If you work for a business in the US, your employer deducts taxes from your paycheck, so most people end up either not owing any additional taxes, or getting a refund when more taxes have been deducted than they owe.  But independent business owners, such as Reiki practitioners, writers, consultants and other freelancers, are responsible for estimating how much tax they owe and making payments to the US Internal Revenue Service throughout the tax year.  This can be a very imprecise process, since for solo practitioners, income can vary substantially from year to year.   If you’re fortunate to make a lot more money in the current year than the last, you may end up owing a lot more taxes than you were prepared for.   Of course there are ways to avoid being blind-sided by unexpected taxes—such as hiring a good accountant to keep you on track throughout the year.

After a few rocky financial years (2008-2009), a combined result of inattention to finances and a global recession, I finally admitted that financial management is not my strong suit, and engaged the services of several financial professionals, including a business manager (my incredibly talented sister Dottie) who keeps my finances in order throughout the year, and a certified public accountant (CPA) who does the final assessment of my tax status and prepares my annual business and personal tax returns.

Having taken these measures in late 2009, I felt I was finally on the right track.  I was paying estimated taxes on time (something I had not consistently done in the past) and I had financial experts in my corner to keep me from going astray.  I was set.  I was in good shape.  Or so I thought.

At the beginning of March 2011, when it was time to start work on my 2010 business and personal tax returns, my sister Dottie began the organization of my tax records by reviewing my tax returns from the previous year.  I got an unexpected call from her.  In the gentlest voice possible, Dottie told me that my CPA had not reported $15,000 of my business income for 2009.  I was upset.  There was a huge lump in the pit of my stomach.  I immediately descended into fear mode.  Would the IRS go after me for a fraudulent return (a punishable crime in the US)?  How much in additional taxes plus penalties would I owe for 2009?  And could I even pay what I thought I would owe for 2010 taxes?  Would I have to raid my retirement account to pay my taxes?

If it hadn’t been for Reiki (a Japanese mind/body healing modality), I might have lost my mind.  I mobilized one of the original Reiki meditations:   Deep breath into the belly.  Then deep breath out into the space surrounding me, focusing on the pure experience of that energy, such that worry was impossible.  I also mobilized the habit of frequently whispering a traditional Reiki precept to myself:  “Do not worry.  Fear is a distraction.”

Focusing on this precept gave me the clarity to quickly hire a different CPA, and move forward to correct tax reporting errors of the past.

I’d be lying if I said that Reiki practice eliminated all concern or worry.  But whenever I did find myself feeling discouraged or anxious about my taxes, I spent a few minutes reciting the precept “Do not worry…”  And I also made sure to spend at least 10 minutes several times a day practicing the most basic Japanese Reiki meditation Joshin Kokyu Ho.  In this meditation, one focuses on the breath, feeling energy coming in via one’s breath deep down into one’s abdomen.  On the out breath, one feels energy expand out of one’s body, not just through the mouth, but through all the pores of one’s skin.  When one is fully engaged in this meditation, it’s impossible to worry.

Joshin Kokyu Ho can’t be found anywhere on the US Internal Revenue Service website.  Your accountant will never recommend it as a tax preparation strategy.  But this powerful Reiki meditation could very well be the most important part of your tax preparation process.  It certainly was for me.

Postscript: After all my worry, and all my work to dispel fear, it turned out that I owed only an additional $425 in 2009 taxes, and only an additional $1500 in 2010 taxes beyond what I had estimated and already paid.  That’s not trivial, but it meant I could pay additional taxes out of normal savings, and that my crazy fantasy about needing to gut my retirement savings to pay taxes was completely off the mark.  For me it was a lesson about the wisdom of the precept “Do not worry…”  The precept teaches us that not only is fear a distraction, but more often than not, it is unwarranted.

My daughter Erin, a working mother of two young girls, is a perfect example of this principle.  Here’s what she did last Sunday:

• Got up at 5:30 AM to take care of her two adorable early risers.
• Made a yummy breakfast
• Did the weekly shopping, carting along  two now crabby little ones
• Stopped at Michael’s for some craft supplies
• Cleaned the house
• Did four loads of laundry
• Folded the laundry
• Decorated the “St. Patrick’s Day” tree (that’s another story)
• Cooked the family dinner
• Helped clean up the kitchen
• Organized clothing and lunch for the next day
• Read the girls a bedtime story and tucked them in for the night

Oh, and around 8:00 PM, she did one more thing:  She made 4 pairs of earrings.  In less than 15 minutes. For about $3.00 a pair. I asked Erin how she had the energy to do that after a long and tiring day.  She told me she felt much more energy when she was finished than when she started.

It would have been easy to crash on the couch and watch TV. But Erin needed that dose of creativity.  More than Netflix.  More than Facebook.  And she’s got some great-looking earrings to show for it.

It’s not that I don’t have the time to be creative. It’s that I’m choosing to spend my time immersed in popular culture TV.   In my defense, what fills my obscenely oversized LCD screen is quite educational (After all, don’t they have master’s degrees in film and television?  I think they’re called “MSAs” for “Master’s in Screwing Around.”)  The truth is I’ve developed an addiction to TV.  And it’s blotting out my ability to do creative stuff.

Yep, I’ve abandoned the world of art books and art journals. No more creative messes. No more rainbow stained hands sticky with adhesive and gel. These days my hands are clean, manicured, and wrapped tightly around my TV and Blu-Ray remote controls.

I can tell you who won The Voice, X Factor (American and British), Top Chef and Project Runway.  I know who’s having a baby on Grey’s Anatomy and who’s having an affair with the US president on Scandal.  With help from my daughter, I’m proud to say I know what Catfish is, and I can understand everything Honey Boo Boo says even without the subtitles.

But now it’s got to stop.  I’ve clearly hit bottom.  I’m a creativity coach for heaven’s sake.  I need clients.  Who is going to hire me if I don’t practice what I preach?  So like any knowledgable blogger helping professional, I have three tips for myself anyone trying to reclaim their creative identity:

1)   Don’t hide your secret time-wasters.  Come clean about whatever addictions are interfering with more creative pursuits.  Confide in a few friends.  The jury is out on whether it’s helpful to blog about your transgressions to people who don’t necessarily know and love you.  Will get back to you about the wisdom of that approach shortly.  Maybe I’ll do a collage about the experience.

2)   Get rid of temptation.  My military son-in-law has agreed to rig explosive devices to my TV and computers, which will destroy my equipment if I try to watch anything but NPR.  (Thank god for Downton Abbey.  I didn’t mean that.  Honestly.)  If I value my life, I will have to abandon my TV shows and instead…

3)   Redevelop a habit of creativity.  Instead of clicking on Netflix after dinner, I’ll be heading down to the basement with the help of an archeologist to excavate my art supplies.  Then I will use them.  Every day Several times a week.  I’m going to do this.  Yes I am.  I’m thinking about using my V-cam to chronicle my journey back to the creative life.  It won’t be easy.  Rehab never is.  But maybe my story can get me a gig on A&E’s Intervention.

Finally, to my current and potential clients, I hope you are reassured by knowing that I can empathize with your life struggles.  If I were perfect, would you feel comfortable with me?  Hope not.  Meanwhile, would love to hear your ideas and success stories in making your life more meaningful and fun.

1. Reassess my strengths (and weaknesses)

Dr. Martin Seligman’s site Authentic Happiness has an incredible range of free self-assessment tools.  One questionnaire assesses where you are relative to 24 “signature strengths.”  Two powerful personal take-aways:  A. I’m not taking enough advantage of my #1 “signature strength”  therefore ironically I’m not enjoying the things I enjoy the most.  B. My weakest showing in the strength department will threaten my family happiness if I don’t work on developing it.

Use these fascinating questionnaires to jump start your own self-coaching process.

2.  Set up Google Reader to feed me daily information about topics of interest

Google Reader or any RSS reader  is a great way to stay on top of the
latest information in your areas of interest.  I’m now able to quickly scan news media and blogs on creativity, baby boomers, innovation, social media, simple living, and spirituality.  The best part of this step is that you have to wander around the web and read things in order to figure out what things you want to read on a regular basis.

3.  Stroll through a virtual museum

Julia Margaret Cameron, The Mountain Nymph, Sweet Liberty, June 1866, albumen print from collodion negative

Many of the world’s most renowned art museums have online tours and streaming video of portions of their collection.  Today I visited the National Gallery of Art, where I was introduced to Julia Margaret Cameron, a 19th century British photographic pioneer.  The Boston Museum of Fine Arts has an impressive collection of interactive tours.  Delightful, and no crowds!

4.  Get lost in nature

OK, this I did outside in real physical space, taking advantage of an especially warm day in Colorado Springs to wander around Garden of the Gods.  But if the weather is cold and stormy, you can get your nature fix online thanks to this compilation of slideshows on  YouTube.

5.  Enjoy a long, hot bath/shower

Well, I’m not a bath person, but I’m famous for lingering in the shower until the hot water is gone.  I ended my day with a moist soothing shower.  Promising ideas kept flooding my brain as I inhaled the lavender scent of the body wash.  If you enjoy baths, pamper yourself with a few drops of aromatic oil, some candles, and relaxing music.

So that’s my one day creativity retreat.  Lots of people would pay big bucks at Canyon Ranch for a day like this.  We can do it for free!  I’d love to hear what you do to recharge, refresh, and reinspire!

Photo credit: Creative Commons – mndcpr

When I was a college counselor, I once worked with a senior who was a talented art student. She came to see me tortured by anxiety and depression. It turns out she’d been depressed throughout high school and college. When I asked her how she had put up with feeling awful for all that time, her answer surprised me. She said she had wanted to see a therapist but was afraid the process might turn her into a normal person. She believed that if she let go of her depression, she’d lose her artistic creativity along with it. In her mind, emotional pain was the price of creativity, a source of inspiration. I found myself assuring her I wouldn’t do anything that would put her at risk of becoming boringly ordinary.

A few years ago, my co-author Fred Mandell and I were working on the manuscript of our book “Becoming a Life Change Artist: 7 Creative Skills to Reinvent Yourself at Any Stage of Life” in which we use stories about the great masters of art to illustrate the creative process. Our literary agent advised us not to talk about the lives of the artists. Too many artists make terrible role models, she warned. Any mention of crazy artists could turn off potential publishers and readers. Though we thought the stereotype was unfair, we were careful to write about how artists worked, not how they lived.

Every few months there’s some new and misleading research suggesting a connection between creativity and mental illness. Don’t worry.  Creativity is not hazardous to your mental health.  But creativity can be dangerous in more ordinary ways.

Examples abound: Subprime mortgage derivatives were “creative.” Bernie Madow’s bogus hedge fund scheme was quite creative. Creativity is not intrinsically positive and growth-promoting (I wish!)  Creativity is ethically neutral. Like other cognitive skills, it can be used for good or ill. Creativity at its best is about making things. At it’s worst, it’s about making things up.

When you’re making things up, from little white lies to tall tales, you’re practicing creative dishonesty. I know someone who’s an expert at making sh*t up. He’s padded his resume, awarded himself a few fake degrees and exaggerated the success of an online business venture. Maybe he’s “thinking outside the box” so his audience won’t notice there isn’t much inside it.

We all want to see ourselves in a positive light, but creative dishonesty is a misuse of the gift of creativity. Notice when you may be using creative smarts to take moral short cuts. Use your creative skills wisely, in pursuit of authenticity, purpose, and fun.

Questions: Do you think there is a link between creativity and emotional problems? Between creativity and dishonesty? How do your thoughts about these questions affect your attitudes about being more creative in your daily life?

The video below reminded me of this lovely Japanese practice.  Radio host Julie Burstein talks with creative people for a living — and in the video shares four lessons about how to create in the face of challenge, self-doubt and loss. Hear insights from filmmaker Mira Nair, writer Richard Ford, sculptor Richard Serra and photographer Joel Meyerowitz.

Photo credit: Creative Commons

So, here is a TED talk by IDEO designer Ted Brown on “Creativity and Play.”  The audience is designers of products or services.  What I’m pondering is how to apply concepts from the world of design to the world of corporate innovation—or personal life change.  What would rapid prototyping mean applied to business innovation?  What would rapid prototyping mean applied to the changes we’d like to make in our lives?  How to take the lessons of play–whether in making things or role playing experiences–to enhance performance in our work environment or our personal lives?  I don’t have answers, but I’m intrigued by lessons about creativity from one of the world’s premier design firms…  This video is over 20 minutes, but well worth viewing.  Once you’ve viewed, I hope you’ll share how these concepts apply to any area of your life.

We tend to believe that creative work is a lonely endeavor. But, research – not to mention past precedent – suggests otherwise. In fact, one of the single most effective ways to enhance your creativity is to regularly break the cycle of isolation and interact, talk, and share your work with your colleagues and friends.

Psychologist Kevin Dunbar studied the workings of four prominent microbiology laboratories for insights into how new theories are developed. What he found was that the majority of creative insights and great discoveries actually occurred during regularly scheduled lab meetings, where individual researchers revealed their latest findings and shared their most difficult setbacks.  More

And it’s always good to see our ideas about the elements of creative success described in Becoming a Life Change Artist: 7 Creative Skills to Reinvent Yourself at Any Stage of Life reinforced by research in completely different fields.

Instead, Seelig offers simple but powerful ways to increase your creativity by shifting how you approach problems, including just being more observant and asking better questions. Here is a video of a recent presentation she made at Google: