I read the book Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert a couple of years back. Of course I loved it! Right up my alley. More recently I was listening to it on audible where Elizabeth does the reading and it is enchanting. My breath near stopped when she read the passage [related to doing your creative work] “Do you have the courage? Do you have the courage to bring forth this work? The treasures that are hidden inside you are hoping you will say yes.”
That got me thinking to when did I said “Yes”. I mean the big YES. The kind of yes where there is no more room for “no”.
Here’s the simple key that unlocked my hidden treasury of inspiration, commitment, and depth of pursuit. And it’s available to you, too. AND FREE!
I did www.privatework.com and I had an insight!
This is a system of self-coaching that is initiated with a direction question followed by a set of prompts stemming from an algorithm brilliantly executed. Responses to these prompts are meant to be corralled in your personal journal. The process is reflective and approached with a meditative mind. The question is asked and through introspection, your own self-awareness reveals an insight. Viola!
The founder of this technology is Joe Stumpf. I met Joe Stumpf probably a decade ago and am ever grateful for the mentorship, leadership and coaching he has provided. He offered a 30 day privatework challenge a couple of years back.
Here’s the question (#10) that was one of the first seeds… “What do I imagine would be possible when I develop a healthier relationship with time”? Going through the 20 prompts I arrived at my insight:
Time can be viewed as now. Only now time. Carpe momentum
[not seize the day, but seize the moment!]! Every hand on the clock
only ever points to NOW time. What time is it – it is NOW TIME!
And with that insight I understood how valuable time is and that my very being is requiring me to spend more time in creation, in art marking, in generating beauty and light. My action step related to my insight was to create a quilt that reflected my insights. My life was altered with one insight. My artwork transformed with one insight!
The photo is of the resulting quilt “Insight Window”. It adorns my room as an always reminder of the wisdom that my seeking self provides when I quiet the mind, retreat within, ask intently and listen deeply to the loving words whispered by God ‘s breath on my soul.
Check it out: www.privatework.com and PrivateWork Self-Coaching: the Art and Science of Cultivating Insightfulness.
