"If your life was your message, what would the message be? What would you like it to be?" — Michael Neill, author of "You Can Have What You Want"

2008 Printable Inspirational Photo Calendar
By Chris Dunmire, Publisher

Download the 2008 Inspirational Photo Calendar pages »

Of course there's more to the story about this calendar's creation and some new promotional "print-portunities" I'm extending to newsletter subscribers to spread this calendar around. Enjoy!

Special Book Review by Shelley Klammer
It gives me great pleasure to share a new book review with you written by Shelley Klammer, one of Creativity Portal's contributors who's noted for her "Collage for Self-Discovery" work. In fact, the book Shelley's reviewed was written by another name you'll recognize from our site, writing coach Naomi Rose. Both the review and two excerpts from Naomi's "Starting Your Book: A Guide to Navigating the Blank Page by Attending to What’s Inside" are featured further down in this newsletter.

Likewise, if you have been influenced by a particular book that has expanded or deepened your creativity or has assisted you along on your creative path, and you'd like to write about it for the Creativity Portal, please let me know. I'm very open to promoting books and tools that enrich and inspire people to aspire to reach higher, especially when it comes to creativity.

Introducing Author/Artist Lyne Marshall
December's book spotlight featured an excerpt from the book "Gleaner or Gladiator: the struggle to create" by Lyne Marshall. I'm pleased to share that Lyne is also the latest addition to our growing author series feature, with more essays on creativity and the creative process to come, including an excellent, thought-provoking piece this week titled Understanding the Gift of Creativity.

Lyne is an Australian artist and author and has always been closely connected to the land and as a child lived on an island off the Queensland coast. She now lives in relative isolation on a mountain range, with the bush as a backdrop. You can learn more about Lyne and her work at her Web site, www.artclique.com.au.

A Farewell to Fleeting Failures
As 2007 comes to a close, I thank you all for allowing me to share my creative tidbits with you and for "suffering" through my witty (and sometimes corny) humor. I leave you with one final laugh for the year in what I named "Surviving the Vicious Cycle of Making & Breaking New Year's Resolutions": My Cycle-Breaking New Year's Resolutions Worksheet. May you resolve to never break another resolution again!

Have a safe and Happy New Year!

Chris Dunmire
Creative Director and Publisher

Multicultural Muses
A Treatise on The Dark: Muse of Shadows
By Molly Anderson-Childers
Why does the dark enchant me so? Even though it is dangerous and far away from the light, I hope you will see the indigo beauty there, feel the lovely enchantment of a forest at twilight.

Art of the Song Creativity Corner
Creativity and Self-Doubt
By Eileen Kalinowski
There’s a pull between my heart and my head, and when I’m writing, my heart needs to hold sway. When I’ve written a line of melody, or lyrics, and I stop to question whether what I’ve said is right or true or just too ‘out there’ I need to just keep going.

2008 Photo Calendar Printables
January Photo Gift Tag/Note Card
By Chris Dunmire
The sample January 2008 photo card is now available for download from the Creative Slush "Nature Sentiments" set. Scroll down on the page for the special download link.

Book Review: The Art of Writing a Book
Shelley Klammer Reviews Starting Your Book: A Guide to Navigating the Blank Page by Attending to What’s Inside You (Writing from the Deeper Self © 2008 Naomi Rose)

I have always loved books with a passion, and have secretly wondered if I could ever write one. As a child, books lifted me out of my quiet suburban existence into new creative possibilities and realities. While everyone else in my family was crowding around the television set in the family room, I read book after book in our quiet, pristine living room. I roamed the world, traveled through time, and engaged in the adventures and lives of my characters. Reading other people’s words provided me with solace and inspiration. Books imbued me with a sense of deep connection to inner worlds, feelings and experiences beyond my own. I can honestly say that in my younger years, books were my best friends. More »

PLUS: Read two excerpts from Starting Your Book:

• Chapter 1: Slowing Down and Listening Inside, to Make Room to Receive What’s There

• Chapter 2: The You Who Writes

Understanding the Gift of Creativity
By Lyne Marshall
Always on the lookout for triggers to creativity, I find one insight leads to many. Recently I was alerted to a book by author Lewis Hyde called The Gift. A search found it on Amazon, and this book confirmed something that I had discovered previously but not always been able to articulate.

Roadside Scenery: Helps us see where we are, what we are.
By Chris Dunmire
A photo writing prompt essay to accompany the picture and quote from the printable January 2008 calendar page.