The Me-Time Mixtape: Three essential hand-curated links and resources on creative self-care. Carve out some me time this week!
As I celebrate the first anniversary of my podcast, Let the Verse Flow, I send my loving thanks to you for listening, reading my poetry and newsletters, and sharing your insight and feedback with me over the last year. This labor of love truly feeds my soul, and I can't wait to grow and create in year 2. I have some new projects in the works, including a brand new 3-day caregiver refresh and stress reduction course on the Insight Timer app (launching soon). For now, here are some creative self-care tools for you to explore.
#1 Word Clouds: Visuals Maps for Words that Matter
Thanks to a recent Seth Godin blog post on a powerful editing tool called Word Clouds, I created this visual map of the words that I use most frequently on my website. As you can see, I write most frequently about the podcast, journaling, self-care, me-time, the newsletter, and journal prompts. It's a wonderful visual representation of the patterns in my work.
If you're interested in using it, you can go to wordclouds.com and copy any of your writing: text from emails, blog articles, and even URLs, to show trends in the words you use. The word cloud will show you what words are most present in that work, give you clues into your writing's tone and voice, and even display overused words. Here's a word cloud based on my website.
#2 Creative Self-Care
I use poetry and podcasting as forms of creative self-care, which I define as any way in which you take good care of yourself by engaging in creative activities. Other forms of creative self-care include journaling, time in nature, traditional arts (painting, dance, music), and even meditation. This video introduction to creative self-care includes journal prompts and a free wheel of life worksheet. A life wheel is a visual tool that helps you reflect on areas of your life (family, social life, personal development, health, creativity). You get to decide the categories and then create a visual wheel that represents how full your cup is in these areas.
#3 Bring Summertime Into Your Home
This week on the podcast, I talk about my experiences with spring cleaning and the spaciousness it gave me as I anticipate summer. As a card-carrying member of the Clutter League, it was my nod to minimalism. Here are some ideas for bringing a summertime vibe into your living spaces. See #19 on minimalism.
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Latest Podcast Episode
Episode #32: Summertime Refresh, Renewal and Self-Care
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