Month: February 2020

Are you a Change Lover or a Change Loather?

We all have those fleeting thoughts of being in a new job, relationship, home, or country, etc. typically in response to life’s frustrations.  For most of us, those thoughts are really just dreams that don’t linger. Our frustrations get resolved and we carry on our lives fully able to weather these types of temporary aberrations.  

But what happens when those thoughts become more frequent, persistent, and occupy much of our day dreaming time.  When our fantasies become charged with what life could look like if only…. it is often an indication that something drastic may be needed or at the very least that we pay serious attention to why we are driven to dreaming about something new.

Exploring these types of thoughts when they become more then just an occasional burble and begin to roar is important.

This usually signals that we need to spend time in reflection about what we need to move on from or to what is calling us?  No one wants to be the person who only thinks about making a change and spends the latter part of our lives mired in regrets about those aspects of our lives we chose not to pursue.

However, resistance to change often begins to rear its head and if we don’t consciously and mindfully examine what we want and what we need, we may stay in a stuck position. Seeking answers through questions may prove helpful. Examples of places to start could be:

Reflect on a past positive change experience and ask yourself:

What was the best aspect of that life change event?

What types of supports did I seek out while making the change?

If you decided not to make a change or feel like you waited far too long to make one:

What was holding you back?

What types of statement were you making to yourself?

If you could have a complete redo and could go back and make the change happen, what steps would you take?

Recognizing that changes in our lives can be positive even when we don’t initiate them can help mitigate emotional upheaval when life changes seem overwhelming to us.  Reflecting on these types of questions may help us to understand and acknowledge whether or not we embrace life changes or fear them.  

What types of questions would help you understand if you are a change lover or a change loather?

When i grow up i want to become a “raging granny!”

Peaceful Protests. Pickets. Distributing pamphlets that tell the “truth”. In my community, one of the most fascinating observations I have made since I retired from full time work, has been the level of activism by our senior citizens. The world’s attention has been focused on youth who seem inspired by Greta Thunberg and who are demanding we immediately address climate change.

But once you pay close attention to various protests that are becoming increasingly more frequent in the community, you will see that youth are not the only dominant age demographic. Seniors who are concerned about numerous challenges and egregious decisions that get made by our politicians, seem to be our community leaders for many of these activities.

Often times these highly educated, deeply concerned, and motivated community members are referred to as “raging grannies” by our local media. This term is used even though protest and activist moments held in the public realm are comprised of both men and women.

The first time I ever heard that term, it sounded as if it was made tongue in cheek. Poking fun at a small group of women who were protesting outside of city hall. Just recently, I listened to a respected journalist who described the “raging grannies” as a coherent, organized group who demand to be listened to and should be.

The national and international media pays attention to efforts made by senior celebrities like Jane Fonda, David Suzuki, Nancy Pelosi, among many others but what about right in your own back yard. Who are the people right in our own communities that we should be paying more attention to?

I have an active and engaged mother who recently made a presentation to elected city officials about concerns with our transit system. She created and delivered an articulate and impassioned plea for city leaders to at least try to ride the bus through our city so they could learn about the gaps in service and unsafe practices first hand. Rather than simply complain about her concerns, she took action and contributed to the process of positive change.

The more I pay attention to the activism of our community based “raging grannies”, the more I see. There are so many issues of grave concern in front of each and every one of us. It seems paramount to listen to our elders and do our best to engage in what we are passionate about and become more involved. I think that it is time for all of us to lend our voices in some meaningful way to making better choices for our future.

Can Accountability help us avoid Writer’s Block?

One of the challenges that I have found while developing a writing practice is becoming accountable for it. No one forces us to create in whatever form of expression we use. And as I am becoming more comfortable with the craft of writing, and am learning more skills, it seems that the potential for becoming blocked increases.

That is concerning.

I have been reading a wide variety of books on the art and craft of writing and am becoming ever curious about the concept of writer’s block. Many writers develop rituals that must be followed before the words will flow. Others seem to have developed unique and individual work arounds to avoid writer’s block. Some don’t even believe that it exists. There seem to be a myriad of opinions about the concept of writer’s block.

It seems that choosing a path of accountability would serve to help us forgo periods of writer’s block.

Being accountable is simply being responsible for your work. Imagine a doctor telling you that they are unable to see you because they are currently “blocked”. What would happen to anyone of us if we simply did not show up for work. Or if we decided that it was mission critical to walk the dog first, make sure the laundry was done, and spent hours “researching” information via the internet to inform or inspire our writing. If we chose to do that in the work world, the consequences of those types of choices are obvious.

Blogging has become one of my anchors to accountability for my writing practice. Having committed to writing and publishing one post each week has actually increased my word count in other projects that I am working on. It is important to me to hold myself accountable in some way as I am learning to become a writer and this has turned into a strategy that also helps me maintain my focus.

The act of writing is not about being published, or having others scrutinize your work. By simply becoming committed to the act itself without all of the what if’s, it is much easier to sit and begin every day. The pact we make about our creative practices should first be with ourselves. Being accountable is also about honouring ourselves, our creativity, and the expressions of that, that bring us passion and purpose.

What do you do to hold yourself accountable to creative practice, whether it be expressing yourself through writing, photography, painting, or other art forms?