While organising my studio yesterday a Lululemon bag (you know the ones with the helpful insights splashed all over them) stopped me in my cleaning tracks. It read:
If you wake up 3 days in a row uninspired. Change your life!
Woah, mama! I quivered thinking how many days I have rolled out of bed uninspired. I thank the Hoop Gods that I didn’t CHANGE MY LIFE.
I have been playing away at dreams big and small long enough to know that not all mornings see me leaping out of bed with joy swirling in sparkling rainbows and frolicking unicorns. Creativity is always bubbling but the inspiration and motivation come in waves just like the seasons. 3 days feeling uninspired is common and certainly not enough reason to through it all in and declare failure.
There is a mega misconception spinning around that “doing what you love” “living your dreams” equals endless rapture, overflowing inspiration, relaxation, free time, an end to work.
Now I do know they say – do what you love and you will never have to work a day in your life. There is truth to that little ditty but I would love to hear from any person who is “doing what they love” yet lazing around doing absolutely nothing to grow and evolve that love. When you do what you love, at least I know in my case, the doing part goes hand in hand with the loving part. That said I “work” harder and with more passion doing what I love than any other job or position I have ever had.
Staying up late creating videos, class plans, playlists, searching for costume ideas, developing strategies to share, crafting sequences, making hoops, researching ideas, editing photos, writing posts, answering emails. Working 7 days a week to develop new moves, come up with new ideas, prepare for workshops, get ready to share incursions with schools, write programs, teach hoop classes, add some extra sparkle for hoop parties… If they weren’t all things that I absolutely love there is no way I would find the energy.
Side note: not glorifying workaholism just painting a picture of how much energy and passion drives through you when you are focussed on creating rad visions.
There are some key daily steps that help keep it all in flow and focussed so that even on days when it all seems to drift off into lala land or the rainbows and unicorns are hiding behind fuzzy dark clouds there are anchors.
Wake up with clarity. A morning ritual is a powerful way to set the tone for your day and bring about a clear vision. A morning writing session, a caffeine hit, a long hot shower, stretch time on the mat, meditation, morning jog, hoop session, muling over your muesli, dreaming up clarity with jam on toast…whatever gets you from sleepy head to clear and kicking butt. This is the time to switch the filter on, make the decisions for the day and set the tone for what you want to achieve and how you want to feel, how you are going to meet life and all that it may throw at you. Make it real, get conscious of your morning ritual and cherish it for the kickstart to your day, it makes all the difference.
Schedule it in. Make it real, pencil it in, add it to the calendar, set a date, make a time, tell a friend, create an event, make it happen. And don’t put it off til later, or one day. Schedule it ASAP. This is not about getting on the busy train and jam packing your days, this is about allowing time and space to realize your dreams. Whenever you can. Even if you have to binge create. Make some time. Schedule that skydiving session, pencil in that cooking class, google calendar the crap out of that bath with floating candles time you have been dreaming of.
Make consistent daily steps. However grand or miniature, do/be/dream/create/cultivate something each day that moves you in the direction of your dreams. With the understanding that dreams shift, it will never all be done (because that would be boring) and every baby step helps.
Feel good. No matter what, feel good. If you don’t feel good ask yourself why and do everything in your power to shift the energy to a feel good state. Feelings are your barometer to gauge how it is all going. Good doesn’t have to be ecstatic sparkle party but good is not bad and you know the difference, you can feel it.
Go to bed with peace and gratitude. Make the very last thoughts before drifting off to sleep, beautiful ones. No matter what has happened during the day. You did what you did and it was all you could do given the circumstances. Some days are flippin’ phenomenal other can be borderline devastating. Give thanks for it. Smile. Breath. Make peace with your day and enjoy your dreams.
Most importantly; never take “doing what you love” for granted. Cherish the time that you have, use it wisely because it is never coming back.
