Day 4: Remembering the Past with Positivity
“Do not let the memories of your past limit the potential of your future. There are no limits to what you can achieve on your journey through life, except in your mind.”
― Roy T. Bennett, The Light in the Heart
Welcome to Day 4 of my 30 Day Challenge: Cultivate Creativity and Nurture Joy. Today we will look at how we choose to remember the past.
When you complete a big accomplishment, and you are asked how you did, do you normally focus on what you did wrong...or do you celebrate what you did well?
I admit that I have a habit of dwelling on what I didn't do as well as I had wanted. Sometimes I even get on a fixation loop of replaying my mistakes in my head. But what I have learned is that this is not a productive behavior and can lead to anxiety and depression.
What I have started to do is focus on what I did well and acknowledge that first. Then instead of looking at my errors as mistakes, I view them as areas of improvement instead of calling them failures. For every area of improvement that I identify, I assign a new action or make a plan to improve so that maybe I don't repeat that behavior or pattern in the future.
Today I want you to reflect on 2020. Push those negative thoughts aside.
Create a list of things that you did well, things you are proud of, things that you are thankful for, things that you are grateful for, things that you want to carry forward with you in your memories.
Next time you hear others engaging in negative talk and reflection about 2020, I want you to have the courage to speak up and share some of your positive reflections. See how that shift makes you feel and if it changes the energy of the conversation. Be willing to take it a step further and ask them to reflect and identify positive outcomes from their 2020.
Isn't a conversation about positive memories so much better feeling than a conversation full of trash talking and negativity? Where else can you apply this reframing of your thought and memories? Get creative with it...and feel the joy flow from within!
Joyfully Yours
-Susan
If you choose to share your daily challenge, please tag me (@SusanHarbourt) in your post or story. I’d love to see what you did and hear what you thought of this challenge!
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Also in Artist's Journal
Day 3: Create the Soundtrack to your Movie
Every great movie has a great soundtrack that accompanies it. The music sets the stage for the emotions of every scene. It pulls you in, your heart syncs with the rhythm of the beat, and you will connect with the moment and really feel the emotion more deeply than if there was no music.
Visualize this: If you could write your movie, the way you would want it to look, what would the story be?
Day 2: Sensory Scan to Connect with Yourself
The ability to relate and to connect, sometimes in odd and yet striking fashion, lies at the very heart of any creative use of the mind, no matter in what field or discipline.
-George J Seidel
Welcome to Day 2 of my 30 Day Challenge: Cultivate Creativity and Nurture Joy. Today we will look at connecting with yourself using a sensory scan.
To begin this challenge, simply sit down. You can do this exercise anywhere you are that is a safe place to just sit and exist for a few moments.
