Creative Encouragement

I would tell you the creative gig is not for everyone, but I would be lying, and I make no habit of it.

Creativity is the birthright of every person. We cannot engage fully with life and love unless we are actively creative. This means using our minds as imagination engines. Applying knowledge in innovative ways in all spheres of living.

It is important to note that “liberal arts” are not the exclusive domain of creation. Almost every aspect of working, parenting, relationship, home-making, teaching, communication, recreation, planning, cooking, mechanics, and the list continues, is under the direct influence of our creativity.

The more we recognize and incorporate our creative genius in all our ways, every day, the happier and more fully realized our lives become.

Some ways to assimilate creativity in daily living: write by hand, read extensively, study situations and tasks seeking new more efficient ways of dealing with them, making room for fun in our lives, listening to music, singing, playing instruments, spend time with children or read to them, draw, color, practice an art or craft, encourage others, build something, attend exhibits, help others, pick any of these or make up your own.

Please do not neglect your creativity. Your abilities, gifts, skills, and talent are unique. Part of your purpose is using them. You are the only one who can bring your remarkable blend of brilliance to the world. People need every individual striving to add creativity, love, and value to living each day.

Prompt: Pick up a book or magazine. Turn randomly and pick a sentence. Either use the sentence or a word it contains to spark your thoughts. After consideration and allowing your imagination free reign, create something, or let it inspire you to act in your environment.

I encourage you to journal or at least keep a datebook with notes on your activities. A review of these can often facilitate insight into our lives otherwise missing.

We survived February, you and I. I hope that you accomplished more than you expected and enjoyed life as thoroughly as possible. It has been a whirlwind here. Of course, as the new month comes, all the regular suspects make their appearance. Bills, you know, bills. Paying bills though it may be a hassle, shows we are alive and that we are making a way in the world. Having money to meet our obligations is a blessing.

I hope you find special graces in the coming month and can achieve that you most desire.

Recent Reading

The Binder of Lost Stories by Cristina Caboni is available through Kindle Unlimited. The book is 261 pages, but it reads quickly. Threads from the present and past are expertly woven in this tale of book romance. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and highly recommend it. Were ten on the rating scale, it would easily earn it, as is it is a glorious five.

The Whisper Man by Alex North was read on Kindle and is 350 pages of consummate storytelling with spellbinding horror. Children are our future, but no future should be like this. It reads quickly because the writing is exquisite, but it might chill your blood to the bone. Excellently told, another I would award a ten, but our scales like to end at five, so be it.

The Hellfire Club by Jake Tapper is one of those Kindle books I was not quite prepared for and was taken out beyond the breakers. It came in at 344 pages, but it is so much more than that indicates. You may be aware I shy from politics, this book goes right to the heart of the beast, and what we do not know, well, it is revealing. It is a reasonably fast read, but the taste will stay with you a while. Another one which should be a ten, but it is a racy five.

The Killing Fog by Jeff Wheeler is a First Read on Kindle this month coming in at 404 pages. I think had I realized it fell into YA, I might have taken a pass. That said, the story is enchanting and heroic, classic good against evil. Swords, magic, dragons, villains, a female protagonist. It gets a five.

You may find I often rate fives, the reason being I almost always pick books I know I will enjoy. When purchased books disappoint me, I am usually surprised.

I seem to be on a Kindle kick. I read faster on a device. It is probably because I do my steps while reading, and the screen is illuminated, whereas the shadows affect my vision when I read hardcovers.

Whatever you do, read. It helps a person in so many ways. Also, instill the love of reading in everyone you can.

Apologies To Allen et al.

You sudden, wake up,
To find the world is not all
Things you had in mind,
But still, life beckons much like
A closeted skeleton,
Reminding you, “Time
Waits For No One,” exacting
Its toll on bodies,
Minds, the frolics of each day
Fading quickly now away.
You hear a whisper,
“I Can’t Get No Satisfaction,”
While the tears run down
Your face without any trace
Of the deeds, you are obliged
To do in your hurry
To become who you will be
In the darn, “Who’s Who”
Directory, which you have
Always wished to discover
Some method, madness,
To propel yourself to fame
Which is not tinted
By the same “True Colors,” as
Everyone who makes
Good the journey, slowly begun,
In the paltry neighborhood
Where we each were born
With not one shiny penny
To launch us into
The stratosphere, you will know
Of which I mention because
The tarry residue clings
To the racy wardrobe amassed
Along the way to the present
From the seconds of yesterday.
You shout, “Failure is not an option,”
While looking over your shoulder
To see hungry wolves clawing
Their way minute by minute
Through the balsa door erected
In haste to shelter your dreams
From the awful extremes of envy,
The monster that turns friends
Against friends and makes lovers
Into the direst of enemies.
You are reminded never
To settle for less than the best,
While begging an agent to take
Chances on a story you could
Hardly tell because of impressions
Which impelled you to recognize
You sold your creativity
Off to a lower bidder without
Believing you had “The Right Stuff”
And “The Matrix” could not come
Together in “The Field of Dreams”
For we are all just prisoners here
Captured by the devices that
Will not allow us to enter paradise.
Still, now, do not succumb
To that black-feathered bird
Whispering above the door,
“Nevermore,” for it has no idea
The greatness lying awakened
Within the love-lorn heart beating
Tell-tale inside of you
For you sail with the angels
Across an endless sea into
Whatsoever, however, whenever
Will come to be your slice
Of “Supernatural” reality.
At last, there is no peace
In which to rest, because
Debtors have no recourse
But to pay, and pay again
And so must go on writing
Even ever and evermore.

Sometimes I play, like the child I once was, left alone for a moment on a snowy day, when nothing could longer destroy who I believed I might be, given an opportunity.

Magic

Recipe for Creating More

This is not meant to be definitive. The hope is to present some ideas. There is some background to draw upon.

As much as possible, put your internal critic in the dungeon, a nice one if you like. You can liberate the rascal when you begin to edit, and absence makes the findings sharper.
If you are stuck, do something else; a different style, media, genre, voice.
Do Morning Pages as instructed by Julia Cameron in The Artist’s Way.
Use a different method; notebooks and a variety of pens, computer, tablet, phone; acrylics, oils, watercolors, pencil, colored pencil, pen & ink, canvas, paper, wood, sculpture; color, monochrome, macro, zoom, panorama, varied lenses, day, night, indoor, outdoor.
Take a break and read something inspiring, or if you are more audio-visual, watch some how-to’s on YouTube or find some podcasts. Use music when you can, it can ease tension and promote imagination.
Work in a different location: Go to a cafe or restaurant, a picnic table in a park, a bench or table in a high traffic shopping center, a library, a ball game, a parade.
Give yourself permission to be an amateur. Everything does not have to be perfect. Even if something you do does not get glowing praise, it was an experiment in which you gain knowledge. There is no such thing as perfection. What you do at the moment is perfect in that it is an expression of yourself and was done courageously by you. Work, and in time you shall gain mastery.

This is brought to you by my son, Alex, saying he was having a hard time working on his novel. I thought it might be a topic worth my exploring since I consider myself a creativity expert.