It snowed last night! It's soooo beautiful!
I've been reading your responses to my questions and my heart is overwhelmed with the honesty pouring out of you. I've already got some amazing ideas about how I'm going to inspire you & support you in creating the BEST new year evaaaaah! Stay tuned.......
If you haven't filled me in on what's happening in your life yet, click here- or leave a comment below or send me an email at question@sandygrason.com This week's article is about a subject that seems to be coming up a lot in my life lately- marinating. Enjoy! May your week be filled with perfect moments & lots of Cheers! Mmmwwaaaaah! Merry Marinating=Major MOJO
I was in a major funk. You could call it a 'period of discontent' with my life and my job and everything that I’ve created over the last 5-10 years. It was set off by a rather humorous chain of events involving the movie “You, Me & Dupree” and a couple of very big speaking gigs in New York City and Canada. My two little girls were visiting my mom for a week. I had planned to be working on many different projects that needed to be completed while my kids were away, however, I found myself at home, alone all day, and questioning everything I was working on. Nothing felt inspiring. The projects that seemed so urgent the week before, felt boring and flat and depressing.
I called my mentor and told him my dilemma. My depressing tirade ended with; “I’ve got this whole week to myself, I'll just do a lot of meditating and journaling and figure out what my next step is."
His response surprised me. “No, don’t do any of that. Go shopping. Go float in the pool. Do nothing.”
Wow, that was the easiest homework he has given me in 15 years!
So, that is exactly what I did for one full week. Nothing! More accurately, I did exactly what I felt like doing at any given moment.
Another friend, who is a filmmaker in California, called me and asked what I was working on and I told him “Absolutely nothing. I’m marinating.”
He thought this was a pretty funny way to describe the familiar lapses in inspiration that most human beings go through periodically. We laughed about the“Sandy-licious Marinade” that I was cooking up and how we would bottle and sell it after it was all over.
The word “marinate” just seemed to fit what I was feeling. I knew something juicy was coming, but I didn’t know what it was. I felt anxious and unsettled. I wallowed in these feelings for a few days and resisted my urge to ‘fix’ it. Have you ever felt this way?
I worked on a few things, but only what felt FUN to me in the moment. I noticed what projects were ‘calling’ to me. I picked up my guitar and wrote songs. I played a lot with my friends. It was so refreshing to just Be Myself and Have Fun. And then it happened...
One morning I woke up with that familiar feeling of inspiration. A new idea. An idea that pulled me out of bed in order to write it all down. I am so excited about these new projects that we’ll be rolling out in the next few months.
This is the perfect time of year to marinate. You may be feeling a desire to hibernate already. Have you been judging yourself? Stop it right now! Make a date with yourself to just Be with Your Self and Have Fun. Give yourself a little time to relax and refresh. Whether you are an artist or an accountant, give yourself the gift of time for some merry marinating.
