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The Quarantine Chronicles:Day 28

Fri, 08 May 2020 11:01:16 GMT

Vorfreude (Joy Ahead of Time!)

Hello, Dear One.

So glad you are here.

For those of you who don't already know me, my husband and I live in Berlin, Germany and we moved here from California in 2018.

There is a beautiful expression that is used here - 'Vorfreude ist die schönste Freude'...

The word 'freude' means joy, or happiness, and 'vor' means before, so this expression essentially means, "Anticipation, or foretasting, is the best kind of joy". In other words, joy beforehand is the best kind of joy.

I can definitely relate to that, and actually there was an earlier prompt where I was writing about how the anticipation before Christmas and before my wedding are prime examples of when I really felt that in beautiful ways.

Today, however, that taste of joy before we actually experience in the physical extends to the question:

What is the first thing you want to do after all of this is over? By 'all of this' I mean, Quarantine of course.

Things here in Berlin are starting to open back up a bit, tentatively, so it's already starting here. And I know in several different countries and states around the world, things are slowly starting to go back to normal, but once everything truly is safe again... let's imagine, that magically, there is the perfect vaccine created to help protect everyone...what are the things you've been dreaming about doing again? Certain family members or friends that live far away that you want to hug? Cities where you want to travel? Restaurants you want to visit? Certain theaters or artists you want to see live in concert?

Let yourself dream about that and meditate on those things. Let yourself experience that Vorfreude...the beforehand joy!

And then write about it, sing about it, dance and let your body feel the vorfreude, paint or draw what that might look like for you...Vorfreude ist die beste Freude!

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!

P.P.S. Invite a friend to get in on these Quarantine Chronicles Prompts! Do them together and create an even larger support connection as you are going through this time. And if you haven't joined the private Facebook Group yet, do it! Let's connect to each other in as many ways as we can!...Maybe that will be the biggest change we create as a result of this entire global situation? This is my prayer anyhow. Xxo

The Quarantine Chronicles: Day 27

Thu, 07 May 2020 13:41:25 GMT

Creating Comfort

Hello, Dear One.

So glad you are here.

How are you holding up?

I know it's tough out there. All around the world the news is really extreme and pretty scary.

I know, for me, I'm experiencing a bit of a roller coaster ride throughout each day so if you are too... just know, you are not alone.

This time is truly a time of testing for all of us. It is a call of awakening and it's demanding us to make decisions about what we believe, and calling us to bring out all the tools we have in our tool belts that help us choose faith and peace and love, even joy, in the face of fear.

So I want to share as many tools as I have with you here, as I continue to learn and use them.

During times in my life when I have felt either burned out or depressed, I also realize that it has been hard for me to identify the things that really bring me enjoyment. Knowing what these things are though, and being consistent in providing your inner artist child with things that inspire and delight, is essential when we want to thrive in our creativity, as well as in day to day life.

So I find it helpful to keep a running list.

Today I want you to list the following:

15 things that I enjoy__________________

Things you enjoy doing or experiencing...writing, a bubble bath, going on walks, etc.

And 15 simple pleasures under $20 that would give me a little thrill__________________

This could be an ice cream cone, a coloring book, flowers, a game...whatever you fancy.

Pick a couple things off of the list and treat yourself today. Nurture your inner artist self with some things that nurture and inspire and delight you. Care for your little artist child as you would your own child.

There is so much love for you here,

JennyRebecca

The Quarantine Chronicles: Day 26

Tue, 05 May 2020 20:12:44 GMT

Just Dance

Hello, Dear One.

So glad you are here.

Today's creativity prompt is short and sweet -

Move. Your. Body.

...to the music, of course!

Put on your favorite dancing song (or two or three) and just let loose and dance in your room.

I don't care if dancing isn't your main form of creative expression. And it doesn't matter if you don't feel good at it.

We were all made to dance!

And dancing has been proven to improve brain function, lift your mood and ease anxiety - somethings I think all of us can benefit from during this time.

Apparently, just ten minutes of dancing, (2-3 songs) is enough to feel the goodness and reap the benefits...so...what are you waiting for?!

There is so much love for you here,

JennyRebecca

The Quarantine Chronicles: Day 25

Mon, 04 May 2020 14:54:44 GMT

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

Hello, Dear One.

So glad you are here.

Question of the day: Does anyone else have a crush on Mr. Rogers?

I have to confess that both my husband and I do!

In the last year, we watched both of the movies that have come out about his life and we both cry like babies and gush for long amounts of time afterwards about just what an amazing man he was. He truly is an example of someone who lived a life so full of love and genuine goodness.

I would love to have a legacy like that.

And of course, one of the things he was most known for was his neighborhood and his relationship with his neighbors.

I've actually been thinking a lot about neighbors lately because the theater group I am leading is writing a musical based on a true story that took place in a rough neighborhood in Berlin, before and after, the wall came down. The gist of the story is that an unlikely group of people who live in the same neighborhood but come from extremely different backgrounds and belief systems end up coming together to save one woman's life and over the course of several years, set up camp in the middle of the street for a cause they all believe in. And it ultimately ends up changing the laws and their lives completely.

When I was born, the lady who lived across the street from us in Albany, Oregon planted a rosebush for me. We only lived in that house until I was 5, but every year until I was 21 Aunt Sandy would either send me roses from that rosebush or press them into bookmarks or stationary...it was a simple but hugely profound act of love and faithfulness. An extraordinary way to show someone, she hadn't even seen since they were 5 years old, how precious they are. She was just a kind and loving neighbor who became a dear friend to my mom, and in addition, spread her love to me.

How well do you know your neighbors?

We are living in the city in a 5 story apartment building. We are fairly friendly with several people in the building but I don't know them all by name.

Now is an important time to reach out to people and as good a time as any to really let the people around us know that they are not alone.

Today, I want you to picture your ideal neighborhood.

How would it feel to walk down the street or walk into your building and feel connected in a meaningful way to the people living near you? Maybe you already have great relationships with your neighbors - I hope you do! But now would be a really good time to think of a creative way you can show you care.

What are the things you are craving right now? How could you offer comfort, presence, and kindness to the people in your environment?

People keep saying things will not go back to normal as we've known it...let's make the new normal one that is full of communities that we've always dreamt of being part of.

Be creative with your generosity and reach out to someone today. Even leave some letters at people's doors perhaps?

This is inspired by Suleika Jaouad, maybe leave a note like hers:

"Greetings Neighbor!

If you need help in this crisis we are right next door.

Here is our contact information....

If you're not able to go out for any reason and you need errands done, need transportation, if you need food, etc. let us know and as long as our health holds out we will help you. We even have some extra toilet paper and hand sanitizer!

If you get lonely, call!

Together we will get through this. It has always been through the grace of "the beloved community" that we have weathered storms and come out the better for it.

You are our treasured neighbors and we would be devastated if anything happened to you. We will continue to hold you all in prayer and the light."

I found this letter so beautiful, don't you agree?

How can we build a neighborhood full of more love?

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!

There is so much love for you here,

JennyRebecca

P.S. Invite a friend to get in on these Quarantine Chronicles Prompts! Do them together and create an even larger support connection as you are going through this time. And if you haven't joined the private Facebook Group yet, do it! Let's connect to each other in as many ways as we can!...Maybe that will be the biggest change we create as a result of this entire global situation? This is my prayer anyhow. Xxo

The Quarantine Chronicles: Day 24

Sun, 03 May 2020 13:58:19 GMT

Cultivating a Listening Ear

Hello, Dear One.

So glad you are here.

Today in my online church service we were talking about listening for God's voice.

This theme of listening coincides with a beautiful story that I read yesterday in a Julia Cameron book that my friend, Freddy, lent to me called 'The Prosperous Heart'.

I will include it here and then get to the prompt afterwards...

"When we listen to other people, we bear witness to their experience. We acknowledge them, their thoughts, their desires. So often all it takes to erase our worries is for someone to say, "I hear you." We can actively search out these people and these conversations.

When I was living in New York, I went through a trying medical situation that took several months to resolve. In the middle of my struggle, I was invited to a dinner party. That night I met an actress, Jennifer Bassey, whom I had previously known only in passing.

"I love your work," she said, sitting down next to me.

"And I love yours," I replied, pleased.

"We have so many friends in common," she noted, "but we don't really know each other. We should know each other. And you write plays. My husband wrote Kismet. He's delightful. You should be friends with him, too."

Tickled by Jennifer's enthusiasm, I felt immediately comfortable with her. Her straightforwardness charmed me.

"So?" she asked. "What's going on?"

To my surprise, I found myself speaking candidly. After all, she was.

"Actually, I'm in kind of a fragile period. I have some medical issues that I'm working to straighten out."

Jennifer studied me closely, listening.

"Well, then," she said, "give me your phone number. I'll call you every day to see how you are. Once a day until everything is resolved."

Surprised but pleased, I handed her my number.

Jennifer was true to her word. She did call every day, offering her ear, her experience, her humor. By the time my health had stabilized, we were close friends. We still speak nearly every day. We check in just to check in--and to listen. In our friendship, no topic is off-limits. We listen to each other, and in listening, we cherish each other's daily experiences -- and our own.

"Jennifer, it's snowing. I'm baking cookies and roasting a chicken for tonight's dinner. And I'm worried no one will make it here because of the weather."

"People will come. How much snow are you expecting?"

"I don't know. I think a lot."

"Well, you can always call and cancel. You can freeze everything and give people a rain check -- or rather, a snow check."

Jennifer's good advice calmed me down. I took my two apple pies from the oven. I garnished a leg of lamb with garlic pepper, surrounded it with wild rice and mushrooms, and slipped the pan in to roast. My phone rang. It was Jennifer again.

"Darling. How are you doing now?"

"I've decided to go ahead with everything and let the chips fall where they may."

"You sound better."

"Yes, well, the snow seems to be letting up."

"Good, then, darling. I'll call and check on you later, but if you're midparty and you don't answer, I'll understand."

So often, what we crave is to be heard. So often, a two minute phone conversation about "nothing" --i.e., exactly what is going on in that minute in our lives -- means everything. "

I honestly love this little story excerpt. And I love friends who check in, listen, ask great questions. To be heard is one of the greatest gifts in the world. And to listen to someone else, is a priceless gift you can give to others.

Today's creativity prompt is a series of questions. Fill in the following sentences:

Who could I call up today "just" to listen? __________

Who are the people in my life who are the best listeners? ________

How often to I truly listen to myself? ___________

If my heart could talk to me right now, what would it say?___________________________________

If I could listen to my little child self right now, what would he/she say about who I have become/am becoming? ____________________________________

If I could listen to what my 100 year old self, what would he/she say to me in this moment about what's going on in the world and about who I am becoming?____________________________________

If I took a few minutes to listen to God, what would I hear?________________

There is so much love for you here,

JennyRebecca

The Quarantine Chronicles: Day 23

Sun, 03 May 2020 12:56:09 GMT

Creating Focus

Hello, Dear One.

So glad you are here.

I don't know if you have also felt this, during the last couple of months of this Quarantine experience, but focusing has been a bit...challenging.

There is actually a scientific reason for this, which definitely makes me feel better knowing I can blame my inability to focus on something specific (for at least the last few weeks lol).

Apparently, there is this thing called hypervigilance. Dr. Nadine Harris, the surgeon general of California, says that hyper-vigilance is a state of increased alertness - when people become hyper alert to perceived danger.

When hypervigilance occurs there are actually parts of our brains that turn off - specifically, the part of our brains that are responsible for long term planning and goal setting. So if you have been feeling it really difficult to focus or 'accomplish' things during the last couple of months, do not beat yourself up about it. You are not alone. And there is scientific research to back that up.

The best way to treat hypervigilance is through practicing connection to others in meaningful ways, and we have been incorporating lots of different creative prompts that have hopefully facilitated some powerful connections for you in the last 22 days, and hopefully also can act as a template and empower you to continue to find meaning and connection in the coming weeks.

I know for me, personally, there has been an ebb and flow of emotion and sense of stability amidst the constant news and media entourage.

Some days are definitely better than others, but I have felt that my 'flow' is starting to emerge once again and even amidst the ups and downs, that graph of extremes is starting to even out...a bit.

On the other side of the extreme of hyperviligance is the ability to focus on the future. Studies have revealed that anticipating future consequences enhances individuals' capacity to efficiently adjust their behavior when they encounter obstacles.

One of the only things that is certain is that the future is uncertain. However, the other thing that is fairly certain is that, most likely, lock down will be lasting for at least another 30 days in most parts of the world.

So the good news? At least we know what the next 30 days will look like and we can 'future focus' on that!

Today's creativity prompt is a question for you:

What do you want to do with your next 30 days? Is there something specific you would want to create? Or learn? Or accomplish? How do you want to use this Quarantine time? A lot of us are finding ourselves with more time on our hands so ...if you can summon the courage and strength to focus on imagining what is possible in the next 30 days, dream really big and create some goals to work towards.

Also, food for thought, in light of the fact that "anticipating future consequences" enhances our ability to encounter obstacles with more ease, what if you made a goal for the next 90 days?

Assume that Quarantine will last 90 days and if things change in the meantime, then win win, right?

There is so much love for you here,

JennyRebecca

The Quarantine Chronicles: Day 22

Sun, 03 May 2020 12:54:11 GMT

Connecting to the Ones who Inspire Us

Hello, Dear One.

So glad you are here.

Today's creativity prompt is inspired by Anne Lamott. This quote is from her book on writing called, Bird by Bird :

“Think of the writers who have given a book to me, and then to write a book back to them. This gift they have given us, which we pass on to those around us, was fashioned out of their lives. You wouldn’t be a writer if reading hadn’t enriched your soul more than other pursuits. So write a book back to V.S. Naipaul or Margaret Atwood or Wendell Berry or whoever it is who most made you want to write, whose work you most love to read. Make it as good as you can. It is one of the greatest feelings known to humans, the feeling of being the host, of hosting people, of being the person to whom they come for food and drink and company. This is what the writer has to offer…”

Don't worry.

I'm not going to ask you to write an entire book today.

But I do want you to think about the artists that inspire you the most, and I want you to create something for them or in their honor. As Anne Lamott suggested, if you are a writer, write a letter or an article for your favorite author, if you are a songwriter, write a song for your favorite singer in a style that they especially would appreciate, if you are a poet, write to one of your favorite poets, choreograph a dance in honor of your favorite dancer...you get the idea.

I believe as artists we are constantly taking ideas and inspiration from people who have gone before us like threads that we weave into our own new creations.

It can give us new freedom and inspiration, however, to create specifically for someone who has inspired something distinct in us.

It's also just such a beautiful thought to think about how many beautiful artists and creators there are in the world! How many times in my life I have been so radically touched by the way someone else sees the world or expresses a thought or emotion in an entirely new way that I had never thought of before.

Make a list of ten artists in various genres who have inspired and influenced you the most. Choose one and create something in their honor today.

Happy Friday and 1st Day of May!

JennyRebecca

The Quarantine Chronicles: Day 21

Sun, 03 May 2020 12:51:15 GMT

Creating Compassion

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

The Quarantine Chronicles: Day 20

Sun, 03 May 2020 12:49:04 GMT

Creating Contrast

Hello, Dear One.

So glad you are here.

I have a question for you today that I want you to think about, meditate on, journal about and perhaps use in whatever creative expression you so desire...

I want you to identify whatever negative thought or belief that is most prevalent in your mind or consciousness today, and here is the question:

What if you thought or believed the opposite?

We all have these sort of sub-conscious layers of foggy negative beliefs that are sort of burdening us at any given moment.

I find that these days, especially, with lock down and all the crazy things in the news, I feel the weight and the heaviness much more than usual. And it is tempting to allow myself to just spiral downwards with it all.

But we actually have a choice.

I believe how we feel is a direct result of what we are thinking, and this doesn't mean that I believe we are meant to be happy 100% of the time, however, I DO think we have the option of being much more intentional with our thoughts and that thinking powerful things will ultimately make us feel better.

I think, in general, we, as humans, suffer a lot more than we need to because we are thinking thoughts that actually hurt ourselves.

Continuing in the vein of yesterday's prompt on curiosity, asking ourselves questions, is one of the best ways we can discover and ultimately create our best lives.

If you are suffering or hurting today, ask yourself the question, "What if I believed the opposite of what is hurting me?"

And further, "If I really believed the opposite of what is causing me pain today, how would it affect me physically? As I am walking to the store, for example, or my posture as I am talking to someone? How would it affect the way I interact with others? Would I have a different attitude when I'm speaking with others? How would it affect the way I think about myself?"

These questions are inspired by the teachings of Byron Katie and Brooke Castillo and I find asking questions like this to be incredibly helpful in terms of stepping outside of my brain and examining what is really going on in there.

We may feel a little like prisoners in our own homes right now but we do not have to be prisoners in our own brains.

Ask yourself what you are thinking and observe it with compassion and non-judgment.

And remember...a belief is simply a thought you choose to think over and over again.

Let's cultivate faith and beliefs that will serve us and our communities in the most powerful ways!

There is so much love for you here,

JennyRebecca

The Quarantine Chronicles: Day 19

Sun, 03 May 2020 12:47:02 GMT

Cultivating Curiosity

Hello, Dear One.

So glad you are here.

I've been reading Brené Brown’s book, Rising Strong , and was inspired by this:

“Einstein said, “The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existence.” Curiosity’s reason for existing is not simply to be a tool used in acquiring knowledge; it reminds us that we’re alive. Researchers are finding evidence that curiosity is correlated with creativity, intelligence, improved learning and memory, and problem solving.

There is a profound relationship —a love affair, really — between curiosity and wholeheartedness. How do we come to those aha moments if we’re not willing to explore and ask questions? New information won’t transform our thinking, much less our lives, if it simply lands at our feet. For experiences and information to be integrated into our lives as true awareness, they have to be received with open hands, inquisitive minds, and wondering hearts.

A critical piece of my wholehearted journey has been moving from judgment to curiosity about my own path. Poet and writer William Plomer wrote, “Creativity is the power to connect the seemingly unconnected.” Connecting the dots of our lives, especially the ones we’d rather erase or skip over, requires equal parts self-love and curiosity: How do all of these experiences come together to make up who I am?”

She goes on to talk about how she had realized that curiosity has led her to believe that nothing is wasted and has given her the ability to look back at her life and understand how dropping out of school, hitchhiking across Europe, bartending and waiting tables, doing the things that might not seem as beneficial or significant, taught her as much about empathy as her career in social work, research and the things that might look good on a resume have.

She says, “I used to look back at those far-flung dots as mistakes and wasted time, but allowing myself to be curious about who I am and how everything fits together changed that. As difficult and dark as some of those times were, they all connect to form the real me, the integrated and whole me.”

So…my question to you today is, can you get curious with yourself and be vulnerable and courageous enough to ask yourself the question…”How could this Quarantine time actually be valuable in my life? In my life story? In my identity or character? In my relationships? How could it be valuable for my creativity?”

You might not be able to see it yet, and that is okay. Sometimes the ability to connect the dots takes time. But asking the questions is still worth doing, and the answers that come might surprise you.

True curiosity, I believe, is also stepping outside of judgment. Our perceptions of what is good or bad, valuable, productive, worthy...what are they really based on?

Asking powerful questions can take us to surprisingly refreshing new territory. And as Brené so beautifully suggested, it can remind us that we're alive.

There is so much love for you here,

JennyRebecca

The Quarantine Chronicles: Day 18

Sun, 03 May 2020 12:44:46 GMT

Finding Your Voice

Hello, Dear One.

So glad you are here.

Today's creativity prompt is about finding your voice.

We could actually approach this topic from so many angles -- and especially since I am a singer and believe there is so much value in the parallel discovery finding your true voice literally AND figuratively (emotionally mainly) -- I could go off on a tangent here for hours!

That is not our topic today, however...I am talking about finding your artistic voice and connecting to that!

What is the difference between your 'artistic' or 'creative' voice and your 'emotional' voice or identity, you might ask?

That is a good question...and the short answer would be that they are actually perhaps two sides of the same coin.

Our artistic voice is the way we express our emotional voice.

I loved this quote from Anne Lamott's book Bird by Bird and it is the inspiration for today's prompt!

She talks about how she encourages her writing students to emulate their favorite writers. Emulating your favorite writer is...

"... a prop that you use for a while until you have to give it back. And it just might take you to the thing that is not on loan, the thing that is real and true: your own voice.”

Today I want to encourage you as well to take on the style of one of your favorite artists.

Who are your favorite artists? Writers, poets, songwriters, singers, painters, choreographers? Allow yourself today to start creating as if you were actually one of the people who inspires you the most. Allow yourself to emulate their style for a bit, as if you were putting on their cloak, and trust that your own style will emerge, the more you can sit with yourself and be compassionate enough to let your own truths unfold and unravel from you without needing to judge how they might be perceived by others.

Maybe you already feel that you know your own voice and your style pretty well, and if so, that is great! It is still a fun experiment to play with styles of artists you admire. I find it inspires me in new ways to "play pretend" and create as if you were someone else. Sometimes it opens me up to new freedoms that I unknowingly might not allow myself.

Have fun experimenting and if you feel like sharing your creations, I would love to see the things you are working on!

As always,

There is so much love for you here,

JennyRebecca

The Quarantine Chronicles: Day 17

Sun, 03 May 2020 12:42:46 GMT

Exposing the Unexposed

Hello, Dear One.

So glad you are here.

I don’t know about you, but I think we are collectively suffering from a bit of cabin fever, all around the globe.

There are a lot of different thoughts and desires that are flitting around and inside of me and starting to compile. In light of that…

Some inspiration from Anne Lamott’s brilliant book, Bird by Bird..

“We write to expose the unexposed. If there is one door in the castle you have been told not to go though, you must. Otherwise, you’ll just be rearranging furniture in rooms you’ve already been in. Most human beings are dedicated to keeping that one door shut. But the writer’s job is to see what’s behind it, to see the bleak unspeakable stuff, and to turn the unspeakable into words —not just into any words but if we can, into rhythm and blues….Truth seems to want expression. Unacknowledged truth saps your energy and keeps you wired and delusional. But when you open the closet door and let what was inside out, you can get a rush of liberation and even joy.”

Are there some doors in the castle of your heart that you’ve been avoiding opening these last few weeks? Today I want to encourage you to open them up …and tell your truth. Just let it out.

Use your creativity as a way to express your truth and whatever you are feeling in the darkest, coldest parts of your castle, and if you can, turn those words into rhythm and blues.

Maybe you need to open that door and dance out those demons? Maybe you need to open that door and splatter some paint in every direction. What we are going through, globally is not light...and it's not to be underestimated. And the emotions that might be coming up for you are not something to just dismiss or shove under the rug.

Anne Lamott said it well...unacknowledged truth saps our energy. The truths inside of us long for expression. So however you most love to express through your creativity, express your TRUTH!

And may that rush of liberation and joy follow!!!

Happy Saturday!

There is so much love for you here,

JennyRebecca

The Quarantine Chronicles: Day 16

Sun, 03 May 2020 12:39:37 GMT

Creating Joy

Hello, Dear One.

So glad you are here.

Yesterday, I wrote about the fascinating research of Brett Ford and her colleagues and what they discovered truly makes us, as humans, happy. (If you missed yesterday's prompt, scroll down and you can find the link to see all the previous ones. ;.))

Regarding Brett Ford’s research about what truly makes us happy, Johann Hari also adds this (from the book Lost Connections ) ...

” Until I learned this, when I felt depression and anxiety start to set in, I felt a panicked need to keep my head above water — so I would try to do something for myself. I would buy something, or watch a film I like, or read a book I like, or talk to a friend about my distress. It was an attempt to treat the isolated self, and it didn’t work very often. In fact, these acts were often the start of a deeper slide.

But once I knew about Brett’s reserach, I saw the error I had been making. Now, when I feel myself starting to slide down, I don’t do something for myself — I try to do something for someone else. I go to see a friend and try to focus very hard on how they are feeling and making them feel better. I try to do something for my network, or my group — or even try to help strangers who look distressed. I learned something I wouldn’t have thought was possible at the start. Even if you are in pain, you can almost always make someone else feel a little bit better. Or I would try to channel it into more overt political actions, to make the society better.

When I applied this technique, I realized that it often — though not always — stopped the slide downward. It worked much more effectively than trying to build myself up alone.”

Whatever is making you feel a bit anxious today, a twinge of this or that…I guarantee there are others around you who are most certainly feeling anxious or in need -- perhaps even more acutely than you.

Today, I want to encourage you to reach out to someone and create HOPE and JOY, both for someone else and for you. Try to do what Johann Hari suggested in his excerpt and "focus very hard on what the other person is feeling and try to help them feel better." You honestly don’t even have to know the person very well, just go on Facebook and you will probably find a plethora of opportunities to offer an encouraging and hopeful word or two.

Think of it as an experiment and see how it makes you feel to "create" in this way. There are so many ways that we can give of ourselves creatively. In fact, to create a gift for someone else is also to create a memory that is incredibly meaningful and has the potential to last a lifetime.

We have some beautiful friends, here in Berlin, named Babbs and Jörg, and they are the most creative givers I have ever met. I could tell you story after story of the ways that I have watched them shower love, not just on me and my husband, but on countless others. And they do it so creatively! They have given us memory after memory, moments full of meaning and love, and often surprising joy.

Once, when my husband and I were visiting Berlin for the first time together, and Babbs and Jörg were going to meet him for the first time, I sent a picture of the two of us in the airport in California and texted it to them, saying something like, "See you soon!". They took that picture and blew it up huge, and when we came through the gate at the airport in Berlin, they had put that blown up picture of us on a stick and were waving it up and down like they were our biggest fans!

When we stayed at their apartment for a few days, when we first moved, every morning Babbs would write little paths of love notes on post-its, on the way from our room to the bathroom, and to the table for breakfast...simple things, but beautiful and creative ways to love that bring hope and joy and make people smile and remember those moments forever.

When they came to our wedding in California, all the way from Berlin, they took their favorite photos of us and made coloring books for all the children who would be attending the wedding.

Once they got us tickets to the opera and said, "Your chauffeur will be waiting at your door to take you at 6 pm."

Jörg was all dressed up with a little driving hat and took us on our date and then picked us up when it was over and brought us to their place where they had champagne waiting.

Babbs and Jörg really have a unique gift, a unique way of giving to people, but after reading Johann Hari's book and the research from Brett Ford, I also realize...not only are they unique and creative in their giving but they have really discovered the key to happiness.

Another thing to keep in mind, especially if you are feeling blocked creatively, is the power of creating specifically for someone else.

Anytime I feel blocked, this is my go-to way to unblock. If I write a song for someone else - even if I think it's terrible- that pure intention of truly creating something with someone else in mind, unlocks the walls of judgment that I've usually gotten myself stuck in.

The opportunity to create joy for others (and ourselves as well in the process) is there for us all...

and the possibilities are truly endless.

Each person is so unique. Each way we express our love can truly be artistry at its finest.

So...what masterpieces are you going to create today?

The Quarantine Chronicles: Day 15

Thu, 23 Apr 2020 12:23:28 GMT

Creating Happiness

Hello, Dear One.

So glad you are here.

I am starting off with a beautiful excerpt from Johann Hari's Lost Connections today. He talks about his interview with social scientist, Brett Ford and the work she did with her colleagues Maya Tamir and Iris Mauss, conducting some research into a pretty basic question.

"They wanted to know: Does trying consciously to make yourself happier actually work? If you decided -- today, now -- to dedicate more of your life to deliberately seeking out happiness, would you actually be happier a week from now, or a year from now? The team studied this question in four countries: the United States, Russia (at two different locations), Japan, and Taiwan. They tracked thousands of people, some of whom had decided to deliberately pursue happiness and some of whom hadn't.

When they compared the results, they found something they had not expected. If you deliverately try to become happy, you will not become happier -- if you live in the United States. But if you live in Russia, Japan, or Taiwan, you wil l become happier. Why, they wanted to know, would that be?

Social scientists have known for a long time that -- to put it crudely -- there is a significant difference between how we think of ourselves in Western societies and how people in most of Asia conceive of themselves. There are lots of little experiments you can carry out to see this.

For example -- take a group of Western friends, and show them a picture of a man addressing a crowd. Ask them to describe what they see. Then approach the next group of Chinese tourists you see, show them the same picture, and ask them to describe it. The Westerners will almost always describe the individual at the front of the crowd first, in a lot of detail -- then they describe the crowd. For Asians, it's the other way around: they'll usually describe the crowd, and then, afterward, almost as an afterthought, they'll describe the guy at the front.

Or take a picture of a little girl who is smiling broadly, in the middle of a group of other little girls who look sad. Show it to some kids and ask them -- does this girl in the middle seem happy or sad to you? Western kids think she is happy. Asian kids think she is sad. Why? Because the Western kids have no problem isolating an individual from the group, whereas Asian kids take it for granted that if a kid is surrounded by distress, she'll be distressed, too.

In other words: in the West, we mostly have an individualistic way of looking at life.

When Brett and her colleagues looked deeper, this seemed to offer the best explanation for the difference they had discovered. If you decide to pursue happiness in the United States or Britain, you pursue it for yourself -- because you think that's how it works. ...But if you consciously pursue happiness in Russia or japan or China, you do smething quite different. You try to make things better for your group -- for the people around you. That's what you think happiness means, so it seems obvious to you.

These are fundamentally conflicting visions of what it means to become happier. And it turns out -- for all the reasons I described earlier -- that our Western version of happiness doesn't actually work --whereas the collectivist vision of happiness does....

The evidence suggests if we return to seeing our distress and our joy as something we share with a network of people all around us, we will feel different."

That was a pretty long excerpt I included in today's prompt but I find it so fascinating and I wanted to give you that information to prime us for today's creativity prompt.

We've been expounding, for the last few days, upon our dreams for the future and ways that we could work towards creating the lives we want.

Today I want you to think about the vision you have for your life in light of this research from Brett Ford…to what extent is it individualistic? To what extent is it social? If Happiness truly depends on a broader social, collective vision…how could your life vision and creativity incorporate more of that kind of mentality? How could you think about your life as a gift or great service for others and how could that look -- even today - amidst the limitations of quarantine?

How can you "create happiness" today?

I would love to hear from you about this topic...what does this topic bring to your mind and heart?

The Quarantine Chronicles: Day 14

Wed, 22 Apr 2020 18:34:37 GMT

Creating Good Feelings

Hello, Dear One.

So glad you are here.

Yesterday's prompt included imagining your ideal future and expressing all of your wildest dreams.

Today we are going to be expanding on that idea and it is going to feel... fabulous !

I want you to take one of the biggest dreams that you were writing, or collaging, or discussing yesterday...

maybe the biggest one in your heart...

and I want you to start to describe how it will feel in the present tense. Yesterday, we were dreaming up specifics in regard to the circumstances, but today I want you to leave all of those out of your description. Today, we are going to focus on describing, and actually starting to feel, what your biggest dreams will feel like.

Did you ever experience that blissful anticipation that comes before Christmas, as a kid? The feeling of excitement that would build before Christmas morning is one of the best feelings from my childhood that I can remember.

At our house, the gifts from our family were wrapped and put under the tree, but we knew which ones were from Santa because his gifts were never wrapped.

Santa's presents were put out in front of the tree on display...which is also why we were never allowed downstairs to see the tree on Christmas morning before two important things happened:

1 - Mom and Dad had to have at least one cup of coffee.

And 2 - we had to wait until they said "Merry Christmas!" before we could go from our excited jumping-in-place borderline-about to lose our ...selves...to running down the stairs to see the tree and the presents Santa had brought for us.

Looking back, the anticipation was just as fun, if not even better. And that has really been true, for a lot of my favorite moments, in life.

When I think about my wedding and all the preparation, months before, as I would get ready every morning, I'd put on my favorite song and be ushered into all the feelings of what I imagined the wedding was going to be like...I would feel the getting ready with my best friends, I would feel the dress, I would feel the walking down the aisle and the looking into his eyes, I would feel the ceremony and the celebration...and it was absolute heaven. It felt so, so good. And it's hard to say, because of course the "day of" was momentous, and incredible, and a dream come true in so many ways, but also, I was in charge of so many details, and it came (and went) so fast, I hadn't slept at all the night before and ...I don't know...it really could be that my anticipation, at times, felt just as good as the real thing!

That is just one example, but I could point to many different moments like that in my life. And I believe that we can choose to feel our dreams ahead of time. And not only that, I believe that we SHOULD!

Because...why not ?

Almost everything we pursue in life is because of the feeling we believe we will have once we have achieved or received. But if the feelings are available to us at any moment, why not feel them now?

So...just for the sake of modeling what I am suggesting you do for the exercise, I will use one of my dreams. I have a lot of dreams about singing on particular stages -like say, the Sydney Opera House or at Coachella, but I find it's better to be more general rather than specific because if you are too specific it might bring up some negative feelings of resistance...for example, if I say to myself, okay, I'm going to imagine myself performing at Coachella now and inside there's a little voice that pipes up and says, "yeah, but really? Do you really think that is going to ever happen?"

Those kinds of thoughts are not going to help us create our good feelings. So you can see how specific you can get while still feeling good, but you may find, the more general you are, the better you will feel.

So ...I imagine I'm on a big stage, lots of people in the audience - I do have some specifics in mind but right now the most important thing I want to focus on -and what I want YOU to focus on - is how it feels...

Start to imagine with me...When I do this exercise, I like to start with... "It feels easy. Wow, it feels so easy. Feels so natural. It feels like it's meant to be."

And then I just spontaneously decide in that moment which things to feel and name and pay attention to which ones feel the best and maybe hang out there a little longer and repeat them or expound on the ones that feel really great.

"It feels like it's my time. My moment. It feels connected. It feels important. Significant. It feels significant. It feels magical. It feels like love overflowing. It feels like love pouring through me coming out of me through my voice and my whole body. It feels like oneness. It feels divine. It feels sacred. It feels delicious. It feels pure. It feels right. It feels captivating. It feels expansive. It feels immeasurably wonderful. It feels like I am a channel for pure love to flow through. It feels like flow. It feels like alignment. It feels like destiny. It feels like gold."

...you get the idea? ;.) I hope?

Give it a try. Speak it out verbally and feel into your dreams. You can do it in multiple areas of your life. It's a bit like practicing vicarious joy that I mentioned a couple days ago. But you can feel, right now, how amazing your ideal relationship feels, you can feel how stepping into the power of your truest self feels ....you can feel what it feels like to do anything you want...ahead of time.

And it's a bit like a prayer as well. I like to incorporate it into my prayer life, personally. I like to ask for things and then I receive them, fully, in my heart and mind.

It's a wonderful tool to practice. And even though it's not specifically an 'artistic' tool, so to speak, it is absolutely creative in amazing ways and you are creating an experience, and a whole canvas, of amazing feelings.

Happy Wednesday! I hope you are having a great week so far!

The Quarantine Chronicles: Day 13

Tue, 21 Apr 2020 15:53:04 GMT

Creating a Secure Future

Hello, Dear One.

So glad you are here!

Today's creativity prompt is about creating a secure future.

"What?" you ask.

"Secure future?!

Who can offer any certainty in this global pandemic?"

Well...hang on.

I am not trying to play God or make you any false promises. But I do want to share some information that, I hope, will offer a perspective shift.

And a perspective shift is a powerful and priceless commodity these days, in my humble opinion.

Inspired again by Johann Hari's book Lost Connections, I was curious about his chapter on 'Disconnection from a Secure Future' as a reason why people are more prone to depression.

His book is full of fascinating research and stories and offers a wide range of wisdom suggesting ways we can experience mental health.

I was especially curious about why the future was important.

He writes about several fascinating studies having to do with this topic and I would like to include some of them in the upcoming creativity prompts perhaps but the basic conclusion that scientists have proven is that people who are depressed find it difficult to think about the future.

Also, what was proven is that people who cannot imagine that there lives will get better in the foreseeable future become depressed.

It may sound a bit like a 'chicken and egg' situation...what comes first? And I, unfortunately, do not have the answer to that question but it's not important for today.

Today, I just want to encourage you to imagine your ideal future. What are your dreams? For yourself, for your family, for your relationships, for your career, for travel and fun experiences, for your art, for where you want to live, for your community, the kind of car you'd want to drive...

ALL

THE

THINGS!!!

There are several ways you can go about creating this and imagining with yourself. One of my favorite ways is to write from a specific time in the future - a year from now, five years from now, ten - and write as if all of your dreams for that amount of time have already come true. Let yourself really just be as BIG and BOLD and frivolous in your mind as you possibly can imagine. Paint your future story with bright, beautiful colors.

Another way you could do this is to do a vision board or dream board. Collect magazine pictures and words that you want in your future and make a collage. Or go to Pinterest and start a future board and pin a bunch of pictures onto a page there so that you can visually see the things that represent to you what you are dreaming about.

And my favorite way to do this is to make it a game that you play with others . I've done this one-on-one with friends, with groups of friends, with my sisters, with my coaching groups, and it is SO much fun!

Pretend you are going to meet see each other at some point in the future. The first time I ever played this game, my friend Paula Laurel and I decided we would pretend to meet three months from that day, in that same café. In my coaching group, we decided we were all going to do a retreat together in the Alps a year from that day.

Pick a time in the future, whenever you want, and a place you want to meet and then really talk to each other as if you truly have experienced all the things you are dreaming about and tell your friends all the wonderful things that have happened in your life!

The great thing about doing this with friends who know you well is that they can chime in and help you imagine even greater things for your future!

The conversation can go something like this.. ."Ohhhhh Paula! It's so amazing to be here with you in the Caribbean! I'm so glad we decided to go on vacation together!"

And then maybe Paula says something like, " Ah, yes! I mean, it's all because of that amazing HUGE promotion you got so unexpectedly! Otherwise maybe we wouldn't have had the idea?!"

I know this may be a stretch for some people. Not everyone can do this kind of exercise. I find people either love it or they hate it. And a lot of people find it to be a challenging thing to really continue talking as if you are seeing each other again in the future but if you can really give it an honest try, I believe it can be HUGELY impactful.

You can also even just do it on your own. Make an audio recording of yourself as a voice memo on your phone as if you're leaving a message on someone's voice mail telling them all the great things that have happened to you in the last (next) five years. Or pretend you're being interviewed by someone! The possibilities are endless and so is the potential joy. I've done this exercise countless times over the last 11 years and I have never not had fun while doing it.

Being able to see yourself in the future gives you perspective…it helps you say, okay I may be having a lousy day or a lousy life at the moment but it will get better…it always can get better.

Is it secure? Well, according to Eleanor Roosevelt...that is a question of faith.

"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams." - Eleanor Roosevelt

The Quarantine Chronicles: Day 12

Mon, 20 Apr 2020 13:42:40 GMT

Creating Vicarious Joy

Hello, Dear One,

So glad you are here.

A lot of creatives that I have been talking to recently, particularly musicians, have been feeling antsy and insecure.

To be honest, this is normal. Most artists are antsy and fight insecurities on a daily basis.

But with the Quarantine in full blown 'potential-never-endingness', and all the festivals and concerts canceled this summer, things feel a tad bit more...intense and serious.

It's easy to get swept away in a social media tizzy and feel envious of all the musicians who have already "made" it and had a big audience before all of the pandemic happened.

And even if you are not a musician in the same predicament...the invitation to jealousy and comparison through social media is out there for everyone.

Today, however, we are going to be using our imaginations and creative juices to generate some joy.

Good news, right?

This is from the book, Lost Connections by Johann Hari. He talks about his friend Rachel who discovered "an ancient technique called "sympathetic joy," which is part of a range of techniques for which there is some striking new scientific evidence.

It is, she says, quite simple. Sympathetic joy is a method for cultivating "the opposite of jealousy or envy...It's simply feeling happy for other people."...

You close your eyes and picture yourself. You imagine something good happening to you -- falling in love, or writing something you're proud of. You feel the joy that would come from that. You let it flow through you.

Then you picture somebody you love, and you imagine something wonderful happening for them. You feel the joy from that, and you let that, too, flow through you.

So far, so easy. Then you picture somebody you don't really know -say, the clerk who serves you in the grocery store. You imagine something wonderful happening to him. And you try to feel joy for him - real joy.

Then it gets harder. You picture somebody you don't like, and you try to imagine something good happening for that person and you try to feel joy for that person. You try to feel the same joy you'd feel for yourself, or for somebody you love. You imagine how good they'd feel, and how moved they'd be."

Apparently making a loving kindness meditation out of this vicarious joy, for about 15 minutes every day, perhaps makes a subtle difference at first, but after a few weeks "the toxic feelings slowly abate."

Envy, insecurity and depression evaporate. "You start to see the happiness of others not as a rebuke, but as a source of joy for yourself, too."

It's happiness. It's warmth. And it's scientifically proven that this particular style of meditation changes people.

Johann Hari's friend Rachel said, "I've pursued happiness for myself my whole life, and I'm exhuasted, and I don't feel any closer to it-- because where does it end? The bar just keeps getting moved."

But this different way of thinking produced a different kind of pleasure and offered her relief from the anxious thoughts she'd been plagued by.

"There's always going to be shit coming into your life to be unhappy about. If you can be happy for others, there's always going to be a supply of happiness available to you. Vicarious joy is going to be available millions of ways every single day. If you want to look at other people and be happy for them, you can be happy every single day, regardless of what's happening to you."

Try this sympathetic joy meditation today and see if you can use your imagination and experience that vicarious joy as you create something for someone else.

It could be as simple as imagining a friend (or even someone you struggle being envious of) experiencing success or love or their dreams coming true and maybe you send them a description of what you imagined. Maybe you send them a drawing of what you imagined, or a melody, a poem, or a prayer.

Experiment with the combination of creating and vicarious joy. Celebrate the people around you...

Celebration is a door to breakthrough in many different ways...from your own sanity to your eventual success.

The Quarantine Chronicles: Day 11

Sun, 19 Apr 2020 11:01:41 GMT

Creating a Time Capsule

Hello, Dear One,

So glad you are here.

Today's creativity prompt may seem like the most obvious of all so far, but I think it is important to think about - both from a historical standpoint as well as a way to process your thoughts and emotions during this time.

I want you to write about how this Quarantine time is affecting you and what it has been like for you.

Pretend you are writing to your grandchildren or great-great- grandchildren, or that you are putting a letter or memoir into a little time capsule for someone in the future and you want to let people know what this time in history has meant, thus far, to you.

What is your strongest visual image from Quarantine? Pajama pants? The bathtub? Zoom meetings?

What will your Quarantine scent be?

I have a friend who rarely drinks but now has a whiskey on the rocks every night. (Whiskey will be her scent.)

Another friend told me she is painting her nails on her own for the first time in years. (Nail polish will be her scent.)

You can write it like a letter, a journal entry, a newspaper article, a special in a magazine, a chapter in a book that you will someday publish, a pretend news report that you get your whole family in on filming...there are so many ways you could express this little time capsule and I'm sure you can come up with even more unique ideas...but let yourself record what your life in April of the year 2020 really feels like.

Who knows? Someday it may be more significant than we could imagine.

And don't forget, the most important story you'll ever tell...is the one you tell yourself.

There is so much love for you here,

JennyRebecca

P.S. I'd love to hear or read your time capsule! Feel free to tag me or send it to me over e-mail, or even share it with the group on Facebook!

The Quarantine Chronicles: Day 10

Sat, 18 Apr 2020 18:03:02 GMT

Creating Celebration

Yesterday, I shared an excerpt from the book, Lost Connections by Johann Hari on loneliness and today I am going to share another one because it is fascinating and basically...

everyone in the world just needs to read this book !

It is that good.

According to John Cappicio, a neuroscience researcher, and his studies,

"When he put lonely people into brain-scanning machines, he noticed something. They would spot potential threats within 150 milliseconds, while it took socially connected people twice as long, 300 milliseconds, to notice the same threat. What was happening?

Protracted loneliness causes you to shut down socially, and to be more suspicious of any social contact, he found. You become hypervigilant. You start to be more likely to take offense where none was intended, and to be afraid of strangers. You start to be afraid of the very thing you need most. John calls this a "snowball" effect, as disconnection spirals into more disconnection.

Lonely people are scanning for threats because they unconsciously know that nobody is looking out for them, so no one will help them if they are hurt. This snowball effect, he learned, can be reversed -- but. to help a depressed or severely anxious person out of it, they need more love, and more reassurance, than they would have needed in the first place.

The tragedy, John realized, is that many depressed and anxious people receive less love, as they become harder to be around. Indeed, they receive judgment, and criticism, and this accelerates their retreat from the world. They snowball into an ever colder place."

Ooof. Pretty crazy, huh?

When I read that I thought, this needs to be used in one of my creativity prompts because

1) I think it is valuable info for everyone to know and

2) Regardless of whether or not we would consider ourselves to be lonely at the moment, so many people are feeling especially lonely during this time, and creating in the opposite spirit will do us all some good.

So today, I want you to create a celebration!

Last week, I was invited to one of my best friend's birthday parties online over Zoom and it was genuinely beautiful and inspiring. 12 of her favorite people came together -- I live in a different country than she does so I wouldn't have been able to even attend her party had it not been for the pandemic. ( I mean, technically, yes I could have phoned in...but usually we don't think of that kind of thing and during Quarantine, somehow it was a different scenario.)

Also, several weeks ago, my husband and I did a concert on Zoom and that was felt incredibly meaningful and uplifting for us. Not so much the concert part but the 'celebration in people coming together' part.

Being able to see all of those people, clapping and waving, coming together, it was like seeing little flames on the computer screen from all over the world...reminding us of the beauty and life that we still can celebrate in any circumstance.

Today make solid plans for an online celebration and bring some people together. It would be a great opportunity to share your art with people, if you are feeling bold, or maybe create something especially for that purpose.

But you don't need to have a specific reason. You can create a reason! You could invite your favorite people and celebrate them , and tell them why each one is so special to you. ( P.S. I have done this before around a table at parties and dinners and there is nothing more fun!)

You could gather a group of people and discuss a specific topic, or even tell each person to bring a bottle of champagne and have a Toasting Party! Tell them you are going to simply each take turns toasting the most wonderful things you can think of until the bottles are empty! (I am not necessarily endorsing drinking an entire bottle of champagne by yourself...but hey, all is fair in love and Quarantine so...)

To summarize... create a unique celebration and bring some people together this weekend!

(And let me know how it goes!)

The Quarantine Chronicles: Day 9

Fri, 17 Apr 2020 13:15:24 GMT

Creating Meaningful Connection with Others

Hello, Dear One.

So glad you are here.

During this first week of the Quarantine Chronicles, I've been touching on the importance of creating -- but not just art for the sake of art. Creating connection, life, positive energy, creating home as you have always dreamt it to be, creating a place of acceptance within (and for) yourself.

There are so many ways we can be creative. And it's not that creating art, in any medium, isn't powerful enough on its own...it absolutely is.

Creating in any way is incredibly powerful in and of itself. It is truly a doorway into a realm of life-changing possibility and offers us unending potential for blessing, healing, discovery, and joy.

I have been purposefully incorporating themes into this project, however, that will potentially also bring you more tools to manage your emotions and thoughts as you create simply because it helps remind me , at the same time, what is true and what can offer us even more help and wholeness during this Quarantine experience.

Today's prompt is about creating meaningful connection in relationships. Here is an excerpt from Johann Hari's book, Lost Connections addressing what scientists have discovered about loneliness:

"When you are a patient in a hospital bed, you're not alone -- but the help flows only one way. The nurse is there to help you, but you aren't there to help the nurse -- if you try, you'll be told to stop. A one-way relationship can't cure loneliness. Only two-way (or more) relationships can do that.

Loneliness isn't the physical absence of other people, it's the sense that you're not sharing anything that maters with anyone else. If you have lots of people around you --perhaps even a husband or wife, or a family, or a busy workplace -- but you don't share anything that matters with them, then you'll still be lonely. To end loneliness, you need to have a sense of "mutual aid and protection,"...with at least one other person, and ideally many more."

Today, I want you to write about the things that really matter most to you. What things are truly meaningful to you? What is most significant, relevant, sincere and worthwhile in your life? What things have real purpose for you?

It would be fairly easy to take these questions and create poetry, story, music, visual art and dance as an artistic response...each question, each adjective, could be days worth of inspiration. And I encourage you to pursue that creative expression, absolutely.

But I also encourage you to ask one or two other people in your life, what is most meaningful to them? And meditate on ways that your connections and relationships with people can become even more like Johann Hari described...a mutual exchange of things that matter to you.

A shared flow of sincerity, significance, purpose.

I would love to have this kind of mutual exchange with you too!

If you feel like you don't know who to reach out to at this time, reach out to me.

Feel free to e-mail me, or share what you are creating in the private Facebook Group linked below.

Let's create meaningful connection in as many ways as we can.

There is so much love for you here,

JennyRebecca

The Quarantine Chronicles: Day 8

Thu, 16 Apr 2020 19:02:08 GMT

Wash your hands, wash your mind

A couple weeks ago, I had my weekly Singer-Songwriter Mastermind write songs about quarantine. Some were rather serious and some were hysterical, but one lyric stands out in my mind...

"Dear Quarantiiiiiiine, my hands have never been so cleeeeean..."

And this...could not be more true.

I think about that song every day, multiple times, as I wash my hands, and chuckle to myself.

Today's creativity prompt has to do with not just having clean hands but a clean mind.

Uhhh...does that mean brainwashing, you might ask?

Well...to a certain extent...

Yes.

But not in the way you think...

More like brain cleansing .

I would like to invite you to join me today in practicing a creative exercise I have been doing almost daily for the last 20 years - but with a twist.

For those of you that are familiar with the brilliant book, The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron, we are going to do Morning Pages today! And I am going to introduce a form of this that I have developed over the years called, 'Gushing'.

But first a little explanation...

Morning Pages is, indeed, a form of brain cleansing/brain drain. It is three, long-hand pages, written as fast as you can. Whatever is in your mind, just put it to paper and get it out there.

It's usually encouraged to do this first thing in the morning, so that all the fears and anxieties that might be taking up residence inside our brains, can get out onto the page and we can examine our thoughts and see if that is really what we want to be thinking. Cleanse them, so to speak. But you can, in fact, do it whenever you want.

The most important part of this exercise is to stick to speed...which, to be honest, is not something that I really understood when I first read The Artist's Way and started practicing Morning Pages. Doing it at a slower pace still has benefits - which is chiefly why I continued to do Morning Pages for so many years. But the main benefit from taking the speed seriously, is that truly:

1) You get to really take an honest look at what is going on in your mind

2) When you can write, as close to the speed of thought as possible, you get to step outside of judgment, which is...the most delicious place ever...this is your true voice...and the voice of the creative force within you combined... this is when things start to get really exciting.

You want to start out just writing, as fast as your little hand can manage (which at first may take some practice before it doesn't feel like your hand is about to fall off - we are soo not used to writing by hand in this tech saavy day and age). Whatever is in your mind is what you write, so even if it looks like..."I'm so tired, I'm so tired, my head really hurts, ugh, my head hurts so bad right now" that is totally okay. Whatever you happen to be thinking is what you put on the page.

If you are anything like me though, a true perfectionist by nature, journaling (including my Morning Pages practice) can look like this:

Write a few sentences...

take a sip of coffee and look back at what I wrote...

wonder if anyone will ever read my journals if I died suddenly and what they would think about what I just wrote...

resolve to throw away said journal soon or just scratch out part of what I just wrote...

This kind of self-critical journaling process is the opposite kind of journaling experience to what we want to practice. This kind of experience is filled with self-judgment and creative paranoia and this...is not a mind cleanse. This is a mind...something else.

Which is why I created 'Gushing'.

Gushing is basically brain drain/thought cleansing through spoken word. So...if you ever had a fantasy about being a spoken word artist? Now is your chance.

Jk. Basically, I like to take my phone and turn on the voice memo recording device, and just talk, at the speed of thought, as fast as I can without stopping, for 15 minutes minimum. Once I get going, it feels so good it's usually easy for me to go 25- 30 minutes and I am not exaggerating. Once you get through the subtle (or not so subtle) fears and anxieties that are being held captive in your mind and start to speak through to the core desires, dreams and ideas that are swirling at your center...you will find that there is a startling amount of revelation, wisdom, new energy and LIFE that lies within you bringing you into a realm of creativity that you might not even know is possible for you to access.

Countless times as I've practiced, both Morning Pages and Gushing (but more so Gushing because the speed allows me to get to a more profound space of non-judgment), I've started weeping tears of joy, simply because that inner voice is encountered. ..and there is simply nothing more beautiful.

It's a bit like praying without ceasing...just laying your entire heart, mind and spirit out there without limitation. It is so freeing, so cleansing, so brilliant...it makes you feel connected to your heart in the most extraordinary ways.

So...I encourage you to try this exercise and really go for speed. That is the key here. Sometimes I will Gush and make a voice memo recording and then send it to a secret e-mail address that only I know about...and then delete it from my phone. This isn't necessary but there is something about recording yourself that holds you accountable to the speed factor. Maybe one day I will go back and listen to those recordings....or maybe not! Hehe.

At any rate, I believe so much in this practice of brain draining in order to really give your mind a rinse, take a look at what is actually taking up residency in that head of yours, and then once it's outside of you, deciding which thoughts you want to put back in, which thoughts are going to really serve you.

That brings us to a whole other process...the practice of being intentional about what we are going to think. But giving our minds a good thorough cleanse is the best way to start us on the road to discovering which thoughts feel really good to us versus which thoughts do NOT .

That's it for today, my friends. Happy Friday Eve! And let me know how this goes for you!

There is so much love for you here,

JennyRebecca

The Quarantine Chronicles

Wed, 15 Apr 2020 14:52:13 GMT

Homesick when we are at Home

Hello, Dear One,

So glad you are here.

Today's creativity prompt is about tending to feelings of homesickness when we are all...already at home.

This idea came from one of my new favorite books, Lost Connections , by Johann Hari from his chapter on Disconnection from Other People. I've included this excerpt from his writing:

"I once heard the comedian Sarah Silverman talk on a radio interview about when her depression first descended on her. She was in her early teens. When her mother and stepfather asked her what was wrong, she couldn't find the vocabulary to explain it. But then, finally, she said she felt homesick, like when she was at summer camp. She said this to the interviewer, Terry Gross of NPR's Fresh Air , with puzzlement. She had felt homesick. But she was at home.

I think I understand what was happening to her. When we talk about home today, we mean just our four walls and (if we're lucky) our nuclear family. But that's never been what home has meant to any humans before us. To them, it meant a community -- a dense web of people all around us, a tribe. But that is largely gone. Our sense of home has shriveled so far and so fast it no longer meets our need for a sense of belonging. So we are homesick even when we are at home. " -- Lost Connections by Johann Hari

Today I would like you to take some time to write or meditate on what HOME means to you. What does it feel like? What does it sound like? Smell like? Look like? How do you know?

Think back to moments in your life when you have experienced a strong sense of feeling like you are home. For me, this means feeling seen, heard, understood (as much as is humanly possible) and sincerely loved. It means feeling like I belong.

As this quarantine progresses, I have wondered quite frequently where I belong. I've heard from other artist friends their fears about this new reality we find ourselves in and how in the world will we as artists be able to make a living now? The question that is behind their fears is...is there a place for me in this world?

This is a question that creatives, and probably all humans, deal with generally...a good portion of our lives, I think. But now? With this pandemic...this question is even more at the forefront in our minds.

Part of being an independent musician or an entrepreneur, in this day and age, is growing your tribe, growing your audience. In essence, growing your family.

Recognizing what that even feels like in the first place though...to have and belong to a family, to feel 'at home' in ourselves, in our experience of this life...is where we need to start before we can begin to build on that.

In the midst all that is going on at the moment however, this is even more challenging.

Write about what 'home' means to you. Put it into poetry. Write a song about how 'home' feels. Meditate on specific moments in your life when you know you've experienced it and if you are having trouble thinking of moments in your experience, think about movie scenes that have made you feel that sense of longing and belonging.

And one further step in today's creative process...take an active step of initiating connection with someone else today. For those of us who were lucky enough to be born into families that knew how to foster a sense of belonging and 'home', it may be easy to take it for granted. Maybe it was something you were given so easily that it is hard to realize...family is something that must be created. Belonging, community, friendship, lifegiving connection must be created and nurtured.

I believe creating family, and 'home' wherever we are, is truly one of the most beautiful things we can create in our whole lives. Take a step and reach out to someone...let them know that they are loved, that they belong. Think about the kind of 'home' you want to create in your lifetime...and start anew today.

The Quarantine Chronicles: Day 6

Tue, 14 Apr 2020 13:44:20 GMT

Creating a Safe Space to Rest

Hello, Dear One!

We are going to be creating something a little different today.

We are going to be creating a place . Stay with me.

Creativity is discovery and invention.

It is an act of exploring the heart and the spirit - an adventuring into the center of who we are and a beautiful, never-ending journey of uncovering the treasure that lies within.

As I sat on my couch last night, in my sweats, that I'd been wearing for the last few days...I realized my emotional discomfort was coming from a place that, truth be told, is pretty familiar to me.

I'd been feeling uncomfortable and unmotivated all day long. I had work online that needed to be done and my entire being was in rebellion.

Unlike places like Spain, in Germany, we are fortunately allowed to go out and take walks, but I did not leave our apartment yesterday, I tried and tried to turn my focus towards inspiring, captivating, and exciting things to no avail. I was down and felt the resistance within me not only of frustration, but of being frustrated with myself for feeling frustrated.

I was experiencing full blown self-judgment and, for most of the day, I had been in denial about it.

A lot of us, as artists, are performers. Maybe some of us are drawn into the creative realm because of the accolades that performing well or creating something unique to display can bring. And unlearning this need to receive our sense of self-worth from what we 'do' or how we 'perform' is (for a lot of humans and not just artists) really a life long lesson in the learning.

However, quarantine? Quarantine is definitely giving us all a big slice of 'learn this now or become more miserable' pie.

It's not just about what you do. Who you are is extraordinary and entirely unique in all of time and history in the whole frickin' wide world.

So today, I want you to do what I challenged myself to do this morning - I want you to write an encouraging, kind letter to yourself. It can be in the form of a poem or a song as well if you want, but the important thing is to write yourself a letter, affirming all the qualities you love about who you are - not about what you do, or what you have done.

The beautiful essence of who you are does not change if you don't shower for a week, stay in the same pajamas or sweat pants, or have a sore tummy from more trips to the pantry than usual because #quarantine. The extraordinary essence of who you are does not change if you are feeling unmotivated, unfocused, paralyzed with uncertainty or worry.

Who you are is so precious, so sacred, so indescribably beautiful beyond compare - but I want you to try to describe it.

Write a letter to yourself and see if you can list at least 50 qualities in your unique spirit that you know to be true. You are creating more than a letter here - you are creating a place where you can truly rest, a place you can breathe. You are creating a place of acceptance and compassion for yourself - a blanket you can wrap yourself up in. You are creating a safe space for yourself to be, outside of trying to meet anyone's expectations, including your own.

You are creating a reality for yourself.

It's been true since the day you were born but it might need to be rebuilt in your mind.

Who you are is enough.

Who you are is more than enough.

There is so much love for you here,

JennyRebecca

The Quarantine Chronicles: Day 5

Mon, 13 Apr 2020 13:35:17 GMT

Creating a Life

Hello, Dear One.

So glad you are here.

Here is today's creativity prompt:

Imagine...you have just landed on earth, this new planet, and you have been welcomed by all the inhabitants...from a distance.

You've even been given a nice place to live that looks strangely, exactly like wherever you are currently living now, with all of the same furniture and belongings. You've been given a name and identity and passport/drivers license of a person with your (current) name...as if you have essentially been inserted into the exact same scenario which you currently find yourself at this moment in time.

What if the normal way of life on earth for humans, had the same limitations of the 2020 Quarantine and that was just the normal way that humans lived on the earth? What if social distancing was part of how humans just naturally did life? What if isolation were necessary and unquestioned? What if all of the details in your life, that possibly have been feeling overwhelming, scary, unacceptable, the last few weeks, were actually expected and normal?

If you are anything like me, I've been feeling a little bit at times like things are just on hold. The anticipation of things returning back to normal brings with it a certain suspension, almost like time is stopping, until we return back to the way things were. However, none of us is really sure what the future holds. No one knows how this thing will play out exactly, and even if we do "go back to normal" in a matter of weeks or months...I'm not fully convinced that each of us will not have been substantially changed through the process. So what even IS normal ?

I think that allowing ourselves to actually lift our fingers off of the pause button, could be quite beneficial. Holding our breath and waiting to truly live is not doing any of us any favors. And living in the moment is always a beautiful and rewarding act. I think it's the most powerful way to live.

What if we embraced this time and truly asked ourselves, "How could I live life to the fullest within the limitations of this current situation?"

Imagine that life as we know it, the way it currently is around the world, is all we have ever known. How would you create a beautiful, meaningful life for yourself? How could you live life in the most extraordinary ways today?

Write about it. Sing about it. Draw what that might look like. And if you feel like sharing it, I'd love to read, hear, see, experience what you create. I've already been receiving some amazing creations from you all in the last few days since the Quarantine Chronicles started! Join the Artists Rising Facebook Group if you want to connect to others who are participating in the daily creativity prompts and please share this link with a friend so more people can jump in!

Lots of love to you,

JennyRebecca

The Quarantine Chronicles: Day 4

Sun, 12 Apr 2020 12:52:39 GMT

Celebrating New Life

Happy Easter!

Today is Easter Sunday, a day of resurrection. It is 75 degrees and sunny here in Berlin. Spring is in full bloom here, and though the world is completely altered during this strange time in history, nature does not seem to notice and goes on blooming in beautiful and extraordinary ways.

This pandemic has been challenging, alarming, scary at times, but even still...there is so much we can be thankful for and celebrate in the midst of difficulty.

Today's prompt is about celebrating life and rebirth. I want you to write out your blessings. Count them. Make a list. Draw them. Sing about them. Dance in response to the life that is still pulsing through us.

What are the things that are most life giving in your experience on this earth? What is making your heart beat? What is making you feel most alive today? Is anything blossoming in your life? Where do you see patterns of new life or rebirth? Write about the spring. Write about new ideas that are coming forth during this time of pause and stillness. Write about new desires that are springing forth. Write about freedom. Write about the goodness that you notice in your life in the midst of our current situation.

If you are having trouble identifying things that make you feel good, think back to a time when you really celebrated being alive and write about that. If it is still hard to recall a memory, think about a scene in a movie that made you feel that celebration of life - maybe see if you can re-watch it - and write about that.

Gratitude and celebration of life - especially during hard times- is so precious...and it carries us through.

The Quarantine Chronicles: Day 3

Sun, 12 Apr 2020 12:24:28 GMT

Turning Worry into Creative Energy

Hello, Dear One.

So glad you are here.

Today's creativity prompt is about turning worry into creative energy . In order to define the terms, I would like to again turn to Julia Cameron and the definition she uses for worry...

"Worry has an anxious and unfocused quality. It skitters subject to subject, fixating first on one thing, then on another. Like a noisy vacuum cleaner, its chief function is to distract us from what we are really afraid of. Worry is a kind of emotional anteater poking into all corners for trouble."

Yesterday's text was all about panic and we practiced choosing the opposite spirit so to speak and exercising our imaginations . Today I want to offer a different approach.

The beautiful thing about creativity and actually stepping out in creative action is that it can also allow us to practice active connection and compassion without our even really acknowledging it in so many words.

One of the most powerful things I've ever learned in my life thus far, and one of the things I do with my coaching clients daily, is a practice I learned, and have further developed, from my brilliant counselor and friend, Laura Duncan.

It started with an exercise called 'The Remote Control" which, in essence, is the practice of identifying our emotions and then bringing compassion, acceptance and comfort. This, in turn, allows us to connect to our hearts in an extraordinary way. It is the process of healing, and it helps us, all at once, recognize that we do not need to be afraid of any of our emotions at any time.

Eventually, through practicing and developing this self-compassion, there is a beautiful realization that we can accept all of our emotions as they come. We start to feel free to experience our pain as it comes up, without fear, and full of compassion, causing us to be able to really learn to love ourselves the way we would a precious, little child.

In fact, putting our worries and feelings into our art has the power to activate this healing practice without us even realizing it. Countless times in my life I have written songs, expressing whatever I am feeling in that moment and it:

1) Helps me identify what I am feeing, sometimes in many different colors or perspectives.

2) Brings comfort and compassion to my heart as I am in the process of writing it and singing it to myself.

3) Brings acceptance and validity to my pain as I acknowledge it.

4) Enables me to connect to my heart.

5) Ultimately, has the power to connect me to others if I choose to share that song with someone else and they can relate to it.

Countless times, I have gone from worry, fear, sadness and tears to transformation through my creativity. And sometimes the thing I create is almost conversational. For example, a verse of my song written in 'my voice' about what I'm feeling and a chorus written in 'God's voice' or 'the voice of wisdom' bringing comfort or hope.

The great thing is, there really is no wrong way to go about it. Simply finding the courage to even start , and be patient and forgiving with yourself in the process of creating is, in itself, such a massive act of bravery, vulnerability and compassion, that even if you can begin a creative expression...you are well on your way to experiencing the transformational power that creativity brings.

So I encourage you today, to put your worries or fears on the page. Whether you are drawing, composing, journaling, writing songs or poetry or even choosing a song that expresses what you are feeling and dancing to it, naming those fears, accepting them in the process of creation, will bring you much healing, freedom and ...dare I say it...JOY.

I would love to read, hear or see your creations if you feel like sharing! Please send them to me if you feel so inclined or post them in the private Facebook Group ARTISTS RISING. You can also share them on your own social media feeds and tag me or use the hashtag #thequarantinechronicles.

There is so much love for you here,

JennyRebecca

The Quarantine Chronicles: Day 2

Sun, 12 Apr 2020 12:20:49 GMT

Turning Panic into Creative Energy

Today's creativity prompt includes an excerpt from Julia Cameron, author of The Artist's Way .

"It is valuable to think of creative artists as being like skittish racehorses, nervous until they are out the gate and actually running.

In my experience, no artist is ever immune to or beyond apprehension in many forms. Successful artists have learned to identify and deal successfully with these close-sibling emotions. It helps to make a few important distinctions, distill a few working definitions...

Panic is an escalating sense of terror that can feel as if we are being flooded and immobilized by the glare of change. Panic is what you feel on the way to the altar or to the theater on opening night, or to the airport for a book tour. It is rooted in "I know where I want to go, but how am I going to get there?"

I really like Julia Cameron's definition of 'panic'. I think it's a different kind of feeling than worry or fear, and the differentiation is important...especially in the times we are currently facing. Defining the terms is helpful because we can turn it on its head and use it in the most powerful positive way possible.

The fact is, the more active - and sometimes even the more negative - your imagination is, the more it is a sure sign that you are full of creative energy. The more panic or terror you are experiencing, the more potential you have to experience the opposite emotions... things like ecstasy , DELIGHT , BLISS !

I don't know if you are anything like me but I canNOT watch scary movies. My imagination is just too powerful. I know this about myself. And in challenging life circumstances, sometimes our imaginations simply run wild. I know, that there have definitely been times during the last month of this pandemic, when I have created possible scenarios in my head full of what 'could' happen that would be a frickin' FABULOUS thriller film. If you can relate to that as well, I'm so sorry. It's been kinda tough the last few weeks but we are trekking through and we will come out strong on the other end!

As creatives, we must learn, and we can learn, to flip the switch on our imaginative energies, and turn panic, worry and fear into invention. If we want to live expansive lives and experience life to the fullest, (which we doooo! Right? Right?!) we must be just as open to the positive possibilities as we are to the negative ones.

So today, take your pen in hand and write out what your ideal day might look like. Just as Julia Cameron's definition of 'panic' used the words "an escalating sense of terror that can feel as if we are being flooded and immobilized by the glare of change", let's turn this definition on it's head and imagine our perfect, ideal day, that just has an escalating sense of ECSTASY and DELIGHT! A day that just keeps getting better and better as we go through it, that feels as if we are being flooded with liquid love and immobilized by the glistening radiance of pure BLISS.

Haha! Are you with me? Are you feelin' it?! Start writing about your ideal day as if you are just waking up...what kind of bed would you want to be waking up in? Is it a royal, luxurious 10,000 thread count, silky-sheeted, 4 poster bed with a luscious, thick mattress in a modern-day, Norwegian treehouse? Or is it outside, camping next to the ocean with the sound of the waves gently waking you up? Who is with you? What kind of breakfast would you eat? Is it room service or cooking by the fire? Is it breakfast in bed prepared by your children or are you waking up at noon and ordering chinese?

Write about your perfect, most enjoyable day and let your emotions and imagination run absolutely wild, up, up up that escalating experience of ecstasy...what are the BEST possible things that you can imagine happening?! In the realms of relationships, career, accomplishments, meaningful exchanges, finances, travel, people calling you spontaneously on the phone...'oh, the King of England is calling? Great, tell him to hold, please.' ;.) Let nothing be too frivolous.

Allow yourself to be flooded with liquid love and pure bliss as you feel the power of your positive imagination.

This is real life. This is your creative energy working for you. You can choose this in any moment. You are powerful beyond understanding.

If you feel led, take those feelings and that energy into movement and dance, write a song about it, draw or paint or collage some images of how this ideal day might look.

Let's turn our panic into creative energy!

Massive love to you today,

JennyRebecca

The Quarantine Chronicles: Day 1, The Power of Connection

Sun, 12 Apr 2020 12:15:05 GMT

A Free Daily Creativity Prompt during Quarantine 2020

Welcome, Dear One.

So glad you are here.

This is going to be a beautiful journey.

Today's creativity prompt is inspired from one of my favorite books: Lost Connections by Johann Hari.

The subtitle of Johann's book is "Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression- and the Unexpected Solutions". This book is honestly one that I wish the whole world would read because it is that good! ;.)

A short excerpt from his book is about a study on loneliness done by a young neuroscience researcher named John Cacioppo.

"John and his colleagues gathered one hundred strangers at the University of Chicago...to take part in a straightforward experiment that nobody had ever tried before.

If you were one of the people taking part, you were told to go out and spend a few days just living your normal everyday life- only with a few little tweaks. You had to wear a cardiovascular monitor to measure your heart rate, and you were given a little beeper and some tubes. You left the lab. On the first day of the experiment, whenever the beeper beeped-- which, it turned out, would happen nine times a day -- you would have to stop your everyday business and write down two things. First, you had to note how lonely or connected you felt. Second, you had to record your heart rate from the monitor.

On the second day of the experiment you went through the same process, except this time, when you heard the beeper, you'd spit into a tube, seal it, and keep it to hand in to the lab.

John was trying to figure exactly how stressful it is to be lonely. Nobody knew. But when you're stressed, your heartbeat goes up, and your saliva becomes flooded with a hormone called cortisol. So this experiment could - finally - measure how big the effect is.

When John and his colleagues added up the data, they were startled. Feeling lonely, it turned out, caused your cortisol levels to absolutely soar -- as much as some of the most disturbing things that can ever happen to you. Becoming acutely lonely, the experiment found, was as stressful as experiencing a physical attack.

It's worth repeating. Being deeply lonely seemed to cause as much stress as being punched by a stranger."

This excerpt is powerful, right? It's a fascinating study. And all the more reason to take our relationships with people more seriously even then perhaps we already do.

For today's creativity prompt, take 10-15 minutes (if you feel engaged and get in the flow, by all means keep going longer) and write about the moments in your life when you felt most connected to people in the most powerful ways.

I asked a group in Berlin that I am working with this question a few weeks ago and it brought out some incredibly beautiful stories.

One friend, who had just moved to the city from another country and didn't know anyone except the refugees she had been teaching German to that past month, had to move to another apartment building and her entire class (who she had only really begun to get to know) showed up to help her move.

Personally, I remember a time when I first visited my now in-laws and spent Christmas for the first time with their family. I was feeling pretty nervous and of course wanted to fit in well. The first night we all sat down to dinner it was suggested that we all go around and share something that was occupying our thoughts the most and causing us to maybe even worry about the coming week so we could be more aware of what each person was feeling. One of the siblings was getting ready to move far away and there were a lot of different things going on in the family.

At first I thought, oh no...this is a terrible idea...all of us talking about our anxieties? This is going to be a negative spiral real quick...but in fact, the opposite happened. Each person shared something really vulnerable, really real...and everyone at the table was so moved with compassion and empathy by the concerns of each individual. Everyone felt so seen and heard, and even though there were different faith beliefs represented around the table, together everyone prayed for each other and the circumstances they were facing. It was one of the most beautiful moments of connection I've ever experienced within a family setting.

I think back to many theater experiences as well...so many wonderful times of connection, every group I've performed with becomes such a family, so bonded...beautiful times working with children, at camps and on trips, etc.

Talking about all of these memories with the group I was working with here in Berlin made me realize how rich in love we are...

What are some of your most powerful memories, when you felt particularly seen and heard? Truly connected...

Take a few minutes to write and journal about them...Maybe you want to write a song about it. Or paint one of those moments. Or dance what you felt in that memory. Write a poem about how those memories feel, what those memories mean to you.

Longings fulfilled

Tue, 10 Apr 2018 19:25:00 GMT

Chasing after our heart's desire

Dreams and longings fulfilled

Anyone who knows me well knows that I am a BIG dreamer. I always have been. Pretty much my #1, go-to, favorite topic of conversation, whether I'm getting to know someone or connecting with a friend that I know well, is asking them what they are dreaming about doing or becoming, what they are most passionate about, and what is making their hearts come alive. I believe everyone is born with big dreams inside of them because each of us has a unique destiny that we are created to fulfill. I also believe that we are meant to have big dreams until the day we die. And ultimately, our own courage to live and pursue our dreams, is what best serves others in the world.

Sometimes though, we are not in touch with ourselves enough to know what we are really dreaming about and what would make our hearts come alive. I have definitely experienced times like that in my life. The demands of others in our lives can be more urgent sometimes. Or maybe we find ourselves in situations when basic needs of survival are not coming to us easily and dreaming seems like a luxury. I've definitely been there. Or sometimes we end up in an emotional place where we feel like our dreams are just too big or irrational to ever really happen so we cut ourselves off and don't allow ourselves to even go there in our minds because we think it could be impossible, or perhaps selfish to even think about pursuing them. I've been there as well. But cutting ourselves off from our dreams, no matter the reason, eventually leaves us heart broken.

Have you heard the old proverb,

"Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life."?

Does that statement ring true to anyone else like it does for me? I have definitely felt heart sick at multiple times in my life, because I wasn't actively pursuing my dreams. Sometimes our dreams even sometimes feel like a burden! And I think they actually can be! The burden of our own GREATNESS feels heavy on our hearts when we decide not to acknowledge the wonder and innate value that each of us are born with.

I remember my first trip to the Redwood Forest. The pure majesty and epic grandeur of it all absolutely blew my mind.

I have always had a particular affinity for trees, but there are certain trees that have the capacity to take your breath away.
I have a favorite picture of me sitting in front of an enormous Redwood tree, and next to the immense girth of that tree trunk, I look as if I could be Tinkerbell in comparison. When I think of a tree of life, like in the proverb, THAT tree is the kind of tree that comes to mind.

How many starving, deferred hopes and dreams do we carry around with us day after day, looking for the occasional bread crumbs we throw at them from the table called ‘incidental inspiration’? We all have dreams inside of us, each of us has a very unique set of desires, longings, and hopes. And it is all too easy for us to take those dreams and set them aside, put them on the back burner, procrastinate, postpone, deny them or put them on hold. We have thousands of great reasons and excuses why this makes sense to us in the moment.

I’m thinking of a writer friend of mine who desperately wants to write screenplays but will not start until he can afford to move to L.A. Another friend dreams of becoming a singer, but a teacher in elementary school shamed her for singing badly once so she's hardly sung since. A third friend dreams of acting school, but the risk seems too great. He feels like his time has past and he's too old to pursue such foolishness. There are a myriad of excuses we can conjure up to make ourselves continue to justify our choices. However, we need to acknowledge the fact that staying in that place of fearful inertia is actually a danger to our well being, health and happiness. And I would even go as far as saying that it is denying the responsibility that each of us has to serve the world in our own unique ways that no one else in all of time and history has ever, or will ever, be able to replicate.

Trees don’t become trees overnight. Each tree begins with a seed. The majestically enchanting world created by the arch of branches and green leaves starts with the seemingly mundane, even elementary, act of the tiniest kernel passing through our hands into the ground.

We need to simply begin to take the small, courageous steps in the direction of our dreams. Perhaps for you, this means purchasing some nice writing pens and a pad of paper. Maybe it means scheduling a voice lesson for the following week. Maybe it means taking ten minutes to research art schools. Perhaps reading this article is a great first step! The point is, each of us must begin somewhere. Focusing on the process and not on the finished product will lead to growing your own tree of life.

Remember to be gentle with yourself. Perhaps deferred hopes have made your heart sick for a very long time and you need to start slowly. Treat your inner artist like a small child that you would nurture and protect. Awakening the creativity within is a bit like learning how to walk. It might seem painstakingly slow at first but try to be patient with yourself and just take one step after the other. Have you ever watched a toddler take her first steps? It is cause for MASSIVE celebration! So celebrate each of your baby steps because before long you are going to be RUNNING!

Being creative is actually an act of faith. Sometimes there is just so much fear involved in beginning something. Especially, when we have the end result of our dream in mind and feel like we can only see how far we fall short in comparison. Eighty percent of it, however, is simply showing up! If we believe in a God, or Universe, or greater power, who has given us these gifts and dreams in the first place, and that they are uniquely ours for a reason (and I DO!) than we have to believe that this Higher Power is going to do its part, just as we are going to do ours, because that is what was intended in the first place.

I don't believe that we are given dreams that are not meant to be fulfilled. But I do think it's a co-laboring process.

Working out our own creativity can be a little bit like starting to date someone you've had a huge crush on for a long time. I have had many projects- books, songs, musicals, classes and workshops, even research papers in school, where I was almost so afraid of getting started, I spent more time worrying about the project, doubting myself and my own abilities and talking myself out of actually doing it than I did actually spending time creating. Ask God to help you. You will be amazed at amazing ideas and strategies that will come as soon as you are honest about your desires and intentions. A good majority of the actual process is simply starting and not being afraid to make mistakes. You WILL make mistakes. Part of being an artist (or whatever it is you are dreaming about becoming) is being willing to be a bad artist at first. Creating is a courageous business. With every day, and sometimes with every moment, you have to be willing take risks.

So make a list of risks you could take and start to make at least one every day.

The universe wants us to accomplish the things we have been created to do and be, much more than we could ever desire it for ourselves. And believe me, I have felt desire so strong at times that I felt I might die. Sometimes we feel burdened with the weight of the greatness that we carry, and we have to simply begin to release it, in faith, one little spoonful at a time. As soon as this process starts, relief and calm start to descend.

The act of creating is a bit like climbing Mount Sinai in the dark. My friends, who have made the climb, told me the ascent to the mountain’s peak begins at one o’clock in the morning. Apparently, watching the sun as it rises from the top of the mountain is one of the most amazing experiences in the world. But you are literally hiking up a steep, rocky path for hours in the dark and you only have a flashlight until you reach the top. All you can see is a few feet in front of you, and looking to where your feet are going to step next is the way you get to the mountaintop.

Begin your ascent. Water your tree of life.

On being BRILLIANT...

Tue, 10 Apr 2018 19:07:20 GMT

pursuing our highest potential

I’ve known that I loved to create since I was a little girl.

I used to write, direct, choreograph and star in little musicals for the neighborhood kids back in the day. I would fill notebooks with stories and poems. I would set up my art easel in the front yard and paint.

My brother and I would put on our record of Copelia and sit our parents down in the basement while we danced around in our swimsuits, him lifting me up in the air like a swan, until they were pursuaded to enroll us in ballet lessons.

My mom worked at the opera house and we were in every possible children’s chorus of every opera that was performed at the Lyric Opera of Kansas City during our childhood. I played clarinet and piano and I was given every opportunity to be as artistic as I wanted to be.

This led to many wild and beautiful adventures. I went on to receive three degrees in vocal performance studying at one of the best music conservatories in the world in NYC, was a teaching artist at the Metropolitan Opera, have gotten to live in five different countries and sing on international stages.

I started a band, have written a book, musicals, poems and hundreds of songs. I even did a crazy songwriting project, called JennyRebecca's Song Diary, where for over a year, I not only wrote at least one new song but made a music video to go with each one, culminating in over 400 music videos of original songs created with friends, at home, in the bathtub, in restaurants, grocery stores, on the street, and in various cities all over the world.

I’ve gotten to act in a blockbuster movie, record with some of the best music producers in the business, I’ve created and directed musicals and operas with many groups of children and I was even a Professor of Music at a university for 5 years.

Basically, things haven’t changed much since I was a child. The fundamental ingredient of my heart’s most alive and awakened state is a constant, torrential, tizzy of creativity.

I have also faced my share of extraordinary sadness, challenges and disappointments but life has been, and continues to be, brilliantly beautiful.

My new album is called Brilliant After All, words taken directly from one of my songs that poses the question, Do you want to be brilliant, after all? Big question for a big dreamer. And the question has taken on different meanings at different times. All of my grand and wild adventures and pursuits have had one thing in common, this search for greatness and my highest potential of love and passion, goodness, authenticity, expression and excellence, connection with God and the world around me. I think everyone wants to live the best life they possibly can. To experience the fullness of who they were created to be and not be held back by fear. We live our lives dipping our toes into the possibility of who we can become. And I think that for most of my life I have allowed myself to be held back by the limitations and boxes I have put on myself.

If creativity has an opposite, I would say it is judgment. Every art form and profession has labels and expectations and this is necessary when we want to measure greatness and assess talent. However, one of the reasons I was lured away from opera world and into songwriting is the creative aspect, where imagination, not perfection wins. Even so, there is a whole new set of rules, I’ve learned, that one must conform to in every genre of songwriting. This is both exciting and frustrating and prompts me to ask the question, what IS brilliant, after all? How do I want to define it? I believe this album is a brave step for me in the direction of freedom from caring what labels and judgment anyone else might put on me or my music, and stepping into the brilliance we are all born with. It is the first official album that I have released and I hesitated for a long time, because it only reveals parts of who I am and I was afraid that these songs were not good enough, that they were not edgy enough, or avant-gardes enough, or unique enough, etc. And that is true. This album is not edgy or avant-gardes, it is not a great many things that I admire and wish to express at some point in my life. These are simple songs that helped me get through, that have helped me heal and have challenged me to stand up and ask questions and to grow. And what I have come to realize is that up until now, my definition of brilliance has had to do with excellence and ingenuity. If I created something that was more unique than the others, more superior or accomplished, then my potential would be realized. But this is only part of a much greater picture. Yes, you have to have some sparkle to shine, this is true. But my definition of true brilliance now, has much more to do with connection than simply excellence alone. The definition of brillant is (of light or color) very bright and radiant. And the definition of radiant is light or heat as emitted or reflected by something. We cannot be brilliant unless it is reflected back to us from someone else. And so my desire to connect has become a much larger and more significant goal.

This greater desire to connect overrides my perfectionism and forces me to hold my high expectations and standard of excellence with a grain of salt. My title track of my debut album, "Brilliant After All", is the honest expression in question form, asking us all if we are willing to put our insecurities and excuses aside and step into the roles we are born to be living. I believe it is our innate privilege and responsibility to pursue our dreams for the greater good of everyone in the world.

We are ALL brilliant beings. And ultimately, the process of fulfilling our own dreams and desires is the beauty and greatest gift we have to give to others. So cheers to your brilliance and your process and to the ways we are all connected! May you be encouraged and inspired as you are in the process of pursuing and fulfilling your highest potential and sharing that brilliance with the world.

10 Ways to Tap into your Creative Genius

mail@jennyrebecca.com (jenny rebecca) — Tue, 10 Apr 2018 19:07:20 GMT

Finding your flow & getting in your groove when you feel blocked creatively

Spoiler alert...that is not me at the edge of that cliff in the picture. It would be cool if it was but...nope.

I thought this was an analogous picture though, for tapping into creative genius, because for those of you who have experienced the incredible high that can come with creating, you know that it does feel like this serene otherworldly calm and yet, at the same time, the ride of your life. In fact, if this chick were mid-leap and about to fly over this fjord it would be a much more accurate depiction of the electric experience that creating can be.

But often times I feel like I'm more off to the side in this picture (maybe even a bit dwarfish in nature, like something out of Lord of the RIngs) with a chisel and hammer, painstakingly hammering away at the rock, doing what I deem 'necessary' for 'survival' in the world, while I watch a bunch of other artists flying all around the fjord, doing flips and turns in the air and having the time of their lives. And I feel all this jealousy and shame that I'm not out there flying and I have a long list of reasons why it would be irresponsible for me to fly, or why I just can't afford it or why I would look rediculous or why it's too late for me to even go to flying school.

Can anyone relate? Haha...to my dwarf analogy?

Sometimes when we're creatively blocked there are some pretty serious emotional wounds that we need to deal with and let come to the surface. But the great thing about art and creativity, is that one of the best ways to start working through those emotions is simply to start creating.

It's not always so easy though, right?

Well, today I’m going to give you my go to list of things that I do to help myself get inspired and tap into that magical place. I find that the more I'm able to actually just get into a routine of being creative every day and really be disciplined about it, the easier it becomes ... and the more I crave it. But there are definitely seasons of life when our focus is on other things so...for anyone in need of a bit of help in the inspiration department...here you go!

1. GUSHING - For anyone who has read The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron (and if you haven't I highly recommend it) and has practiced Morning Pages, Gushing is like Morning Pages on speed. I like to take my phone and record myself talking, non-stop, at the speed of thought, for at least 5 minutes. Don't let yourself stop talking! Even if you are saying the same thing over and over! The whole point of this exercise is to just get out of your head and away from that judgmental, critical voice that tends to rule us most of the day.

Tony Robbins has a great quote that says, “We are born with that critical voice, it’s there to protect us and help us when it comes to survival, but past survival, we have to choose to be happy"…and happiness is almost impossible when we have a constant judge commenting on our every move…ESPECIALLY when we are talking about creativity.

Gushing helps us move past the complaints, anxieties and fears of the day to the things that really matter - the ideas, the dreams, the desires and the things that make us really fly. Getting out of that place of judgment in our heads helps us return to the childlike state of wonder and play that is necessary for creating.

This right side of the brain needs to be exercised like a muscle so be patient with yourself if it takes a bit of time to get it strong. Gushing is a fabulous tool that will help you get higher, connect to your truest self, your higher power, into that place of inspiration. I often record myself and then send it to a secret email account. It's kind of like audio journaling. Or a form of praying without ceasing. And you will be astonished at how fast the time will go by and all of a sudden you are taken to a place where anything is possible.

2. DANCE - just put on your favorite song and dance like you mean it. Get rid of negative energy and welcome in some new, positive vibes.

3. GO ON A WALK - sometimes you just need to get out of the house and mix things up. Get your body moving and let your mind wander. It's incredible how freeing for blocked energy a walk can be.

4. CREATIVITY AS A DISCIPLINE - Do a spontaneous art form that you haven’t done very much in your life, that isn’t your main expression. One where there are no expectations of how good you need to be at it. For example, I haven't done much visual art in my life, so if I do a sketch, or paint, or even finger paint, I feel pretty free to just do it because I haven't done it much before and I don't have anything to really compare it to. The same could be said for you perhaps with songwriting, or poetry, or dance, or playing an instrument. Do a spontaneous art form that you can just participate in as an act of play.

5. MAKE BAD ART - Give yourself permission to just make a really bad song. A terrible painting. A cheesy poem...whatever. But just the act of doing something creative, even if it's not at the level of artistry that you aspire to, will get those juices flowing.

6. INTENTIONAL INPUT - Be intentional about feeding your inner artist child. Go to the magazine section and look at pictures, peruse the newspaper for juicy words, watch movies or go on pinterest for fresh images and ideas, listen to new music for melodies that inspire you...we don't live in a vacuum. We need to be inspired by other people and by nature, so be intentional about filling up your creative tank.

7. ARTIST DATES - Julia Cameron talks about this in The Artist's Way as well. Take your inner artist on a date. Go somewhere or do something that really makes your heart come alive. Do you like the green house? Or antique rug shops? Or the trampoline park? Whatever places or experiences make your artist child squeal with delight are the places you need to be seeking out and visiting on a weekly basis. Your work is your play is your work is your play.

8. CREATE SOMETHING FOR SOMEONE ELSE - Creating a work of art specifically for someone else can be really freeing. When you think of what that person might enjoy, often times the boxes that you've made from your own expectations for yourself break off. Also, when you're making something for someone you really love, that element alone is a game changer and can really take your creating to another level.

9. COLLABORATE - Creating with other people is powerful! The ideas multiply and feed off of each other...AND it's FUN! There are all kinds of different ways to collaborate with people based on what you are creating but try to collaborate with someone you feel safe sharing your ideas with and just see where you can take each other!

10. DO SOMETHING YOU ENJOY - Make a list of the times in your life when you felt most alive and full of joy, then go and do something like one of the things on your list! If you feel blocked, chances are you are trying too hard and creativity is PLAY. Let yourself play and the creativity will flow much more easily.

Hope you've enjoyed these tips! Now go, take a running leap off that cliff and fly!