Waking Up With Creative Mojo

Last night I was driving home and changed the radio station to the John Tesh Intelligence For Your Life show. He was talking about habits to break if you want to get your creative juices going in the morning. 

Wake up slowly, linger in bed a few more minutes or take a longer shower. People who pop out of bed instantly awake miss out on those moments between dreaming and reality that juice our creative selves. 

While luxuriating in those moments, don’t plan out your day or think of your to-do lists. Try to remember your dreams or think about your book—this is optimum time to come up with creative solutions to the writing problems that nag you. After all, your brain may have spent the night puzzling out what's give you a hitch in your  writing stride.

Last night I dreamt of Channing Tatum—hence the eye candy pics—and how he was helping me unload a truck. There were a few other people—a guy I started out with the company who I’ve lost touch with and some other vague specters. But once we finished unloading the truck and it was time to load the empty totes from last week, Channing abandoned me.  Yep. Total lazy bum.

But the point is not the dream itself—except for the Channing Tatum part—but how I woke up, rehashing the dream and then scribbling down a couple of notes so I didn’t forget it. Had I not done that, I doubt I’d remembered that Channing paid me a visit last night.

The second bit of advice Mr. Tesh shared was not to turn on the television to watch the morning news or check out the world events on your computer. Check in with the news in the evening so your mind can wander through the still hazy mist left over from your dreamsleep. If you insist on watching something, check out a funny Youtube video.

This is going to be a hard one for me—being a devout Matt Lauer and Today show fan. Plus, I rarely watch news at night--because I'm working or because if I am home, I just got home from work and am not in the mood for bad news. But back to my Today Show habit,  if it’ll help jumpstart my creative juices, I’ll give it a try.

Lastly—drink a cup of coffee or tea. Yep. Stimulating your mind with caffeine in the morning is good for your writing. I wonder if my decaf does the same thing? Mmmmm

Thank you, Mr. Tesh for that bit of Intelligence for my life.