Squidoo Therapy | How To Create Vital Lenses

Or How To Turn Your Creative Flops and Bombs Into Successful Lenses

For the "get-to-the-point" folks, this lens is about how to create great lenses by mining your past creative "failures." In the process, you'll not only make a great lens, but will have freed up your creativity and energy for success, now and in the future.

How do I know this? I recently made a ginormous lens: How To Buy Real Estate in Mexico that has done more for me than just become a LOTD. It was fun, it was therapeutic, and since I finished it, I have unleashed dozens of new ideas for lenses as well as the desire to become a giant squid. Oh, and did I mention my new found self-confidence?!

You see, 14 years ago I wrote a book about buying real estate in Mexico. I had huge plans for the book. Besides selling thousands and thousands, it was going to make me a fortune. Then life took me in another direction (including our house burning down) and the book became unfinished business, always nagging at me.

Then, one night as I racked my brain for new lens ideas, I had a brilliant thought: What if I put the book contents (Reader Digest style) on a lens! That part of me that wanted to complete the original creative idea could then, perhaps, move on.

I had a blast making the lens and revisiting the old me. And something inside of me has finally integrated and feels at peace. Like I said...squidoo is better than therapy!

This lens will help YOU find ideas and create lenses from your past failures, unsuccessful ideas, or "life-ran-over-me" moments. Nothing's sweeter than turning a perceived failure into success. Your self-esteem will thank you.

Wait no longer. There's gold in them thar' hills...so let's get mining!

Highlights

LOTD in 16 Days
The Psychology Behind Squidoo Therapy
The Squidoo 12 Step Program
Healing The Past
The Four Stages of Growth
Turn Failure Into Success By Rewriting The Story
Going for the Ah Ha! Moment
When You Hit A Wall

LOTD in 16 Days

I'm not a giant squid (yet!), nor a squid angel or any other fancy squid citizen. I'm just ordinary folk having fun with Squidoo and hoping for my 15 minutes of fame.

So when my lens How To Buy Real Estate in Mexico went LOTD just 16 days after I wrote it, I was pretty stoked. It also made it in the top 100 list for 4 days. Woo hoo!

I invite you to refer to it as the model for what I'm presenting here. It carries a certain energy or "Viva la lens!" to it because of a creative completion with the past. See if you can spot the elements that I'm speaking of in the 12 steps of Squidoo Therapy.

"We don't know
a millionth of one percent
about anything.
- Einstein"

Nothing looks like a failure from here...

The Psychology Behind Squidoo Therapy

Or how it works...

Creative people have new ideas all the time. At some point you decide to take an idea and act on it. There is passion. There is enthusiasm. There is joy.

And then life comes along and steps on your budding project. The effects to your mind and emotions are like getting up to speed on the freeway and then slamming on the brakes. Sometimes you can work through whatever came up. Sometimes you can't.

If the creative project, dream or vision gets abandoned, then it hangs out there in limbo, draining your energy in subtle ways. It becomes an anchor that holds you back, messing up your timing and your confidence for new projects. AND to heap insult on top of injury, those old unfinished "failures" can end up making you repeat the same old mistakes again and again. Frustration builds up and you become convinced you can never succeed.

By offering the defunct or failed creative dream a new form to complete itself (such as creating a squidoo lens), it releases your creative energies and suddenly you're filled with new zest and enthusiasm for life. And you are wiser as well. Success in your next creative endeavors becomes easier and more graceful.

Want to give it a try? Let's get started!

First, Identify Your Incomplete Dreams

The Squidoo 12 Step Program

Steps 1-3

Make a list of all of your creative dreams and projects that you were passionate about at the time, and then were unsuccessful with or that were stomped on by life. Start with the soonest (last 10 years) and then work backward.
Looking at your list, which one reaches out and grabs your attention the most. That's the one you'll focus on for now.
Begin to tune into who you were at that period of time. What were you doing, thinking, hoping, dreaming? Write down anything that comes to your mind.

Next, Use Your Psychic Hindsight...

The 12 Step Program, cont'd

Steps 4-6

4. Now, using "psychic" hindsight, look at what you wanted to create from where you are now. What new understanding arises?
5. Give the essence of what you wanted to create a new form and create a squidoo lens about it.
6. As you work on the lens, let whatever emotions were still bottled up about the project not completing, move up and out. You do this by noticing them, then breathe into them and let it go.

Then, Release The Old Dream

12 Step Program, recont'd

Steps 7-9

7. When it's time to publish the lens, acknowledge that this particular creative dream is now complete.
8. About 3 weeks after you publish the lens, read the lens as if a newcomer to it. What new insights come to you? What patterns do you see now, that you didn't see before? Incorporate those into the lens.
9. Taking those new insights, look at what you're currently creating, dreaming and visioning now and incorporate this wisdom into what you are doing now.

Observe, Observe, Observe

12 Step Program, Final

Steps 10-12

10. Be aware if you feel new zest and vigor for your creative projects. If you don't, there' something still uncompleted from the aborted dream or creation. Invite that piece to come up to conscious awareness so you can incorporate it into the lens (and your newfound wisdom).
11. Finally, don't forget to let everyone know about your lens and if you are proud of this creative endeavor (you should be!) submit it for lens of the day.
12. Pull out your list and start again! And don't forget to have fun with the process, now that you're an expert on Squidoo Therapy!

Healing The Past

Another take on how healing the past can affect your present in a positive way.

The Healing Path: How the Hurts in Your Past Can Lead You to a More Abundant Life

by: Dan B. Allender

Amazon Price: $10.39 (as of 07/11/2009)

Squidoo Therapy or Squidoo Crazerapy?

Am I Crazy or Brilliant?

Fetching blurbs now... please stand by

I've never heard of such a hare brained idea.

LizzyJean says:

Its a hare brained idea, that's why it's so good. I have discs and discs full of stuff I should and could be using.
Thanks

Posted December 21, 2008

Margo_Arrowsmith says:

I am a therapist and a squidoist and someone who has projects laying around (not given up on yet) and someone who knows that Squidoo makes you more creative......

However, I put this on this side to balance the lens ;=D But it is total genious.

Posted December 13, 2008

This is sheer genius! I can't wait to try it!

Lotusland says:

Ah ha!

Posted January 04, 2009

InternetJunkie says:

Creating lenses helps me organize my thoughts; great therapy!

Posted October 27, 2008

susannaduffy says:

Trying it now!

Posted September 15, 2008

Jewelsofawe says:

Brilliant. I love your writing style in your lenses!

Posted September 13, 2008

sirkeystone says:

As a hobbyist who let much of his life drip down the drain because of a business that went bankrupt and took everything with it, yeah, I can see this working very well!

Posted August 03, 2008

Joan4 says:

Oh, I do some of those things -- try to decide my intention and create in my mind first, then on paper, etc and yes, will try the other ideas, too! In fact, I am printing the 12 steps!

Posted July 28, 2008

spirituality says:

Great idea. I think I already unconsciously do this though. I don't think it's instant success, but it's certainly good therapy.

Posted July 28, 2008

clouda9 says:

You have really saved me from myself! Thanks for your straight forward, honest approach!

Posted July 26, 2008

GypsyOwl says:

Exceptional ideas and tips! :D This is a fun lens that really made me think about how I look at lensbuilding. Thanks :D

Posted July 18, 2008

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The Four Stages of Growth

Do you ever get stalled out in your life or in a project? Find yourself waffling back and forth about proceeding? Work very hard at a project, only to see it fizzle out at the end? Get overwhelmed by difficulties as soon as you set your intention? If so, you may be stuck in one of the four stages of growth. Find out more at the following link.

The Four Stages of Growth: Includes a healing meditation podcast that can be downloaded for creating healthy growth in all areas of your life. Hint: Creative expression is all about growth.

Help on Healing the Past

I love energy and energy healing. This book features energetic exercises, that can help you recover YOU from the past.

Healing the Past: Getting On with Your Life

by: Arian Sarris

Amazon Price: (as of 07/11/2009)

Turn Failure Into Success By Rewriting The Story

Over time, we develop certain stories about what happened to us and why. An important part of healing the uncompleted past is to give a new story or context to what happened. The new story contains the wisdom that you have now about that unhappy event in the past.

I'll give you an example: In 2002 I had a near death experience caused by losing almost all the blood in my body. After a transfusion (thank you, blood donors!) I was given a room for the night, so my vitals could be monitored. My roommate was a woman who could not sleep unless the TV was on. Late night TV is the worst for sleeping, because all the negative content enters your subconscious. On top of that, the flickering light is very dangerous for the brain waves and can cause all kinds of disruption in sleep patterns, epileptic type seizures, etc. I begged her to turn off the TV to no avail. We ended up fighting like two betrayed women on a Jerry Springer show. When finally it was resolved (the hospital administrator had to come in and find a solution), I only got one hour of sleep before the early morning nursing round woke me up to check my vitals again.

After loudly complaining to our respective friends and family about each other the next day, the hospital finally moved me into my own room. At that point a friend pointed out to me, that the woman probably saved my life. The easiest time to die is between 2 and 4 a.m. because the Earth's gravitational fields are the weakest. The exact time the "TV Angel" kept me awake was between 2 and 4 a.m.

Coincidence? Maybe, but by looking at it from a "She saved my life!" context instead of "What a Beee Ach!", I could move into a heart space, which is more conducive to healing than stressing and obsessing about the perceived wrongs someone caused me.

Now it's your turn: When you are writing your lens, make yourself the hero, not the victim in your story; make your enemies your secret saviors; see how what you thought was a negative was really a positive.

Going for the Ah Ha! Moment

As you go through this process, you'll reach a moment when all of a sudden you have a flash of insight about it all. That's the Ah Ha! moment and the indicator that you have recovered the treasure from the creative dream AND the ensuing event that stopped that dream from becoming a success.

Celebrate the moment and pop a bottle of champagne. Or better yet, write a killer lens!

Give Your Creativity Something to Think About

Check out the Contents...they got me creatively thinking just reading them.

Cracking Creativity: The Secrets of Creative Genius

by: Michael Michalko

Amazon Price: $13.57 (as of 07/11/2009)

Tap Into Your Creativity With Squidoo Modules

What's Your Favorite?

Part of the fun of creating my ginormous lens: How To Buy Real Estate In Mexico was using modules in a different way to present the information. I found it really helped me recontext that project as well.

I especially like the modules that let others contribute, because having someone else look at what you thought was a failure can bring new insights, support and Ah Ha! moments.

Have you got a favorite module? Add it here or vote for your favorite. Don't forget to mention where to find it.

Squidoo