Let your inner child have fun

Today I felt like painting with water colors but my first thought was something like "You are not a child anymore, why don't you do adult stuff, something productive etc.?". It's good that I chose not to listen to this first thought, because finding time for and allowing your inner child to get creative from time to time is a nice way of clearing some head space.

So I began looking up "easy things to paint" because I do not feel like I have special talents in this area. I started small by drawing the lines of a flower and a ladybug I saw online. When I liked the result I started filling it with watercolors. In the meantime I made myself a 3 in 1 coffee for a little energy boost.

The creative process took place on my bedroom floor

See, I was not aiming for perfection, I was just letting my thoughts run free while listening to a podcast on YouTube. I noticed it is a suitable way of relaxation for me because I've tried meditation but I can't seem to stay still and concentrate on my breathing for a long time with getting the beneficial effects this practice promises. While I've not given up on meditation completely and wish to practice in the future, I might have found a thing that calms me down :). Concentrating myself on the details allowed me to escape my own thoughts for a little bit and I think that people these days generally need more moments like this, because they (of course including myself) are so devoted and obsessed with their own thoughts and inner dialogue. What's more, the conscious does not seem to get enough rest in this information age we live in, because we are bombarded with information sources coming from everywhere.

I guess my point is just that we should free up some time for enjoyable activities, even if our logical reasoning tried to convince us it is a waste of time at first. No, I did not lose an hour of my time, I got an hour of relaxation and pleasure. The final result does not matter, but this is what it was. I found it cute, though very simple and non-professional - this was not the point.

See you next time with some new random thoughts. Take care :)

-A.

On doing it now

Everything you do now is for your future. We know that but sometimes we fall into thinking that the best thing to do in the present moment is to enjoy ourselves now. Which is also true. So how is it possible to both enjoy now and be disciplined enough to be able to work on projects that will benefit your future? If you have an idea, please share it with me.

Currently I am struggling with finding motivation for studying. I know it is important because it is the final step I need to take, so what is the problem? I really, really do not want to do it. So after spending hours of watching videos on motivating yourself to do something you do not want to, I noticed one thing. Although some of them were helpful, nothing beats action.

You could spend whole days and weeks just avoiding the thoughts of just starting whatever it is that you want to achieve. This blog was also a thing I wanted to be serious with, I always liked writing, just the process of getting ideas out of your head and then getting free mind space. But finding perfect excuses seemed to be stronger. Today I just woke up and thought about what am I putting off and writing blog posts, besides studying, was an obvious thing.

That is why I sat down and started doing it. And I can assure you it feels good. It is not accomplishing a task just with one big chunk, but about starting, taking the first step now, as soon as your mind gives birth to the idea of action (see Plato's philosophy and his theory of forms and ideas).
Before letting your own thoughts get in the way and distract you or persuade you that you could do something else instead. Of course you could do, but you have the choice to freely choose what it is, do not let this beautiful mind of yours (with the help of old and established habits) dictate what you do.

I think it is really that simple. Just do it now, without much thinking, because ideas will only stay ideas if you do not choose to turn them into actions. Another personal example is working out. I started taking little actions every day - I set a timer on my iPhone for 5 min. and started doing exercises. Of course this will not get me in shape fast, but it is a small step into what I think is the right direction. So before I have time to say to myself "maybe later", "I don't feel like it" or "I will do it tomorrow" I just take action. It feels great! Now I just have to transfer these steps into the action of studying.

On the one hand I am probably stating the obvious for some people, but on the other I believe that this would help somebody, which will make me really happy :)