Travel Inspires Creative Solutions 

How to sell the boss on your great vacation plans!

"Dear Boss:

"This is a perfect time for my vacation. It'll boost my creativity, inspire better problem-solving, and make me a more valuable employee. I promise...

"Yours truly,
The guy in the 4th cube on the left."

Whether you've hit a temporary roadblock on a creative project, gotten frustrated with the politics at work, or maybe even just feel a little "stale," sometimes the best thing you can do to refresh your juices is get up and move.

We do this almost automatically on a small scale: break for a quick lunch, sip a soothing beverage, jump in the shower, hit the gym, or take the dog around the block. But what about when things get really stuck?

Try a bigger break.

Now just in case your conscience (or your boss') has already started in with its snappy comeback: "running away never solved anything; just stick it out and get this finished," here's the ammo you need:

You're not running away. You're taking a creativity break!

Where do you get your biggest AHA's? 

3 reasons why Creativity Breaks work 

A little fuel for your logical mind ... and your boss'

1. Moving stimulates your brain's "alpha" state. You've likely experienced this a number of times, seemingly by chance. You're sensing the landscape blur and change outside your window, listening to the white-noise chucka-chuck of the engine, or even just absorbed in nature. Your senses are abuzz. Next thing you know, you realize you're feeling kind of "dreamy." Relaxed. Like all is right with the world.

In psychological terms, what you've just done is entered an "alpha" state. In other words, your brainwave pattern has slowed down slightly, much as it does when you're entering or awakening from a refreshing sleep. You're still awake, of course, just very relaxed.

What happens in an alpha state? Well, your intuition and awareness are heightened. Your sense of the "big picture" expands, while your capacity to process small details fades. Since you are so open, new ideas arise easily. Alpha is an optimal state for creativity, learning, and connecting broad concepts together in your mind.

2. New places offer a fresh window on the world. It's way too easy to get into an everyday rut. Alarm goes off. Make the coffee. Start the car. Head to work. Do the day. Get back home. Fix dinner. Sit in the same chair at the same table eating the same meal with the same people. And on and on.

There's an up-side to the whole routine thing. Imagine if you had to select appropriate clothing from scratch each morning, look at the map to figure out how to find your workplace, and pick from 50 new choices for breakfast. You'd be exhausted by 10 am! And yet the down-side is you overlook details and begin to take certain things for granted.

Thrust into a new environment, your view is fresh. Look at that sign! Who would have ever thought of using color that way? Look at that business! Who would have ever thought of making a business plan from that idea? Listen to those kids talking! Who would have ever realized kids would be interested in that?

The simple experience of being in a new place causes you to explore as a visitor would, rather than fogging through the same old eye-candy. It's a terriffic spark for your creativity!

3. The pressure's off. You're on vacation! Ever notice that sometimes it seems like the harder you try to find a creative solution, the more elusive it becomes?

You think and think and think. Search and search and search. And come up with nothing. Or worse than nothing -- a bunch of terrible ideas that send you scrambling in the wrong direction, creating a collossal waste of your precious energy.

And yet...

Stop looking, that the answer somehow just "pops" in.

The pressure's off. The thinking part of your brain takes a well-needed break, which allows your creative nature to emerge from its hiding place.

And voila! Just the inspiration you were looking for!

In summary... Whether it's an intentional creativity break you're after, an obligatory trip you'd perhaps have rather put off, or even a last-ditch attempt to retain your sanity, travel offers you a grand opportunity. You'll be in the perfect place to capture a new insight, whether you're anticipating it or not.

The real question is... Are you going to bring that insight home and run with it? Or leave it lying on a sunny beach somewhere to be swept away by the tide?

Recommended Reading 

Stimulate your creative juices with this inspiring classic. Don't just read it. Do it. It could help you get moving.

The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity [10th Anniversary Edition]

by Julia Cameron

5 Tips to Bring Your Insight Home 

You earned it, didn't you? Of course!

Travel offers you a grand opportunity to achieve new insights. Big stuff. Life-changing. So much for the good news.

The flip side of this coin is just plain ugly. Easy come, easy go. If you're not prepared, that inspired brainstorm could easily become camel-fodder on a beach somewhere instead of improving your life and the lives of the people you influence.

Nobody wants that!

These 5 tips can help you bring your insight home:

1. Watch for the insight! Prepare your mind to receive it. Acknowledge it as a gift when it arrives.


2. Capture the thought. Write it down. Even though your brainstorm may seem larger than life in the moment, it's likely to fade with time. Bonus tip: set aside a few minutes each day of your adventure to journal anything that comes to mind.


3. Schedule integration time. Anticipate you'll return home with "gold to stash away." Leave some flexibility in your schedule during your first couple of days back from a big trip.


4. Take one solid action. Once you return home, do something immediate in the direction of your insight. Make a phone call, do some research, clear up some space. One way or another, make it real. Important: this is not the time to cancel major commitments like a job or marriage.


5. Get support for your new idea. This piece is critical! It's way too easy to get sucked back into your old rut without support for the "new you."

Optimize Your Creative Results 

Accessorize your break with the Word Cures Action Pack

Sometimes a trip is just a trip. But other times, you've really "gotta" get it! You plan a trip because it's time to spend some time with yourself and sort things out.

In a situation like that, you can optimize your results by taking along a book or audio recording to stimulate your mind. Think about it. You could double, triple, or gadzoople the benefit from the same break you were going to take anyway.

How practical!

In other words, the right accessory can make the difference between "getting" the insight you went for and coming home relaxed but unenlightened. The Word Cures Action Pack is especially suited for just those occasions!

1. The Intuition Infusion Kit coaches you through the fun of hooking the insight: two text booklets (with bonus audio recordings), flashcards, and a set of awesome "Intuition" bath salts. (Ahhhh!) Plus the bonus virtual workshop, "Power Questions: Recognizing Life's Choice Points."

2. The Healthy Living Manual gives you the tools to act on your insight when you get it home. Includes 4 months forum support and a bonus recording "Plan for Success."

3. And the free Word Cures book helps your logical mind get past all those great reasons you could dig up to talk yourself out of it!

Plus a bonus .mp3 "Manage Your Energy, Let Time Take Care of Itself."

Snag yourself a Word Cures Action Pack.

By the way... you can also enjoy the Action Pack at home.

Hooked yourself a big AHA? Tell us about it! 

Most of us have a great personal story about THE BIG AHA we reeled in at a most auspicious moment. What's yours? Were you able to follow through on your insight, or did it "get away?"

Spirit of Place 

Some places just feel so much better than others

Each place has its own unique energy. Drawing on the native materials found in the area, the climate, the area's history, the people who live there, and even the choice of industry, every location is unique.

Here's a quick quiz.

Let's say you're looking for a grand and expansive opening in your life. Would you head for a crowded metropolitan area or the Grand Canyon?

You picked the canyon, right?

Ok, this time you want to enhance your spiritual connection. Do you head for Vegas or the Grand Tetons?

You picked the Tetons, right?

You're looking for physical calm and healing. You set your course for a theme park or an "off the radar" mineral springs.

You picked the mineral springs.

Creative inspiration. The desert or an artist's colony?

The artist's colony, right?

Ok, I think you've got the idea. Each place has its own energy. And while you can catch creative inspiration literally anywhere (please just trust me on this one), you can certainly optimize your experience by choosing a situation that matches the energy you're looking to enhance.

Catch the Spirit of the Desert Southwest 

Enhance your travel insight by picking an "energy rich" destination like the desert southwest. From Santa Fe, venture north to the Sangre de Cristo mountains and Taos. For a real treat, step back in time and visit my personal favorite Ojo Caliente Mineral Springs Resort & Spa for a superb touch of natural healing.

Landscape With Spirit 

An everyday vacation space -- at home!

Once you've really experienced the fabulous changes that come over you when you travel, it's tempting to hit the road a lot more often.

Sometimes that just isn't practical.

What to do?

1. Play like a tourist at home. Explore new parts of town, shops you haven't been to before, or a different walking path. Make a game out of it. You could even involve your friends and see who finds the craziest new spot to check out.


2. Do the same old things in a fresh new way. They won't seem old any more! In other words, walk around your block the other direction. Brush your teeth with your non-dominant hand. Re-arrange the living room. Move your desk. (You can take it from here!)


3. You feel as you do, in part, because of the energy around you. Landscape With Spirit explores what causes you to feel as you do. Then, it explores how to exert your very best influence on your everyday environment. Create the energy that suits you best -- to have that "same old environment" support you in feeling exactly the way you want!

Santa Fe Arts & Culture 

Creativity rules in Santa Fe!

Here's what Yelpers have to say about Arts & Entertainment in 87501

Folk Art Museum (Santa Fe)  

"Four words sum up the Girard exhibit: serial killer acid trip. This must be seen to be believed. No postcard or book can do it justice. It's like outsider..." more

Georgia O'Keeffe Museum (Santa Fe)  

"A great museum dedicated to a remarkable artist. It is smaller than I expected, and I agree that the special collection space (which was Marsden Hartley..." more

Museum of New Mexico - Museum of Indian Arts & Culture (Santa Fe)  

"This branch of the MNM - Museum of New Mexico (just one of four branches) is located on Camino Lejo and is known as the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture /..." more

Santa Fe Opera (Santa Fe)  

"OK, SO MY FAVORITE MUSIC IS BLUEGRASS, BUT I'M NO PRUDE . . . I'M PRETTY OPEN TO ALMOST ALL KINDS. EVEN OPERA! One of my good friends is about as far on..." more

Santa Fe Indian Trading Co (Santa Fe)  

"I found this place to be crowded with tourists and most of the stuff was overpriced. I looked at one Native American blanket that was priced at over $500..." more

Check the weather 

More Healthy Living with Elizabeth Eckert 

Healthy Living Website

Visit WordCures.com, where awareness and intuition lead to creativity and resourcefulness. To healthier choices. And it's fun! Make friends with that little voice in the back of your head ... and play along!

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Intuitive Brainstorming

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Healthy Living DIY 

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