Weekly Review #47: The Power of Inspiration

So how’m I doing in my quest to re-invent my life, follow my evolving Blisses and create the life I really, really want?

One of the most beautiful things about creating the Thriving Artists Project is the serendipitous gifts I get from doing the interviews. Every interview I do seems to magically shine a light on an area in my own life I’ve been thinking about, wanting to work on… and frequently tip-toeing around.

My original reason for doing the interviews — for the entire project, actually — was to inspire myself to keep going after what I want. To follow my evolving Bliss(es), to get clearer about what the life I really, really want looks like, and to go for it.

Of course my hope was that the project would inspire others too, and yes, ideally enough to want to pay me for my efforts. But I make no bones about the fact that the initial impetus was to inspire me, pure and simple.

And what a resounding success that has been!

The power of inspiration

When I spoke with artist Michele Théberge on February 1, I was feeling frustrated that I wasn’t making art.

For a few months, tTAP was my art, and the fact that I wasn’t painting was okay. I’d made a conscious choice to spend my time working on tTAP and my new site, 365 Days of Genius. Now, though, I was itching to get back to painting, yet not quite able to give myself permission to take the time.

Then I interviewed Michele, and what did she spontaneously bring up? The importance of a regular practice, and how little time it actually takes to keep yourself connected to your creativity.

That one-hour conversation with Michele inspired me to take on my 15 Minutes a Day challenge, which has totally changed my life.

How?

I’ll tell you how. On Tuesday I leave for a 5-day retreat with the Friends of Calligraphy, which for 8 out of the past 9 years has been my one island of time during the year in which I actually play in the Creative Sandbox.

Every year I’ve had plans to set my life up so that I’m actually creating during the rest of the year, so that at the opening circle the next year I can say, “I made art for me this year!” And every year I’ve failed.

Until now!

Thanks to my discovery over the summer that what I really wanted out of my art-making time was not to create a new work project for myself, but rather just to mess around in the Creative Sandbox…

And thanks to Michele’s reminder that 15 minutes a day is all that’s really required to at least keep my toe in the creative stream…

At the opening circle on Wednesday night, I’ll get to report back that:

I’ve made more art in the past almost-four-weeks than in the previous several years combined!

This is huge, people!

And instead of the Retreat being my single chance during the year to try and reconnect with that creative stream, this year I get to just keep swimming with the current.

All of the above thanks to a kick-start from that TAP interview with Michele.

The power of inspiration

This week I had the great good fortune to be able to interview Goddess Leonie, of the Goddess Guidebook, and the jolt of inspiration was entirely different, but just as energizing.

What did I learn?

For one thing, I was inspired by the fact that Leonie makes art these days not so much to sell directly — as pictures to hang on the wall, say — but as an integral part of her e-courses and e-books. Her art is a huge part of what she does — just take a spin around her website and you’ll see her art all over it — but she provided me with a much-needed reminder that I get to use my art to inspire myself and make the other stuff that I do even more fun!

This may be rather obvious, I know, but I tend to get so easily caught up in creating “valuable content” for my members that apparently I needed the reminder that my visual creations can be part of that value.

The power of inspiration.

Perhaps it was also the interview with Leonie that inspired me to finally do something I’ve been wanting to do for a long time, but have been afraid of trying: offering free Skype or phone consultations, both here on my blog, and in periodic random “first person to respond gets a free consult” tweets. (Follow me on Twitter and you could snag one of these spots for yourself.)

What took me so long to put myself out there? What was I afraid of?

• Not doing a good enough job
• Being flooded with too many takers to be able to handle it
• Not getting any takers — the proverbial “I threw a party and nobody came”

Well, not only did I bust through those fears and post the offer, but I surprised myself by mentioning that, hell, I’d even read your aura if you want, effectively “outing” myself as a psychic. (In a jokey-toned aside, but still.)

I’m not sure what came over me, but I like it.

The power of inspiration.

The upshot?

People did indeed come to the party, and the flood I was afraid of never materialized. (Kinda easy solution to that one: set a limit. Duh.)

The best part?

Doing the consults has boosted my confidence in my ability to help people, and helping people has made me really, really happy!

Note to self: another antidote to feeling sunk: connecting over the phone or in person and helping people!

The power of inspiration.

And perhaps the best part of my week?

My first consult was with someone who wanted to get back to creating after being totally blocked for close to two years. Since her 30 minutes with me she has been creating every day, is absolutely vibrating with ideas and can’t wait to get back to her project each day!

Granted, this was someone who was clearly ready to take this step and just needed a little push off the diving board. But the fact that I was able to offer her that help was a shining highlight for me.

The power of inspiration.

Don’t underestimate it.