This post is courtesy of Jill Badonsky at Kaizen Muses... google it for her site and more of her crazy creative ideas and prompts.

Open the door to Making Creativity Easier:

1. Small Question Asking the small question: "What makes getting to my creative passion easier?" When you continually ask a question like this without expecting an immediate answer... often you simply begin operating from the answer. Ask it while driving, showering, standing in line or during commercials.

2. What Gets a Rise Out of You? If you have difficulty narrowing down what creative pursuit you want to get to, put all your ideas on index cards and then based on what raises your energy, narrow it down to three. Stickers help. Pick one and just take a small step related to it. Being in action creates clarity. Sitting around just thinking about what you SHOULD start... creates acme... sort of.

3. However, daydreaming about being IN the process with a particular passion, experiencing the flow, feeling the bliss of the creative process take over so that the joy of discovery and the delight of being creative embraces you can be what we call "creative foreplay." It gets you excited about going further... or for some of us, getting started.

4. A Habit Discipline is no longer a struggle when you've developed a habit and a habit develops by showing up for even as little as 5 minutes a day.. even if you compassionately allow yourself a day off here and there.

5. Have fun.. Why not make it fun? We can DO that. Ask, "How can I make it fun to start?" In fact, write a letter to yourself from your creative passion having it entice you back to being involved with it. That's kinda fun. Have an affair with your creative passion but practice safe creating.

6. Team up Synchronize your action either with a friend who is working at the same time or gosh, hey.. why not a Life Coach for Passion!

Two types of people

There are two types of people in the world: people who are passionate about things, and people who've had their passion punched, beaten, or whatever out of them.
Kevyn Aucoin said that and he was right.
Whenever we are hurt or traumatized in some way, even small ways, we create a physical defense against that happening again. It is a survival mechanism that works to keep us safe if we should ever encounter that event or situation again. But those same mechanisms can becoming limiting to your experience as they accumulate and crate deeply entrenched patterns of avoidance. As with almost everything, awareness is the first step If your desire is to be more fully aware and awake and open to new experience and to fully feeling your passion, then you need to acknowledge the helpful purpose of that block or pattern, being grateful for the wisdom of your body and mind in protecting you from future harm. Then, you can ask for a different, non-limiting method for protection, trusting the wisdom of your body-mind to find an elegant solution for this problem. You can then choose to let go of the original protective pattern, with thanks and gratitude for it's amazing work, and relax, knowing you are open to experience, being protected in wise, non-interfering ways. So go ahead, invite fully functioning flow into your body and mind, fully feeling your passion and all your other positive feelings...! If you want to know more, check out my website mindsculpting.ca or contact me at cheryljturner@shaw.ca

There are three basic approaches to work: is it a job, a career, or a passion? Depending on which type of work you are in right now, the things that give you satisfaction will vary.
• If you work at a JOB, the compensation aspects of the position will probably hold more appeal than anything else, and have the greatest impact on whether you stay or go.
• If you work at a CAREER, you are looking for promotions and career development opportunities. Your overall satisfaction is typically linked with your status, power, or position.
• If you work at a PASSION, the work itself is the factor that determines your satisfaction, regardless of money, prestige, or control.

Although these are generalizations, you probably find that you get satisfaction from some aspects of your work more than others. Are there some aspects that meet your passions more than others, and can you find ways to build on those aspects and gradually decrease the time and energy spent in the other aspects of the job? Also, a choice to work at something you are passionate about does not mean you have to sacrifice money or other compensations, indeed, in my framework, the more you work at your passions, the more satisfying your life will be in all realms.

Building Job Satisfaction and enhancing your Passion at work

Once you have identified the blend of status, power, or intrinsic enjoyment that need to be present in your work for you to feel satisfied, you then need to work on some of these seven 'ingredients' for a satisfying job:

• self awareness
• challenge
• variety
• positive attitude
• knowing your options
• balanced lifestyle
• a sense of purpose
  

Self Awareness
The first step in the search to find your passions at work is to know yourself. If you understand your strengths and weaknesses, you can identify professions that will help you to build on those strengths and minimize your weaknesses.
It is difficult to feel satisfied with something you aren't very good at, so rather than spend time berating yourself about it, take a long hard look at the things at which you excel, and try to find a position that uses some of those skills. another important aspect of self awareness is to have a good understanding of your personality traits and your preferred style of working. Make a list of the things you value in l ife, such as honesty, connectedness, creativity, social interaction or contribution, and those things that would score lower on your list of values, such as orderliness, tidiness, etc.By increasing your self awareness, you can work towards the ideal blend of compensation, status, and intrinsic reward (passion) that suits you. Knowing this will help you to set goals to move towards that ideal position, and make steps towards living a more passionate life.
The stronger the match between your preferences and the requirements of the job, the more potential for job satisfaction you have. The remaining six ingredients determine how much of that potential you actually achieve. More on these next time.....

Judith Orloff in her book, Positive Energy, has ideas about how to locate your inspiration, especially in the workplace. She says, “inspiration epitomizes positive energy: it’s seminal to being joyous and rambunctiously alive. You can’t be creative without inspiration”.

To me, to be inspired is to be passionate. They are almost synonymous terms. Judith goes on to say, “Inspiration brightens the light around you and people instinctively respond. Poetry, music, and art are ways to creatively celebrate existence. To maximize our energy, we must search for our passions until we find them.”

Take an inspiration Inventory to find passionate work, hobbies and the miracle of small moments. Here’s how Judith says to do this:

The focus is on helping you to find work you truly love, or show you how to reinspire your current job, even tiny bits of it. You can start by keeping an inspiration journal, to remember all inspiring inklings.

Step #1 in a journal define the conflict about your job

Step #2 Ask yourself these questions;

Why doesn’t my job inspire me? Pinpoint the cause

Is it the particular circumstances – your boss, office politics, or irritating coworkers? Do you dwell on all the negatives, rather than looking for a piece of your work that could give you more juice?

The most basic issue: am I following my heart’s desire or mired in a career that doesn’t feel on center for me?

Can I work within the system for change? Or do I need to seek another job?

Step #3 Modify your current work situation

Re-inspire your job:

· does the lack of passion come from difficult relationship, not the work itself? If there is bad energy, try to correct the situation instead of aggravating it. Be the bigger person. Start being pleasant instead of prickly. Do everything possible to shift antagonism

· don’t expect your boss to be a mind reader. Instead of stewing in boredom or discontent, express your needs. If you know how you’d like to better your job, explore options. See if they are doable within the framework of your environment. The point is to risk. You’ll never know what’s possible until you do.

· Intuitively micro-analyse your day. Look for any aspect of your job that has some sparks. Remember what initially attracted you to the job other than money. Also notice what perks your magic up and relieves apathy or fatigue. When you hit upon it, you’ll experience a more alive feeling, an excitement, or simply a gentle interest. These are signs of life force in your work. Spend more time in these areas. Document them in your journal. If you find that having lunches with clients, and giving presentations are things that stoke your energy, whereas working in isolation brings your energy down, take note of that and see if you can reprioritize aspects of work that feed you.

· Gravitate to coworkers who inspire and energize you. Spend more time on those aspects of your job. Avoid anyone who drains you.

· Make your work about service and meaning: how to make a difference in the world. This can be as small as being kind to others and injecting friendliness into your milieu, which will nurture you too. Turn people on to ideas to better the environment and the world. Get young people connected with old people and vice versa.

· Framing your work in service keep you aligned with inspiration and passion. Whatever your job, the ethics and love with which you conduct yourself, can be of service and spread inspiration.

Step #4: consider changing jobs and/or embrace a passionate hobby

Make a move: If you’ve tried to re-inspire your job, but the situation is untenable, you may want to look for another job. It doesn’t have to be an upward move, a lateral move that re-energizes you is progress.

If your career isn’t your passion, you may be ready for a larger change.

Many people go for counseling when they are on the verge of a transition. When we mature, our interests may evolve and we deserve to do work we love. Being impelled by passion is a blessing and a gift in life, but it does arrive through investigation, following your intuition, the willingness to take risks.