Tag Archives: creativity

Less is more: a week of living below the poverty line

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This week in support of my husband, and possibly against my better judgement, I decided to spend  5 days living below the poverty line spending just £1 per day on all food and drink.  This challenge to Live below the line has been set up to to support many UK and international charities who focus on helping to make a real change in the lives of the 1.4 billion people, both here and around the world, who are currently living in extreme poverty. I became aware of and hugely inspired by the blog: A Girl Called Jack and decided to take up the challenge for just 5 days.Take a look at Hugh Jackman’s invitation to take up the challenge:

I chose to spend the week living below the line in order to support the work of Progressio, an international development charity which my husband is proud to work for.  There was a part of me which felt that this was a bit of an exercise in “playing at being poor” à la Marie-Antoinette who famously said about the starving masses during the French Revolution “If they can’t eat bread, let them eat cake”.  In all honesty this was probably the part of me who didn’t much fancy the prospect of living on a restricted diet for a week.  The other part of me, who is definitely not as out of touch with reality as Marie Antoinette was, likes a challenge and is accutely aware that those of us who do not live below the poverty line on a permanent basis are very privileged indeed.  I have always believed in the concept of walking a mile in another person’s shoes, in order to understand their lives and motivations so I grasped the challenge despite my initial reluctance.

Don't believe the adverts. Happiness may come from having less, not more! Watch this inspiring video and find out how: http://www.ted.com/talks/graham_hill_less_stuff_more_happiness.html

 

So here I am on day 5, just two meals away from a decent breakfast on Saturday morning.  What have I learned from the challenge? I’ve learned a lot actually and much of it is in alignment with what positive psychology teaches us about living a meaningful life:

I have learned to be hugely grateful for what I have and I will really relish the opportunity and the possibility of choosing any food I want to eat in future.

I have learned to show more empathy with people who live in different circumstances to my own.

I have become more aware of the interconnectedness of people and how food choices we make have repercussions for others.

I have reminded myself of the importance of practising acts of kindness for others.

I have become more aware of the simple pleasures in life such as eating home-prepared food.

I have practised mindfulness and savouring which are principles of positive psychology which teach us how to enjoy the moment. (When you can only afford one carrot or one egg a day you really enjoy them.)

I have had to fall back on using my top strengths (creativity is one of mine) in order to manage on such a small budget.

I have realised that it is much easier and quicker to change a habit that I had previously thought.

What have I learned about myself?

I have realised that our household is hugely wasteful of food and this needs to change.

In order to survive on a tight budget you need to be really well organised and highly creative and these are two great skills to practice.

We need to plan our menus and food purchases more in order to cut down on waste. To use a wonderful acronym I came across on Twitter via Philippa Perry yesterday: PPPPPPP. ( Proper Pre-Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance) @Philippa-Perry

I have decided to rediscover the joys and benefits of cheap home made food next week by making my own bread, growing my own bean sprouts and drying my own fruits. I may even knit my own muesli if I’m feeling particularly creative……

I made a last minute decision to join the live below the line campaign and admittedly wasn’t as organised as I could have been for the 5 days.  This meant that my diet this week has lacked variety and that has been the toughest challenge.  Many people around the world and in the UK face a monotonous diet on a regular basis because that is all this is available to them.  This week may have been challenging but I didn’t die, I had 3 meals a day and I had plenty of clean water to drink. That’s more than can be said for the 1.4 billion people around the world who don’t have the ability to make the same choices I can.  Was I crazy to take up this challenge?  Probably not. I have learned a huge amount this week and here’s the crazy part: I have decided to continue the challenge!  I have decided to #liveslightlyabovetheline for the next month adding £1 a week to my weekly budget until I reach a point where I believe my diet is both healthy and sustainable for the planet.  I am looking forward to more colour in my diet next week and £2 per day for 5 days will feel like absolute luxury.  I think I know of 1.4 billion people to whom £2 per day would feel like absolute luxury too and that is why is has been important to live below the line this week.  If you didn’t join in the challenge this week, it’s not too late you can do this on any 5 days you choose.  It’s a great experience and it’s never too late to make a difference. Also blueberries for breakfast on a Saturday will never taste the same again.

Posted by Shona Lockhart on 3rd May 2013

 

 

 

 

 

 

Why is listening to your inner accountant not a route to happiness?

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I was fortunate to meet creativity guru Julia Cameron in London at the weekend. She was running a two day creativity workshop with Alternatives based on her book the Artist’s Way.  It was a wonderful experience to meet her in person and to meet other “closet creatives” who have found the book a useful way to unleash a little more of their creativity.  It was interesting to note at a workshop of over 100 people that many people share the same obstacles to creativity such as lack of belief in our own creative abilities, too many other pressures on our time, listening to our inner critic, lack of inspiration etc. etc…………

One of the participants made the very funny statement:  ”My problem is not so much that I have an inner critic, it’s more that I have an inner accountant!” Many of the participants could relate to this comment and it is with this obstacle in mind that Julia Cameron has written her latest book called The prosperous heart: creating a life of ‘enough’ together with her business manager Emma Lively, which I have just purchased since the weekend.  I  have found the 12 week programme of the Artist’s Way a very helpful format and this new book follows the same 12 step format.  I have always believed that everyone lies somewhere along the creativity spectrum and we can all learn to express our creativity in different ways. If you listen to your inner accountant too often, you are denying yourself the chance of finding the flow and happiness which come from being utterly absorbed in a creative pursuit.

If you were unable to see Julia Cameron in person at the weekend please take a look at this great article and interview by Julie Hall from Women Unlimited.  

The interview is part of a great new series on Women Unlimited TV in which Julie Hall conducts interviews with inspiring women – they are worth checking out.  Enjoy the article and interview: 

julia

Julie Hall interviewing Julia Cameron

 

Julia Cameron is the author of the Artist’s Way. Written 20 years ago, it is the defining book for those interested in exploring their creativity.  It’s estimated that over 4 million people have read the book  and Julia still teaches the 12 week programme in her home town of Santa Fe.   You can find out more about Julia and her new programme at www.juliacameronlive.com 

The inspiration for the book was Julia’s boyfriend (now husband!). He was a writer but he was blocked and having problems writing. She wrote the book to help him overcome this creative block.

Overcoming creative blocks

Although Julia never had writers block, she found that she wasn’t writing freely either. She was conscious of striving for perfection during the writing process. She was also drinking to try and enable her to write more freely but found that writing and drinking don’t mix. Alcohol opened a window then slammed it shut.

She found it better to write without alcohol. She also stopped trying to ‘control’ the writing so her work would be without ego. This enabled her to be an open tool for inspiration and writing to move through her.

Morning pages

Morning pages are a tool to help you unblock your creativity. Julia calls them a western version of meditation.  Every morning spend 20 minutes writing your thoughts down – write down whatever comes into your head/you are thinking about.

The benefits of doing morning pages are that you will release any thoughts/problems you are holding inside. It also helps to miniaturise your inner sensor (which is usually your negative internal voice), then enable you to ignore it as you keep writing. This then becomes a transportable life skill which can be used anywhere and in any situation. Nobody can be fearless, but you can be taught to push past it. Morning pages will help you to do this.

Why is creativity important in business?

Everyone can be creative. Traditionally, artists have talked of ideas/inspiration coming straight from God. We don’t tend to say that so much these days but that is an artist’s experience of inspiration – a higher power striving to get our ideas out to the world

The ideas and tools raised in the book also work for business people. Business is a creative arena and using morning pages gives you a safe place to vent issues and frustration and gives you the opportunity to explore ideas.

Other tools to help open up creativity:

Artists Date

You should try to go on an ‘artist’s date’ once a week. It’s a solo expedition to do something fun and enchanting. Your morning pages will help you to recognise your like’s and dislikes, as well as those things/activities you want to do more or less of.

When you go on an Artists Date you enable yourself to turn the dial to help you receive inspiration and  you’ll find that your synchronicity improves too.

An artist’s date could be something simple like a visit to a children’s bookstore, fabric store or a meal in a new restaurant.  You don’t have to expose yourself to art. You can get inspiration from any environment.

Don’t work at it – it should be enjoyable. The idea is plan ahead of time and woo yourself, so that you learn to love yourself a bit more.

Walking

Walking is an enormously powerful tool and helps people to integrate the inspiration gained from morning pages and the artist’s date. You can literally get into the body through walking.

Walk at least twice a week for 20 minutes. You’ll often find that you set out with a problem but come back with a solution.

Explore your own creativity

Julia has just launched a new website: www.juliacameronlive.com  which is for people who can’t study with Julie personally and covers her 12 week programme.

Filmed in her home the programme includes video lessons, a forum and a vibrant community.  A broad mix of people are involved, as anyone’s life can become enlivened by embracing the creative side of themselves.  Her course/book is about transition –everyone tells her that the book has changed their life.

For those who say creativity isn’t important Julia thinks this is what people tell themselves to talk themselves out of their dreams.   There are enormous benefits to tapping into your own creativity – it makes people more cheerful and literally enlightened, as if they have been lit up from inside

Julia’s main tips for exploring creativity are to do your morning pages regularly. Surprisingly, she also suggests accounting! Not the most creative activity you might think, but money should be channelled to your greatest joys. To ensure you have enough money, don’t spend blindly.  Simple accounting will highlight where you are spending your money. For example, you love the theatre but never have enough money. Your accounting may show that you are spending £4 a day in Starbucks. Forgo that coffee and save the money for a theatre ticket.

Prosperous Heart

Julia’s new book with Emma Lively is about individuals who depend on a sense of abundance with a connection to the divine and not with a paycheck. This 12 week programme helps people to explore their feelings towards debt, money and abundance.

Thank you to Julie Hall from Women Unlimited for permission to publish this article and interview.

Posted on 2nd November 2012

 

 

How finding your passion changes everything

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Recent articles and Happiness Experiment no 11 have looked at the concept of Flow and how getting absorbed in an activity which you are really passionate about can boost your happiness.  For further inspiration I recommend that you purchase the book called The Element by Sir Ken Robinson which looks at ways of being in our element.  Being in our  element is defined as the point at which our natural talent meets our personal passion. This is where people feel most themselves and are inspired and able to achieve at their highest levels.  The book is illustrated with examples of people who have made a successful living through doing what they love like Vidal Sassoon, Ariana Huffington and Matt Groening.  Robinson argues that age and occupation are no barrier and explains how it is possible for each one of us to reach our element. Read Sir Ken Robsinson’s book and watch his inspiring TED Talk – finding your true passion could just change everything.

 

Posted by Shona Lockhart, 11th October 2012

Play to your strengths – it will make you happier

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One of the most important lessons I have learned in my studies of positive psychology is about playing to your strengths.  Like many people I have spent most of my life trying to “fix” my weaknesses and imagining that if I could only overcome my character deficits I would somehow be happier.  Positive psychology teaches us that this is a back to front approach and that it is much better to discover what your character strengths are and to use your top strengths every day in new and interesting ways. So how do you go about discovering where your true strengths and talents lie?  One way is to use your own judgement, another is to ask a group of people who know you really well what they think your top 5 strengths are.  It is a good idea to take both of these approaches but it is important to be aware when you are assessing yourself that we tend to think that because we find something easy to do that this does not constitute a strength.  Another option is to try the range of character strength surveys which are available online.  They are either free or very cheap to use and the small investment in time and money which is involved in doing these tests is time well spent.

I have tried two of the currently available strengths surveys and have found them invaluable.  The first one I tried is the VIA Survey, created by Chris Peterson and Martin Seligman who have looked at the strengths that were most valued historically and cross-culturally. The final list contains 24 strengths and the VIA assessment has been taken by over 1.3 million times by people around the world. A VIA report will give you insight into your ability to access all 24 strengths.

 

Another strengths assessment which I have tried is the Clifton StrengthsFinder from Gallup. StrengthsFinder is slightly more relevant to your strengths at work but there is an overlap between the 2 surveys.  You can purchase a book which provides you with the code to take the test online and the assessment provides you with information about relative strengths of 34 talents themes. The Gallup researchers, Donald Clifton, Marcus Buckingham, and Tom Rath, created the list of talents based on studies of human behavior in organizations that occurred over 40 years. The StrengthsFinder report gives you an insight into your top 5 talent themes that become strengths when you bring them into play in the real world.

There are other surveys such as Realise2 developed by the Centre for Applied Positive Psychology (CAPP) in the United Kingdom and StandOut from The Marcus Buckingham Company which is both an individual and team assessment tool for the workplace.  I will cover these assessments in future blog posts but the VIA Survey and the Clifton StrengthsFinder assessment are a good starting point to establish your strengths.

My new creativity tool – a kitchen timer.

One of my strengths is creativity and although I was aware of this before I took the tests I had lost the habit of using this strength in my daily life.  I discovered other strengths which I had not been aware of so even though you think you know your strengths I would encourage you to take the surveys as they are very revealing.  This great video by the super creative John Cleese has some great lessons on how to bring more creativity in to your life and how to make sure you make time for creativity:

One of the lessons I have learned from this video is that you need to make time for creativity – this sounds obvious doesn’t it but it is easier said than done.  John Cleese makes the very valid point that you need a clearly defined space and time for creativity to happen.  You should sit down in your allocated creative space for ideally 90 minutes at a time and not move until you have really got your creative juices flowing.  Any longer than 90 minutes and you start to tire, any less than 90 minutes and you are not giving yourself the chance to become really creative as your mind tends to wander for the first 30 minutes and only really starts to focus in the last 60 minutes of your allocated time.  Hence my recent purchase of a kitchen timer, which is my new creativity tool of choice.  It keeps me focused and aware that time is ticking.  My “appointment for creativity” has a beginning and an end and if I don’t make the most of my allocated 90 minutes my time will be up and I will have to move on to less pleasurable pursuits which require my attention.

Using this technique in the last week I have tried out three creative pursuits which I used to enjoy but which I have not made time for recently: bread making, mosaic art and dressmaking.  I have managed to fit all three pursuits in to one week when previously I couldn’t begin to see how creativity could fit in to my busy life.

2 new Liberty print blouses which I made this week

Breadmaking

The happiness bug spreads to my kitchen as the PIG of HAPPINESS takes over!

This week I have chosen to express my “creativity strength” by making items which are creative in the physical sense.  You can also express you creativity through finding new ways to solve problems, taking up writing or music making or embarking on a whole myriad of different creative pursuits.  Another great creative tool I have found is the book The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron – it is a 12 week programme to help you rediscover your creativity and I can highly recommend it.

I will end this blog post with a wonderful, inspirational video on creativity by Elizabeth Gilbert who wrote the bestseller Eat, Pray, Love.

 A new way to think about creativity by Elizabeth Gilbert

Creativity is one of my top 5 strengths according to the surveys I have taken and I think that this is an accurate assessment.  Even if creativity does not feature in your top 5 strengths I think it is important that everyone works at expressing their creativity in any way they can. I hope that this article has give you some food for thought.

Posted by Shona Lockhart, 24th July 2012