Word Play

From Marney Makridakis comes this wonderful idea which I share with you:

I was out running some errands a few days ago and I did a little eavesdropping experiment.  I listened to the conversations around me and made a note of how many times I heard the words "busy" or "tired" or "stressed".  Perhaps not surprisingly, given this bustling time of the year, those words or something similar surfaced in almost every single conversation I heard.

The holiday season is equated with a dizzy busy that has become so normal, we've come to expect it.  But does this have to be the case?  When did it become so acceptable to be over-busy, over-tired, and over-stressed…during the holidays or, for that matter, any time of the year?

I think that it's easy to forget that we have a choice in the matter. I've found that it can be as simple as making a different choice. Our choices are the pieces of the quilt of our lives, and the words we use each day are the threads that hold those choices together. Just because everyone else around us is stressed by the holidays, doesn't mean that we need to be. I'd like to share a fun little ARTsignment™ exercise that I developed that combines creative word play with the powerful act of reframing our choices. 

I believe that changing the words we use is one of the most powerful things we can do to change our lives.  And it's probably no mystery that I love word   So for this simple little exercise, all you do is start with a word that describes how you're feeling…and then see if you can find a rhyme or pun that transforms the word into something else.

For example:

Instead of feeling stressed...try feeling blessed

It looks so simple, right?  But this simple word association is actually a very powerful tool!  With this Transwordation, you now have an instant reminder the next time you are feeling stressed; you can change your thoughts, and instead of being overwhelmed with stress,  you can start thinking about all the things for which you are grateful.

Here are a few more silly little examples for words that can actually be powerful if we let them transform us this holiday season the way we can transform them. So,

Instead of feeling busy…
what would it mean if you were feeling bliss-y?

This might mean that when you're feeling busy, you can stop and ask yourself, "what could I do to bring more bliss into this short moment?"  You get the idea....Have fun with it!