Black Friday with a Judge-y Monkey
A 5-minute creative practice to flip a negative attitude (I hate shopping!)
Happy Day after Thanksgiving, Brave One. Want more kindness in this effed-up world? Me, too. Yikes! It starts with us! Today’s 5-min. practice (👇🏽 jump below) invites us to flip our funky attitude, so we can get back to our wild creative work.
How do you feel about shopping in America?
Mr. Judge-y Monkey 🙈 says,
“Yuk! Everyone driving a huge SUV to a Big Box Store. Lining up to grab gobs of plastic schtuff they really don’t need, made by kids in overseas sweat shops, shipped via fossil fuel. Massive carbon footprint today!”
I’m not a fan of unsustainable capitalist growth. Nor our culture of materialism. But I’m part of it. Plus, times are hard. Getting a great deal could be an actual gift.
Mr. Scrooge Monkey 🙊 is here, too.
“I don’t wanna buy anything! I love the peoples, but hate the underlying expectation, if I don’t get you a material object, I’m a horrible person who doesn’t know how to show love.”
Truth: I don’t speak the love language of Things.
Maybe you delight in purchasing and packaging gifts. I’ll try not to judge you! 🤪 But if you give me a Thing, I’ll likely return it. As the child of a hoarder who’s also married to a collector, I’m highly deliberate about stuff.
My Soul recalls, “You’ve managed this dilemma beautifully in the past, Darlin.’ Handmade gifts. Love letters. Experiences. Like that Dim Sum/Art Museum day in Seattle, when you accidentally led the family on a Google map ‘shortcut,’ deep in a homeless encampment, stepping over used needles? That experience unpacked a few things!”
My Heart smiles. I don’t have to wear my Grumpy anti-gift face this year. It sucks my energy, the most precious gift I have. Time for an attitude adjustment.
Is something happening today that you don’t love, too? Try this short practice to flip a bad attitude about things you can’t change. Gratitude is the best medicine for a grumpy Monkey!1
Today’s Practice: the Spatula
May this practice flip your attitude to gratitude. This video features my ridiculous alter-ego Queen Poopicina sharing the potty-mouth, ‘Holy Sh*t’ 💩 version of the tool, with a spontaneous song. Or follow the steps below.
The Spatula: How can I flip a negative attitude?
BREATHE deeply. RECALL a recent time when you got irritated or upset over a fairly minor situation or detail. “I felt that way because...”
IMAGINE that your attitude is like a pancake in a hot frying pan. If it stays down too long, it‘ll burn, wrecking your meal and your mood.
VISUALIZE a spatula in your hand. How heavy is it? How long? What‘s it made of?
ENVISION using the spatula to FLIP your attitude over to the other side. Now you can notice what‘s going right. Name 3 things that were actually good (or OK).
NOTICE, “Now, I feel…”
Creative Prompts: Remember to see the good
EXPLORE: Tell someone or write how you flipped your mood with the Spatula.
CREATE: Make actual pancakes! Notice how easy it is to flip ‘em over, from down to up. Enjoy and savor :)
MANIFEST: This week, use Spatula to flip your attitude 3 times. If you put on your grumpy pants a lot, consider a gratitude journal.
Ironically, this practice is part of a Thing you could buy as a gift.
The Spatula is a tool for mind-body well-being. It’s from a deck of cards I created for teens and women’s circles, released via Kickstarter. HeartsQuest: Creative Tools to Navigate Change deck is available at HeartsQuest.com/store.
Here’s Holy Sh*t! The potty-mouth version of the cards, designed for bathroom use.
In a culture that glorifies material goods, thank you for taking a moment to consider your inner world. Making adjustments to our emotions and energy is a very kind gift for our loved ones, right!? I’m grateful for you! Thanks for clicking the heart, making a comment, and sharing this with others who want more kindness (but have Monkeys).
More to come,
Tanmeet Sethi, MD’s excellent piece on the science and power of Gratitude.
hey Christine, thanks! now i have another way to express it when i'm in a rut - "flip that pancake before it burns!" :) p.s. i love my Heart's Quest deck!