Allow Yourself To Have Fun! :-)

Dear Thoughtful Leader, Conscious Creative, ​ Mindfulness Practitioner,

I’m revisiting solo activities to bring more joy into my life. For some of the work that I do I’m around a lot of folks during the day, so spending time alone has been rejuvenating. Usually, I gravitate towards quiet relaxation, but I'm switching it up a little bit with relearning how to play the djembe drum! With my full schedule and spending time with others almost every single day, sometimes doing what I love as a regular daily habit falls to the wayside. However, with reintroducing hobbies and free time into my day as a non negotiable element some fond memories of one of my college teachers has come up. This particular instructor had all of his students learn and practice an activity that shook up the usual learning routine for one week. He asked us to think about something we’ve always wanted to do but never allowed ourselves to do. This project also included activities that we enjoyed but didn't allow ourselves enough time to do. In most cases, if not all, it pushed us to reveal our true aspirations, creativity, and resourcefulness! We shared our desired activities with the teacher and our classmates. Then, the teacher helped us to pair up with a classmate that had the skill, talent, and/or resources to help us complete our assignments. ​The request and fulfillment of this non-conventional class assignment was a layered experience for me. In one week I was blessed and lucky eough to have the opportunity to be guided by a skilled music producer to learn and practice major chords on the guitar. Also, as time passed I realized that this specific activity and experience added more strength to my determined, curious, and solution oriented nature. Because of this nature I tend to resonate with leaders, creatives, and mindful practitioners who make the time for what they value no matter what! Today, this practice of putting positive effort towards something I’ve always wanted to do and haven't given myself time enjoy reminds me of something David Nichtern mentions in his book entitled Creativity, Spirituality, and Making A Buck. David talks about a mindfulness technique he refers to as Threefold Logic. The three parts include ground, path, and fruition. From what I gathered from his description, the ground represents the brainstorming, creation, and planning period. The path depicts the action put forth to achieve the main goal outlined in the planning period. Finally, the the fruition symbolizes the results and consequences that are most likely to occur based on the decisions and actions taken within the ground and the path. For clarification, check out chapter 12 of the book mentioned above. This week, let’s give ourselves the opportunity to do something we’ve always wanted to do or something that we don’t usually make the time to enjoy. Yes, even adults need hobbies, extra curricular projects, non-work related leisure activities, and more to fully enjoy life!

Daily Practice ~ Do Something You Enjoy

• Day 1 ~ The Ground: “Define your vision and create a plan.”​ ​ ::: Here’s where we get the brainstorming and blueprint done. We can use a problem-solution statement technique, create lists, and/or make visual presentations including pictures, audio notes, and sketches. When the planning is done, please see Day 7 below if you'd like to review your process each day. Example (Problem-Solution Statement Technique): I’ve got a busy schedule, but I really want to start a new hobby or get back into a hobby I’ve put down (drawing). So, I’m going to set aside 10 minutes every day after work/ school to doodle, sketch, and/or draw.

• Day 2-6 ~ The Path: “Execute the plan, adapting as necessary.” ::: This is where we put forth productive effort towards fulfilling our planning period vision (the ground) with our action steps. As you move forward, remember to take note of what’s working to help you achieve your personal version of success. Also, be mindful of your distractions, elements in your life that are keeping you from obtaining a true sense of fulfillment. Example: It actually takes me 10 minutes to set up and settle into my drawing hobby. To prevent distractions and minimize wasting time, I now have a quiet corner in my bedroom designated specifically to drawing. Everything’s set up, so when I practice all I need to do is sit down and get to drawing!

• Day 7 ~ The Fruition: “The check is in the mail.” ::: Now, it's time to review and journal. You can opt to review each day including day 1 or review after the week is done. Writing Prompt (Option 1): If you're reviewing from Day 1 through Day 7, think about the most probable results from executing your plan (the ground) and your action steps (the path): What's the best that can happen if you allow yourself to enjoy your hobby this week? What's the worst that can happen? What is actually happening throughout your process? Writing Prompt (Option 2): Think about how you thought this week was going to go. What did you think this week would be like, allowing yourself to enjoy a hobby? Now, give some thought to what actually happened. What was it like to allow yourself to enjoy your hobby this week?

• Reference → Creativity, Spirituality, & Making A Buck by David Nichtern
  

Jessi’s Example

• Ground: Because I enjoy music and I’d like to have a simple instrumental accompaniment to my lyrical creations, I’m going to revisit learning how to play the djembe drum this week.

• Path: YouTube will be my friend and teaching tool to refamiliarize myself with basic rhythms during the week. After this week, I’ll be able to get creative with my original music accordingly.

• Fruition: (1) If all goes well, after this week is up, I’ll have the skill to freestyle jam with the djembe drum as well as arrange a supporting beat for my lyrical content. (2) If it doesn’t work out the way I plan, then it may take another week or two to relearn djembe rhythms before I can get creative with it.

Learn More

"I have come to feel lately that joy is an expression of our own truest nature. We are meant to experience joy, we are wired for it." ​- David Nichtern

Read More Here → Recovering The Joy In Your Life

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Original Post ~ 8.30.21 ~ Allow Yourself To Have Fun! :-)