December 31, 2007 at 11:26 pm (creativity)
With a week off from reading…and blogging…and on-line networking, here is a list of how I filled my time:
- Walks in the woods and on the beach
- Took pictures (see above…beautiful snow!)
- Painted a mandala of my dreams each day (see two of them above:)
- Wrote the beginning of an article
- Watched several movies with the family
- Analyzed my own dreams, and my son’s dreams
- cleaned out my closet
- cleaned off my desk and files at work
- wandered around:)
- Put on Pandora radio http://www.pandora.com/ and danced around the room each night with the family
- Read Tarot cards each day for self and family
- Connected back in with my husband
- Enjoyed longer meals
From this point on, I will keep my reading, blogging and on-line networking in check. Shorter times allotted for reading with time for all creative activities that I enjoy…and that bring me great peace and perspective.
I might look into a photography class soon, as well!
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December 23, 2007 at 4:57 pm (creativity, learning styles, mandala, observation, silence, solstice)
Tags: challenge, Creativity, mandala, reading, silence, The Artist's Way
Silence…
I will take on the challenge from the pages of The Artist’s Way http://www.amazon.com/Artists-Way-Spiritual-Creativity-Workbook/dp/0874776945 this week (I am on chapter 4)…one week with no reading! Yes, no reading all week…this is a HUGE challenge for me.
So today I will finish my novel that I am reading and say adeiu to reading for this entire week. That said, I will also take a week off from blog postings.
This will allow time to “fill the well”. I do escape into reading so often. It keeps me away from the “doing” and “being” and will be a needed break. I wonder how I will do…just reading those words, no reading, makes me jumpy, edgy and out of myself.
So, on into learning about myself…without a book in hand, newspaper spread on the couch, computer on…looking forward to the journey…with apprehension!
My next post will be on December 30. I have created a mandala from this site http://www.edupics.com/en-coloring-pages-pictures-photo-mandalas-c125.html on this page as a reminder that I am going out of my comfort zone, and back into myself as a creative being.
What will you do this week to nurture your creative “self”?
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December 23, 2007 at 3:47 am (aesthetics, creativity, dreams, music, oak king, solstice, story)
Tags: , light, photograph of sun, solstice, winter
http://www.danilopivato.com/
Waiting for the light…always looking for the light. It is always a joy for me to begin winter and know that the light will begin to return anew.
I dreamed of oak leaves last night (actually around the time of the start of the solstice). Wondering about this meaning…I did a little research. The Oak King and the Holly King is an ancient story depicting the solstice(s) (both winter and summer). I found this to be fascinating…put me in mind of the book The Mists of Avalon , by Marion Zimmer Bradley.
This then led to songs…such as The Holly and the Ivy and the connection between religions…back to my wandering.
The beauty of dreams, mystical and ancient lore fascinates me. The joy to have the light return lifts my spirit and encourages me to once again see things with new eyes.
Where are you on this first day of the winter solstice?
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December 21, 2007 at 10:24 pm (Wendell Berry, aesthetics, madonna, poetry, visual arts)
Tags: birth, black madonna, child, creation, mother, Wendell Berry
Paul Furneaux, Black Madonna
During this season, I think about renewal. Light, earth, birth, beauty, newness….I hope for mothers, fathers, children, all people, our earth and the creatures and plants upon it…peace.
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When despair grows in me
and I wake in the middle of the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting for their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.Wendell Berry
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December 21, 2007 at 12:15 am (aesthetics, education, observation, science)
Tags: photographs, science, snowflakes
Snow Crystals.com
How gorgeous is a snowflake? I just love when they fall so gently and land for a brief moment so that you get a glimpse of nature’s wonder.
I found this site a few months ago… http://www.its.caltech.edu/~atomic/snowcrystals/photos/photos.htm
Take a look and let me know which are your favorites!
Also, found a site that gives you step-by-step instructions on how to save a snowflake with superglue…forever! Check it out at…
http://www.popsci.com/popsci/how20/
e5fb1e4e0fca9010vgnvcm1000004eecbccdrcrd.html
Looking forward to your comments.
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December 19, 2007 at 3:38 pm (aesthetics, creativity, education, story)
Tags: clarissa pinkola estes, Creativity, cycle, story
The cycle of creativity…just listened to this recording from Clarissa Pinkola Estes.
I am thinking now about the gentle nurturing of the creative self. The cycle that starts for me as a wonderful new idea (birth), goes into a million directions, gets put out there in some form (life), the release of the idea (death), and the meditative time to nurture and incubate….to return once again to the cycle.
This is a valuable cycle that needs continuous care and nurturing. Have a listen to the link here. (mp3 file below image)
How do you keep your creative cycle flowing and spiraling?
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December 18, 2007 at 2:55 am (aesthetics, education, heirloom seeds, observation, organics, science)
Tags: Barbara Kingsolver, heirloom seeds, organics, rare seeds
10 years-Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds
I just received my heirloom seed catalogue from Baker Creek (www.rareseeds.com). It seems as though I just picked the last of the tomatoes and now the snow is falling. How beautiful to receive a catalogue to take me back into the summer days of warmth and food right off the vine!
This puts me in the mind of Barbara Kingsolver. Her book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle (http://www.animalvegetablemiracle.com/ ) was a delight to take me through the summer months, comparing my garden to hers, (Huge differences, but the essence was similar!) Words from her book stuck out to me when she described her joy at receiving the seed catalogue in December. I sense that joy as I begin to look at all of the choices of seeds, flowers and herbs. To plant a seed…to change the future.
What brings you joy?
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December 16, 2007 at 4:34 pm (aesthetics, creativity, observation, poetry, right brain, story)
Tags: haiku, poetry, right brain, shadows, snow, trees
Brightly reflecting
Delight in the sparkling snow
Move to the shadows.
Haiku
The division of 17 syllables into three groups of 5, 7, and 5 syllables and the inclusion of a seasonal theme. For more information, check out this link: http://www.toyomasu.com/haiku/#howtowritehaiku
Write a haiku poem to describe your moment…
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December 14, 2007 at 9:49 pm (aesthetics, creativity, dreams, learning styles, observation, right brain, story, visual arts)
Tags: clarissa pinkola estes, images, ladder, wandering
Image for today…ladder from my dream.
I took some time to do a bit of research on the image of a ladder after awaking this morning…wow!
From there, I wandered into topics on the Freemasons, mystical images, wheels, others blogs on beliefs, coaching, dream interpretation, Clarissa Pinkola Estes…where I then decided to download her mp3 on beginning dream interpretation.
I listened while I folded laundry…metaphor my life is a managerie…”God helps those who help themselves” , I just read in the Artist’s Way…feeling whole, refreshed and alive with images and meaning.
All from wandering…
Take a moment to think of an image that is meaningful to you. Interpret the image/meaning for yourself. Go to the internet, a friend or loved one, a book…and start to wander around picking up the information from your surroundings. Where are you led?
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December 13, 2007 at 4:57 pm (aesthetics, creativity, observation, right brain)
Tags: , aesthetics, Creativity, thinking
Taking a look at the paperclip in front of me I notice…it is green, covered in plastic, bendable, curved, metal shows through on either end, it casts a small curved shadow of the inside loop and the outer line, the shadow changes if I reshape the paper clip, or flip it over
I think the paperclip is a wonderful invention. It has many uses…we have used it in our home to hang ornaments and pictures, in addition to it’s function as a paper holder. I like to use the plastic coated…fun colors, and they are attracted to magnets..cool.
Wonder…who invented the paperclip? Where did it originate? Who still thinks up all the new ideas for different clips? How would you learn more about the paperclip? Does anyone start their careers thinking… I will create the new more amazing paperclip? Who makes paperclips? Who found their job/calling with paperclip design, construction and production?
Pick up something on your desk. Observe and write about what you see, think and wonder…or just write what you notice.
Check out this paperclip art:
http://www.thedose.com/features/clipgallery/
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