Creative Zen Transitions

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Water and fertilizer are both necessary for your garden. Water
keeps your plants alive, and so is more essential, while fertilizer
helps them really thrive by providing nutrients that the soil may
be lacking. 

In your creative garden, water corresponds to self-care, while
fertilizer corresponds to what we call "needs."

Self-care includes all the physical things necessary to survival,
such as oxygen, food, water, sleep, and shelter. It also includes
things like exercise, caring for medical conditions, and meeting
your needs.

Good self-care is the foundation that provides energy for your
creative projects. It is difficult to create when you are not
providing your body with good care, and the things it needs. In
fact, self-care improves the quality of your life overall. 

There is not a lot of support for self-care in our society.
Self-care is sometimes considered to be "selfish", and is sometimes
found masquerading as destructive habits or expensive indulgences
that have more to do with business profits than your well-being. 

Self-care is not selfishness; it is caring for yourself on a
routine basis, and meeting your own needs first, before you try to
meet the needs of others. That doesn't mean that if someone has an
emergency, you don't set aside your own needs to help them. It
means that you don't make putting your own needs last a way of life.

Self-care is not just the minimum standards needed to maintain
life, it also includes things necessary for long-term benefits, and
an attitude of kindness toward yourself. 

Proper self-care is really a quality of life issue. As a society,
we are currently asking "How poor a quality of life am I willing to
endure?" What we should be asking ourselves is "How well am I
willing to treat myself?"

While scarfing down fast-food while driving your kids to their
sports practice may technically qualify as self-care, I really have
in mind a higher standard. I would like you to consider that
self-care includes eating healthy food, in a relaxed environment.
This is where many people fall short of true self-care. While you
may have nourished your body with fast food, depending on what you
ate and your definition of nourishment, you probably don't feel
especially "cared" for, and your kids are learning a terrible
lesson from you: that there's not enough time in life for them to
tend to the basic task of nourishing themselves. 

The same is true for sleep. Do you pay attention to how much rest
your body tells you it needs, or do you sleep your 6 or 7 hours and
drag yourself out of bed, buying into society's message that sleep
deprivation is a virtue? True self-care includes giving your body
the gift of rest. You may short it here or there, but overall, you
listen and respond to what it needs.

Exercise is a big self-care issue, because so many people dislike
it. The truth is that more scientific research is showing that
daily exercise is an important component of health. If you are
committed to your long-term self-care, you have to get into the
exercise habit. 

If you are looking to begin an exercise program, try out something
off the beaten path that sounds like fun: dancing, cycling, or
hiking. Incorporating a larger purpose into your exercise helps
motivate you, such as daily walking with the goal of going on a
backpacking trip in six months. 

If you can't find a way to make it fun, try reframing it. I have a
friend who took up jogging with the mantra of "56 more years!" At
the beginning, she didn't "enjoy" jogging, but her motivation to be
healthy for an additional half-century has kept her going, and it's
even grown on her!

Exercise may be a huge component of caring for medical conditions,
but routine checkups and procedures fall under this heading as
well. Taking time to maintain your body is a big step in assuming
responsibility for your self-care!

Needs are another part of self-care. They are those things, unique
to each of us, that are necessary in order for us to thrive. They
are the fertilizer in the garden. Everyone has needs, and being
aware of what your needs are, and keeping them satisfied, helps you
have more energy to devote to creating. We'll discuss them next
week! 

~~~~~~~~~

Creativity Spark

What areas of self-care could use improvement in your life? What
will you have to do to implement those changes so that they are
sustainable? What changes in mindset are necessary? 

How do you see these changes impacting your quality of life? What
does being kind to yourself and caring for yourself mean to you?
How do you normally treat yourself? What is more important in your
life than self-care?
~~~~~~~~~

About Caroline ...
Caroline coaches people who want to incorporate creativity into
their daily lives. By working on our creative projects, we are able
to transform our lives, and bring about a sense of peace and joy.
Creativity is also a wonderful way to navigate life's transitions.
For more information on individual and group coaching programs,
live and virtual retreats, and more resources to help you get going
on your creative projects with comfort and sustainability, please
visit our website at www.creativezentransitions.com

For insights on creativity and life in general, please visit the
blog at http://www.creativezentransitions.typepad.com/

Zenspiration!
Caroline's podcast of creativity meditations will get you in the
right frame of mind to begin creating. They change every week, and
provide focused inspiration related to the current newsletter topic
... usually! Click on the link to listen ...
http://www.audioacrobat.com/play/WKjBLsZs