Intro:
Welcome to Part 6 of a year-long exercise/project “Creative Self Exploration” where, I conduct weekly experiments, by (pretty much) solely following my hunches/ inspirations, playing it by my intuitive ear.
In this section we are going to use our imaginative faculty and dive deeper into our internal landscape, in search of a treasure chest packed with what make you special, come alive, irreplaceably … you.
To those of you who already have good grasp on what those things are – may I, humbly, propose you give this a try anyways, as there are always more about our self, to be discovered, unearthed.
Something new, some things we grew out of, things that may surprise, shock or delight you – even just for the sake of asking, conversing with our self, for…
Your attention to self is like a gentle rain upon a seed
in the vast continent of Potentials and Possibilities.
The next 6 weeks’ exercises are not designed to produce creative works (unlike Part 3, 4 and 5), however, if you’re so inclined, please go ahead and record your discoveries about yourself in any ways that thrill you. I’ve shared quite a few tools here suitable for that purpose, so please make use of them if you may.
Please Be Noted: If, at any point, you feel overwhelmed or get other strong responses, please suspend the exercise and proceed with suitable self care measures. Read more in Introduction page – scroll down to “Few Important Notes”.
( in reverse chronological order )
Week 36: Venture
September 07, 2024
Envision with me.
You are planning a trip. To the place where your treasure chest is.
You got the location in your mind, a key in your hand, this week you are going to plan your trip to where the box is.
Plan an imaginary trip, as if you are taking off at the end of this week.
What would you need, for you to get to where you can stand in front of your treasure chest?
What do you think it would take – risks, expenses, investments, commitments….
Can you simulate one element from your imagined adventure into your “real” life this week?
How do you really feel about the trip?
As always, I am asking you to ask yourself questions like the ones above, and wait for your answers to surface from within you.
Plan in detail like you really are departing later this week.
Can you get there with a boat, a plane, a drone, a….space ship?
What if your treasure chest actually sits in your living room? In that case, what would be the “distance”?
If it’s on the ocean floor, you may need a specialized gear, or a way to turn yourself into a fish.
Invent a compact submarine for one (it’s a private mission) to get you to the challenger deep?
At what point you plan your transformation to a fish person, on the beach or on a boat?
Imagination can get you to places, where you can extend the boundary of your mind, stretch your wings and soar in the limitless sky. No, you won’t go crazy*. It trains your imaginative muscles as it tickles your creativity fancy.
*Needless to say but on internet, playing safe may be preferable: unless you indulge in practices that mess with your mind, to forcefully alter your perceptions – not what I recommend. What I write about here in this whole website, is about using our imagination, gently, naturally, respectfully – to maximize our creativity, because…
Everything Comes Alive Only in Creativity.
Now, if your answer happens to be ”it will take a decade to get there”, then please appreciate your answer as it is. No worries: practicality is not a hindrance in an imaginative practice like this one.
Can you bring one element from the trip to the box, into your actual life this week? Example, wear trousers to work that would be perfect for a trek to the tallest mountain top where your box sits, moving things out of the way in your living room so you get a clear view of your chest, carry with you a compass you’d need to find your box in a sand dune (camel kind), go for a swim and practice becoming a fish…
May have mentioned this in the past weeks but allow me to repeat: I suggest you keep all this to yourself during the Part 6 weeks. Why?
Your answers make sense possibly only to you, and part of strengthening creative muscles, at least I found this to be true time and again, is in holding your truth close to your heart, whether people in your life gets it or not. Imaginative visions oft possess tender/vulnerable qualities especially in their initial stages / when they emerge.
Speaking of tender and vulnerable, the last question, how do you feel about the trip?
Ridiculous? Would you mind asking yourself why? And wait for the – your – answers?
I surely hope you don’t feel that, but if you do, I hope you accept your answer with utmost respect.
What I really hope is you give this a try. I am not writing all this just to be silly.
I am not asking you to value my words (though that would be nice).
I am asking you to value yours.
Wishing you a fun week!!
Week 35: Weigh
August 31, 2024
Envision with me.
In your palms, there is a key. It is the key to your treasure chest.
How does the key feel in your palms?
Weight, texture, temperature, size, color, design….
What does it symbolize to you, initially, and at the end of the week?
Imagine placing it in your pocket/purse/etc. and spend this week feeling its presence.
So last week, we located our treasure chest. We at least sorta know its whereabouts. We are not traveling there yet though.
(Needless to say but let me; all this – chest/key/travel – take place in your imagination.)
This week’s focus is on the key to your treasure chest. Let’s assume your treasure chest has a keyhole and you got the key to it with you.
While imagining ask questions like the following, and let your responses arise from within you.
Is the chest locked? Do you know if it is?
Can you make copies of your key? Do you want to?
How does the key weigh in your hand? What are the look, the texture, the stories behind it?
Maybe made of iron, hand crafted centuries ago, maybe something ancestral about it. That’s a different kind of “weight”…
Or maybe, it’s light like a tiny feather, ready to fly away out of your grasp.
Is it made with technology that doesn’t exist on Earth just yet?
Or, so intricately crafted a tiniest spec of dust in the key hole may ruin your chance at opening the box?
If it’s a plastic card easily duplicated, does that feel convenient or vulnerable to you?
Is it weighing on you, the responsibility to look after your key, or does it get you delighted, like a ticket to freedom?
(Either way’s better than the other, what matters is that it is your answer, that you welcome your honesty.)
Now, I want you to spend your week carrying the key with you. In your pocket, in your purse, feel its presence, the weight, the way it reminds you of its existence…
Also, please make sure to pay delicate-relaxed attention, to see if there’s any shift in the way you feel about it.
Last week I touched on an intuition-imagination tango.
(Scroll all the way down to last week(wk34), right beneath the line in fancy big text “There’s always…”)
Alternately in simple math, the tango can be translated into something like: Intuition x Imagination = Inspiration.
Inspiration vivifies everything it touches. That’s what takes us further, to where we have never been before.
Imagine. Intuit. It takes two to Tango;
Your Self, in Tune with Creativity Itself.
Wishing you a beautiful week with your imagination.
Week 34: Search
August 24, 2024
Envision with me.
There is a treasure chest in this world somewhere. May look like the one from a pirates film. Or more modern like a locked safe. Let’s not go into details of the box for now though.
Imagine, it is filled with what make you feel excited, get you out of bed in the morn, fall asleep dreamy at night. Qualities, abilities, experiences… that make your heart do a happy dance. Make you feel like it is fantastic to be alive.
But it is not time for those things just yet.
What I want you to get into this week is the following:
Imagine, somewhere in this world there is a treasure chest that belongs to you, you alone.
Where do you think that would be?
How far / close it is from where you are at?
Is it easy or difficult to get there?
What kind of environment / surroundings?
Please don’t “think hard”. Instead, ask these questions and wait for the answers to arise from within you. This is meant to be fun.
Is it in your backyard? Basement, or even in your living room?
Or in the ocean, if so, how deep? Cold or warm? Hazards like sharks and crocs, or whales guiding you to it? If there’s a Godzilla sitting on it, is he guarding it for you or from you?
If in the forest, is it tropical or taiga? How far into the forest and how difficult getting there? Can you ride into it or do you have to hike?
Do you feel it is on another planet? Can you locate it at all?
Whatever the answer you get from yourself is THE answer for you at this time. No worries even if your answer is “outer space”.
Please do yourself a favor and receive it as it is. Because…
There is always a high chance you know way more about your self than you give yourself credit for.
I suggest, not get into analyzing as to why it’s so hard to get to it or it has been serving you as a foot rest.
I am suggesting you ask yourself a question like “where is it?”, wait for the answer remaining open to your self knowledge, then enjoy imagining details (godzilla!!) while still asking yourself “is it like this, or more like that?”
I am suggesting an intuition-imagination tango. I think some call it creativity.
Hope you’ll have fun. See you in a week!!
