Its so simple: choose to allow yourself to stop feeling bleechhhy
I woke up with a rant-hangover.
I was tired, fussy and overall feeling rather unpleasant due to too much personal ranting yesterday all the way up until the time I turned off my light and attempted to get to sleep.
I am normally not a person who rants excessively. I save that particular brand of charm for other people. I don’t have any particular issues with an occasional tirade, especially if it is entertaining or the topic is one I feel passion toward, but like most things, too much is too much is too much.
I dropped Emma at her high school and turned toward home.
It got worse, or rather I got worse.
I yelled at a friend who called me, a very rare occurrence, and finally came to my senses when I realized I could spend some time taking photos of some very pretty trees on my return trip back to my cave where I would be less likely to inflict my annoying manner on anyone else.
I allowed creativity to find me. That tiniest moment where I asked myself "What the
It felt so great to walk into the tree to get this photo. Yum!
heck is going on with me?" allowed me to open the door to creativity. The most significant moment was when I chose to accept the call of the muse instead of pushing it under and choosing to stay cranky.
I pulled into the parking lot at the Bakersfield Art Museum, hoping to get some shots of flowering purple tree branches against the early morning sky.
The light wasn’t having it. I walked around the tree, sort of like an old-fashioned dancer assessing her partner in ballroom dancing. As I made my final turn, a sliver of purple branches from the neighboring park whistled at me.
It felt like I had just discovered gold.
I caught my breath and made my way toward the flirty tree.
I am not exactly sure when it started, but my breath became steady. I felt my face relax, slowly. A lady mallard came flying past, barking orders to the hapless male mallard, following along after her musing. I laughed at the two of them.
It was then I realized it was impossible to stay grouchy when I am around mallards during mating season.
I took some more photos of the trees and then walked toward the pond where more mallards were doing their annual mating dances. I noticed how this park was starting to show progress as an urban center park. Just six days ago I attended a festival there, but hadn’t noticed it.
It took the mallards with their sweet, unpossessed personalities to help me find my way to feeling better.
Now, for you:
- Keep your eyes open for undiscovered gems along your usual routes from one place to another. One of the best ways to discover such places is to simply remind yourself as you set off, “I look forward to finding something new today!” It is as if that is all that is needed to open your eyes in a new way.
- Allow yourself a few moments – as few as two or five will have an enormously powerful impact. You don’t have to take a lot of time with this – to take photos or meditate or sketch or write about what you see and experience.
- Share your stories of “finding your way to feeling better” with others instead of sharing unconstructive conversations about the weather or last night’s reality show. Those conversations are fine, but imagine the positive change in your world if you simply speak some positivity to others in your world. I like how that feels, don’t you?
What seemingly small action will you take to just feel the tiniest better in your life today?
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Julie Jordan Scott is a writer, creative life coach, speaker, performance poet, Mommy andmixed-media artist. Her word-love themed art will be for sale at a First Friday soon, when it is warmer than it was in December!, in Downtown Bakersfield. Check out the links below to follow her on a bunch of different social media channels, especially if you find the idea of a Word-Love Party bus particularly enticing.
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