Day 56: Jamie Ridler

November 25, 2009 at 12:01 am, Category: Inspiration

“For me, it’s always a sense of adventure.  I love wondering “Oh, what’s next?  What’s going to happen?  I don’t know!”  So falling in love with that is a huge part of the process.  I think that’s really, really important.”

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Toni Reece: Thank you so much, Jamie, for joining us today; and before we go into the questions, can you please introduce yourself?

Jamie Ridler: Sure, Toni, thanks so much for having me here.  I’m on the edge of my seat!  I’m Jamie Ridler of Jamie Ridler Studios, and I’m a certified coach.  And I specialize in what I call “creative self development” which is helping people discover, explore, express the real, true truth of themselves through creativity.  I’m also really involved in the creative blogging community — it’s like a second home for me.  And I lead lots of online events from an online book blogging group called The Next Chapter to a weekly wishing event called Wishcasting to a monthly dream board circle.  So I guess when it comes down to it, I’m just a big lover of life; and I’m trying to do a little bit of creative goodness in the world.

Toni: Oh, that’s fantastic, and right off of that, creating that creative goodness in the world, when you think about inspiration, Jamie, who do you think you inspire and how do you go about that?

Jamie: You know, the people I really, really love to reach out to and touch are who I call “emerging creatives.”  You know, people who are just, just starting to recognize their creative spirit.  And that might mean they’re just starting to believe that maybe they could paint or write or dance or explore themselves as an artist, or it may also be they’re starting to understand and yearn for wanting to be a creative force in their own lives.

So instead of just fitting into the landscape that’s been provided, they want to take out their own set of colors and start to say, “Yeah, but what do I want my life to look like”, and then that part of their creative selves to be.  So I think it’s always people who are on their creative edge, you know?  Starting to grow into the next expression of who they are.

Toni: Well, how do you go about that?

Jamie: I think the big thing is to stand there and say “Come; come try this.”  And so I create a lot of safe, welcoming, encouraging places for people to try that out.  For example, I do this wishing event, Wishcasting, every week, and it’s so simple.  Every week I put up a prompt, and I might say “You know, what do you wish to experience with this week?”, or “Where do you wish to go?”, or “What do you wish to say?”  And just starting to think about those really simple questions on a regular basis — start to invite out that exploration, that creativity – “That what’s my desire.  What do I wish to start manifesting in the world, what do I want to make happen?”

So just again, creating those spaces and the opportunity and letting people know that it’s safe, that it’s okay.  That it’s okay if it goes wrong, it’s okay if it’s silly, it’s okay if it’s huge, it’s okay if it’s small.  And I think that just comes from being really, I don’t know, just loving people and just really embracing them with love and saying “Whatever you bring, if it’s you it’s gorgeous, it’s welcome; let’s take a look!”

Toni: That’s fantastic, Jamie.  And when you’re working with people or you’re providing this wonderful space for them, what have you found that it helps them to explore their potential?  How does it take it to that next step for them?

Jamie: You know, I think part of it is helping them find their bravery.  And one of the things that I know … I’m getting emotional thinking about this because I feel so strongly about it.  We’re so taught that we are supposed to be independent and that we are supposed to find our own way and do it ourselves and ultimately it’s all on us.  And it is true.  We’re the one that has to take the step; we’re the one that has to find the courage.  But there is really this deep, deep power of knowing that other people believe in you, they love you, they’re supporting you.  I think it’s really underestimated and undervalued what it means and how much support.  And knowing that someone’s there loving you and believing you and cheering you on can help you step into that next place.  It’s always going to be scary.  Growing is always scary.

So I think that’s a part of it, too, is often when we start to move forward or stretch and we go “Okay, I’m getting scared, maybe I shouldn’t go here.”  And so we back off and start to move in another direction, but really that’s our growing edge.  So starting to get comfortable in that place of “I don’t know what I’m doing”, and so some things that help there are a sense of play, a sense of humor, you know?  For me, it’s always a sense of adventure.  I love wondering “Oh, what’s next?  What’s going to happen?  I don’t know!”  So falling in love with that is a huge part of the process.  I think that’s really, really important.

Toni: When you think about all that you are bringing to the table and providing … I write different words down that pop into my head when people are talking through these interviews, and the word that I just wrote down was “courage.”  And that’s kind of what it sounds like to me is that you’re helping them find their own courage to be brave and to take that next step.  But when you look at yourself, Jamie, and personally and how that translates, what do you need to be inspired?  What do  you seek for inspiration?

Jamie: I think the big things for me — like the things that are in my inspiration toolkit — are my senses and my curiosity.  I’m curious about everything.  So as soon as I – and I am voracious sensually — I want to see things, I want to touch things, I want to taste things, I want to experience things, and so that’s where it starts.  A color will catch my eye, a shape, a street, a house, a person, and then my curiosity kicks in and I wonder, you know , “Ooh, who are they?  What’s that like?  What would happen if … ?”

My background is in theatre, and one of my favorite shows I ever created — and I had no idea if it would work — was I wanted to take an academic text and translate it into a movement piece.  And it just made me laugh to think about it.  I’m like, “Wow, that could fall flat, be horrible, and just ridiculous, or it could be awesome.”  So I did it!  It’s that curiosity, you know, that wonder, that “I wonder what would happen if” … I just gotta know.

Toni: And so all of that wonderment and curiosity helps to inspire you.  And I’m wondering if there’s certain tools, then, that you also reach for or a methodology that you use when you’re thinking “You know what, I’m looking for a little inspiration here.  What am I going to reach for to sustain that curiosity and wonderment?”

Jamie: I say go for the body.  For me, it’s go for the senses.  So when I’m somewhere, like if I’m in a store, I want to touch things.  If I’m out on the street, I want to look; and I want to look everywhere.  So sometimes, that can be a little snoopy, because I want to see.  I want to see like, “Ooh, what’s their mailbox like?”, and “What’s that dog doing?”, and “Let’s say hi to this cat.”  So I think it’s awareness, too, and keeping your eyes open and bringing fresh eyes to regular experiences.

I’m sure lots of people have this experience:  I will walk down the same road every single day, so I’m always looking for “What haven’t I seen before?  What’s new here?  Ooh, what time of day is it?  What looks different?  Where’s the sun?”  It’s just that staying awake to the moment, and I think that comes from awareness.  And the best and brightest and easiest way to do that is to enlist our body as an ally.  What does it feel like?  What’s the temperature like on my skin today?  How am I feeling in my tummy?  What are my toes doing right now?  I think that’s something we all have available to us for keeping us awake to the experience of the moment.

Toni: When you are going through all of this and experiencing these things, how does that then work in your favor to explore your own potential?

Jamie: Well, one thing it does — and I think this is so important for people, and I think it’s a step people often miss — is it lets me know what I love.  So I may notice 500 things today and 3 of them I can’t get enough of, and that’s the unique Jamie preferences in the world; and by knowing them and continually moving towards them, that’s my inner compass.  That’s my guidance system.  That’s how I know to move in the right direction.

And I see so often as a coach, people get really geared on “I need to set my goals, my 5-year plan.  I want to know where I’m going, know the end.”  And they haven’t stopped to really deeply ground themselves and “What do I love, what makes my life worth living, what do I want to taste more of?”  It all comes from there.  All our joy comes from there; all our authentic expression comes from there.

So when I see those things, so if I know … Like right now, I‘m getting really excited by video, and so I’ve got a new video camera, and I’m gonna explore, and I don’t know where that’s gonna take me.  I’m thinking maybe a documentary.  I’m thinking maybe … Like I’ve got a million ideas, but really it just started with “Ooh, I’m starting to enjoy capturing moments”, you know, but that noticing and then trusting and then moving towards it; and yes that can take courage, that is what I believe guides you down the right path.

Toni: When you are working on this for yourself, how does it then correlate with what you seek for inspiration, how you explore your potential with that inspiration; how does that then flow right over to who you inspire?

Jamie: Well, I think that part of it is it really helps when you know and see other people taking the risk, you know, and it being okay, that they survived it, or even really thrived there.  Sometimes I think … You know what, Toni, I think of it like we’re all teenagers, and you know how teenagers can inspire each other to do really goofy, stupid things.  So I get that sense of like I’m going “Okay, okay, I’m gonna do it, I’m gonna do it”, and I go and then I’m laughing and having fun, and then I hope other people are going “Okay, okay, now I’m gonna go, I’m gonna go” and I’m like going “Yeah, do it!”  It’s such a lively way to be.

For me, I just hope for people.  What I really want for people is to fully experience themselves in their lives, you know?  I love people.  I love life.  There’s so much available, and I want people to really know, love, and express themselves and experience the life that comes from that.  So that’s, I think, how it spills over.  I do it, I share it, and I say “Yeah, come play; it’s fun, the water’s just fine.”

Toni: And that you survived it.

Jamie: And I survived it!

Toni: You took a textbook and made it into movement and you survived it!

Jamie: And I’ll be honest with you – I suck at falling on my bum.  When I was a little girl, you know, my mom took me skating.  I so remember my little red dress and the little red skirt and I was just so ready, and I fell on my butt and I never skated again.  It’s not easy for me to do this, and it’s really even less easy for me to share it, because I like to get it right; I like to present myself a certain way, and so it’s risky.  It’s risky for me to say I tried this, I fell on my butt, let’s laugh about it, let’s get up and keep going.

But that’s where life is, right?  I don’t want to miss out.  I missed out on skating.  I don’t want to miss out.  I don’t want anybody to miss out.  So I just keep falling on my butt or flying and, either way, I’m following that inspiration.  I’m expressing myself, and I hope other people would do that, too.

Toni: Well it absolutely sounds as though it is spilling over in every area with what you create in order to have people be inspired, to the people that you inspire; and then also what you’ve been through yourself and maintaining that experience and also being there as an example.  And so for you to share those nuggets with the Get Inspired! Project for other people to, my goodness, hear the enthusiasm in your voice and the passion, and I know that that’s going to translate in the written word as well.

Jamie: Oh, thank you, Toni; that means a lot to me.

Toni: The gift that you have given people today in this interview is amazing, and for that I thank you.

Jamie: Thank you so much.

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For more information about Jamie Ridler:  http://jamieridlerstudios.ca

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