December 1, 2006 | Muse, Pennsylvania & Creative Renaissance
"Creative outlets provide a spiritual
release promoting mental health and well-being ." — A temporarily smart Patrick Starfish loosely
quoted from an episode of SpongeBob SquarePants, 2005
Finding a Muse in Pennsylvania, USA
Did you know there is a Muse, Pennsylvania? I’m not kidding. While planning a road trip from Illinois to Pennsylvania, USA, I noticed a small town named “Muse” on the map just southwest of Pittsburgh right off of Interstate 79. I don’t know about you, but I think it would be rather cool to live in a town named Muse. Does anyone out there live in Muse? More »
On ThankFULLness: Post-Turkey Thoughts (Nothing Fowl)
If you're curious about the letters I get from visitors of the Creativity Portal, I have one to share with you. A couple of weeks ago I received an e-mail from June ONeal with the subject, "Just a Thank You, Chris." What followed in the thoughtful letter was a moving testimony of how much the Creativity Portal has positively influenced June's creative life.
The reason I'm able to share this letter with you is because June published it on her blog ("Love, Laugh, Create"), which you can read in its entirety (scroll down to the November 16 entry with the title: "Today, I am... nervously sharing a piece of *me*."), and she's kindly given me permission to tell you about it.
I took June's letter with me on my Pennsylvania road trip and re-read it on Thanksgiving Day when I had some quiet time alone. When I finished, I was filled with so much gratitude over the privilege I have in contributing something so worthwhile and positive to the creative community through my work with the Creativity Portal. I am also grateful to the growing team of online partners and authors I work closely with each month to produce the regular columns and features for the site, and they too deserve a good portion of the credit for inspiring our readers. It's true: My work requires an enormous amount of time and energy each month, but it's so worth it. There is nothing else that I'd rather be doing in my life, right now.
Thank you, June, for your most thoughtful letter and for helping me to reflect on how thankful I am to be able to touch the lives of others through my creative work. I have no doubt that I have made my mark in this world as a creativity enthusiast and will leave something good behind. By the way, there must be an awful lot of BUTTERFLIES around here because *I* still get them in my stomach when I send out each newsletter. :-)
Chris Dunmire
Creative Director and Publisher, Creativity Portal
By Chris Dunmire, Publisher
On ThankFULLness: Post-Turkey Thoughts (Nothing Fowl)
If you're curious about the letters I get from visitors of the Creativity Portal, I have one to share with you. A couple of weeks ago I received an e-mail from June ONeal with the subject, "Just a Thank You, Chris." What followed in the thoughtful letter was a moving testimony of how much the Creativity Portal has positively influenced June's creative life.
The reason I'm able to share this letter with you is because June published it on her blog ("Love, Laugh, Create"), which you can read in its entirety (scroll down to the November 16 entry with the title: "Today, I am... nervously sharing a piece of *me*."), and she's kindly given me permission to tell you about it.
I took June's letter with me on my Pennsylvania road trip and re-read it on Thanksgiving Day when I had some quiet time alone. When I finished, I was filled with so much gratitude over the privilege I have in contributing something so worthwhile and positive to the creative community through my work with the Creativity Portal. I am also grateful to the growing team of online partners and authors I work closely with each month to produce the regular columns and features for the site, and they too deserve a good portion of the credit for inspiring our readers. It's true: My work requires an enormous amount of time and energy each month, but it's so worth it. There is nothing else that I'd rather be doing in my life, right now.
Thank you, June, for your most thoughtful letter and for helping me to reflect on how thankful I am to be able to touch the lives of others through my creative work. I have no doubt that I have made my mark in this world as a creativity enthusiast and will leave something good behind. By the way, there must be an awful lot of BUTTERFLIES around here because *I* still get them in my stomach when I send out each newsletter. :-)
Chris Dunmire
Creative Director and Publisher, Creativity Portal
Inner Voices of Creativity
Don’t Let Your Inner Critic Get You Down!
Art of the Song Creativity Radio
Creative Renaissance
Multicultural Muses
Nature as Muse, Healer, and Guide
Don’t Let Your Inner Critic Get You Down!
By Anne Marie Bennett
Notice your own reaction to what your inner critic is telling you — do you believe
the insults and criticisms, or are you able to shrug them off and go on about
your business?Art of the Song Creativity Radio
Creative Renaissance
By John Dillon
We appear to be in the midst of a cultural transition. Our “modern” culture — media-dominated, consumer-driven, materialistic, and ethnocentric — has lost its appeal to many.Multicultural Muses
Nature as Muse, Healer, and Guide
By Molly Anderson-Childers
In this age of corporate-sponsored fear and paranoia, it is a revolutionary act to feel safe in the wild places of this world.
Redesign Your Priorities and Make Room for Your Creativity
Creativity Maps: Getting the Most from Your Creative Life
By Cynthia Morris
As the new year approaches, what sacrifices can you make in exchange for a more fulfilling creative life?Creativity Maps: Getting the Most from Your Creative Life
By Dan Goodwin
By having an overall picture of our creative talents, we can see what we enjoy most and where we’d like to explore more.