Drawing Our Monsters At the Owning Joy After Loss workshop

1. Spend a whole day trying to view the world through the eyes of a child. Invite wonder into your life. Taking a child with you will help get you in the mood.
2. Eliminate your emotional filter for a wee bit. Express exactly what you feel exactly when you feel it. If you feel called to scream, scream. If you feel like bursting out laughing in church- do it!
3. Grab a box of crayons and draw something. Skip the coloring book- make it up as you go along. Pick your favorite word- write the word- and then let your imagination run away with you. I picked PINK- what’s your word? Now doodle away! Or draw animals like you did when you were a kid. Don’t worry if the animals in any way resemble the real thing. This is about mojo- and PLAY.
4. Make your favorite sugar cookies and go nuts decorating them.
5. Set up a lemonade stand on the side of the road- but do it with a twist- give it away! You’ll make people’s day, and it’s sure to rev up your mojo.
6. Grab a piece of posterboard, write the words Free Hugs on it, and head down to a crowded public place. Hold the posterboard over your head. See what happens.
7. Get in your car and try turning left. Bring a friend along. One of you drives and the other yells “LEFT” when it’s time to head left. Be open to possibility- explore what you come across. I did this once on a blind date and we ended up at a Little League game. One of the best dates I ever had!
8. Go to a toy store and let yourself be drawn to one toy. Buy the toy- take it home. Spend a few quiet minutes with it- then write about why you chose it. Pay attention to what comes up.
9. Appreciate the fact that you’re a grown up who still gets to be a kid. Go to a street fair and if you feel like eating churros, eat churros! If you feel like eating a meal while sitting on the sofa with you feet on the back of the couch, do it. If you drop crumbs and don’t feel like picking them up, leave them. Sometimes you have to indulge your inner child.
   
   
   

   Christa Scalies & Joy Mazzola getting their Giggle On with me

10. Pick a wall in your house and start writing on it. Make it your Truth Graffiti wall. Write whatever is true. It’ll make you feel blissfully naughty, and will also become a place of inspiration. I know- I’ve done it in my home office.
11. Sing out loud at the top of your lungs. Remember all those camp songs? Like “I say a boom-chicka-boom?” Now sing boom-chicka-boom gangsta style. And baby style. And diva style. And Pink style! Pick your faves and have a concert- just for you.
12. Play board games- the really cheesy ones.
13. Chew gum, blow really big bubbles, then pop them loudly.
14. For that matter, grab a bottle of bubbles and blow them. Have someone take pics of you dancing amongst them.
15. Try finger painting. Let your whole body get ridiculously dirty. Put some love into your art. Again, don’t worry about whether it looks like anything real. Allow your art to be “Ish,” as in house-ish, boat-ish, flower-ish.
16. Find a body of water and make sandcastles. Be really elaborate, if you feel like it. Gather sticks, stones, flowers, and feathers to pimp up your castle. If you don't have a lake, river, or ocean, be creative. Bring a bucket of water to a sandbox and go nuts.
17. Do cartwheels.
18. Allow yourself to eat kid swill for a meal. Hot dogs with bean dip, cupcakes, mac ‘n’ cheese. Whatever. Just because.
19. Run like a kid does. Forget everything they taught you in PE and just run like you’re running towards the swing set- arms and legs swinging wildly. Remember that Friends episode when Phoebe runs like a total dork and Rachel doesn't want to run with her? I say Own it, Phoebe!
20. Wear an outlet the way you would have when you were a kid. Don’t worry if things match- two different socks, pink knee socks with red shorts. Who cares? It’ll put you in the mood. Then take goofy photos to document it.
21. Take a bubble bath.
22. Dance, dance, dance!
23. Play with squirt guns.

What else? What works for you, Pinkies?

Laughing with childlike Pink glee,

Lissa