The Quarantine Chronicles: Day 21

Hello, Dear One.

So glad you are here.

I have to apologize because yesterday I didn't send out a creativity prompt.

To be honest, I just wasn't feeling up to it.

I'm sorry! I hope you can understand.

It was fully my intention to send out a new creativity prompt every day and I just couldn't get myself together yesterday.

I know it's okay...I mean, I'm sure that you can forgive me. Lol.

This whole Quarantine Chronicles Creativity Project is something I am doing for free and for fun, and my intention was to create something that would inspire and uplift you, and hopefully empower you to process and express whatever you might be feeling through your own creativity at this time.

So in my mind, I'm imagining you as very kind and forgiving and giving me the benefit of the doubt.

Thanks for that! ;.)

And I could have forced myself to put out a prompt yesterday but I just wasn't feeling that that would be the most compassionate thing for myself. So...I gave myself the time I needed to just feel 'not ok' ...and I'm doing a lot better today.

I just want to put this out there if you are experiencing pain or distress right now, or any time in the future, as a result of what is currently happening in our world:

It's okay to feel not okay.

I believe we are ultimately all responsible for our own thoughts and emotions but we are also not robots. And it is great to reach towards those higher truths and positive feelings, but sometimes just surviving is a really, fricking big deal.

There are a lot of people in really tough situations all over the world right now...people who were maybe just trying to survive before the global pandemic, people who are in financial crisis or out of work, people who are care takers for sick family members, who have small children, who are battling mental illness...whatever your situation, even if it's not as extreme as what I just mentioned, if you are surviving and just getting through today, you're doing a GREAT JOB.

It is no small thing.

Trauma specialist, Jennifer Yaeger, said this: "I want to acknowledge that living through this pandemic is a trauma. Parts of our brain may shut down in order for us to survive. As a result, we may not be able to fully process a lot of what is going on around us. Feeling somewhat numb and out of touch with our emotions is normal, especially if you have lived through trauma before. When in the midst of trauma, just getting by emotionally and functionally is okay. Lowering expectations and being kind to yourself and others is vital."

I think one of the most difficult and beneficial things I have learned (and continue to learn) in my own emotional and mental health -- and creative -- journey (these threads are all intertwined and tied together) is when to shift my focus to the positive and when to let myself just experience the sensation and vibration of emotions-particularly pain.

It's a fine line to walk sometimes because we don't want to dwell in thoughts and emotions that are not ultimately serving us, and at the same time, if we push to turn our focus at the wrong time, we can actually do more damage by causing more resistance...making us then either dismiss, deny, or stuff down emotions that, as Brené Brown says, are never benign and will always come back to haunt us later, OR we make ourselves feel bad for feeling bad, or feel frustrated or ashamed for feeling sad, etc. bringing judgment on ourselves.

Creativity cannot flourish under judgment.

Humans cannot flourish under judgment.

And so...step by step...compassion is a road we can start to learn and cultivate.

Today, I want to share some of the most compassionate things I have learned to tell myself and we will do a little "fill in the blank" exercise that you can use as a prompt to take you into a deeper creative expression if you feel so led.

I'm so sorry you are feeling ______.

It's okay to feel ______.

I'm so sorry you are feeling ______ (feel free to list as many emotions as you want here).

It's okay to feel ________.

You can feel ______ as long as you need to feel _____. I will stay here with you.

I see you. I hear you. I see how hard you are working.

I see how hard you are trying.

I see how hard you are working and trying because of the way you thought ________.

I see how hard you are working and trying because of the way you felt _______.

I see how hard you are working and trying because of the way you __________.

I see that your heart has the best intentions. And I know this to be true because ______.

May the creation of compassion start with ourselves and overflow to the others in our lives.

There is so much love for you here,

JennyRebecca

P.S. I would LOVE to read, hear, see and experience the things you are creating during this time and as a result of some of these creativity prompts! So please feel free to share them personally with me or with the Artists Rising Community in the Artists Rising private group on Facebook!