More To Life Than Shoes

Do you have a novel in you?
Last November, I almost wrote a novel. Having discovered a long time ago that I never achieve anything without some kind of deadline, I decided that my only chance of ever getting a novel beyond the first three pages was to sign up to NaNoWriMo, also known as National Novel Writing Month. The idea is that, starting on 1^st November, you have exactly 30 days to write a novel of at least 50,000 words (about 175 pages). NaNoWriMo has become a world-wide craze in the last few years – from 21 participants in 1999, last year saw 200, 000 sign up, and a whopping 30,000 complete their word count by the deadline.

Well, I wrote in my lunch hour at work, and sometimes when it wasn’t strictly my lunch hour at work. I wrote in bed, on the loo and on the bus and occasionally even at my desk. I didn’t get to the end of my story, and what I produced could by no stretch of the imagination be called a finished novel, but I did my 50,000 words.

Now, obviously, NaNoWriMo is about quantity, not necessarily quality. Writing 50,000 words in a month means churning out 1,667 words a day. That’s the length of an average short story, every day for 30 days. It’s a bit like thinking aloud with a keyboard. You have to just keep typing, whatever’s coming out. There’s no time for planning, editing, or going back and hitting delete when you decide you don’t like what you’ve written. You have to turn off your inner editor and keep going, no matter what.

Telling your inner editor where to go
Maybe you’ve always dreamed of writing a novel. Maybe you’ve even started one a couple of times but not really got anywhere with it. When would-be writers fail to get work finished, the culprit is usually that pesky inner-editor with her red pen, telling us that what we’ve written isn’t up to scratch, that our idea isn’t good enough, that we should go back and start again rather than carrying on.

And this is what makes NaNoWriMo a great excersise. Forcing yourself to block that critical voice so you can reach an arbitrary word count might seem counter-intuitive, and might mean you churn out some dodgy stuff, but it will also unlock bits of your brain you didn’t know were there. Because, in among the rambling and waffle, you'll get the occasional good idea that might never have sneaked past that inner-editor. It’s exhausting, irritating and often frustrating, but it can also be exhilarating, exciting and magical. 

When I read back my NaNoWriMo effort a couple of months ago, a lot of it made me wince, but a lot of it also made me think, hold on, that’s not half bad. What I got out of it was potential – lots of rubbish, but a few ideas that I reckon I might be able to turn into an actual novel, with some work.

But when NaNoWriMo finished, I was back to the problem of working without a deadline. With no word count to meet, I’ve been noodling around with planning and structures and generally procrastinating for a few months now. My inner editor is having a field day. But last month I discovered a new way of imposing my own personal deadline. 750words.com is a website that encourages you in the practice of ‘morning pages’, a technique suggested by Julia Cameron in The Artist's Way: A Course in Discovering and Recovering Your Creative Self. It’s simple – start your day by writing 3 pages, or 750 words, on anything that comes into your head. It can be your dreams, a diary, a rant, your random thoughts – whatever it is, it’s like an idea-dump. Whether you’re writing a novel, a blog or a personal journal, forcing yourself to write when your brain is still fresh will clear your thought process for the day. The website sends you friendly reminder emails, counts your words, and gives you pretty graphs and tables about what you're writing to give you some insight into how your brain is working.

750 words a day is a picnic compared to NaNoWriMo, but even so, when I checked my monthly word count recently I discovered I was well on the way to 12,000 words this month. It was a good feeling. With a 6-month old baby to look after, I sometimes feel like I’m not going to have any time to myself until he leaves home at 18. But I can manage 750 words, and my morning pages are proving to me that it is possible to get a novel finished, one tiny step at a time.

Do you work best before breakfast? Does your brain start whizzing around late at night? Tara Sophia Mohr looks at how to make the most of when your brain's at its best.

 Between 5am and 7am, my mind is different. Life looks different. I have access to longer, sustained focus. I’m more likely to feel the miracle of the world, and well up with tears from it.
 
Between 7am and 8am, I’ve still got a shot at writing, but there’s more resistance, more mundane stuff tempting me.
 
After 8:30 or so, if I haven’t written, the appointments I know are coming in a couple hours start to crowd into my mind, the noise of the world gets louder, and it’s likely to be one of those days when all kinds of emails and logistics get done, but very little writing, very little deep creative work.
 
I’m not certain why the early morning hours have the power they do for me. I think it has something to do with the quiet of the world at this hour, the stillness I see when I look out of the window. I really do feel, in those hours, like the world and being alive are glorious secrets, and I get to witness them.
 
I think it also has something to do with being closer to the realm of sleep and dreams, which is why I always try to write as soon as possible after rising.
 
Third, I think it’s genetic. I think we all have unique biological rhythms that impact when we have the physical, cognitive, emotional energy to create, and when our spiritual channel is most open. My mother is also an early morning creator, and we both turn off, mentally, at about 9pm.
 
For all of us, there are “best hours” for whatever important things we do in our lives. There are best hours for creative work. Best hours for the work that requires sharp focus and deep thought. There are best hours for being present to and generous to our loved ones.
 
For me, the dance is to honor that, and not get too caught up in it.
 
It is to arrange my life so that I get to do things during their best hours. That means speaking up for my needs, setting boundaries, establishing routines, and often, departing from the herd – doing things on a different schedule than friends or clients, and being okay with that.
 
But my work is – just as much – to not beat myself up or panic when it I don’t get to do things in their optimal times – when I end up sending emails during my best “big picture thinking” hours, or using my most alert and creatively inspired hour to wait for the repair man, because hey, that’s how things worked out that day. The fearful, ever-panicking part of my brain can turn the simple truth that early morning is best for writing into “TARA, YOU HAVE TO GET WRITING BY SIX A.M. OR YOU HAVE FAILED YOURSELF” or, at 10pm, “IF WE DON’T GO TO BED IN THE NEXT FIFTEEN MINUTES, I WILL BE FOREVER CREATIVELY DOOOOOOOMED. Not so helpful, those thoughts.
 
But I do know, that I really love to write, and that writing happens for me much more fluidly and easily in the morning. I have the sense that I have access to better material then. So I do what I can to make it possible. If you're having trouble getting out from under the duvet and getting productive, here are some tips:
 
1. Try not to schedule appointments before 10am, because before that is writing time. Of course, sometimes an appointment needs to happen in that window, and if it does, I try not to worry about it too much.
 
2. Do your very best to go to bed by 10pm. This is a fabulous way to practice, everyday, setting boundaries and speaking up for my needs.
 
Hip person: “Want to meet for a dinner at x hot new restaurant at 9?”
Me: “Well…how about dinner at 6….or tea at 4?”
 
But sometimes, a big desire to watch a second episode of The Good Wife gets in the way. Or a late dinner with friends that I really do want to go to. Or being wide awake for who knows what reason. But as much as I can make it work, I do bed by 10pm, or even 9:30pm. I get my best rest when I go to sleep early, and it sets the stage for early morning writing.
 
3. “Conclude” the day at night, and create space for tomorrow. That could take any of a wide variety of forms: straightening up the home office from the day’s activity so there is a physical “clean slate” for the day, making a to-do list for the next day, reviewing the day in my mind and thinking about the significant moments, making a list of things I’m grateful for from the day, saying a prayer.
 
So the questions for all of us are:

• In whatever activities are most important to you, are there “best hours” for them? If you don’t know, experiment with doing them during different windows and find out.

• What can you do to set up your life so that you get to do those important things during their best hours? (Hint: you will probably need to be courageous in setting boundaries and creative in thinking about how to rearrange things in ways you haven’t previously considered, and that may be unconventional)

• What’s a truly helpful-to-you way to respond when it doesn’t work out – when you don’t get to use best hours the way you’d like? Instead of beating yourself up, how can real and loving curiosity about what happened and what you might do differently help you? What does it look like to respond with lightness of heart?


Tara Sophia Mohr is a writer and coach.  She writes the blog Wise Living. You can sign up for her free Goals Guide, "Turning Your Goals Upside Down and Inside Out (To Get What You Really Want) ” by clicking here.  

* The prettified version of this post lives here eatbananacakeandstumblewalkreachfly.blogspot.com

My blog is forever changing & that's good surrre but it's sometimes a little unsettling.

And I've not found the words to acknowledge this before now.

Turns out playful exploration comes naturally. Turns out it's a natural part of who we are.

But explaining myself totally doesn't. Eyuuu. Hard. I don't really like doing it - tongue tied, incoherent, messy.

Even though I know it's what good communication consists of and so explaining the inner machinations of my brain is probably quite an important thing to do here - with you!

Specifically it's a big thing for me to post my own photo's. This is the change I'm referring to.

It's huge in fact, scary and wonderful. Liberating? Oh yes totally. Yes sweetie. For surrrre.

And it is all these things because up until a month ago I'd never taken a single picture EVER. Since I'd never had a camera. So the not filming part was easy enough to achieve.

Yup it's scary for a friggin sensitive soul.

But honestly - it can be scary for anyone right? Allowing your intuition to take you places that you never imagined you would or could go.

But whatchya gonna do? Be any less you? Wait for permission or a lightning bolt of brilliance to hit you before you share anything of yourself in the world?

I know it's tempting isn't it? And actually as strategies go - that's totally fine too. Been there. Got the t-shirt. May need to return to that place again someday.

But for now, I'm in a space where it feels as if life is just too short to do anything less than be all of myself out loud.

Creativity doesn't require a PHD or any degree of expertness. Not really. Even though we think it does.

And you can be creative anywhere really - if you want to that is. 

And for me at least it means maintaining an open and curious perspective - like that of a child, free from  judgement, for now at least.

And to pour who I am into these moments.

Well okay that's my definition for today.
I wouldn't quote me on it.
______________________________________



try not to hide
from yourself
and the things
you need the most



the simple stuff
will always serve you
in the end



it all starts here
in and out
and go from there
______________________________________
          Boundaries-baby-digem

• This is a B-lovely space
• You knowww - be nice & focus on your own process xXx
• So no advice, criticism as always taaa.
• You are welcome to holler yee haaa though. That'd be cool.
• And it goes without saying you totally don't need to comment either. Just being here is gorgeous enough!

Taken from today's post on blog Peel Banana:
eatbananacakeandstumblewalkreachfly.blogspot.com

Lately, I've been having trouble sleeping. As soon as I start to doze off, my brain goes into overdrive and comes up with all kinds of random ideas. From the mundane (maybe I should move the laundry airer to the spare room to maximise space downstairs. Yawn) to the sublime/ ridiculous (a whole new concept in lingerie based on Lego). The downside is my major caffeine craving and sense of humour failure the following day, but occasionally these few hours of sleep  deprivation prove rather fruitful. I just have to make sure there's a notebook by the bed next time....

Apparently, accessing your subconscious is a well known method for enhancing creativity. Which is why, when you're on the train/ in the shower/ in bed / on the treadmill etc you start to have all kinds of ideas.

I heard somewhere that Einstein used to rock on a rocking chair holding 2 balls (not his own) - one in each hand. The idea was that he'd relax and relax until the ideas started flowing. Then, just as he fell asleep, he'd drop the balls, wake up and remember his genius thoughts.

In October our More To Life Than Shoes meet ups are going to be all about ideas - so come along to a meet up near you and try out some new and exciting techniques for generating ideas.

In the meantime, check out How to Have Creative Ideas: 62 Exercises to Develop the Mind by Edward De Bono - the ultimate creativity guru teaches us how to have our own genius ideas. Eureka!