I confess to being somewhat disappointed with this 'ere so-called 'Joy' Diet. This week promised a chapter on 'creativity'. "At last!" thinks I... something I am good at. Some fun. Alas, we were not instructed to grab paintbrush, scissors, glue and squeeze tubes of colour with wild abandon.Pity the poor girl who is still shying away from looking for her deepest desires; now Ms Beck wants me to go about fulfilling them. Is the woman mad? No Lisa. I think you'll find that the insane one is you. The mad woman speaks sense. She's pushing you out of your safe little cocoon and into the wide world of opportunity.
It's all very interesting but I do need more time to digest and practice. I'm afraid that a chapter a week is getting a bit too much for me. I'm tempted to duck out now and work through my book at my own pace, but I also know that without the pressure from teacher and class mates, I'll probably never get around to finishing it. I'll keep trying. I'm just trying to cram too much into my life.
With creativity this week everything seems to be coming back to work... You see, in the six months I've been there I've come up with dozens of creative innovations (as Martha suggests) - some sensible, others a bit off the wall. That's who I am. What I do. But they don't like them. Oh no, far too much fun suggested, too different, modern. I actually used a quote from the book with a like-minded colleague (rarer than a spineless hedgehog) to try and explain where I was coming from.
"If something is worth doing, it's worth doing badly"
I use this one a lot too... "What's the worst that could happen?"
Aghrrr. I don't want to talk about work any more this week. Banned.
Back to creativity. I rather enjoyed removing false dichotomies, I guess I was pretty comfortable with this. I wasn't too sure about the enemy thing though. I haven't tried it yet. Again it's taking me out of my comfort zone.
I'm finding the book a worthwhile exercise, but at the moment I feel like I'm trying to drive a large truck when I've only just passed my cycling proficiency test. I want to get the most from this, but I'm rushing. It almost feels like I just need to go back to the beginning and start again more slowly. Anyone else the same? The whole digging into my deepest feelings is not a natural thing for me. I know I should do it, but it's REALLY HARD and I'm feeling a bit lost!
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Yeah, I also feel that we're going really fast with this. I've made an arrangement with myself to not take it to seriously, and just taste a bit of each chapter, see what works and what doesn't. Maybe I'll start over again later, maybe not. I wouldn't even try the enemy ting if I were you, it had not much use for me.
ReplyDeleteHi - you expressed my feelings exactly - I found this weeks chapter overwhelming and I am still trying to do "nothing" from chapter one.
ReplyDeleteHere here!! This chapter disappointed me immensely. Not the idea of doing something badly, of trying and failing so that you can get better at what you do. I just found some of the suggested exercises not within the realm of my possibility and given that this was to take me closer to my heart's desire, I feel like I'm still waiting for the lightbulb to go off. I'll find it, but I'm not sure that Martha is the one who is going to point me in the right direction.
ReplyDeleteYes, I know what you mean. I am chewing on this chapter. The enemy-stuff. Most of the blogs I read by now did not even mention the topic. I can only agree: it's too much. It's too much time. Because we are far beyond 15 minutes of chanting or doing nothing now, you need at least an hour a day to go through the first 4 chapters. And this is not enough, now comes risks, than play and treats and feasting etc. Allright, a full time joy diet? A 24-hours-Beck-day??? Maybe we should write her a letter, how this should be managed?!
ReplyDeleteI said the very same thing in my post- that at the end maybe we should each pick a chapter to revisit. You think you are having trouble, check out some of the other posts :) We are all treading water in this one.
ReplyDeleteYES! It does feel fast for me, too. Every week I've progressively found myself wanting more and more time to just sit with the ideas and play with them. I think I'll keep going as a first pass thru the book with The Next Chapter, but I will probably stew with many of Martha's ideas for a long time before really integrating them. This chapter in particular has lots of ideas I already use a lot, but the perseverate thing has me in a tizzy. ?? Anyway... you are not alone! :)
ReplyDeletemiracles,
k-
It may be this book is not for you. That is what I find for me. This is my last post for it. I will keep reading what others think. But I do not like where it put me . I have to take back my own joy.
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with you completely...I'm not quite ready to move forward yet either!
ReplyDeletehaha..I feel so much better after reading your post and all the comments! I definitely had issues with this chapter and actually BOOK too. I tried at the start and actually it went pretty well at the start..but then fell apart fast. You can read more about my thoughts on my blog if you want. BUT like Grammy I am not going to be pursuing the rest of the book. A dark shadow hangs over me now as a constant reminder of all I am apparently NOT doing to try to reach my desires or goals when most of my goals right now in my life hinge on others. I can do what I NEED to do to reach them...but apparently others can't.
ReplyDeleteAND there are some things I too have not yet figured out......some of my desires...or goals...while I realize this is an ongoing process I have to wonder how wise it is to do one chapter a WEEK as well. MAYBE if you already KNOW what you want to be when you grow up......etc.....but if time is a real issue for you (as it is for me) and many environmental factors come into play that affect or change what you may want to do...these instructions are just not working for me.
I LOVE the pic you posted with this post of the kid falling flat on their face off the bicycle! That is about how I feel right now but right now I also don't really care anymore.
I am so disappointed. I was not sure to begin with I even wanted to do this particular Next Chapter book as it did not seem to me to have much to do with creating ART which is what we just came off of with WRECK THIS JOURNAL.....and I really wanted to do something more like that.
BUT I decided to give it a go anyway......and delve into the deeper parts of myself. I have already had years to delve deep......action is an issue but it is not always due to my circumstances but circumstances beyond my control. NO this is not a petty excuse. There are real things in my life and world that totally affect what I can or cannot do on any given day. In that case it does not matter what I may want to do or even need to do. I won't have time for it. It has to go on the back burner to simmer.
Anyway......I need to stop talking.....cause I am getting all tense inside just thinking now about the JOY diet. What a joke at least for me. It has zapped my joy but I am determined to get it back and be more creative than before. JUST not Martha's way.
This is very interesting reading - I am not on the Joy Diet myself, but I have followed several blogs with fascination. We are all looking for some kind of 'answer' to an unknown question, but 'off the shelf remedies' never seem to quite match our needs. It seems as if you have all learned a lot about yourselves - you have all identified something in yourselves that is stronger than a 'theory'. Go forward on your own paths with your own joy.
ReplyDeleteI think that part of the challenge here is that for the elements of The Joy Diet to really be transformative, they need to be habits. The growth we want has to come through baby steps rather than some moment of clarity that changes everything we find un-joyful about our lives. But, habits take time to be established. Even in the book, Martha says, make the previous items a habit before diving into the next one. And a week is not long enough to build a habit. None of these items takes much time and once they become habits, they won't need much time, but it feels overwhelming to add 10 habits in 10 weeks.
ReplyDeletewell I guess we are all trying to keep up each week because this was a book discussion blog where we all work through each chapter each week. While we could all take longer to do the actual work......the discussion would be rather bland if we all just said "well I read it, but am still back on Chapter 1" ...you know?
ReplyDeleteThat said...perhaps this was not an ideal choice for a limited book discussion as the assignments obviously all take much longer than 1 week to actually accomplish. It was difficult for me to move forward when my head was still mulling around previous chapters.
And I for one think these instructions ALL TAKE A lot of time. I cannot begin to imagine them a quick and simple, easy to do and not requiring much time or input from us. Martha said to accomplish one chapter before moving to the next but then she added more things on top of the prior week. By the end of the book you are going to have a tremendous amount of STUFF to work through DAILY according to her.
I agree. This chapter was not what I expected either.
ReplyDeleteEach chapter does have a lot to try and implement in a week. For what it's worth, I underline parts when I read the chapter and then try and sit with the ideas or questions that resonate through the week (and re-read underlined parts). Use what you can & see where it leads. Hope you hang in there.
I agreee with a lot that has been said. I did not particularly like this chapter - I wanted Creativity with a capital C!!
ReplyDeleteOh well - we can use the book as we see fit.
Thanks for sharing so much of your thoughts!
We need to keep posting and sharing. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your week with creativity.
ReplyDeleteI also had some trouble with this chapter, I am really just taking what i can from this and then leaving what does not work behind, I love the group discussions, they really teach me sometimes more than the book itself.
I can totally understand the need to slow down, and I encourage you to honor that need. You can still check in with everyone, even if you're on a different chapter. I think we all need to give ourself permission to listen to our own authentic requirements... in essence, that's what this is all about, yes? I think these discussions are rich and wonderful, and it's the honesty that we all share that is giving this journey its juice... not necessarily the book.... :)
ReplyDeleteMany many hugs!
Yes there is so much to digest it does seem like one week isn't long enough to do all the tasks suggested. I am going through and doing what speaks to me....later I may or may not revisit this. However I have enjoyed trying different things and moving out of my comfort zones a bit.
ReplyDeleteI sure understand that feeling: "pushing you out of your safe little cocoon and into the wide world of opportunity" - and agree that the digesting seems to take more time than a week...The photo is grand!
ReplyDeleteWhat is interesting to me, as I read the blogs and comments is something that has been discussed in my telecourse that I am taking right now from Patti Digh and David Robinson called "Live Your Wild and Precious Life Now" (go to www.37days.com for more info).
ReplyDeleteOne of the first things they said in the course is that we don't have to look for joy or for our lives or for creativity - whatever we desire. We won't find the answers in books or in magazines, but in the practice of being the person we want to be every day. Maybe that is part of the point of this book that we are all struggling with so mightily...that Martha doesn't have the answer any more than anyone else. It is inside of us and we are finding that BECAUSE we are struggling with the book.
I'm gonna ponder this some more.
BTW - the picture you posted at the start of your post CRACKED ME UP!! I love it!
ReplyDeleteYes, I feel the same way! I think sometimes I am rushing through it. However, I intend to go back at some point and reread what I have read. Rushing yes- I am just getting around to making comments on other's pages today.
ReplyDeleteI agree on two things: 1) I feel I am in a "rush" mode with the book, but I know I have some time to actually read and reflect on it but just haven't put in the time. and 2) the chapter was a bit challenging. In all, you seem to find something that worked with your desire, which is a good thing! Kudos!
ReplyDeleteIt did feel like a big leap between desires and creativity didn't it? I thought we would be creating too. I didn't realize she meant our lives. After going through it though, who can dream better for our lives than we can? Hang in there. I think it will be Ok soon. :)
ReplyDeleteI think you make an excellent point about how rushed the book is. I sometimes feel like as soon as I catch my breath and get used to an activity, another is thrown on top. I have found that slowing it down a little and opting out of some activities really does help.
ReplyDelete