Posts tagged as:

Motivation/Inspiration

Honor the Creative Process

by Barbara Martin on June 30, 2009

in Creativity, How to Tips

Are you committed to the process of making art, or are you one of those creative types who, as Eric Maisel describes in Coaching the Artist Within, would much rather imagine that other (lucky!) people’s creative projects finish themselves joyfully and magically by effortless genius while you, meanwhile, refuse to get out of bed?
Dilemma: [...]

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Wrecking This Journal Week 1

by Barbara Martin on June 12, 2009

in Creative Juice

First week of Wreck this Journal. I’m amazed to find myself tempted to write in it rather than wreck it. For me, a blank journal usually sits empty and forlorn and lost and neglected; I hate the blank pages! So maybe the suggestive pre-entries have warmed it up for my writing urges?
For the [...]

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In Coaching the Artist Within, creativity expert Eric Maisel discusses the mental energy required to create. Unlike physical energy which is based on food/sleep inputs, mental energy depends on your interest, passion, desire, concern – the intensity you apply to creating. Your mental energy is depleted by mental activity, including creating – and not creating! [...]

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Let’s Wreck this Journal

by Barbara Martin on June 4, 2009

in Creative Juice

For the next few weeks I am playing Wreck this Journal on the interwebz. I gather it might be fun, maybe interesting, maybe even a bit reckless. Dunno about that, how much trouble can you get into with a paperback book? Anyhoo. You are welcome to play! All you need is a copy of the [...]

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Meaning Making as Life Purpose

by Barbara Martin on June 3, 2009

in Motivation & Inspiration

Although he has devoted a lot of time and energy to studying, writing about and coaching creative people, Eric Maisel’s life work, in my estimation, is all about helping people learn the skill he terms “passionately making meaning” – or living according to their stated life purpose. He explains how to develop your own statement [...]

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Exercise Improves Creativity

by Barbara Martin on April 14, 2009

in How to Tips

Throughout The Artist’s Way, Julia Cameron stresses how blocked creatives tend to be stuck in our own heads, and how the antidote to blocking is to take action. To keep moving, to embody the spirit of “Create or Die” is a strong statement, but I think it is true for creative people. There is an [...]

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Creativity Altar and Rituals

by Barbara Martin on April 7, 2009

in Motivation & Inspiration

Julia Cameron urges us to devise a personal creative haven, complete with an altar to our creativity, plus creativity rituals. This “safe zone” offers a tangible physical connection to our creativity and rituals keep us spiritually centered, grounded, palpably linked to our creativity.
It is important to note that the full title for Julia Cameron’s [...]

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Creative U Turn

by Barbara Martin on March 18, 2009

in Creativity

Each time I’ve come through The Artist’s Way Chapter 8, I find myself on the verge of precisely what author Julia Cameron addresses in Chapter 9: making a dastardly Creative U-Turn. It’s likely you’ll find yourself in the same risky situation because it’s not unusual!
The Artist’s Way Process
The ninth chapter of this powerful creativity manual [...]

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Dream Do Create

by Barbara Martin on March 17, 2009

in Creativity, How to Tips

Estee Lauder said, “First comes the shy wish. Then you must have
the heart to have the dream. Then, you work. And work.”
A similar thing could be said about the creative process. You might have an initial inspiration, a spark, an idea, a feeling. But to bring that creativity to life, you must take action. [...]

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Too Lazy or Scared

by Barbara Martin on March 17, 2009

in Creativity, How to Tips, Motivation & Inspiration

According to Julia Cameron, many creative people spend years mislabeling themselves. When we do not create the way we think we should, we label ourselves lazy when in fact we are blocked by fear. The way past fear, asserts Cameron, is through love for your inner artist. Your inner artist is like a child in [...]

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