[00:00:03] Welcome to The Messy Mind Podcast, a show to support you in seeing the messiness can lead to your light bulb moments. I'm your host, Tammy L. Davis, to The Messy Mind Podcast. And I want to take a moment to share how you can find inspiration in everyday chaos.
[00:00:28] As you can imagine as a wife, a mother of two and a small business owner, our mornings can be chaotic to say the least. But I want to share a story of how I took a chaotic morning and made it a springboard for creativity.
[00:00:45] And how in sharing this story, I'm hoping that you see how something that might start off chaotic can spark creativity for you and really be an innovative moment, especially in the context of balancing entrepreneurship with your family life.
[00:01:04] And I say balancing, but you all know I've talked about this before that it's not necessarily a balance. It's everything merging together and everyone is involved, especially when you have a family and it is a entrepreneurial household.
[00:01:19] Now, let me get to the story, which is the lesson is in a lost lunchbox. It was one of those mornings where nothing seemed to go right. The alarm didn't go off on time. The coffee maker decided to malfunction when, of course, I needed it the most.
[00:01:36] I need to have my coffee every single morning. And to top it all off this particular day, it was raining cats and dogs. I was scrambling to get the kids off to school. Now, this whole story is based upon when they were younger.
[00:01:51] Of course, I still drive them to school minus my son. He's in college, but daughters still drive her to school. But this time they were I think they were like 10 and eight or maybe 12 and 10. In any event, I'm trying to make sure they have something to eat.
[00:02:07] They got their backpacks ready. However, the youngest at the time, which was Logan, she could not find her lunchbox. Now we finally got into the car because I'm thinking she got this lunchbox in the car. You know, we have the food that I've helped them prepare for lunch.
[00:02:25] So I'm like, just carry it. Once we get in the car and lunchbox is there, she gets into the car and she's nearly in tears because not only is the lunchbox not in the car, but now it's missing.
[00:02:37] At this particular point, I'm trying to hold on to any last thread of sanity. Mind you, I told you I didn't have my coffee. And on top of that, we're running late. And even though the school was like 10 minutes away, it felt like an eternity
[00:02:53] because the traffic is moving slower than usual because of the rain. In the midst of this chaos, something remarkable happened. Trying to distract Logan, again our youngest, from her being upset, I started a game where we imagine what magical adventures her lunchbox might be on.
[00:03:14] So I said, maybe it's going to visit the unicorns, looking at her in the rearview mirror. Her tears started to dry a little bit as she giggled. Then she said, well, maybe it's learning to fly with the dragons.
[00:03:29] Something that was starting so chaotic and she was just broke down, the conversations turned into a storytelling session where Logan and even her older brother Jayden started to build upon each other's fantasies. And for me, I'm tripping because I'm struck on how their innocent creativity
[00:03:52] turned a stressful morning into a moment of joy and bonding. It dawned on me in that moment right there how often I overlooked these small opportunities to engage creatively with Jayden and Logan, my kids, who like I said before, you don't balance or compartmentalize your life and entrepreneurship.
[00:04:14] It all blends together. Inspired by this situation, I decided to incorporate a similar storytelling approach in my next training session. I introduced an exercise where team members shared a personal story related to the project they were working on.
[00:04:32] And this not only broke the ice, but it really actually fostered a stronger connection and understanding among team members leaning, of course, to a more collaborative and creative working environment. My biggest lesson and my takeaway in that chaotic morning
[00:04:51] in which I did not have my coffee, that whole experience reminded me that creativity doesn't need perfect timing or conditions. It often finds its way through the cracks of our chaotic lives and embracing those moments not only can make your personal life richer,
[00:05:10] but it can also enhance your professional environments. So I would love to hear from you about unexpected moments where you found creativity or learn something new. And I'm going to start the hashtag chaos to creativity. When I post this on Instagram or post this on LinkedIn,
[00:05:30] you do hashtag chaos to creativity and tell me how you have turned everyday chaos into creative opportunities. Thank you for joining us this time on the Messy Mind podcast. Please visit our website at themessymindpod.com. Make sure to subscribe to the podcast so you'll never miss an episode.
[00:05:58] While you're at it, if you found value in this episode, we'd appreciate a rating on Apple Podcast or simply tell a friend about the show. Always remember to embrace the messiness. It can lead to your light bulb moments.