We’ve been talking about fear. What
does it want? What does it need? What can it offer us? We’ve noted that when we
take the bold step of dialoguing with fear, we can discover those answers and
use them to help us achieve our writing goals.
Once we better understand our
particular fears’ motivations, we’re ready answer a second set of questions.
1. Assessment. Where am I now?
2. Goal/aim. Where do I want to be?
3. Obstacles. Where do I get stuck? What gets in the way?
4. Action plan. How do I get there? What do I need to develop?
(See “Creative Catalyst” archives: http://storycircle.typepad.com/scn/creativity)
As we did in our last post (3.2), we’ll
use the situation of “Helen”, a stay-at-home mom who wants to write more, to
illustrate.
1. Assessment.
Helen fears that if she takes steps toward her goal of writing more her family
will suffer.
2. Goal/aim. Helen wants
to live a balanced life with the freedom to give to both her family and her
writing practice.
3. Obstacles.
Helen gets stuck in several ways, some internal and some practical.
Emotionally, she is fearful and perhaps feeling guilty. Mentally, she is caught
in either/or thinking; adding more weight to one side of the family/writing
balance beam means upsetting the other side. Practically, there are a host of
tasks to perform to keep the children well cared for, her husband happy, and
the household running.
4. Action plan.
Helen needs to do further analysis of her situation and planning. This is what
we’ll focus on in this post.
At a family meeting Helen tells her
family what she wants to do (write more) and why. She also tells them upfront
that she’ll need their help. Together, the family members list what they perceive
to be their needs. Even the youngest children participate.
Helen then analyzes the list. What
do others expect? What is absolutely required? Everyone needs to eat, of
course, and the kids need clean clothes for school, for example. What would be
nice but isn’t necessary? Cooking a gourmet meal every night would be nice for
the family but definitely not necessary, particularly with young ones at the
table.
At this point Helen asks herself the
key question, “What matters to me?” She puts Writing! up
there at top of the page, before she starts listing family answers.
Finally, Helen engages in the
process of identifying trade-offs and identifies other areas, which can do
double-duty. For example, if she bikes with the kids, she’ll spend time with them,
provide exercise for all of them, and save money on gas.
Once she takes the first steps, it
begins to dawn that “We might have more choices than we think.” Helen
continues to brainstorm ideas to expand the envelope of
possibilities. She puts more structure into family life. Importantly, she
continues to talk with her family, making them an integral part of the process.
Helen discovers that more flexible thinking sometimes yields unconventional shortcuts. Meal preparation, for example, is an area where she’d like to spend less time. What if there were ways to cut the number of food shopping trips? Could she simplify her menus? Could she roughly plan out her menus for the entire month and shop from that plan? She could try using more fresh produce toward the beginning of the month and more sturdy produce like cabbage, potatoes, carrots, and celery toward the end of the month. That would allow her to stack the refrigerator and larder to access the fresh produce first. This may seem a little radical, but if it helps Helen reduce time on a family need and open up time for her writing, it makes sense. Writing keeps it place high on the list.
_________________
Column written by Janet Grace Riehl of St. Louis in collaboration with Stephanie Farrow of Albuquerque. July’s post, third and last in this cycle considers: “Can we negotiate with fear?
Pose questions about practical creativity; give
ideas for future cycle themes; and join in the dialog in the comment section
below. If you’d like to see previous articles in this series, go to
http://storycircle.typepad.com/scn/creativity/
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