Weeknotes

Weeknotes: Courage over fear and process over product

Written by LiLi Kathleen Bright on .

It’s playtime: Developing a growth mindset meets generative over productive. In other words, process over product and embracing courage. Creative rest and energy are my watchwords. In other words, it’s time to play!

Things I learned the week ending 7th Feb

Well, this whole entry is about stuff I’m learning this week… Maybe to summarise I can give more of an aspiration and some affirmations:

  • I am surrendering fear.
  • I am embracing courage.
  • I ask and receive the help that I need.
  • I am loved.

And by love, I mean love as an action, not a feeling.

Surrendering fear, embracing courage

  • Surrender fear, embrace courage
    • Switch Twitter to Public again
    • Switch LinkedIn to Public again

Ingredients in this stew

I’m not sure how I feel, or what I think, about chakras, but I LOVE cello. I did find it really helpful to focus on different aspects, in turn, and associated affirmations. By the time we got to surrender and letting go (crown chakra, connecting to the divine). I felt like I had received a lens with which to understand the Artist’s Way with new and different eyes.

Nia Opese Obed-di Hini = He who wants to be king. Service, Humility, Leadership. Society provides many examples of leadership that are toxic and self-serving. Leadership is about service, it is about understanding the needs of your community and serving them which sometimes can be to the detriment of your desires. It is not an easy role, but it is one you are made for. Additional meanings: Remember to be of service. Step into a leadership role in your life. Do not act from fear and defence.
Do not act from fear and defence. Leadership is not an easy role, but it is one you are made for.

Process, over product

After a deep rest meditation, I had a question:

Why don’t I let myself rest and play? How can I do that?

I actually said something more speculative and meandering than this, but it was in this vague direction

Reflections from Jaya Ashmore and from discussion in Art of Devotion is leading me to reflect on the importance of generative time, rather than productive time.

Playfulness is generative, not productive, which is why it’s dismissed and disparaged by capitalist society.

Ingredients in this stew:

Growth mindset

This TED Talk by Carol Dweck is a great intro to growth mindset.

I learned from a related video that Carol Dweck’s ideas are pretty new. 40 years ago there was a completely different established scientific opinion and understanding about intelligence, i.e. fixed mindset, belief that each person has a fixed limit to how much they can learn. Seriously impressive research by Carol Dweck. (Incidentally, I just had a look at her CV, she has 15 pages of publications listed on it!)

If you want more, here’s a 40 minute video of Carol Dweck on Perfectionism. Culture of genius, looking & feeling smart at all times and at all costs vs valuing learning & growth over achieving.

5 random things for which I’m grateful

  • Evil Roots: Killer Tales of the Botanical Gothic edited by Daisy Butcher
    I don’t remember how I found out about this book, only that I had an inkling it’s exactly my kind of thing as soon as I read the title. I’ve been reading a story from this collection each night; and it’s delightful.
  • The advice a dear friend gave me to write to my inner child and use my non-dominant hand to write back in my morning pages. Because I did that, I learned that my child self wanted a kid’s birthday party (I’ve never had one), so I’m giving that playtime to myself. Because of that, my insomnia has tapered off.
  • Black Blossoms for incredible black art education, in particular Evan Ifekoya‘s class, which I started this week. Incredible to connect with so many people around such important topics as rest, ritual and performance.
  • Friends that I work well with; it’s SO much fun, and I’ve been having all sorts of epiphanies about what freelancing can mean, and how collaborating with folks where we’ve chosen each other is a whole other playful and generative experience.
  • Opportunities for connection and learning. Such as last week’s Embodied Social Justice Summit and Radical Dharma community, and this week’s Conversation between Valerie Mason-John & Phyll Opoku-Gyimah, and dharma talk by Lama Rod Owens. And, every week since November, deep rest and dharma with Jaya Ashmore.

And, of course, all the wisdom and teachers, especially those I’m sharing here.

And another thing…

I’m playing with this metaphor around stone soup, with contributions from all over. If you’ve read my latest extract from my companion to The Artist’s Way, you may remember this idea. I’m musing about synchronicity and how wisdom comes from so many sources, often building on other insights. Currently thinking of this as ingredients for a stew, for which I’m grateful. So, that’s what’s happening with that.