At the start of the new year it can feel like you want to change everything at once to kick-start your creative power. The inspiration to change something, anything, is in the air and it can be very intoxicating. So when you feel the urge to switch things up and fuel your creative power, where do you start -- with habits visible to the outside world or by crafting and committing to a new personal practice? While there isn’t a specific magical balance of these two internal/external forces … [Read more...]
Creative Inspiration and Visiting Family
November 7, 2013 By Leave a Comment
While visiting family in Connecticut last week, I was reminded how creative inspiration shifts whenever I’m reconnecting with them and my hometown. There are predictable places and faces so it doesn't feel quite a “vacation”. There’s also an existing history to align with or rebel against, instead of a “new” adventure type feel to the travel experience. I always see my trips back east as sort of a clashing of the new and the old in the same viewfinder, kind of like a set of before and after … [Read more...]
Kick a Rut in the Butt Using Space Not Force
July 11, 2013 By Leave a Comment
I flew back into Denver from from Portland, Oregon, late last night and I’m still processing all of my adventures, as I put off unpacking and phone calls and open up to a new creative flow. My brain is lighter. Heart, more open. Body, stronger, and energy more in balance. Before I left I would not have identified myself as being in a rut, until I was miles away from the familiar and cozy. Then I saw the rut looking back at me. Clear. Unfolding. Unraveling in my expanded head and heart space, no … [Read more...]
Change your Venue, Change your Creative View
June 27, 2013 By 1 Comment
Ever feel like life is just OK? Not good, not bad but just...OK? No spark? Routine-driven? Bland? It’s part of the human journey of course, (life can’t glide at a roller-coaster pace every day), but it’s important to realize when the routine takes over, creativity is diminished by assumed expectations and a slew of mediocre results that rarely change. So you don’t either. And then you become attached to the dependable results because, they’re, well...dependable. Life as usual is good for the … [Read more...]
The Power of Faith in the Creative Process
May 23, 2013 By Leave a Comment
Faith is one of the most powerful parts of any creative process. I’m not talking about the spiritual kind (although that certainly helps) but faith in your ideas and ability to express yourself freely. And as easy as it might be to casually say to someone else, it’s one of the hardest things to actually DO when your creative babies are hanging out in the wind, waiting for acknowledgement. Any time you are putting something in the world that is new or pushing the envelope beyond your comfy, … [Read more...]
The Direction of Your Life is Never Direct
April 18, 2013 By Leave a Comment
One of the most important things I’ve learned in my life so far is that no matter what I think is the most “direct” way to experience or learn something, life has entirely different plans. But beyond this sentiment sounding like fodder for boring bumper stickers and endless motivational posters, there is a much bigger, often overlooked truth nestled in here. The direction of your life is never a direct, straight line so why do you expect it to be? You often don’t realize the limitations you … [Read more...]
The Beauty of Living Life Open-Ended
October 11, 2012 By Leave a Comment
As a professional writer I'm trained to get things exact. Hit the target. Get a reaction. Maximize the word choice. Make an impact and make it count. All honorable things to shoot for in impeccable journalism or marketing-based writing. When the same approach is used as a way to look at life -- not so much. Often we view our experiences as "if I just knew, if I could just figure out. if they would just" and then we slowly trail off down the rabbit hole, succumbing to a whole new realm of … [Read more...]