This writing prompt took me away from the computer keyboard. Contemplation with a pencil and paper sometimes works best for me.
I am one of those people who gets certain writing prompts and needs time away from the keyboard to get them developed into anything of any merit - and certainly anything to move me forward to my next step.
I decided my best bet in this adventure into what nourishes my soul would be to start in paradox with the split prompt: My soul is nourished by... and my soul is not nourished by...
Here's how it started:
My soul is nourished in intentional silence
My soul is not nourished by silence via desertion or lack of consciousness
My soul is nourished by deep connection
My soul is not nourished through thoughtlessness
My soul is nourished by roadtrips to unknown places, the great unknown herself, trusting the unknown as we seek adventure in the unknown. (Note: this obviously tapped into something!)
I noticed my hand was gripping my pencil so tightly as I wrote that my hand hurt! I wrote, "I purposefilly release my grip."
I am nourished when I am giving and receiving nurturing. I blurted out to my daughter as we were watching yet another Holiday movie, "That is one of my secret favorite things, having someone notice I might get chilled when I fall asleep and laying a blanket over me." I love it so much if someone starts to put a blanket on me to keep me warm, I pretend I am sleeping just to enjoy the tenderness of this very simple action.
On the other hand, my soul is not nourished when there is an imbalance and someone is grabbing onto me like an energy leech, sucking all the nourishment from my bloodstream.
The river nourishes my soul and my creativity.
Being outside at night, lying on a blanket staring up at the sky nourishes my soul.
Challenges nourish my soul, not for the competitive nature, but for the connection with others involved and walking into excellence at any level.
Laughter nourishes my soul. Quipping by others does not nourish my soul.
I wrote on the page then "nourish, nourish, nourish, nourish" and as frequently find when I free write like this, an all new flood of awarenesses will pop into my mind as I go throughout my day.
One renewed concept or idea for 2014 is to take a monthly personal retreat which is at least a school day in length with a "sleep away" retreat every other month. I really need quiet and contemplation time - as does my soul - in order to be clear and continue on some larger and more focused challenges as I am feeling called toward in the coming year.
I'll continue to meditate on Nourishthroughout my day.
<< and even before I was ready to publish I was reminded how my soul is nourished via creativity... of all sorts!>>
What nourishes your soul?
Check out the prompt today for the specific wording and ways to connect by visiting KatMcNally.com.
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Julie Jordan Scott is a writer, performance poet, Mommy and mixed-media artist. Her word-love themed art will be for sale at First Friday each month 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.
Today – August 7, 2012 - met me in the same way a seventh grade girl, Melanie, meets her longtime crush, Joey, on the edge of the dance floor. Unsure, a bit wobbly, and slow to make a move forward, morning and I wondered at first if anything would happen or if I would pull away, refusing to believe our relationship would ever feel the same as it did when Joey and Melanie were in second grade, sitting side by side at desks in Mrs. Anderson’s classroom at Linden Avenue School.
First I poured a cup of coffee.
Second I gathered my notebook and pen and went outside.
Third I drew a random soul collage card.
Fourth, I made myself write.
Looking at the card I wrote, “I have a history of hiding under a blanket of darkness. Divinity clothes me in white when she does my bidding. I sit in the center of paradox: the this and the that, the hovering tightrope slowly unraveling, an awkward unwinnable tug-of-war and the solid cord hung firmly and the confident collaboration, singing songs of cheer upon successful completion.
I notice water droplets of water on the leaves.
Sitting here, moving my pen, being a faithful companion to my writing is key to living my story.
This dress on the little girl is so similar to what my Mom would have made me.
I want to remember Mom meant her dresses as testaments to her love for me which she wasn’t able to translate into the language you spoke and still speak. This doesn’t minimize her love.
I want to remember that earlier this Summer I learned about Wolf Lichen after mistakenly calling it “moss” after all these years.
My Rilke reading earlier was another significant companion:
From Wer seines Lebens viele Widersinne:
She who reconciles the ill matched threads
of her life, and weaves them gratefully
into a single cloth –
it’s she who drives the loudmouths from the hall
and clears it for a different celebration
These reminders pour through my hands onto the page.
I look at the collage card, I look at Rilke’s words, I write: “It feels so grand to sit on my front porch, the gentle wind feels like a zen gardener tending my forehead. Worry erased by house finch.”
Melanie holds Joey with just the right closeness as their slow dance comes to its conclusion.
She can feel his breath against her neck, his hands respectfully above her waist.
She is both naïve and knowing. She is a paradox who is a human truth in the making.
Julie Jordan Scott has been a Life & Creativity Coach, Writer, Facilitator and Teleclass Leader since 1999. She is also an award winning Actor, Director, Artist and Mother Extraordinaire. She was twice the StoryTelling Slam champion in Bakersfield. She leads Writing Camp with JJS & this Summer will be traveling throughout the US to bring this unique, fun filled creative experience to the people wherever she finds the passion & the interest.
Did you enjoyed this essay? Receive emails directly to your inbox for Free from Julie Jordan Scott via the Daily Passion Activator. One inspirational essay and poem (almost) every week day. Subscribe here now -
“ Intelligent discontent is the mainspring of civilization. ”
— Eugene V. Debs
I was discouraged yesterday and believe it or not, I made that discouragement mean I was wrong. My not very productive thought was “If I was doing the right thing with my life, I wouldn’t feel discouraged. I wouldn’t feel discouraged.”
What I did next was important, though. I got up and moved away from my stuck place behind the keyboard.
I went about doing chores, taking care of my children, doing my afternoon Mom-Schlep and I allowed my mind to wander.
My mind wandered to my soul collage card from yesterday to Women and Leadership.
I had recently decided to leap into the discovery of current women in politics, especially those beyond the United States. I was an international relations major but somehow I had gotten way out of touch with the political world, especially on an international level.
One conversation knocked on my heart and helped me break through the inertia.
Last weekend I created a soul collage card that to me called me to personal leadership as well as the study of women leaders. I quickly discovered Angela Merkel, chancellor of Germany.
I confess, I had never even heard of Angela Merkel until yesterday. Now, I am deep into a study of Merkel and other top women leaders. The Forbes list for 2011 includes two powerful wives, a handful of politicians and a smattering of business women.
This made me feel very uncomfortable. It made me feel squirmy in my seat and more than a little bit disappointed in myself. Instead of getting stuck deeper in the quicksand of “my shortcomings” instead I accepted that for the past and now, I have turned the corner into spending more time learning about women leaders so that I may also become a better leader in the work I do.
I may not be the secretary of state, I may not be the head of a multinational corporation worth billions, but I do serve on several educational committees and I run successful Writing Camp programs and am in the midst of raising three phenomenal human beings.
My discontent of today, my squirmy ickiness isn’t holding me back any more, my vision of being a better leader is pulling me forward.
What will you do, today, to become a more engaged, educated leader?
This may be as simple as a shift in thinking or a quick google search on a woman who intrigues you. Allow your vision of yourself as a better leader pull you forward. The discontent is the nudge and the vision is what gives you wings.
This is post #18/31 for the Ultimate Blog Challenge. Slowly and surely I am getting caught up!
Julie Jordan Scott has been a Life & Creativity Coach, Writer, Facilitator and Teleclass Leader since 1999. She is also an award winning Actor, Director, Artist and Mother Extraordinaire. She was twice the StoryTelling Slam champion in Bakersfield. She leads Writing Camp with JJS & this Summer will be traveling throughout the US to bring this unique, fun filled creative experience to the people wherever she finds the passion & the interest.
Did you enjoyed this essay? Receive emails directly to your inbox for Free from Julie Jordan Scott via the Daily Passion Activator. One inspirational essay and poem (almost) every week day. Subscribe here now -
This was the first soulcollage card I made last Saturday. I have been haunted by a recent couchsurfer from Austria who was so much more aware of world politics than I. PLUS I am such a reluctant leader… people tend to appoint me leader without me volunteering. The first time this happened was the fourth grade in Girl Scouts. People just look to me as such so it is no accident to know Samuel drew this card for me this morning to study and to live today.
So far today I have written in response:
I am one who leads.
I am one who leads women and men.
I am one who inspired, one who creates a path no one else can fathom yet. I see crowds (comfy ones) in rural villages, in fields of red flowers.
I am one who brings color to the colorless. I am one who believes in the forefront, who stands at the forefront proclaiming joy in each moment.
I am one who asks questions:
Why am I a leader?
Who do I lead?
What purpose does my leadership serve?
Is my leadership making a difference?
Am I making the right decisions?
Are the results of my leadership worth the personal sacrifices I am making?
Deepening questions –
What is this card offering to me?
Courage
Will
Support
Inspiration
What does this card want or need from me?
Learn more about current women leaders in politics, business and the arts. Continue to learn about grandmothers of the arts. You know how to spread passion, now spread it.
Are there any other messages from the card?
You can, Julie, my love, you can!
Speaking as if I am the image:
I chose the woman leading the march with the flag and the blue binder in her arms.
Many of the times I head out the door to lead, I am afraid. I know the cause is bigger than my fear and there are lives that will be changed under my leadership. This makes me move. It makes me conspire with myself (my heart?) to reach deeper, higher, further.
I look at each person with that same strength and conviction in my eyes: women leaders will change the world by mothering it differently than other leaders have. Yes, I said mothering the world.
Current leaders to study now:
German Chancellor: Angela Merkel
From Finland: Heidi Anneli Hautala was appointed as the Minister for International Development to the Finnish government in June 2011. Shedeals with the ministry’s development cooperation affairs and the government’s ownership steering within the Prime Minister’s Office.
Hautala has been referred as the Grand Lady of Finnish Human Rights politics. She is a former member of the European Parliament and the chairwoman of the parliament’s Subcommittee on Human Rights. She was in charge of European Parliament’s human rights policy in external relations. She believes in furthering human rights, transparency, environmental responsibility and global justice. During the past years Heidi Hautala has been known as a versatile, active and fearless politician internationally and in Finland, where she has been a household name for two decades.
It is no accident you are reading this today. Sure, it is my card and my intuitive listening that gave my responses.
How do you connect with the card and with what I have written?
So there we have it: Soul Assignment Accepted on July 25, 2012
This is post #16/31 for the Ultimate Blog Challenge. Slowly and surely I am getting caught up!
Julie Jordan Scott has been a Life & Creativity Coach, Writer, Facilitator and Teleclass Leader since 1999. She is also an award winning Actor, Director, Artist and Mother Extraordinaire. She was twice the StoryTelling Slam champion in Bakersfield. She leads Writing Camp with JJS & this Summer will be traveling throughout the US to bring this unique, fun filled creative experience to the people wherever she finds the passion & the interest.
Did you enjoyed this essay? Receive emails directly to your inbox for Free from Julie Jordan Scott via the Daily Passion Activator. One inspirational essay and poem (almost) every week day. Subscribe here now -
I talked about it last week with Chrissi, actually.
Chrissi was one of my recent couchsurfing guests and we were hiking together at Trail of 100 Giants at the Sequoia National Forest. I said something about how Americans always seem to insist on big goofy grins in their photos. “One of my French exchange students back, oh, fifteen years ago, commented on this. She was right. But I think now, it has changed. With digital photography, people seem to have calmed down the need for the whole “chhheeeeeeze!” pose constantly.”
My Mother had a favorite photo of me when I was a little girl. I haven’t seen it in years, but I can still see myself in it. I am sitting on a bench at Turtleback Zoo. I sat with my hair in braids, as always, a blue gingham sleeveless shirt, my hands on either side of my frame. I was probably waiting as I sat on the bench. I was eight years old, looking straight ahead of my view but you can only see my profile in the photo. I had no idea my photo was being taken or I would have hidden the question living in my face, my heart, my spirit.
This morning I was inspired by my friend Paula D’Andrea to focus on a song today. Well, Paula is always focused on Rockin' Life! but when my breakfast was accompanied by Jackson Browne on the Muzak, I laughed quietly at first and then thought, “This is not a song you hear often.”
By the time I got home, I felt the song was an assignment of sorts.
The first two stanzas:
Looking through some photographs I found inside a drawer I was taken by a photograph of you There were one or two I know that you would have liked a little more But they didn't show your spirit quite as true
You were turning 'round to see who was behind you And I took your childish laughter by surprise And at the moment that my camera happened to find you There was just a trace of sorrow in your eyes
I feel a call today to study images of my own authenticity, to put those on display, to not concern myself with conventional norms like ugly or pretty or middle aged or out of shape or embarrassed, but instead focus on showing you my true spirit: unmasked, unafraid and non judgemental.
Cameron has told me my face is one of the most changeable he has encountered. I can look so different on any given day. Sometimes I think that is from being an actor but then, upon thinking, I think it is from being true. My face shows my emotions in that precise moment.
My emotions are worn differently on my face. I think they are authentic. Some of these photos I look prettier or more “conventionally acceptable” than others. What I love about them all is they are all perfectly 1,000% me.
This Spring I sat on a hill overlooking Bakersfield, one of my favorite spots in the world. My friend mentioned me and the words “deliriously happy” in the same sentence.
“I wouldn’t describe myself as happy.”
This photo was taken of me on that day
I wasn’t sure what prompted me to say this, but it is true.
I love and hate this photo. He used to capture fantastic photos of me, true photos of me. I am praying in this photo, perhaps trying to block out the lack of the love I used to feel and an attempt at being content with the love that remains.
It is truly me, even with the spot on my cheek waiting to be checked out by my doctor, the eyebrows that need reshaping, and my hair that was way too blonde for a while.
I am beyond happy. I don’t see happy as better than sad or maudlin as worse than blissful.
Authentic emotions, in the moment. That’s what I want to wear on my face.
This is me in the beginning of October, 2011. It is a very clear portrayal of precisely how I was feeling in that moment. I was in Westwood with my friend, Cameron. I asked him to take the shot and he just clicked away as I stood and "felt" - it is significant as a model (even if the only audience is you) to just be with what you are feeling instead of playing fashion model with the photographer choreographing the whole thing. If your intent is for a specific purpose other than catching your own authenticity, that is a whole different experience.
This photo was taken in September 2008, by my friend, Todd Powers with
Foxglove Photography. We did a session that night with these wonders of nature I had collected on a walk while I was working on a collection of poetry and essays called “Last Years Leaves.” I wish this photo shoot had an element of smell. It was soooooo heavenly with overripe and weathered, hungry leaves.
What I love is Todd gives me space to just experience and he just clicks. See how intent I am on the berries? I am not even thinking Todd is taking photos me me, I am clearly in the moment, a little sad, a little curious, a little hopeful, a little grounded, a little wishing I could float up and out of where I was.
This is Emma in Alice in Wonderland this November at her first High School play. She is an extension of me, always will be, and in this photo she reminds me so much of myself I decided to include it. She had a pretty miserable time during this process. This shot has the quality it does because I had to crop her out of a group but I love what her face says. “I am trying, I am here, I am successful because in my trying, I am doing, no matter how awkward or sad or lonely I am, I am here, on stage and in life, I am giving my all.”
My final photo for today is a self portrait I took. It was a part of my Soul Grief series. There was a time when I cried for 142 days in a row. I consciously created this because when I cried, I remembered, "I have no crying photos. Shoot this, now."
I wasn't faking these tears, I was feeling them.
I laugh now when I see women whose faces have been frozen in place by a variety of procedures so they can keep their skin smooth no matter what they are feeling. I would rather look conventionally ugly than falsely, conventionally beautiful.
Ironically, the second photo here - the one with my eyes open - is one of my favorite photos of myself looking, in my opinion, beautiful.
Don't you love photos like Emma's that say, "“I am trying, I am here, I am successful because in my trying, I am doing, no matter how awkward or sad or lonely I am, I am here, on stage and in life, I am giving my all.”
What more could life ask?
In the old days, I would plaster on my happy mask and move through my day, smiling no matter what. My mother even noted in my baby book, “Julie even smiles through her tears.” As a baby I had this life skill. As a baby I had this life skill.
It is a skill I no longer use. I am grateful for that.
Julie Jordan Scott has been a Life & Creativity Coach, Writer, Facilitator and Teleclass Leader since 1999. She is also an award winning Actor, Director, Artist and Mother Extraordinaire. She was twice the StoryTelling Slam champion in Bakersfield. She leads Writing Camp with JJS & this Summer will be traveling throughout the US to bring this unique, fun filled creative experience to the people wherever she finds the passion & the interest.
Did you enjoyed this essay? Receive emails directly to your inbox for Free from Julie Jordan Scott via the Daily Passion Activator. One inspirational essay and poem (almost) every week day. Subscribe here now -
What would happen if you changed your perspective in that current blog post you are writing?
You know, what if instead of speaking in the first person, you let your first person become Marilou or Martin.
Who is saying your first person voice is the best voice for this blog post?
Why couldn’t the YOU be the storyteller behind the story.
Sometimes I feel stuck when I write constantly from the same place. My writing becomes fortress like. I am in a tower that appears, to most people, to only have one window which is sandwiched between concrete so I cannot see anything else.
Well, what if we made the tower into your first person (or my first person) writing.
The tower I am in – my writing - seems as if there is no way to get out, either. I discover by opening my vision a tiny bit wider I need to get on my belly, to look differently, to seek perspective that is neither obvious or my first choice.
I only believed I had a small window. That’s true as long as I stay standing up. If I am willing to get down on my belly, I can look out to see any perspective I want to see and write the story from whichever direction I choose.
From these openings in the floor, I see green vines with pregnant looking berries. From this opening I can see the boat and all the workman, starting their day with singing and intense work. They look so happy. From this opening in the floor I can hear the fluttering, very faint, of wings. I need to listen carefully.
Watch what happens when I change it to third person:
Sometimes she feels stuck when she works constantly from the same place. Her work literally becomes a fortress. She is stuck in in a tower that appears, to most people, to only have one window which is sandwiched between concrete so she can only see out in one direction.
She turns to ask me, “Perspective is a fiction in this case, isn’t it?”
I stay silent, urging her to tell me more without giving her a simplified how-to.
She continues: “The tower I am in – my worklife - seems as if there is no way to get out. I am stuck unless….”
She steps back into the door of the turret. She surveys from the ceiling… to the floor. Without words, she discovers by opening her vision a tiny bit wider she sees the answer comes in getting down on her belly and looking out from the floor.
She looks first at one floor level window. "Ohhhh, yes. There it is... I see... oh my gosh, I wouldn't have thought of that!"
Now she is finally able to look differently, to seek perspective that is neither obvious nor her first choice.
You've read this mini-change-in-perspective. What value do you see in doing this exercise for your own writing or in your own business or life work?
This is my Ultimate Blog Challenge Writing for the Day. Be watching for my challenge posts which will include Writing Prompts, Writing Tips and General Life Tips and Essays. This is Blog 12/31 for July!
Julie Jordan Scott has been a Life & Creativity Coach, Writer, Facilitator and Teleclass Leader since 1999. She is also an award winning Actor, Director, Artist and Mother Extraordinaire. She was twice the StoryTelling Slam champion in Bakersfield. She leads Writing Camp with JJS & this Summer will be traveling throughout the US to bring this unique, fun filled creative experience to the people wherever she finds the passion & the interest.
Did you enjoyed this essay? Receive emails directly to your inbox for Free from Julie Jordan Scott via the Daily Passion Activator. One inspirational essay and poem (almost) every week day. Subscribe here now -
I love prompts that ask us to look right in the near past rather than from a long, long time ago. I enjoy walks down my memory, but oftentimes I don’t give myself credit for the right now… so with that…join me and consider what three things YOU are proud about from the past few days?
Three things I am proud of from the last few days:
I ran two successful Writing Camps at Bakersfield College’s Delano Campus. The students wrote haiku, freewrote, learned about Rainer Rilke, Alice Walker, Laura Esquivel. We practiced writing in Objective and Meaningful language. There was a lot of interaction and fun was had by (almost!) everyone. Yes, guy in the second row, I saw you dozing off. I forgive you! I have to admit, sleeping students DO make me kick my game up a notch. I am proud I did.
I attended (and enjoyed!) a SoulCollage workshop. I had been resisting for months because I had tried the process on my own. I didn’t get what all the fuss was about. Naturally I loved it. I created a whole bunch of cards and plan to go for Open Studio to make more. I got over my resistance and created some great art. Yay!
I didn’t lose my temper once, even when there were a couple ripe situations for me to do so. This is definitely something to be proud about, especially when a tired Samuel did typical tired Samuel behaviors. :~)
So – Beloveds! Tell me three things you are proud of from the last few days.
Julie Jordan Scott has been a Life & Creativity Coach, Writer, Facilitator and Teleclass Leader since 1999. She is also an award winning Actor, Director, Artist and Mother Extraordinaire. She was twice the StoryTelling Slam champion in Bakersfield. She leads Writing Camp with JJS & this Summer will be traveling throughout the US to bring this unique, fun filled creative experience to the people wherever she finds the passion & the interest.
Did you enjoy this essay? Receive emails directly to your inbox for Free from Julie Jordan Scott via the Daily Passion Activator. One inspirational essay and poem (almost) every week day. Subscribe here now -
Have you ever resisted trying something new because you thought you knew all about it and wasn’t too thrilled knowing everything about it?
Saturday, once again, I was proven wrong. I am GRATEFUL I was proven wrong!
I love hanging out at the Art and Spirituality Center here in Bakersfield at Mercy Hospital. I have loved taking classes, teaching classes, and attending open studio as much as I can. I have made quite a few friends there and many of them are totally into SoulCollage.
I had read the book and tried making cards but never really enjoyed it all that much. I didn’t enjoy it enough to continue.
One day I sat with my friend, Kimberly, and used some of her SoulCollage cards as Writing Prompts. Wow. They were so vivid and awakened some deep stuff within me and I knew I needed to try it again. Perhaps with a group, I would be better.
I went to the workshop Saturday with no expectations. I hoped it would be fruitful because I was giving up much of my day to attend. Once I made my first card I knew I was at the right place with the right people doing the right thing.
We were told we could make three cards. If we needed more, though, we would be given more.
I ended up making seven cards. I felt like my chronic-overachieving-now-nobody-is-going-to-like-me self.
I was surprised, though, because there wasn’t a soul in the room who “didn’t like me” because I made the most cards. Next up for me is making cards with my own photos. I’m looking forward to making cards to honor family members and personal heroines.
Next time you get an intuitive nudge to (re) try something, do it, without attachment or worry.
I bet you will find you love it much more than you thought you would!
Julie Jordan Scott has been a Life & Creativity Coach, Writer, Facilitator and Teleclass Leader since 1999. She is also an award winning Actor, Director, Artist and Mother Extraordinaire. She was twice the StoryTelling Slam champion in Bakersfield. She leads Writing Camp with JJS & this Summer will be traveling throughout the US to bring this unique, fun filled creative experience to the people wherever she finds the passion & the interest.
Did you enjoyed this essay? Receive emails directly to your inbox for Free from Julie Jordan Scott via the Daily Passion Activator. One inspirational essay and poem (almost) every week day. Subscribe here now -
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