Palace of Possibilities

It seems we are all looking for a way to focus UP rather than getting caught in the negativity of this DOWN cycle. I personally don’t watch the news or read the newspaper but I do utilize the internet to give me fresh and helpful ways to stay tuned in to our world and feel the positive vibes. And I’m not just talking ‘feel good’ stuff like funny videos. Explore my site a bit and you will find some helpful things…some of my own observations and ideas and others that I glean from my peers and friends.

Today I discovered the ‘Scary Times Success Manual’ over at Strategic Coach. Written by Dan Sullivan in 2001 (after 9/11) and resurrected now as a helpful position for these economic times, I found the 10 points worthy of my attention. In fact I recommend them as a routine way of life, not just for stressful or ’scary’ times. The Strategic Coach program, by the way, is for top executives in major corporations. Yet, I can’t see why these 10 suggestions wouldn’t be helpful for any of us artist types or entrepreneurs. There is an audio for listening to Sullivan or download a pdf document of the whole article if you want to check it out for yourself.

Here are some highlights of what caught my attention: Continue Reading »

Tags: gratitude, scary times

(from March 08 Coming Alive! newsletter)

I have the belief that we are all creative geniuses . . . AND that a significant number of us wear disguises! In a nutshell, being creative is not about thinking up stuff but rather about expressing who we are. Usually that requires an audience of some sort, which naturally requires some risk-taking and courage.

Yes, you might argue, you can express purely for your own pleasure and have a great time exploring the boundaries of your being right at home in your own living room or workroom. But anyone who has danced with a group or read poetry in a group or sung in a choir, for example, can tell you that there is something beautiful shared among the group that feeds each person’s creative expression. To write a novel that never gets read or write a song that never gets heard is not truly exploring the boundaries of self-expression. I call it wearing your disguise.

There is apparently something about the creative self that wants very much to bust through the apparent boundaries. To be acknowledged perhaps. Or maybe just because it feels grand to be whole and giving freely of one’s gifts. To be able, at the end of this lifetime, to look back with no regrets can be a worthy accomplishment.

Withholding one’s gifts could serve a purpose. If you are holding back, wearing a disguise that makes you appear average, normal, sane, acceptable, life could be more level and manageable. Or it could become boring and flat-line. We are born with this body that holds us back. Remember when you believed you could fly and then found out the limits of this physical body you inhabit? Somewhere along the way we have added new garments to our physical limitations - creating a ‘cover-up’ for our true essence.

The disguise looks different for each of us. Your environment may have fed you ideas about looking good, being smart or being invisible. And these cover-ups became a habit (think nun’s habit!) to remind us not to reveal too much. It has felt safe and secure to fit in, to be accepted.

Somewhere along the time-frame, life seems to bring each of us to a cross-roads where we start to question. Is this all there is? What happened to my dreams? Is there really any reason to get up and face the day? And sometimes we become angry as we notice others who seem to express the very attributes we once thought ours. Indeed, if you see it in others, it is true for you also.

So where to begin? How to disrobe and shed the extra layers of protection? I usually advice baby steps. I have observed if the inkling is there to make change or do something new and you don’t begin the baby steps in that direction then life can throw you a loop that forces you to address the loss of essence. The soul cries out and demands wholeness.

What baby steps could you take to stretch more creatively? It could be that taking a class or reading a book about someone you admire might help jumpstart you in a new direction. But ultimately, you will want to DO something differently - to be something authentic.

Read More….Creative Practice Tips offers 4 suggestions for beginning steps toward a more creative life expression.

Cynthia

Tags: Creativity, Self-expression

4 ‘baby steps’ on the path to authenticity and creative expression: Continue Reading »

Tags: Completion, Creativity Tips, Giveaways, Gratitude. Adventure