Putting My Oxygen Mask on First – Enjoy Life Daily

I’ve been spending at least 10 minutes a day doing something that makes my heart sing. For a while, I got caught up in the responsibilities of being a entrepreneur of a newer business and mom of two kids and an active community member…and I wasn’t spending any time at all having fun by myself. While I really enjoy my work, kids and community, I still need to time to replenish myself and just have fun on my own.

I used to love playing in the woods or by streams as a kid. So I started to go for walks more frequently. At first, I just walked in the woods, maybe noticing an interesting shaped tree or a loud animal or bird…but I hadn’t found the freedom and joy I had as a child. But I kept walking…and the occasional warmer day would inspire me to splash through the water or run along the path or pick up interesting objects, but I still was just “walking in the woods” on most days vs immersing myself in the woods. It’s taken me months to reconnect with the magic. Don’t get discouraged if it takes you a while to reconnect with your inner child – stick with it!

If you are really disconnected from your inner child, you may want to try the Imaginary Lives exercise from The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron. If you had five other lives to lead, what would you do in each of them? Whatever occurs to you, jot it down. Do not overthink.  The point of these lives is to have fun. I wrote down park ranger in Muir Woods, spoken word poet, travel photographer, storyteller, and drummer. Once you have your list, choose one of them and pick an activity to add a little bit of that “life” into your week. I’ve done that through my walks and attending a drum circle. I plan on attending one of the Moth Story SLAMs at Space, I already have tickets for Kodo‘s performance in Chicago and the Louder Than a Bomb poetry festival, and maybe taking a photography class. I also can work through my online Stage Might training with Sekou Andrews.

Let me know what you would be doing in your other five lives and what you add into your current life to gain some of those experiences now.