"At first there’s just a tight green bud ... laden with the promise, intrigue and possibility that something beautiful inside is waiting to reveal itself." — Dan Goodwin, Get the Most from Your Creative Idea

Being Part of the FLOWering of Creative Intention
By Chris Dunmire, Publisher

To take advantage of these nature-inspired pieces, be sure to read Dan Goodwin's declaration to Let the Flowers Blossom! and Angi Sullins' reflections on the nourishing Deep Roots of trees. And not to overlook the advantages of summer in all its blooming glory, Cynthia Morris brings us to an early celebration of Summer's Creative Exuberance while I sow my story of Communing with Nature to Raise Sunflower Children.

Yes, in addition to the bounty of regular features, this issue has lots of good, 100% natural stuff to feed your creative life. Now pardon me while I go wash the garden dirt from underneath my fingernails. Hey, I'm not kidding!

Introducing Creativity Corner Essays by Eric Maisel
Art of the Song Creativity Radio fans will be thrilled to know that we have just published the first in a series of new Creativity Corner essays by America's foremost Creativity Coach Eric Maisel, Ph.D. These essays are from his on-air segments with Art of the Song Creativity Radio and are excerpted from his books: Creativity For Life, A Writer's Paris, and A Writer's San Francisco.

Eric's first essay is Crafting a Starting Ritual, which describes eight different rituals you can use regularly and routinely to help yourself create every day. We're happy to bring Eric's perspective to you through our partnership with Art of the Song Creativity Radio, which you can listen to online. You can learn more about Eric's books, podcasts, courses, and workshops at www.ericmaisel.com.

Chris Dunmire
Creative Director and Publisher

Art of the Song Creativity Radio: Creativity Corner Segments
Crafting a Starting Ritual
By Eric Maisel
Eight starting rituals you can begin to use regularly and routinely to help yourself create every day.

Creative Solutions & Inspirations from the Modern Day Muses
Doing Nothing with a Muse called Lull
By Jill Badonsky
I have a secret for you — no it’s not THE SECRET. Heavens no, it’s even better because this one involves, are you ready? Doing nothing.
PLUS: Meet the Modern Day Muse Lull

Love of the Craft
Do I Need to Learn "the Rules" of the Writing Craft?
By Dave Duggins
Q: I write as a hobby but have also started two books. A writing instructor who has taught at several colleges is a well-known expert/author in the writing field. I heard him say that for one to be a good writer, one must take a class and "learn" the proper way of the craft. I feel that doing so would limit my freedom, etc. What do you think?

Inner Voices of Creativity
Drinking from the Bowls of Life
By Anne Marie Bennett
My gift to you is the deep knowing that you are worthy of abundance and all good things. I give you freedom from guilt and freedom from the heavy weight of impossibility. I give you joy and wholeness.

Creative Careers in the Arts Interviews
An Interview with Dorothy-Clare Jacobs
By Molly Anderson-Childers
Dorothy-Clare is a quick-on-her-feet creative-thinking occupational therapy assistant in a long-term care facility in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Summer’s Creative Exuberance
By Cynthia Morris
I vote for summer as the season most likely to spawn creative progeny. In fact, summer invites us to regress to our purest child-like impulses.

Step Up to the Plate
By Susan Ann Darley
Sometimes we carry deeply ingrained feelings with us, often from our childhoods, that prevent us from fully participating in life.

You are the Treasure Embedded in Your Book
By Naomi Rose
What makes a book work, despite the popular belief, is not that it meets some external standard. It’s that your presence is at the heart of it. YOU are the jewel embedded in the writing

Deep Roots
By Angi Sullins
What condition are your roots in? Do they reach deep into the nutrients of self care? By being good to ourselves, we grow. And in growing, we create the fruit that feeds the forest.