Week of Passion

On Sunday I began my Slow Passion Project, an extension of my Flow Project. I've been working to SLOW DOWN and GO WITH the FLOW, and this month I'm adding INVOLVE MY WHOLE SELF.

The parts of passion are drive, commitment, concentration, clarity, and flow.

Agenda:

1. Read "Brainstorm"

2. Clarify my passion plan
3. Four days of passion

1. Read "Brainstorm":

I got this book called "Brainstorm: Harnessing the Power of Productive Obsession" (2010), by my favorite writing and art guru, Eric Maisel, several years ago, and started but never got far. This seems like the right time to dive in!

In the introduction Eric says, "When you get into the habit of biting more fully into your own ideas, stirring up brainstorms, and productively obsessing, you feel more alive and become more creative." This is exactly what I'm looking for!

The first several chapters are about how and why to choose an obsession; I'm moving on to Chapter 8: One Month of Productive Obsessing.

"What are you really doing when you devote yourself to a month of productive obsessing? ... You are retraining your brain and asking it to stop its pursuit of fluff and worry and to embrace its own potential.  ... you are announcing that you prefer grand pursuits to ordinary ones; ... you are turning yourself over, even to the point of threat and exhaustion, to your own loves and interests."

He goes on to say that this is an action-oriented program and that I need to take a vacation from my everyday way of being. What does that mean for me? That's what I'm going to define today.

2. Clarify my passion plan:

Drive: I intend to manifest my courage, harness the power of productive obsession, and engage slow passion, a kind of simmering energy that keeps me focused on my priorities; 

Commitment: I intend to let go of caution and involve myself wholeheartedly (brain, body, and soul) to the service of this project that I love; take a vacation from my usual way of being, stretch (my whole self) beyond the way I’ve always done things;

Concentration: I intend to strategize about how to self-regulate and manage my emotions, and learn how to extinguish distractions (such as phone games and worrying) so I can concentrate; simplify my thinking, and conserve the use of my neural resources;

Clarity: I intend to maintain clarity of purpose, keep the end in mind, monitor my energy level and feeling of successful meaning-making, and recommit often to my ideals, intentions, and efforts (I'm doing this, damn it!).

Flow: And I intend to work the parts of this project into the flow of my day (flow in and out of it easily and smoothly), plan when to say yes and when to say no, and let it reach into all my roles - teacher, grandma, activist, writer, artist, home and garden - take it slow and let it grow organically.

3. Five days of passion:
I'm committed to experimenting with passion through this whole month, but I'll take it week by week! The next five days (Thursday through Monday) are the best block of time I have to obsess.

Tips: 

1. Wake up thinking about my project.
2. Make a flow plan for how I will explore my project throughout the day and in many roles.
3. Block out 1-2 hours for writing and / or artwork.
4. Let my thoughts wander to my project often.
5. Carry a yellow pad with me to write down ideas that come to me. 

Today my focus is on teaching nature-culture: 

• Brainstorm themes, projects, skills, and opportunities for teaching nature-culture next week, and plan for teachable moments with my grandsons and various other communities
• Write about nature-culture kid projects.
• Weed and water my mini-butterfly meadow. 
• Make a mock up page with artwork to get an idea for how to make my motifs.