A Poem to Inspire
July 8th, 2010, 15 Comments
In Blackwater Woods
are turning
their own bodies
into pillars
are giving off the rich
fragrance of cinnamon
and fulfillment,
of cattails
are bursting and floating away over
the blue shoulders
and every pond,
no matter what its
name is, is
Every year
everything
I have ever learned
leads back to this: the fires
and the black river of loss
whose other side
whose meaning
none of us will ever know.
To live in this world
to do three things:
to love what is mortal;
to hold it
your own life depends on it;
and, when the time comes to let it go,
to let it go.
Creative Every Day Check-In: July 5 – 11
July 5th, 2010, 28 Comments
This weekly check-in post is a place for Creative Every Day Challenge participants to share their creative activities.
Join in the Challenge: You can sign up for the 2010 Creative Every Day Challenge anytime! Find out more and fill out the sign-up form here to join in!
Ways to share: Once you've signed up, you can leave a comment on this post and/or use the "Mr. Linky" widget below to link to a blog post(s) about your creative activities during the days of 7/5/10 - 7/11/10.
The widget below is an optional method of sharing your creativity that makes it easier for others to check out what you're up to. You can use it to link to a blog post (or posts) or flickr image during the week listed. Or if you have a bunch of posts and don't want to link to all of them, you can link to your main blog page once. Do it in a way that makes sense and is fun for you! If you're unsure about how to use the widget, check out the "How to use the Mr. Linky widget" section on the Creative Every Day Challenge page. (If you're reading this in a RSS reader or email subscription, you will not see the "Mr. Linky widget", so click on over to the blog to use it.) If the Mr. Linky widget is missing from this blog post, it's probably a problem with their server and it will come back as soon as it's fixed. You can always leave your link in the comments.
You can also take advantage of the great CED flickr group to post your images and see what others are up to. If you're on Twitter, there's a growing Twitter list of CED participants and you can use the hashtag #CED2010 to help others find your Creative Every Day tweets!
Theme: The (totally optional) theme for July's theme is Life. I'll be posting about the theme throughout the month and you can feel free to use it to inspire your creations, follow your own muse, or do some combination. You can find out more about this month's theme and some prompts to get you started with June's theme here.
Happy Creating!
To live is so startling it leaves little time for anything else. ~Emily Dickinson
Life Goes On
July 2nd, 2010, 11 Comments
Happy July, everyone! I've been feeling a little shadowy lately, hence the picture above. But I'm also in motion. I've been jogging my little heart out (the picture was taken after one of these jaunts) and it's really helped the healing along. Bit by bit.
I'd been making attempts at drawing and painting last month, but truth be told, my heart just wasn't in it. So I opted to let it rest for awhile until I felt the urge to return. On Wednesday night, I was speaking with some friends on the phone and I started to doodle and draw. Oh, sweet relief! I hadn't even been doodling lately and that's my old stand-by, so it felt so good to want to draw. The drawing and doodling continued yesterday and today I plan to continue to gently return to playing with my art supplies and just enjoying the process.
It's a new thing for me, I think. Really processing something painful instead of just stuffing it away. It's longer and slower than I might like it to be, but I believe in the long run, it is healthier and smarter to feel what I'm feeling. I'm not wallowing, I'm still finding the brightness and joy in the little stuff, but I'm also allowing myself to feel sad if I feel sad. Sadness seems to move through much quicker when I don't try to push it away. And that's how I'll continue to live my life this month. How about you? Are you adept at accepting the shadowy parts of your life?
Links to make you smile
June 29th, 2010, 11 Comments
I love a good laugh and this month of bliss has made me note where my laughter is coming from. I find it in the ridiculously cute antics of my cats (like this oldie, but goodie above, of two of our kitties, Tabs and Sadie, being very bad on top of the kitchen cabinets in our old apartment), the fun photobooth session I had with the hubster that had me laughing so hard, I nearly peed my pants, and in the funny pictures and websites I spot online. So here are a few links (some funny, some interesting, some just because) that I thought might make you smile. Enjoy!
*Catalog Living is a new to me site that totally cracks me up. I had a good laugh when I read this one.
*I've known about Cake Wrecks for awhile now, but it's always good for a giggle, as is one of my favorites, I Can Has Cheezburger.
*Andrea of ABCcreativity is offering a free Creativity 101 e-course, which you can sign up for here.
*For my fellow Harry Potter fans, The Deathly Hallows trailer is out and it looks awesome!! So excited!
*Lastly, I received an email this week from Liz Miller, who runs the Hope Notes project, which "invites anyone to create a card, write in a card, or simply donate a card that will be given to a client at Helpmate, a domestic violence agency serving Asheville, NC. The goal is to give each incoming client to the shelter and new support group members a card, a "Hope Note" that is empowering, encouraging and positive to keep them feeling supported and thought of while they transition."
The cards will be on display at a fundraising benefit on July 15th, and attendees will be invited to write their own hope notes. You can learn more about the project here.
To participate, simply mail your cards to:
The Hope Note Project
PO Box 2263
Asheville, NC 28802
I'll be mailing in some cards and I hope you will too. What a beautiful idea!
Do you have any sites, links, songs, or videos that make you smile? Feel free to share in the comments!
Creative Every Day Check-In: June 28 – July 4
June 28th, 2010, 23 Comments
This weekly check-in post is a place for Creative Every Day Challenge participants to share their creative activities.
Join in the Challenge: You can sign up for the 2010 Creative Every Day Challenge anytime! Find out more and fill out the sign-up form here to join in!
Ways to share: Once you've signed up, you can leave a comment on this post and/or use the "Mr. Linky" widget below to link to a blog post(s) about your creative activities during the days of 6/28/10 - 7/4/10.
The widget below is an optional method of sharing your creativity that makes it easier for others to check out what you're up to. You can use it to link to a blog post (or posts) or flickr image during the week listed. Or if you have a bunch of posts and don't want to link to all of them, you can link to your main blog page once. Do it in a way that makes sense and is fun for you! If you're unsure about how to use the widget, check out the "How to use the Mr. Linky widget" section on the Creative Every Day Challenge page. (If you're reading this in a RSS reader or email subscription, you will not see the "Mr. Linky widget", so click on over to the blog to use it.) If the Mr. Linky widget is missing from this blog post, it's probably a problem with their server and it will come back as soon as it's fixed. You can always leave your link in the comments.
You can also take advantage of the great CED flickr group to post your images and see what others are up to. If you're on Twitter, there's a growing Twitter list of CED participants and you can use the hashtag #CED2010 to help others find your Creative Every Day tweets!
Theme: The (totally optional) theme for June's theme is Bliss. I'll be posting about the theme throughout the month and you can feel free to use it to inspire your creations, follow your own muse, or do some combination. You can find out more about this month's theme and some prompts to get you started with June's theme here. The theme for July will be Life, which you read more about here.
Happy Creating!
The way to find out about your happiness is to keep your mind on those moments when you really are happy -- not excited, not just thrilled, but deeply happy. ~Joseph Campbell
Creative Every Day Theme for July: Life
June 27th, 2010, 14 Comments
I apologize for being missing in action this month, everyone! I've been taking some time to rest and heal and I'm still on that path. However, I'm ready to return and am excited to share this month's theme!
At the end of each month I will announce the totally optional theme for the following month. July 2010's theme will be: Life. As always, this month's theme for the Creative Every Day Challenge is totally optional. Use it if it sparks you, continue being creative every day in your own way if it doesn't, or do something in between.
I'm thinking of this theme in terms of exploring life in creative ways, writing about it, making art inspired by it, and noticing the life in your everyday world. There are endless ways you can play with the theme and I'm open to any interpretation.
I'll be posting about the theme throughout the month on the blog to help keep you inspired. You can use the posts here for jumping off points or interpret the theme in your own creative way. If you need some suggestions, here are a few ideas to get you started. You could:
- *Write about your life, autobiography style.
- *Notice the life that surrounds you and make art inspired by it.
- *Create collages that explore the cycle of life, death, and rebirth.
- *Make art that explores your life's history.
- *Pay attention to how it feels to be alive. What does this inspire you to create?
- *Spend some time in nature, sketching or writing about the life around you.
- *Use plants or flowers you find in nature to make prints with.
- *Breathe some life into your space. Maybe a plant, a bouquet of flowers, a splash of color?
- *Paint your favorite creatures.
- *Draw portraits of the beings (human or animal that live in your space.)
How to use the CED themes:
If you're feeling creatively stuck or blocked at any point during the month, use the theme as a source of inspiration to get you moving. Feel free to focus on the theme in your creative activities for the entire month or as much as you'd like.
Using the theme is entirely optional for CED participants. Use it if it inspires you, ignore it if it doesn't. I'll be sharing posts throughout the month around the theme (among other things) to get you thinking about how to incorporate it into your life. I'd love to hear how you use the theme in your creative world.
And have fun with it!
Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life? ~Mary Oliver
p.s. The art above is adapted from "One Rabbit Night" which is available as the original and prints here.
Creative Every Day Check-In: June 21 – 27
June 21st, 2010, 33 Comments
This weekly check-in post is a place for Creative Every Day Challenge participants to share their creative activities.
Join in the Challenge: You can sign up for the 2010 Creative Every Day Challenge anytime! Find out more and fill out the sign-up form here to join in!
Ways to share: Once you've signed up, you can leave a comment on this post and/or use the "Mr. Linky" widget below to link to a blog post(s) about your creative activities during the days of 6/21/10 - 6/27/10.
The widget below is an optional method of sharing your creativity that makes it easier for others to check out what you're up to. You can use it to link to a blog post (or posts) or flickr image during the week listed. Or if you have a bunch of posts and don't want to link to all of them, you can link to your main blog page once. Do it in a way that makes sense and is fun for you! If you're unsure about how to use the widget, check out the "How to use the Mr. Linky widget" section on the Creative Every Day Challenge page. (If you're reading this in a RSS reader or email subscription, you will not see the "Mr. Linky widget", so click on over to the blog to use it.) If the Mr. Linky widget is missing from this blog post, it's probably a problem with their server and it will come back as soon as it's fixed. You can always leave your link in the comments.
You can also take advantage of the great CED flickr group to post your images and see what others are up to. If you're on Twitter, there's a growing Twitter list of CED participants and you can use the hashtag #CED2010 to help others find your Creative Every Day tweets!
Theme: The (totally optional) theme for June's theme is Bliss. I'll be posting about the theme throughout the month and you can feel free to use it to inspire your creations, follow your own muse, or do some combination. You can find out more about this month's theme and some prompts to get you started with June's theme here.
Happy Creating!
When all is done and said, in the end thus shall you find, he most of all doth bathe in bliss that hath a quiet mind... ~Lord Vaux
More Little Bits of Bliss
June 16th, 2010, 12 Comments
Thank you everyone for all the kind words regarding my recent loss. I truly appreciate all the love and support you sent my way! I'm still feeling a little quiet, but I'm taking special care to notice all the little bits of bliss in my day, like my totally adorable kitties. Above you can see Emma lounging in my window seat. Super cute.
I've also been loving walking outside and watching the birds, which has got me planning some new art about birds. Fun! Hope to post some of those soon.
Creative Every Day Check-In: June 14-20
June 14th, 2010, 27 Comments
This weekly check-in post is a place for Creative Every Day Challenge participants to share their creative activities.
Join in the Challenge: You can sign up for the 2010 Creative Every Day Challenge anytime! Find out more and fill out the sign-up form here to join in!
Ways to share: Once you've signed up, you can leave a comment on this post and/or use the "Mr. Linky" widget below to link to a blog post(s) about your creative activities during the days of 6/14/10 - 6/20/10.
The widget below is an optional method of sharing your creativity that makes it easier for others to check out what you're up to. You can use it to link to a blog post (or posts) or flickr image during the week listed. Or if you have a bunch of posts and don't want to link to all of them, you can link to your main blog page once. Do it in a way that makes sense and is fun for you! If you're unsure about how to use the widget, check out the "How to use the Mr. Linky widget" section on the Creative Every Day Challenge page. (If you're reading this in a RSS reader or email subscription, you will not see the "Mr. Linky widget", so click on over to the blog to use it.) If the Mr. Linky widget is missing from this blog post, it's probably a problem with their server and it will come back as soon as it's fixed. You can always leave your link in the comments.
You can also take advantage of the great CED flickr group to post your images and see what others are up to. If you're on Twitter, there's a growing Twitter list of CED participants and you can use the hashtag #CED2010 to help others find your Creative Every Day tweets!
Theme: The (totally optional) theme for June's theme is Bliss. I'll be posting about the theme throughout the month and you can feel free to use it to inspire your creations, follow your own muse, or do some combination. You can find out more about this month's theme and some prompts to get you started with June's theme here.
Happy Creating!
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“Nothing is more important than reconnecting with your bliss. Nothing is as rich. Nothing is more real.” ~Deepak Chopra
Uncovering Bliss When it’s Hard to Find
June 10th, 2010, 42 Comments
I recently experienced a loss in my family. The timing of it coinciding with my choice of theme for this month, bliss, seemed painfully ironic. At first I wasn't sure how I was going to keep up with posting about it. I thought about bringing in guest posters or just taking a break. But I think I chose the theme for a reason. Finding bliss isn't just important when you're feeling great, it's good to find when you're feeling low too.
Here are some ways I uncover bliss in my life when it's a bit hard to see.
Allow yourself to be sad: This might seem counter-productive, but it's not. Allowing yourself to feel sad, when you're sad, makes room for the joy to come in.
Listen in: Take the time to listen in to what you want and need. Move towards those things that make you smile and bring you joy. Be gentle with yourself.
Small steps: Sometimes, many times, it's the little things that make a difference. A walk in the woods, watching birds outside, playing with your pets, or silly knock-knock jokes can be the way in.
Call in support: Spend time with friends or loved ones that make you feel good. I find spending time with little kids is especially helpful. Getting a hug from a 2 year old is the best!
Treat yourself: I'm not much into shopping therapy, but sometimes a pretty purple pen, a new sketchbook, a haircut, a new pair of shoes, or bouquet of your favorite flowers can put some pep back into your step.
Make a list of gratitude: Noticing at least one little thing you're grateful for each day can be a big help in spotting those blissful moments when they seem hard to find.
What are some of the ways you find joy in your life when things are tough?
