I am just thrilled to have Sue of Magnolias West back with us today. Longtime readers may remember the last time she visited to talk about Resolve. She had us clearing the obstacles between sacred intention and moving toward powerful action. Today she is back to talk passion…

I am both passionate and indecisive by nature. (Scorpio Sun, Leo Moon, Gemini rising). Many things trigger my passion and then flame out unless I can remember to tie commitment to the tail of my passion. And the commitment doesn’t occur to me until I’ve learned another painful lesson.

The lessons, they just keep coming, don’t they? And if I don’t get the message of a particular lesson the first time around, I don’t have to worry, because the lesson will repeat—and repeat—until I do get it. Love that! And then, when I’ve surrendered, and accepted the teaching, the bar just keeps getting raised. Learned that, did you? Okay then, now learn this!

I’m getting ahead of myself. So…

My journey has been, for the last year and a half plus, in equal parts about 1) being of service to my tribe and growing my business, and 2) dealing with a chronic, so-far undiagnosable health condition. It’s funny, when I got sick I didn’t plan to be sick for a very long time. Of course. Who does? I had no way of knowing it would turn into a condition. Which it did. An everyday, without fail, serious digestive condition that has impacted my strength and my stamina.

I’m a pretty passionate woman.

[Fair warning: fierce honesty ahead.]

I was passionate about chasing oblivion for 22 years. I used substances to soothe my discomfort, unsettledness, never-enoughness for a long long time. Getting, and staying, loaded was my primary goal. Each and every day for a long long time.

Then I got clean and sober. And spent over ten years in a dumbfounded WTF state. Yes, I’m a slow learner, and it took me a long time to come around to being glad, and grateful, and in touch with the good. Luckily for me, I finally started to find new outlets for my passion, positive, productive, joyful outlets.

Now I’ve been clean for as long as I used, and now I’m passionate about things like:

• being of service

• living a worthwhile and productive life

• making sure  people who have touched me and changed me for the better know how much I love and appreciate them

• eating locally and sustainably—I even grow some of the food I eat!

• taking exquisite care of myself and living a moderate and healthy life

How did I apply my passion to this health condition, you ask?

• I had tests. Even stool analyses. Twice. Now that was fun! You haven’t lived until…

• I went to nutrition doctors, acupuncturists, woo-woo chiropractors, holistic MDs, and even a shaman.

• I changed my diet and then I changed it again. And again.

• I tried one set of remedies and supplements. And another set. And another. Including the pharmaceutical anti-parasite treatment that almost killed me.

• I chased a cure with passion, and commitment.

And I got really really tired. And disheartened.

Luckily for me, addicts are really good at making habits—bad or good. So even though I was sick and tired of being sick, I was able to stay in my commitment to show up for my life, no matter what. Part of that commitment includes a daily meditation practice. And because I am easily bored i kept seeking out different guided meditations. I eventually found a series of healing meditations led by Deepak Chopra. In one, the focus is to imagine sitting across from yourself, from your dis-ease, and love her just as she is. To sink into compassion, and acceptance, and love for your own sick self.

I didn’t really like doing this the first time, because it invited me loosen my death grip on resentment and discouragement, and I was oh, just a little resistant. But then I found myself coming back—and back again—to the concept of acceptance. I found myself dancing with new thoughts and questions:

• Maybe I don’t need to be so pissed off and feel so damned sorry for myself, what could that look like?

• Maybe I can feel love, compassion and mercy for myself and for what is—I felt lighter just to entertain this concept.

• Maybe I could even find my way to gratitude!

This is seriously embarrassing, but I’m gonna tell you anyway: I specialize in gratitude; it’s a cornerstone of my practice and my writings. I blog about gratitude all the time. I’ve been a gratitude-list writer for over ten years. And never once, in the sixteen months (to that point) that I had been sick, not for one second did I think of being grateful. Yeah, I know, pathetic.

Once the gratitude door was opened, even just by an inch, everything began to change. Once I got to…

• …I’m grateful I don’t have a diagnosis of a terminal disease; I’m grateful it’s not worse

• …I’m grateful that I’m strong enough to show up for my business, my clients, my tribe

• …I’m grateful that I have enough stamina to garden, to do yoga, to walk (okay, not so well up hills, but still…), to socialize, to love, to work

…Once I got around to expressing gratitude, my relationship with what is got funneled down to this now moment, and the next.

And then I stopped chasing a cure

Since the context and my perspective shifted for the better, I found myself rethinking my process.

I made two decisions.

One was to stop chasing the cure. To stop throwing money and time at sets of remedies and take a break, a six-week break–for starters–from supplements, and homeopathics, and herbs and tinctures and more. I’m in that six-week period now.

The second decision came from an even more embarrassing (let’s just tell the truth and call it humiliating, shall we?) realization. I have had a really unconscious relationship with food. All my life. Yes, I’m that one. I’m the one who eats while I watch TV while I play games on my iPad while I’m talking on the phone. And I inhale my food.

So guess what I’m doing during this six-week abstention from cure-chasing? I’m inviting more mindfulness around food. I’m bringing all the passion and commitment I can to this. I’m restricting my distractions when I eat to just one. I can read a book. Or I can listen to the radio. Just one. Not two, not three. And for one meal each day I’m going away from my books and tech toys and eating in the sunshine, watching the birds and the garden.

I’m surrendering. Instead of chasing healing, instead of looking for the right and perfect formula that will cure me, I’m inviting healing. However it comes, whatever it looks like, I’m open to receive.

Feels different, and a whole lot better than chasing.

How do you manifest your passion, precious? What does it take for you to tie your passion to your commitment. Talk to me. I’d love to hear from you in the comments.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sue Kearney is Chief Inspiration Officer at Magnolias West, a coaching, branding and web design practice. She is a dancer, DJ, artist, gardener, cook, and a maker of herbal remedies as well as a fermenter of foods like kombucha and ‘kraut. Sue is a student of astrology, tarot, and a practitioner and facilitator of women’s spirituality.

Sue coaches women in business who want to integrate their most sacred heart’s mission and soul’s purpose in every area of their business. She offers the Unmask Your Brand program, where the passionate woman in business can fully express her heart and soul in her brand, website and social media marketing. She also offers the Share Your Magic coaching program designed to help you envision, manifest and sustain the business of your dreams. Connect with Sue at Magnolias West. You can also read her blog, subscribe to her spiritual and practical newsletter, and follow her on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest.

Maybe I should have stayed in bed.

At least then I could have avoided another day rattling around the notion of passion with only this thought or that coming to mind and providing no clear direction.

Ouch. Sort of sounds like my life for a couple of decades.

Gave up the only dream I had of becoming a doctor late in high school, and the rest is history.

No passion to speak of and certainly no obvious direction to head.

Welcome to Lost Life 101.

The upside of wandering I suppose, is being afforded a lot of time to wonder about passion – and the lack thereof.

One must have a passion after all, right?

Do what you love and never work a day in your life.

How come everyone else had a passion except me?

I didn’t want to live a life of drudgery.

Everything nebulous inside nagged and screamed there was something more important for me to do.

My passion must be somewhere!

If I searched long enough surely I would find my one magical passion and life would be set.

But what if I got it wrong? What if I found a passion I wasn’t totally passionate about? Wasn’t willing to die for?

Then what? More wasted time no further ahead?

A case of Perfect Passion Paralysis was setting in.

Passion is supposed to be big, larger than life, and propelling as much as fulfilling.

My recollections of those heightened rushes of energy didn’t feel like passion at all. Bull-in-a-china-shop, dog-with-a-bone, and cattle-prod are more accurate descriptions.

They also felt closer to fleeting than sustaining.

If a life of passion meant living from one peak of frustration to the next, I wasn’t sure humdrum looked so bad after all.

About the time I’d almost given up I started to see woven threads in between. I became the observer of myself being a moth to flame.

I didn’t need passion to have a purpose full life.

Life was coming through softly right in front of me.

Passion is a powerful force, a sister to Lust having Love as their parent if there was such a family.

An energetic high is the result of both, similar to the body’s adrenalin rush.

The heightened awareness is invigorating and enthralling, which only serves to exaggerate the presence of lack.

But only when we interpret the absence as a loss or emptiness.

Just as lust gives way into a deepening of Love not accessible otherwise, so too does passion give way to a deepening of and opening to our true selves.

As long as we’re looking for that high we miss out on the greater possibilities waiting to come through.

Many passions are before us as the many expressions of who we really are. We are by no means limited to simply one.

I now see passion as a signal to look deeper for what else lays underneath ready to come forward.

And won’t fret so much when life appears mundane.

Living Bliss is a jump-in-with-both-feet look at where Life bumps into the everyday – whether at work, play or times in between. Bliss knows no separation in the end. From a deeper dive into the ordinary pops forward the extraordinary life we search for – and has been there waiting for us to be.

Not quite a crazy cat lady – yet? – Lorraine’s insatiable curiosity of life leads her to explore, question and push beyond the box. A self-professed “left-brained creative big picture idea” type, she has an intuitive knack for seeing possibility everywhere and in everyone, and is a moth-to-flame for being part of turning possibility into reality. More of Lorraine’s musings can be found on her blog.

Spaceship Earth at Disney World

If you spend any time with a kid, you probably know that they are very passionate about many things.

Many, many things.

You’ll often hear a child exclaiming some of the following:

“I love that song.”
“I love those purple light-up sneakers.”
“I love pizza.”
“I love little fluffy kittens.”
“I love going to the park.”
“I love ….”

There’s a lot of loving and enthusiasm going on with kids. (And if you’re lucky, some of that enthusiasm will be aimed in your direction.)

However, one thing you rarely hear kids do is JUSTIFY their passion, their enthusiasm, by default. Adults tend to do that. “Oh, I just love ______, it’s so ______” Or “I relly love _____ because ____”. You never hear a kid doing that, automatically validating *why* they should like something so very much. You never hear a kid trying to justify *why* she is so enthusiastic about something. She’ll come up with a reason if you ask her, but in general, kids just know they like something because it makes them feel excited or energized or happy or content or _insert positive emotion_ here. And that feeling is more than enough for most kids.

So here’s what I want to know:
When was the last time you just felt *passionate* and super excited about something without following it with a justification, or an explanation? When was the last time you kust loved something or did something without there being a justification? When was the last time you were just *excited*, pure and simple, and let the fact that it made you excited be ENOUGH?

If you are anything like me, it’s been a long time.

So I decided to just quickly list the things that I *really* like, not for any particular reason but simply because I felt really strongly about them, in a good way. I tapped into my “inner kid” and asked her what she got excited about, and here’s her unordered list:

I’m passionate about:

swimming every day, my family (including my pets), gardening, writing, getting mail, art supplies, colors, well-being, sleep, order, lists, great music, movies, friendship, the humane treatment of animals, not over-scheduling, education, big giant salads with lots of olives and balsamic vinegar (I know this is kind of a kooky one, but I eat a big salad with olives and vinegar every day, and I’m pretty obsessed with salads in general), crochet, tea, sketchbooks and pens, possibility and inspiration, the color blue, SUNSHINE and blue skies, flowers, soft sheets, rainbows, chocolate…

And another thing that I really, really like is going to Disney World. It’s been too long since we’ve been there, so on Friday, Tom and I jumped in the car early in the morning and made the four hour drive north to Orlando so we could spend the day in Epcot with family. It felt very spontaneous – all day long I kept thinking “I can’t believe I’m here!” My inner child was delighted and enchanted.

And going with this PERMISSION TO PLAY challenge, I tried very much to just ROLL with the day instead of being the micromanager of everything we were doing. It wasn’t easy- I was constantly catching myself thinking “how can we optimize our limited time here? what should we do next so that we can do everything we want to do today? what’s the quickest path from here to there?”

And then I would look at Gracie and see her laughing and skipping along, excited about most *everything*, and I realized that “optimizing time” didn’t matter, shortcuts didn’t matter- what mattered was that it was a beautiful late spring day, I was with my family in a magical place, there were a lot of amazing things to see and experience. Just being there was exciting. Why would I want to try and find a shortcut? I’d miss so much!

By reminding myself that I needed to behave like a child just a little bit more, I was able to see things I never saw before even though I’ve been to that park at least a dozen times. I was able to slow down a bit and really enjoy myself the entire afternoon and that was probably the most magical thing of all about our little day trip to Disney.

So in that spirit, I’m going to try and bring some of that magic with me to other things this week. I’m interested to see what happens and if I notice a shift in myself.

I’d love to hear what YOU really like, what you are passionate about. Please leave a comment and share your list.

“Passion” by Tamara Magnisky

Is there any doubt that Tamara’s daughter has passion?  Passion’s energy is so perfectly depicted in this photo!

Welcome to Passion week. This week is about having passion clearly depicted in our lives!

PASSION – a fervent or extravagant fondness, enthusiasm, or desire for anything;
experience of strong love or sexual desire.

January tells us, “Passion yearns for us as well.”

Passion by January Handl

Somehow passion comes from yearning…
like the dancing shadows on the floor,
there is a hint of moving objects
and signs of the source of light and love,
but we are mesmerized by the beauty
of the nuance and symbols,
entranced away from truly seeing
the strength of the sun.

Passion springs forth
without sight
but with radiant vision.
Without clamorous sound
but with choral vibration.
Without halting words
but with voice and power.
Without tentative touch
but with tremendous connection.

Passion yearns for us as well
as we yearn for it-
the longing for release
and relinquishing hesitations;
silencing the inner-critics admonitions
then jumping into the fire of knowing
with both feet,
hair flying back, with the wind sending
exhilaration and joy
deliciousness and righteousness
into a fermented
mingle with the sudden
absence of time, place or past
no -future rushing toward us
just this endless moment
we were born for this.

Yes! We were born for passion!

So what is it for you? What brings you the most exhilaration and joy? What things cause you to lose track of time? What is it that calls to you?

This week our Bliss Initiative is to answer the call of our passions.

Tell me, what is calling you?

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tamara and January are here each Monday to help set the mood for the week!

Tamara Magnitsky

Tamara Magnitsky, a child of the wild blue yonder,
has been an ardent student and advocate for poetry, photography and excellence in general.
She is the mother of a 6 year old daughter and a beloved wife.
She can be found most days.

Bio written by Cary Brosius ~Tamara’s husband  :)

January Handl

January Handl is first and always a mother, has been a preschool teacher and parent educator for 25 years. She is currently the Director/head teacher at Gazebo Park School, and lives at Esalen Institute in Big Sur. She lives simply in awe of existence.

She calls her photo “hot tub bliss”  :)

The ability to transcend traditional ideas, rules, patterns, relationships, or the like, and to create meaningful new ideas, forms, methods, interpretations, etc.

Welcome to the Saturday Blog Party! This week’s topic is Creativity. This means we are looking for everything and anything on the topic! Tips, tools, Points of View,Your process, your crafty art projects, literally Everything and Anything on the topic are all welcome.

I will start things off by sharing three posts that I think speak beautifully on the topic:

• The 5 S’s: Magic Bullets for Blasting Through Creative Blocks-  Great advice from Sue Mitchel of your Muse is Calling for those times when you are feeling stuck. She also offers Creative Juice, creativity prompts to help you create the habit of creative inspiration, go on subscribe now!
• How to be a seriously rad motherfucker-  This is a get under your skin, kick your soul into high gear type of post by Johnny B. Truant. I read this post whenever I want a little inspiration about building a great site here. The same information can motivate just about any creative pursuit read it now to ignite any project!
• 9 Extreme Creativity Questions from Peter’s Laws - By Mike Brown, in the Creativity section of Brainzooming.  “A sampling of extreme creativity questions you can use to take a big swing at game-changing results.”

Here are the rules for this party:

1. Share NEW and OLD posts on the topic. This is your chance to share your favorite posts. If they fit the topic and you think we could benefit it doesn’t matter when you wrote it. Wisdom is timeless!
2. Share your’s and other’s posts! Ran across a timely tidbit? Let us hear about it too! When sharing someone else’s posts please designate this  and say submitted by using your name or blog name.
3. Leave a comment after posting letting us know why you think the post is worth our time. We are building a knowledge library and your context makes it all the more valuable!
4. Have Fun! I hope to make this party a fun and valuable addition to your weekend blog hopping.

Note: If you don’t have a blog to share, ETSY collections and essays are most welcome. Let me know if you need help linking them up!

I look forward to visiting all the treasures YOU add to the collection!
Outrageous Joy,
Kathy

P.S. Next week we will be “Speaking of Passion” and looking for posts that will foster this Bliss Habit!

PASSION – a fervent or extravagant fondness, enthusiasm, or desire for anything; experience of strong love or sexual desire.

Linda Adsetts is here with her weekly Go for the Joy message from The Group. Enjoy!

Linda is feeling a bit under the weather this week so I’ve updated an old post with new art and brought it back for your enjoyment! Wisdom is timeless and this creativity message is worth hearing over and over… 

So fun!! Earth and Sky Play Silk Waldorf Tie dye
by Desert Dyeworks

As I was musing upon creativity during the past few days, The Group’s voice would filter in. “You are all creators and as creators each of you is creative.” Is it that simple I wondered as I sat to write this message, looking for the words to convey a lead in to their message. “Of course it is that simple Linda! Silly you-you know you are a creator. It is the primary reason you chose to land on planet earth. It is the reason everyone chose planet earth. You get to create on her in a way that you cannot create anywhere else in the universes. And yes-there are other places to be.” I can feel their smile as they tell me this.

“But planet earth is a very unique playground. Creation is not instant and because it isn’t instant there can be huge satisfaction in the creation process. A part of you knows that it can be instant in other arenas-instant creation and instant remoulding, changing it up if your creation doesn’t please you. On planet earth it takes time to create and within that time you get to sift through the various options available to you, as you create.”

“Everyone is creative. Some of it is very evident as some of you paint, sing, build, craft, sculpt and write. Other times it is not so obvious as you quietly craft a beautiful meal or knit a scarf for a loved one. What you have upon planet earth are big contrasts and those big contrasts have made some of you feel small in comparison as you create. If I cannot sing as well as that superstar then why would I sing? If I cannot paint as well as that master then why would I paint? If I cannot write as well as that bestseller then why would I write? We might point out that your children do not feel the same way. You could learn a thing or two from them.”

“There can be much joy in the doing of the urges that burble up in you. And in the doing you can find your own voice as it were and the more that you play in the playgrounds that you choose you are strengthening the creative talent within you. You will find that each effort is more pleasing to you.”

“What you must understand is that anyone who is in the public eye and receiving praise for their creative efforts in whatever field that may be in, is driven to that. They cannot help themselves. It is their path. But you have your path too and it may not be as big but it is as important. Whatever energy you contribute by way of your own particular creative pursuits is added to the whole. That energy is expanded and drawn upon by others. It is waiting for you to be engaged.”

“Your creative pursuits are important for your well being and for planet earth. When you strengthen those creative pursuits, whatever they are, you give everyone on planet earth-past-present and future-an energetic field that will change, mould and provide soulutions to any challenge you are presented with. That energy that you put out in your cooking, acting, writing, building, designing, painting, sculpting, music expands the whole and ultimately expands your experience of it too!”

“It doesn’t get better than that dear ones. Creators create and creators are creative-no ands ifs or buts and you are all creators. We wouldn’t kid you on this! We can hardly wait to see what happens next-oops there is another incoming soulution…we wonder who will snag it?”

Go For The Joyous Creating-the world awaits you!
The Group

Linda Adsetts is a  healer, medium, psychic reader, channeller and writer. She receives channelled guidance and inspiration from The Group, a gathering of spirit who teach that our souls’ path is best expressed when we come from a place of joy. You can read how Linda got started down this fascinating path here and on her website where she shares daily messages from The Group.

Join her each Friday on Bliss Habits for an inspiring take on each of the habits.

~~~~~~~~~~~

More about Desert Dyeworks:  playsilks come in a myriad of colors,sizes, and sets. In addition, Kathy specializes in intricately tie dyed and hand dyed mandala play silks. Play silks are fun, whether a single color, big, small, or worn like a fairy skirt! Check out her shop here. 

Welcome creativity seeking, sharing, loving, bliss boosting friends. As I sat down to think about boosting creativity I couldn’t help but think that MOST of you have even better ideas then I could come up with if I scoured the internet and other reference material for years. Fully half of my readers have ETSY shops showcasing their talents and those of you who don’t have an etsy shop probably should think about opening one!

So, today I am revisiting some of my favorite Creativity Boosting ideas. Click on any of the links to find more ways to get the creative juices flowing but at the end of my list I’m going to ask you to share your favorite tips.

Learn something every day 

I live by this one. Good advice for living!“Creativity often involves adapting an idea to make it your own. Continually expose yourself to new ideas and the creative well will never run dry. Always have a book on your nightstand, if you can. Download audio books or check them out from the library to play while driving or exercising. Above all, learn something from every  experience.” 

From the web site Here to Create‘s post entitled 9 tips to be more creative. The tag line from this blog is “We are here to create, not merely survive.”

Dictionary Diving 

This is a fun idea, I’ve tried it with the dictionary and other books. Works with pretty much any written page. ”If you’re stuck for an idea, open a dictionary, randomly select a word and then try to formulate ideas incorporating this word. You’d be surprised how well this works. The concept is based on a simple but little known truth: freedom inhibits creativity. There are nothing like restrictions to get you thinking.”

From Jeffery Baumgartner’s Ten Steps for Boosting Creativity.

Creative Sparks

Here is a great one for writers or anyone looking for another way of thinking, What if Creative Writing Prompts. “What if? We love to frame questions like this. Fortunately these questions can typically help the creative juices flow as well. Try using these “what if” scenarios to spark additional ideas for stories, poems or whatever your heart cares to write.”  

From the site: LitBridge - a space dedicated to the professionalization of contemporary writers.

Do something childlike once in a while. 

“…and you don’t have to have the children there as an “excuse” to do it. Sit and play on swings/draw/paint “silly” pictures — have fun. Children are incredibly creative and as adults we could learn a lot about how they view the world.”

From 10 Ways to boost your creativity by Julie Plenty

Additional material: Childlike creativity: Nurturing Your Creative Mindset by Cat Robson for Talent Development Resources.

Read Random Magazines

“Every once in a while, I pick up several magazines that I would never ordinarily read. It’s surprisingly interesting and useful. And I love the feeling of possibility that I get whenever I browse in one of those stores that carries 500 different magazines.”

From Gretchen Rubin’s The Happiness Project: 7 tips I use to spark my creativity. 

I expand on this tip by gathering a bunch of these random magazines and I rip out pictures or words that inspire or interest me. Just the act of grabbing and ripping the paper seems to get my creative juices flowing. Sometimes I make collages or vision boards to support what ever project I am working on, other times I just file any pertinent scrap that inspires in a folder I keep just for that purpose.

 So what about you? What are your favorite creativity boosting tips? We would all love to hear!!

Oh great. Creativity week and I suck at being creative.

Far too much gets lost in the translation when I pick up a paintbrush, attempt writing a poem or pluck at a guitar. Heck, I remember the piano teacher strongly urging my mom to seek other pursuits for me. Does colouring outside the lines count?

Creative is something I’m not, and probably never will be.

At least that’s the story I like to tell myself.

Especially when I come across people who can draw or paint really cool things, write something delectable, capture the world they see differently or take walking and chewing gum to a whole new level.

How can I possibly compete with any of them?

I can’t -

until the story runs old and thin once again for me to remember creativity is an expression, not a competition.

Painting and guitar picking may provide an eternal source of envy, but nobody ever said they had to be “my thing”.

Some of the best meals I’ve eaten are spur of the moment creations from this-and-that in the cupboards and fridge.

Recycle bins are possibilities-in-waiting for an afternoon with kids. Spur of the moment is a great time to whip up a new game to play. Or let the next silly song burst through.

Casing a crooked door, making the most of an awkward basement, and building portable cold frames to fit awkward spaces all cross the barrier of left brain and right.

As does seeing the world through clients eyes, making change not so scary, and designing services to bring out the best in who you are.

Creativity is not a thing or object to be achieved, but an energy to let flow. Creativity is meant to work through us, not against.

As long as I expect creativity to appear a certain way, I cram creativity inside a box. I’m going to struggle trying to be something I’m not.

As long as I try to be something I’m not, I’m not going to feel the energy of creativity flow.

Round and round in circles I go on a well disguised diversionary plot.

The more I bring attention to what creativity really is, the less I can deny how creativity flows throw me – and everywhere. My old story gives way to a new one and I feel free to move once more.

And I appreciate all the help in remembering when I forget.

Living Bliss is a jump-in-with-both-feet look at where Life bumps into the everyday – whether at work, play or times in between. Bliss knows no separation in the end. From a deeper dive into the ordinary pops forward the extraordinary life we search for – and has been there waiting for us to be.

Not quite a crazy cat lady – yet? – Lorraine’s insatiable curiosity of life leads her to explore, question and push beyond the box. A self-professed “left-brained creative big picture idea” type, she has an intuitive knack for seeing possibility everywhere and in everyone, and is a moth-to-flame for being part of turning possibility into reality. More of Lorraine’s musings can be found on her blog.

“All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make, the better.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson

This week, I was ready to start making art again. Well… sorta. I was ready to do *something* in my studio, something that involved paint and hole punches and paper and glue. But I didn’t want to think about it too much. I really am averse to making ANY decisions right now. I just feel exhausted in that department, depleted. And creativity can get very, very fussy as far as decision making goes. What shape, size, design, color, application? Just writing those questions makes me feel tense.

I have been thinking a lot about childhood these days, about life as a kid, about the things in life that are created *for* kids. And one of those things I thought about is a playground.  A playground is designated space full of structures and things like swings and slides that is specifically for kids.

When a kid seeds a playground, they know that they can go and jump and run and yell as much as they like- the space has been designated as “safe” and “play” and therefore, they can just *go to it* and not worry about what the adults might say about their activity.

I was thinking that I needed a “playground” for myself, a space that was DESIGNATED for play and “safety” and exploring and making messes. I figured I already had my “slides” and my “swings” (in the form of paints, stamps, markers, pens, etc.), I just needed a place to put them.

So I decided to make myself a playground journal- a journal made up of scraps of paper that were already marked up that I could just open and PLAY in.

Meaning, if all I felt like doing was stamping down the same stamp 400x, I could open to any page and do that. Or do it on a bunch of different pages.

If what I felt like doing was playing with red paint, then I could open up the page and do that, too.

If all I felt like doing was doodling flowers, then there would be space for that, too.

I can either work on a new page, or I can open up the book to a random spot and continue working in that page. And when a page is “done”, I can simply take it from the binder mechanism and move it to the front. And in time, the journal will come together.

So I started out with a simple American Crafts binder- an 8×8 album. It’s got two rings inside.

It comes with a bunch of small page protectors, but I removed those and instead went on a tour of my paper collection and pulled out some paper I have had for a while but couldn’t find the right use for. Large maps, sheet music, paper bags, ledger paper, etc. I wanted something to be a good background, but nothing that would be so colorful or patterned that it would “guide” what I decided to do on the page. I also used quite a bit of the K & Company Life’s Journey paper pad, which is PERFECT for this sort of thing.

I made a little collection of papers and cut them into different sizes so that they fit into the binder (some 8×8 square, some 7×9, some 3×4, some 8×2, etc.) Then I put a thin coat of white gesso (a primer that makes a piece of paper more of less water-proof and better to hold up to paints and liquids) on each paper, front and back, punched holes in them and put them into the binder.

In the back, I included some graph paper and some large lined index cards (both easily available at your local supermarket or drug store in the school supply aisle), in case I want to do some writing and sprinkle those pages in with the art.

Within a few hours (a very FUN few hours), I build myself a little creative playground, from scratch. I not only provided myself a space to just create – no rules, no worrying about “ruining” anything (the variety of papers and the fact that they are not “pristine” makes it so much easier to “ruin” them by marking them up. And at any time, I know I can open the binding and move the paper around- but by creating the project, I got to use my supplies again and “warm up” for more creative stuff in the future.

And a few days after I made the journal, I had the urge to play with paint. And so I sat down with my watercolors, cup of water, a few new fat paintbrushes, and  my “playground” journal, and I did this:

I don’t know what it is. I don’t know if it’s finished. All I know is that I had fun doing it. And I’ll leave it be until I feel like doing more with it. It’s there for me, like a swing gently waving in the breeze, beckoning me to jump on and have fun.

“Through the Looking Glass” by Tamara Magnitsky

Welcome to creativity week!! As we get started, let’s pause to recognize the most creative of relationships:

“Co-creation” by January Handl

My children birthed me

Many times through our time together,

We have labored over

Our relationship

Our independence

Our interlocked destinies

We have adventured as “family”

Fought as friends do, with

Our least selves held in honor

At some core level

While our higher selves

Offered bridges of joy

And reflections of gratitude

Side-splitting times of laughter

Silent understandings,

And connected times of sorrow

They have offered me opportunity

To parent myself again

As I witnessed my wounds and worries,

Flaws and failings

Through the interchange of our love

And deeply realized my strengths and offerings,

Gifts and passions

Through the memories we have

made with each other

After 50 plus years on the planet,

I am more deeply realized,

knowing more surely the most hidden parts of

My existence

The most vulnerable aspects of human life

The greatest possibilities of being-ness-

Through this one role:

It is the richest vein of learning

The single most channel of wealth

I have experienced:

Through the tunnel, river, canyon, ocean, sky

called “mother”

Tamara finds creativity “through the looking glass” and with her marvelous eye capable of seeing more than I ever would. January celebrates the opportunity and pure creativity we have in our core relationships. Creativity is always a magical offering, waiting quietly in our day to day meanderings ready to offer something new and different to transform the moment.

CREATIVITY – The ability to transcend traditional ideas, rules, patterns, relationships, or the like, and to create meaningful new ideas, forms, methods, interpretations, etc.

How will you use the magic this week?

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tamara and January are here each Monday to help set the mood for the week!

Tamara Magnitsky

Tamara Magnitsky, a child of the wild blue yonder,
has been an ardent student and advocate for poetry, photography and excellence in general.
She is the mother of a 6 year old daughter and a beloved wife.
She can be found most days.

Bio written by Cary Brosius ~Tamara’s husband  :)

January Handl

January Handl is first and always a mother, has been a preschool teacher and parent educator for 25 years. She is currently the Director/head teacher at Gazebo Park School, and lives at Esalen Institute in Big Sur. She lives simply in awe of existence.

She calls her photo “hot tub bliss”  :)