Eight Habits of The Creatively Intelligent
We’d all be more creative if we paid less attention to the surfaces, our doings and achievements, our ambitions and desires; and more attention to the depths, the hidden forces and faculties that lie within ourselves and others.
Nurture Your Creativity: List What You're Thankful For
Much has been written about gratitude throughout the centuries, and with a common theme: Gratitude is a positive attitude or emotion that benefits us greatly when it's employed.
Author Lisa Crone's Inspiring Success Story
Her secret to intermixing positivity with passion and publishing her first book 'A Bead in Time: 35 Jewelry Projects Inspired by Slices of Life.'
The Joy of Creativity: Emergence
If I allow myself to speak, write words, or paint marks without knowing what I am going to say next or what I’ll end up with, eventually something will emerge.
Not-Knowing: A Sometimes Unnerving but Utterly Reliable Guide
We want to know. We want to know things beforehand, ahead of time. We want to know where we are going, why we are going there, what we will encounter (and should thus prepare for) along the way.
“In this fictional realm, we make something where there was nothing. We say 'Let there be light!' and there is light.” — Renie Garlick, Why Fiction Now?
Don't you wish you could just kick off your shoes and run wildly barefoot without a care in the world sometimes? That's what I had on my mind last month when the little ladybug walked across my day planner right before I took off on a 2-week Artist Soul Retreat.
I find the visual of "kicking off shoes" a fitting metaphor for freedom. You know how it feels to kick off your shoes after a long day at work? It's a freeing relief both physically and mentally. When the shoes come off, your role associated with them comes off with them, and you begin to relax and unwind. You are free to spend the rest of your day as you wish, perhaps submerged in activities that are rejuvenating and replenishing to you. I find this the core essence of an Artist's Soul Retreat.
Occasional retreats from our everyday worlds are a creativity and well-being necessity, and so I've designated May the official Artist's Soul Retreat month on Creativity Portal. If you missed it this time around, don't worry. Our celebrations may be called upon at any time, and as often as you need them.
Violette's "Journal Bliss" Update
One treat I enjoyed early on in my retreat was reading Violette's new book "Journal Bliss: Creative Prompts to Unleash Your Inner Eccentric" (read two excerpts). Violette's whimsy and humor inspired me to dabble freely with mail art and finger-painted doodlings, and after a half-dozen trips to the post office, I cherished how much fun I was having letter-journaling my daily adventures to far-off friends. A few later revealed that my poetic handiworks inspired them to create. Isn't it cool how creative inspiration spreads like this in books and mail and in between us all?
Violette informed me that she wanted the book to have a resources section, but the publisher didn't make room for it. So she kindly put one up on her Web site and guess who's included on it? Weeeeee! See it here: Journal Bliss Resources. You can check out "Journal Bliss" at Amazon.
Finally, if you're curious about the results from that blog doodle book-giveaway featured in last month's NewZine, you can visit: Violette's May 1 blog, participant doodles, and Elsha's winning doodle for creativity. Thanks for participating!
P.S. I titled this issue "Mastery through Repetition" to give special attention to art coach Barbara Bowen's latest piece, Creativity Explored: Enhancement through Repetition. Barbara is gifted in her writings about creativity tools and techniques, and this is a great reference article when you're in the process of learning something new.
Monthly Columns & Featured Series
Multicultural Muses Playing with Paint: Let’s Get Messy! By Molly Anderson-Childers
Now that spring is here, and the spring flower fairies are visiting my mountain home with their outrageous palettes, I am called to paint.
Riding Lessons for Artists How Do We Learn, and from Whom? By Judy Wood
Most art media and techniques have been around for a very long time, and none of us has to re-invent the wheel by trying to figure everything out all by ourselves.
365 Pictures: Thank You's (June 1-30)
'365 Pictures' Writing Prompts
Our creativity-inspiring daily picture/prompt feature is now in action, and we couldn't have done it without this amazing, generous cast of collaborators.
A special THANK YOU this month goes out to our June contributors whose prompts will surface between June 1-30. Be sure to check out their Web sites and blogs for more creative inspiration!
