Once upon a time, I had a conversation with a friend that brought her from 60 mph and frazzled to a complete turn life around. Her parents were hard working consciousness people, the salt of the Earth. She learned the virtues of working from 9 – 5 with an hour for lunch, to be productive, and to track what she’d accomplished. It is and was a fabulous discipline. The trouble was, she had reached the point of diminishing returns. Her ability to make things happen had ground to a halt.
For years I’d been telling her to slow down and allow her intuitive wise child to guide her. We’d talked about the need for balanced play and work. She knew about the inner child intellectually, but the concept of childlike play for play’s sake alone needed to be let out of jail.
For a few weeks prior to her ah-ha, she found all sorts of obstacles popping up. She couldn’t concentrate. She pushed herself to work and got nothing done. She chaffed at needing to be inside when she wanted to be in the garden. Even more horrifying, she had the over whelming urge to draw and write limericks during the day. E’gads. She called me in a crisis of working faith.
“I feel so guilty! I should be working. What’s wrong with me? I have promo material to send out, sponsors to contact, phone calls to make and proposals galore. I’m falling behind.”
When she stopped to listen to what she had just said, she found out the horrid boss (herself) was imposing seriously flawed deadlines. She stopped, listened to the inner critic, and played anyway — while feeling guilty.
She didn’t die when she stepped outside her normal routine. To her amazement, she got 10 times more productive and best of all, she connected with the part of her that had been banished. Or, as she put it, she didn’t know existed.
The sobering part for her was that she taught the Artist’s Way. She was no stranger to negating one’s shadow artist. She knew the material, yet when the time came, her own disowned shadow artist caught her by surprise.
She found herself and the play of the inner child. She now has in her hands a three ring binder of amazing work, with her own drawings that will soon be published. Together, they are creating a fortune of playful creativity, balance and magic.
What’s your fortune going to be? Hard work, suffering and pushing, or focused play that opens the door for fortune, fun filled hours, and massive productivity.
I can hear some of you now. “I’m no artist. This is ridiculous. That may be so, but you are looking for a lost child. Bring it home.
Don’t remember how to play? That’s okay. If all else fails, get a box of crayons and color outside the lines with your non-dominant hand. If you are really extravagant, get the Crayola 64 pack complete with sharpener. It’s not about being perfect, it’s about letting yourself out of self-imposed jail. If that’s too threatening, go play with children. If you can’t do that, blow bubbles, jump in puddles or go fly a kite. Let go and let yourself have some fun. It’s the most unlikely place people look when they’re stressed, their income is down, and they don’t know where to turn.
Do the unexpected. Touch the child within and open the door for fun, adventure and creativity — not to mention increasing your bottom line!
Keep me posted.
