I Can Beat Myself Up or...

I can Be Gentle and give myself a few moments to practice self-compassion in the form of pure creative process. You'll be glad to know that though tempted to choose the former I decided to "practice what I preach" and went with the latter. I chose to Be Gentle with myself…and you can too. 

How? I grabbed my Creative Oasis Journal, a few simple art supplies and gave myself permission to play and quickly create a visual reminder of one of my favorite self-compassion come-backs – Be Gentle. I also added a bit of wisdom from the Buddah for good measure with a quote I recently found and love.  It was as simple as that. 

"If your compassion does not include yourself, it is incomplete." – Buddah

You can see the process and the end result in the 15-second Instagram video below.

Simple truth – today started off pretty sucky. I'm not feeling all that great. A recent class that I offered didn't make. I'm behind on paperwork and a writing project. And I'm a bit overwhelmed by life at the moment. It happens. You get it, right?

Since I wasn't feeling on top of my game my inner-critic knew this would be a great day to get her digs in so thoughts like these kept rolling through my mind: 

Aren't you ever going to finish that new e-course? How long have you been working on that anyway? Look at those piles on your desk! No wonder you can't find anything! You should have done a better job about getting the word out about your class. Etc….

Thankfully, I recognized right away that those negative thoughts belonged to my opportunistic inner-critic. I also knew that her negativity could be shut down (or at least greatly quieted) by the compassionate power of reminders and comebacks. These are two of the many jewels in the Kaizen-Muse® Creativity Coaching treasure chest and especially effective when combined with some low-pressure creative play. 

I quickly countered the harsh running commentary with the reminder that I have the choice…I can beat myself up (not much fun…not remotely productive)…or I can Be Gentle. (feels much nicer…paved the way for a quick creative collage and this blog post)

Do you ever find your inner-critic sneaking in when you're guard is down? What if the next time you're thinking less than kind thoughts about yourself you take a moment to ponder these two simple (but oh, so powerful) words…Be Gentle? What if you give yourself permission to spend five or ten minutes practicing being gentle by allowing yourself to visit your Creative Oasis? (Remember - your Creative Oasis is anything that makes your heart sing and time fly!)

Until the next time, all the best from my compassionate Creative Oasis to yours,
Jill

Jill Allison Bryan
www.creativeoasiscoaching.com