What does it mean to chill? To step out of the fray, the urgent drive of efficiency and doing. To relax, to play, to respond to your own inner rhythms instead of the demands of the world.

Chilling is vital to our creativity. I’ve seen this with myself and my clients. We like getting things done, but without relaxing time, our victories are hollow.

Here are ten ways I see chilling as vital to creativity.

1 Our health drives everything! Nothing is made on an empty tank. Chilling helps us stay healthy.

2 Some of the best art is made from ‘happy accidents’. (Champagne!) When we chill, we open the door for surprises that can inform our art.

3 Space breeds originality. Filling ourselves constantly with others’ work supplants our original impulse.

4 Laughter and joy lighten us up. Returning to play and innocence refreshes our spirit in difficult times.

5 Insights have a landing pad when we’re open and ready. Valuable new perspectives can alight on the open fields of space in our days. Receptivity is vital to our creativity.

6 When we chill, we connect with the world around us. It’s vital for our work to be attuned to our senses.

7 Our imagination is our superpower. Daydreaming, visioning, and imagining only happen when we have space to chill.

8 Chilling feels good and nourishes our nervous systems. We need that in these stressful times.

9 Chilling often connects us with others. We almost always get new insights for our work, or at least a desire to get back to it after being with others.

10 How have you seen chilling as vital to your creative process? Share in a comment below.

Join the Original Impulse Summer Chillenge! It’s free and fun and will exuberate your summer!

Summer is my favorite season. I always want to do and savor so much! Time outside, play time, garden time, swim time…and yet it seems to zoom by so fast.

For years I have hosted various summer games to help us really savor summer. We’ve had the Summer Thrills Scavenger Hunt and the Capture the Summer Wow Scavenger Hunt.

This year, I wanted to host a challenge for you to enjoy summer. But then I thought, oh hell no. The last thing we all need is another CHALLENGE. Right?!

We want to chill! So I have designed the first ever Summer Chillenge. The goal: to help you relax, enjoy and chill a little.

Why does chilling matter? Being able to make space for relaxing, daydreaming, savoring and nourishing our nervous systems is a vital practice for humans and especially for creative types.

Chilling is essential to the creative process.

We get our best ideas when we are walking, exercising, driving, relaxing or in the shower or bath. In short, when we are doing nothing or next to nothing.

This space is essential for us to listen to our own original impulse, to align with our inner compass and to tap into the divine source that feeds us our great ideas. If we are always rushing around doing, doing, doing, our creativity is tepid at best and we feel mostly stress.

Will you join me to chill out a bit more this summer? It’s easy. All you have to do is…chill. Here’s how:

* Know what ‘chill’ means for you. One woman’s chill is another’s hell.
* Share pictures of yourself in chill mode. In the hammock. By the pool or at the beach. Lying under a tree.
* Use the hashtag #Chillenge2018.
* Chill a friend. Tell them about the Chillenge and do chill things together.

For guidance on making it a Chillenge to remember, join the Chill Team. It’s F*R*E*E!

When you sign up, you’ll get your Chillenge Starter Guide. You will receive a weekly Chill Tip from me between June 4th and August 20th with inspiration for chilling.

Join the Chillenge here and watch your summer unfold in joyous and fun ways.

There’s almost nothing more exciting than planning for a trip. It’s fun considering options, researching the location and imagining all adventures I’ll have.

But we often set out on a trip with the wrong focus. We make elaborate plans of what we will see, do and eat. Yet we forget to get clear on what we want from our trips.

This missing piece to travel planning can make the difference between a great trip and one that you’d rather forget. Setting your intention for your trip can change everything.

An intention can help us magnetize the experiences we want to have beyond what we can plan. It can help us stay centered when travel plans shift. Consider these inquiries:

• What kind of experience do you want to have?
• How do you want to feel?
• How do you want to be in the face of it all?
• How do you want to return home?

Some examples of travel intentions include:

In Hawaii, I am present with my husband on our honeymoon. Among all the activities and adventures, I intend to be present with him and with us. I use this time to connect and to solidify our commitment to each other and to our marriage. All the planning and decisions will be made with this in mind – connection, commitment and fun.

In Paris, I feed my curiosity. I discover new things and am open to the unexpected. I feel engaged and active but relaxed. I make time to linger in cafes and parks. I am sure to spend time with friends and make new friends. I am open to visual stimuli that makes its way into my art. I return home refreshed and full of new, creative ideas.

Set your travel intention

What about your upcoming trips? What intention might you set? Try this exercise from my Magic Journey, Magic Journal class to find and set a powerful intention.

Do a free-write about your upcoming trip. Write about everything you want to see, do, eat and experience. Write about what you want to feel. Go wild and make all the wishes you want for your trip.

Set a timer for 10 minutes and start with the prompt my intention for my trip…

Then, read through it and pull it into one or two sentences. Write your intention for your trip in the front of your travel journal. You can use rubber stamps or do your own lettering for your intention. You can also set an intention for your journal.

My own travel intention

I’m headed to Paris soon, where I will spend three weeks on my own.

While there, I will catch up with friends. I’ll absorb patterns for my 100 Day Project and explore new adventures in the city. There’s the Portes Ouvertes Belleville, which is a fantastic artist open studio weekend in Belleville. I might do a Coffee Cupping at Belleville Brulerie (in French!).

My intention is to have new experiences, fill my creative well and come back refreshed and ready for a great summer and work on my book.

Because I have been going to Paris every year since 2000, I often get requests for information about Paris. Last year I wrote an ebook with my approach to Paris that includes my favorites and resources. You can get your copy of Visit Paris Like an Artist here. It’s also a useful creativity guide for anyplace you are traveling. Here’s what a recent buyer said about it:

“I’m loving Visit Paris Like an Artist. It could be applied ANYWHERE one visits. Your book is wonderful reading… thanks.”

Get your copy here!