download chapter THREE of DYCS here⇨
Week Three: FIGURING OUT YOUR WHYS?
“If you know your whys,
the hows become possible”
~ Jillian Michaels
This week I want to focus on your ‘whys’.
Why do you want to be creative everyday?
Why did you join this workshop?
Why do you want to discover your Creative Squeak?
Why did you buy your notebook?
What is your why?
You may ask why knowing your whys are so important to your creative journey?
I believe that if you really know your soul deep whys, why you want to achieve anything you want, but in this instance being creative everyday, the how’s, (by which I mean ‘how’ you are actually going to begin a creative habit), become reachable and achievable and you are less like to sabotage yourself.
And in those harder moments, moments where the excuses start to pop up and self-sabotage is likely to happen I believe your ‘whys’ will help get you through those moments.
Thinking back over you life, has there been a moment when you achieved something that seemed absolutely huge and amazing at the time, or perhaps people told you that you couldn’t achieve something? And now looking back do you ever still feel amazed that you did it?
You probably didn’t realise at the time, but I bet you had a why that was so deep and so strong that it helped in the moments of frustration and doubt.
When I was 27 I was working in a market research company. It was a job. A job I that was ok, I didn’t love it but I seemed to be ok at it and it paid the rent. But it wasn’t my passion – it really was just a job.
When office politics came into play, I was moved from my job that I liked, into a position I had no choice about, that I had no training for and absolutely zero support for. And then I was given an impossible project to complete, (again with no training or support), and when I failed my project, I was berated, called useless and asked to please explain why I couldn’t get it to work.
Every morning I felt sick before work, I had insomnia, migraines were a common occurrence, and because I worked for a family member, I felt I couldn’t simply quit or move to another company in the market research industry. It seemed impossible for me to break free.
That summer I had three weeks holiday and they were the best three weeks! I didn’t leave the city, but I went to the beach everyday, I read in my hammock, I ate yummy food. I slept, I didn’t feel sick every morning and not once did I have a migraine or even a headache.
The morning I went back to work, I felt sick again and I had a migraine by the time I came home, and after a week of this and realizing I deserved better I came home and told Mac we were going overseas for a year. And gorgeous soul that he is – he said OK.
Now you may wonder what this story has to do with discovering your creative squeak! So the reason I am telling you this story is this:
Over the next year so many people told us that we were crazy, that we would never save up the money to go overseas. We were so broke because every spare dollar was in our ‘Liberate Kirstin from her job’ fund. (This is literally what we called it)
Two-minute noodles were a main meal, we rarely went out with our friends, we didn’t do birthday or Christmas presents and we lived with my two brothers to save on rent.
And there were moments where I would think this is crazy, why am I doing this, and if I have one more packet of two-minute noodles….
But looking back I realised that I had a why that was so deep and strong and true that it kept me going. In those moments doubt, of not really believing we could or even should, it was what got us on a plane.
My why was this: My job was slowly destroying my soul and making me ill. I hated it and I hated my life. And to preserve my family relationships it was essential I leave.
A year to the day that I came home and said to Mac “lets go overseas” our tickets were booked. Six months later we were on a plane. Best decision ever!
SO AGAIN, BACK TO DISCOVERING YOUR CREATIVE SQUEAK! What is your why? Why did you download this book? Why did you purchase your notebook? Why do you want encourage your Creative Squeak?
Why? (Yes I know I totally sound like a three year old at the moment!)
But remember, I believe this is essential to your creative journey.
Figuring out your why is just another weapon in your arsenal, another tool to help you reach your goal of being creative.
So let me ask you once more:
What is your why?
3.1 REFLECTION: What is your Soul Deep Why?
Time: 5 – 10 minutes Equipment: Your creative squeak notebook a pen.
Find a comfy spot; grab your notebook and a pen.
Remember if you want you can set a timer for 5 to 10 minutes.
PART ONE:
Using your preferred journaling method – write down 4 or 5 reasons why you want to invite 
creativity into your everyday. (By the way if you have twenty reasons that’s awesome – don’t be limited by my suggestion)
REMEMBER: DO NOT OVER THINK THIS. Just write what comes to mind first.
Next I want you to do a deep dive into your reasons for being creative.
PART TWO:
This next part is called the ‘five’ whys. For each of your reasons that you wrote down in part one I want you to dig a little deeper.
Write your first ‘WHY’ on a fresh page. Read it and think about it and again ask why? Why did you write that reason down? Why is it so important? Why?
Write down the answer.
Next thinking about the first and second answers again ask yourself why? Why did you write those reasons down? Why are they so important? Why?
Write that answer down.
For five times in total, ask yourself why writing down the reasons.
Five times should be enough, however if you feel there is more please keep asking until you reach the real answer.
EXAMPLE:
Here is one of my answers to this question
1. Why do I want to discover my creative squeak? because I have a dream to be an artist
2. Why? because all I remember is drawing when I was a kid
3. Why? because it made me happy and I felt joy when I drew
4. Why? because I felt a connection between my joy and the drawings
5. Why? because being creative keep me balanced and connected. It is essential to my mental health, because it make my soul sigh with contentment.
3.2 ACTION: What is your Soul Deep Why?
Time: 10 minutes Equipment: Your creative squeak notebook + a pen.
PART ONE:
Read over your whys now that you have finished listing each one. For each why read it and pause. Think about each why and how they make you feel.
Nervous, excited, worried, scared, content or like shouting yes?
Circle key words: Word that deeply resonate with you or that speak to your soul. We will call these your soul words.
My soul words ended up being a combination of ones that settled the humming birds in my heart, that made me smile, made me slightly nervous, or that made me nod my head yes!
Print of the Soul Words sheet here or just use a piece of scrap paper write down the words that resonated in some way.
DOWNLOAD THE ‘SOUL WORDS’ PDF⇨
PART TWO:
Now I want you to try to write them into an sentence that expresses the way that you want creativity to make you feel.
Start with the words: CREATIVITY MAKES ME/ MY and go from there.
You can print off the affirmation page here or just us a page in your notebook.
DOWNLOAD THE ‘AFFIRMATION’ PDF⇨
Little Bitch Buster
Feeling frustrated because you can’t quite figure out your soul why?
Don’t stress about it. Do the initial work and let it mull over in your head for a couple of days.
Try filling in the affirmation page by filling in the blanks
Still not happy with it? Try the exercise again and see if something different resonates better.
Still stuck? Feel free to message me and I will try and help you figure out your soul deep why!
3.3 ACTION: Collecting Inspiration
Time: 5 minutes Equipment: Your creative squeak notebook, glue and
An envelope or plastic sleeve.
Now that you are used to using your notebooks, I want it to become a tiny inspiration hub for you.
During this journey feel free to collect images, cards, and anything else that inspires you, that even just captures your fancy and makes you want to create everyday and keep them into your notebook.
If you have an envelope or plastic sleeve laying around glue or tape one into the back of your notebook to keep your ephemera together.
And at the end of the ten weeks, your notebook to be something that you can refer to for inspiration for your future creations.
3.4 Fun: Feature your Why prominently.
Time: 10 minutes Equipment: Your creative squeak notebook, paint, a
marker and other decorative items if desired.
Open your notebook to the very first page. YAH! We are using our first page! 😉
Choose a colour of paint that you like, (I would suggest a lighter color) plop a few dollops onto your page. Using your fingers, an old credit/store card, a cotton bud, a make up sponge or brush, and smoosh your paint around the page.
Don’t worry about making a mess, staying in the lines or being neat. Smoosh the paint and set it aside to dry.
Once your page has dried grab your sharpie or marker and in big bold lettering write down your Soul Deep Why.
Feel free to use a pretty lettering and decorate the page however you want. Use what ever you have laying around – glitter, gel pens, stickers, colour pencils, etc. and make it stand out.
Little Bitch Buster
If in the coming weeks, if the doubt creeps in – if your little bitch starts to make you think this is a crazy idea, open your notebook to this page, read your soul deep why and quietly reflect over it.
Let the words seep in, feel the feelings it inspires, take the inspiration it creates and leap back in
Write on several post it notes and pop them places you will see them regularly: On your computer, on the bathroom mirror, the fridge etc.
Remember you are not crazy or selfish for wanting this and being creative everyday is NOT a stupid idea!
3.5 Fun: Doodle some more!
Time: 5 minutes Equipment: Your creative squeak notebook, pen,
A page from an old book
This is a fun doodling exercise that I really loved doing when I had five minutes to spare.
If you have an old book lying around rip out a page filled with writing. (Or feel like going to the charity shop and picking one up feel free but you can also use the squares at the end of this chapter
Glue the page into your notebook.
Pick a word. Any word is fine, however it should be used relatively frequently (but as we learned not a word that is super frequent like ‘a’ or ‘the’!)
On your chosen word draw a little dot with your pen. Do this every time you find your word in the text.
Once you have gone through the text start joining the dots up with lines.
You are not limited to the space of your selected book page with your lines; feel free to take your lines outside the book page onto your notebook.
Keep going until the dots are all joined in some fashion.
You can leave it like this, or you can add some colours or patterns to it.
PLEASE NOTE: Dictionary pages are amazing to use but be aware that the word ‘a’ is used a lot!!
Use the DOODLING PAGE PDF if you don’t want to rip up dictionary or book pages!
DOWNLOAD THE ‘DOODLE’ PDF⇨
Did you enjoy figuring out your soul deep why? Or did you find it an arduous task? Feel free to let me know what you think so far, what you’ve liked, not liked, struggled with or really enjoyed!
Next we are going to talk about our habits and how we can make a creative one that we enjoy adding to our everyday.
