On Creativity

I’m inviting you to live like a “full cup of self-love, sharing the overflow with the world,” and not like a half-empty cup trying to get filled. And when you do feel half-empty, to use your transformational practices and processes to fill yourself up- from the inside. —SARK

(via Fill Yourself Up From the Inside | Crazy Sexy Life)

Source: crazysexylife.com

2012-06-06

Michael Friedman, L.M.S.W.: Art Can Be Good for Mental Health

Much of the time spent working at art is practice rather than creative discovery (perspiration rather than inspiration), and practice, of course, is essential for building skill, which is itself a source of great satisfaction. Doing art also connects the person doing it with other artists and with audiences. It is, or at least can be, a source of important friendships. Doing art also connects the artist with a field of art, with a history and a language that goes far beyond what any individual artist does. Doing art has meaning not just for the individual doing it, but also for a society, for a culture.

Art also helps people to connect with and deal with their emotions. Art can help a person reach into largely unconscious parts of the mind and experience dimensions of self otherwise buried and voiceless. It can also help a person get a handle on emotions that are, to borrow a word from T.S. Eliot, “undisciplined,” and therefore inarticulate. Through the arts people can find voices to express dimensions of self usually left in silence. And through art, people can shape their own identity. Art is not just self-expression; it is also self-creation.

2012-06-05

Never compare your journey with someone else’s. It’s a marathon with no finish line. Someone else may start out faster than you, may seem to progress more quickly than you, but every runner has his own pace. Your journey is your journey, not a competition.

—

Cheryl Jacobs Nicolai

(via kind over matter: Do what you do brazenly & unapologetically)

Source: kindovermatter.com

2012-06-04

10 Creative People Share What Inspires Them | World of Psychology

Inspiration is everywhere — from the words of your favorite writer to the blooms and leaves on your morning walk. You just need to open your eyes, and breathe it in.

Sometimes it helps to talk to others who are creative to get ideas about what gets their creativity juices flowing.

Here, 10 creative people share the various things that inspire their beautiful works.

2012-06-03

The grace in falling apart | Escape From Cubicle Nation

Great, meaningful, deeply significant work happens when you really marinate in “the meantime.” It is not a distraction from the creative process, it is the creative process.

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The sound of rain on the metal roof. The smell of wet soil. Green. Green. Green. Ask me again in ten minutes, I’ll be grateful for something else. I plan on building a life made all of gratitude.

— Trusting Grateful Inspired Every Day – the biopsy edition | Being Poetry

Source: 02f6373.netsolhost.com

2012-06-01

5 Myths About Being an Artist « Bent Tuba Studio

You get to be an art-ist if you make art (or want to)… regardless of how often you do it (or have never done it before). If making art is important to you, if you can’t imagine never making your art again for the rest of your life (or never giving it a try), you’re an artist.

Seriously, this is important: What makes you an artist is the creative spark inside.

On Creativity

2012-06-10

Amy Neumann: Becoming a Creative Warrior

2012-06-08