My 'Trimming' Season

It was said, 'You can not be the Jack of all trades' - the master of none. I decided in the few weeks approaching the end of December to evaluate and examine the way I've walked my journey so far. I came to find out that I've wasted most of my energy doing things that is not in alignment with my gifts and talents, things only based on assignments, things I didn't find enjoyment doing, burdensome and boring. Things that brought me to my knees and drove me to the wall. Things that pinched my nerves.

So, I began my trimming session. I trimmed branches that bore me little and almost no fruits, activities and connections that is not producing much, and decided to only concentrate on the little few that I can cultivate. These little few are the ones God placed in my hands. He entrusted me with those - like the master gave 5 or 2 or even 1 talents to the servants.

Cultivating and aiming to be excellent in what He called and designed you to be, will make you a unique individual. You will be irreplaceable - just the way He wanted it to be. There won't be anybody in the face of this earth that can be like you. ... hmm, just this thought is already comforting :)

I know that time will come when He will ask of my accountability.

I don't want to stand shy before Him, ashamed that I have not produce anything of those few talents He gave me.

So, 2010 is my trimming season...

What Blocks your Creativity?

Blocks to creativity exist when you find yourself not having a creative space that you can escape to. Your life feels dull and you do not feel inspired. You experience little joy in what you do. It is more like going through the motions!!

Blocks to creativity also exist if you find yourself falling short of your potential. Your inner knowing tells you that you are capable of much more; yet when you try, it seems hard to have a major breakthrough. It is possible that you are stifling the genius within, when you do not allow adequate self expression.

10 Blocks to your creativity

1. Fear of Criticism
Perhaps one of the biggest blocks to exploring creativity lay in the fears that your ideas will be criticised. You are afraid that you will not receive support. After all, if your ideas are new and have never been explored before, you put yourself at risk of being ridiculed for them. You perceive that the more your ideas deviate from current norms and trends, the greater the chance of receiving a poor response to them. In seeking to protect your fragile ego, you prefer not to voice your ideas. You would rather not even indulge in your creative daydreams to begin with!

2. Fear of Making Mistakes
Then, there is also the fear that you are setting yourself up for more failures by coming up with new ideas. While creativity gives you a chance for innovation, your ideas may turn out to be a success or a complete flop. “Wouldn’t it be safer to stick to conventions or to old and tested ways?” you reasoned. Fear of making mistakes can be a huge obstacle, preventing you from exploring creativity freely.

“Creativity requires the courage to let go of certainties.”
Quote by Erich Fromm

3. Too Much Clutter
Too much clutter can block the flow of creativity. Clutter can be both mental or physical clutter. In terms of mental clutter, creative ideas cannot flow freely if you are limited by thoughts of negativity like fear, blame, worry or shame. It will be quite impossible for ideas to come round, if your mind is constantly busy with thoughts; such as making arrangements for your schedule, how to make ends meet or whether or not to join the MLM program that your friend is promoting.

In terms of physical clutter, too much paper and things lying around, as well as too many possessions, can be distracting. They are productive suckers, occupying your mind with little or no space left to explore creativity.
(Sur comments: At here where the Concept Map can help you to structure your cluterred mind.)

4. Low Self Confidence
If you suffer from low confidence, you may believe that you are not capable. Hence, you choose to believe that you are not able to come up with creative ideas. You think that creativity is the domain of only geniuses or those who are smarter than you. Limiting thoughts make great blocks to creativity!

5. Not Enough Time To Relax
A brain that is overworked, with no time set aside for relaxation, will find it hard to produce creative ideas. It is too busy with thoughts on activities and tasks. When you are relaxed, great ideas will flow like gushing water from a tap that is fully turned on.

6. Inadequate Sleep
Inadequate sleep can hinder you in coming up with creative ideas the next day. Your physical body needs to feel good first before you can develop and explore your mental creative faculties.

In fact, it is said that many successful people have received their greatest revelations while in a dream-like state and transformed their own lives or even the world around them. One good example was Thomas Edison, who was awarded 1368 distinct patents and invented, including the incandescent light bulb, the phonograph, the film projector, and the first motion picture. Edison was known to have said, “Ideas come from space�. Edison purportedly took frequent naps in the afternoons and woke up with solutions to the most perplexing problems.

7. Lack of Priority
If you do not attach any importance to being creative, guess what? You are not going to enjoy the benefits of being creative either. You will be like how you are now - dull and listless. Consider setting aside time for developing creativity. It will be a good idea to also start keeping an idea journal, to faciliate this process.

8. Stubbornness
A refusal to let go of your existing beliefs and thoughts can limit you in thinking of new possibilities. The more you identify yourself with specific values, meanings, beliefs and symbols, the more you will stifle creativity. On the other hand, the more you focus on how values, meanings, beliefs and symbols are formed and interrelated, the more you can explore creativity.

9. Poverty Thinking
You tend to associate those in the creative arts as poor and struggling. Hence, you may feel that it is not important to explore creativity since it cannot help you pay your bills. Why bother to waste time developing right brain thinking when you can rely adequately on your left brain to feed you?

10. Inappropriate Comparisons
If you think that only special, talented people are creative and that geniuses are born and not made, then you may have no wish to develop your creative abilities. You protest that you can barely draw, sing or dance. You are definite that you are tone-deaf or color-blind. You consider people like Shakespeare, Picasso and Mozart as “gifted”.
(Sur comments: see again The Multiple Intelligence. Those people are gifted in Verbal/ Linguist, Visual and Musical; but perhaps lacks in Analytical/ logical side.)

Here is an exciting piece of information for you: When researchers examined outstanding performances in the arts, mathematics and sports, to determine if “the widespread belief that to reach high levels of ability, a person must possess an innate potential called talent”, they discovered the opposite. It is also important to highlight, for instance, that Mozart trained for 16 years before he produced a masterpiece.

While it is true that it is best to develop your innate abilities, the strict definitions of creativity to areas in arts, should not apply. Creativity is also an essential part of innovation and invention and is important in almost every profession. It can be explored, developed and trained in many ways.

The Little Girl with High Heels

I was enjoying my low-fat yogurt with my top three toppings when this little girl walked passed me. Something in her caught my attention immediately. I looked and observed and ... there it is... She was wearing this pink tank-top with a flowery skirt, her hair hang loose and... silvery high heels sandal. Ah... so small, cute... yet, so mature?

I can't shake this sight and went home capturing the image in the memory bank of my head.

As I did my research, here is what I found:
TIME magazine reported sales of thong underwear to 7-12 year old girls in excess of $1.6 million in the year 2003, and the trend continues along with other alarming fashion trends for little girls. Consider the findings of two years of study by an American Psychological Association (APA) task force on the sexualization of little girls. The APA task force’s report states that music lyrics, Internet content, video games and clothing are now being marketed to younger and younger girls. The smutty content of the marketing is linked to eating disorders, low self-esteem, and depression. Ironically, this early sexualization presented to young girls has “negative consequences on girls’ ability to develop healthy sexuality.” In experiencing sexuality too soon, they actually lose their ability to experience it in a healthy way as adult women.
Actually this is nothing new, or was I lost somewhere in the mountain that I didn't know what the trend is now. You can surf the web and you'll find babies with high heels, even the famous Suri Cruise whom comfortably walk alongside her mum with her high heels.

My concern is, as the media and fashion industry bombarding our little ones with products they can sell, we are beginning to loose the innocent of their childhood. We have awaken things in them that should not be awaken. We have introduce them to a world that soon will capture their desire and wanting.

My friend always have her little daughter accompanying her for her shopping spree, foot massages and spas session. Not long after, she found out that her little daughter began to want the same thing, dresses the same way she does. And she wonder why...? Hayoh...

The advise from Dennis Rainey stayed with me:
The earlier our young women begin learning modesty, the better. It is very hard for teenage girls to cover up more when they’ve not been trained in modesty from an early age, especially when they are living in a culture that encourages females to flaunt their bodies.Take bathing suits, for example. If you start allowing your daughter to wear a little two-piece bikini when she’s four, you may have a battle on your hands when her figure blossoms and you want to switch her to a one-piece suit at 14.

Time or Money

Max Lucado wrote: "Zachaeus was a wicked man. The cleanest thing he had was probably the money he took from the people. But, Jesus had time for him."
The word time stayed with me, and then like a cow chewing on and keep on chewing on its food, the realization began to sink in.

Here was this rich guy - well, he was rich from a 'dirty job' he was doing for the Roman empire. He had devoted all his energy chasing after this thing called 'money' that he thought was the highest currency of all. He was small in stature and the Bible didn't tell us whether his family was joining him during the great look out that day.

What amazed me is, when Jesus came near, without any restrain and hesitation, He stopped right in front of that sycamore tree and look up...

Now, how could this be if it is not being 'pre-arranged' by God??

I always marvel with findings like this. The burning bush, the wells (there are many great things happening by those 'wells', just outside the Jericho wall...and many more). I believe God has his agenda full with appointments, common meeting places where He would meet common people and then change them to be extraordinary men and women.

Then, Jesus called his name, "Zachaeus..." - ah, didn't I say so, He had it all planned. He knew it. He knew that Zachaeus would be up on that tree.

He said for Zachaeus to hurry up and come down, because that day He MUST abide at Zachaeus home. (KJV, Luke 19:5)

Wow... to come and visit is already great. To come and dine is superb. But... to come and abide?

This must not be true...or is it??

Jesus, the great healer, deliverer...the Son of God...abide ... in Zachaeus' home?

I looked up the original text and found out that the word 'abide' means 'to stay in a given place, to dwell, to continue, to endure'. (note that down, in a given place - He's not coming in by force!)

Jesus wants a permanent residence in the home of our hearts. He is not a temporary guest.

What Jesus was offering Zachaeus that precious noon day was something more valuable that the highest currency known to him. Jesus gave him His 'time'.

I used to think - even now, sometimes - that giving people 'time' is not a easy thing, especially in such a busy and hectic schedule. I mean, when you give somebody your precious 'time', it's not like you would sit idle with them. In giving people your time, I picture that you would be with them, talking, listening - umm, this is usually the hardest part - well, doing things together with them.

So, this is what Jesus did to Zachaeus on that special day. He went to Zachaues' home, sat in his living room, talking and listening to him, ate with him and his whole family. Boy, Zachaeus must have felt soooo special that day, to have somebody like Jesus spending time with him. He must have felt appreciated, accepted, loved...

The Lord spoke to me with this whole insight, ... I can always give people my money, but in giving them my time is when they would sense and feel the love I have for them. May God grace me in this area.

"Hibernating" time...

As we are approaching the Idul Fitri ...excitement is on the air, both for the Muslim and the non muslim. It's holiday...it's time to take 'time off' from the hectic and busy schedule.
All year round, I've been so tight up with works, going here and there, visiting, caring, encouraging, cheering others ...
It reminds me of my all used up laptop..it gets so hot at times because i use it all day. Then in moments time, it will simply goes off to black..to hibernate - it cool off ;)
So, this holiday season, I'm gonna take sometime off to hibernate. I'm having a little of "me" - time these next couple of days, to cool off, to gain strength, to wait upon the Lord and get filled up again.
I'll sit back and read some of the books I've been postponing reading and sipping cups of hot chocolate. ..ummm, can't wait for it!