Inspired Action

sneak peek of my inspired action play time

A dear creative friend of mine turned me on to the idea of inspired action recently. I haven't been making much progress on my have-to or my want-to do list lately as I've been in my usual Fall funk (with a dash of overwhelm and some self-imposed stress brought on by some big changes coming my way.) So sitting on the couch yesterday morning like the lumpiest lump, I decided to put inspired action into practice.

The super awesome part is, the first step requires self-soothing. So I went to my beloved oceanfront yoga. I rode my bike the long way home on the bay. I came home to my journal, a cup of tea and a pep-talk from my husband. (OK, I went all out, but really a nice bubble bath, a quiet walk in nature, or even just ten minutes of sitting and breathing counts as soothing. Do what works for you! I spent a lot of time stressing this week, so I knew I needed a heaping dose of self-care.)

Step 2 (equally as awesome): Let your heart guide you. What action calls to you? What desire needs fulfilling right this minute? This could be a baby step towards a goal or project, something on your to-do list, or maybe a little more self-care. It can also very likely be something random like getting the feeling that you should call a certain person or the nudge to jump in your car and drive somewhere you hadn't planned. What feels meaningful, sounds fun, intriguing or inspiring? What random thought just popped into your head? You'll know you've got your inspired action in mind when your whole body screams, "Yes, go do that right now!" It won't feel forced. It won't feel like an inappropriate use of your time. You will just know in your gut that it's the thing you need to act on to keep yourself in your happy place or to unearth something fascinating. It will be the obvious next step.

After my morning of self-care, my whole body screamed, "Go clean your art space right now!" Not totally random, but I'd been putting it off for weeks, and no art was getting done as a result. It wasn't on my list of priorities for the day, but all of a sudden the task didn't seem so tedious and I knew I had to act while I had the urge. Within ten minutes, I found myself with a clear art desk and was just itching to put it to good use. My next inspired action- to play with my paints and collage papers! And I was beside myself delighted to get an idea for my next creative project out of it! (Will share more about that soon.)

So how does inspired action work? The soothing acts of self-care will rejuvinate your spirit so your ego mind is no longer in control and attempting to take planned actions. When we make space to rejuvenate our spirits, we also clear space in our hearts for guidance. We are able to see through the overwhelm (or uninspired laziness  in some cases) and know exactly the next step to take. Doing the inspired action will energize us and will lead to the next inspired action!

"Inspired action works because your ego can only see limited terrain while the universe can see it all. It comes from the bigger picture, which you can't always see until you've taken the actions you're being inspired to take." ~Dr. Joe Vitale

This is exactly what I experienced when my new idea was born! I'm so glad I trusted my intuition.

I'd love to hear your stories of inspired action. What do you do to soothe yourself and what inspired actions has your heart guided you to? What surprising insights came from those inspired actions?