SHOWNOTES (+PICS) https://wp.me/p5bc9S-2gG

Nearly two months into the Year of Fun and as far as I'm concerned, this has definitely made what are normally pretty hellish months... actually quite fun.

This week's Fun activity was a callback to my childhood: Scratch Art.

I didn't have a name for this as a kiddo, but I do remember the confusion of seeing my older sister cover her square of paper, which she had beautifully coated in rainbow crayons, with a thick, oily black layer, hiding all her good colourful work.

What sacrilege!

Then... I remember my delight as she took an empty ballpoint pen and scratched on the slick black surface... to reveal... lines of rainbow!

Ahhh. A magic moment I then committed to recreating as often as possible.

Still to this day, I love the aesthetic contrast of all the rainbow colours next to a complete absence of colour.

It's the same reason I prefer multicoloured lights on a Christmas tree. Why have one when you can have the lot?

Anyway, this week I made time to do a slightly more grown up version of my childhood obsession of scratch art.

If you're not familiar with this wondrous art form, it's simply a matter of covering a sheet of paper with lots of colours - using crayons or oil pastels.

Then, covering over all your work with black - either oil pastel or paint works too.

Finally, you draw/scratch onto the black surface to reveal lines of your colours underneath.

The result is... quite lovely.

One mistake I made was getting a bit too enthusiastic with the black paint. When I was a kid, we just used a very heavy duty black oil pastel, but since I had a lot of ground to cover, I opted for black acrylic paint.

I just laid it on way too thick so the initial marks I made kind of just moved paint around.

That said, the simple action of moving the paint around and revealing the rainbow underneath was really quite magical.

Fun rating? 6/10

A little lower because lets face it: the element of challenge wasn't exactly there, but I did enjoy the lighthearted, tactile experience.

If I have anything significant to say to you this week it's: what activity did you enjoy as a child? One that created that sense of wonder we lose in our teens?

Is this something you could recreate today, just for old times sake?

Next week's fun activity is...

The orchestra!

In this week’s episode of the Creative Introvert podcast I talk to Jessica Serran, Visual Artist and the leader of the Becoming Artist Movement.

Born in Ontario, Canada, Jessica holds an MA in Transformative Art from JFK University and a BFA in Illustration from the College for Creative Studies in Detroit, MI. When not in her studio, she helps visual artists discover their Creative Calling and become leaders of an International Creative Movement through the power of community.

What we discussed:

• Jessica's unconventional upbringing and journey into the art world
• Should art making come easy to us?
• The inner critic, limiting beliefs and the creative process
• The work we can do to smash the 'starving artist' myth
• The experience of putting on live events as an introvert
• What does it mean to be an artist?
• The importance of community and how to make collaboration work

Links mentioned:

Gilles Deleuze

Marianne Williamson

Cy Twomby

Anselm Kiefer

Laurie Anderson

Ken Wilbur

Kutna Hora

Becoming Artist

In theory, we improvise every day or at least the days when we talk to people. We listen, sometimes better than others, and respond accordingly.

So why on earth is improv - or improvisation theatre - so bloody terrifying?

I know people like to throw around statistical nuggets like ‘fear of death is second only to public speaking’ to highlight how common this fear is and how extreme a fear it is.

And I consider myself to be a fairly rational person - sometimes to a fault - but standing in front of more than 2-3 people and speaking at them, not in a dialogue, is… bloody terrifying, despite the fact that I know I’m perfectly safe.

It helps to understand the evolutionary explanation. This is the theory that if we were standing in front of our tribe back in the day, that we weren’t doing it for theatrical entertainment.

We were likely defending ourselves from being attacked because we probably did something wrong, like stole more than our share of woolly mammoth meat - and our tribes people were ready to kick us out - or worse.

So… there’s a possibility that the oldest part of our brain, the amygdala, is still triggered when we get on stage in front of an audience.

Rational or not, it doesn’t really help my fear.

I first started overcoming this fear back in 2016, I began attending Toastmasters, which is a very popular non-profit organisation that sets up clubs worldwide to help its members improve their communication, public speaking, and leadership skills.

And this definitely helped me break the ice. Literally, I did my Icebreaker speech, and I think one other, before deciding it was not for me, for various reasons mostly because of the authoritative vibe and the bureaucratic elements - but it definitely set me on this path to more and more public speaking, fear facing and getting my message out in person.

I won’t pretend I’ve overcome my fear of public speaking in two years - far from it - but it’s definitely lessened.

My one saving grace has been the preparation I can do before hand. I know I can craft my words in advance, often refer to cue cards or use a slideshow as a memory trigger - and an audience distraction - and above all I do my best to prepare myself to soothe my fear.

But then there’s Improv. The whole concept is removing the barriers we put up through our distracting slides, props and memorised speeches.

This was a whole new level of fear: and for whatever reason, it became my dragon to slay.

And trust me: I’ve delayed this for months and months now.

But then, speaking to a friend, and knowing I couldn’t choose another ‘easy’ activity from the jar of fun, I figured: let’s just bloody do it.

And we did.

Again, I used my ninja skill of accountability to get me to go: naturally if my friend bailed, I would certainly have bailed. Thank you Rachel for not bailing!

The next barrier of entry for me would have been distance: I’ve learned travelling somewhere too out of the way is going to reduce my likelihood of showing up. The one I went to was close, it’s in Hove and it’s called Iron Duke Improv for those in the area who might want to check it out.

It also had the added benefit of being in the back of a pub: which meant I could get some Dutch courage in before we began.

So… the big reveal… how was it?

Firstly, the people, as we learned from the Charleston mishap, make all the difference. These folk were lovely: warm, welcoming, encouraging - and bloody funny too.

So that helped.

The next best bit was how optional everything felt. Most of the exercises we did were voluntary, though not all - that said I strongly believe if I had been picked for an exercises I just didn’t want to do, I could probably have said ‘not meeee!’ and they would have been cool with it.

There were a few sweat inducing moments, as well as moments of pure genius: at least, I thought my shark attack was funny…

And even though there isn’t a massive emphasis on being funny - this seemed to be more improv theatre not improv comedy - I’m not sure if theres’ a real difference but it wasn’t like laughter was the goal - regardless, I found it super funny and spent a lot of the time giggling, which is always good.

Fun rating? 8/10

Yeah - that’s a high one.

I think there’s the added satisfaction - and OH how satisfying it is - to know I’ve done something that was so high on my fear list, and of course, like all of our biggest fears: is never as bad as we imagine.

In the words of Seneca, great Stoic philosopher: “We suffer more often in imagination than in reality”

Oh and another win: I finished my crochet bunny from last week! 

(See it here)

Fun rating: 6/10

Next week's fun activity is...

Scratch art. 

This is something I LOVED to do as a kid. Will reveal all next week!

Let me tell you a story...

One year ago today I was at a place very close to rock bottom.

l'm not a full-time anything: my wall consists of multiple hats I don and I enjoy the variety. But last year a few of these hats were gone.

To clarify, when I took myself out of the London scene, I left clients and contacts there. In moving to the seaside, I sacrificed higher paying clients and sheer number of opportunities.

Sure, I could commute... but that wasn't part of the plan. The plan was to rely more on my income coming from The Creative Introvert - the LCI, online courses and coaching and less on freelance design or consulting.

But in making that shift, I learned I wasn't quite ready. l still needed the contract work and my old tactics of relying on word of mouth weren't going to fly: if all my old clients were 50 miles away from my new ones.

So... I started pitching. This was something I historically dreaded, and assumed I was terrible at. For one, it I'm doing a repetitive task like writing a lot of emails, at some point, I make some terrible mistakes. Design experience aside, I'm not one for attention to detail.

And yes, I was rusty at first-it had been a while-but before long I started seeing some real results.

I think this was partly due to my increased experience : I knew a bit more about targeting a niche audience, but I also learned I had some innate skills that I believe all introverts have that can give us a real edge when it comes to pitching to get clients or work.

But, in order to hone those skills and use email as a secret weapon: you first need to know what they are... hence what I'm doing in this podcast.

Today, we're going to talk about the skills, strengths and tactics introverts can excel at... and use to their advantage in their career.

Links mentioned:

Why Introverts Don't Ask

The Email Answer

In this week’s episode of the Creative Introvert podcast I talk to Douglas Eby; writer, researcher and online publisher who focuses on psychology and personal growth especially in relation to creativity.

We talk about being a multitalented creative, Douglas shares his advice for procrastination and creative block, and we talk about the traits of high sensitivity and what it means to be an empath.

What we discussed:

• Douglas’ beginnings and his fascination in acting
• Procrastination as an indicator of anxiety
• Anxiety as a major creative block and how to manage it
• The biggest challenges introverts have when they are creative and trying to make a good career out of their art
• What it means to be a highly sensitive person
• The connection between being highly sensitive and highly creative
• Advice for anyone looking to write more who struggles to sit down and make time to write
• Does having multiple creative interests benefit us?

Links mentioned:

I’ll admit I am a bit of a stereotype in certain ways when it comes to the typical laptop lifestyle entrepreneur/freelancer creative type. In that… I am all about COFFEE!

I start my day with coffee, and if I don’t, then I turn into feral Cat: which you would not want to be around. I then have another cup at a cafe for a change of scene or to meet a friend, and that’s usually me for the day.

And when I watch those baristas perform their dark art, I can’t help but be captivated by the mystery of it all. I’m always blown away by the difference in a perfect coffee shop cappuccino versus my home-made run of the mill supermarket Americano.

Granted, I’m not a total coffee luddite. I do buy fancy fresh coffee, I sometimes grind the beans myself, and I use an Aeropress which delivers a damn good - and speedy - cuppa.

But my fascination has remained. Learning how to wield a professional espresso maker, steam milk jussst right and may be even one day create some latte art all on my own… has been on my bucket list for quite some time.

Finally. This Year of Fun has given me the excuse to splurge on a barista skills training workshop, and finally the time came, last weekend.

Now if you’re not familiar with my neck of the woods, the seaside town of Brighton here in the south of the UK, I should tell you that coffee is kind of a big deal here. There are some world class roasters and a ludicrous number of places to get your caffeine fix. Many of them offer barista training too.

I went for a 3 hour workshop at Wheat and Beans, a lovely, family run Argentinian style cafe in Kemptown, the funky end of town.

I had the luxury of being the only one on the workshop, which the introvert in me delighted in, and the shy kid in me was very relieved to find my teacher and pro barista Fabricio to be super friendly and welcoming.

We started with a bit of theory, and I naturally went into geek mode. I did that thing where I asked questions to sound intelligent and tried to make it clear that I was a real coffee connoisseur - saying things like Yirgacheffe and crema and extraction time.

Ugh. I feel bad for Fabricio having to sit through that.

Anyway, I settled down soon enough and we made our way to the practical side: uh oh. Now I’m staring at this shiny, complex monster of a coffee machine with buttons and levers and hot parts you really shouldn’t touch.

Fortunately, Fabricio was a great teacher and I got the theory down pretty quick. Oh but I learned how much skill and practise goes into getting the perfect foam of my beloved cappuccino or the delicate balance of foam and texture of a latte and don’t even get me started on a flat white.

Jeez.

I have come away with a whole new level of appreciation for what my baristas are doing behind the scenes, at least in the independent coffee shops.

So, am I now a pro barista?

Hah! Heck no. I barely got away with a passable cuppa. But… I reckon with a bit of practise, I could certainly get my chops up and I don’t know, if the Creative Introvert goes south may be I could become a barista in some hip cafe… Er, I’d probably have to get a lot cooler for that, may be some tattoos and a nose piercing…

Anyway, I walked away happy, caffeinated to the gills, and with a certificate which proves my participation. Yay.

My fun rating for barista training: 8.5/10

Really good. Think that’s the highest so far.

Anyway, if you’re interested in indulging your coffee geekery, I do recommend Wheat and Beans of Brighton.

Recently back an episode #44 we talked about the importance of accountability - as in, having someone to keep you in check, offering their support and encouragement when you have something you want to do - but are struggling to do it.

Now, I'd like to add one more piece to the puzzle, and that is... collaboration.

Much like accountability, this was something I assumed I didn't need or want. For one, I'm an introvert!

I do things by myself, I work best alone and other people - god love 'em - drain me.

But. when I reflected on the past year I realised that the #1 thing which had brought me the most success had been... Yes, collaboration.

Which naturally took me by surprise.

l hated when we had to work in groups at school, I was not a team sports fan. I also remember once at uni when we had to work on a project in pairs. The dude I was paired up with was a total slacker. And because I resented carrying all the weight, I slacked too.

In fact, I was pulled aside by our head of department who was concerned about my sh*tty performance.

It wasn't until we got to do the solo part of the project that I turned things around and excelled because I was in my element again: working solo.

But there is something to be said for collaboration: in fact, I attribute 99% of my success in 2017 to this very thing. Hopefully, by the end of this episode you'll be willing to give it a try too.

Links mentioned:

Why Introverts Don't Ask

The Email Answer

This past weekend's fun was actually pre-planned, it did not come from the almighty Jar of Fun...

It was a trip to Oviedo, a city in Northwest Spain.

You might wonder, why not Madrid or Barcelona? A more stereotypical choice for the weekend escapist Brit?

Well, here's a fun fact for you: I love obscure places.

I love that tourists are a novelty there.

I love that you're forced to speak the local tongue.

I love that the flights & Airbnb are dirt cheap.

So, my thoughts on Oviedo?

First thing I noticed was how super-duper clean it was... almost German in it's tidiness.

It was also the friendliest city I've been to, and not just in Spain... possibly anywhere ever.

Japan comes a close second, but the formality tended to put me on edge. Here, these Spaniards treated me like a curious cousin; not a local but not a scumbag tourist without a word of Spanish (which I was.)

The Airbnb was pleasant enough - and I even got the local delicacy each morning for breakfast.

Cake!

Apparently cake for breakfast is a quite typical Spanish custom. Which also happens to rank VERY highly on my idea of FUN.

And when you think about it, eating sugar and refined carbs for breakfast is still what the majority of the UK does - just in the form of toast and jam or cereal, rather than delicious homemade cinnamon cake...

I was also conveniently located next to the best coffee shop in town, (Noor coffee, if you're ever in the neighbourhood) where I found the only fluent English speaker in town too.

Oh and I love love LOVE how everyone serves a snack with your drink: from mini-croissants to churros to a tuna empanada. All that for €1.50... crazy when I come back to Brighton and pay £3.50 for a coffee that comes with no side snack.

Oh and this area of Spain is also very famous for its cider.

I'm not usually a big solo boozer, but I had to go to a local Sideria just to do as locals do.

I found a particularly bustling one where I plonked myself next to an older couple. I ordered my cider, and was fairly surprised to say the least, that it came in a bottle the size of a wine-bottle, and at 6% I knew this wasn't your typical Magners we get over here.

Then the fun began. There is, apparently, a very particular way this cider is served. I can't demonstrate it without gesturing, so I'll point to a visual demonstration:

The other fun part was the custom for consuming the drink. Ideally, you down it. Yep, each time your waiter/personal barman serves you from your giant bottle, you down what he gives you - all in one.

At least that's what I think the couple next to me were trying to tell me. Otherwise, I just looked like another Brit trying to get as pissed as possible, in the name of tradition.

Needless to say I didn't get much done after that.

Other fun activities were sightseeing. I'll admit there wasn't that much in terms of breathtaking sights - Gaudi didn't make it to Asturias I guess - but there were some great little statues dotted around, including one of Woody Allen, because Oviedo is said to be his favourite Spanish city.

 

Obscure Spanish city adventure day #1! Things got interesting when I went to explore the local bevy of choice: cider. And got told about the precise way it's served and consumed... Will explain it all in Thursdays podcast! 😅🍻

A post shared by Cat Rose (@creativeintro) on Jan 27, 2018 at 8:25am PST

I did a fair bit of walking: I hiked up a mountain, which again is very much my idea of fun.

I also went on a long bus ride to see a basilica & chapel that's been built into a mountain. I do like a good religious monument, so that pleased me.

Weirdly, I discovered how much I like bus journeys. Like on trains, I do my best thinking on these forms of transport. It doesn't work so well for airplanes: I just get a bit sleepy on them.

Something else that might surprise you, but is becoming a bit of a pattern for me, is: I got lonely on day 3.

One thing I've learned from years of solo travel adventures, is that as introvert as I am... on the third day of speaking to no one except my journal, and ordering some food and coffee, I get really quite lonely.

Plus, I went to another city a half hour away on day 3: Gijon (pronounced 'hee-hon'... seriously).

Gijon, I'm sorry if any locals ever listen, was just a bit disappointing.

It was nice to see the sea, a particularly blue looking sea, and I did have some bloody good churros, but other than that it lacked the spirit and charm of Oviedo.

Anyway, I left the next morning and returned to my own seaside town.

A final thing I noticed was how my routine falls away on holiday - at least in terms of yoga & meditation.

But I did manage to keep up my coffee sipping along side drawing a mandala and listening to uplifting Youtube videos. It's a very portable part of my routine, and one I find instantly gratifying.

Now I know when I consistently miss other parts of my routine, it doesn't take long before I start feeling like crap. Really: I've done the off and on experimentation enough to know what I have to do to maintain happy cat.

But I know I can skip a few days here and there, without falling off the wagon entirely.

I'd be interested to know what your take is on routine: whether abroad or in day-to-day life. What habits stick like glue? Which are nice to have but could be left at home with your to-do list?

Back to Spain. Would I recommend a trip to Oviedo?

Yes. Don't expect a lot of action, but get stuck in with the delicious - if somewhat deadly - cider & lovely locals.

Fun rating = 7

Next week: barista training (I hope - if it's not cancelled again!) if not, I'll tell you about a recent experience with Zumba...

In this week’s episode of the Creative Introvert podcast I talk to Pete Mosley, author of one of my favourite books: the Art of Shouting Quietly who helps people in running a business creatively, how to find and build relationships with customers and how to tell a great story about your work.

We talk about the intersection of creativity and introversion, whether we should just fake it till we make it if we want creative success, the advantages of being an introvert and how to avoid burnout.

What we discussed:

• The connection between creativity and introversion
• What are the advantages of being an introvert as a creative?
• Pete's tips for using introversion as a strength
• Is it enough to just do good work?
• The problem with the advice to ‘fake it till we make it’
• Pete's 'cheeky letters' strategy
• How to expand our comfort zones whilst still protecting our energy
• Advice on using video for marketing/communication and advice for the camera-shy
• Shyness as fluid, confidence as mercurial, one fear goes, another grows
• Defining success - dreaming big, being realistic, knowing what we want (‘being successful in a quiet way’)
• Pete’s approach to networking as an introvert
• Tips for managing imposter syndrome

Links mentioned:

• Tara Swiger 
• Imposter Syndrome
• 10 Enemies to Creativity
• Jamie Arpin-Ricci
• The Art of Asking - Amanda Palmer
• The Art of Shouting Quietly - Pete Mosley
• A sneak peek of Pete’s next book Where the Magic Happens

You may recall last week I declared I booked my barista training.

But, as I sat on the bus, 10 minutes away, I randomly checked my emails and - oh - the guy who was training me, cancelled.

I'm not sure if it was a hangover (this is 9 am on a Sunday) or if he genuinely was sick, but I sadly accepted my fate: a long Sunday with nothing scheduled.

And because I have you to report to, keeping me accountable for my 'year of fun' I had to come up with a plan.

The problem was, it was pissing down with rain, and the idea of traipsing anywhere outside my cosy little home... did not appeal.

l learned a new word that perfectly describes this weather: Gluggavedur - this is an Icelandic term to describe weather that is best enjoyed from being inside: i.e. where it’s warm and dry.

The only thing that was definitely on the cards was a reluctant food shop. What could I buy there which could be a source of fun? Other than Krispy Kreme donuts?

It came to me: a magazine!

This is an odd indulgence I've considered fun since I used to subscribe to both a Dinosaur mag and one that Nickelodeon produced. Both of these rocked my world age 7.

Now my idea of a magazine worth buying generally revolves around home decor or crafts.

The selection wasn't great, but I spotted one that was new to me, called In the Moment. The extortionately priced pad of printed paper was added to my shopping basket and I went home to spend the rest of the day indoors, moving between my bed and my desk.

Safe to say I did not hit my step count.

Now, this could be the dullest episode in the entire series of my Year of Fun but: I do have a few insights to share with you:

1) I have some serious guilt around doing things for pure pleasure when I could be working or learning or challenging myself in some way.

I very rarely have a full day with no plans, and rather than basking in that freedom, it kind of panicked me.

When I ultimately settled down with my tea & magazine, I definitely started to enjoy myself, but there was still a nagging feeling that someone might jump out from my wardrobe and yell "Get back to work, yooou slacker!"

I know. Crazy right?

Ironically (I think it was ironic, I'm never sure how to use that word even though Alanis Morisette has given us so many contextual examples...)

Ironically, there was an article in the mag about how hard it is for many of us to take real time off even at weekends.

2) It also made me think about last week and how challenge, when it's too extreme, can really such the fun out of an activity for me. On the other hand, when it's too low, I'm left feeling a bit... empty.

It's not that I didn't enjoy my lazy Sunday - it was delicious - but at the end of the day, I didn't have that feeling of satisfaction: the afterglow of doing something that mattered.

It's basically confirmed for me Martin Seligman's theory on 'Authentic Happiness', or his updated terminology 'Well-being'

For Seligman, the formula for this ultimate state of being is:

Positive Emotion - pleasure
Engagement - flow state
Relationships - people
Meaning - higher purpose, being part of something bigger than yourself
Accomplishment - winning in some way, achieving a goal

The magazine and tea fuelled Sunday I had hit 2 out of 5 of these - I experienced positive emotion and a small amount of engagement or flow.

So maybe I'll be taking into account these 5 factors more into my fun activities: may be I'll devise my own... who knows!

My fun rating: 4/10 - high pleasure, but low on the satisfaction afterglow.

Next weeks fun is not coming from the Jar of Fun I'm afraid because I already have something quite fun - I hope - planned. I'm packing my bag and heading to Northern Spain for the weekend.

Specifically, a region called Asturias. It's a bit of a hidden gem at least to ignorant tourists like me, and famous for it's cider. Yum.

So I'm guessing I'll find some fun there, and report back to you next week!

And if you happen to be from Spain or as unlikely as it is, Asturias, let me know if you have any tips or suggestions for me to try out on my travels!

If you tuned in to the Creative Introvert podcast last week, you’ll have heard me give my top tips and tools for goal accomplishment, with a focus on the inner work: the stuff that bubbles up in our minds, our hearts our bellies.

But there is one more piece to the puzzle, and this is the one that doesn’t come from inside. It comes from outside - the big, scary, extroverted, external world.

But don’t worry - this isn’t going to become the Creative Extrovert anytime soon, I just want to give you the piece to the puzzle that made all the difference to me, when I finally let it in, and gave it a go.

That is… accountability.

Firstly lets get some terminology right… What IS accountability?

Accountability is a term I used to cringe at. For some reason it stunk of the cheesiest end of self-help, as well as co-dependency and ultimately I took a lot of pride in doing everything all by myself.

Now, a bit of googling will tell you accountability means ‘the condition of being completely responsible for what you do.”

Ooh. Completely responsible? Not sure I like the sound of that either. Sounds like a whole lot of pressure that I am not keen to take on. At least, that’s what the free-spirited rebel in me says.

But… what if we were to look at it from another angle?

What about all the stuff we wish we could do, we know we should do but just aren’t doing?

And it’s not for want of desire or even motivation - we simply aren’t taking responsibility.

Of course, reasons that we aren’t acting on the stuff we want to make happen are varied.

We can dive into them deeper another day, but for now, some that come to mind are:

• We feel like we might fail. So to protect ourselves from the possible failure, we don’t try.
• Or may be there’s another conflict. Like if I get this job then I’ll have to work even harder to prove myself - and that means even more pressure I don’t want.
• Or I have a perceived image of myself which means I’m not cut out to do this thing, so that’s why it isn’t happening.

I will note that those are typically introverted excuses: we tend to blame ourselves (or the subject) more than we blame the world around us (or the object.)

In this episode, I'm going to take you through the OUTER solution to goal gettin' and hopefully help you find an introvert-friendly approach to accountability.

Links mentioned:

Last week's show (part 1)

Self-Knowledge series episode 8 

Gretchen Rubin's 4 Tendencies

The League of Creative Introverts

First of all, let's address the elephant in this blog post: I did not do my planned fun this week (as dictated by Jar of Fun), which was barista skills training.

The first available spot is next weekend – but I can confirm that I'm booked on so coffee-making-101 is happening!

But I was left with the conundrum... What Fun could I partake in this weekend?

Scanning Eventbrite.com, I came across a dance workshop, in nearby city, Chichester.

Learn the Charleston in a day, effectively.

The Charleston eh? My head swam with pictures of black 'n' white flappers with feathers and shiny jewellery and Charlie Chaplin was somewhere there too...

I'm not going to pretend I have a clue about dance history, or dance...at all.

I accidentally experienced a taste of the Lindyhop at a quirky Brighton conference last year, and I'll admit... I didn't hate it.

I made a pact with myself to explore dance some more, a task that could get me into my body and less stuck in my head.

Introverts, particularly the intuitive type (more about intuition vs sensing here) are prone to being a bit heady and disconnected from the real, physical world, including their bodies. And I'm definitely in that category.

Plus I love learning new things. It builds confidence like nothing else, plus I quite fancy myself at some great Gatsby themed party sipping cocktails and throwing some shapes on the dance floor...

So I booked on.

The other bonus was checking Chichester cathedral off my list.

Underwhelming, but then I have recently been to Rome and have been a wee bit spoiled for cathedral eye candy.

So... the class.

Er - it didn't start well.

I was nervous, duh, and I didn't feel welcomed as I entered a busy little studio, packed with ladies who - I fantasised - all knew each other, were pros at dancing, and just really hated 5'3" redheads.

I had a moment on the loo where I told myself - specifically my inner critic - to shut the fuck up and stop being a baby. But you know, kindly with self love etc.

I'll admit the teacher was lovely, sweet, funny, not intimidating at all and did make the steps very clear. Despite my two left feet, and rhythm of a drunken uncle at a wedding, I mostly got the hang of it.

That didn't stop it from being... not fun.

Not fun at all.

It took me back to P.E. classes at school. I didn't feel like a sassy flapper in a silent movie: I felt like an awkward introvert who would much rather be in one of the many cute tea rooms or coffee shops the city had to offer.

Balls.

The workshop was 3 hours but I left during the break, politely declaring my knee was giving me trouble. Which it was, a bit, but it was most probably psychosomatic because it conveniently eased up as soon as I stepped foot outside.

Fun rating: 2/10 because the were moments of mild enjoyment when I celebrated getting the steps right.

Ok so what have I learned?

That public dance classes are not my jam.

I still like the idea of dancing, but hello...Youtube?

I can dance around my room and have actual fun, plus it's free.

I've mentioned that fun, often but not always involves a bit of challenge for me.

And I strongly believe in stretching our comfort zone regularly, like exercising. When you haven't exercised in a while, it becomes much more painful when you do it. So... I believe in a regular dose of mild discomfort.

A level 3 or 4.

This was a 7 on the discomfort Richter scale, which pushed it out of the fun category for me.

It makes me think of a saying from Gretchen Rubin, author of The Happiness Project and others. Her life motto is, 'Be Gretchen'.

If in doubt, be yo'self.

Today I learnt something about myself: this Cat does not like dance classes.

Ok so the timing for this episode is all kinds of perfect.

If you’re listening on the release date, you’ll likely be aware it is a brand new year, and you may very well have set yourself a new years resolution - or assuming they’re becoming a little unfashionable, may be you’ve picked a year goal or - er - a word to set your intention for the new year. Whatever floats your boat.

May be you’re on the more skeptical side of the fence and refuse to set any goals or resolutions because the new year is arbitrary to you. I don’t blame you.

But still… there’s likely something you want, something you want to feel or be or do or have.

Now there are a million and one reasons why we fail at getting what we want or doing what we want - but there are far fewer solutions to this challenge.

Some of my favourite planning tools:

Asana

Mindmeister

Strategyzer

Other links mentioned:

Why Introverts Don't Ask

The Email Answer

The League of Creative Introverts (Early Bird Access)

The Year of Fun… week one is down!

So did I stick to my fun guns??

Well, yes… but let’s never call them ‘fun guns’ again.

As you may remember, the first fun activity I picked from my jar of fun was ‘go to a Nomunication.’

Now, a ‘nomunication’ is basically an event that a local Japanese learning meetup group holds. The problem was… there was no nomunication this week!

It normally involves drinking and talking, both in Japanese and English. My insecurities in my own noob status at Japanese has meant I’ve never attended one.

Now I should have been less specific, because this particular event wasn’t on last week. Instead, I had the option to go to a Mochi-making event held by the same group.

And I went!

Honestly I was not massively looking forward to it when the day came. I felt my standard fears around being in a big group of strangers - plus the possibility of having to speak Japanese which scared the crap out of me too.

But I had to go: the Year of Fun would have been a bit of a flop if I couldn’t even make my first week’s event.

It was… really nice. I felt comfortable in the group: this is undoubtedly a friendly bunch and I’m looking forward to dipping my toe in more of their meetups.

I did my classic introvert thing: spent most of my time speaking to just one person, but she was lovely and we had a lot in common.

And of course: the mochi!

Mochi is something I love anyway, but I have never made it before: and now I know it’s not that complicated, I have bought myself some mochi making flour my very own mochi rice cake things.

More about mochi >>

A fun part was shring tips on how to eat the mochi, and as someone who loves food and especially loves weird combinations of food, I very much appreciated one attendees tips for making a mochi cheese melt in the microwave - it was amazing.

So, out of 10, I’d give this a 7: it wasn’t super duper fun but it was pleasant, a nice thing to do on a Sunday afternoon and it is likely to lead to a lot more fun: at least in terms of making mochi on a regular basis.

Now: to reveal next week’s fun!

BARISTA SKILLS TRAINING!

Yikes! I'm not sure I can make this one happen by next week, but I can certainly investigate it.

There are a few different coffee shops in Brighton that offer barista skills training, so I can enquire to see if they'll have this creative introvert messing around with their beans...

Either way, I'll have some fun to report back this time next week!

Have you ever tried mochi? Have you made mochi? Any good recipes to share

Shownotes >>

Morra is the author of Hiding in the Bathroom: An Introvert’s Roadmap to Getting Out There (When You’d Rather Stay Home) which really spoke to me because of my own experience in an office job – I wonder if you can relate...

We talk about Morra’s career and her experiences of hiding in the bathroom, much like myself, before she hit rock bottom and made a major life change, we talk about being a stealth introvert, introvert ambition and managing social anxiety.

What we discussed:

• How Morra found peace after spending a decade crying in the bathroom at work
• The joys of working solo
• Discovering how you work best
• Do introverts blame themselves over their environment?
• What we don’t talk about when we talk about being an introvert at work
• Misconceptions about introversion and success
• Managing your energy and channeling it effectively
• Morra’s energy management rhythm
• Managing anxiety and seeing it as a gift, not a curse
• Advice for using social media to raise your business profile as an introvert

What is this year of fun?

As someone who is obsessed with goal seting, actionable plans and productivity... this year i have decided to do things a bit differently.

To try to balance out my type a, INTJ personality, I figured I could choose fun as my one overall theme for 2018.

I'll admit: this is not a totally original idea.

See the Year of Fun - Sarah did one fun thing every day for a year and blogged the process.

I’m not planning one fun thing every day but I am aiming for one fun activity a week, most of which I've never done before.

l like an experiment: organised fun may be a paradox for some but for me it's the only way to get me onboard.

Actually, the planning of the fun has been... fun. Even before the year officially started.

What is this 'fun'?

A bunch of activities I imagine will be fun: they feel light, playful, adventurous - not without a sense of risk or challenge.

We all have different interpretations of fun, and part of this is to further understand my own idea of fun. Much of these are things I think will be fun (some more so than others) but I'm prepared to be surprised.

Challenge is also an element: I know pushing my comfort The gives me a great deal of lasting satisfaction: very different from the short-lived pleasure we (I) often find myself addicted to : chasing comfort and avoiding pain. This, I've found, as many a spiritual seeker before me, have only ever ended in a dog-chasing-it's-tail-like scenario.

My hypothesis is that these tasks will change me in some way. At the very least they'll shake my weekends up and give me some stories to tell.

How it works:

I pick a new predetermined fun activity from my overflowing jar of FUN. Activities are colour-coordinated depending on effort required. Some need people to get involved, or advance booking. Some will definitely not be fun in winter months in the UK, others require a trip to the shops for supplies.

But picking one week ahead should give me enough time to plan.

Note: most activities will happen at weekends unless I'm busy with less fun activities, in which case I'll make an effort to do that task during the week.

I'll also be documenting this process as much as possible, both on the podcast and on my Youtube channel - so feel free to follow along there: I'm aiming to publish once a week about the most recent fun thing I've done and my thoughts on the challenge so far, which may include fun ratings for each activity.

The grand finale of the Self-Knowledge mini-series!

To end, I’m asking you the deceptively simple question: what do you want?

It’s easy to go through life without really answering this question.

Of course, we can answer specifics: like what do you want to order from a restaurant. Or you can be tempted to answer through the structure western society has imposed on us, claiming to want to go to university and settle down with 2.4 kids and get a mortgage and OH MY GOD KILL ME NOW.

I’m a big proponent of asking this question on a regular basis and spending a significant time ruminating on it.

I do this because I don’t want to be fooled into thinking society knows what I want, or into thinking I don’t have a choice in the matter.

When we know what we want - what we really, really want, as the Spice Girls say - we can aim true and have - obviously - a way better chance in getting what we want and living a meaningful life.

OK. So…

How do you tackle a question like What do I want?

Full shownotes and FREE download here >>

The concept that we all, by our nature, approach tasks and accomplishing things differently actually came as a bit of a surprise to me.

l figured the kids I went to school with who left their homework till the last minute or often arrived late to class, were just... naughty. Like, they must hate school even more than I did and might even enjoy detention in some weird masochistic way.

It wasn't until I became good friends with one of them that actually loved school, got good grades and even though she left everything till the last minute, the teachers generally loved her.

Now, I understand that my friend is a Perceiving type. I on the other hand am a Judging type.

If you're familiar with Myers Briggs, you've calmed on to what all this means, but for everyone else: then two functions Perceiving and Judging are about how we approach life: either in an open, flexible way (P) or in a structured, orderly way (J) - which is what this episode of the Self Knowledge mini-series is going to dive into.

Full shownotes here >>

I should point out that whether you’re an introvert or not, the way you are affected by your environment still varies a lot between person to person.

And you might remember the episode in this series in which I described High Sensitivity - if you’re a HSP, you’ll likely be more affected by lights and sounds than the average bear, like myself.

Regardless of how sensitive you are to your environment, there is still going to be an optimum environment you thrive in.

This episode in the Self-Knowledge mini series is going to dig into different aspects of our environment you can start taking into account, and other little lifestyle hacks you might want to experiment with to up you creative game whether you work in an office or from home or from a coffee shop.

Full shownotes here >>

Let’s start with Carl Jung, grandaddy of Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who founded analytical psychology. He’s responsible for much of this series, because of his theories on psychological types.

He introduced three areas or preferences, each of which are dichotomies: as in there are two ends of a pole, and your preference lies somewhere along that pole.

Introversion or extraversion are one area, sensing or intuition is another, and thinking or feeling is the third - and the one I’m going to dive into today.

The concept of doing what you love and following your passion has gotten a bit of a bad rap in recent years, and I guess before I launch into this episode I should probably address that side of the fence first.

Cal Newport would be the first person I think of touting the idea that doing what you love is in fact, overrated. In his book, So Good They Can't Ignore You, he suggests the problem is that we don’t have much evidence that this is how passion works.

“Follow your passion” assumes: a) you have preexisting passion, and b) if you match this passion to your job, then you’ll enjoy that job.

What I'd like to do in this episode of the Self Knowledge mini-series, is help you get closer to finding your passion, whether it’s making more time for one you already have or finding a new one altogether and cultivating that.

Download your free accompanying workbook here >>

Not exactly a topic I've talked much about or even mentioned in the Creative Introvert podcast so far. May be something to do with my INTJ android-like personality, but really I have no excuse.

We know that even the hardiest Thinking types need a little tender lovin' care - whether it's from a partner, or in the simple friendship of an old pal. Or y'know, from your pet gecko.

Whatever your source of love is, isn't the topic of today's show. what I want to talk about is the way we prefer to receive and to give love: also known as our love language.

This is a concept coined by Gary Chapman, author of the book The 5 Love Languages amongst others: your love language can be identified by asking yourself: what makes you feel loved? What do you desire above all else from others?

Or on the flip side, what hurts you, or makes you feel unloved?

It can also be seen in how we express our love and appreciation to others.

The importance of understanding our own lore language as well as that of those around us is really really important, may be the most important in this Self-Knowledge series.

After all, if you can't communicate your love and appreciation to someone else or receive it from them because you're speaking two different languages, it's going to have a pretty detrimental effect on the relationship.

Already I know this is going to me one of my favourite episodes in this self-knowledge series.

The way we experiences the world is… kind of everything. From the moment we’re pushed or pulled out of our mum’s baby-maker, we’re dealing with sensory information and how we respond to that is amazingly individual.

Even from those early years, we start exhibiting clear signs that some of us are experiencing the world in very different ways. This depends on both how we’re wired neurologically and biochemically, as well as what particular environment we’re being raised in.

More on determining factors later, but for now I want to talk about the different categories psychologists and smart people in lab coats have given us to describe how we might experience the world around us.

In every case, I’m willing to bet there is a sliding scale, just like introversion and extroversion, someone can be at the very end of the scale, or somewhere closer to the middle.

Links mentioned:

Are you an Intuitive or a Sensing Type?

Myers Briggs Type Indicator

Are you a HSP?

Are you a HSS?

Can you be a HSP AND a HSS?