Someone recently asked me, “What do you do to find rest?” My oxymoron reply, “I have to intentionally work to find rest.” Except for the times when life throws me in bed with an illness or unresolved grief, I have to plan for rest. My strong work ethic was forged on the family farm where […]
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Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about creativity. Partly because I’ve started a new group called Creative Connections. Partly because I learned more about creativity through the books and presentation of Julia Cameron. And partly because I like the topic. After pondering about creativity, I’ve come up with two definitions: Writers understand the whole making-something-out-of-nothing
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Stuck. Between the third and fourth chapter of the gazillionth revision of my novel. A segue exists somewhere, but I CANNOT find it. I know it will come…“Somewhere over the rainbow.” But the frustration of the moment calls for a break from writing. A massive piece of comfort chocolate. A gap of time to contemplate
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While meeting with my spiritual director, she suggested I consider the questions, “What if?” In one of the workshops I teach, the “What if?” question is presented as a fear tactic artists sometimes use to procrastinate. But in this instance, I was to think about the “What if?” as a possible direction, even a vision-making
Isn’t it interesting how we can tell others what to do but not apply that same wisdom to ourselves? With my writing clients, I often ask, “What are you doing for an artist date?” The artist date comes from Julia Cameron and her best-selling book, The Artist’s Way. An artist date is an intentional setting
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Many of my friends choose a special word for the year. It helps them focus on annual goals and gives them the motivation they need every day. For some reason, the word of the year has not worked for me. Instead, I hang on to a verse for the year. During the last weeks of
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As I walked out of Hen House with my groceries, he was loading his trunk with food supplies. He smiled, then asked, “Are you from New Mexico? He pointed toward the tag on my car: “New Mexico — Land of Enchantment.” “No,” I said, “but I’d like to be. It’s on my bucket list to
A national magazine asked me to write an article about becoming emotionally overwhelmed. So I hammered out 1600+ words. Yet, even as I wrote, another reminder of self-care affected my thought processes. It has taken me so many years to believe and write this truth. But one purpose of a blog is to be forthright
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The month of February has always been difficult for me. Usually, the cold and flu bugs continue their romp so the air is filled with germy spores. This year, we are still in the grip of the insidious COVID-19 pandemic. February’s weather is too cold for leisurely walks, and the ground too frozen for gardens.
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When I first read The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron, an a-ha flashed. Through its pages I learned creativity is a gift, a blessing from the Creator to each of his beloved children. The more I recognized my own gift of creativity, the more I began to nurture it. Artist dates, inspired by Julia, became