This Inspired Life

So even though I'm almost always strapped for time, I made a goal for this year to create something once every week for the entire year. It's ridulously lofty and yet it is a goal that I'm really excited about. I think about creating art almost all the time, and often I begin, but don't finish. It drives the perfectionist in me absolutely bonkers. BONKERS!

I've been tweaking my rules here and there -- initially I thought I would create an artwork once a week, and then I opened it up to simply creating something. That includes stuff like cooking (or baking) something new, building a new garden bed or feature, sewing myself a skirt, making a birdhouse...or even a daisychain, whatever! It's all about the act of creating. I'll write about the things I make and hopefully it will inspire you to create, too, on whatever schedule fits your lifestyle.

Searching through my insanely large bookmarks folder, I came across this video by Robin King called "Ten Thousand Pictures of You" and had to share it with you. This is the kind of art that inspires me. Wow.

If you haven’t already, you may want to read my brief review for more information on the book The Creative Entrepreneur, by Lisa Sonora Beam. As well, here is a post about the first exercise in the book.

Chapter 3 is titled "Soul Proprietor: Building with Creative Blocks", and it's pretty intense. It challenged my thinking and even some of my truths about how my brain works. Lisa writes that what we creatives think of as a "block" is really an opportunity for growth; however, "without the proper orientation to creative blocks, creating can feel like going off the deep end." I feel like that a lot. I can't seem to focus on one thing for a long stretch, which is likely why some people think of me (myself included) as slightly nutty, and extremely sensitive.

I circled items in the list of attributes for both the left and right brain. While I definitely feel I have more qualities on the right (12, versus 5 on the left), there were a few surprises for what I circled on the left: manifests conscious awareness, has clear priorities and written lists, focuses on details and facts, reads instruction manuals, and is future oriented. (I always thought it was a tad strange that I'm an instruction-manual reader. I need to see the pictures or it's near impossible for me to figure out how something works.)

The most interesting thing I learned from this chapter is that whenever we do something with our non-dominant side of the brain, we actually strengthen the dominant side; thus, we become better at our natural abilities. Neat, huh? So, um, I'm guessing this takes some practice? Because I've been quite creative lately, and still no sign of increased left brain activity; specifically, external focus, accomplishing one task at a time, planning, time management, and generating conclusions and clarifying steps for the achievement of my goals. My brain is feeling rather "messy" lately.

The chapter contains a visual journal exercise for discovering your left brain / right brain capacities, and I wanted to share mine with you.

Clicky for the biggy.

"Creativity is the soul's journey," says Lisa, and she's bang on. It doesn't matter what your career is, what your hobbies are, how you think, what your relationships are like...no matter who you are and what you do, creativity in the widest possible sense of the word is essential to learning the most and being the best of who you already are inside. Stimulating both sides of our brains is the antidote for this, and the collage above is a great example of this.

How do you exercise your brain?

Troubling times call for creative solutions
With all of the problems that have emerged in recent years, economic and otherwise, many of us find ourselves wringing our hands in trepidation. We wonder and ponder our way through the days moving into months, asking what it's going to take to deal with the daunting global challenges and changes we face. Understandably, we worry even more about our personal prospects for security and success. What are we to do? What are we to think?

Before you instantly dismiss the following solution as a frivolous or overly simplified, please take another minute to consider the rationale behind it. Ready? Here it is. The single, overriding solution for so many of our problems lies in our ability to generate creative ideas. That's it-period.

Consider that there are just so many resources in the ground, sea and air, but no limit to the number of fresh, innovative ideas human beings are capable of creating to better optimize those resources. Breakthrough, creative ideas on how to do all sorts of things better, faster, more efficiently and more profitably have always led us to new levels of achievement. On the surface, the suggestion may indeed sound like an oversimplification, but perhaps not when reminded of the old adage, "Easier said than done."

Here’s the happy news: research shows that hobbies are good for us. They allow us to escape the day-to-day grind of work, family or whatever else consumes most of our energy. They provide opportunities for us to learn about new things, and to connect with people who share our interests. Pursuing a hobby strengthens our own abilities within that pursuit. And did you know our blood pressure decreases when we’re engaged in doing something we love? Plus, a hobby gives you cool stuff to talk about at cocktail parties.

Here’s a breakdown of how four ways in which your hobby can and indeed will enrich your life:

This is the second part of the post on "Why We Need to Be Creative", from last Tuesday. 10! easy! suggestions! for exercising! your creativity!

There are no rules or regulations to follow here, folks. Little to no money and nothing that requires a major commitment.

• Invent your own soup. (No, not soap!) Soup is dead simple to make, but if you’re not confident about your cooking, soup can be super scary. Read some recipes, get a feel for different stocks or bases, and then start writing out some ideas. My favourite soup (not my recipe) has something like four ingredients: chicken stock, jalapenos, chicken, and fresh avocado on top. I know, sounds a bit boring. My alteration is to add rice noodles. It’s dee-licious!
• Throw a themed (dinner) party. Make it something unusual and open to interpretation…like “movie monsters”. Ha ha.
• Here’s a quick one: colour a mandala. Search Google for “mandala coloring pages” to print. Grab some coloured pens or pencils and you’re good to go!
• Doodle something that doesn’t exist. No rules. No pressure.

Here are some photos of the little gift I put together for the first 25 subscribers to the website. I had a ball coming up with an idea and then putting it all together. I learned a few things along the way, like not to use glossy photo mailers and ink stamps -- the ink doesn't seem to dry very well.

If you haven't received your gift yet, please don't read on!

By Mike J Robinson

Whilst living on the earth, the human being has many ways of expressing its energy. Some people express themselves through physical activities such as sport, others through mental activities and some use the hands to create through art, sculpturing, building, etc. Problems arise when the creation lacks the energy of the heart. Many things created by humans have a distortion in them and they lack a certain beauty and joy. These things have been created by the egoic mind which has not included love and inspiration. Creations from the mind are based on the conditioning and memories of the individual; they are creations of the past and they have nothing new in them. They are built to engage the minds of others and so real beauty goes undiscovered.

Most of us are taught to drop heart based creations when we are young. We are conditioned to believe that the mind is more important than feelings and educational subjects such as art, dance and drama are secondary to intellectual pursuits. Envy soon follows as we are taught to compete and become a 'somebody'. We leave behind that innocent, intuitive being as we excel in that which is expected of us, and we close down the natural inquisitiveness and the drive to find out the truth for ourself.

If you haven’t already, you may want to read my brief review for more information on the book The Creative Entrepreneur.

I think one of the most significant reasons that collage has maintained such popularity for so long is that no art experience is needed. Just a few art supplies, some magazines or newspapers, glue and scissors and you’re on your way to a unique learning experience. And it can reap considerable rewards. When creating a collage, the artist becomes present with his or her intuition and subconscious. The exploration of pattern, imagery, colour and composition leads naturally to personal insight and a way to design a “higher vision of yourself”, in a way that you can’t with writing. You can collage anything: your present state, your future, your goals, your feelings about an upcoming change in your life, a career change, a relationship…the list goes on. The experience of collaging is relaxing, while discovering your true feelings and thoughts about the subject of the piece.

Okay, first of all I want to say that I absolutely love this book by Lisa Sonora Beam. I’m somewhere’s about halfway through and I have learned so much about myself and how I want to run my businesses.

The title The Creative Entrepreneur: A DIY Visual Guidebook for Making Business Ideas Real really speaks for itself. Basically, it’s a step-by-step guidebook intended to help people turn their passions into thriving businesses. The book offers just enough information on a concept, say the creative entrepreneur mandala, and provides provoking questions and thoughts for visual journaling. Yep, that’s right. This book is all about using collage, drawing, doodling, painting…whatever creative method works best for you. Which means this book, which is about bringing a business to life, is actually a lot of fun. I’ve always been one to learn visually and by hands-on, and I wholeheartedly believe that most of us learn best this way, but perhaps we haven’t been given ample opportunity in the past to utilize this fantastic way of learning and having it “stick”.

As Sonora writes, "You are not making art; you are inquiring about significant matters using art supplies."