Stressed Out? When Life Hands you a Mirror, Pay Attention!

It’s been a busy week and I am way behind on my blogging for the Ultimate Blog Challenge and many other tasks on my to-do list this week. I had company visiting for the past two weeks, taught two evening workshops last week and participated in a business expo to market my book on Saturday. Sunday morning was spent celebrating my son at a beautiful Coming of Age ceremony with our church and the afternoon was spent crafting with my mom and daughter. Where did Monday and Tuesday go? I am not even sure. Needless to say, I was feeling a bit stressed out and overwhelmed. I needed my own workshop, Creative Stress Busters, which I was supposed to be marketing.

On Monday, I had a fabulous follow-up coaching call for a radio interview I did on Friday afternoon for the Michael Dresser Show. Michael Dresser is a media coach and very good at what he does. I was so grateful for his time. As he was sharing his secrets to great radio interviews that will drive traffic and encourage more people to buy my book, From Fizzle to Sizzle, I had this big brainstorm and aha moment about how I was marketing my Creative Stress Buster workshop. It was previously called Artful Meditation Techniques and wasn’t getting much attention.

I got up Tuesday morning and renamed the class, changed the copy, added a different picture and hurriedly updated the post. I didn’t think about double checking the buy button, which has a tendency to get messed up when you change copy. Then equally quickly, I put it up on my Facebook page and a few other spots around Facebook. Before I knew it, someone bought the class! Hooray??? Oh, crap. I started getting questions from her about this button didn’t work and that link didn’t go anywhere… what had I done?

I certainly didn’t show up in a professional, organized manner. I have all this great content but didn’t take the time and do the work to get all the marketing and technology pieces in order before launching the program so that it was easy for someone to buy and they would automatically receive all the information needed to take the next steps. Once I got all the pieces working, she signed up right away and asked, “Where’s the content?” Yikes. I emailed her back, apologized and said, “I didn’t expect anyone to sign up so quickly! I am putting the finishing touches on it and you will have it tomorrow.” She laughed and replied that I was getting confirmation that people want what I am offering. That’s a good feeling or a bad one, depending on how ready you are for people to show up. I thought I was ready, but was I??

I sent a note to Maryellen following up today, once all the class information was live. I told her that I was so grateful to her for showing up as a teacher in my life yesterday. I needed this virtual reflection of what I was putting out into the world. It was a great wake up call. She laughed again and told me about a similar experience she had recently. I was grateful for her empathy and for her patience. I know she will get a lot out of the workshop, I just have to show up!

What irony that this workshop is about using art and journaling techniques for relaxation and meditation. I have been without my craft room for the last week since my mom and stepdad were living in it. My experience with Maryellen showed me how out of touch I was with myself. I didn’t do a great job of taking care of me or my business and it showed. I rely on time spent being creative – journaling, doodling, painting, creating Zentangle cards or SoulCollage cards to keep me centered and connected to myself and to God.

I had a moment of fearful panic that I wasn’t doing enough and needed to market this class right away. The truth is, I could have waited 24 hours, I should have double checked all the links and I should never have acted from a place of hurry or fear, it’s not the message I want to send to others or how I want to show up in the world.

So when someone shows up on your life this week to point out what’s not working, take a good look at what you are putting out into the world. Is it an honest reflection? How do you want to show up? What needs to change so that your inside beliefs and your outside reflection match?

And if, like me, you are feeling the need for some creative playtime to relieve some of the stress in your busy life, check out this virtual workshop: Creative Stress Busters – Art and Journaling Techniques for Stress Relief. Each lesson only takes about 30 minutes. Aren’t you worth 30 minutes a week that are just for you? Grab some crayons and a journal and come play with us!