February 2006 Newsletter #1

Blogging Community, Camaraderie & Creativity

"What standards do you use to determine if something is creative or not? What triggers your inspiration, makes you want to paint or write — and then dashes your hopes to the ground?" — Durga Keyser, Define Creativity — I Dare You

In This Issue

• February 2006 Journal
• What's New @ the CP
• Inspiring Success Stories

February 2006 Journal

by Chris Dunmire

A Blogternative to Going it Alone
Are you among those who enjoy using a blog for creative, expressive purposes? If so, you're in good company. Artists, writers, and creatives of all kinds are drawn to the interactive nature of blogging to express their creativity, share their work, and elicit feedback from the virtual world. Furthermore, one can blog it alone or (if they desire) team up with others on collaborative blogging projects with creative themes like illustration, photography, and creative writing.

Community blogs know no boundaries, for if a theme can be conceptualized, it can be created. You know this is true if you've wandered over to the Soul Food Cafe Web site (www.dailywriting.net) recently. My friend Heather Blakey, Soul Food's driving force and teacher, started using team blogging in 2003 with her students. When she retired from secondary school teaching in 2005, she began planting a labyrinth of blogs throughout the corridors of Soul Food, which now number over 60.

What goes on in blogs with mythical names like the Lemurian Abbey, the Hermitage, Riversleigh and Gypsy Camp? Plenty. And the sense of creative community experienced in the supportive Soul Food environment has been transforming lives. Troops willingly inhabit these virtual places under Heather's skillful facilitation to explore more than just their art and creativity.

Intrigued by Heather's success, I inquired if she would report on the transforming opportunities and creative unleashing that lie within the realm of group blogging. No sooner did I send my e-mail down under that I received a response by Heather and her creative collaborators in a piece titled "Zen and the Art of Team Blogging."

Take note of Heather's personal invitation to join in with the Soul Food team bloggers if you dare. But beware — she'll make you work hard to earn your keep.

Chris Dunmire
Publisher, Creativity Portal

What's New @ the CP

Promoting Your Products and Services
By Carolyn Campbell, MA, CPPC
Who do you want to connect with? What can you offer to improve their business or enrich their life?

The Alchemy of Art
By Douglas Eby
Creative expression can transform painful reactions and situations, providing strength and understanding to change how we feel and interact with the world.

Allowing Creativity
By Dr. Margaret Paul Ph.D.
The moment the mind starts in with its fears and beliefs, we get blocked.

How to Get Your Consumer Invention to Market
By Joan Lefkowitz
So you have an idea for an invention? What do you do now?

Inspiring Success Stories

On Becoming a Dark Menace: Balancing Multiple Careers and Family Life
Learn how Tom Filsinger, associate professor of psychology, creator of an online program called "Psychology of the Workplace," owner of a game company, and author balances multiple careers and family life as a "Dark Menace."