I was talking with one of my sons last night when The Grasshopper interrupted our conversations with this:

“You’re a puzzle solver but you want to be a puzzle maker.”

Are you constantly solving problems? If so, that doesn’t leave a whole lot of time for creativity – a force that makes you feel alive.

In order for creativity to come in, we have to get out of our heads. If our heads are constantly filled with problems, we stay trapped inside the border, and creativity is just past the edge of our puzzle.

When our troubles and woes take up most of our mental real estate, there’s not much room for creativity to visit. After all, there’s only so much room inside.

If you’re puzzled how to get outside of your head, notice what’s going inside it. That means to catch yourself thinking. Then observe, not judge, your thoughts.

Observation of your mind at work separates you from the notion that you are your thoughts. You’re not. Prove it to yourself by watching your mind work. After just a bit of noticing, you’ll notice that your mind has a mind of it’s own and doesn’t need your participation. It will prattle on and challenge you to fight with it.

Observing your thoughts rather than doing battle with them, creates space. It’s in that space that you make room for creativity.

We’re all creative, we just have to get out of our head long enough for creativity to make an entrance.

Puzzled? Begin the habit of noticing your mind at work. It’s a guaranteed way to find the missing piece – Creativity.

All the best,

John

The Grasshopper asked this question a few moons ago: “Is Your Toner Running Low?”

Anyone who’s operated a copy machine can attest to being there when the toner cartridge was low. Their prints were not as sharp and defined as they were with the proper amount of toner.

Is the toner in your life in low supply? I know mine has been at times. I call it the “nobody loves me” mode. My passion (toner) is at a low ebb and nothing seems to be in crisp, clear focus. Life is hard to read.

Even things that have brought me joy in the past fade in passion when my toner runs low. Low passion is a warning sign that you’re about to run out of toner. And if that happens, life just fades away.

It’s valuable to notice when you’re at a low point. It’s the noticing that gives you the opportunity to do something about it. Not noticing makes it seem like a self-fulfilling prophecy that you have a date with destiny.

Let’s take a look at my low point warning: “Nobody loves me.” That is my red flag to start to take notice of all the examples to the contrary. Even if I can’t seem to find any, I’m still left with the option of “I love me.”

When you find a counter-example to your assertion, it opens the door to possibility. When the possibility door is open, creativity is not too far behind. Creativity is passion by another name.

Passion resurfaces when possibilities are explored.

If you’ve slipped into the gray area of life where passion seems absent, take the time to consider possibilities. “What if?” questions are a great start. Start to explore possibilities even if they seem remotely possible. Think of the Norman Vincent Peale quote: “Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.”

If you notice your passion is running low, the remedy is to explore possibilities. When you consider what’s possible, the engine of creativity is engaged. When that happens, a clear print is not far behind.

All the best,

John

Here’s a “Blast from the Past” from The Grasshopper:

“Leave Magical Thinking At The Children’s Birthday Party.”

Magical thinking is the brand of pap that suggests all you have to do is “Conceive it and Believe it” to make it happen.
Seems no one got the abacus out and did the arithmetic on the rate of failure that belief system delivers.

I have no quarrel with conceiving and believing. They are great catalysts to start the ball rolling. The problem I have with “magical thinkers” is that’s all they think they have to do. Action is absent from their “abracadabra” ideas.

There are many who believe if you say it often enough or believe it fervently enough that will make it happen. The harsh reality is that’s never enough. I’m reminded of an old blonde joke . . .

God Loves Blondes

A blonde finds herself in serious trouble.
Her business has gone bust and she’s in dire financial straits.
She’s desperate so she decides to ask God for help.
She begins to pray . . . “God, please help me. I’ve lost my business and if I don’t get some money, I’m going to lose my house as well. Please let me win the lottery.”

Lottery night comes, and somebody else wins.

She again prays . . .”God, please let me win the lottery! I’ve lost my business, my house and I’m going to lose my car as well.”

Lottery night comes and she still has no luck.

Once again, she prays . . . “My God, why have you forsaken me? I’ve lost my business, my house, and my car. My children are starving.

I don’t often ask You for help, and I’ve always been a good servant to You. PLEASE let me win the lottery just this one time so I can get my life back in order.”

Suddenly there is a blinding flash of light as the heavens open.

The blonde is overwhelmed by the Voice of God, Himself . . .
“Sweetheart, work with Me on this…. Buy a ticket.”

Magical Thinking is not gender specific nor isolated to a specific culture. It’s a worldwide epidemic and there is only one cure – Action!

Conceive and believe ‘till your heart’s content but don’t expect any results until you put your magic wand away and go out there and seize the day. That’s the magic formula for making hay.

All the best,

John

During a recent hospital visit I had time to reflect on some past Grasshopper Notes. This one hopped out at me:

“You’ll Run Out Of Breath Before You Run Out Of Excuses.”

Have you ever noticed that excuses are never ending? The antithesis of personal culpability comes in the form of an excuse, the constant issuance of which will leave you breathless.

Need validation? Ask just about any high school student who’s failing a subject the reason why. You will get a never-ending bevy of responses like: “ALL the kids are failing” to “The teacher doesn’t like me” and everything in between.

The biggest and most lame excuse we offer is, “I tried.” I remember my hypnosis teacher Dr. Dave Dobson asking us to “try” and pick up a pen from the table. He was quick to go “Yoda” on us and point out that we were either picking it up or we weren’t.

“Try,” according to Dave, was a word we learned in toilet training. When we didn’t make it to the bathroom for whatever the reason, we found out very quickly that exclaiming, “I tried” absolved us of any responsibility. We carried that learning forward and became excuse-making machines.

The difficulty is that excuses are like bad checks; they can’t be cashed. We keep writing them but there is no capital to back them up.

I find the ultimate catchall excuse to be: “That’s just the way I am.” When we can’t justify our actions, we encompass every known excuse into this empty, six-word declaration. You know you’ve run into a world-class excuser when you hear this phrase.

Excuses will always delay our progress. If you are offering a steady stream of them, your forward progress will be dammed up and you’ll be held in place by your own excuses. There’s no excuse for that.

A life of justifying is a life of lying. When you start to retire your excuses one-by-one, you begin to breathe easier and the dam begins to break apart without any huffing and puffing on your part.

If you just found an excuse for why you can’t begin this retiring process, plan on staying where you are until you run out of breath.

All the best,

John

I was going over some past writings and came across this: a timely reminder we can all use.

“The Escape Hatch From Your Life’s Story Is Presence” – Grasshopper

What is presence and how does it help you escape?
Presence is noticing what’s going on right now. Your story is about what has happened or what could happen. By being present to only what’s here now, you escape the past masquerading as the present, and eliminate the shade being thrown your way by an imagined future.

Presence can easily be discovered by just stopping and noticing your breathing. It was going on before you stopped to notice, but now it’s in your awareness and you are present to it.

When you are present to something, you are laser focused on something. If you’re focused on something in your present, your past and future, and your life story go out of focus. Presence is your escape hatch from a fable that’s defining your life.

You can become present to anything in your environment – sights, sounds, sensations. It just takes a conscious act of focus.

When focused, you become present to your present – which has no resemblance to the life story you’ve been living and telling.

The more often you become present to what’s actually going on, the more distance you create between you and your story.

Presence presents possibilities that the blinders of stories keep you from seeing.

If you’re looking for a gift to move you forward, treat yourself to some presence in the present.

All the best,

John