Making the most of movement, motion and transitions – do we need a reframe?
Reframing is when we look at something from a new or different perspective, and in doing so, find new meaning or value. So, let’s do that now! If you were under the impression that mindful creativity is a practice that you can only do at home, let’s look at it fresh. Mindful creativity is about using creativity to reconnect with yourself, to find inner calm, cultivate enhanced awareness of the moment and deepen our connection with things that sustain us. In fact, this isn’t something that can only be done in our homes or creative spaces. Mindful Creativity moments and practices can work in all sorts of places and spaces, in many different ways and means.
What does it mean to embrace mobile practices?
Mindful Creativity on the Go is a really good practice for becoming or increasing your awareness of all of the small moments that are in your day. All of these micro moments that exist and are opportunities for you to tune in and you to reconnect with yourself and your inner voice and your your centre of calm serenity. ‘Mobile’ and ‘on the go’ practices are ones that you can do as part of being out and about as part of your day to day adventures. They can offer unique experiences that are just as creative, just as nourishing – just different! So, think about all the times during the days when you’re out and about – on the train, in the car, on the bus, standing in a queue, waiting for a meeting, these moments are gold!
Often, when we’re on the go, we tend to feel that the day will get away from us. So you might be running errands, you might be going back and forth from work, picking the kids up or getting yourself to where you need to be for work or social commitments or taking care of family or friends. But if we believe every day should be a creative one (I know I do!) them we just need to be intentional about making use of all of the opportunities – even if they are small windows! So, if we want to embrace all mindful creativity moments, we need to consider all of the ‘spaces’ of time and opportunity that are up for grabs where we’re moving from one thing to another, from a task or an activity and place to place.
Ways and windows to flourish: finding the magic windows of time and opportunity
The beauty of Mindful Creativity on the Go is that you only need basic tools – and sometime you won’t need any at all! And remember, it’s amazing what changes you can make to your mood and sense of sanity in five minutes! You can slow your breathing, reconnect with your centre, ignite your imagination and feel a sense of rejuvenation – and who doesn’t want all of those good things!
The first step to being creative on the go is making an inventory of all the possible moments in your day you could start to take advantage of. Firstly, how do you travel? Do you walk? Do you drive? Do you catch the bus, train? Do a quick inventory of your transition moments where you’re in between activities, or where you have time you could put to better use.
After you’ve completed your inventory, start to think how those moments could be put towards creative activities. The idea here is that you don’t need to jam all of those windows full of mindful creativity activities, but you just need to get into the practice of finding these little moments in time to take for yourself and make really good use of them.
Remember to think about when you’re most creative
Another good thing to consider is the time of day that you’re at your most creative. Then, correlate that with your windows of opportunity. You really want to find those windows of time where you are likely to feel most creative and energetic. So, for example, I’m a morning person, so my best windows of opportunity are during my morning commute.
Ready your Satchel
Mindful Creativity on the Go is your opportunity to take a simple, pared back approach to creativity. You really want just the most basic tools to stay light footed. Think about these things:
Notebooks: Notebooks these days come in all sorts of sizes. A small notebook that you can tuck in your bag is great – and I suggest that you go with unlined rather than lined pages, to give you more creative options.
Phone: Your phone is your best friend when you’re on the go! It provides a bevvy of creative tools, including a camera to take stills and video, an audio recording app (and if you don’t like the native app, you can download good free ones). It’s also likely to have a Notes app if you don’t want to take a notebook with you.
Pencil case: I highly recommend taking a pencil case with a range of different pens and pencils with you. My personal preference is to have a range of permanent markers in different ranges of thickness, and some Artliners as well. I’m a big doodler, and these are some of my favourite mobile tools!
Headphones: As much as anything, headphones are good for helping you to create your own ambience, and reduce the noise of the outside world. They can enhance your focus and concentration for your small moments of creativity, so if you’ve got room, pack’em in!
A few of my ‘On the Go’ doodles
In summary
I love being out in the world with my creative tools – I find that it gives me the chance to be slightly out of my comfort zone, and thus open to new elements of inspiration (yes, even if I have my headphones on!). It’s a great opportunity to make the most of your day and especially make the most of those small windows of time and opportunity that would otherwise disappear all to quickly. I hope you find some awesome ways to enjoy being Mindfully Creative on the Go as well!
Enjoy!