Sleeping Dog

    A part of me is saying that this is the most creative time in the history of earth. There are more creative people doing more creative things in more creative ways than ever before – and that’s a very good thing, because it will take all our creativity to catalyze the changes we need to make in the next few years. Those of you who are familiar with “deep practice” may recall that intensely creative periods restructure the brain, and that this restructuring necessitates a lot of sleep. If you’ve read Jill Bolte Taylor’s My Stroke of Insight, you have a first-person account from a very smart brain scientist which backs up the idea that creativity, brain changes, and sleep are inseparable companions.

    So my advice to you this month is to play until you feel like sleeping, and then remember to SLEEP UNTIL YOU FEEL LIKE PLAYING. Without both sides of the equation, the profoundly innovative things that are meant to come through your creativity can’t be realized as fully or as quickly.

    Sleep has been a very hot topic among my friends and coaches lately. I feel challenged to learn a new way of sleeping — to visit the dreamtime with purpose and intention, not just as something  I need to do to keep my body functioning. Our culture is chronically sleep-deprived, but we must not be. Our goal is to heal our own lives, the lives of other beings, and suffering in general. Sleep is the great healer. Claim it, embrace it, use it!