Retreat for Flow

Saturdays are usually my day of retreat, and on this third Saturday of May I plan to be quiet, and prepare for a creative shift. I've set intentions to transform my life towards hope, resilience, and flow, and the next step is to open the door.

"This is your growing edge: To accept that you will be carried beyond yourself; to accept that you will find the strength and creativity to take the risk, walk your path, and speak your message out loud ... to open the door to transformational love." 

My query today is, "How can I improve the underlying system of my life?"

Agenda:

1. Retreat day plan

2. Love meditation

3. Read "The Creativity Book"

4. Backwards calendar

5. Life system

6. Simple project list

1. Retreat Day plan:

Here's my plan for today -

• Start with a love meditation.
• Read from The Creativity Book, by Eric Maisel.
• 9:00- Garden flow
• 10:00- Simplifying flow
• 11:00- Project flow
• Noon - Adventure trip, to St. Vinnie's, to find a   

2. Love meditation:

Every month after the full moon, in the quiet-energy yin time of the waning moon, I practice a love meditation that progresses from receptivity, to gratitude, to generosity:

Day 3: Practice a love meditation, and then journal about generosity with time and attention - start with ideas for being generous with myself, then my family, my neighborhood, community, and the earth. I might decide to give money or a gift, or simple acts of helping and sharing my time.

From my journal: Today I commit to giving myself generous space for building hope, resilience, and flow, and give generous attention to each person, and each priority as it unfolds throughout the day.

3. Read "The Creativity Book":

A few years ago I started but didn't finish this book by Eric Maisel (one of my favorite writers). The subtitle is "A Year's Worth of Inspiration and Guidance." Who doesn't want that? 

I've started Part 7: Connect, and the topic today is to Visit with Children. "It is my bias that our creative nature opens and our creativity grows if we visit with children. ... One visit with a child can supply us with enough magic creativity dust to last for a lifetime."

Maisel goes on to say that when I am with a child I should bring an open heart, a joyous and sunny attitude, and make love connections. Visit in a playful, soulful, heartfelt way, and then use the creative juice I absorb to tackle my own big projects.

4. Backwards calendar:

Yesterday I wrote intentions for the next phase of my life, and today I will make a backwards calendar, with the completed goal at the end ... but this is not that kind of project! The best I can do is define some of the steps I need to take, and expect that more will be revealed as I progress.

I'm not going to list my complete calendar here - it's overwhelming! The first steps are:

• Define how I want to improve the underlying system of my life; 
• Brainstorm a topic list, and resources

5. Life system: 

The question of how to improve the underlying system of my life comes from Stephen Covey's First Things First. In Chapter 14, From Time Management to Personal Leadership, he suggests that I question the nature of each activity I do in a day - Why am I doing it, and why now? Is this the best use of my capacities? How can I improve the underlying system of my life (creating synergy with my teams, developing trust relationships, and realistic expectations with my community)?

I think this has 3 parts:

1. Morning review ritual, when I visualize my day ahead - the people I will see and the situations that might arise; fill in my Priorities Grid; update to-do list and my schedule. Ask: Why am I doing it, and why now? Is this the best use of my capacities?
2. Simple tasks list: Choose the top 3 most important tasks, that will lead me in the direction I want to go. (Choose the essentials in my life - Fewer projects, less on my schedule, less clutter, less spending, less clinging to control.)

3. Teamwork plans and visuals - be prepared to communicate my vision for projects, teamwork, field trips, and chore expectations. Consider how I am creating synergy with my teams, developing trust relationships, and realistic expectations with my community.

6. Simple project list:

In the fall I started using Leo Babauta's "Simple Projects List", with my top three projects. (A "project" is something that has several steps, and takes only a week or two.) "The top three projects on your Simple Projects List will be your entire focus until you finish all three ... This ensures that you aren't spreading your focus too thin, and that you are completing your projects." 

Tips: You can't actually do projects - you can only do tasks. Make a list of tasks for each project, and focus on doing one at a time. Each day, choose three tasks to complete. 

My simple projects list this week:

• Clean Studio: Pack a box for MECCA
• Watercolor abstracts for joy and to use in my book
• Kids Art projects: Legos, flowers, clay, chalk... 
• Grandma camp: Plan and prepare