I’m sitting in a coffee shop with my sketchbook, drawing the mugs hanging above the counter. I take out my water pen and rub it over the graphite pencil sketch to make it look more artsy. That feels pleasurable, and I sigh. I finally understand what my writing clients have been experiencing for years. They have gone from ... continue reading
Barbarians at the Creative Gate
Sometimes I feel like Rapunzel. There I am in my tower, creating away, uninterrupted (that’s the key word here) and delighting in my work. When I’m in the zone with my creative process, people can yell and scream from the ground, but I’m not letting my hair down to give anyone the old heave ho into my private chamber. I ... continue reading
How to Create From Ease Rather Than Push
Life is short. Certainly too short to leave creative desires behind… or to do them from an unpleasant, inauthentic sense of push. I know – this is the balance I struggle with all the time. Yet I always find that moment when the struggle drops, freedom arises and my writing (or other project) flows. When I stumble, I ... continue reading
Creative Courage… and how to Strengthen It
It’s hard being a Creative. Yes, it’s also fulfilling, enlivening and essential. But some days it’s dang tough to put yourself out there… again. There’s the tight feeling in your chest when you present something and don’t know if people will be more mesmerized by the fly on the wall than your words. Or when you write a ... continue reading
Writing from the Body
There’s a common misperception about writing that is pervasive. I lived it for many years, and it thrives in popular culture: that we write from our minds. Turn on a TV channel and there it is – a writer at his desk, a look of puzzlement and consternation on his face (to convey all that hard thinking), and then he ... continue reading
Balancing the Yin and Yang of Writing
When my neighbor hollered at me over the fence, I was annoyed. Couldn’t she see I was deeply in my writing process? As the calls persisted, I realized what she was seeing might be a bit misleading. I wasn’t at my computer or furiously scribbling on paper. I was sprawled on the hill in our backyard with my eyes closed, the ... continue reading
Weathering Creative Tsunamis
Recently, we adopted a little tsunami. A four legged one. Yes, he’s a small dog. After fostering dogs over the summer we became “foster fails” come fall. But what logically should have been a big celebration, for me, became a tsunami of emotions and angst. You see, I love dogs and have always had them, so it was to my ... continue reading
Dusting off the Artist Date
Raise your hand if you’ve ever heard of Julia Cameron’s “Artist Date?” I see a lot of hands out there. Possibly some eyeball rolls, too. Including mine… until recently. In our current round of Women’s Circles, we are exploring awakening creativity and purpose in midlife and beyond. And one of the practices is the artist ... continue reading
Slowing to the Speed of Creative Joy
I was feeling pretty rattled. I had been attending an all weekend writer’s conference, and would be presenting in the morning. Meantime, a dozen people were coming to our house for a dinner party in 30 minutes. A big thunderstorm was coming... and I had promised everyone that before eating we’d be outside for some ... continue reading
Creative Reluctance
Creative projects are messy. They ooze and flow outside the lines, bubble out of the pot and get sticky goo all over everything. They do not respect boundaries. They do not stay in the lines of linear thinking or time. They are sooooo inconvenient. Let’s face it, there’s a part of us, maybe the biggest part, that ... continue reading