Gifts

Musing…

Gift giving is a tradition around this time of year, or if it’s not a tradition for you, the gift giving frenzy may be going on around you. I’m calling it frenzy because this is a part of it -- the dash for deals, the rush to buy something or figure out what to get and how to make your budget work. There's a larger stash of gifts that shows up in our lives and this is where I’d like to sway our attention. Let’s sidestep commercialism for a bit.

Charise’s Turn:

What you are reading is a blog that has nearly run the course of a year. Each week Kate and I offer vignettes, ideas, and images to stir your creative fires. I consider this collaboration with her a gift. We have never met in person. We met a couple of years ago in a coaching course conducted by telephone. When our instructor gave us a project to lead a teleclass on a theme, I immediately thought of creativity and Kate. The dancer/coach spirit in me wanted to play with the artist/coach spirit in her to see what would happen. Our teleclass followed, then the idea for this blog. We continue to play, leapfrog, tagging on to each other’s posts, putting our inspiration on display, letting it live.

It’s the “let it live” part that speaks about what a gift really is.  It’s not enough to say you have a gift for writing, or speaking, or playing a sport, or taking photos, or working with clay, or brainstorming ideas, etc. That could be a gift that sits, or that stays wrapped, unshared.

Get Fired Up:

Be generous. Let your gift(s) live, let your creativity show up and take form for someone else to receive.

“Your playing small doesn’t serve the world.” – Marianne Williamson

Wonder

Musing…

In an art gallery, in line waiting to see paintings by Edward Hopper, handed a brochure about the artist, I read while shuffling forward. This is good writing, sets the stage for what is ahead. “For Hopper, real drama was found in the overlooked” *.  Just like the scene around me: people having conversations, looking out the window, checking their watches. All these moments when there’s a lull and nothing terribly exciting is happening. The stuff of everyday, which he puts on canvas, considers worthy of capturing. Nothing extraordinary except the pulse of existence.  Come again? The pulse of existence is extraordinary when we look at it.

*(National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC).

Get Fired Up:

Over the course of a day, start to look at what you’ve overlooked, what you haven’t paid much attention to. Simple things -- like the cup that holds your drink, or how your companion holds his/her cup, or the pattern of light and shadow from your window.

The only goal is to look, to bring wonder alive.

The Light Breaks In

Musing…  

The diminishing of daylight as we move towards winter can be resisted by some;  it can appear as if all is dead around us.  Can you hold onto your inner light of creativity, having confidence that you are simply at rest, gathering your energies/inspirations for an upcoming spring?

Kate’s Turn:  

I LOVE this quote from Wendell Berry….”By the expenditure of hope, intelligence, and work, you think you have it fixed.  It is unfixed by rule.  Within the darkness, all is being changed, and you also will be changed…and yet,  and yet the light breaks in, heaven seizing its moments that are at once its own and yours.”

When life takes us into a 90 degree turn, perhaps an unexpected apparently dark time, we must hold fast to our inner light, and hold our angle of perception to include the dynamic shift that is taking place beneath the surface within us.  Our light, by virtue of the fact that we are alive, NEVER goes out.

Get Fired Up:  

Embrace the growing winter darkness.  Light a candle each evening to remember your inner light that leads you to new growth and expansion.  Jot down any sparks of inspiration and allow them to gestate during this dynamic dark time of rest.

Rest in Abundance

Lakshmi
 Hindu goddess of prosperity

Musing… 

Autumn – the great harvest – Thanksgiving:  this time of year calls us to celebrate our abundance.  The energy of noticing and appreciating the plentitude we have around us expands, calling in even more.  This expansion calls us forward, inspiring us to the next step.  We don’t have to use our will to “push” ourselves forward; resting in abundance and gratitude naturally takes us there energetically.  This is simply resting in that “feel good” arena that notices all the ways you are already enjoying what you have created in your life.

Get Fired Up:  

Light a candle, take a moment of rest and appreciate all you’ve created, large and small.  Fill in the blank:  “ I LOVE……………………………..” over and over and over again, in gratitude…enJOY!

Taken by Surprise

Musing…

Drawing from the illogical box for phrases can give you the descriptor you’ve been looking for.  For what? For what you are creating, developing, describing; for a theme, a brand, a trademark.

Charise’s Turn:

The décor in the outside patio of Lulu’s Bra and Grill on Amelia Island, Florida consists of decorated bras. Make no mistake, this is not Lulu’s Bar and Grill, it is her Bra and Grill.  Hence the décor. I was vacationing on the island with a close friend and after convincing her to rent bikes we traversed the lush state park, then wound through neighborhoods and into town in search of food. Lulu’s, we found, is more than a theme or a scandal (not all the locals are pleased with the name and the display), it has really good, simple food (like fresh fish tacos).  Hand it to Lulu to bust in on the cuisine scene with aplomb. She took a chance with an idea, and turned a phrase into a place unlike another.

Get Fired Up:
Articulate your ideas
-- talk about them or write them down, even in rough form.
They may take you by surprise, to realize the unexpected.

Words, Words, Words

excerpt by Vien Thuc

Musing…

What’s in a word? Have you found the words that describe your story? Or a certain juxtaposition of words? Something that details what you want to say by bridging words together that rarely meet in logical discourse? 

Once in a while the illogical box holds a clue to your experience. [“Illogical box”? Exactly -- this is an example of what we're getting at].

Get Fired Up:

In the same way you make sure your clothes fit, try on words -- the feel, the fit – for what you want to express.

Let's Pretend

Musing…

Do you know that we generate over 80,000 thoughts/day, and that 90% of them are the same?  How can we actively choose to create changes in our same old/same old patterns?  Let’s try this!  Pretend!  Scientists report that the body responds the same, whether we’re pretending or actually doin’ the real thing.  Emulating someone who is doing what you wish to do, going through the motions, until you’ve got it!  Step by step…moment by moment.  Sounds too easy, doesn’t it?

Kate’s Turn:
I recently read in the news that someone came upon a pod of dolphins, all tail walking.  Imagine the wonder of that!  Apparently, a dolphin that was released from captivity shared his creative moves with his pod, and they all got it!  They weren’t trained, but simply copied the released dolphin until they acquired the new behavior as well.

What would happen if we observed, experimented, rehearsed in our minds, and simply copied another who was doing something we longed to have in our own repertoire?  Pretending, visualizing, rehearsing, experimenting, laughing until we step into that dance/activity/way of being for ourselves?  Sounds fun, doesn’t it? 

Get Fired Up: 
Take a change you’d like to move forward on and observe how it’s already being done---and then have fun and pretend…you just might surprise yourself when you sidestep your self!

Take Pause (Aaahhhhh)

Musing…  

Autumn is traditionally a time for harvesting, for celebrating the fruits of our labor.  We take pause to reflect  on how those seedlings evolved and gave us bounty to be thankful for…offering us  nourishment, beauty and life.

Standing back, taking a breath, and whispering “Aaaahhhhhh” at our accomplishments, our progress made,  the fruits of our efforts in creating ….including creating in all forms: gardens, cooking, décor, new approaches to an old problem, whistling a jingle to help you remember something important – you name it!...honors that sacred aspect of ourselves:   our creative, expansive nature.  The sound “aahhh” is in every name for God:   Elohah, Jehovah, Yahweh, Allah, Jah, etc. 

Get Fired Up: 
Take pause and honor your creative nature, and say “Aahhh” in recognition of your creative, expanding self.

Born to be Creative

Musing…

We say that it’s the nature of creativity to manifest. And we say that it’s your nature as a human being to be creative. Do you believe it? After 39 steps, oh, blog entries? There’s proof out there so don’t just listen to us – but keep listening to us all the same. Here’s the proof of the pudding – or, in this case, the proof of the putting your attention to this story.

Charise’s Turn:

I found this compelling story of how Kate Trammel, James Madison University professor of dance, had the chance to teach creative movement to children in Chinese orphanages. These children had never been exposed to any of the arts, or to dancing even in a social setting --but given the opportunity, they danced. As she says, “They were born with everything they need to transmit life energy through movement. Without any external support whatsoever, the creative impulse somehow survived…nothing can take that away from us — no poverty, no abandonment, deprivation, or disability. Creativity is, quite literally, our birthright.” (Interviewed by Jessica Lewis).

Get Fired Up:

Mix this phrase into your thoughts:

"Creativity is my birthright"

In Limbo

Musing…

To continue busting the myth that busyness is productive – after all, sometimes busyness is just spinning wheels going nowhere or just distraction – let’s look at being in limbo. This is a kind of suspended place you find yourself in where nothing is really getting done. Nothing, at least, that we can see. And here’s where creativity is resting, but not asleep. Like the season of winter where there’s a lack of flowering. And when the conditions are right for flowering again – nature takes a turn to spring.  Not that it takes a whole season to see results of creative endeavors, but it does take trust that the nature of creativity is to manifest.

Get Fired Up:

Trust your ability to be creative.

Creativity is still there when it’s not showing itself -- it may be resting, gelling, gestating.

The Lead Pencil Society

Musing… 

Creativity takes time….and then again… it doesn’t!  An inspiration happens in a nanosecond; following up on that in creative expression takes time and focus, and a willingness to see where it takes you.  Cultivating your creativity requires a conscious commitment to slowing down, staying aware of opportunistic moments, and allowing space and time for the creative process to take hold.   

How does your life reflect a commitment to your creative nature?

Kate’s Turn:

I have a friend who, for years, refused to have a computer in his home, when he was raising his children.  He thought email was ridiculous when his kids could just call their friend rather than emailing them.  He claimed to be a member of the Lead Pencil Society, whose motto is “Not so fast.”  He explicitly values taking time to stay in touch with life’s processes rather than getting swept into the fast track as so many of us are.  His values certainly became instilled into his children, for they all participate in the “slow food” movement; his daughter writes me hand-written letters, full of creative graphics; and they are members of the Cloud Appreciation Society. (The founder of this Society runs a magazine called The Idler: The intention of the magazine is to return dignity to the art of loafing, to make idling into something to aspire towards rather than reject.) He and his family are an inspiration to me, and a shining example of how cultivating the value of taking time results in thriving, abundant manifestations of creativity.

Get Fired Up: 

How could you devote some “time” to what you really value in your heart?  Engaging with loved ones more…committing to quiet time to offer balance for yourself…spending some idle time watching clouds pass?  Need a lead pencil?

The Art of Waiting

Musing…
I heard a journalist on NPR speak about the hazards of being “too connected” with all our technology, i.e., cell phones, Facebook, texting every spare second, etc.   People waiting in line are seen checking their messages, or texting a message.  He claims this is lost creativity time.

We lose opportunities to let our mind drift, to let a nagging problem’s solution naturally present itself.  We don’t hold this open space and time as valuable creatively; we keep jamming information/social contact into those spaces, to “make good use of a spare moment”.

Get Fired Up:  

How do you use those unexpected periods of time when they present themselves?   Is this a conscious choice, or do the trends ”everybody is doin’ it” determine your behavior?  What do you value, as reflected in how you use those times? 

Maybe it’s time to listen to Eric Clapton’s Unplugged.

The next time you find yourself waiting, you might just want to allow yourself that time to Meet Your Muse!

“Why Not?”

Musing…

You may have heard of creativity expert Sir Ken Robinson. He is asking people to rethink how we educate children because we are teaching them to fear making mistakes. And that fear will squash creativity. He says that if we aren’t prepared to be wrong, we won’t do anything original.

Charise’s turn:

I used to fear improvising as a dancer. What if I went blank and didn’t know what to do or did something wrong? Who was I to invent movement? I was comfortable copying movement I’d been given.  Until the time I was in a show and the wrong music came on when it was my turn for a solo.  I stood on the steps to the stage, stunned. My fellow dancers were urging me to begin, and one of them said, “you’re not getting any other music, this is it".  The music was playing, the audience was waiting and the stage was empty, so I stepped forward and acted as if this was just the way it was supposed to be. I played, I worked with the music, and became amused at how wrong it all was. But it didn't matter. All that mattered was for me to get out there and commit to what I was doing one hundred percent.

Get Fired Up:

If you have a hunch about something, a creative spark, consider this a prompt, a calling from your muse.  Pay attention. No need to reason with yourself or talk yourself out of it. That could be fear talking.  Practice saying “why not?” instead. Practice saying “why not?”

Risk

A Portable Identity book cover image

Musing…

In the span of a few days I came across references to failure by two extremely successful people – writer/illustrator Jules Feiffer and tennis champ Martina Navratilova.  In different voices, in different publications, the message was clear – risking opens you to the possibility of failure as well as success. Martina puts it this way (interviewed by Kate Meyers): a champion must be able to fail. Jules (interviewed by Jesse Rhodes) says, “ Failure is implicit in the arts”.  Failure helps you figure things out.

Get Fired Up:

What risk can you take to boost your creativity?

~is this about sharing your work/ your efforts with someone else?

~is this about signing up for a class to explore your talents or interests?

~is this about putting pen to paper, brush to canvas, fingers to the keyboard, or otherwise putting yourself in the place where you have no idea what will result? 

And the suspense is, well, exciting.

Get Ready, Set……Wait!

Musing… 

Ever plan and prepare only to experience life taking a turn, so you don’t get to see it through?  Well, this is what makes life interesting, right?  Staying open to possibility and remaining flexible and positive can segue into something even better sometimes.  

This is the beauty of the Buddhist notion of impermanence: we might suffer a loss as things keep changing, but also at times, we love to know that “this too shall pass”.  Accepting what comes our way (not necessarily agreeing or liking it sometimes!) and keeping our heart open to process it ongoing can energize us rather than deplete us.

Kate’s Turn: 

This is how I felt regarding the Summer Follies party I was preparing for.  Life throws us a curve, plans change, and boom!  We switch gears, and keep on keepin’ on.  But not a problem….the creative juices were running, I got to a place of folly instead of worry, and hey!  I’m ready for the next party invite.  I think the host said something about Winter Follies, as the timing didn’t work this time around.  I can let my plans simmer and stew some more to see what might evolve. 

Get Fired Up:  

How do you deal with the unexpected, especially when it may be disappointing rather than a pleasant surprise?  

Can you embrace all of what life has to offer and trust harvesting the richness of life through the process?  How does your creativity kick into gear when plans go awry?

Life as Art

original watercolor by Kate Kroska

Musing… 
Following up on Charise’s question: What do you bring to the stage (of life)? –I wonder how many of us are aware that we are creating all the time, but probably unconsciously.  Our life unfolds, takes unexpected turns; choices are made, consequences are felt.  Staying connected to what we value in a life well lived will guide our actions to result in that satisfying feeling, being the person we want to be.  Annie Dillard said, “How you spend your days is how you spend your life.”

Get Fired Up:  

So if your life as art were a painting, what mood would it convey, what beauty, what message?  

What would your life book title be? What is the song you came to sing in this life?  How are you dancing through life?

Behind the Scenes

Musing...
What comes after “applause!”? Bask in the glow of appreciation. Celebrate. Feel the fatigue of having delivered. Rest. Gather energy for what’s next. A performance is fleeting, but the preparation is time consuming. What's not seen, behind the scenes, is a critical part of what makes the performance work. Sweat, labor, practice, mistakes, small triumphs, goofing around and getting off task, getting back to task -- wait, what's the value of getting off task? 

Charise’s turn:

As much as a thrill performing can be, I relish the rehearsal part of any production. There is looseness around rehearsing which can’t exist in performance. There’s hanging out while also working hard, helping and watching each other, making jokes, perfecting details and getting serious about projecting something greater than the details. The import of the art form sits in the room with us, and I get giddy with it. I clown around. I make ridiculous comments, spoof our dance moves, laugh and go astray only to find that we ease right back on track. With more open awareness.

Get Fired Up:

Are you serious about your creativity? Then get silly. Loosen whatever grip you have on what you want to portray, accomplish, achieve, attain, make, shape, deliver.  Play toward your goal.  

Here’s a method – stand up and shake your body for a full minute.  You can start with shaking your arms, hands, shoulders, bounce lightly into your legs, pick up a foot at a time; eventually the shaking will take form without a thought.

Then refocus on your task.  Remember, no one will see what’s behind the scenes!

Applause

Musing…

A sidestep away from “all the world’s a stage” is “to thine own self be true”. Shakespeare said just about everything with these two phrases and they never lose their relevance.  Judith Jamison, artistic director of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, weds these two phrases together in her interview with NPR by saying, “ As dancers we need to bring our life experience to the stage…we need to share our truth”.  A performance reaches across the stage to grab the spectator with its honesty.  

If the world is your stage what do you choose to bring to it? How do you show up?

Get Fired Up:

·          Imagine an appreciative audience for your endeavors.

Now what is it about you and what you present that they appreciate?

·       
      Go back to your endeavors with this appreciation to call upon.

Applause!

Summer Follies

Musing...

Summer calls us to be playful, to allow a bit more relaxation and enjoyment of nature, friends, and new adventures. It can bring the child out in us, letting ourselves go, to be immersed in gardening, decorating, or creative play. This freedom we give ourselves is the fertile soil of our Muse; so many ideas strike our fancy to try, letting ourselves go to see where this might take us.

When was the last time you watched clouds pass, naming the shapes you identified? Or laid on your back in an open space at night and got lost in the star-studded sky? Or twirled in the breeze, letting the wind determine your movement?

Kate's Turn:

I’ve been invited to a Summer Follies this month…..a last hurrah before school begins and serious study once again takes precedence. I gave my performance anxiety some stage time in my mind, but decided THAT in and of itself was folly. This is a party defined to be fun, lighthearted, and FULL of folly…..no rules, everyone supports whatever each of us offers, all in the spirit of fun and folly.

Here I Am

Musing...

What an opening line for a story!  I’ve written from this entry many times, for it brings me right smack into the present, and has me choose from numerous options that happen to be my life in that present moment.   But what if I desire to change the story?  We all have aspects in our lives that are in process of a change, or want to be changed.  Rewrite the story; create and step into the changes you desire.  Who is the author, after all? 

Get Fired Up:

How would you title your life storybook?  The chapters?   What aspect(s) of your life do you wish to change the path in which the story is going?   Pen a desired outcome, and work your way backwards to HERE I AM, and step into a small part of that outcome in the present moment…claim your authorship.  Now, what is your new title?

Immersion

Musing...

One of my favorite titles is A Field Guide to Getting Lost (by Rebecca Solnit).  You can imagine a field guide to almost anything – birds, plants, minerals -- but a guide to getting lost is the antithesis of a guide. Getting lost you can do by yourself. But the stories in the book talk about what you may find when you wander, the subtle side of survival, and resilience. Another aspect of getting lost is getting immersed.

Charise’s turn:

When I was six, I got lost at the Worlds Fair in New York.  We were there as a family, it was the evening, and we walked by a fountain that was suddenly lit up in the descending darkness.  I stopped and stared and that’s when I got lost. Lost in the view, how fascinating the water and the light looked. When I turned away from the view, none of my family was there. They had moved on, apparently unaware that I had not.

Titles

Musing...

A title is what? An invitation? A description?  Gift wrap (?) -- as in, how a book is suggested but not revealed by its title – the title wraps the contents.  

How many times have you picked up a book to browse because of the title? Or become intrigued by a film due to the name? Or wondered more about a painting as you find out what the artist calls it? Your imagination has been sparked.  You are going toward the object of the title as well as into your imagination. 

Get Fired Up:

Peruse titles (of books, films, poems, works of art) and when you find one that intrigues you, close your eyes for a moment and see what surfaces. Visit your imagination and take it for a ride.  

Begin at the End

Musing…

This sounds like a contradiction!   But any successful endeavor begins with a vision, a clear picture of where you are headed.  Continuing with our theme of story, and more specifically, your life story:  What do you wish people to remember you for when you pass?  What is the nature of your life time achievement award?  What is your vision of a life well-lived?

Kate's turn:

I have been musing on these questions lately, as my life seems to be one of more input than output at the moment.  I’m studying on 3 different fronts, not feeling accomplished in any of them.  Hence, my days are not primarily scheduled with service to others, which I’m used to.  But, I’m spending time learning and practicing, not yet confident or able to see results.

What You See is What You Get

Musing…

A glimpse…a snapshot…a sound byte:  experienced from your perspective. Did you know that the brain searches and finds according to your bias, your filter?  Quantum physics tells us that each moment holds infinite options, but our limiting “search” finds essentially what we’re looking for.  Dr. Richard Bartlett, Matrix Energetics, says you must never look where you don’t want to go.  Choose your intention by the outcome you desire.

Get Fired Up:

Your story unfolds moment by moment…continuous opportunities to choose, to CREATE your  life.  

Don’t like that contracting feeling when you get stuck in traffic?  Choose another response - that is one thing you DO have control over.  Let go….smile….keep your heart open.  SEE ….and step into your life design… moment by moment…step by step.

Change your story.  Look and see where it is you are choosing to go.  (This is where that consciousness, being in the moment, the now, pays off!)

Hand Me a Story

Musing...
Where did your glimpses take you?  Could it be that a glimpse tells the whole story, or opens the view to the whole of the story? And maybe stories want to be told, and human nature lends itself to storytelling, in one form or another. The whole story can show up in the singular space of a poem, painting, monologue, skit, dance, or musical performance.  Here’s where it gets more interesting. The whole of the story happens because there is an interaction between the storyteller and the listener that completes the experience of the story. It’s shared.

Charise’s turn:

Just before getting on stage, I suddenly feel vacant, like everything I know has vanished. I have no idea what will happen even though I’ve rehearsed plenty. Once on stage, I find it remarkable that something takes shape; that it is, in fact, what I learned.  But it feels completely unrehearsed like a burst of inspiration, a sudden idea displayed.  It’s the oddest thing and do all performers feel this way?

The pianist who lifts his hands to begin to play – does he know his fingers will find their way in full concert with his intention and his memory? Or is there that moment where he is amazed to find his fingers producing such incredible sound for the rapt attention of those listening? Is this just about practice, practice, practice or is something else happening in performance?

Glimpses

Musing...
What is a glimpse? A view, a window looking through or back in time, a hint of more to see. In dialogue comments here on our blog, the occasion of a death of a loved one has offered us this theme.  How do we tell a story? How do we capture a person’s life in the telling of it?  We land on certain memorable moments: happenings, vivid encounters, expressions, and the company of his or her presence.  Bits and treasures of memory ask to be captured in words, spoken or written.  And so the stories of our ancestors are passed on, and our stories are passed on, and our lives are connected through history, or his—story (and her—story).

Get Fired Up:

Be a story teller:

Describe how you know someone, or how you met, or what you did together, or what happened in his or her presence. Just a glimpse, an anecdote, a scene, a sketch is enough.  Bring it into view and pass it on…

Let the Sun Shine

original watercolor "Power Circle" by Kate Kroska

Musing…
Let the sun shine, let the sun shine, let the sunshine in…remember that Age of Aquarius song?  It is so appropriate for summer solstice, which we celebrate on Monday, June 21.  This is the day (in the northern clime) that has the most light of the year; how will you take advantage of this glorious opportunity to heat up your creativity – to give light for the growth of your creative expression – to let yourself shine as a creative being?

Kate’s turn:  Summer solstice is all about yang energy – expression of yourself, putting it out there, shining for all to see.  It is correlated with the direction of South; the expansion of light during the summer months allows all those planted dreams the necessary energy to come to full bloom, full growth.  Currently I am focusing the light on developing and strengthening a deeper meditation practice for myself by tending to a consistent practice, prompting myself to incorporate these ways into my daily life as well.  It is in this deeper state that my creative ideas and images come forth (the fruit to harvest, so to speak).  I am also shining light on trying a new approach to my watercolors – every day I must stay with it and keep the light on it, as it is challenging, and so easy to give up.  But I want a freshness to my work, so I know that fruit is bound to come forth with consistent practice, consistent light. 

Just a Moment...

Musing….
How often we hear (or say) this!  It usually implies an imperative of waiting: being asked to wait, or asking someone else to wait for us. 

What if we heard this as a gift, as opportunity?  You have “just a moment": to try something differently; to let go of a behavior that doesn’t serve you; to open yourself to your highest possibility.

It only takes a moment to change. Actually, that is all we really ever have…this moment, and then this moment, and then this moment…

But we must show up in that moment in order to receive the gift.  More about that another time!  For now – don’t wait.  When you hear “just a moment”, open yourself to the gift awaiting you…presents! Presence!

Get Fired Up:

What are you waiting for?

How might you transform your waiting to receiving what the Muse offers us in each moment?

Drop into the Moment

Musing…
How easy is it to catch yourself acting from habit and reverse course? Did you try to do something differently for a week? Or, did you think about it? Or, did you want to find out whether I succeeded with the challenge?  What is this game all about?

Charise’s turn:

What really happened for me has nothing to do with the plan of altering habit. I don’t even remember the exact five things I did differently for a week. What I remember is that I had specific moments of stepping outside of action that is unconscious or automatic to become conscious instead. 

The effect of being more conscious about my everyday actions is that I wake up to the moment. It’s like being a kid where there isn’t a goal to get anywhere or get something done.

Instead of Habit

art by Sandra Guiloff

Musing...

What if you did one thing differently this week? This is like “stop, look, and listen”, or more accurately, “stop and switch”. Nothing dramatic here, we’re talking about something as ordinary as switching which shoe you put on first – if it’s always the right, stop and start with the left instead.  

This silly and serious advice came from my coaching instructor (thank you, Jeff Kaplan) in a demo of life coaching for student learning purposes.  I was challenged to do several things differently in the course of a week, to shake up routine, break habit, open the doorway to change.  What was the result? More on this next blog but in the meantime –

Get Fired Up:

Choose one thing you are willing to do differently than usual 

a. Every time for a week  (till our next blog post)

b. It has to be something that involves action (e.g. putting on shoes, getting ready for bed, walking around the back/front of your car to get to the passenger side)

c. Okay, go…

Caught in the Act of Being Yourself

Musing...
My orchid had a magenta bloom on it this morning; it couldn’t help it.

My passion fruit is blooming and beginning to bear teeny spheres that will mature into soft yellow orbs.  It can’t help it.

My papaya tree is dripping with oblong golden orange fragrant fruit; it can’t help it.

Even my basil seedlings, only a quarter inch high, smell like pungent basil when I stroke their leaf tops as if I were feeling the top of a crew cut; and they can’t help it either.

They are simply living out the life they were meant to live; they are doing what they were born to do.

Kate’s Turn:

We all came to be out of an act of creation.  We grow and mature to our individual expression, evolving from that original seed that just keeps expanding into more of who we are.  We are creative by nature; we are creative by design.  We just can’t help it!

New Moon Planting -- Timing is Everything

Musing...
Did you know that today is the new moon? How does this relate to planting, and to your creative garden? 


Gardening by the phases of the moon is a technique that can speed the germination of your seeds by working with the forces of nature. Plants respond to the same gravitational pull of tides that affect the oceans, which alternately stimulates root and leaf growth. Seeds sprout more quickly, plants grow vigorously and at an optimum rate, harvests are larger and they don't go to seed as fast. This method has been practiced by many for hundreds of years, and is a perfect compliment to organic gardening because it's more effective in non-chemically treated soil.

The lunar phase controls the amount of moisture in the soil. This moisture is at its peak at the time of the new and the full moon. The sun and moon are lined up with earth. Just as the moon pulls the tides in the oceans, it also pulls upon the subtle bodies of water, causing moisture to rise in the earth, which encourages germination and growth. Above ground plantings should be done during the waxing of the moon, from new moon to full moon.  ( This information partly excerpted from www.gardeningbythemoon.com.)

Timing is an important factor in tending to your creative gardens.

Get Fired Up: 

• What are the gravitational pulls that are calling you to new creative expression this new moon?
• What are the seeds of creativity that you are considering planting?
• How can you capitalize on different resources to cultivate those creative sprouts and bring them to fruition?

Ready or Not, Here You Are...

Art by Sandra Guiloff

Musing…
Have you written a triolet (4/30 post)? Taken a mindful walk (4/22 post)? Listed your ideas along with your vision of the joy you’d receive from them (3/26 post)? Has something stirred in you by reading our musings (1/24- 4/25 posts)? Or, has something else contrived to happen? 

Charise’s turn:

I’m sitting in the ER with my fifteen-year-old daughter who has a swollen wrist, impact of a fall.  We wait for the x-ray results. In two minutes, the poetry reading by former Poet Laureate W.S. Merwin will begin at the Folger Shakespeare Library. My ticket for that event will be unclaimed.  Wasn’t it John Lennon who said,” Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans”?

Cross-Pollinate Your Ideas

Musing…
Recently I learned about a medieval French poetry form called a Triolet. It’s a highly structured verse of 8 lines, with this pattern:  A, B, a, A, a, b, A, B (a rhymes with A and b rhymes with B).

So there are really only four lines to come up with due to the repetition. Why am I telling you this? Because I wrote one with four lines from our blog posts. An “aha!” moment: WHY NOT USE THE BLOG ITSELF TO GENERATE A POEM?

Imprints from our Blog

Setting the stage…

Muses just keep appearing.

Facing the blank page.

Setting the stage…

Facing the blank page.

Lines running through my head while I’m driving.

Setting the stage…

Muses just keep appearing.

Get Fired Up:

This is about play, playing with what’s on hand.

*What do you have already going on that can generate another project?

*How does one endeavor feed another? How are your endeavors linked?

*How can you move between them and enrich both? 

From Your Center…to Your Center

original watercolor by Kate Kroska

Musing…
Speaking of mindfulness, when you pay attention to your movement forward in life, from where in your body do you initiate your next step? “Obviously,” you say, “with my foot.” Well, yes, the foot does have to move forward. But if you back up abit in your perspective, you may realize that you move from your intention, and that intention originates from your center, consciously or unconsciously. Let’s refer to it as your heart-mind center, and let’s locate it in the body space that includes your heart and gut.

Just imagine, if you will, what your journey would be like, if you truly allowed your heart-mind center to lead the way….AND to lead you in a conscious, mindful way.


Kate's Turn:
I recently had an opportunity to walk a labyrinth. This is a path, created usually in a round shape, with a series of concentric paths, that twist and turn, until you find yourself in the center…and then , from that center, you walk the return path to depart. It may look like a maze, but is different, in that a maze has many dead ends, that force you to back up and try again to find the way through; a labyrinth has only one way in that always leads to the center, and one way back out. Labyrinths date back centuries, are found in many areas of the world, and have more recently become popular as sacred sites for ceremony and spiritual renewal.

One Step at a Time

watercolor image
by Sandra Guiloff

Musing…
Walking meditation involves consciously placing one foot in front of the other, fully aware of all aspects of the process, breathing, living fully in the present moment.  The destination is not the focus; the process is what counts.  Open, curious, aware, seeing for the first time, moment to moment.

So also is this applicable to creativity.  The Muse invites us in EVERY moment to be open, curious, aware and seeing anew, the life we live.  Numerous opportunities to live our creative selves abound.  As stated last week, just taking the first step, with no end in sight, naturally leads to the next step….and the next…

But we must be mindful…and we must take that step.

Get Fired Up:

*What do you need to increase your mindfulness of the steps you take each day?

*How can you let your curiosity, your openness respond to the Muse’s invitations more often?

*What is the next step you wish to take?

Begin...with no end in sight!

Musing…

Picking up where we left off in “Expect Your Muse”…making peace with muses. This could be a title for a poem, Making Peace With Muses. And then that’s all it takes, recognize a title, put it on a page and go…or go only so far.

Maybe leave the title there, walk away, and come back to it. Trust that something will surface -- or that this will lead to something else, another title, another idea altogether because it’s a start, like flipping a switch.  

Charise’s turn:

So let me segue to the muse effect while teaching yoga.  As a teacher, I have a structure and intention, but mostly I am moving into and out of yoga poses, through yoga poses, without any thought about it.  My verbal cues have to catch up with what I’m doing, and I can’t lead by naming poses because I don’t know what pose we’re going into until I get there! 

Tend Your Creative Garden

doorway to Vien Thuc's temple garden 

Musing…
“An artist needs a garden”, Vietnamese monk and painter Vien Thuc told me when I visited him in 1993.  We spent the day hanging out with him in the garden surrounding his temple in Dalat – the outdoor haven where he meditates and then creates abstract paintings with Zen like sayings.  He creates his art quickly, like a bursting from within him, not carelessly but with all the energy that has accumulated from the stillness of sitting in his garden. His art grows there in tandem with nature, just as plentiful. 

Get Fired Up:

*What puts you into a creative space?

*How do you bring yourself to focus your energy on a creative or artistic endeavor?

*What are the ways to harness your creative energy (such as meditation, getting outside in nature, attending to your physical well-being)?

This is all about setting the stage for your muse to show up. 

Your Creative Garden

Musing…

Time to listen within for the Muse who plants seeds of creativity within us, in the form of desires, passions to be expressed, dreams, visions of some new endeavor we’d like hands-on experience with. This is like looking through seed catalogues, imagining, dreaming, and envisioning what those little seeds could offer for your pleasure and satisfaction. This IS what we’re after, you know – pleasure, beauty, delight, deep satisfaction in being able to exclaim: “Look what I’ve created!” all to enjoy!

Kate’s turn:

Sometimes we have so many ideas, so many different things we’d love to play with, to try out and see if that’s where we’d like to put more energy into in order to develop that seed. This can be ok when we’re in an experimenting phase – getting a sampler or taste of some creative experiences to learn how much we really love it. Do we want to spend more energy in this creative urging? 

It's Spring!

Musing…
What does this phrase conjure up in you? Spring housecleaning? Gardens? Spring flowers? Days with growing sunlight? Increasing warmth? New growth?
We all have our individual response to the coming of this season. We could view our Muse as a consistent invitation to spring: something new and exciting in terms of creativity/new growth/expansion that lies in wait. Wait for what? …..the right conditions to bring about the full life cycle. The call is for us to take the smallest of an idea, an urge, this tiny seed – and begin to cultivate its growth to full bloom and eventual harvest. But I’ve already breezed through to summer and fall. Let’s focus on what we can do to honor all the spring in our life.

Get Fired Up:
What seeds are inviting you for planting, tending, cultivating this season? Just like a dream, vision and plan for an outdoor garden, listen for the urgings, the desires, the callings you have from within ….the invitations from your Muse to create in ways that are new to you, that will lead you forward into new growth.
DREAM - VISION - PLAN

Expect Your Muse

Musing…

Tick, tick, tick…clock is ticking to get something written. Deadline. Someone once pointed out to me that “deadline” is a “dead line”. Why rush to that? So, slowing down here I will offer you another view. Muses exist outside of time -- or, through time. The muse has been invoked in the works of Virgil, Homer, Dante, Shakespeare, and currently as the name for a British rock band “Muse”. We’ve just spanned the First Century BCE to today. Muses just keep appearing.

Charise’s turn:
I have a collection of poetry I’ve written which I was going to title “The Insistent Muse”. I’ve since scrapped that title because it’s offensive. It portrays my muse as bearing down, demanding. It came from a feeling that I have no control of my creative process; it has me by the arm and shakes me at will.

Call to Creativity

Daily walk at Vista Mar, Panama

Musing…
What if you were walking down the street and saw a ladder poised – balanced just so – above an abandoned building, and it has no reason to be there? It has no use, but someone has put it there with purpose. That someone is Bryant K. Adams, dubbed the “Art Man”, and his plan is to alter the urban landscape of Washington, DC with art. He takes ordinary objects, gives them his own touch with paint and positioning, and then puts them in unusual places, drawing the eye to something unexpected. He’s telling us to notice, take notice, LOOK. Even, or especially, on our daily walk. He’s waking us up to our muse.



Get Fired Up:
Check out what is happening in your community:
∗How is art showing up where you live?
∗Where do you find evidence of “muse at work”?
∗Who is calling your attention to be creative?

A call to creativity is just around the corner…

Watch for Those Sparks!

Musing...
“Watch for those sparks!” This is usually stated in a warning tone, but I’m encouraging you to hear it as an imperative. Fires, and creative fires as well, all begin as a spark...and they are easy to miss.

Kate's turn:
I won’t belabor all the reasons we might miss them; I’d rather highlight how to capture them, so we can kindle that creativity.
My friend, who claims she has no creativity in her, said she wants to paint a wall in her home differently. Now THAT is a spark. She can go with that, and see where it takes her.

Another friend says she absolutely has no time to be creative; life is full already with commitments. But when I visited her home, I saw that huge spray of tropical flowers arching from her countertop. Now that is kindling her spark, for what is possible at this time in her life.