A support mantra is one of the most effective tools in your creative tool belt. It’s your go-to phrase when you are stuck, feeling low or just need a little extra “oomph”. It’s also a quick way to bring your mind and body back to center and focus on the present - where your creative fire burns strongest. Why do you need a support mantra? Encouragement and creativity go hand in hand. A strong internal support system plays the biggest part in how you brainstorm, innovate, … [Read more...]
Archives for June 2014
What is your Creative Currency?
June 26, 2014 By Leave a Comment
Creative currency is all the innate little gifts, insights, beliefs and abilities you have to share with the world. As much as each of these unique elements make us into wonderfully diverse people, it’s the expression of the gift, not the gift itself, that constitutes your special blend of creative currency. For example, you can be a really good singer, but never sing (even when you are alone). Or, maybe you are a talented programmer who can write awesome time-saving programs, but instead you … [Read more...]
Creativity Kick-Start: Change Up your Creative Zone
June 23, 2014 By Leave a Comment
A creative zone can become as stale as anything else in life when it never changes. Routines and rules, while comfy, block out new stimuli that offer the extra fire you need to shake things up and create from a fresh point of view. The desire to stay in the same old patterns may also signal a little fear that can easily stay hidden for ages under well-worn grooves of familiarity. If life isn’t already calling (or shoving) you towards some big creative changes in your life … [Read more...]
Blending a Creative Pause into your Lifestyle
June 19, 2014 By 2 Comments
A creative pause is very powerful as a little sweet spot between meditation and action. It’s a time when you willingly take a break from all your activities, routines and planning to enjoy a little treat with no agenda. It can be something you do once a day, once a week or however often you allow in an absence of focus (without guilt), enabling your heart and mind to wander aimlessly to new places and daydreams. While meditation is often a focused time where you try to limit the … [Read more...]
Creativity Kick-Start: What is your Go To Creative Fuel?
June 16, 2014 By Leave a Comment
Creative fuel is the juice that keeps creative expression flowing. It’s how you stay motivated, inspired and curious about the world around you. The more easily accessible the creative fuel, the more available you are to embrace the little creative opportunities life sends your way. So how do you keep your creative fuel tank filled and ready to go? Even more important, do you know when it’s time to rest and back-off so your body and mind can have a little recovery … [Read more...]
Should You Follow or Release the Creative Noise in your Mind?
June 12, 2014 By 1 Comment
Creative noise rattling around in your mind can be an inspiration or a frustration, a calling or a distraction. How can you tell the difference? Practice choosing. The skills you build when you take the risk of making a “wrong choice” help you get more comfortable with taking chances and trusting yourself as you work through challenging situations. More practice, the better you get at feeling your truth in each choice rather than needing clear, mental approval and proof in … [Read more...]
Creativity Kick-Start: Discovering and Building Creative Resources
June 9, 2014 By 1 Comment
Creative resources are all the little tools and strategies you use to play and express your creativity. It’s the eye you develop to spot the perfect shade of paint for your next project, the deal on vintage furniture worth restoring, the sale on herbs for your garden or the fresh new journal you can’t wait to crack open, filling the pages with ideas that come to you in dreams. These simple examples of creative resources are the things I get excited about, and even if I … [Read more...]
Piggy Banks and the Art of Being Mindful
June 5, 2014 By Leave a Comment
The practice of being mindful is a lot like the experience of getting your first piggy bank as a kid. No matter what shape, color or type of “bank” you used, it served as a simple symbol of your resources, connecting the concept of being mindful to a tangible physical form. Sliding the change through the slot, making it a habit, day dreaming about just how much was hiding behind the walls, picking up extra change you found to deliver it safely to your growing … [Read more...]
Creativity Kick-Start: Brainstorming, the Ultimate Creative Muscle Workout
June 2, 2014 By Leave a Comment
The term brainstorming has taken a bit of an unexpected detour in the last 25 years, ending up an overused “buzzword” in business. While creative ideas generated through brainstorming techniques are invaluable in business, brainstorming is a powerful tool for anyone to use as part of active creative play. It’s the fire that stokes your desire to dream and create in the first place. That’s why it’s an essential part of any creative budget. The creative seeding … [Read more...]