Radio Buzz

Hi Creative Friends,

Today I was interviewed by Anja Weiland, a delightful person, on BlogTalkRadio. Her show and her business is called "The Intuitive Path." We talked about creativity and energy techniques. It was my first interview. Maybe ever.
Wait a minute, do job interviews count? Man, don't you hate those? I guess except when you need a job. Well, now that I think about it, I have always been grateful to get an interview when I needed a job. But I digress.

I knew about this interview for a week and I had been thrilled that I was not freaking out ahead of time;however twenty minutes before hand, I am reading over my notes and I look at the clock and instead of butterflies, I had buzz saws in my stomach.

You have understand, I have done large quantities of both EFT and Zpoint on the issue of speaking in public and I have had blessed relief. I have been able to calmly do poetry readings, read my other written work in public, facilitate groups and argue with the guy from my internet service provider. I am a different person than I used to be.

So why did the buzz saws crank up if I have done so much energy work? I think because this was a different aspect of the same old problem. Like facets on a jewel, there are many sides of an issue. When I did the energy techniques, I was focused on reading my novel to my writing class. Never once did it ever occur to me that I might one day be on the radio. Why would I treat myself for that?

After all this rambling I am doing here, the point I am trying to make is that when you tap or cue the first time for an issue, you may not know what you are missing and that's ok. You'll find out eventually and you just repeat the process and move on.

I did one sloppy round of EFT for "this fear," and "this fear," was gone. G-O-N-E. I was able to finish my notes, make my call into the show and enjoy myself. I do admit to a bit of adrenaline rush just as the show got started, but I think that was excitement.

The title of the radio show, "How to Unleash Your Creativity through Energy Techniques," was appropriate for me today because the outcome would have been very different if I had not practiced what I preached.

By the way, the recording of the show is in the right hand column. Give it a listen.

Have a creative day!
Hug, Diana

Creativity for a Cause

Hello Creative Friends,

I usually have no difficulty not posting a post while the One World One Heart Event is going on, but I visited VintageBella tonight in a bleary eyed state and what I read amazed me.

A group of mostly women got together and made 100 quilts and 70 no pin diapers for Haitian orphans. They did this in 5 days. Can you imagine?

These women did not let a big but stand in their way!

I love it when a group of creative women get together with a plan and determination. You ladies (and your men and kiddy helpers) R O C K!

Stop by Vintage Bella for just a minute and let them know you think so too.

Hugs, Diana

Jan 28, update. Hi, Just a note to tell you that Heather of Vintage Bella, left a comment on the post letting us know more about how this group managed to accomplish such a task. Be sure to read it too.

One World One Heart Giveaway Is Here!

Welcome One World One Heart Friends! Enter here!
Come on in and make yourself comfortable. We will be traveling first class Oriental rug, to a land far far away. I have vacuumed all the kitty hair off just for you!We have a long way to go and a short time to get there. (There is a song in there somewhere.) So we are going to resort to a little magic. Stare right into the photo below and feel the wind on your face as we float easily along.Our destination is just up ahead.I know you must be tired and need a little nourishment, so get the hair out of your eyes and pour yourself something strong. Relax.After shopping at the market and a spa day, it's time to return back to reality.As we unpack our bags, I have found these little paintings to remember all the exotic houses we flew over.On February 15,I will gladly award these to a weary traveler who leaves a comment. I have so enjoyed our trip together! I hope you visit often.
Hugs, Diana Meade
P.S. I am hosting a free workshop series for artists that you can read about on the following post.

Does Your Art Have a Big But?

Hi Creative Friends,
Does your art have a big but?

You know what I mean.
"I wanna spend time doing my art, but..."
"I wanna take that class, but..."
"I wanna convert the spare bedroom to a studio, but..."
"I'd like to learn the macarena, but..."

I have just created a free six-weeks teleclass series called, Does Your Art Have a Big But?

You are invited! Here's the skinny:

It is every Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m. CST But don't let the whole six-weeks thing put you off. You don't have to commit to all six weeks. Drop by for one call or all of them.

February 10, 2010 Week 1- I want to do my art, But…
February 17, 2010 Week 2- Nothing distracts me from my art, But…
February 24, 2010 Week 3- Art isn’t supposed to be perfect, But…
March 03, 2010 Week 4- I’m a brave artist, But…
March 10, 2010 Week 5- I’m usually okay with criticism, But…
March 17, 2010 Week 6- Art is always a priority, But…

In this series, we will discuss ways to get our buts out of the way of doing our art.

Art avoidance is a serious threat to living a creative life. Just knowing that art avoidance exists is the first step.

Come for one discussion or all six. Each one will be on a different way that we use a but to stop us in our tracks from doing what we love or doing the next thing we need to be doing to enlarge our art.

Won't you join me? You only have to sign up once to be eligible for all the calls. And if you can't make it I have decided to record the call and send it to you via email afterward. You can sign up hereat the bottom of the page of my website under the tab, free stuff at www.Energize-Your-Creativity.com

Don't forget, it's free. Now you can't say, "But, I don't have the money!" ;-)
And it's recorded. You can listen when you have the time. Now you can't say, "But, I don't have the time.

I look forward to meeting you on the call.

Have a creative day!
Hugs, Diana

Folders to Help The Organizing Go Easier

Hi Creative Friends,
I started making these file folders last year and I never really finished them like I wanted to, but I thought I would show them anyway. I have hoarded them and only use them for "special" paperwork like some of my poetry.
Since it is that time of year for purging files, I thought making some of these might make the paper work more bearable. You can buy these kinds of decorated folders now, but I like these that I threw together. I hope you do too.

Here are some examples of the ones I made using some photocopies of old botanicals and pages out of an old book I bought at a garage sale. You can use any prints that might make you happy on a day you have to do office work. They might make paying bills or filing your taxes more palatable. (Well, maybe if you used old dollars bills glued to them!) You will need:

• photocopies of prints. I used copies of old botanicals.
  
• pages torn or cut from an old book
• file folders
• Design Master (For Flowers Only brand - Raffia color) translucent spray paint for aging the printed pages from the book. Or use your favorite method for aging. This is fast so I've adopted it.
• spray adhesive
• scissors and an exact-o knife
• self-healing cutting mat
• water color pencils and paint brush with water
  
Directions

1. Cut or tear pages from an old book.
2. Use translucent spray paint (Design Master Raffia) to age pages or use your favorite technique.
3. Tear pages into smaller pieces and turn over with unpainted side up. Spray with spray adhesive

4. Glue torn pages to the folder any which way.
5. Cut out print with exact o knife and scissors. Age down print if you like, but I like the contrast of bright print on the aged pages.
6. Glue to folder. Add writing, sayings, ribbon: embellish to your heart's content.7. Use water color pencils to outline botanical to give it a shadow, then use damp paint brush to feather out shadow. This gives depth to print and almost makes it stand out from the page.
8. Now find something special to put into them and ~Enjoy~
Have a creative day!
Hugs, Diana

Gaining Perspective is a Process

Hello Creative Friends,

I never realized how much the weather must influence my moods until I started staying home (big job layoff) working at my computer while looking out the window at cold gray rain. I live in Houston and we are used to mild winters and sunny days. We pay for these mild winters with sweaty suffering in the summer, so I want my shirtsleeve winter back.

Now that I have talked about the weather long enough to eliminate most readers, I'll get to the point. I am wondering if I was starting to suffer from SAD disorder. (You know, Seasonal something Disorder. I am Too Lazy To Google: called, just now, by me:TLTG, a new disorder where the ignorant are too lazy to learn something they don't know simply by typing in a question in their tool bar, but I digress.)

I woke up bummed, cranky, and feeling sorry for myself. I have been having some business issues that I just can't conquer. I might conquer them if I could throw money at the problem, but I am an out-of-work artist and struggling entrepreneur with limited funds. Evidently, I also was living in fear of the future, a road I seem compelled to go down just like the woman in the movie who stupidly goes into the dark cellar armed with a nice hairdo and a cute figure.

I am not talking true depression. I have a healthy respect for depression. What I am talking about is self-defeating, self-flagellation self-talk. Because I can't solve my problem today, I am a low-life scumbag and the best thing to do about it is admit defeat and crawl into a hole. Oh yeah, and don't use any of the tools you know about to get out of the hole. It's comfy and familiar in here. I've been here before. Lots of room for eating worms.

And then late last night, I was responding to an email to a friend, complaining bitterly about my plight and it hit me. There may be hundreds of thousands of women who would gladly trade their problems for mine; who would sleep in a comfortable bed, not on concrete in fear; who would find their family members safe; who would not be grieving for real loss; who would not be enduring the worst moments of their lives. These women live in Hatti. I felt ashamed of myself.

The self-pity lifted and this morning the sun was shinning. It is a whole new day.

Perspective, Grasshopper, Perspective.

Living the Dream

Hi Creative Friends,

"Those who betray their dream will later deal with the consequences." -Daniel Levinson

I know that compromise is a part of life, but I hope that when my life is near the end, I am not a bitter and sad old woman because I didn't do the things that make my heart soar and make me feel alive.

I know people who still have opportunities to follow their bliss and they don't do it. It is tragic to watch. I think part of the problem is that people wanting to follow their dreams think they have to have the perfect conditions to do what they love, so they wait. They assume that they need clumps of uninterrupted time, unlimited supplies, or no distractions.

And as they wait, hold off, procrastinate, the nudge from the universe passes them by. Not that the universe wouldn't ever nudge them again, it will. It is just that that creativity knocks at doors that are open, not slammed shut.

Ask any mom of a two year old how she gets anything done and she will say she accomplishes tasks in little bits. So why not treat your creative dreams like the precious children they are. Be the mom of a two year old and do what you can when you can. Follow your little dream around and nurture it and allow it to grow.

Don't wait. The best time to start is now. Don't wake up one day and wish you had lived your life differently. There will be consequences.

How To Get Ideas

I just finished a great book called: How to Get Ideas by Jack Foster. It has a bold title, I think, but he follows through with examples, advice and some good ideas on how to get them (ideas, I mean.)

Maybe because he is/was in advertising, he knows more about how to make a book palatable to his readers. I am going to mention another book, called The Care and Feeding of Ideas, a Guide to Encouraging Creativityby James L. Adams. I have tried to read Mr. Adams book but he is an engineer by training and big wig department chair at Stanford University. Bless his heart, I am sure the man is more creative in his little finger than I am all over, but I have opened his book five times and every single time, it makes me want to take a nap. There are math examples and exercises, along with charts and graphs and a diagram about memory and oh, I could go on.

In Mr. Foster's book, there are cute illustrations by Larry Corby that say so much more to me that all the graphs and pie charts in Mr. Adam's book ever could. It is unfair to compare the two books because I haven't read the latter, but will I read it when I can hardly bear to peruse it? Can I get over my eye rolling, heavy sighing indignation at what format I think a book about ideas should look like.

How to Get Ideas is the book for me and you too if you need to help generating ideas fast. I am going to try to get through the other one. Any ideas on how to do that?

It's Not Magic, It Just Feels That Way Sometimes

Emotional Freedom Technique isn't magic, but it can certainly feel that way. People all over the world are making decisions to do something differently this year, this month, this day. Who knows how many will actually succeed with their desires?

I want to give you a step by step method for using EFT to help you accomplish a simple goal. EFT is a kind of practical magic. It only works if you work it. It has worked practically every time I've used it. If you don't know what EFT is, you need to find out before this will make sense. You can find out here.

Decide on your goal: I am going to use a goal about my creativity because I always want help in this area. For our purposes in this post, I'm keeping it simple.

How to decide:
Keep it specific and measurable. (And I say, pick something you might actually do instead of something you "should" do. That's kinda magical in itself.) Instead of, "I want to paint more this year," make it, "I want to complete three painting projects this month." Now we know exactly what we are shooting for and we will know at the end of January if we've succeeded or not. (If you say, I want more money this year and I give you a dollar, boom, you're done, just not very satisfying or probably what you had in mind.)

Make it concrete:
Write it in lipstick on your mirror. Use sticky notes on your computer. Tell your eight year old to bug you. Whatever it takes to be reminded that you now have some action to take.

Take notice:
You are about to encounter Blockhead (your internal critic). He's going to tell you exactly all the reasons you can't accomplish your goal and what statements you will need to tap on.

Use your imagination to see the end result:
In all it's glory, I am imagining how wonderful these three painting projects will be. I will have them done on time and the recipients will absolutely love them. Now my internal critic (and yours) will step to the plate and tell you all the reasons why you (incompetent YOU)will not be able to do as you have imagined. If your Blockhead doesn't have anything negative to say, go do your goal right away or pick a better goal!

Start writing when Blockhead starts talking:
Here's what mine has to say:
You've got too much other work to do to get them done.
People are ungrateful for all the effort it takes to do the project.

• You hate it when you have to show it to someone else because it's too scary.


• You don't have a clue what you are going to paint.


• You never have any good ideas for paintings.


• You just wing it and waste time and supplies.


• Why do you bother?


• Why don't you quit before you waste all that time and have to go buy a gift after all?

Thank you Blockhead for sharing: Now, I have about eight reasons why this goal is a lousy idea and why I could fail at if if I don't eliminate these negative feelings.

Ideally, I will just turn my Blockhead's sharing into EFT statements and tap away the limiting beliefs. That's where it feels like magic. I was feeling this way about painting three projects this month and now, I have eliminated some big stumbling blocks to getting them done. However, this issue of time needs more attention. I can't tap more hours into my day. So how can I handle this?

It is true that I don't have a lot of time. I do have time to watch Gray's Anatomy, I've noticed and there's my Facebook addiction. Ok. So I can choose to use my time differently, but I have feelings about missing Gray's Anatomy. So I tap on that.

Even though, I'd rather be watching Gray's Anatomy than working on painting projects and I'm angry that I can't do both, I choose to spend my time painting first...

Even though, I love Gray's Anatomy, and I'm sad I have to paint while it's on, I choose to enjoy painting...

Even though I resent the recipients of these painting projects for not knowing how I've sacrificed Gray's Anatomy for them, I choose to enjoy the time I spend being creative...

Ooops! That little petty feeling slipped out, didn't it? I love when that happens! I get to eliminate pettiness! Yay.

I think you get the idea.

When I have some clarity without all the noise from Blockhead, I know that I have three very good reasons to paint three projects this month. I want to paint something for my daughter's wedding shower. I owe a birthday gift to a friend who loves my work. I also want to paint a give away for the One World One Heart event. The bottom line is, I love to paint things to give to others. I love it when they are surprised and delighted. I paint. It's what I do.

With EFT, it doesn't have to be such drama. I'd rather get my dose of drama on Gray's Anatomy.