34 + FUN

Last year on my birthday I set the intention for my 34th trip around the sun to be about having FUN. I definitely had intentions of what I wanted to create in the coming year but I was tired of the task master, perfectionist, self criticizing approach to making things happen. Instead my focus for this year was going to be on creating all my life from a place of joy, laughter and fun. Notice in that sentence I have both the words focus AND fun. Haha! They don’t go together… right? At least my overly psyched I don’t want to do anything unless it is fun hot mama persona didn’t think so. I thought I would simply be climbing all the time, hopefully kissing lots of boys and whitslin’ while I work… and I am… lucky me… but what I also realized very quickly was that what I had initiated with my “34 + Fun” intention was actually a much more powerful lesson in how to create with purpose and structure and have it be fun.

The image that comes to me when I think about how I handle my need for fun in relation to my “work” is that scene from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory… the OG Charlie in the Chocolate Factory… when Charlie an his grandpa are floating through the air after drinking fizzy lifting drinks. The laughter and enjoyment they experience as they get higher and higher has an infectious quality… a ramping up energy as they zoom toward the sky. Of course they can only go so high before the bubbles are gonna burst into a bloody mess… and they are ripped to shreds by whirling fan blades… That is what my creative mojo can feel like sometimes. Like I am floating away wildly into space. Having fun for sure but unaware of the imminent danger of creating through the vast spaced out hollow bubbles… POP!

It’s no wonder that in all that excitement and with danger approaching some grounding is needed. If you know the scene then you know as they begin belching away that inflated energy brings the them back down to earth, to safety, to rethink what they are doing.

So how do I harness both of those energies? How do I float wildly in inspiration but have it move out from me with the depth of a guttural belch? I have played with this a lot in my work and in creating myself since setting my intention for “34 + FUN” and I thought I might share some of my own fizzy lifting techniques with you that have helped me have it all. Fun grounded in my purpose and my mission.

Make it bite size: This more than anything allows me to stay high with bubbling inspiration, connected to my greater vision and out of the bloody mess of the whirling fan of self destruction. Whatever the project or task at hand make it bite size. Break it down. Relish in the energy of your vision but recognize the need to move with inspiration from your guts. The bubbles may rise faster but they pop and within them is emptiness.

Set the stage: Wear a bow tie. Eat a cookie. Get your crunk on. Do karaoke. Paint Unicorns. Express yourself. Being playful with ourselves frees us from the controlling aspects of the mind or at least can show us very closely where the barriers lie to the enjoyment of every realm of our life. The stage to create and work from can look like ANYTHING YOU WANT. That is what is so awesome. I like to wear this bow tie… pictured above. I also like to dance outdoors but don’t want to wait for some party to happen where I can do so. So I set the stage for myself. I take the iPod, walk to the park down the street from my work and shake things up. It takes effort… but it is totally worth it. What ever the bubbly delight is for you drink it down… regularly and without censoring yourself.

Know when to touchdown: Fun for fun sake is… well … fun but what I am talking about here is fun for the sake of opening yourself to a greater expression of your whole being and making the artistry of your life a joyful process. There IS fun in grounding, and satisfaction in moving in a state of connection to your purpose. Sometimes you need to belch and check in.

So as of now this Scorpio is a little over halfway through “34 + FUN” and I can say I have traveled some serious milage off my fizzy lifting inspiration thus far. But I have also learned to ride it with a lot more grace, openness and with a greater sense of connection. I realize I have to do the “work” of my vision but I feel a bit more skilled in creating some fun around it. Allowing my creativity to fly and have it be real time ME that is consistently coming forward… it doesn’t seem to be as difficult as it was before. Plus the fun I am having feels all that much more nourishing and purposeful.

You can choose to make it fun. Anytime. Anyway you like it.

Hearts.