Listening to SARK and having my own personal AHA! moment.

Do you know who SARK is?

If you don't that's OK, because I didn't either until I took Andrea Scher's online class called MONDO BEYONDO. In that class, I listened to a conversation with SARK (Susan Ariel Rainbow Kennedy), and this one phrase changed my thinking dramatically: "Dreams never stop. Dreams never end. Creative dreams never go away."

Anyways, months have passed since then, when I received an email saying: "Join SARK here to awaken and achieve your personal power." How could I not resist?

So, for the past several days I've been listening to the three videos she has up and several things have really spoken to me that I will share with you because as SARK says we shouldn't keep them to ourselves.

In session one she shared this poem:

You are inspiring!
Our creative dreams love inspiration!
And I want to share how inspiring you are to me!

You are inspiring to me especially when you're stuck, hiding, or quitting.
We need all the parts of us in our creative dreaming;
Not just the fun, easy parts.

Willingness is the ability to move without proof.
Willingness is the cupcake maker for yet another FUNdraiser.
Our creative dreams thrive upon applied willingness.

What are you really willing to be or do for your creative dreams?

After that, she asked her listeners to fill in the following:

I will use my creative dream courage to:

            
            
            

I am inspiring because I:

            
            
            

I am willing to:

            
            
            

The nice thing about doing these exercises over and over again is that you are actively connecting to your inner wise self. The answers can and will change every time you do this exercise. There are no right or wrong answers. Just be your loving self.

Then the next challenge is to write a love note from your inner wise self; as it is endless, eternal, and always there for you - just the way you are. Again you can write this many times over and it will always be different.

However, it was session two that made me have my own personal AHA! moment. In this one SARK talks about INNER CRITICS! This is something I have been battling for years, so to hear her say it so openly confirmed a lot of thoughts that I've been having lately, and let me know that I am not alone.

So, there are five categories that these voices fit into and they are:

• Pusher or Over Achiever

This aspect pushes you to do more of anything. More is always the key and you're always behind or not producing as much as what you expected or hoped.

• Perfectionist

Everything is constantly being polished and assessed for being better or needing to be better. Nothing is ever good enough or quite good enough to share or show anyone! 

To be honest, this is a HUGE one for me. I'm slowly overcoming it by entering writing contests and maintaining this blog.

• The Comparer

Everyone else's activities, writings, outputs, processes, or successes are better than yours. Every comparison you do, finds you lacking in some way, often in excruciating detail.

• Procrastinator

If you complete anything: writing or any other creative project, it can and will be judged! So, it's better to not start or to start later. Later, rarely, if ever, arrives. Rehearsing and planning incessantly, thinking without even moving are the trade marks of this one.

Yes! this is me as well. I fear rejection or bad words regarding my creative projects,  but I know I can overcome this by showing up and doing a just a little bit each and every day until it snowballs into joy and awesomeness. I will never give up.

• Hopeless

What's the point?
Why begin at all?
Who would ever buy it, read it, or do it?
I tried before and failed.
Nothing will ever work.
It's all hopeless.

I know everyone has this voice.

So what can I do to get my inner critics to become my allies?

The answer is easy: redirect them and give them new assignments. For this you will use your imagination and come up with the perfect job description for each one. For example my perfectionist is a great manager. She manages a group of bankers and makes sure their spreadsheets are accurate each and every day. Another example is that my hopelessness has becomes a nun.

I also physically chop the air and say no to my inner critics when they arrive. For example while I'm writing this blog, I keep hearing "Nobody cares about this." So, I take a deep breath, karate chop the air with my hand and say: "No, you're not going to get me today." I know it sounds weird, but it really works. The more I do this, the less these pesky voices have infiltrated.

Remember your inner wise self ALWAYS knows what you need.

The part about the inner critic has also helped me navigate through these voices and into more joyous moments in my life, as well as my writings, and creative projects. I hope these fun exercises can help you unleash your creative potential, if it's something you feel passionate about as well.

In conclusion, SARK has been an unforeseen beacon of light that has called out to my creative soul. I look forward to hearing more from her in the future for sure.