Tag Archives: Creativity

Something Good

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1. The moment of highest leverage from Seth Godin.

2. I Know I Need This Now Because I Don’t Have Time for It and Enough, wisdom from Marianne Elliott.

3. Do People Know They’re Alive? a beautiful post from Laurie Wagner, and a question worth considering.

4. This quote from Kate Courageous, “Safety is an illusion we invoke, in order to grasp onto another illusion–control,” and this one, “Control is just another expression of fear, after all.”

5. Poetry (the good news and the bad news):

As you unfold as an artist,
just keep on,
quietly and earnestly,
growing through all that happens to you.

You cannot disrupt the process more violently
than by looking outside yourself for answers
that may only be found by attending to your innermost feeling.
~Rainier Maria Rilke

6. Have I told you lately how much I adore Anne Lamott? She posted this on Facebook this week:

But what I believe, and what my moderately left–and right–wing Christian brothers and sisters believe, is that Jesus preached a gospel of radical sacrifice, of giving away everything we possibly can–our time, our money, our prayers–to the have-nots, the same old/same old suffering people of this world, widows and whole nations.

Let us go in peace then, to be people of goodness and service and sacrifice. I keep trying to do better, like most people do, but I don’t have a magic wand. I am learning as I go; and boy, am I humbled by my failings. And “humbled” is always a great place to start anything, from being a better parent, writer, mate; or still, after all these years, trying to save the world.

7. From Pema Chödrön, (who I also adore):

Abandon All Hope and Fear: Hope and fear is a feeling with two sides. As long as there’s one, there’s always the other. This is the root of our pain. In the world of hope and fear, we always have to change the channel, change the temperature, change the music, because something is getting uneasy, something is getting restless, something is beginning to hurt, and we keep looking for alternatives.

In a nontheistic state of mind, abandoning hope is an affirmation, the beginning of the beginning. You could even put “Abandon hope” on your refrigerator door instead of more conventional aspirations like “Every day in every way I’m getting better and better.”

8. He still doesn’t have a name, but boy oh boy is he cute, (by Allison Mae Photography–do yourself a favor and go to her site and see the rest of her pictures for a whopping dose of the super cutes).

9. “If you are always trying to be normal, you will never know how amazing you can be.” ~Maya Angelou

10. Photos of Children From Around the World With Their Most Prized Possessions. The two with just a single stuffed monkey are my favorites.

11. You will be called on to expand. And this is why we practice. a beautiful reminder from Danielle LaPorte.

12. 18 principles for highly creative living from Justine Musk.

13. Foster the Folk: Daria Marie & The purpose of plainness.

14. From SouleMama, baby chicks in teacups, because.

15. “Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.” ~Confucius, from The Daily Rock on 37 Days.

16. 40 Days of Deep Wisdom, another brilliant offering from Erica Staab, “a free eCourse designed to help you tap into your own inner wisdom.”

17. Shared on this week’s Positively Present’s Picks: Nine Creativity-Sparking Tips from Daring to Live Fully, How to Find Your Purpose on Think Simple Now, and 5 Easy Ways to be Nicer to Yourself on Pick the Brain.

18. Shared by Susannah on her Something for the Weekend list: How I keep my (natural) beauty routine sane on Simple Mom, Smitten Kitchen, Joy the Baker, Sprouted Kitchen, Super Snack Suggestions from Kate Skinner Nutrition, and this gloriously weird dude and his crystals,

19. How to Make a Major Life-Changing Shift from Stuck to Unstoppable, an interview with Bridget Pilloud on Below Zero to Hero.

20. Oh my, how I adore Zooey Deschanel.

20. What I Know About Fear Now That I’m In My 30s, by Margaret Wheeler Johnson on The Huffington Post.

21. Girl Rising Montage, a documentary with a powerful message–Want to see change? Educate a girl.

21. This explains so much for me, “Every time you don’t follow your inner guidance, you feel a loss of energy, loss of power, a sense of spiritual deadness.” ~Shakti Gawain

22. Find the Others, from Ze Frank.

23. This Dad’s Stamp Of Approval Might Be The Best Thing You See On The Internet All Day. My wish is that every kid has parents like this, is loved like this.

24. I Don’t Like You, but I Want You to Want Me. from Positively Positive.

25. This quote, shared in this post by Hannah Marcotti, “And if you feel free, you feel empowered. And every negative emotion that exists—hear this—every negative emotion that exists is because there is some sense of loss of freedom somewhere in there.” ~Abraham

26. Austerity and the Arts — and George W. Bush on Pop Matters, in which author Josh Indar says,

In the end, I decided that doing art during a recession is about the same as doing art during any other time. You have to believe in it, be open to it, trust it, do it. You have to embrace it as blindly and fervently as a spinning Sufi if you want to get anything out of it.

27. My Amazon bestseller made me nothing on Salon, (in case you are a writer and not depressed enough by the previous article).

But the truth is, there’s a reason most well-known writers still teach English. There’s a reason most authors drive dented cars. There’s a reason most writers have bad teeth. It’s not because we’ve chosen a life of poverty. It’s that poverty has chosen our profession… Even when there’s money in writing, there’s not much money.

28. Susan Orlean on Writing, on Brain Pickings, (in case you are a writer, and that doesn’t change no matter how depressing those past two articles were), in which she advises writers that,

  • You have to simply love writing, and you have to remind yourself often that you love it.
  • You should read as much as possible. That’s the best way to learn how to write.
  • You have to appreciate the spiritual component of having an opportunity to do something as wondrous as writing. You should be practical and smart and you should have a good agent and you should work really, really hard. But you should also be filled with awe and gratitude about this amazing way to be in the world.
  • Don’t be ashamed to use the thesaurus. I could spend all day reading Roget’s! There’s nothing better when you’re in a hurry and you need the right word right now.

29. First Grade Proverbs.

30. Have Faith That Slowing Down Will Be Good for You, on Tiny Buddha.

31. The Big, Scary Thing I Do Every Week, from Life in Z-D.

32. Living with Less. A Lot Less. on the New York Times.

33. Wisdom from Geneen Roth:

If you are waiting to be thin or thinner, to be happy, happiness will elude you no matter what you weigh. If you are waiting to really begin your life until you have success or a relationship or the perfect place to live, you won’t get that sought after joy.

What we want most, what we think we can only have if we meet certain conditions, is to inhabit our lives. To love our sweet lives. And if you believe you need to get “there” to enjoy “here”, the problem is that when you get there, “there” looks very much like “here.” Because wherever you are, you are always here, where you are.

The challenge is to pay attention here. To be alive here. To learn how to wake yourself up here. It’s a habit, this learning to be awake and alive because we are so used to distracting ourselves and deadening ourselves. And we carry this old belief that it’s impossible to do it any other way. But that’s not true. Anyone can learn this. There is so much goodness here, right here, in the middle of our messy imperfect lives, right in this very second, that it turns out that here is, after all, as good as there. (Which is not to say that your body wouldn’t be more comfortable at a different weight or that you wouldn’t feel a sense of satisfaction in success).

When we pay attention, there is nothing missing. It’s all here. And you don’t have to wait to get it, you don’t have to achieve anything to be in it. Will you allow yourself to have the messy imperfect life you have? Will you stop, even if it’s just for today, waiting for your life to begin and realize that it’s already begun?

34. Andrea Gibson: “Letter To A Playground Bully from Andrea (age 8).”

35. Exit 245 – Titanium (David Guetta feat. Sia) [Official Music Video]. I’m a total sucker for glee club music.

36. More good stuff from Brain Pickings: Sorted Books Revisited: Artist Nina Katchadourian’s Playfully Arranged Book Spine Sentences, and The Adverb Is Not Your Friend: Stephen King on Simplicity of Style.

37. From my Inner Pilot Light,

What do you mean it will never happen? How can you say you don’t deserve it? Why would you ever think such things? Let me clear things up, my darling. It will happen. You do deserve it. I was just making sure you really wanted it. Do you?

Yes, please.

38. This quote from Satya,

The trouble with making space is that it might mean you do have to go somewhere unpleasant. You might realise that you really don’t like your job, or that you feel lonely. You might have to admit that you haven’t a clue about what you’re doing. This is the most common reason for keeping our lives nicely filled up. We don’t want to risk falling down into the gap.

40. Desire: A Story, a beautiful post from Sunni on The Daily Breadcrumb.

41. Quote from Oriah Mountain Dreamer, shared on Facebook last week,

It seems fitting tonight to offer a nod to St. Patrick’s Day with a quote from my friend John O’Donohue: “Your soul knows the geography of your destiny. Your soul alone has the map of your future, therefore you can trust this indirect, oblique side of yourself. If you do, it will take you where you need to go, but more important it will teach you a kindness of rhythm in your journey,” from Anam Cara: A Book of Celtic Wisdom.

42. This quote from Rachel Naomi Remen, MD, “At the deepest level, the creative process and the healing process arise from a single source. When you are an artist, you are a healer; a wordless trust of the same mystery is the foundation of your work and its integrity.”

43. The Still Point of the Turning World, a beautiful reflection on a heartbreaking but beautiful book on A Design So Vast. I really want to read this book, even though I know it will wreck me. Lindsey shares a quote in her post from the book,

This is precisely why grief, like love and any other foundational, deceptively simple human emotion or state of being, is the terrain of artists. And it is a writer’s even more specific job to give voice to loss in whatever ways she can, to give shape to this unspeakable, impermeable reality beneath all other realities.

44. How to do less and live more, from Kris Carr, in which she says, “lately I’ve been wondering if we’re busier than we really need to be.”

45. I’m actually not that busy. a good reminder, a dare from Andrea Scher. I’m in!

Start Today

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There are two chalkboards hanging in the Lory Student Center at Colorado State University. They are based on the work of Candy Chang, a TED Fellow, urban planner, artist and designer. “It is the same concept as Chang’s other walls: a chalkboard with the repeated line Before I die, I want to… Anyone can walk up, grab a piece of chalk and write their hopes and dreams — serious or otherwise,” (Rocky Mountain Collegian).

At this point, the boards are kind of a big mess. People have written over the top of each other, and the boards haven’t been cleaned after being erased and smudged so there is a thick layer of chalk dust, which makes it difficult to read. There’s really no place to write anything new, to add a dream.

Candy’s story about why she created the original board is familiar, she lost someone she loved dearly, and it make her reflective, caused her to contemplate what she wanted out of her life. “Preparing for death is one of the most empowering things you can do. Thinking about death clarifies your life.”

Two of the most valuable things we have are time and our relationships with other people. In our age of increasing distractions, it’s more important than ever to find ways to maintain perspective, remember that life is brief and tender.

I have been contemplating this for the past four years, considering what I’m truly hungry for, what I want and what I have to offer, how I can ease suffering in myself and in the world. For me, this inquiry was also inspired by a loss, two actually. That grief, that radical shift in how things are, that direct and brutal encounter with impermanence reframed the way I see everything.

The harder part for me has been what do I DO now? I have worked hard to repair my relationship with myself, which was abusive and damaged, to love and care for myself so I can do good work from a place of sanity and strength. I have altered how I spend my time, who I spend it with. I have fully committed to practices that help me along my path. And yet, something still isn’t right.

The way I’ve lived and worked for so long clearly wasn’t working–allowing overwhelm, people pleasing, attempting perfection, denying and avoiding reality, smashing myself to bits, thinking I had to earn permission to do what I loved, that I had to prove that I was worthy of love. And yet, when I began to focus on my heart’s work, I found that I had brought some of those same habits, those ways of being along with me.

Recently I’ve been considering what I really want, how I want to feel, what I want my experience to be like. I’m aware that while I want to be connected, to help and be involved, to be accessible, I want a small, simple, quiet life. I have ambitions, but my deepest longing is for freedom, stillness, space, ease, clarity, surrender. I want to live deep in my heart, while keeping it open to the world.

Yesterday, I watched this interview with Susan Piver, part of the Tea Talks series with Jesse Jacobs, founder of Samovar Tea Lounge in San Francisco.

As she always does, Susan said some things that I haven’t been able to stop thinking about, that make so much sense, that are so applicable to the shift I am making. At one point in the interview (around 26 minutes), Jesse asks Susan if she has any advice for people who want to do what they love, strike out on their own, and she replies:

“Start today.”

“How?”

“By doing one small thing, whatever it is… It has to be an action, not something you think about, and not trying to change yourself, not trying to become different, not thinking ‘positive thoughts’ or attracting things–none of that. Just do something.”

One small thing. That’s it. Just start. Stop thinking about it, stop wishing for it and start. Embody your intention, follow your instincts. Susan explains a bit later in the interview that the most important thing she learned from her days driving a cab, being Chapter Leader of the Boston Guardian Angels at only 19 (seriously people, she’s a rock star, superhero), was to “Trust your instincts.” She explains how you do so this way:

You can’t learn to uncover your instincts and then act on them. It’s through actions that you uncover your instincts, so it’s going towards what attracts you, starting to work with it and see what happens. And then following that impulse, and that impulse, and that impulse.

I hear this, have found this to be true. This is how it’s been for me. There hasn’t been a clear master plan, a practical or even rational series of steps, no program or method I could follow entirely. I simply had to show up with an open heart and allow what happened, surrender to my longing. And that can be incredibly frustrating. So many times I beg, bargain with the Universe, “I just want to know where this is headed, what’s going to happen, how this will turn out, if I’m doing the right thing.” Instead, I end up having to trust in things I can’t see, believe in things I can’t know for sure or prove, be patient and curious, present.

Near the very end of the interview, Susan shares the most important thing.

The only advice I could possibly give would be please relax, please relax, and observe the world around you, observe your own impulses, and soon you will start to observe how those things are constantly colliding and intersecting, and they will instruct you on how to build your life… if you are attracted to a more adventurous life, a more creative life, you have to slow down.

I have found it to be true, at least for me, that even when you are moving too fast and making too much noise to hear the message the Universe is trying to send you, it will find you, it will find a way in. For me, it’s often something I encounter online, in the thick of complete distraction and overwhelm a space opens up, a clear voice speaks, and I am touched. First it was Candy’s chalkboard. Yesterday, it was Susan Piver. This morning it was Christina Rosalie, one of my favorite writers, bloggers, artists.

Recently Christina’s been blogging about productivity, the creative process and doing less, and it’s been exactly what I’ve needed to hear. In her post today, How to Find Your True Velocity: Do Less to Achieve More, she said, “Yet we also know somewhere in our heart of hearts, that doing more isn’t the answer. Doing less is.” As I told her, when I read this, it touched a place so tender, my hand flew to my mouth to trap the sob, tears stung my eyes. I read it over and over, “we know somewhere in our heart of hearts,” letting it sink in, sinking into that deep knowing that is already there, waiting to be heard.

In a response to my comment, Christina said “I’ve heard you mentioning this longing, this desire for a smaller, simple life Jill. What would that look like, tangibly? What needs to shift?” So today, my one small thing is to answer that question, to consider what I want to do, how I want to be, to make one small shift, and to “remember that life is brief and tender.”

P.S. My answer to Christina’s questions:

Say no when I mean no.
Don’t apologize for or be afraid of who I am.
Slow down.
Be present.
Show up and keep my heart open, allowing what is, surrendering to reality.
Do one small thing at a time, giving it my full attention.
Let go of needing external validation or permission.
Instead of “please love me,” “I love you.”
Deep breaths.
Quiet, space, clarity.
A tender heart.
Let go of my agenda, judgment, control.
Invite ease, eat whole food, get lots of rest.