It’s not what you think.
You think that I am going to tell you to get creative in ways to make money.
“Earrings for goats!”
“Ride share unicycles!”
Or creative ways to save money.
“Turn COVID19 masks into adult diapers!”
“Eat air for dinner.”
But the creative mind is a money mind in more ways than coming up with that million-dollar idea.
Simply doing something… anything… creatively uses a different part of the brain than the money/worry part.
When you step back and paint or write or sing you are engaging the part of your brain that searches for new and novel solutions.
THAT’S what gets you unstuck.
Your creativity doesn’t have to be related to your problem.
The other day I was worried that all of my husband’s work opportunities were drying up during the pandemic shutdown.
How would we make our money situation work?
How would we pay the bills?
(Imagine wringing of hands here.)
So what did I do?
I made a birthday card for a friend.
And as I cut and pasted, colored and glittered, it suddenly struck me (as happens during creative bursts) that we could rob a liquor store.
Not that we would.
But we have options.
And that got me giggling (another great part of your brain to tickle if you want to get out of a pickle) and it popped into my brain to look for other ways I could make money.
Just because I already have a job doesn’t mean I can’t double down. I would gladly do it.
My husband is a hard worker. And I am too.
We are a team.
If I had remained focused on the problem… he doesn’t have work… I would never even have thought about all of the different options we have.
We could live in our camper and lease our house.
We could dip into our retirement savings.
We could sell things.
We could get our kids to work and contribute.
We are well equipped to handle time of financial adversity, but it wasn’t always that way.
And it makes me feel freer to think about all my options.
Creativity, my friends… that’s freedom on a stick.
You can plan your year out of fear.
Or you can plan the year from a place of abundance.
How would a millionaire plan for the year?
Out of excitement?
From a place of confidence?
If you knew you were a magnet for money, how would you plan for 2021?
How does Sheryl Sandberg plan for her year?
I’ll bet she looks at how to maximize what she does best.
And looks at where she can create something brand new and challenge the status quo.
When you have confidence that the money will be there, you fill your calendar with things that fulfill you and feel like play on a big scale.
And it’s those very things on your calendar that bring you abundance.
It’s full circle.
You can’t plan from a place of scarcity
and create abundance.
You have to make plans feeling that abundance right now.
What are you doing in 2021?
Usually this time of year I would write this blog post offering you holiday gift ideas that aren’t “stuff”.
Give the gift of experiences.
Make it about the meaning, not the money.
Let the clutter go.
Yada, yada, yada.
So I started my list.
And then I stopped.
Because my usual gift buying enthusiasm is on vacation this year.
This year all of the rules have gone out the window.
Up is down.
I just don’t feel dialed in.
Gifts… no gifts… whatever.
This year I am looking for a way to connect with people.
I feel a bit disconnected.
I am looking for a way to pick myself up and slog through another day in spite of the days looking shockingly alike.
Day after day.
Week after week.
I want an emotional defibrillation.
I’m not in the holiday spirit.
And that’s okay.
Because getting through a difficult time doesn’t always look pretty.
I’m not depressed.
But I’m not clicking my heels either.
A part of me feels like it would be ridiculous to put on my Pollyanna face, smile, deck the halls and ignore all of the death and isolation and financial downslide.
And yes, I know that this is just a part of the cycle.
Life has seasons.
And this is winter.
Both literally and figuratively.
So I’m not feeling jolly.
Hey – I have no problem if you are enjoying the heck out of Christmas.
But I’m in neutral.
And that feels right for me right now.
That feels natural right now.
Neutral with glimpses of happy.
And if you want an idea about what to give for Christmas, buy your loved ones a subscription to Hulu. Or a psychic reading. Or give them a Zoom lesson on baking bread.
Go connect and spread your dazzling self around. You are a beacon.
Visions of sugar plums and all that.
But if what you need is to lay down and watch an episode of the Queen’s Gambit instead of adding one more item to your Amazon cart, then do it.
It’s a down cycle.
It’s the yang to the yin.
And that’s okay.