If I Could Do It All Over Again...

Whenever I have to choose between two evils,
I always like to try the one I haven't tried before.
- Mae West

I recently did a super fun activity from Julia Cameron’s work on unblocking creativity.  (But don’t stop reading if you don’t consider yourself “creative” – humans are inherently creative, I mean hello, adaptation! - so there is something in her work for everyone.)
 
I just have to share it with you because I have urged you from time to time to embrace something that feels like play in the service of doing your “work” with more enthusiasm. 
 
And yet, I know from personal experience it can be damn hard to remember what play is – or figure out something like play that we can fit into our very busy and important grown up lives. 
 
Ok so here it is! 
 
Think of 5 things you could have been/would have been (if you hadn’t done what you are doing now).
 
The first 5 that popped in my mind were:

1. Massage Therapist

2. Doctor

3. Magazine Editor

4. Interior Designer

5. Travel Writer

Great now think of something small you can do that is like doing each of these jobs/professions. Now, I know some you can get kind of literal so you know, squint your eyes a little bit here for something that is kind of like these jobs.

Here is what I came up with:

1. Add a sweet little post bath massage with some lotion or oil to the nighttime routine with my kids (perfect timing for the dry air of winter…just sayin’…)

2. Organize our medicine cabinet(s), and clean out expired medicine, etc..

3. Do some newsletter planning for you dear ones and batch prepare a few weeks of emails.

4. Reach out to the folks at a local design store I love about doing a joint workshop using one of my favorite coaching tools – The Living Space Tool – and her great design skills.

5. Have a family meeting about our trip to Spain next year. (To my delight, this meeting was already scheduled and happens to fit in perfectly!)

 
Carve out some time to do each of the ideas that you came up with in the next couple of weeks.  Notice that all of these ideas that I came up with don’t require an excessive amount of time or $ - but if you have excessive time or $ feel free to dream up bigger ideas (ya show off). 
 
I’ve started 1 & 3 already and 5 is coming up tonight.  I’m delighted to report to you that just knowing I am doing something my younger self would have thought was cool or fun lifts my spirits. 
 
It also reframes the activity in some way – it feels looser, lighter, more like play and less like work. 
 
A word of caution – if you find your plans for activities are getting complicated and hard to make happen, that could be a clue that you are having some negative thinking that is stiff arming your attempts at play.  It’s a good time to get curious about what’s going on there! 
 
Ok, now you try it! 
 
Love, 

Marijke Ocean Joy 

12.3.19