creative projects – Jenna Jamieson, Author

Find your passions {express yourself & decompress}!

By Jenna Jamieson | July 7, 2016 | Comments 0 Comment

Life can be a mountain. It is much more a mountain than a beach. There are challenges to overcome, hoops to jump through, and hills to climb to meet your goals and achieve your dreams. Passions, hobbies, and ways to fill your time in a meaningful way for yourself and others help combat the challenges and obstacles. You may not even think about the hobbies or things that you do to relieve stress, whether it be spending time with your kids, going on a date with your spouse, exercising, reading, cleaning and organizing your house, or some other hobby that you love. There are hundreds of hobbies you can use to enhance your life and those around you. It will make you stronger, happier, and more relaxed to devote some of your own time to your health. It may just seem like everyday life to most people, but having avenues to decompress are vital. They keep you happy, healthy, thankful, and sane.

Not only are hobbies important to decompress at the end of the day or week, or at the end of a very traumatic or draining month, but they allow you to express yourself in a unique way. I often scrapbook and exercise to destress and reduce any tension that I feel. I love to scrapbook to get my creative juices flowing and to reconnect and visit all the fun adventures that I have been fortunate enough to be able to experience. I have been scrapbooking for 10 years and it is one of the most calming and refreshing hobbies that relieves stress. On the other hand, I love a good workout and sweat session to boost my energy and rejuvenate my body after an exhausting or frustrating day. Both are great hobbies that help my mind and body in different ways. My small hobbies have helped me maintain a balance in my life and a thankful spirit in my heart.

Finding your passions and sticking to them will make you feel more at ease with your life, giving it more depth and meaning. You might also find that channeling your hobbies will give you energy, express your creative side, and remind you to be thankful for all that you have.

~jj

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Workout + Brainstorming…

By Jenna Jamieson | May 21, 2015 | Comments 0 Comment

I have been preparing multiple activities and sessions for the upcoming school year to teach business classes to high school students. It is an exciting new program that will be launching in August, and while business and health don’t necessarily seem like they go together let me explain what I mean. I have found that I often do some of my best brainstorming about activities, innovative thinking, creative projects, and life lessons to incorporate into the classroom during my workout. Two areas that don’t seem to fit together –business and health–yet I am able to pull them together in such a way that I get inspiration from an unlikely place! That is why some days my workout actually becomes a brainstorming session!

So much of the time things are very structured, such as when we should do things and how they should be done, but often times life, health, business, etc is unpredictable and may change over time. (Not that structure is a bad thing, but sometimes you have to move with the pace or flow and adapt based on the scenario. You may gain knowledge and inspiration based on those changes.) In other words, sometimes sitting down each day after school to make lesson plans, working on lesson plans at home, or continuously using the same materials doesn’t always work or fit the situation. Instead you may have to use a different approach, such as employing your surroundings to get inspiration throughout the day from things, places, and people, that at times, don’t even seem to connect with the classroom. The same can be said about working out. You have to look to different people, places, and things for inspiration and motivation to keep you going. You have to be willing to vary your workouts, adapt to change (i.e. workout at a hotel, workout in between meetings due to business travel, etc), and find ways to gain meaning from your workout (brainstorming, critical thinking, etc). Pulling experiences from the day and brainstorming might be ways to capture new workout methods or may take your mind off the task at hand. You might pull your inspiration from customer service, clinical trails, pilot projects, research analysis, computer development and technology, accounting, and so on. The list is endless. Some or all of those experiences may be the topic of your brainstorming ideas during your workout or could provide ideas for new ways to workout.

With that, I say happy brainstorming during your workout! It will provide inspiration, motivation, and ideas that may improve all facets of your life!

~jj