Until I die, I must live an inspired life.
I love to be inspired. I love to be inspiring.
That’s why I write this blog.
That’s why I read, write, speak, act, sing, dance…it’s all because there’s more to life than going to work, eating, sleeping and then repeating it all forever.
To be inspiring, we must be inspired.
Some wonderful, inspiring people who’ve given me fuel for my creative projects are my friends Susanne and Jason Mundok. Continue reading “Inspiring People”
My wife and I were watching Jerry Seinfeld’s new webisode series “Comedians in Cars Drinking Coffee.”
You should probalby stop reading this post right now and go watch it.
Go ahead.
(pause)
OK, fun right?
In this episode, Michael Richards (Kramer) and Jerry talk about the creative process of making “Seinfeld”. I transcribed this rich dialog from the video. Continue reading “Seinfeld and Kramer on The Creative Process”
We all love mistakes.
Right? Well, maybe we don’t love them, but I certainly do.
Mistakes are sometimes costly and often embarrassing. Which is why I love them.
I love mistakes. I’ll proudly say that I’ve been known to watch the blooper reel of DVD’s before even watching the movie. Mistakes bring joy.
I love mistakes. I bragged about some of my recent ones in this post. Mistakes humanize us.
I love mistakes. Mistakes are a pathway to growth.
But there’s one mistake none of us can afford to make.
It has nothing to do with money and nothing to do with humiliation.
So what is it?
I had a brilliant idea for a blog post. For this blog post actually. It was an idea that had a nice edge to it, an engaging hook in it and a wonderful overall feel.
Only trouble is… I can’t remember the elusive idea.
Ideation, the process of forming ideas, happens when we create an environment for idea generation.
So what is an environment for ideation to naturally happen? Think about your last energizing idea. It probably happened when you were doing something like…
-Taking a shower.
-Washing the dishes.
-Driving your car.
-Doing gardening work.
-Taking a walk or working out.
Why do ideas seem to come to us during those times? It’s simple: because we aren’t looking for them. Continue reading “The Elusive Idea”
I close my eyes–suddenly I hear.
I close my eyes–my lungs fill with autumn.
I close my eyes–I feel… grateful.
I open my arms–others fill them.
I open my arms–instant abundance.
I open my arms–I feel… thankful. Continue reading “The Gooey Molasses of Peace”
Someone needs what only you can create…
[box options]Need a creativity boost? I’ll be joining four other speakers at Creativity CON 2012 in Lancaster, PA October 20, 2012. I’m so excited to talk about the three stage process of creativity and sustainability in my “Create, Sustain, Grow” chat! Click here for conference details to get early-bird pricing before October.[/box]
The best food.
The best technology.
The best movie, book, play…you name it.
But isn’t ‘the best’ subjective? Sometimes I have to slow myself down and ask why do I believe this is the best?
The concusion I came to…
[box options]Today’s post is a guest post by Amber Kane. Amber holds a Masters of Arts from Union Institute and University of Vermont, crafts amazing scarves/necklaces and writes about it all on her blog. Enjoy![/box]
You’re creative, which means that you might have trouble saying yes and saying no at the right time. 
I’m not here to say that helping a friend out is a bad thing, or that you shouldn’t donate your work to a charity that you believe in, but most creative people find themselves saying yes so often to the small things that they don’t feed their own creative journey.
Then they lose their way. Continue reading “When Saying Yes to Others, Means Saying No to Yourself”
The sculptor starts with a mountain of stone. He chisels away and discards much of the rock to reveal the statue within the stone. He must cut and abandon parts of the stone first.
The editor starts with a manuscript. She slashes words from the novel to focus the reader on the essentials of the story. She must release words to make other words more potent.
The clothing designer starts with multiple yards of fabric. He reduces the fabric to smaller shapes and patterns to uncover clothing worthy of a runway. He must reject parts of the fabric to create stunning and original design.
Creativity is revealed.
Art is found within the medium.
Ideas are released during the process. Continue reading “Revealing Your Creativity: Cut, Discard, Reject”
As artists, we may have limiting beliefs that sabotage our success.
The challenge: we don’t always know we’ve adopted limiting beliefs unless we allow ourselves to be influenced by a creative community.
Have you ever said:
Perfectionists don’t often believe they’re perfectionists.
The belief that we (or our work) must be perfect always holds our creativity captive. Continue reading “Two Limiting Beliefs Killing Your Creativity”
