The player is loading ...
Sept. 8, 2024
Present and Playful: Cultivating Creativity
Making Fun A Habit Series
30 days to add fun to your creative practice. I will be going through Mike Brennan's Make Fun A Habit workbook and help you make fun a habit. I had the pleasure of interviewing Mike on my other podcast Find A Podcast About and talking about his podcast Creative Chats. This workbook leads you through steps to rekindle the fun in your life and get you into a space where you are your most creative. This is a 30-day book and I will tackle each day as if it were a week and provide insights on how to use his ideas in your creative practice. Each chapter is broken up with a short story, questions to ponder, action items, and tips.
Assignment
Questions
- When was the last time you went on a long walk? What was that like? How did it feel?
- Even if mobility is an issue, where can you spend time undistracted and being in the moment?
- How can being fully present affect your sense of fun and play?
Action Items
- Take a few deep breaths
- Pay attention to your senses
- Notice your thoughts and feelings
- Be curious
- Let go of expectations
Tips
- Set aside some time each day for play
- Find a quiet place to play
- Focus on the present moment
- Be creative
- Connect with others
- Relax and let go
Reach Out To The Podcast
To reach out to me, email timothy@createartpodcast.com I would love to hear about your journey and what you are working on. If you would like to be on the show or have me discuss a topic that is giving you trouble write in and let's start that conversation.
- Email: timothy@createartpodcast.com
- YouTube Channel: Create Art Podcast YT Channel
- IG: @createartpodcast
- Twitter: @createartpod
Create Art Podcast Newsletter
Special Message
If you have found value in this podcast, please share it with a friend as that is the best way to discover new podcasts. I want this to be a 5-star podcast in your eyes so let me know what you would like to see.
Speaking about sharing with a friend, check out my other podcast Find A Podcast About where I help you outsmart the algorithm and find your next binge-worthy podcast. You can find that podcast at findapodcastabout.xyz.
I am trying to utilize YouTube more, so make sure to check out my YouTube Channel to see me doing the episodes right in front of you.
Transcript
Speaker:
Hello friends, this is Timothy Kimo, Brian, your head instigator for create
Speaker:
art podcast, where I bring my over 30 years of experience in the arts and
Speaker:
education world to help you tame your head critic and create more than you consume.
Speaker:
So this year in 2024, I'm doing a series that's called making fun a habit.
Speaker:
And that's all part of a book by Michael Brennan who wrote it.
Speaker:
It's called make fun of habit.
Speaker:
It's a workbook that goes through an entire month.
Speaker:
And what I've decided to do is take each day and make it into an episode.
Speaker:
So there'll be 30 episodes dedicated to this book or
Speaker:
focused on this book actually.
Speaker:
And I had Mike Vernon on my other podcast, find a podcast about.
Speaker:
Which you can find at find a podcast about dot X, Y, Z.
Speaker:
And he has a podcast.
Speaker:
It's called creative chats.
Speaker:
You again, links are going to be in the show notes for you on that.
Speaker:
So you don't have to write that down right now.
Speaker:
But what this book does is it's a workbook and it helps you go through
Speaker:
steps to rekindle fun in your life and get back to where you're most creative.
Speaker:
So each day has a different.
Speaker:
This theme this episode's theme is going to be on being present.
Speaker:
Something that I really like that Mike does is he breaks it down into
Speaker:
an assignment for you where he'll give you questions, action items, and tips.
Speaker:
So basically I'm going to go through that here for you.
Speaker:
And while I'm going through that for you, think about, ways that you can be present.
Speaker:
So let's go ahead with the questions.
Speaker:
First, first question is when was the last time you went on a long walk?
Speaker:
What was that like and how did it feel?
Speaker:
So it's been a long time for me to go on a long walk.
Speaker:
I do have my little step tracker attached to my wrist at all times, but
Speaker:
it's really been a long time for me.
Speaker:
Going on a long walk by myself.
Speaker:
I think I used to do it.
Speaker:
Oh, probably in 2023 is I would walk around the neighborhood during my work
Speaker:
day, just, for about 15 or 20 minutes.
Speaker:
And those were nice.
Speaker:
Nobody was bugging me.
Speaker:
I was able to be alone with my thoughts and really enjoyed that.
Speaker:
And maybe I need to get back into that.
Speaker:
But.
Speaker:
For me, one thing that I do is I do massages every other
Speaker:
months and that is a hour.
Speaker:
One hour out of two months where I'm just getting myself pampered, where,
Speaker:
the attention is just on me and I usually have a really good time.
Speaker:
I have a very good massage therapist here in Fredericksburg, Virginia and
Speaker:
that's something I do for myself.
Speaker:
And also I see a chiropractor that's about 15 or 20 minutes, but
Speaker:
I prefer the massage much better.
Speaker:
So maybe I need to start going on long walks.
Speaker:
Maybe you need to start going on long walks.
Speaker:
Let's go on long walks.
Speaker:
Together.
Speaker:
Second question is, even if mobility is an issue, where can you spend time
Speaker:
undistracted and being in the moment?
Speaker:
Again, I go back to my massage back in the day I used to, go to the
Speaker:
coffee shops when I didn't have family and other responsibilities,
Speaker:
I'd go to the coffee shop and sit there for a couple hours every day
Speaker:
or every other day and just, absorb everything that was going around me.
Speaker:
And going on around me.
Speaker:
That is something that, yeah, I would definitely like to get back
Speaker:
into for my own mental health and for my own creative health.
Speaker:
Just focus on one thing and not let anything else bother me, whether it be
Speaker:
a piece of poetry or a sketch that I'm doing or painting just to be out there.
Speaker:
And I'm a weird type.
Speaker:
I will admit that right now.
Speaker:
I like to be out in public when I'm being alone.
Speaker:
I can go to a movie by myself.
Speaker:
I can go to dinner by myself.
Speaker:
I'm one of those types of people that I can go out there and be just
Speaker:
perfectly fine alone myself, or maybe walking through a bookstore or
Speaker:
something along those lines, a comic bookstore as well, that counts too.
Speaker:
Third question is how can being fully present affect your sense of fun and play?
Speaker:
So I think.
Speaker:
With being present and being in the moment, it really affects my
Speaker:
sense of fun and play by blocking everything out that goes on in my life.
Speaker:
I'm a dad of twins.
Speaker:
I have a wife.
Speaker:
I now have three cats.
Speaker:
The third cat we just rescued his name is socks.
Speaker:
He lives down here with me in the man cave studio.
Speaker:
So you may hear him from time to time in the future wanting to get on the
Speaker:
podcast again, his name is socks.
Speaker:
So.
Speaker:
He's pretty quiet right now.
Speaker:
I'm just, I'm crossing my fingers, but I think being fully present
Speaker:
really gets me in a better mindset.
Speaker:
So that way I can accept fun and play in my life.
Speaker:
Cause sometimes I can get too deep in my thoughts and too
Speaker:
negative on certain things.
Speaker:
So if I'm here in the moment, not worried about the future, not worried
Speaker:
about what happened in the past, but just here with, my writing, with my
Speaker:
music or with one or two people just sitting and talking about things
Speaker:
and being present with them and not.
Speaker:
Thinking about the million of other things that I have going on in my life
Speaker:
that gets me in the right mindset.
Speaker:
And I think for me, I need to be in the right mindset to have fun and play.
Speaker:
So some days I don't feel like having fun or playing, so that can always be a
Speaker:
problem, but that's how I get around it.
Speaker:
So the action items that Mike gives us is first and foremost,
Speaker:
take a few deep breaths.
Speaker:
That's something I tell my kids all the time, take a breath, relax, but it's
Speaker:
true when we take a few deep breaths, you can do meditation apps on your phone.
Speaker:
You can, or on your watch or just You know, on YouTube videos, you can
Speaker:
do meditation in in multiple ways.
Speaker:
And that really helps us get present and get in the moment.
Speaker:
But the easiest and simplest way is just take a few deep breaths.
Speaker:
Think about what's going on right here, right now.
Speaker:
When you take those breaths, it gets you into action item number two,
Speaker:
which is pay attention to your senses.
Speaker:
What are you feeling?
Speaker:
Is there tension in your body?
Speaker:
Is there something that is not feeling right in your body that could be causing
Speaker:
the irritation that is not allowing you to be in the right mindset for fun and play?
Speaker:
Let's fix that.
Speaker:
Whether we need to go to the doctor, the masseuse, the chiropractor, acupuncturist,
Speaker:
whatever you need to do to get rid of that irritation, whatever is bothering you.
Speaker:
And it could be a health condition.
Speaker:
Whatever is bothering you.
Speaker:
Find a way to remove that so that way you can get in that right mindset.
Speaker:
Which leads into number three, notice your thoughts and feelings.
Speaker:
So I do see a therapist every other month.
Speaker:
I basically have what I call a doctor day.
Speaker:
See my chiropractor, my massage therapist, and my, a mental therapist.
Speaker:
And I do that every other month and pretty much within, three days of each
Speaker:
other is how I schedule it for myself.
Speaker:
And it does wonderful things.
Speaker:
I'll think about what I, throughout the two months, I'll think about what
Speaker:
I want to bring up to my therapist and it really gets me in tune with what
Speaker:
my thoughts are and it slows them down because my thoughts can go a million
Speaker:
miles an hour and that gets nothing done.
Speaker:
And working on multiple things at the same time gets nothing done.
Speaker:
But if I'm working at one thing and just worried about that one thing
Speaker:
or being attentive to not worried, being attentive to that one thing.
Speaker:
I feel a lot better.
Speaker:
And when I feel better, My mental health is better when my mental health is better.
Speaker:
My physical health is better.
Speaker:
My physical health health is better than my art is better.
Speaker:
The fourth action item is to be curious.
Speaker:
Look a, if you're watching me on YouTube, look at the videos, I look at the videos.
Speaker:
Things on my wall, the books on my wall, the records, got a PlayStation
Speaker:
four and a big old screen TV there.
Speaker:
I've got art on my walls.
Speaker:
So I being curious is not a problem for me.
Speaker:
I am always curious.
Speaker:
I want to meet new people.
Speaker:
As you hear on interviews with the show, I want to see what's working
Speaker:
for them and then, share it with you.
Speaker:
So always be curious.
Speaker:
And then the last action item is to let go of expectations.
Speaker:
Am I going to be the number one ranked podcaster in the world?
Speaker:
Am I going to beat out Joe Rogan?
Speaker:
No, I'm not.
Speaker:
And I'm not worried about that because that's not my goal.
Speaker:
My goal is to do this podcast and have fun doing it and to enjoy doing it
Speaker:
and to communicate with you the things that I have found, things that work
Speaker:
for me, struggles that I may be having, things that I need to remind myself to
Speaker:
get back into to make my art better.
Speaker:
But yeah, letting go of those expectations and just, if I'm working on a sketch or if
Speaker:
I'm working on a poem, I'm not worried, is this poem going to make me a millionaire?
Speaker:
I'm not, betting the, I'm not betting the farm on this next
Speaker:
poem or this next sketch.
Speaker:
I'm just doing it because it does good things for me when I accomplish
Speaker:
a task like that or finish a project.
Speaker:
It does great work for me, again, with the podcasts, my expectation is that
Speaker:
I put it out there and, hopefully you reach back out to me and tell me what you
Speaker:
like, tell me what you didn't like, or give me ideas or ask to be on the show.
Speaker:
That's my expectation is just to have some fun with it, to spread the information
Speaker:
that I have found that works for me and maybe help somebody out along the way.
Speaker:
And I think it's helping you out along the way too.
Speaker:
All right, Mike's tips.
Speaker:
And there's six of them.
Speaker:
Tip number one, set aside some time each day for play.
Speaker:
Put that in your calendar.
Speaker:
We all have calendars that we're attached to, whether they're paper,
Speaker:
digital, or they're in our mind.
Speaker:
Set aside time each day, make it an appointment.
Speaker:
Were 15, 20, 30 minutes, an hour, whatever you need, whatever you can
Speaker:
fit in, make it a habit, hence the name, making fun of habit for the book.
Speaker:
Ingenious.
Speaker:
I think.
Speaker:
Number two, find a quiet place to play.
Speaker:
Find a place where you're not going to be distracted, where you can focus
Speaker:
on that play time that you do need.
Speaker:
You need to go see your doctor.
Speaker:
You need to go see your friends.
Speaker:
You need to, maybe see your family, get out in the world, set some time for you.
Speaker:
Third tip is focus on the present moment.
Speaker:
Don't worry about what you know, don't worry about trash day tomorrow.
Speaker:
Don't worry about when your bills are due.
Speaker:
Don't worry.
Speaker:
Don't worry about how is your 10 year plan going?
Speaker:
Just.
Speaker:
Focus on what's happening right now.
Speaker:
One of my kids has a problem with that because they have ADHD.
Speaker:
So they're always focusing on what's going to happen tomorrow?
Speaker:
What are we going to do tomorrow?
Speaker:
Am I going to get to play on this tomorrow?
Speaker:
Am I going to get to do that tomorrow?
Speaker:
Let's focus on right now.
Speaker:
We're here.
Speaker:
We're living here right now.
Speaker:
Tomorrow will take care of itself.
Speaker:
We'll have challenges tomorrow.
Speaker:
We'll have things that interrupt us tomorrow.
Speaker:
We'll leave that for tomorrow We have enough to worry about today and not
Speaker:
even today We have enough to worry about right in this moment right here right
Speaker:
now Whether it's getting ready for bath or getting ready for dinner or for bed
Speaker:
or for homework or for whatever it is Let's just focus right here right now
Speaker:
And that can be a hard thing for people to focus on especially if you have
Speaker:
you know you're on the spectrum or if you're neurodivergent or what have you.
Speaker:
Fourth tip, be creative.
Speaker:
Come on, create art podcast, not creative.
Speaker:
Be creative with how you do your time.
Speaker:
Maybe you do your time in 15 minute chunks, four times a day.
Speaker:
Or maybe, one of those chunks, you focus on a sketch, second chunk,
Speaker:
you focus on writing your novel, doing a painting for 15 minutes.
Speaker:
Maybe you break it up that way.
Speaker:
Maybe that's how your brain works, but find creative ways.
Speaker:
to focus on the present moment.
Speaker:
Maybe you put a big sign up and say, Hey, focus on now.
Speaker:
And you make that sign with flowers or flames and smoke balls going
Speaker:
off, whatever works for you to get you in that present moment.
Speaker:
If things connect with others, there are others out there that are having
Speaker:
the same problems that you're having.
Speaker:
It's one of the reasons why I made this podcast.
Speaker:
Yeah.
Speaker:
I figured out other people are struggling with this kind of stuff too.
Speaker:
So why don't I go out there and the things that I've learned in my life.
Speaker:
Why don't I go ahead and share that out with others?
Speaker:
So that's why I do the podcast.
Speaker:
That's why I attend conferences.
Speaker:
That's why I do poetry reading every Friday night, just to connect
Speaker:
with the people out there, connect with a, my audience and be other
Speaker:
poets and see other artists.
Speaker:
So make sure that you're connecting with with other folks.
Speaker:
Get out of your four walls.
Speaker:
And the last tip is to relax and let go.
Speaker:
Just have fun with it.
Speaker:
Don't stress it.
Speaker:
If you don't get it perfect the first time, don't worry about it.
Speaker:
Building a habit like this takes some time.
Speaker:
You're not going to get it right the very first time and that's okay.
Speaker:
Nobody is keeping score here.
Speaker:
You're the only person keeping score here is you.
Speaker:
So if you can stop keeping score and that's maybe another tip
Speaker:
that we should add on to this.
Speaker:
Stop keeping score and just have Enjoy the moment.
Speaker:
Don't worry about the next moment.
Speaker:
Just be in the moment you're in right now.
Speaker:
Enjoy it.
Speaker:
Savor it.
Speaker:
Get everything you can out of it.
Speaker:
The next moment will take care of itself.
Speaker:
We'll, move to the next task at hand when it's time to do that.
Speaker:
But right now, enjoy where you're at.
Speaker:
All right.
Speaker:
I hope you've enjoyed this episode of create art podcast, where we're talking
Speaker:
about being present and being in the moment, if you got something out of it,
Speaker:
please feel free to give me an email.
Speaker:
Timothy at create art podcast.
Speaker:
com.
Speaker:
We have a YouTube channel.
Speaker:
Obviously, if you're watching this on YouTube, you found the channel.
Speaker:
Yay.
Speaker:
You can put comments on the channel too, for what you like, what you
Speaker:
didn't like, but I really want this to be a podcast that services you.
Speaker:
So I'm not doing something that you need me to do.
Speaker:
Or if you have a topic.
Speaker:
That you would like me to talk about or heck, do you want to be on the show?
Speaker:
Email me, let me know.
Speaker:
I would love to hear from you.
Speaker:
I also have an Instagram account, Twitter account, and a TikTok account.
Speaker:
Links are in the show notes there.
Speaker:
I do run a newsletter.
Speaker:
I'm getting away from it a little bit.
Speaker:
I need to get back into planning out the newsletter and I'm trying a few Program
Speaker:
management apps out to that's the cat.
Speaker:
Hey, you guys got to hear from socks.
Speaker:
That's right.
Speaker:
Socks.
Speaker:
Yes.
Speaker:
You're adorable.
Speaker:
Anyhow definitely check out the newsletter.
Speaker:
The links are in the show notes.
Speaker:
I put it out about once a month, but definitely if.
Speaker:
You've gotten any value out of this podcast.
Speaker:
Please let me know, shoot me an email, let me know.
Speaker:
Or, from the website, you can leave me a voicemail if you so desire.
Speaker:
So definitely do that.
Speaker:
I want this to be a five star podcast and I need your help in letting me know
Speaker:
how it's going to be a five star podcast.
Speaker:
And feel free to share it with a friend.
Speaker:
Speaking about sharing this with a friend, you can check out my other
Speaker:
podcast, which is find a podcast about where I help you outsmart the algorithm
Speaker:
and find your next binge worthy podcast.
Speaker:
You can find that one at find a podcast about dot X, Y, Z.
Speaker:
All right it's time for you to get on with your day.
Speaker:
I need to go ahead and get on with my day.
Speaker:
It's been a pleasure talking with you and.
Speaker:
I can't wait to hear what you're doing in your neck of the woods
Speaker:
with being present in the moment.
Speaker:
So go out there and tame that inner critic.
Speaker:
Create more than you consume.
Speaker:
Go out there and make some art for somebody you love.
Speaker:
Do it right now in this moment,
Speaker:
make that art for somebody you love yourself.
Speaker:
I'll talk with you next time.
Join the Email List
Listen On
Support On
