From William Blake:
He who binds to himself a joy
Doth the winged life destroy.
He who kisses the joy as it flies,
Lives in eternity’s sunrise.
Creativity and wellness message for today: Read the above poem and repeat.
French writer, poet, and pioneering aviator, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, is popping up all over the place in my life right now. Recently I read The Little Prince (again) and loved the sweet, sad, and hopeful story. The author’s humble illustrations also remind me that when you draw from the heart, your images are true, and can last the test of time.
Just now, while ordering gifts online, this quote in a literary catalog, jumped out.
“It is always in the midst, in the epicenter, of your troubles that you find serenity.” -Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
I remember some of my past experiences when that statement was spot-on, accurate, and true. I think Santa just gave me my Christmas gift to last the whole year through.
Creativity and wellness message for today: Allow your heart to show you where to find peace.
Recently I entered two paintings in a local art show. Mind you, I hadn’t submitted work to an exhibit in two years. Life just got in the way. Concentrating on choosing the right framed watercolors from my studio (a clean corner of the basement), I felt my excitement mounting at the thought of showing my work again. I used to eat, sleep, and breathe art before I got a real life. Yet, every time I step back in the stream of art my pulse quickens. I’m in my element again.
The art opening was glorious, and I was thrilled when one of my watercolors sold. Validation! Joy! Connection! All those feelings mixed together into a cocktail of delight. I was still on a creative high, when one month after the show ended a second watercolor sold. Sometimes it’s the smallest thing that turns into the greatest gift. The first gift of connection between artist and collector was wonderful then to have a second one follow was the tastiest icing on the cake.
Creativity and wellness message for today: Accept the gifts of recognition in honor of your creative expression, let them fill your heart.
At the end of my morning excercise routine I heard a little voice inside me say, “That was easy.” Smiling I realised, it was! Being on a budget currently prohibits my membership at the local Y. I miss swimming, the meditative and repetitive laps, wetness of the water enveloping my whole body, silence when I dive like a whale, hold my breath and swim very deep. What I have instead is “Mama’s Budget Stair Master and Weights.”
I live in a two-story house and being a creative-minded soul I devised a workout of going up and down the stairs and on each floor lifting hand weights as I traverse that level. I set the kitchen timer on the stove, crank up the volume on my library books on CD, and set off. It really is easy. This routine tucks nicely into my available time before work and it is right on budget.
Years ago in art school a professor commented that my rough sketches held more emotion than my finished drawings. He was right. The immediacy of my initial concept conveyed more authenticity then the ones I labored over. I’m reminded of his wise words this morning. My excerise routine came to me in a flash of inspiration. I didn’t edit or belabor it. I didn’t try to make it better.
Creativty and wellness message for today: Easy does it, let your answer to today’s problem be the one that pops up first.
“The self — that artificial construct that separates us from others — cannot sustain itself in the prolonged absence of conflict or strife. It needs other people and situations with which it can be in opposition, because to be in opposition to something strengthens our sense of self.” Eckhart Tolle
Creativity and wellness message for today: Use adversarial energies to exercise the muscles of balance.
It’s that time of year, when I see winter’s harsh reality on bare branches one day and dogwood blossoms plumping out the next. Lime green leaves poke at odd angles from dry, yellow spindly stalks of hydrangea.
I’m reminded of human nature too. Until today I forgot the beauty of the between place, that point when the old still exits, the new not yet formed. So often we focus on completion, now nature reminds me to be steady with the process.
Creativity and wellness message for today: Claim patience, let yourself grow and evolve at a natural rate.
In this process we call life, not everyday is rosy. Sometimes, like today for me, you just have to slog through and do the best you can. This quote by Frederick Buechner so poignantly names the feeling I am having today.
“The room is quiet. You’re not feeling tired enough to sleep or energetic enough to go out. For the moment there is nowhere else you would rather go, no one else you’d rather be. You feel at home in your body. You feel at peace in your mind. For no particular reason you close your eyes. Sometimes it is only when you happen to taste a crumb of it that you dimly realize what it is that you’re so hungry for you can hardly bear it.”
Creativity and wellness message for today: Name the feeling you are having, it’s important to not shy away from it. Sometimes naming comes from a poem or quote and the feeling cracks open and light comes in.
Up early, much to do . . .
Professional rewards abound . . .
I’m grateful . . .
and seeking simplicity too.
Creativity and wellness message for today: Accept the bounty of what is and where you can simplify, simplify, simplify.
On this cold, icy winter day I’m thinking about how my mind works. Over the years of being a creative thinker, I’ve learned that it is usually my first thought that is my best thought. Experience has proven this for three reasons:
1. There are no edits yet when a first thought bubbles up to the surface of my conscious mind.
2. That first thought (even if it is “off-base” or silly) can free up my brain enough to lead me to my next thought.
3. Action steps I may take on my very first thought often times lead me to my very best thoughts.
I’ve helped support myself and my family on my creative ideas for decades, I’ve learned to trust my first thoughts and to let them lead me to where I am going.
Creativity and wellness message for today: Allow your first creative thought to lead you to the next.
Today is cold and blustery, the autumn leaves danced and crackled around me on my before-work walk. Keeping up my pace I changed my normal route to allow for passing a mailbox. Like in playing cards when the dealer shuffles the deck, that is what this morning feels like. I am doing everything I usually do, from personal to professional responsibilities but the order of my day is slightly different. The mix has changed and I like it. A buoyancy of sustained energy is keeping me going. I had no intention of writing this blog today and yet while I walked it wrote itself.
Creativity and wellness message for today: Allow for a different arrangement to your day and see what creative spark ignites.