and beyond.
What habits, routines, behaviors, mindsets or actions have been causing you to be distracted?
And if you were to give yourself a Permission Slip to Focus, what would that look like? What would have to shift? What boundaries would need to be put in place?
I know for me, my phone has become a bigger distraction than I like the last couple of months so I now have a lot of literal boundaries in place with it - I’m using an app that makes it very hard and very annoying to open apps beyond a certain amount of times and during specific hours of the day.
I also have the boundary of The Everyday Artist Community's weekly 90 minute Creative Corners where we use EFT Tapping to regulate our nervous systems and virtual body doubling to support our focus so we can cash in on that permission slip to follow our creative impulses, whether it's for an hour or 5 minutes - to work on projects, explore hobbies and ideas or simply daydream.
And of course, this Permission Slip can go beyond just your creativity and into the rest of your life……..although I would assert that your life is inherently just one big creation 😉.
If you have questions about The Everyday Artist Community, let me know and if you need an extra boost to get out of your distraction / procrastination hole, you can check out this free EFT Tapping sequence for When Your Brain Says 'Nope.'
Looking forward to hearing how this all lands with you.
Sending a lot of care,
Bianca