Intro:

Welcome to Part 8, the last six weeks of Creative Self Exploration, a year-long experiment I publish every Saturday (damn near) solely following my intuition/inspiration.

In Part 8, we will be using our body as the tool of our expression. Each week I propose a theme, a particular emotion for you to seek out through the week, and when you find yourself feeling it, I ask you to use your body to express it. Much like choreography but doesn’t have to be a dance move, it can be just a small movement with your pinky. What’s important is that, you catch yourself in the moment of your such emotion and with the movement of your body you jump into the present.

Come Alive, right where you are
Into the Immediacy of the Moment

In case if your mobility is restricted in any way at the moment, please do instead make a movement in your brain/with your thoughts – as our brain is the one who gives the rest of our body commands to make any part of it move. You can still send signals, whether your bod responds with movements or not. I think that’d get you there.
Same goes for situations where you are not able to, or very difficult to, actually move, such as at work conference, on crowded train, etc.

I hope the idea excites you, I think it will be a great Quality Fun.

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 chronological order )

Week 46: Anger, the Ultimate Dynamo

November 16, 2024

Been angry before? If you are a living human, probably have (so you know how it feels).
This week, I propose an idea to you, to utilize anger as follows:

Spend this week looking for moments when you feel angry.
When you catch yourself in anger, feel into it and express the way you feel using your body*.

*Needless to say perhaps, but on internet, playing it safe may be preferable:
only proceed with this exercise if you are safe to yourself and others. If you need to defend, flee, call for help, focus on task at hand, etc. please do so.
Also, using your body to slap a person in anger, for instance, is not what is suggested here. This exercise does not condone no violence, physical or psychological, unless absolutely necessary for your safety/survival.

Angry. Agitated. Frustrated. Displeased. Indignant. Triggered. I loosely group these psychological states in the anger category.
This week, I want you to feel into the sensation of anger. No need to spend too long. Just gently, playfully perhaps, dip into the emotion/reaction of anger.

How does it feel, is it anger, agony, discontent? Does the feel of it change as you go deeper?
Which part of your body feels it the most, how strong, what is the sensation?
Then, using your body as a tool of expression, express the feeling with the motion of your body. Like choreographing your anger.

Circumstance may not allow you to go full-on ballet dancing but perhaps, you can sneak Swan Lake a sec and gesture your hands without no one noticing.
Another example, if you feel your anger in your heart, and as you dip into the feel of it it starts to morph into agony, then perhaps, clutch onto your heart with tightened fists, but make it quick so to avoid paramedics turning up for you.

I think it’s best if you can do this the moment you feel it, but it may also be preferable to wait until you are alone in your room so you can really get into it. You know which is better for your specific situation.

Anger can be quite uncomfortable, but when you see it as an opportunity to feel Creative Energy flowing through you, it can be experienced quite differently. Often considered “negative”, anger can be seen as a transformative, life affirming experience, that gives you deep insight into your internal landscape.

Anger is an expression of Dynamic Energy
flowing through All in Celebration of Life.

Thanks for joining me,
and see you in a week!

Week 47: Fear as an Opportunity

November 23, 2024

Fear. Anxiety. Nervousness. Antsy. Edgy. Panicky. Tremor, terror, horror.
This week we are going to positively experiment with the Fear group of our mental-emotional states.

Before going further let me re-emphasize the following:
if you find yourself overwhelmed in any way during this exercise, please stop right there and take a good care of you. No point in pushing when the timing isn’t right.
Remember, ‘not now’ doesn’t have to mean ‘never’.

This week as you walk the world, pay close attention to the way you feel.
When you find yourself in fear, feel into it and express it using your body*.

*As I wrote last week (in other words allow me to repeat again), please do make sure you are not a danger to yourself and/or others when you do this. Longer “caution” note is just a scroll (down) away, from last week in small letters just like this, right beneath the blue-background short paragraph, like the one above.

So, the fear-anxiety spectrum of feelings/states. I would like you to catch yourself in low-key background anxiety as well, not only in fear that is usually louder.
When in one of those states, feel into it as if to examine the texture, or to swim into a lake of it.
Where in your body do you feel it?
Back of your neck where they say your hair stands? Is there a butterfly in the pit of your stomach?
Not to label the feeling, just dive into it when opportunity arrives.
And allow your body to move in ways it wants to, let your body interpret-express the feeling, and flow with it just for a few seconds.

This exercise is not aimed at overcoming/solving/fighting against fear. It is to drop such intentions and flow with your fear, either right when you’re feeling it, or when you have time/space to do so.
How does it feel? Let your body speak freely in response. Exaggerate a bit perhaps. Suspend any self-criticism if any (e.g. this is ridiculous I look foolish…) and go ahead, steal a moment of freedom.

Lovingly, Life Pulsates
In the Ocean of your Unrest

Thanks for coming by,
join me again next Saturday.

Week 48: Let Sorrow Be Your Inspiration

November 30, 2024

This week, we are going to venture into another territory of our emotional state: please welcome, the Sorrow group.
Sadness. Grief. Melancholy. Include versions of defeat, disappointment, despair. A sense of loss, and its preceding state, disbelief. How sorrow creeps in while still bargaining with reality…

Oh wait, don’t leave without giving the following a try…

Spend this week being mindful of your feelings. Look for moments you feel Sorrow.
When such moments arrive, *dive into the depth of it and express the way you feel using your body.

*Weekly ‘caution note’ time:
Please also be mindful if you feel overwhelmed in any way. In such case, I strongly suggest you discontinue this exercise and tend to your needs.
Also proceed with this exercise only when it is safe to do so, that no one – you and/or other creatures – will be in danger because of it.
Different versions of this ‘caution note’ as well as instructions can be found in previous posts, just scroll down further to get to them, they are short and fun to read (I think).

This may or may not be true for you:
when you allow yourself to feel, in this week’s case, sorrow group emotions, even the ones from possibly long past may surface.
I am writing this, in case you are conflicted about “re-experiencing”, as in digging up the past discomfort from years prior.
My wish for you is that you deem the surfacing as an opportunity, that you as a whole know what has been stored inside, that is ready to be befriended, integrated, or perhaps released. Please give the benefit of the doubt that, the timing may be just perfect.

Do you know a song “Drown in my own tears”? What I am recommending this week is a swim instead – through the use of easily applicable creative actions.
As if to swim out into a lake made of your sorrow, feel into it, savor if possible, then express the way you feel with your body**.
You can then bring the experience of the ’swim’ to your creative pursuits, like a fruit to the kitchen table. Nothing gets lost that way.

**As mentioned earlier, more instructions on this I wrote on previous posts. Please do check them out by simply scrolling this page further down.
Just quickly tho, “feel into it” meaning, does it feel sharp like a knife, cold like an ice, engulfing or localized, heart aches, chakra collapses, etc. etc.
“Express with your body” means allow your body to move almost on its own, flow into movements, enough just for a few seconds, of course longer if you wish.

As we all know, Life can take us to very many places, some of them no doubt, would leave us with psychological discomfort. Creativity has a habit of turning those experiences into potent assets, as if to say joys and sorrows are both equally welcome.

Swim in a lake of your sorrow

Sunlight dances on the surface
will show you the way to the Shore

Wishing you a fruitful week ahead!

Week 49: Challenges of Contempt

December 07, 2024

Contempt is not so easy to fathom.
Sometimes it seems rather justified. Some other times, a bit more complicated. Either way, it can be kind of difficult.

As have been for last three weeks, I am going to group emotions/feelings/reactions and name this week’s pick as the Contempt group.
Repulsion. Disgust. A strong sense of incompatibility. A reaction of “recoiling from”.
Exciting, yes? Let’s begin, ‘cause it will be.

This week watch for feelings of contempt/repulsion.
Feel into your sense of contempt without becoming analytical.
Naturally progress into expressing the feeling using your body*.

*Weekly caution-note time:
If you feel overwhelmed/confused or any other strong reactions overtaking you, please stop this exercise pronto and take necessary care of yourself.
Furthermore, only proceed with the exercise when you are not a danger to yourself and/or others.

One can feel contemptuous for very many reasons. Delicate, tender, painfully human stories may reside right beneath. Compared to the last three weeks’ themes of Anger/Fear/Sorrow, Contempt can be more complex, subtle, multi layered over our very vulnerable place inside.

This exercise is offered, not to dissect your psychology, presented without specific aim such as healing/solving/overcoming.
This is an invitation, to capitalize on the power of Creativity through a simple, easily applicable creative actions – and see where that takes you.
Also is for you to explore your multitude of potentials, whether recognized/realized or just yet – to experience you as the biggest mystery of your life.

So this week if something happens that triggers the response of contempt in you, please take that as an opportunity and give this exercise a try.
Feel into the sense of contempt. Locate it in your body/existence, taste the flavor, take the pulse of it, dance to the heartbeat of it and naturally, allow part or whole of your body to move in expression of it.
And see what happens.

Surrender to Imperfections**
A Beautiful Paradox of Life will bring you to your Wings

**By “imperfections” I meant, e.g. uncomfortable feelings, your reactions to external circumstances, etc.
By “surrender” I meant, instead of fighting/ignoring/wishing them away/punishing yourself for them, etc.

Even more instructions can be found in previous three posts on Anger, Fear and Sorrow. Simply scroll this page further down to read.

Wish you beautiful experiences this week,
Sincerely.

Week 50: Lethargy, Loss of Vitality

December 14, 2024

This is the fifth week of Part 8: You in the Moment, and today we will be talking about the Lethargy group, which includes:
Depression. Burnout. Overwhelm. Dispiritedness. Decrease in interest, appetite, passion, energy. Drought of your heart. The Blah state. Floating in a mud pit, sinking slow.
Unlike Anger, which’s where we started 4 weeks ago, Lethargy group confronts you with a lack of fuel. Not much to work with or so it may seem. Well let’s see how we’ll do with this particular challenge.

Spend this week in search for your feelings/states in the Lethargy group .
When you sense their presence, *feel into the way you are, as if to intentionally bathe in a mud pool.
As you do, allow your body to flow into movement, let it express the way you feel.

*If you feel overtaken by strong reactions/emotions in any way, please discontinue this exercise and proceed to give yourself necessary tender loving care. Also, practice this exercise only if you won’t become a danger to yourself and/or others.
I’ve written this and other instructions throughout all the preceding weeks, so if interested, scroll this page further down to find them.

Since Lethargy may be more about the state of your existence, I recommend another way in addition to the usual “locating your feelings in your body” approach: the Mud Pool Method, meaning, getting to your Lethargy through how immediate surroundings feel on your body.
Example. You feel like you are wearing a wet jacket, running in water, in dense humid air…

There is something unspecific about Lethargy. Hard to pinpoint. Can be felt more enveloping. All encompassing. But the core idea of this exercise is the same as the previous weeks:
Feel into your discomfort. Suspend analysis/judgment at best of your ability.
We are not attempting to solve, heal, combat the Lethargy. It’s important to not have goals/outcomes for this exercise. Instead…
Feel the Lethargy with/in your physicality and allow your body to express it through movements.

When you permit yourself, even for just a few seconds, expressive movements of your own seem to occur almost on their own. If that doesn’t happen, do what you can in ways right for you. That should suffice.
What we are trying to do is to, instead of talking/thinking/writing, etc. let your body speak its own language, flowing with the energy of Lethargy – which sounds like oxymoron for we are talking about the lack of energy here.
However. Lack, possibly severe lack, is not complete absence. Withered flowers are not dead. Find energy still present in you and give it a voice through movements of your body.
And see what happens.

The Current that forms Endless Ocean Waves
Pulsates within you the Song you came here to Sing

Thank you for joining me.
Next week we will be concluding the Part 8. Look forward for more quality fun, til then!

Week 51: Escape into the Moment

December 21, 2024

Welcome (back), Dear Visitor!!

This is the last week of Part 8: You in the Moment, which is the last chapter of this year-long project, Creative Self Exploration.

For the last 5 weeks we have explored every imaginable discomfort known to mankind: Anger, Fear, Sorrow, Contempt, Lethargy.
There’s a reason for this. Part 8 has been about coming alive in the moment. I found it true however, that, in order for a person to achieve that state, the moment has got to be a reasonably safe place*.

*Safe, as in, psychologically safe. If “unsafe” physically/situationally e.g. bombs going off, a tiger after you, etc. run to the safety first.

Example. You are mad as hell and rightfully so, but hiding it from yourself because you feel not much hope in the cause of anger dissipating for the remainder of the history of the Universe. In this state if you attempt at coming alive in the moment, there will be a conflict of interest within yourself. The anger with despair piled on it will demand your attention, making your “present” unappealing, and reasonably so.

Wonderful news for you is that, no matter how great the anger/despair, in this example, may be, you need not to wait until they are resolved in order for you to feel alive in the present. I found it true time and again, that simple and honest-enough acknowledgment of how you feel, and gestures as small as the exercise suggested here (in Part 8), will loosen, and unlock you from, an internal battle – between how you truly feel and your wish to look away from it, which could have kept you in a form of half-heartedness/sorta-aliveness. And that my friend, in my humble opinion, is a crying shame, if it is prolonged.

With that being said, please find below, the last exercise to conclude this experiment.

Recall a time when you felt very alive and present.
Find a few words, a sentence or two, a form of a short prayer, etc. that describe the experience well enough that will trigger the lively feeling(s) in you.
Speak the trigger words/lines, and jump into the moment and come alive like you have every right to.
Do so whenever you want to.

Creativity will greet you in the Delight of the Present
And will let you know, Life’s a Gift granted free.

Maybe, just perhaps, that’s what freedom really means.

Well Dear Visitor, this concludes Part 8, the last chapter of this project.
Please allow me to thank you heartily for joining me. It’s been a pleasure to share these experiments with you.

Next week, we will have a Grand Finale, will celebrate with yet another Quality Fun, so make sure to join me one more time.

Til then,
Peace.

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Intro:

Welcome, visitor!

You arrived at the start of Part 7, of the year-long project/ exercise/ experiment named Creative Self Exploration.

I conduct-facilitate this by almost entirely following my intuition/inspiration and letting the whole process unfold.

In Part 7, we are using our voice as the creative tool of choice.

General method is this: I will pose a theme each week, and ask you to voice a word or possibly a short phrase/sentence relating to the theme – in a way feels right to you in the moment, and be present with your reactions to the sound of your voice.

We are embarking on an internal adventure. Emphasis is on letting your truth surface, letting it arise from within the depth of you.

If you have your vocalizing ability suspended for any reason, or cannot find a place to be alone, I recommend you use alternate method such as voicing it in your head, in a form of imagining, which is just as potent. Since this is about experiencing the way you sense-feel, that should totally suffice.
This is also about…

Set your Truth free, into the Vastness of Fequencies.

…and see where the experience will take you to.
Ready? Let’s begin!

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 chronological order )

Week 40: Sound of Your Name

October 05, 2024

How do you like your name? Do you fancy your own voice?
Whether you went yay or nay, this week we are using both your name and voice, as the tools to explore our creative depth.
Let’s dive in.

Secure a few moments of solitude and get quiet with yourself first.
From the place of internal calm, speak your name and listen to how the sound of your voice settles in your consciousness.
If comfortable, say it with melody, rhyme, rhythm.
Find such moments throughout the week, and notice any changes in the way you receive the sound of your voice/name.

By solitude/quiet here it means, you let the dust settle internally for a moment. Life can be chaotic but if/when you can, detach from all and retreat into your inner sanctuary. Dedicate all your attention to this experiment, just for a short while.
If you are not by yourself, you can voice it inaudibly.
Please do not multitask whether operating a blender or airplane – it only takes a minute or two.

Say your name in the way you want, and listen. Sense. Feel.
Give yourself a full attention, on the way you be moved emotionally, thoughts pop up, your physique responds. Visions, memories, ideas. Remembering, recalling, ripple effects…

Does it sound sweet or abrasive? Warms your heart or clams you up?
In any case I urge you to appreciate (as in welcome) your response.
This week’s exercise is not focused on analyzing why we respond the way we do. If something comes up, such as memories / issues, please take notes and return to flowing with your “voicing-listening-sensing” process. And as always, if you feel overwhelmed for any reason, please discontinue the exercise and proceed with suitable care for yourself.

Repeat the process as mood strikes throughout the week. If you feel like putting a melody to your name, either from existing songs or make one up as you go, please go right ahead.
Or say it like reading a story, making a statement, saying a prayer… Do so just in the way you want, you won’t be harming the environment with your creative freedom.

Swim in the Mystery of your Existence,
until the Depth of it becomes your Freedom.

Have a wonderful week, and see you next Saturday.

Week 41: Let Beauty Linger

October 12, 2024

Hi and Welcome back, Visitor!!

How was the last week’s exercise? Hope you gave it a try. Simple as it is, I found it both meaningful and fun, rather surprisingly.
This week, we are going to do the same but with a word “beauty”, so please get ready…

Find a moment you can safely focus on yourself.
Center yourself in enough calm, and speak the word “beauty”.
Listen, let the word linger. While staying in the sound wave, gently observe how you feel.
Continue to seek moments like that through the week, and repeat this quick exercise as many times as you wish.
See if/how your responses/experiences change.

For this week, I got inspired to pick words that are used probably too often in the world, that have strong definitions-ideas attached to them already.

In a nutshell, I suggest that you:
hear your voice speak the word, listen with your whole self (your best would suffice aplenty), and tend to your responses/reactions to the sound. That’s it.

What the word means to you, how does it sound to you, what comes up within you, upon hearing the word spoken in your own voice?

I am posing the word to you from an absolutely neutral place, simply relaying the idea. You go ahead and let it unfold in your own way.
Any memories surface? Emotions, thoughts, recollections….
What are they, and their intensities, depths, impacts?
Do you like the word, the sound of it?

As always, these are not heady / intellectual questions. Rather, I ask you to ask yourself, and let your answers surface from the depth of you.
Also as always, this is not an analytical practice. It’s about intending, then intuiting. Trustingly waiting for your own answers. Ultimately, to…

Let the sound linger, let it unfold your story,
written only once in all of history.

The rest of how’s are the same as the last week, I say this to spare you from more of “as always” bit.
I’d call this exercise a “quality fun”. Hope it sounds true to you, too. Either way, more on the way, so be sure to be back here in a week.

Ciao, til then!!

Week 42: Love and Resonance

October 19, 2024

Welcome/back Visitor!

This week, we experiment with the word “love”.
No doubt one of the, if not the, most (over) used word in this world. So it’s a bold choice, so bold of you to give this a try.

How we go about is the same as the two previous weeks. If interested, please scroll down further for more instructions, it’s a short read.

Find a few quiet moments.
Settle within yourself, and when ready, speak the word “love”.
As your voice resonate, notice your responses/reactions.
Repeat as many times as you wish through this week, and observe how/if your responses shift.

Pay generous attention to the way the word makes you feel. Reminds you of. What comes to you – senses, awarenesses, thoughts…
What surfaces from within you, when you hear your voice speak the word “love”.
What do you really hear, who’s voice, idea, interpretation of the word?

Does the word sound more noun or verb to you?
Do you like the word?

This is not a psychoanalytical exercise. It’s a dipping-into-the-well-of-your-consciousness-simply-for-the-sake-of-knowing-you-more exercise. “Let’s tap into the depth of you and see what you find” exercise. Let’s do all that through a simple use of creativity and make it a quality fun while at it, thing.
Because I suspect…

You are the one you’ve been longing for.

It’s about you understanding you, first and foremost, deeply, try to, even if it may feel at times, like attempting to grasp the bottomless mystery.

Lastly, this exercise can be a bit heavy on you, so as always, please go gentle with yourself, e.g. if overwhelmed, quit for now and take care.
For, as always, not now doesn’t have to mean never.

See you in a week!

Week 43: Freedom Soundscape

October 26, 2024

Dear Visitor,

Hello (again), good to have you (back) here. This week we are continuing with this very simple but quite potent (I found it so) exercise, of using the sound of your own voice to tap into the depth of who you are.

The word I chose for the week is “Freedom”.
Let’s start.

Take a moment and get tranquil within.
When ready, speak the word “freedom”.
Listen, feel the vibration of your own voice.
As you do, give full attention to what arise within you – e.g. memories, thoughts, feelings, sensations, ideas…
Acknowledge them without analyzing them.
Repeat this exercise as many times as you desire throughout the week, and see if/how your responses/reactions progress/shift.

Hearing yourself speak “freedom” (in this context) can be a stirring experience. As have been last 3 weeks, I recommend that you gift yourself a generous, accepting attention – at best of your ability’s more than good enough – and notice what comes to your awareness as the word vibrates and lingers.

You probably hear with your ears as well as feel the sound internally. What do the sensations do to you, your senses, your mind, to the core of you?
How do you experience yourself while the sound lingers? As one whole consciousness or in more compartmentalized way (e.g. as heart, mind, body, etc)?

Do you like settling into yourself and listening, sensing, noticing, tending….to your self this way?
I personally hope you do, though such hope I work to set aside.
Each week, I do my best to present a theme open-endedly.
Meaning, you take it from there, to where your experience wants to go.
This is out of respect for your process, ever unfolding.

As for the word, do you hear it as an individual, or in alignment with your, example, lineage? Or, through books/films/songs you identify with?
Does it anger, sadden or gladden you? Do you mind staying with your feelings for a second and experience them like a fine cheese?

Can you accept all your reactions-responses-recollections as they are as of now?
I actually kinda beg you to because I find this to be true….

Embrace where you stand; that’s how you
Flower into your own.

That’s it for now. We got one more word to go before concluding the Part 7.
Hope you have a great week and see you next Saturday!

Week 44: Peace Vibes

November 02, 2024

Dear Visitor,

It is my delight to welcome you back once again.
If you just got here for the first time, Welcome!! Please look around and join me in this exploration adventure in just the way that suits you.

For this week, I was inspired to choose the word “Peace”, another word we’ve all heard too many times perhaps, with plenty ton of everyone’s ideologies wishes hopes and disappointments attached to it, hence I think would provide us with unique challenges.
When you are ready…

Gift yourself a moment and get real cozy within.
When you are quiet enough, speak the word Peace.
Feel the sound of your voice vibrates in and outside of your body.
While the sound lingers, observe gently what surface from inside you – what you remember, think, feel, imagine, dream…
Repeat this simple exercise through this week, try in different tones/volumes, etc. and further observe your responses.

Please know, that I intend to present the word Peace in absolutely unflavored way; so, for example, if reading all this gets to you as if getting smacked with a yoga mat, then possibly you’re having a reaction of a personal nature. And if so my friend, that is a gold nugget, an invaluable key to your internal landscape, your history, your psychology.

Also.
I wrote “gently observe”. By that I meant, like a kind hearted, most observant white coat assistant following you around taking notes while totally in your corner. That’s the image I often have which may or may not work for you, but you get the idea.

Even if you find yourself having a rather un-peaceful reaction upon hearing the word from your mouth, I recommend you acknowledge that with utmost kindness*.
For sometimes, focusing on a word/concept like “peace” brings out from a person what is not. Like a road block highlighted to be removed.

*Because on internet, playing safe is oft. preferable: acting upon such “un-peaceful” reactions/feelings/impulses, etc. ain’t good, as in, smacking someone with a Buddha statue would hurt everyone: smacker, smacked and Buddha. If you feel that level of reaction rising up, please take it seriously and get any help available to you soon enough.

So go ahead, take a moment and get real cozy within, and listen until you recognize…

The Frequency of your Truth
Even through the thunderstorm
Sails you Home to your Self

I’ve written many more instructions in previous 4 weeks, so if interested, please scroll down further and read them all. Won’t take too long and you may not hate what you find.

The next week we will conclude Part 7: Frequency and You.
So make sure to come by and join the quality fun.
Til then!

Week 45: Your Sonic Delight

November 09, 2024

Welcome back, Visitor!!

This is the last week of “Frequency and You”, Part 7 of a year-long project/experiment “Creative Self Exploration”, where you vocalize the word of the week, and observe your reactions. I tried this for last 5 weeks and quite surprised at how it stirred me in unexpected ways each time.

If you just got here for the first time, please scroll down to the bottom of this page and read your way up. That sounds like an awful lot but they are written in short and (intended to be) pleasant manner so it wouldn’t be too painful.

So this week, we are going to conclude the Part 7 in an imaginary round table party mode. What I mean by that is the following…

Imagine, you are sitting in a gathering with others who also did this exercise, chairs placed in circle facing each other perhaps.

You decide how many people, how things are set up, etc. Everyone gets to talk about how the experience was. That includes you, too.

First, prepare in your mind what you are going to tell everyone about the first exercise “Week 40: Sound of Your Name”.
Boil your story down so your talk would fit in 5 minutes time frame.

The following is what I’d say if I were sitting there with you. Kept much shorter than a 5 minutes talk, I share this with you as an idea.

I always felt self conscious about my voice while cautious of inflating my sense of self-importance. Not knowing how to hear my name in my voice, at first I escaped into an unfeeling place. Gradually though as I repeated the exercise, a giggle then smiles, and ended the week with a healthy sense of self-importance, which was needed to closely attend to my reactions in following weeks.

Now, prepare your 5 minutes story about “Week 41: Let Beauty Linger”.

I want you to focus on your experience with the “Beauty” exercise that felt most significant to you. If you are to not hold back, what would you be telling everyone?
Time limitation would force you to crystalize your story into a substantial gem, although you may not feel that way, at least initially.

Next, what would you say about “Week 42: Love and Resonance” in 5 short minutes?

Again, if you do not hold back, if you let go and be full-on vulnerable for 5 minutes, what would you say about your experience?
It’s an imaginary gathering of those who also did the exercise. Think camp fire story time or group therapy of sorts. No one is trying to fix you, everyone is there to bring to the (round) table their story. If you go most honest, closest to your heart, what would you say?

What about “Week 43: Freedom Soundscape”? What would be your 5 minutes story?

Here, I share mine again:

I’ve had conflicted feelings about the word and concept of “freedom”. So when I said the word out loud in my room the first time (in my native Japanese btw), it was in mere whisper. I didn’t want no one to hear it, that included myself. Then a moment later, as if in response, heard a distant crashing wave. I heard it with every cell of my body.

The last but not least, “Week 44: Peace Vibes”. What would you share in five minutes?

I am aware that the title of this week, “Sonic Delight” can give an impression that ideal is to be surrounded by beauty filled with love, free as a bird and enlightened serene. What I mean is a bit different. Allow me to explain.

When you bring you at your realest to Creativity, It has a tendency to alchemize your experience even when it’s not so sunny. May still not be so sunny when It does, but it becomes meaningful. Your life, experiences. Your existence.

Substance of your Soul
It speaks through Creativity

It tells you don’t wait to sing until you feel better.
It tells you to as you are, at where and exactly how you are.

Well friend, this concludes the Part 7. Thank you for accompanying me on this experimental journey this far. If you can believe this, the next up is the last but not least Part 8. We will be using our body as an expression tool.
So be sure to be back in a week, it will be yet another quality fun.
Sincerely.

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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 chronological order )

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!!

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 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 37: Unlock

September 14, 2024

Envision with me.
You got your treasure chest waiting for you. It’s filled with what make you special, your life meaningful, more so than ever. Your potentials, abilities, qualities, known or to be discovered.
You got the location. The key. Got everything set up to travel to it.

Imagine yourself traveling to the location where the treasure chest waits for you.
You are standing in front of it with the key in your hand.
Zero in on the moment you unlock your box.
How is it like to you, how does it feel?

This week, we are focusing on a few moments when you come face to face with your box, insert the key and turn it.
I want you to follow your internal responses as you imagine the scene.

What do you anticipate?
Excited? Scared? Of what?
Disappointment, or responsibilities – of getting what you hoped for.
Overwhelmed? Underwhelmed?
Do you feel guilty or grateful? Both simultaneously?
The deal is always the same as the previous weeks: ask yourself questions as you imagine the scene, and wait for your answers to surface from within you.

Becoming more can be difficult, even if it is only in your readiness for it.
To accept the gifts meant for you – the contents of the treasure chest – can mean changes in how you/r life has been.
It also can reveal to you, how you have been seeing yourself as. How your life could be. What you feel are allowed to be. A sense of limits imposed, walls of an invisible cell, weight of a ceiling…

Life’s circumstances vary. We may not get all our potentials fulfilled in this lifetime. Maybe it is more about us being grande, and less about life sucking merciless.
In any case, anyways, we can acknowledge them in our hearts. Our longings, aspirations, what we intuitively “know” about ourselves, how potent we are.
May come with possibly painful awareness that some of them may never be. One lifetime may not offer us enough resources. But we can still acknowledge the treasures in our chest.
And watch, witness, where that awareness alone can take you to.

Own Your Light:
Your Soul Blossoms in Delight.

Wishing you a week of you delighted in your own company.
See you next Saturday!!

Week 38: Discover

September 21, 2024

Envision with me.
You are standing face to face with a treasure chest, belongs only to you.
Unlocked it last week, and this week, the moment of big reveal awaits you.

Imagine, lifting the lid of your box.
How does it – the lid, the experience – feel to you?
Take a moment and be present, as you face your treasures for the first time.
When ready, dive in and greet your treasures.

As has been during this Part 6 Treasure Hunt, I ask you to imagine the scene with you as the star of an unfolding story, and while at it, ask questions such as the ones posed to you here in this writing.
And wait for your answers to arise from within the depth of your existence.

Can you see yourself in front of your treasure chest, lifting the lid?
Can you feel it in your hands?
How’s the lid, its edges, the weight of it, the hinges… does it make any sound, does the task require both of your hands, or need lifting only one of your pinkies?
Does your heart sing or sulk, racing, tranquil … can you accept your reaction(s) in any case?
How’s the environment in which your box is situated? Is it supportive of your task, or is it a struggle?
I suggest you notice your such reactions without going into analysis as to why.
Acknowledge, then set them aside – and continue with the imagine-intuit “tango”, as in envisioning the scene, ask the questions and wait for your answers.
I suggest you flow with the process of it gentle and steady.

Then as you imagine, shift your focus on what is in the box. Your treasures.
Please take a moment or two – as long as you need – to admire* your treasures.
Imagine the scene as you soft-focus on the way you feel. Sensations, emotions, anticipations and expectations…
Be present in your imagination, and be there for you, however you feel.

*Worded, with full awareness you may not feel that way with all your treasures, all the time. Not as a sarcasm neither (I don’t do nasty here). It’s more about my fundamental attitude towards the concept.

Then comes the fun part: dive in, examine your treasures!!
Please spend enough time (e.g. the whole week) indulging in the process.
Whether it be delightful or disappointing, be present as possible in the unboxing of your treasures. I ask you to treat them as such – treasures – no matter how you currently feel about them.
If you like, write down what you found. And perhaps, your reactions to them as well.

As for me, I had a marvelous time last week, imagining me unlocking the box. I thought of sharing the experience with you but decided against it at least for now, for I don’t want to chance influencing you even in a minuscule way.
I decided to stick with what’s been my aim through the year so far: I write what feels right, and leave the rest up to you, how you hear and experience all this, and to the magic and magnificence of Creative Consciousness.
It is also out of respect for the Uniqueness of you, your self, your journey. I write with all that in mind because I’ve come to believe…

Uniqueness Invigorates Universality.

Embracing uniqueness of each individual does not shatter the collective. I think the effect would be quite the opposite.

Next week we will be concluding the Part 6 Treasure Hunt adventure. In other words, quality fun ahead.
See you then!!

Week 39: Revere

September 28, 2024

Welcome back!
This week we are going to conclude our Treasure Hunt adventure inward.

How was the last week’s unboxing/big reveal? Hope you liked what you found.
Let’s begin this week’s exercise.

Find a place/time you can be alone with your imagination for a while.
Go over the list from last week, of the treasures you found inside your box.
Anything you can implement into your daily life this week?
Find one or more of that and spend some time this week with it/them, in manners symbolical or actual.

Here’s what I mean by implement.
Example.
If the treasure has a scent, e.g. if a garden with fragrant flowers and a seat to sit, marvel and write your novel is one of your treasures, find a thing with the scent – the very flower, essential oil (pro tip: if in straits, drop store sample on your wrist), scented bath beads…and carry it with you to a seat that resembles the one from your treasured vision.

I think you get the idea. I am suggesting you live this week in the feel of what makes it a treasure. In case of the example given above, it’s the way you’d feel sitting there, typing. Slip into the feel/vision and imagine with the whole of yourself, how you’d feel in the garden with words flowing out of you onto a paper.

This is not a “manifestation” exercise so please don’t strain yourself trying to make it happen – it’s not the aim of this week’s exercise.
It is more about appreciating, as in acknowledging the vision/treasure, for, if it was in your treasure chest, it’s there for a very good reason. It’s about inviting your treasure to the table, sit with it quietly together like you would with a very special friend.

I don’t know what would happen if you did. That’s between you and you, and I deem it sacred. I have a sneaking suspicion however, that something very special will result, if not right away, sometime in the future.*

*I’ve said this before but allow me to repeat:
sometimes, emphasizing on what you envision/want can bring you to a possibly painful awareness about things within you that counter it.
In case of the example above, reason(s) why you cannot permit yourself to write.
If you feel ready I encourage you to go into/through the awareness but if you feel overwhelmed, please do not force yourself, for timing may not be right. Not now doesn’t have to mean never. You know you, your wisdom, how to care for yourself.

I began every week of Part 6 with a line “envision with me”.
Envision together for starter, for encouragement perhaps, I said it knowing that your visions are very personal to you. They so often ask you to withstand a particular variety of solitude, to contain your visions within you and validate the weight of them yourself.
I’ve been calling it Creative Solitude. What about you, how would you term it?

Creativity Cocoons;
Your Visions Grow Wings in the Lightless.

Creativity, as in, What turns a very large body of water into an ever-shifting sculpture you can swim in. Lightless, symbolically.

Hope it was enjoyable and somewhat meaningful to you.
Next week, the Part 7 launch. More quality fun ahead.
Til then!!

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