Wanted to share…

A great blog that a Facebook friend is doing based on Cameron’s books:

http://iplanttheseeds.wordpress.com/

Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors for you where there were only wall.  — Joseph Campbell

~ Creativity ~

If we fail to nourish our souls, they wither, and without soul, life ceases to have meaning. The creative process shrivels in the absence of continual dialogue with the soul. And creativity is what makes life worth living. ~ Marion Woodman

Creativity is inventing, experimenting, growing, taking risks, breaking rules, making mistakes and having fun. ~ Mary Lou Cook

In order to have a real relationship with our creativity, we must take the time and care to cultivate it. ~ Julia Cameron

::: Findings :::

It’s about time for another issue of KB-Findings, wouldn’t you say? Lots of good things in my findings this week so buckle in!

• Don’t forget to signup to participate in Nectar & Light’s June Photo Trade. This month’s title is “Learn to Love Flare” and is all about shooting into the light. Bound to be some great results, as always.
• Get out your cameras and don’t miss the chance to be a part of Pia Jane Bijkerk’s photo compilation contest called my heart wanders: a collection of subtle hearts in special spaces. Details here.

• I recently found a blurb about a man named Jamie Livingston. This is a man who took a Polaroid picture every day for eighteen years, including the day he died in 1997. I’ve not seen all the photos as the site has been up and down but the ones I’ve seen are very poignant, if only because they so closely chronicle this man’s life. Read more about this man and his amazing project here.

• Trick out your Google! Change your Google homepage to fabulous different Artist’s Themes by talents like Oscar de la Renta, Dolce & Gabbana, Marc Ecko or Dale Chihuly. Another fun way to cheer up your workspace!
• Trick out your bathroom bottles! These fun labels are the perfect way to streamline and de-clutter your toiletries.

• Take your reducing, reusing and recycling to the next level. Virtual Dumpster Diving… need I say more?
• If this book doesn’t inspire and spark your creativity, nothing will: “…color images of inspired patterns and boasts an eclectic array of styles from all around the world.”

• Does laundry detergent grow on trees? Why yes, yes it does.
• All you bakers? Get a BakeSpace! Similar to MySpace but for bakers and kitchen mavens to swap recipes, make like-minded friends, etc.
• All you fashionistas? Get a StyleDiary! Again, similar to MySpace but for fashion-lovers to post fabby ensembles, new wardrobe additions and make friends with people who also love clothes, shoes and accessories (oh my!)

Now for a bit of business…

• Anyone who has an interest in being on my vintage store mailing list, please leave a comment to that affect in the comments section. Lots of new items to be listed this week and next week so don’t miss out!
• The book that I gave away on my blog has been awarded but I’m still looking for those of you who might like to get a copy and go through the program as a group. Again, if you are interested (and willing to buy a copy of the book), please leave a comment in the comments section.
• Another book giveaway on my blog soon! Stay tuned!

And… the usual… with a twist! A poignant saying and a pretty picture in one…

TAW Blog Updates

I thought it might be helpful to clarify a bit about the Yahoo group that has recently been formed for this group.  The Yahoo group is for people who did the program through this blog recently and for anyone who participates in future books through this blog.

To that end, I realize that there isn’t much action lately here so it might be unfair for those who come by looking for posts, books being worked through, information or support for The Artist’s Way, etc.  So, I’d like to put it out there and see if there is anyone of our group interested in leading another journey through TAW?  It would take, of course, twelve-weeks and is a commitment.  I would help anyone interested know how to manage it, etc. but am not in a position right now to lead it through again myself.

Interested?  Got questions?  Just let me know!  I’ll be happy to talk to you about what it might take to lead another group.

Have a safe holiday tomorrow!

If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up people to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.
~ Antoine de Saint-Exupery

A BOOK GIVEAWAY!

Hop on over to my blog and enter to win a brand new copy of a book I’ve just read and thoroughly enjoyed - The Fresh Start Promise.

Also, feel free to repost and tell anyone you like. The more the merrier!

::: Click here to enter :::

Allow me now to give you a taste of a delicious little French dish: it’s called joie de vivre, and it’s the most wonderful recipe for finding and fully experiencing life’s most simple joys simply by paying appreciative attention to the ordinary events and moments of the day. Joie de vivre is really just about fostering and encouraging in you a sense of wonder, playfulness, and curiosity about life’s little things. Your experience of joie de vivre today will be quite straightforward, actually, but I can assure you that it will lead to some quite fantastic new experiences!
~Edwige Gilbert, from The Fresh Start Promise

Creative Inspirations – May 15, 2008

From time to time, I will be posting up links and pictures of things I’ve found during the week. These are meant to inspire and delight you, as they have me. If anyone has links, photos, articles, etc. that are particularly inspiring, use the “Contact” button above and send them to me!

• Rebecca directed me to an article called Living the Prolific Life. So good! A must read!
• How’s this for a clever way to store your books? Who doesn’t love this?

• Love zines? Check out Inspiration by Design for Mankind. You can download it for FREE here. This month’s issue “…pays homage to the idea that inspiration is everywhere— you need only open your eyes.”
• Unleash the kid in you this summer! These are the perfect way to do it – think of all the wonderful things you could do with these, with the ground as your canvas!! You can purchase them at any super-store or here.

• Abandoned Wooden Miracles – aren’t these breathtaking? These masterpieces of Russian medieval wooden architecture were found abandoned deep in the Russian forests.

Click here for more amazing pictures of these homes!

• There are still some days left in “the Diary 2009 Project“. Sign up now!
• The Nectar & Light Photo Trade goes on every month with a different theme and is chock-full of uber-creative people. Wanting to hone your creative photography skills? This would be a fabulous outlet for that!
• People have asked me about postcard swaps and if I’d be doing another one. Well, no, not right now but here is one that you can join in the meantime – With and Without Creative Inspiration Card Swap. Today is the deadline so act quickly!

• Another fun one! A TOADSTOOL SWAP! How cool is that? You have to act quickly on this one too… sign-up deadline is tomorrow.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Okay, I’m inspirationed out for today. I can’t leave though without a moving quote and a pretty picture, can I? I didn’t think so. On that note, here you go:

Living is a form of not being sure, not knowing what next or how. The moment you know how, you die a little. The artist never entirely knows. We guess. We may be wrong, but we take leap after leap in the dark. ~Agnes de Mille, choreographer

A more creative life

This was my first post.

‘I have joined The Artists Way blog as I am still exploring art, and would like to continue this exciting journey. I hope to gain more confidence with my creativity, rather than hold back, which I often do. ‘

In addition to the above, I wanted to find ways and time to be more creative and to have the confidence to call myself an artist. I still can’t call myself an artist, however after 13 weeks of TAW and some creativity in between, I feel I am getting closer to it.

Each week’s reading of TAW had a little tip or task that enriched my creative life a little more. Sometimes they were a little too challenging, like the reading deprivation task. However, I am finding myself wanting to read less and watch less TV so I have more time to create. So maybe that task was not so bad after all. I also found ‘filling the form’ to be a powerful too in getting artistic tasks done faster.

I have begun not to hold back. Often when I find myself doing that, I repeat to myself, ‘don’t hold back, just do it and explore’. Because of this, I have taken small steps and at times strides in my creative life. I am sketching weekly, and as a result and keeping in mind ‘filling the form’ I am working towards a series of paintings which I hope will end up as an exhibition in Tokyo or Utsunomiya towards the end of the year. But first little steps.

Thank you The Artist Way and everyone who participated in this course.

Message Board

For those of us who have gone through this program with us and participated this time around, I’ve created a message board over at Yahoo! for us to continue our creativity journey.  You have to be approved to join so please put your blog address in the comments section.

The link is:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/theartistswayblog/

Join us there!

So, what will this webspace be for then?  We will continue to post here fairly regularly – a couple of times per week.   For now, this space will be for inspirations, any contests or art cooperatives that I find, cool blog links that I want to share, etc.  Please contact me with any contests, inspirations or links that you want me to include.  I want this to continue to be a collaborative blog!  Also, if you ever want to be a guest contributor here, email me with your post idea.  And, if anyone decides to do another book and enough people want to do it along, this space can be used for that also.

So, stay tuned and check in here like you do but also, join us at Yahoo!  We can continue on this journey together and keep this wonderful group as part of our Sacred Circle.

The growth of one blesses all. I am commited to grow in love. All that I touch, I leave in love. I move through this world consciously and creatively. ~ Julia Cameron

Partner needed…

No, I’ve not started a personals site here.   Ha!  I’m simply posting up a request I got through the comments.  Many of you may have seen it already but I thought I would post it more prominently for better response.

Beachsoul said:

Hi, I found your site and have lurked along the way, but never got around to chiming in. Congrats to all who made it through — or for however far you got, for that matter. Such a wonderful experience! I recently did TAW with another online group. Then started the next book, Walking in this World, afterwards, solo. But stumbled when life transition got in the way, and let it all get away from me. I’m gearing up to start over with that one, WITW, and wondering if this group is interested? Very similar to TAW in structure — weekly chapter, artist dates and MPs, plus weekly walking assignments.

Any interest?

I know that several of us have said we didn’t want to do another Cameron book through the blog right away so I’m not sure that would be an option.  However, if anyone IS interested in doing WITW and would like to be put into contact with Beachsoul, let me know.  I will send you her email address or vice versa and you can pair up for the WITW journey.

Along those same lines, we are STILL trying to figure what to do with this group from here, now that the twelve weeks are over.  Here are some ideas:

• Move to a Yahoo! group so that we can still keep in touch with our creativity projects and such but not follow a book – if so, what to do with the blog?
• Start and complete another book here on the blog – if so, what?
• Stay as a group on the blog and just keep it for creativity projects and such – bear in mind though that the contributors can’t keep it up as we have been indefinitely.
• Other… suggestions welcome!

I think it is pretty unanimous that we don’t want to dis-band and it delights me that we have gotten that close as a group!  However, we need to figure out a way to transition now that our TAW time is over so that we can stay focused and give the continued support – in whatever capacity – that we all need.

Whew… I am long-winded.

Lend me your suggestions and anyone who is interested in pairing with Beachsoul, let me know!

Creativity Contract – Will you sign?

~ CREATIVITY CONTRACT ~

My name is ___________________. I am a recovering creative person. To further my growth and my joy, I now commit myself to the following self-nurturing plans:

Morning pages have been an important part of my self-nurturing and self-discovery. I, __________________, hereby commit myself to continuing to work with them for the next ninety days.

Artist’s dates have been integral to my growth in self-love and my deepening joy in loving. I, ______________, am willing to commit to anther ninety days of weekly artists dates for self-care.

In the course of following the artist’s way and healing my artist within, I have discovered that I have a number of creative interests. While I hope to develop many of them, my specific commitment for the next ninety days is to allow myself to more fully explore ____________________.

My concrete commitment to a plan of action is a critical part of nurturing my artist. For the next ninety days, my planned, self-nurturing creative action plan is ____________________.

I have chosen ____________ as my creative colleague and ______________ as my creative back-up. I am commited to a weekly phone check-in.

I have made the above commitments and will begin a new commitment on ______________________.

______________________________________________
(your signature)                                              (date)

So, will you sign?
What commitments will you make?
Who will your colleagues / back-ups be?
(I think emails would be fine if anyone wanted to pair up with someone here.)
Will you continue with morning pages and artist’s dates?

:: Share! ::