Sometimes life is hard

2000 Why Am I Alive0001

Sometimes nurturing our creativity is difficult, life can pull the earth out from under us making us question who we are, why we exist, what the meaning of this experiment is. A loved one dies, a relationship breaks, we are dismissed from a job that we allowed to define us, a natural disaster destroys our sense of safety or any number of other stressful situations, and suddenly we question our identity.

At these times reviving our love of life and recovering a sense of purpose can be much easier if we embrace our creative selves. Maybe we do not feel capable of anything special, maybe all we can do is write one sentence, one line, draw stick figures, take a photograph of our shoes, sing in the shower at this point anything we do can lead us away from despair and losing touch with our inner balance.

Creativity is an expression of involvement in and love of life. When we are grasping at reasons to go on, we can do something for someone else and lift ourselves up. We can write letters or emails to faraway friends and family members. We can help a child draw a picture. We can take pictures of loved ones, print them, and give them to others who will treasure them. We can record a message for someone who lives at a distance. We can knit, crochet, or string beads. Anything we create is moving in the direction of fulfillment.

Do not entertain the thought of giving up. We are precious, each one a masterpiece, capable of works of genius. There is no reason that we cannot recover from our wounds and move into the future with hope. Nothing can destroy us unless we give it power over us and through our creative nature we wield power to make life what we dream it can be. There is a purpose to every life event that so humbles us, we must discover the gifts and bring those gems into our present and future moments. Creativity is a prime mover toward becoming whole and self-sufficient again.

We must be strong, embrace our dreams, believe we are capable of greatness, express our gratitude for what remains, and engage life with a creative desire to improve our lives and those of all others.

Thank you so much for visiting Haphazard Creative, I hope that you find inspiration and encouragement here. There is a follow button to your right that allows you to receive updates when there are new posts. Comments are always welcome. I hope you have an outstanding day and exercise the incredible creative impulse that resides inside you. Take care.

True Genius

The present is ripe
With great opportunity
If you realize
Your potential every day
Of this wonderful lifetime.

You are able to
Use your creativity
To enrich the lives
Of your friends, family, and
Even the strangers you meet.

Your abilities
Are astonishing presents
To share with the world
If you are really willing
To give the gift of yourself.

Every minute is
Yours to explore and expand
Through your great talents,
Sharing imagination
With the rest of the planet.

Humanity waits
Upon your fine decision
To allocate your
Endowments in enriching
The existence of others.

Creative Inspirations

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We are all creative, having the ability to make beautiful things which we may share with the world. I encourage you to make an effort to use your creativity daily. This is doable, no matter your skill level. If you are having problems imagining a starting point, perhaps you will find the following prompts helpful. Only take the suggestion and allow yourself to begin the work. Do not let your inner critic stifle your creative impulse. You can do anything you choose. There are prompts enough to jumpstart your brain.

You are a gift from the hand of the Creator… Be aware of your incredible importance.
Nothing you do can separate you from love.
Your thoughts are precious… Treat them with tender care.
Today could be “The Day”…
Say “I Love You” often. It costs nothing and has significant benefits.
Time spent enriching your mind is never wasted. You were meant to grow in wisdom and grace.
Breathe deeply and relax. Give yourself permission to live in happiness.
Fight negative thoughts, those waste valuable energy given you for good.
Give your face a break and enhance your day… SMILE!
Complete the sentence… Today, I am grateful:
Be glad cows cannot fly… Now, why were you complaining?
Be alert to the beauty that surrounds you everywhere and at all times.
What gives you pleasure? Do it today…
Don’t say can’t. You have unlimited potential to create the life you want.
Believe in yourself, if you fail to do this, no one else will believe in you.
Make a list of your blessings. Go back and read it often.
Remember the last time you cried? Honor your sorrow and pain.
If you died… How would people remember you?
What is holy in your existence? Share that with someone you love.
Listen to your favorite song. Why do you love it?
Wherever you live, honor your place by creating a haven of peace.
Light a candle…
Write down your goals… Know what is most important to you.
Respect your gifts and employ them as often as possible.
Send cards… Something about personal mail brightens a dull day.
Remember “Please” is a magical word.

Have fun creating!

I wrote these up in a journal in the nineties and have since compiled some into lists. I hope you find them useful. Thank you for visiting Haphazard Creative. To your right is a follow button and comments are always welcome. Please visit again soon and take care.

Another poetic form to try

As I said, I am not a fan of forms, but that does not mean they are unfamiliar to me. I have chosen a few I enjoy to use in my poetry. I hope you will look at the examples in this form and try writing your own. It is always expedient to learn new things. Even should you be someone whose field of expertise lies outside of writing, learning how better to express yourself is beneficial. As creatives, we need to have an attitude open to lifelong learning. Anytime we acquire new knowledge or skills it increases the synapses in our brains, which helps combat illnesses of the mind and memory.

Today, we will work with Tanka. Tanka is another Japanese form, like haiku, only with two additional lines. They gained popularity in the seventh and eighth centuries. They are less concentrated than haiku and can be more casual and conversational. At times they were written to carry messages instead of letters.

The syllabic counts for tanka are like haiku, five syllables in the first line, seven syllables in the second, five syllables in the third line, and two lines of seven syllables to finish out the poem. You are free to rhyme or not, use imagery if you like, convey a message, or whatever interests you.

Here are a few of mine, written today:

Do you know the weight
Of all the dreams held within
A heart full of love?
A person cannot contain
All desires, but shares freely.

Where can you hide love
In a bottle, closet, chest?
No, impossible,
Love cannot be prisoner
It runs eternally free.

Where are you going?
Is there a destination?
Do you have a plan?
If you plot your daily course
You will more likely succeed.

Do not worry much
Over things you cannot control;
Set your heart instead,
On things, you will accomplish,
Relationships you treasure.

Please do not fret over these, they are incredibly easy to write. I believe anyone who approaches poetry with an open mind and makes a game of it can find joy in the practice. If you are a writer, this exercise should prime you for more extensive work. If you are an artist, you might find you would like to incorporate the verse into some other creation. Photographers might find something representative to picture with the tanka. You musicians are likely good at the spoken word and could make a recording.

All of it is up to you. Anything goes. I hope you had fun and I am so glad you visited Haphazard Creative. You can find a follow button to your right and feel free to share your creations in the comments. Take care.

Did you create, today?

JoAnnJordan_Conference Center_edited_monochrome

Something often overlooked by creatives, including myself, is that the more we exercise our creative impulse, the easier it becomes to continue.

If we are writers, we need to get some words in written form every day. Thinking about it is not enough, we need to work. It does not have to be 5,000 words, try 100. When doing it, we are allowed to write the most awful stuff ever. No one else has to see it. It is just letting the writer within know work must be done consistently. If it is done for some time, the writing improves, the length increases and projects can be completed. Almost all successful writers spend time writing daily. We can start with a minimum that suits us and add minutes until we find our upper limit.

If we are photographers, we should get our cameras in action each day. We do not have to travel to scenic spots. Take pictures of the kids, pets, yard, objects around the home, selfies, whatever catches the fancy. As I wrote in another post, we should evaluate what we see and work it to the most advantageous position we can. As with the writing, all the photos we take are not for public consumption, some are learning experiments. Editing is something we should also practice often. All editing programs require skill and familiarity to become adept. We cannot expect to be experts without trial and error.

If we are artists, at least doodling is required daily. We learn composition, shading, positioning, vanishing points, more stable lines, better collage, how to use found items to create effects, mixed media, modeling clay, sculpture, and we could fill the day with different art forms, but all require an investment of time for us to make a significant improvement. This does not have to be shown to a living soul. It is our own practice to make us what we want to be. If we do it a while doing art will become easier, and our skill will become legendary.

Even if we create something monstrously wrong, if we do the work improvement will occur eventually. It is hoped that this encourages and inspires you to make creativity part of every day.

Thank you for visiting Haphazard Creative and come back soon. There is a follow button, please use it. Comments are always welcome. Take care.