Scottie & Emily Lounging AboutBliss: Having all our paintings back in the house and hung. Marcy had lent them to the library for a bit of a show, and our walls have been way too blank. Relief to the eyes, they are.
Starting tomorrow, I'll be participating in this online book group. Every Friday, I'll post about the chapter we were supposed to read. This will go on for twelve Friday's. I'm excited to get into this work. Though I feel like I am following my creative path, I sense that I could do an even better job at it.
Thinking about creativity, I thought today I would do a link post about finding our creative path and walking it more effectively. I haven't done a link post in quite some time. I hope you find some new and exciting blogs this way -- or at least find one small seed that helps you grow something new and wonderful.
Even if you don't read this whole piece, scroll down to the exercise to help you find your purpose in life in about twenty minutes. Sure, it sounds impossible, but this exercise is truly powerful. When I got to step four, my heart leapt, knowing he had utterly nailed it.Perhaps you know what you want to be doing, but your "real" life is getting in the way. This is a great essay about getting your heart and your mind together. My favorite part is the distinction that your mind is supposed to simply be the tool that follows your heart. Excellent stuff.I think most of you reading this have probably spent a few moments of your life with the work of Sark. Here's her page. Not always up to date but it always worth some time.This is an awesome list of questions if you are wondering about your current work situation. On the same site, there is a post about demystifying the creative process. I think this is important, though I also think we can go too far with it. But take what you need.If you're trying to finish a particular creative project, these are some great, practical tips.This entire blog is worth subscribing to. I'm sure many of you are familiar. (Just scanning quickly, I realized it's time to re-watch Chocolat!)This blogger is highly prolific, so when she writes about beating writer's block, she's someone to listen to!And yesterday's interview, Linda-Sama, reminded me of this older post I'd written about silencing our internal critics. After reading it, I realized that I need to read it EVERY DAY!That's a little bit of reading for today, isn't it? I hope some of it is helpful.
9 comments:
Ooooo! What juicy good links! Thank you :-)
And, hooray, I've joined that Friday Book Club, too!
A double link?! You're too kind, but thanks a ton!
I'm curious, though: what can we take too far? Trying to regiment the process?
Looking forward to the book club as well...it's my first "tenacious" act to stop smothering my creativity...picking up the book from the library tonight and can't wait to dig in either! I've created a blog that off the radar to specifically write in about my experience with the book, so if you're interested, you know my email addy!
Thanks for the extra links too...
Peace Christine,
Lil
Lisa and Lil -- Very cool that you're both in the book club! YAY! :)
Charlie -- Great site you have, filled with so much material that it will take me some time to work through it.
And yep, that's all I meant -- I worry sometimes that too much regimentation (especially when people are first exploring their creativity) can get in the way of what I think is a really mysterious and magical level of mindfulness.
Even for people who have a more defined creative life, ideas around regimentation can make us feel "less than." We all create differently, that's all. :)
Besides that little "warning," I think your suggestions rock!
Thanks so much for the mention, Christine!!
Your kitties are totally adorable. :-)
This is great! Just what I needed to read on a Friday morning as I creep tentatively into a weekend that looks to be made for creativity.
We're looking at snow days and I couldn't be happier with all this creative fuel to light my fire!
Thanks for all these great links, lots of lovely exploring ahead.
I remember the Pavlina exercise from a couple of years back. I remember doing it and not getting to the crying bit! I think I must have given up at one of the danger points he mentions. Must try again.
By the way, I'm just catching up with your posts and am relieved to see that the drama earlier this week didn't affect you (what am I saying, of course it affected you, but you know what I mean!). Your words around what happened are very wise.
I'm going to check out all the links. Thanks for sharing!
Your Scottie & Emily are precious! I have three cats of my own.
@blisschick: Cool, thanks for answering. I agree with you totally.
I think it's the Paradox of Creativity - we're more creative when we're not trying to be. "Trying to be creative" makes the mind focus on two things - the creative outlet on hand and the "trying to be" part. Usually, we can only do one or the other.
I think the value of knowing the creative process is being okay with yourself when you're in one particular phase or the other and trying to be in the moment in the phase that you're in. Just as you can kill a particular idea by forcing it, you can kill a particular process by pushing too hard on it.
You'd think I'd right this on PF, but it's way more fun to hang out on other great blogs. Thanks again for answering!
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