Sitting On Your Genius

Not expressing creativity can cause all manner of havoc in a person’s life.  Creativity is a part of who we are, just like our spirit, our sexuality, our intellect and our intuition.  

Gay Hendricks, PHD, one of the leading theorists in the field of body mind integration and the author of over twenty books, including Conscious Living, The Corporate Mystic, The Centering Book and Learning to Love Yourself, was quoted in an interview:

“If you sit on your genius, if you sit on your creativity and don’t share it with the world, it will really eat you up. Having seen 20,000 people in my seminars and therapy sessions over the years, I can definitely attest to that because I think the greatest source of pain on our planet is not, for example, hunger, it is unexpressed creativity.  As I travel around the world, no matter what continent I’m on, it is that un-owned, unexpressed potential that is such a painful thing for so many people.”

Unexpressed creativity is the greatest source of pain?  This is a mighty and powerful declaration and yet I believe it to be true for myself.  I have experienced the pain of yearning to follow a creative inclination and not be able to do so, if only because I couldn’t name it well enough to follow through.  Perhaps many people don’t recognize that yearning or restlessness or disinterest or depression can be a symptom of unexpressed potential.

So what happens when we sit on our genius?  What happens when we don’t allow what is inside us to come forth?   My belief is that we create an internal conflict that we begin to act out.  We deny.  We justify.  We excuse.  We find conscious or unconscious ways to explain why we aren’t using and sharing our genius.  Ultimately our greatest creative endeavor is to create reasons why we tolerate not to sharing who we are through our creativity.  Time passes; opportunity passes; and yet we don’t act on our soul’s desire and we waste our potential.

When we sit on our genius we risk a powder keg of energy that must go somewhere.  If it is not used to create, what will this powerful energy be used for?  To forward someone else’s dream?  To create drama in our life? To adopt addictions to keep us busy so we don’t notice how painful it is to deny who we are?

Creativity is from spirit.  It is one of the animators of the soul.  It causes us to act.  It pulls at us.  It whispers to us, "do this, try this, have fun with this."  In the act of creating comes a mirror that allows us to recognize that yes, we are here, yes, what we think, feel and do matters, and yes our ideas are valid, that, in fact, we do have genius.

If you are sitting on your genius, try standing up and shaking your creative bootie.  It could be that’s all you need to begin to discover some unexpressed potential you didn’t know you had. 

Hugs,

Diana

The Creative Person’s Dilemma: Too Much Stuff

In a discussion last night with a bunch of creative women, I was fascinated to hear about the topic of “stuff”.  In our town we have a wonderful store called, The Art Asylum.  The Art Asylum is filled with hand-me-downs and make-me-ups for the visual artist.  People donate items that might appeal to artists and the Art Asylum kindly stocks it and resells it at a reasonable price.  (A dollar goes a long way here.)

The first time I went there, I could feel my heart beat faster.  The possibilities to make something out of something else were everywhere.  Each of the women in my group described a similar feeling.  One woman asked, “Ok, how many cigar boxes did you leave with?”  She raised her own hand and said with a big grin, “NINE!”

Creative dilemma: Good Stuff Vs. Too Much Good StuffArtists love stuff.  We have treasures we love to take out and pet.  I have silk fabrics I collected from the leftovers at the design firm where I worked and sometimes I can spend a pleasant afternoon looking at them and thinking of ways to use them.  Usually that is satisfying enough and they go back to their storage space. (A closet where the door closes with an effort)

Even though most of these women admit to a bit of hoarding the good stuff, they all voiced a desire to more easily let go of more of the stuff they did not love.  One woman told the story of selling many of her possessions so she could travel and live in another country.  We listened to her story with rapt attention.  I could see the hero worship around the table.

To accomplish her Herculean task of becoming mobile, she enlisted a Feng Shui expert who happened to be a close friend and together they painstakingly went through the decision making process of “do you love it?” or “can it go?”

I had a meeting with a woman earlier in the day and she expressed dismay about creating because she wants to leave less “stuff” in the world.  She has reached a point in her life where she enjoys the feeling of being cleansed. Bringing more stuff into the world is incongruent with that feeling of being weighed down with things.

I listened to a speaker mention that her daughter got a Kindle for Christmas.  She says she had 324 books in the device.  I was thinking as she said that that I have that many in my living room.  Later in our group, one woman described when she tried to get rid of her beloved books she stored the boxes in her car trunk for a long time before they could finally go to their new home.

The universe is undoubtedly speaking through these women to me.  

This is not my stuff. I don't have a big enough wide angle lens.

Here are three things I plan to do that may trigger you to do the same when it comes to cleaning out some of the “stuff” you no longer love.

Creativity Energizer Break:  

• Set a timer.   Commit to doing this only for 15 minutes if the job seems overwhelming.  If you feel inspired, set the timer for another 15 minutes, but don’t use this technique to badger yourself into doing more than you are able.  Your goal here is to build the muscle that helps you get rid of useless things you no longer love.  Success builds success.

• Pretend you are doing this for someone else.  This can help you be a bit more objective.  Studies show that we can more easily see the solutions to someone else’s problem than our own.   How would you help a friend out of this dilemma?  

• Begin small.  What about the pens stuck in the cup with the broken handle on your desk?  Throw away the ones that no longer write.  Get rid of the dried up paint.  If you have duplicates of things, donate the ones you won’t use.

Letting go of stuff can be emotional and the thought paralyzing.  Getting professional help or the help of a friend can help make the process less so.  

Have a Creative Day,

Hugs, Diana

How to Keep Creating Even When it’s the Season to Do Something Else

I live in Houston where the heat will make you do creative things to stay cool.  Some times that is as creative as it gets at my house.  I know that not everyone who reads this has this problem but I am guessing you might be affected by the change of season as I am.  You may just now be experiencing the exhilaration of springtime and what it feels like to finally leave your house after hibernation.

When summer arrives, the kids are out of school, graduation parties, reunions and other events require your attention and hopefully there is a vacation to plan and enjoy.  Where does your creative work enter in?

You already know what to expect with each passing season.  How can we continue to pursue our creative projects without getting caught up in the every day commitments of having a great spring or summer?

Here are some tips to keep you motivated and off the hook from your internal critic that will chastise you for not keeping up.

Become conscious:  You have to become aware that we are indeed creatures of the planet and even though we have forced ourselves into the constraints of busy twenty-four-seven living, our bodies still respond to the seasons.  Awareness that you may be fighting nature for your own attention can help you to give yourself a break when you feel compelled to walk barefoot outside rather than hold hot piles of wool knitting in your lap.

Make an alternate plan:  Instead of waking up in a hammock mid-July and beating yourself up because you haven’t written a word on the great American novel since the snow melted, why not decide now that you are on a summer writing schedule.  Make it easy to follow.  Allow yourself to do “research.”  Put away some of the most taxing parts of your work that you absolutely know you won’t do.

Pick something easy to do:  If the kids are around or nature is calling, doing the repetitive parts of your craft may help you to at least accomplish something, especially if these are tasks that must be done anyway.  Why not do those tasks when distractions are likely and even welcomed?

Don’t make promises to your creativity you won’t keep:  Creative ambition is good, but don’t give your internal critic ammunition to berate you into avoiding your creative plans altogether.  If you make a plan to cut out paper dolls, make sure you do it.  There is no reason you can’t do it poolside or while a movie is playing.  Sometime a change of location can be inspiring.

Make peace with doing nothing:  Creativity is a part of you and like you needs renewal.  Building sand castles on the beach is a valuable way to spend the day.  Not thinking about what you need to do next on your creative project while letting your mind rest allows the creative pot to simmer for the next time you really need something to bubble up.

Have experiences:  Life should be full of meaningful experiences and being with loved ones doing nothing or doing everything is a good place to start.  If you can’t get anything done on building your ship in a bottle, just know that the meaningful experiences you have instead will enrich you and your creativity anyway.

Have a happy spring and summer!

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Does Your Creativity Need a Hug?

Dear Reader,

Does your creativity need a hug?  I don’t want to sound pathetic here, but dang it, sometimes my creativity needs a hug.  It’s tough being right-brained in a left-brained world.  This is what I expect of my creativity every day:

“Wake up, Dudette, you’ve got work to do.  You’ve got to sit up at your computer and write interesting stuff.  I’m sorry that we didn’t get to go to the movie like I promised yesterday, but there’s always next weekend.”

“Can we have popcorn, chocolate raisins, a pickle and a large coke, this time?”

“Only if I take out a loan.  Look, we have popcorn at home.  Here, I micro waved it for you.  I even took it out of the bag and put in a nice bowl like you like it.  I’m sorry the coke is flat.  I didn’t get to the grocery store either cause we have this deadline and you better get busy and help me or we’ll never see another movie again.”

“What do you want me to write?”

“I don’t know. You’re the creative one.  You always come up with something.  What’s the big deal?  Cat got your tongue?”

“Let’s play with the kitty.  Here kitty, kitty, kitty.”

"Now Dudette, the kitty isn’t going to help us get this article written.  Put her down.  Now there’s cat hair everywhere.  Look, you made her scratch me.”

“I want to go read my romance novel.”

“Over my dead body.  No way are we going to stoop to that drivel.  I am a real writer.  We don’t read lovey-crummies.”

“Fantasy?”

“No.”

“Vampires?”

“No.”

“What can I read?”

“This article you’re writing for a start.”

“I don’t wanna write.  I wanna play.  You make me work too hard and you aren’t any fun any more.  You’re mean.  I quit!”

Excuse me, Dear Reader, this article probably won’t get finished because my creative Dudette needs a hug.  I have to admit I have been pushing her too hard lately and she isn’t a machine that I can turn on and off like a faucet.  We’re headed out to see a movie.

“Can I have a more popcorn, chocolate raisins, a pickle and a coke that’s not flat?”

“Yes, that and a hug.  Hugs don’t have calories.”

Have you hugged your Creative Dudette today?  Tweet

Creativity and the Law of Averages

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Surely you have heard about the average of five.  It goes something like this.  
If you take the average income of five of your friends it will reveal what your income will be.  They’ve been touting it for obesity as well.

So is the theory, you are who you hang out with?

In some cases, I hope not.  What about folks who work at jobs surrounded with people they wouldn’t ride with in an elevator in another situation?  

However, I can say that hanging out with other creative people who are actively pursuing a creative path has great power.  

Creating against all odds is too hard to do without knowing someone who has done it.  Surrounding yourself with others who are passionate about the creative process is a gift to you and your creativity.  Is the average of five at play when you think of your creative friends?

The reason that writing groups, art critique groups and creative mastermind groups work is that they lift up the creative output of the whole group. (Ideally they are done in a safe respectful environment.)

What about creative ideas that you surround yourself with?  Are you clear about which ones are worth pursuing and which ones need to be retired?  Most creative geniuses have more than one project percolating at a time so it is good to notice if one project is an energy drain and which one still thrills you.

Creativity Energizer Break:

Survey the landscape of your creative world.  

•    Are you living out the law of averages?

•    Do you get enough support from other creative geniuses like you?

•    Do you surround yourself with quality ideas and projects?

I belong to a wonderful, supportive and amazing group of creative women.  I would consider myself very lucky to be the sum total of their combined creative power, wisdom and output.  

Some days, it’s good to be average.

Have a creative week!

Creativity Requires Courage - You've Got a lot of Nerve

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You’ve got a lot of nerve!  Creativity is scary and because you are gutsy, you risk the canvas, the page, the materials, your new manicure, your families understanding, and the time, energy and money to experience the thrill of doing.

Creativity requires courage.  Don’t act like you aren’t brave.  Don’t hide your light.  You are the dare devil of your craft and you have what it takes.  

Overcoming fear makes us feel significant, strong and more certain about who we really are.  Our creative daring helps us to experience growth and adds a spicy variety to life.  Here’s a salute to daring and having a lot of nerve!

This exercise will take about two minutes:

Be sure you read step 4 all the way to the end before you act upon it.

1. Think about the last time you took a big creative risk or any kind of risk for that matter and walked through your fear to the other side.  Feel how proud you are of yourself that you kicked butt.  (This is not about the outcome of a project, but about overcoming the fear.)

2. Feel the elation that you lived through the fear and lived to remember it.

3. Thank the parts of you that are willing to feel the fear and do it anyway.

4. Now see this brave, nervy, gutsy, ballsy, creative genius that you are and hold that vision and that feeling in your mind and in your heart for a minute till you feel the moxie all over your body.  While you are doing this place your hand over the center of your chest and breathe it all in.  Revel in it until you are ready to allow the energy go easily back to where it can be accessed whenever you need it again.

You have just created a courage touchstone.  The next time you aren’t feeling so gutsy, put your hand over your heart and think of this incident where you were daring and nervy and powerful.  Your body will remember and you mind will agree and it will be easier to have a lot of nerve!

Spring Cleaning for Creativity

TweetI hate spring cleaning.  I’ll tell you why.  When I was a kid, my mom would come into my room and instigate a spring cleaning.  Now if it were just about getting the dust bunnies out from under the bed and putting away the winter coats, that would have been fine with me.

Alas, no.  Her intent was to go through my toy box and find a way to make it more manageable.  Not a bad idea from her point of view.  I am sure her point of view was a horrific pile of un-played-with toys strewn everywhere but where they belonged.

My point of view was that someone else was going to force me to choose which of my beloved pile of toys had to go.  Oh, I hated those sessions.   

I would defend a broken unrecognizable bit of plastic as necessary to a game that I never played.  My mother would become frustrated with my tears, drama and obstinacy and return it in kind and we both wound up exhausted, hurt and angry.

Spring cleaning became a hated ritual.

Fast forward to today and there is no one to force me to clean out my toy box of art supplies, unfinished projects or no longer loved items, except the sound of my mother’s voice whispering in my ear that I have entirely too much stuff.  It is much easier to ignore the voice now than it was back then.  But I ignore it at a price.

The price of hanging on to un-finished-objects (UFO’s) or unneeded objects requires a lot of mental, emotional and physical energy that could be used to fuel my creativity.

If letting go of UFO’s are blocking you in any way, you might be interested in a short e-book I wrote called:

How to Prevent UFO's from Alienating Your Creativity

You can find out more about it here:


If you have trouble letting go of your un-used creative toys consider that you may have gotten what you needed out of them already even if they don’t look finished or used up to the rest of the world.  

Spring cleaning your space can allow room for more creativity.  And isn’t that a breath of fresh air?

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A Stubborn Woman

Hi Creative Friends,

I have to tell you about a recent creative risk I took and that it turned out nicely, thank-you very much! 

I consider myself a supreme introvert.  Some of you know my story that having the spotlight shine on me is not my idea of a good time.  However, I am trying to remain open where that is concerned.  Since I now have EFT to help me get over my case of the nerves, I can afford to say "yes" to more creative opportunities.

I belong to this fabulous group in Houston called Women in the Visual and Literary Arts (WiVLA) and through my association with this group of women, I was asked by one of the playrights in the group, Diana Weeks, to be a reader of one of her plays. 

WiVLA yearly awards one visual artist and one writer a $1000 dollar scholorship to support a creative project.  In 2010, Diana Weeks was the receipent of that award.  Winners must come back a year later and make a presentation to the WiVLA membership on how they spent the money.

Ms. Weeks went to a prestigious writing local in Vermont and penned a new play while she was there.  So as part of her presentation to the WiVLA group, she decided to have some scenes read from the play.

She called me and asked me to be one of the readers.  What's a recovering introvert supposed to do?  I said yes.  My co-star and talented friend, Trish Rumble and I practiced one Saturday afternoon and for about twenty minutes before the actual presentation.  Then, ta da, it was time to do it live in front of the audience.

I can't tell you how much fun it was. 

Ms. Weeks got to hear her words come to life and I got to have another experience under the spotlight that didn't cause me greif!  Yay.

The membership responded to the work and there was great fun to be had.

Here is a copy of the playbill that Diana Weeks created for the reading of A Stubborn Woman

Getting Credit for What You Don't Say

"It is best to keep your mouth shut and be presumed ignorant than to open it and remove all doubt." – Mark Twain


Tweet Have you ever had to bite your tongue to keep from saying something that might get you into hot water or cause hurt feelings?  What about keeping your mouth shut when you’d rather say, “I told you so.”  There are many opportunities when what you don’t say is as important as what you do say.  Remember the old adage, “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.”

I am here to today to give you credit for what you don’t say.

What does this have to do with energizing your creativity?  Your creativity needs protecting and nurturing.  Sometime we need to speak up and let our feelings be known: sometimes the requirement is silence.

Here are some times that I think what you don’t say is preferable:

•    Keep mum about the mistakes you know or think you know are in your work; let the work speak for itself.

•    Don’t blab on and on about a new idea.  You will talk it out of your system.

•    Don’t argue with a critique. Practice your best Mona Lisa smile and, if forced, use the phrase, “You may be right.” (How can anyone argue with that?)

•    Don’t make grand announcements regarding your creative plans to family members or co-workers unless you want to be reminded daily that you aren’t following through as grandly announced.

•    Don’t be a know-it-all.  Practice listening.  You might be inspired or learn something.

•    Stop explaining.  If you say no to something, you don’t owe a lengthy heartfelt explanation why you are saying no.

 Energizer Break:

Practice verbal awareness for one day or one week. Then give yourself lots of credit for all the stuff that you didn’t say.  Celebrate by going in your closet and giving it a piece of your mind if you need to.  You could celebrate by taking yourself to a nice meal and not tell anyone!

My friend and I are all the time bestowing credit on each other for what the other managed to keep quiet about, but could only keep quiet about it until they found a sympathtic ear.

Leave a comment here about what you didn't say and I will give you lots of credit that you deserve!

Have a creative day!

Hugs, Diana



Dreaded Deadlines

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Do You Dread Deadlines?

I hate deadlines.  I don’t like to be told what to do. 
Deadlines are
•    the voice of authority commanding that I get busy
•    doing what I said I’d do
•    doing what’s expected of me
•    doing something by this time or else

Or else what?  Death or Humiliation?  (It can certainly feel that way!)

On the other hand, if I don’t have a deadline
•    I procrastinate 
•    I create mountains out of molehills
•    I whine
•    I put off the difficult parts until my work suffers
•    I take frequent avoidance naps and eat avoidance cookies

Deadlines feel like grown up stuff and my artist is a playful kid who wants to ignore them, (except when they are made to her!).  Using a deadline to accomplish a task is an old standard productivity trick worth using. 

However a little EFT can take the sting out of an annoying deadline and possibly get you going on the right track.  Here are some EFT statements to help you let go of the resentment for the need of a deadline, or the fear that you won’t make it, or the rebellion induced procrastination that accompanies it.

Energizer Break:
Set up statement for EFT:
(Tap on the karate chop point)

Even though, I can’t imagine what I was thinking when I set this deadline and I’d rather be doing anything than fulfill my obligations like maybe give my pet a bath or wash down the sidewalk with a toothbrush, anything but this, I deeply and completely accept myself.

Even though, I have this annoying deadline that I promised myself I would honor and I made these ridiculous promises to others and I will look like a fool and a flake if I don’t do what I said I would, I deeply and completely accept myself.

Even though, I have this deadline that is making me crazy and I don’t want to complete it because there is this part I don’t want to do, I know I will feel better when I accomplish this task, even if I can’t even imagine what the outcome will be, I deeply and completely accept myself.


Now take the part of the project that is causing the most resistance and tap on that.  Take time to tap on all facets of the projects that you are avoiding.  For instance, here is one of mine:

TOH:  this project (substitute yours)
EB: this part of the project I don’t enjoy (substitute yours)
SE: this need to (substitute yours)
UE: this belief that I can’t (------)
UN: this burning desire to take a nap (substitute yours)
CH: this wishing someone would do it for me
CB: this deadline
UA: this stupid deadline

TOH:  this doing it by myself
EB: this looming deadline
SE:  this why did I commit to this in the first place
UE:  this resistance
UN: this gotta get it done
CH: this annoying deadline
CB: this work I have to do
UA:  this willingness I don’t have

This should get you started tackling a deadline with less resistance than when you started.  If not, do more rounds using more descriptive feeling words.

Have a creative week,
Hugs,
Diana

P.S.  I’d love to hear from you if this helped.
energizeyourcreativity@gmail.com

Google Art Project



You may already know this but I didn’t and I am just about to pop to share this with you.
Do you remember when Google sent their Street View camera crews up and down your city and took a photo of your house with your neighbors garbage can blown over in your drive way and posted it on the web for the world to see?

Well, Google has sent those same cameras to 17 art museums around the world and this time they let them know they were coming and oh boy, you’ve just gotta see some of the results!

I am including some of the videos at the end of this article and you can check out how it works at www.googleartproject.com .  The project is a boon for folks who might not be able to get across the ocean for a visit or who seldom change out of their pajamas.  Selected works are highlighted and some are even a part of a new technology that photographs so close that you can see the brush stokes in the piece at a way you can bet you haven’t seen from behind the velvet rope.

You are also able to have control of how you view the inside of the museum and Google has given you extra goodies, like info from the museum and the ability to share your discoveries with others to make the experience even better. 

I’m sorry.  I can’t linger here. I’ve got at date with an artist at a famous museum!

Here's How to Make a Cool Video

Hello Creative Friends,

I recently discovered One True Media, a great easy place to make vidoes like the one I am posting for Valentine's Day above.

Create Your Own Video the Easy Way

There aren't a lot of directions on the site but if you can get your photos or video to one spot on your computer you can probably do this.

Here are the basics:

1.  Think of  theme or topic you want to highlight or show off and select your photos to support it.  Artists, here is a great opportunity to show a montage of your work.  The possibilities are absolutely endless.

2.  Collect your photos in one place on your computer for convenience.  I like to use my desktop and then put them in folder when I am finished.  It is good to get more than you think you will need, but you can always upload more later if you need them.  You also can delete the ones that didn't make the cut.  (See, I am already talking like a film director.  You will too!)

3.  Go to One True Media.  (This is after you have visited there and played around, looked at other people's creations.  You can also open one of the sites montages and edit it yourself to see how it works which is great cause you can screw up all you want to and get the feel of how things work.)

4. Find a tab that says:  Create.  (One of my favorite words.)  That page will open and you will see another big green Create button.  Click and you will be sent to an upload page.  Skip the "Select A Theme" button.  You have much more creative contol when you edit everything yourself.

5. Upload your photos from your desktop.  Hint:  If you hold down the control button while you make your selection with your mouse, you can upload more than one photo file at a time.  Repeat the process until you have uploaded all the photos and/or videos you want.  Click the the done button.

6. This will take you to the edit console.  This is where the fun begins.  Immediately OTM (One True Media) shows you what your montage will look like, including music. 

7.  Depending on how savvy you are with these kinds of things, you can feel your way through to make a great video.  Like most computer programs there are more than one way to do things.  I naturally did it the slowest way possible the first time around so here are some tips, but you will figure out things your own way.  It is kind of hard to mess this up.

• Get your photos in first.  Use the numbers under each slide to put them in order or click and drag the cross under the photo.

• Create text slides and move them into place.  You can edit how they look and preview until you get them exactly as you like.

• You can add effects till you don't even recognize your photos.  Caution:  This can become too much and take away from the effectiveness of your message or the look you want.  But try it all.  It's fun.

• When you open your montage, OTM appoints you a song.  Don't like it?  Change it.  Before you finish, be sure your song is as long as the time it takes to show your creation.

• Once you finish and save your montage, give it a title and go to the Share Button.  You can upload it to Youtube, Facebook by following the easy steps.  If you want to email it to all your friends, press the easy button.  Get the html code from that same page page and embed it to your website or blog.  WooHoo!

• BTW, a friend of mine could not access it from her Ipad, so there may be an issue with Apple products.  The only bummer I could see.

I have not given you step by step directions.  Be brave.  Click on everything.  Hit Preview and see if you like it, if not, no problem, don't click save or better still find some other way you like better.

Give this a try but just know that it can become addictive.  Beware, you may have just discovered another way to be your creative self! 

Hugs, Diana

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Creativity Test in honor of International Creativity Month

Hello Creative Friends,   This a video that I was supposed to post on Youtube when I have some other videos made so the last little bit won't make any sense until I redo my sign up-page.  I think it's still worth watching, so just ignore that part.  More is yet to come.  Thanks for watching.  DM

I hope you celebrate National Creativity Month by honoring and adoring your own creativity and that of others.  If you don’t feel particularly creative, go find someone who is doing something creative and hang out with them.  Take a creative genius to lunch and talk process with them.  Gush over their work.

Check out biographies of famous creative geniuses and learn more about the people who produced the art that inspires you.   Spend the afternoon in a bookstore or library and bring home stacks of books that are not about the kind of art that you do.  I am always amazed that the library lets me have so many books on so many topics at one time.

Creativity is in our DNA and the essence of the world around us.  I believe that when you pay attention to your creativity, your creativity will pay attention to you.  If you treat it like an honored guest, it will respond in kind.

My other idea for honoring my creativity this month is to give it a rest.  I have been bearing down on mine, making demands and expectations.  Every workhorse needs a rest.  Let your creativity out of the yoke of production and let it ride for the joy and fun of it.

Leave a comment and tell me how you made out on the test.   Hugs, Diana

International Creativity Month

Hello Creative Friends,

WooHoo, its International Creativity Month!

I love the idea of a whole month to dream up some thing from nothing and isn't January a perfect time?  If you live in the northern hemisphere, it's wintry cold outside and what better time to drag out an intriguing artsy craftsy project and get busy? 

                                           

When I was growing up, I lived out in the country with two parents who grew up on a farm.  In spring and summer and fall for that matter, there was always something to do outside.  Yard work and gardening or maintenence around the place was always on the agenda.  

As a kid, I was not enamored with gardening and yard work. (I still don't like it.)  When I was old enough, I was the designated tractor driver in the garden.  The fun of driving the tractor was soon replaced by the bordom of put-putting up and down the same trek of the garden rows.  In the summer the garden had to be hoed and the vegetables processed. 

There were berries to pick and peas to shell and corn to cut off the cob and all of it to can or put in the freezer.  I felt like it never ended.

When would you ever have the time to make a quilt or do some needlepoint or glue popcicle sticks together to build a fort.  It just didn't happen at my house unless it rained.

When it rained outside, you caught a break.  And in the blessed winter, the ground was frozen and fallow and you did not venture out except to feed the animals.  I still had to catch the school bus and do my homework, but there was no "outdoor" work to catch up on. 

I could catch up on creativity. And I could do it guilt free.

I hope the International Creativity Month finds you with time on your hands to do something with your hands.  And I hope you get to do it guilt free.

Hugs,

Diana

Happy New Creative YOU!

Happy New Year Creative Friends,

I always want to say Happy New You because New Year is the time we traditionally think about how we want to do things differently.  Even if we as humans resist change, even a tiny bit of change can impact our lives on a massive scale.

Think of a decimal point: Tiny, insignificant dot on a piece of paper.

Change the decimal point in .1000  to 1000. and things get interesting, especially if you are talking money.

I don’t like New Years Resolutions much, so much that I created a workshop called Resolution Revolt.  More about that later.

I used to set my self up for failure every year by making grand promises that I couldn’t keep so here is my tip about this if you are inclined to make resolutions.

Make tiny resolutions that you have a chance of keeping.  You can use these to balance out the ones that might be more difficult.

Here are some examples of tiny resolutions that I am trying.

• I resolve to use the color red in my art work on the next three pieces.

• I resolve to clean the screen on my laptop before I can no longer see the cursor.

• I resolve to take at least two naps a week. (Falling asleep at my computer does not count.)

These I can do.  These feel good to me.  They are tiny little actions that can make a big difference just like the tiny little decimal point.  They meet all the standard goal setting criteria of S.M.A.R.T. goals. Smart Goals stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timely.

When I set these goals, I don’t get a lot of grief and lip from my internal critic, Blockhead. 

Creativity Energizer Break:  You know what I am going to say.  Pick three tiny goals that can make a difference in your creativity and make sure they are ones that you can easily do.  Success breeds success.

If your Blockhead starts telling you that you can’t or won’t do this goal, then you are setting a different kind of goal.

For those kinds of goals that provoke your Blockhead to admonish you for even thinking  of such impossibilities, I have got a workshop for you.

I am offering an online Resolution Revolt Workshop January 12, 19, and 26 at 7:00 CST.  The greatest threat to setting a goal and following through is your own internal critic.  Join me as we revolt against your Blockhead and the traditional ways of trying to keep your resolutions past February.

For more information here is the link:

/store-resolution-revolt/



Can The Holidays Make You More Creative?

Hi Creative Friends,

I hope you enjoy this video about the holidays and creativity. 

Please click the share button underneath this article to share on Facebook or Twitter.  Thanks so much, Diana

Be A Beliver

“There is no use trying; one can't believe impossible things." (Alice)

"I dare say you haven't had much practice. When I was your age, I always did it for half an hour a day. Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.” (Red Queen)

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To be creative is to believe in the possibilities.  Too many times we nip our possibilities in the bud before we ever take time to consider them. 

If the universe of great ideas is going to continue to send them your way, you must respond with consideration.  Not every idea becomes a reality, of course, but not every wild idea is impossible.

Why not try this technique: When something seems impossible, use the words “What if,” to speak about the possibility so that you don’t automatically discount and disallow a budding idea before it ever has a chance to bloom. 

“What if I did self-publish my poetry?” 

“What if I were able to save the money for that trip to take classes in Italy?” 

“What if I went to work early so I could get home while the light is still good?”

Your mind loves questions.  Posing your considerations as questions can interrupt and quiet the internal censor until possibilities can become possible.

So try using, “What if, questions.  I’ll leave you with this example:  What if this helped you believe as many as six impossible things before breakfast?

Hugs, Diana

Tweet

“Like sands through the hour glass, these are the CREATIVE days of our lives.”

Do you have issues with time?  My friend and I will be talking about a creative project and one of us will invariably say our time mantra, “Oh, that shouldn’t take too long,” and then we laugh, knowing full well that we are wishing out loud – hoping the words will make it so.

As I’ve gotten older, I want to spend my time more wisely.  As a youngster, the days stretched out in front of me seemingly forever and I thought I could afford to squander hours on end sitting in front of dumb TV or tolerating people I didn’t like.

I am coming to this conclusion with my creativity as well.  I want to spend my creative time on something that makes my heart sing, that invigorates and energizes me or connects me to my spirit.   

There will always people, place and things that threaten our creative time, but what about the time we spend inside our art that is no longer satisfying or necessary?  Maybe you can eliminate steps that you used to do when you weren’t as sure of your abilities as you are now. 

One time waster I have tried to eliminate in my creative process is the “agony hour.”   That’s all the time I waste worrying if this piece is good enough, or if someone will like my work enough to pay for it.  The agony hour is also time spent dreading a difficult project before I get down to business.

I have other creative project time drains that I am deleting.  I used to make tons of gifts to give away.  Untold amounts of time was invested in handmade gifts and the (handmade card to go with it) that often delighted me more than the recipient.  I rather spend my creative time (and energy) in other areas now.  

Creativity Energizer Break:

• Examine how you spend your creative time.  Are you making the best use of what time you do have? 

• Can you let go of unnecessary tasks that no longer interest or challenge you? 

• If you participate in the “agony hour,” see if you can reduce it or eliminate it altogether.

Like sands through the hour glass…

Have a creative week!

Hugs, Diana

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It's About Time

Why do I feel like time is my enemy?  I seem to under estimate how much time some project will take and over estimate my ability to get it done quickly.

When it seems like time is streching out before me and I have allowed myself enough time before a deadline, the project expands to the time allowed.

Creativity takes time.

Contemplating, thinking, wondering is time consuming and I want to rush through this part of the process because it seems like not "doing" is wasting time.

Arrrgh.  This can be some of the most important parts of the creative process and rushing through may not be in my best interest.

Here in no particular order are some time savers when it comes to creative projects.

•    Pick your optimum time:  You can't do brain surgery when you are distracted.  Save the no-brainer projects when you are eeking out some time during commercials of Grey's Anatomy.  Write your novel when you have time to actually think. (It doesn't have to be a week in a cabin in the woods; ten quiet minutes while dinner is cooking could be quality time at your house.)

•    Set priorities:  What is the best use of your time?  If I have a sudden urge to clean my house, I am usually avoiding something that has to do with my art!  How often do you need to sharpen pencils if you write on the computer?  If I have 15 minutes to spend on my art, where will that time investment do the most good?

•    Do the difficult things first: Waiting doesn't make them any easier.  Avoiding the inevitable can waste so much time, and don't you always feel better when you get the hardest task out of the way?

•    Learn to say no. (They won't die.  The world won't end.  You won't be a jerk.  Don't explain.) Allowing others to spend your time for you is the biggest reason most creativity doesn't see the light of day!

•    Learning to delegate is a great time saver too. (Repeat after me: They won't die.  The world won't end.  You won't be a jerk.)  Insisting on doing every thing yourself is another huge reason creativity doesn't see the light of day.

•    Think the job though before acting.  Do you have all your supplies at hand?  Are you prepared to work till completion or will you need to break it down in chunks?  A little planning can be a great time saver.

Leave us your favorite time saving tip ---- if you have the time.



Little Creative You

Treat your creativity like a precious child.
~ Make her a priority
~ Don’t ignore her
~ Spend quality time with her
~ Be generous
~ Encourage curiosity
~ Teach her new things
~ Take her out for adventures
~ Have fun
~ Listen to her secrets
~ Forgive her mistakes
~ Protect her
~ Feed her quality stuff
~ Keep your promises

What did I miss?