"When your values are clear to you, making decisions becomes easier."
                                                                                                                       Roy E. Disney

Value is the word that I would like to focus on this week. When you are living a creative life or creating the life you want to live it is important to know what you value.  Sometimes the people or things we value the most are given the least amount of attention which in my opinion is the opposite of what it should be.  The people and things we value should be given the most time, the most care, and the most attention of all that we do. And that definitely includes ourselves.                     

Living a creative life is not always easy and so it is important that we take care of ourselves. It is easy to get to the end of the day and realize that we have not take a breath or said a kind word or taken a minute to celebrate all that we have done. It is important to value the smallest step we have taken and to celebrate it.  It's important to pause throughout the day to get up and walk away from our desk, to look out the window, or to take a walk around the block to clear our head or to inspire our thoughts. 

What is it that you value?  I value my family and friends.  I value my health and my home.  I value my time.  I value my love of learning. I value my writing and I value my art. I value helping others. The list could continue and it will.  It's important to know what you value and to be sure that it is given its rightful place in your life.  

I'd like to invite you to take a minute to think about or write down the people and things that you value.  Are you taking care of those people and things?  Are they being given the time and respect that they deserve?  If not, what one step could you take today to be sure that the people and things that you value are in your life not only today but everyday?  

        When you share your gifts and your talent with the world, magic happens.  Let the magic begin!
                                                                                                                  Ginny


                                                         Create the life you want to live!
                                                               ginny.lennox@comcast.net

I really love this week's letter -  U - because it stands for something so important.  Unique!  We are all unique and different and special and talented.  Many years ago I was lucky enough to teach children that were identified as gifted and talented. The only thing that bothered me was that I knew that each and every child in the school was gifted and talented and deserved to be taught the same things that I was teaching the students in my class.  So I did my best to share with each person who entered the school my philosophy that we are all special with unique gifts and talents.  I was lucky enough to work with teachers who also saw each child as unique and who welcomed me into their classrooms to share what I had learned with their students. 

I carry this philosophy into this phase of my life.  As I meet people who are embracing and developing the creative side of their life, I encourage them to acknowledge and celebrate their uniqueness. So many times people have an idea but say that it has been done before.  And my standard answer is, "But not by you."  We all bring into our projects our experiences, our perspectives and our knowledge which is different from anyone else's. It's the colors we use on our paintings, the words we choose for our stories, the way we position a chair in the room or the food we decide to serve together that can turn something from ordinary to unique and different.

So I encourage you to celebrate what you do!  Honor who you are and the work that you do.  We are all unique.  We are all different and that is what makes our world so special.

           When you share your gifts and talent with the world, magic happens.  Let the magic begin!
                                                                                                                              Ginny

                                                        Create the life you want to live.
                                                                ginny.lennox@comcast.net

                                          "Don't wait.  The time will never be just right."  Napoleon Hill

This week I had a hard time deciding which word I wanted to focus upon.  Trust is so important when living a creative life. Trusting yourself and your talents. Trusting that the world will understand what you are writing or painting or building.  Yet over and over again I hear people say, "If only I had the time, I would paint or write or run or start my own business.  And then it came to me.  Combine the two words and remind people to:

                                  Trust that you have the time to create the life you want to live. 

In week one I wrote about the importance of awareness.  Awareness is an important factor in finding the time to do what you want.  Look at how you are spending your days. Look at how you are spending your weekends.  Are you filling each moment with something that you want to do?  Are there things you can say no to?  Are you spending a lot of time watching TV or on social media?  What are you doing now that you can replace with something that you really want to do?

Begin making small changes. Watch one less TV show and use that time to write.  Get up five minutes earlier and begin your morning writing in your journal.  During your lunch break take five minutes to meditate or to walk outside and breath in the fresh air.  Notice how you feel. Set aside a specific place for your paints.  Plan five minutes each day to pick up the brush and to create what you can.  If the five minutes turns into more time, celebrate.  If five minutes is all that you can devote each day, that's fine.  The minutes will turn into hours and you will slowly accomplish more than if you had never started. 

Before you go to sleep each night write down the things you did that day which are helping you to create the life you want to live.  Again, awareness is key to finding and recognizing the time you are devoting to living creatively. It's important to celebrate even the smallest amount of time given to your dreams.  Then plan for the upcoming day. Many creative people resist a schedule.  But remember you are the person in charge of your schedule.  You are the one who is finding the time to do what you need to do.  If a schedule helps you to do that, then it is a tool that may become one of your best friends.  

Trust that you have the time to fill your day with special moments.  Then take the time to create those moments and to enjoy them no matter how small.  It's your life.  Spend it the way that means the most to you!

How will you spend your time today?

          When you share your talent and your dreams with the world, magic happens.  Let the magic begin!
                                                                                                                          Ginny

                                                        Create the life you want to live!
                                                              ginny.lennox@comcast.net