A musician must make music, an artist must paint, a poet must write, if he is to be ultimately at peace with himself. What one can be, one must be. ~Abraham Maslow
Creativity and wellness message for today: Be who you are.
Today I’m thinking about the regal white heron. If you live near the water you have witnessed the majestic and stately grace of the heron waiting patiently at low tide, watching in the stillness for its breakfast to swim by. No ripple appears around the heron’s legs, it seems immobile. When the right fish ventures too close the heron rapidly thrusts its beak into the shallow water without hesitation and immediately snatches up its meal.
In today’s world of power marketing and social media we are bombarded with what I call the “all about me” mentality. I’m shifting my focus and learning from the great white heron. It draws no attention to itself, as it stands, stock still keenly observing. Its sustenance comes to it, not the other way around.
As an artist and writer I am guilty of the “See Me!” method of promoting my work for the return of dinner on my family’s table. Currently I heed the great white heron’s wise counsel. I am standing still.
Creativity and wellness message for today: Be patient, silently observe, then strike with precision at just the right moment.
Hello everyone, I’m back to writing my creativity and wellness blog, after enjoying a break from it this summer. If you are a regular subscriber to this blog, welcome back! If you are reading it for the first time, I hope you find something you like and visit again. In once-a-weekish short essays I’ll share inspiring quotes, messages, and revelations geared to enrich your thinking and sometimes soothe your soul.
After having a busy summer, filled with deadline-oriented professional responsibilities and a truckload of personal ones, I’m getting my feet planted in this new season. I was reminded over the weekend how easy it is to slip back into old habits, ones that aren’t good for me. My vulnerability is going into an emotional place that I call the wounded victim. It’s that place in which I consider my glass half empty instead of half full. It’s an old familiar place of discomfort and I see that I have more work to do digging myself out of my own pit. Writing this blog entry actually helped me clarify my thoughts and in turn my spirit lifted.
If you find yourself in an old habit that doesn’t serve you, use the metaphor of going back to school as your guide. Start again changing your frame of mind or commit to applying paint brush to canvas, or hands to wet clay. Pick up your unfinished manuscript and start where you left off.
Creativity and wellness message for today: Just like an artist with a sketch pad full of empty pages, let yourself create a new sketch.
“When you were born, you cried and the world rejoiced. Live your life so that when you die, the world cries and you rejoice.” -White Elk
Creativity and wellness message for today: Take inspiration from how you want your story to end. Then work in reverse to make it happen.
* Up early today (as usual)
* Helping others get out the door (as usual)
* Forfeited my morning walk (too wet and cold)
* Was productive in my home office by 8AM. Finished my preparations for the dreamwork program I’m giving tomorrow, wrote my blog entry for Fairfield Writer’s Blog and completed a week’s worth of work, all before I leave to go to my job. Is anyone else exhausted reading this? Then a loved one calls and tells me about his grueling day at work and I hear the phrase “Things Ain’t Perfect.” Somehow those three words soothe my fraying nerves.
Creativity and wellness message for today: Owning the truth can set you free. Without judgement, the simple acknowledgement of a fact is empowering.
It’s snowy here in New England. A good day for reflection and to work on an essay for an upcoming publication. As Jack London said, “You can’t wait for inspiration, you have to go after it with a club.” This is how I feel writing for the publication’s deadline. Over several weeks I’ve written three totally different personal essays on the journal’s theme: Seasons and Cycles of Our Spiritual Lives. While each essay had merit, none of them rang my chimes.
My personal and professional barometer is a visceral reaction: Does the piece make me feel alive? Inspired? Do I walk away from it with a bounce in my step? If not, I probably need to re-work, re-write or create a completely a new piece. Today I wrote an entirely new essay and I am leaving my writing desk grinning. I am reminded that creativity is an act of constant invention.
Creativity and wellness message: Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself. ~George Bernard Shaw
When I was kid I attended a speech by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. During the evening event, crammed into a small suburban school auditorium, with standing room only, I had no idea who I was listening to. My parents brought me, we were in the balcony, and what I remember is being hot and tired. There were no other children, and I couldn’t even see the speaker.
Yet, there was a palpable energy in the room that I felt. I sensed that something important was happening. My antennae picked up a greatness about the event and the speaker. The vibe in the air was as charged as an electrical storm; it was potent and exciting. Only decades later did I learn the impact of the man and his importance on earth.
Creativity and wellness message for today: “The quality, not the longevity, of one’s life is what is important.” – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
After a night of torrential rain, the sun is now shining outside my office window. I’m feeling warm inside too. This season of gratitude and plenty makes me smile. Yet during this time of the year, we often over-do, on just about everything. My thoughts for you today are simple, stay true to your own energy. Stage some time to replenish your Self.
Wishing you and yours a Thanksgiving filled with good connections, and of course the feast of your choice.
Creativity and wellness message for today: Balance.
Today is election day here in my hometown. Did everyone vote? I’ve been spending the day catching up on office work, squaring away my 2010 speaking schedule, updating member lists for the writing critique group that I lead, basically tieing up professional loose ends. We all need days like today, to get the little stuff done. While my fingers have feverishly roamed the keyboard, I’ve been thinking about attitude.
As I listen to my computer’s hard drive rattle and the distant roll of cars on the street, I envision the fabulous people I know, who have attitude. Attitude comes in the form of self-confidence and esteem. I have been lucky to know people who exude pride in themselves. Others may think they are too old, too young, too fat, too thin, too funny, not funny enough, too, too, too. Those judgements never effect the joy of life that oozes out of their pores. Those people, who delight in being their authentic selves, are my mentors.
Creativity and wellness message for today: Radiate your own definition of wellness. Wellness is the free-flowing state of your mind, body and spirit. Let your own posture of creativity glow. Only you can define who you are . . . exude attitude!