I have made no secret of how much I love a good TEDTalk. I find them educational and inspiring. The most recent inspirational talk I have heard was from this year, 2017 TED Conference. It was by Anne Lamott, well known in writing circles for her book Bird by Bird. In this particular talk, Ms. Lamott discusses the twelve things that she knows to be true, written just before her 61st birthday. It is a mildly humorous and thoughtful way to look at the lessons we learn from life.
Inspired by Ms. Lamott’s talk, I decided to write my own list of things I know to be true at 43. Here is my list below:
We are each traveling on our own journey through this thing called life. However, occasionally, we bump into other people on their journey, and we decide to take some of it together. This makes the voyage not seem as lonely or as difficult.
A good piece of chocolate will calm most nerves. And the smell of fresh vanilla makes most people smile.
Writing out what you want to say, especially when upset or angry, can be as cathartic as it is helpful to know what you want to say.
If it doesn’t work, do not bang on it. Suck it up and contact customer service, just make sure you allow plenty of time for waiting.
When you fall down, you will rise. You may take your time. You may need some help and some dusting off, even recovery from injuries, but you will rise again.
Dress for your Joy. Nothing else matters. If people are going to judge you, they were going to do so anyway, so be happy and comfortable in what you are wearing.
Creativity belongs to everyone. There isn’t a single person alive that does not have creativity within them. It looks different in every person but that is what makes it cool not absent.
Time alone is good for the soul and the mind. The world can be loud and overwhelming, learn to disconnect.
Be Grateful. Say thank you for any good that comes into your life. It changes how your mind sees the world. You begin looking for the good that there is.
Be Kind. Nothing replaces kindness. We have a chance to be kind or to be cruel; to make someone’s day or to tear them down. Be Kind.
We all have at least one in our head. One critic that doesn’t shut up. He or She is the critic in the stands that Brene’ Brown often refers too. They aren’t supposed to matter because they do not get down in the arena with you. They don’t wrestle with the world and come up dirty. This critic tries to stay above it all. Always criticizing but never trying. Since this is National Letter Writing month let’s write a letter to this critic, Tell this critic what you think of them. See who they are clearly in your mind. Man or woman? Insolent child? Think of this letter as standing up and addressing them directly. If they are a critic that is not willing to get down in the mire with you, do you fire them? Send them on vacation for a while? What do you want to say? I once wrote a letter to this critic firing them. He was a cranky old man in my head. One who was never happy with anything at all. It didn’t matter how good something was, HE did not like it. So I fired him. Now, I will warn you, since firing him, he does not come around as often, though a couple of new ones took his place. But everyone once in a while the cranky old man slips past my defenses and into my head once again like an employee who never gets the hint that he is doing terrible at his job. So I have to fire him again. Here is my letter to the critic in my head and how I fired him.
Dear Critic in the Stands,
I’m letting you go.
I’m saying good-bye to your harsh tones and your sandpaper words
that scrape away
the soft parts of my heart.
I’m turning away from you,
and
Leaving you standing with your arms crossed and
frown lines on your face
while tapping your foot.
This relationship is not working for me.
I do not enjoy having you shred my skin away,
expose the broken bones beneath
while you are up in the stands, keeping your hands clean
and your bones safe.
I have made my list of the ones who matter,
tucked it in my pocket… the loved ones who get down in the mud with me.
So, I will tell you again.
I’m letting you go.
I’m saying good-bye.
Please leave the arena now,
you are fired.
Sincerely,
Susan
We all need a creative soul boost once in a while. It’s normal to feel that you are in a rut and are struggling to be creative. There is hope though. At those times when we can’t create, we can indulge our creative soul with bringing creativity to us. Here are Seven Ideas for Sparking Your Creative Soul.
Pictures. Photographs. Take them. Anything that you find interesting. Do not pass judgment of good or bad. Just take them. Not in the mood to take pictures, go to a page like Flickr and browse through anything that catches your eye. Take the time to fill your visual senses with things you find interesting, beautiful, or even ugly.
READ. Go to the bookstore or the library. Peruse the magazines. Read the international ones about other countries. Cooking, personal growth, or home decor. Maybe pick up one on cars or entrepreneurship. Find a favorite book section and read the back covers of new books. Explore what’s new in the book world.
Take yourself on what Julia Cameron calls an “Artist Date.” Visit a local museum. It doesn’t have to be an art museum. History buff go to the history museum, science, trains…whatever excites you and will help fill up your creative soul. You can try to opposite and go to a museum that you might not normally visit, or even a local gallery where art is for sale and see who is up and coming in your community.
Does your town have an “old town” area? Is there a town nearby that has an the “old town” vibe? Sometimes wandering and meandering through old buildings and gift shops lets down the guard we usually carry around with up as we take in the surroundings. Allow your guard to be down. Wander into new places. Touch stuff on the shelves (if you can). Notice the smells. Listen to the sounds. In Old Sacramento, I love listening to the sound of the old wood board walkways. In summer, there is the sound of the old train that the train museum runs that is in the background.
Read Art Blogs. I love Kathryn Costa of 100Mandalas. I also follow Kelly Rae Roberts , SARK, Leonie Dawson, and Jani Franck. I find others on Facebook. I follow other blogs that inspire me like Bipolar Speaks, a blog combining her love for advocating for mental illness with her creative spirit. Find inspiring blogs to follow. Read them. Fill yourself up on their words and ideas.
Wander. Wander. Wander. I love to wander the aisles of Michaels or Joann’s just to see what’s new. I love looking at the seasonal sections to discover what treasures there are. Sometimes I get some of my DIY ideas from projects that Joann’s is selling already made. I could just as easily say play on Pinterest. But there is something about the physical act of wandering through the store aisles that also allows that mind to wander and play. We are three dimensional beings and we need to interact with a three dimensional world. If you are someone like me who does a lot of their creative work on paper or on the computer, the act of physically touching and looking takes you to a different place than scrolling through Pinterest.
Another “Artist Date.” Take yourself on a day trip someplace away from where you are. Sometimes I complain about living in Sacramento. It’s in a valley and summer gets WAY too hot for me. There is stuff to do but it doesn’t quite have the same energy as a place like San Francisco or Los Angeles. BUT it is about 2 hours from EVERYTHING. Two hours to the mountains. Two hours to Redwoods. Two hours to San Fran. Two hours to the beach. Two hours to the Nevada dessert (maybe just over). The point is I can and have just taken little day trips to the ocean to fill my soul with salty sea air and to put my feet in soft sand. My family has made many a day trip to San Fran and Calaveras Big Trees (Giant Redwoods). Where can you venture for a day trip?
Our creative soul needs these little diversions to fill up on. We cannot create on an empty spirit. What will you do to spark you Creative Soul today?
Many creative people have their creative toolbox that they keep on hand. They pull stuff, and tips and tricks right out of it. It’s like having a magicians magic hat. The key to a Great Toolbox is to include in it the things that will keep your creative soul going even in those times where you feel stuck or are feeling blah and uncreative.
Let’s start with what I keep in mine.
For inspiration, I have many Artful Blogger, Artful Journalling, and Where Women Create magazines, all produced by the Stampington Company. I love flipping the pages and seeing the beautiful pictures and sharing in others creative adventures. It is my hope one day to be in one of those magazines myself. It inspires and motivates me when I feel stuck or lost on what to do.
My favorite creative tool is my laptop. It is a MacBook Pro that is nearly four years old. Since I am first and foremost a writer, I find it essential for working on fiction, moving my poems from the written page to being saved and edited, and where I create my affirmation cards. I also use it for collecting my photos. I will give you a secret, I have about 22,000 pictures. NOT KIDDING. I always find reasons to use ones I thought I would never use especially in designing mini stories and affirmation cards. It is also where I create my stationary, my cards, and anything else that strikes me.
Pick your favorite tool! What is it? Keep it in good condition. If it’s something that gets used often, like a sketch book or journal, do you keep a back up so you always have one. My daughter keeps two or three around the house so she can just grab one.
Now onto some more practical, hands on stuff. Even writers need a little something out of scope of traditional writing to feed the creative soul. Here is what I highly recommend and what I keep for creative tools.
Watercolor Paints: you can go to the dollar store and get the watercolor kits or you can go to Joanns and for ten bucks get the watercolor tubes. I use them for creating backgrounds, just playing when my mind has been so full of words, I need something that doesn’t require too much language processing.
Pens, markers, pencils: I will admit to being an office supply junkie. I am fully addicted to new pens and pencils. I love makers, gel pens, colored pencils, Papermate Flair pens, and my fave are Pentel RSVP pens in purple. They just make writing, drawing, doodling so much more fun and interesting. Sometimes, it helps me to brainstorm in different colors to see patterns.
Paper or Card Stock: A writer needs paper, whether hand writing or printing from a computer. If you want to make little notes or cards with writing or doodles, it helps to have sturdier card stock around and a good pair of scissors.
Another thing that the paper is good for is making Word tiles. Inspired by Susan Wooldridge’s poem crazy. She creates word tiles and has her students draw out so many words and they have to create a poem. But I have also used them to inspire photos, or doodling or messages to friends. I think of word tiles as a great way to get out of stuckness because you have to work within the confines of the words you picked, it brings out the creative self.
Tactile: A great toolbox as something wth texture that you can play with, touch in between or during projects. There is something about the switching of the cerebral writing, organizing to something that is just about touch. It changes our posture, calls on different parts of the brain, creates flow through other avenues. especially when stressed or up against a deadline, having some tactile object like play-dough or clay or even different types of fabric can re-direct us.
TIME! Make sure that you give yourself time to use the tools in your toolbox. Our creative expression is of great importance. Even if you have a job and work forty hours a week, it is essential to our health that we take time for creative expression. I have said before, Brene’ Brown, a well know mental health writer, says that “UNUSED creative expression is NOT benign.” It will manifest itself in agitation, frustration, anger, guilt. A host of negative feelings that eat away at our self-esteem. So being creative helps you be a better you.
Miscellaneous: 1) Music: I know for me when I am working on certain projects I have specific music that I listen to that creates the mood and environment that I want, especially if I am writing and I want to tune out the noise. 2) Add some acrylic paint as well. The colors are brighter and you get different results by blending. It is just a different than watercolors but fun. 3) Ribbons and stickers. These are just bits of whimsy to add to your toolbox. Maybe you only use them once in a while. I love using my own stickers to decorate packages when I send out orders. 4) Glue. All kinds but at least a good glue stick and a reliable craft glue, like Aleene’s tacky Glue. 5) A Journal. Whether you are a writer or an artist, a photographer or florist, keep a journal. They are great in offering us a chance to reflect. Maybe you just have a project journal. That’s ok. Its just another handy dandy tool for your box.
Instead of a ten minute exercise today, I am giving some quick ideas that you can do in a five minute break. If all you have is a ten minute break, then you might only have just five minutes to do something creative or to play. Here are four great go-to ideas for a five minute play break.
Play Dough: I keep a small container of play dough around for goofing around with. Sometimes if my anxiety is high or I am stressed this little ball of dough is perfect for squeezing and stretching and oozing through fingers. Since it is such a tactile play tool, it really helps when I have limited time.
Watercolors: Easy to set up and easy to use. You don’t need a lot of space, money or materials to paint a quick sunrise or the ocean. Sometimes it is just as relaxing to simple play and swirl the colors around on the page, creating an abstract of some sort. I have done that and turned into backgrounds for taking pictures of affirmations and such.
Coloring: Adult coloring books are all the rage right now. Get on board. You can even pick them up at most dollar stores now. You can even free coloring pages online. Go to Pinterest and type in coloring pages. Oodles of links will pop up. Get your Color On!
Building Blocks, Legos: If you don’t have access to these things because you are a grown-up, after all, then build with what you do have. Just make sure it’s play. My friends’ son likes to use miscellaneous things to build like pen boxes, books, keys or just what he has on hand to build with. There is something about blocks and legos that remind us we have amazing imaginations. If you do have them, what can you build in 5 minutes? Can you use all the blocks?
Here you go, four really simple creative play tools that you can do in just five minutes. Have a grand Tuesday! Don’t forget to play!
Hello Everyone! I’m Susan: a Writer, Speaker, Coach and Creator.
Creativity and I have been friends since I was a kid. I was always involved in a creative project…from putting together neighborhood skits and plays, writing stories, dance, theater. I loved to play with my creative side from painting, photography, to writing... more
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Hello Everyone! I’m Susan: a Writer, Speaker, Coach and Creator.
Creativity and I have been friends since I was a kid. I was always involved in a creative project…from putting together neighborhood skits and plays, writing stories, dance, theater. I loved to play with my creative side from painting, photography, to writing... 