Tag Archives: creative

Rediscovering Me

Posted on by
2

Week 3: The Artist’s Date

This week my inner artist was screaming for supplies, but I decided that even though I went to find the list of items needed, I wouldn’t settle for less than a magical date. I decided to go down to the shops in Old Town Battle Ground to see what was new. I parked my car at one end of the strip and planned to walk down one side of the street and back up the other. I didn’t get far before finding a great vintage shop called Rusty Glamour.

I hadn’t been shopping for old/new finds for quite some time, so coming to the vintage clothing section was a pleasant surprise. They had unique pieces of clothing perfect for any one with a sense of style. I found a flowing skirt and a couple of scarves so reasonably priced that I couldn’t leave without them. If the other pieces that I loved had been my size I would have went home with a lot more. My inner artist has been nagging at me due to how drab and boring my own wardrobe is, so how wonderful it is to have found a little shop that has a fresh idea, yet is affordably priced. I got a skirt and two scarves for only $30. To me these were a bargain. How often when you go looking for a bargain you find stuff that looks like it was a bargain? This wasn’t the case for me today. I expected the prices to be much higher on each item.

I ran into an old friend and caught up with her for several minutes until her daughter started getting impatient. The cashier/owner was also more than helpful and gave me the rundown on all of the other vintage/antique shops in town. She didn’t mind me taking a picture of my favorite corner of her shop either. It is a great feeling to have a clerk that is not rushed and is there to connect for a moment as a fellow person (something that department stores or online shopping cannot and will not offer).

Something that I realized after my time walking up the old section of town is that I am a country girl at heart. I love the feeling of being connected with the people and the spirit of the community. I also love the products and essence of what comes from that area. Those country finds help me remember where I come from and what makes me unique.

Image

Taking Care of Me

Posted on by
2

Week 1: Morning Pages

Although I am only five days into my Morning Pages, I have noticed a gradual shift occur.

On day one, I was crabby and just plain inpatient all day long. Feelings of resentment started to bubble over. I couldn’t believe how these pages had thrown my entire day off! I woke up early just to write and meditate and dog-gone-it, they had some how sucked every free moment from my allotted time. Somehow pressure from all angles seemed to be closing in. I felt almost stollen from. Doubts were creeping in. ‘How could I be so silly to think that I could keep up with all this?‘

The next morning I continued with my pages as I had committed to do for the year still with doubts that I could keep up with everything that I had added to my already overflowing plate. I complained just as I always do when beginning. I also realized some by that second day that I had the same things on my mind that hadn’t been resolved for three months. For my meditation, I chose a guided meditation called Positive Under Pressure by Alkimea   http://www.alkimea.co/1181-2/ . This meditation helped me to put my stress in perspective and showed me how my own thoughts were adding to the pressure that I was feeling (and of course the meditation also helped me to take on fresh energy).

By the end of the week I began reflecting on the shifts that I had noticed. I got ready earlier each morning and felt prepared for my days. The biggest change that I noticed was how focused I had been on self-care. Like many creatives, when I am in “the zone,” just about nothing else besides my creativity seems to matter (not even my hair!). I felt pretty this week because I was dressed to my shoes before logging on to my page each morning. It felt good!

Image

Openness

Posted on by
2

Over the last 19 days my creative community has been participating in a creativity challenge. This was actually the request of one of my favorite Mused “fans.” Though I really don’t think of her or many others as fans, but more truthfully as fellow creatives. She liked the idea of having a daily activity that we could all work on together. Throughout the event as people consistently participate, I am noticing individual themes emerge with their submissions. Today a new page was formed by one of the challenge participants. It is hard to explain how heart warming this is. While working on Mused, I have watched several pages get started. In fact, one page has more that 18,000 fans to date! I believe that most of us just need a little encouragement to be ourselves in order to share our creativity with the world. We are doing an important task by nurturing our inherent trait of making, doing, creating. Carry on!