Christin's Behind-the-Scenes Sunday 🎥: Creativity Gas Tank ⛽

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Dear Ones,

I was having that moment where I went “OMG! Where did this week go?!”

Then I recalled that I came back from the retreat, spent a day resetting by unpacking and cleaning all my things, decided to declutter the entire apartment and donates giant boxes of stuff, sorted out an entire box of unorganized paperwork accumulated in the last quarter, and prepared a mega Treasurer’s report for the Alliance for Bhikkhunis while sorting out our tax filings.

(TLDR: Cleaning, decluttering, paperwork.)

But it didn’t feel good because Ididn’t do anything “creative*.” I hadn’t since I finished writing the first edition of Debug Your Meditation. What I hadn’t realized until I started this newsletter: hefty projects like writing a book drains creative energy.

Creative energy is not an infinite pool that I can draw from myself.

Being grumpy about not having creative energy after using it all up, is counter-productive.

For the first time since…Write of Passage (October 2021), I’m tilted from too much consuming, to too much creating. What a 180°! I never imagined what it would be like to be on the other side of the equation, as I never thought that far. But writing this newsletter has helped me recognize this shift, rather than blaming myself for not having more gas in the creativity engine.

How are you doing on your creativity gas tank? ⛽

Warm Wishes,

Christin

*I wrote this tweet thread though:

Christin Chong, PhD 🪅 @ChristintweetsI just came back from Aloka Vihara and wrote about it in my newsletter (more 🧡 felt) But I also want to share light-hearted content for your timeline ☸️🧵 Conversational snippets with Ayyas (Buddhist nuns) Christin Chong, PhD 🪅 @ChristintweetsChristin’s Behind-the-Scenes Sunday 🎥: Aloka Vihara Retreat Reflections on Christin’s Behind-The-Scenes Newsletter https://t.co/FOqJUClWWq12:12 AM ∙ Jul 20, 2022

Christin Chong, PhD 🪅 @ChristintweetsMe: Ayya Santacitta, is it ok that I do my walking meditation while also getting a workout on the treadmill? It feels like I’m mixing intentions, maybe caring too much about beautifying the body… Ayya S: That’s too nutty, no? 🥜 I track my steps on my watch12:13 AM ∙ Jul 20, 20222Likes1Retweet

Christin Chong, PhD 🪅 @ChristintweetsAyya Niyyanika: Ah I forgot to set up the Pāli keyboard ⌨️ on this new computer! It’s very important because… Us in unison: … it’s dia-CRITICAL!12:17 AM ∙ Jul 20, 2022