That’s SO a ‘Trip to the Bank,’ Missy

Posted on May 30, 2012 by Lisa Fernyhough

In our household, we have a name for that thing you do
when you walk right up to the next step you know you need to take
but then you decide to ah, like
go to the bank on the way, even though
the bank is on the other side of town
and it’s rush hour
and you really only have just enough time
if you’re lucky to drive straight to the thing
you really need to do.

This is a true story, but my lips are sealed as to which member of this particular household was tempted to take this particular trip to the bank.

But you know what, if I were to say, that in this instance the person I’m referring to isn’t me, then I guess it means I’m talking about my dude (Yeah yeah, I know you’re not meant to say it like this, as in the my bit). I should also say that when my guy has a blog, then he’ll be able to tell stories about me, like how I’ve recently taken to suggesting when to change lanes when he’s driving, even though I barely know which side of the road to drive on here – and for the life of me can’t figure out how the entire population of New Zealand, four times over, can fit into this one little LA town.

Other examples of Trips to the Bank:

  • Re-doing the kitchen (so who hasn’t done this one!)
  • Writing a 200 page Ebook  instead of sending out the book proposal you’ve been working on for 6 months. (I still stand by this one, but have been told to add it to the list)
  • ‘Lisa Fonting’ your 200 page Ebook – ie making your own font, then going through adding different colors and such. (I know, I know)
  • Cleaning out the closet – the one with the last 7 years tax records, and 25 years of writing journals.
  • Waiting until you’ve built a new website, or got a better logo before you start promoting your business.

But seriously – we are all tempted to do this.
And really, how cool is it having someone help you keep
your trips to the bank to a minimum!
Thanks dude I call my own :)

 

Posted in How Inspirational | Leave a comment

Recipe for ‘Holy Cow’ Brilliant Ideas!

Posted on May 22, 2012 by Lisa Fernyhough

One of my favorite things in the world is to solve a problem (yeah, yeah, challenge)
with some wacky completely perfect solution even though woah
no-one else has done it like this!

But here’s the thing. I used to study science.
A lot of science. (Nutritional Science).
And science-studying doesn’t teach you about original ideas and breakthroughs.
Not the kind that make you think holy cow – that’s brilliant!
Science training pretty much trains you to repeat stuff, and copy ideas
and if you asked me a question back then
I’d have needed a double blind placebo controlled trial to answer it.

So how do you get from science brain to creative brain?
Because you know what – any one who’s been through the stuffy old education system
is trained in the science brain model.

Here it is, the recipe for coming up with ‘Holy Cow Brilliant Ideas’:
1. You need to unlearn your ‘science brain’ habits, and then ….
2. Make space for your ‘creative brain’ to have some fun!!

I go into this in a lot more detail in my upcoming teleseminar series
The Altogether Easy Guide to Silence … but for now, consider this:

Most people when they have a problem look to what other people are doing to solve it? Nothing wrong with this, it’s a good place to start, but it’s not the only option.
Warning: This is SIMPLE idea, but EASY TO FORGET and POWERFUL TO REMEMBER!

You are the proud owner of the most AWESOME inbuilt guidance system. And one of the best and quickest ways to access it’s wisdom is to make some space for it. Just a little bit is all you need sometimes.

Space?

Yeah.
Space, like doing nothing.
Like doing what I did the other day
when I sat down with my white board, and a cup of tea
and wrote something like “alrighty, then, how shall we handle this?”
And then I sat back and didn’t think much except wow, I wonder
what’s going to show up. And then 10 minutes later,
I was the proud owner of a brilliant
albeit out of the box solution that was PERRRfect for me.
But probably not for anyone else.

Here’s to you and smoking good ideas!

PS: For more on this creativity and education business, check out Seth Godin’s book – Stop Stealing Dreams (FREE), or this classic TED talk by Ken Robinson on schools and creativity. It’s great. Funny too.

 

Posted in Creativity, How Inspirational, Silence | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Ah, And What Exactly is Life All About?

Posted on April 28, 2012 by Lisa Fernyhough

Before I left dear old New Zealand the other day, I met a dear friend for dinner. And we got to talking about just what is the point to all of this. Which is big stuff – and made for a cracking night!

Now, I’ve got me some ideas on how to answer these questions. But I also think, if you don’t have it all nailed down all the time (oh my god who does), that it’s helpful to remember YOU DON’T HAVE TO!

Because here’s the thing.  If you feel confused about anything, from Super Big life questions to Standard Big life questions …

 Should I dye my hair?
What the heck is my ‘true calling’, or
Why do I feel so dissatisfied?


The First Altogether Easy thing to do is

Do NOT worry about the fact that you feel confused.

  Seriously,

It’s not like you’ll always be confused, you just are right now.

Like the ‘Confusion’ card I posted last week says  (here it is again) …

Ah, doesn’t that feel better.

Byeeee:)

Posted in How Inspirational | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Glory Be Confusion

Posted on April 12, 2012 by Lisa Fernyhough

I’d forgotten this little nugget until recently,
when I remembered it again.
Forgotten. Remembered. Forgotten. Remembered.
Here’s to being confused when you’re confused,
and not confused, when you’re not confused.
Can life really be this simple?

*************

Tip for confusion clearing

  1. Notice you’re feeling confused. Don’t judge how you’re feeling, just let it be.
  2. Make yourself a cup of tea (or whatever) and sit … and if you sit long enough the clarity will come to you. Even if it’s the idea to go find out more information or anything else you might need to help you make your decision.
  3. And if you’re still confused … don’t worry! Just keep adding little bits of silence and sitting to your day and before you know it …epiphany city!!!

 

(Image from Life Cards)
Posted in How Inspirational, Painted Poems | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Want To, Ah, Like Be My Friend?

Posted on March 28, 2012 by Lisa Fernyhough

I’d like to dedicate this post to the idea
that we turf out our ‘Friends Rule Book.’
Goodbye rule book
Goodbye expectations
Hello kind and loving living!

Posted in Ha ha ha ha, How Inspirational, Picture, Relationships | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

A New Name For a Sort of New Blog

Posted on March 19, 2012 by Lisa Fernyhough

At last,
after months of wracking my brains (see how I made that plural)
I have a new name for my blog

It’s also the name of my new program.
(This blog used to be called ‘Art, Ideas & Inspiration, in case you’re completely confused as to what in the heck is going on’)

Other names I considered in the great ‘what shall I call this thing’:

So you think you’re messed up? That’s F’ing Stupid!!
AND
What the F* is Wrong With You? Ah, Nothing?!

And yes, I realize the common denominator
is the F* word and some explanation marks.
Wow
You should write me an angry letter for even thinking of using
such sweary names.
I had one of those once.
(An angry letter, not a sweary name.)

How are you feeling?

Are you mad this post has no killer information?
No potentially life changing titbit*
No hilarious anecdote
No video clip with almost nothing to do with anything else
on the site

You should un-follow me. This is bad.

But also,
stay tuned because there’s a heap of stuff like that coming your way.
Starting with MY NEW BOOK

7 Secrets Your Mind Doesn’t Want You to Know
About How You Got in to this Mess and How the Heck to Get Out

It’s the first part of my Altogether Easy Guide to Life.

Here’s what the cover looks like

and here’s what I looked like putting the last few touches to it last week

It's about 7 in the morning. That's a lake in the background in case you're wondering. It's very pretty.

You can download your own copy for FREE by clicking HERE

PS: * Titbit versus tidbit. There’s been considerable debate in my household this morning over which is the more correct version. We have a divided household -  the American half thinks ‘oh geesus, you can’t say ‘titbit’, whereas the New Zealand half kind of likes it.

Posted in How Inspirational, Poetry, Silence | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

It IS Happening …

Posted on January 30, 2012 by Lisa Fernyhough

The thing with your HEART FELT DESIRES -
the things you really really really want to happen,
for them to show up, you have to know they’re already yours.
Which means, even if there’s no actual evidence right now -
You gotta be grateful
You gotta believe
You gotta know …


Other ways to up your knowing quotient:

  • Make signs like the one above
  • Dance around singing about how it’s already here.
  • Think like it’s already happening
  • Act as if it’s already happened -walk how you’d walk, make decisions as if it’s already happened…

Here’s to heart felt desires.

PS: And in case you didn’t already know – your heart felt desires are your guides. Even when they’re for seemingly ludicrous things, that don’t make sense to anyone else. Or maybe especially when they’re for seemingly ludicrous things!

Posted in God, How Inspirational, Poetry | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

To ALL My Dear Readers …

Posted on January 23, 2012 by Lisa Fernyhough

Posted in Ha ha ha ha, Poetry, Social Media | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Lesson #1 in Being a Productive Little Doing Nothing Monkey

Posted on January 12, 2012 by Lisa Fernyhough

So you go on holiday
you take a pile of books
some sudoku crosswords
and there are the
18 hands of  Scrabble you’ve got going
on your IPhone.

You’re going to laze around and do nothing
right?

Yeah. This is one kind of doing nothing.
just not the doing nothing I talk about
sometimes.

The doing nothing I talk about
involves not doing any of this.

None of it.

Nope.

The first time I decided to do nothing
 some people said to me how it was bad for my brain
that my mind would get lazy.

But since I’d been doing it for  a few weeks
by then I just laughed my head off
like this
ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.

Posted in How Inspirational | 2 Comments

Been Thinking Really Hard About My Mind …

Posted on January 7, 2012 by Lisa Fernyhough

Well, not too much
just enough
to write a little E-book, and draw cartoons
like this one about learning
and change
and how your mind doesn’t like any of it
even though it pretends it does
which is why we stay stuck sometimes
holding onto old unhelpful beliefs.

From,

7 Secrets Your Mind Doesn’t Want You to Know
About How the Hell You Got Into this Mess and How to Get Out!

Coming soon!

Posted in Ha ha ha ha, How Inspirational, Poetry | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments