Down with those disconnected sentences that are so meaningless you need a translator to help you understand them.

Who wants to plough through reams of inferior stuff whose only purpose it is to confuse the search engines?

Many PLR articles too, are mostly poorly written rejects that their authors are too embarrassed to own publicly.

Bloggers often find it difficult to update their blogs with fresh content on a regular basis. Of course it’s difficult and of course, as bloggers, we’re all game for a short cut here and there. But blogging is a craft and it’s a creative one at that.

A page or two of original writing has more value than volumes of meaningless scraped content. That is why blogging should never be an exercise in scraping bits and pieces from the Internet just to get regular content out.

If you don’t feel like blogging for a week or two – then so be it.  Just blog when you feel like it. But let it be your own writing with your own original thoughts.

And in the continuous interaction between life and death the destruction of the old brings forth the birth of the new.

For without destruction there would be no creation.  Without death there would be no life.

Together, creation and destruction form the complete picture of life in all its nobility and ephemeral beauty.

We would not look at the fragile beauty of a rose with such poignancy if we thought that it would last forever.

Its beauty is enriched by its evanescent moment in time; its loveliness enhanced because we know it will decay.

The beauty of a sunset or the loveliness of a rainbow would be diminished if we thought they would last forever.

And life is more poignant because it is fleeting like a beautiful butterfly on a summer’s day.

In a way, perfectionism is the fear of making mistakes.  It’s a fear of failure.

For example, what is writer’s block if not a form of perfectionism where you get paralyzed because you are too afraid to make a mistake?

Mistakes are an important part of the creative process. If you want to create  something you have to be prepared to make mistakes and stick your neck out. Creativity is not for the faint of heart.  It’s for the bold and brave in spirit!

How often have you seen a child painting with joyful abandon, completely unconcerned about the outcome?  Ask that child what she is painting and after a brief moment of thought she will come up with a precise answer.

“I’m painting a rainbow and a house and a little dog,” she will tell you.  And if you can’t see it that’s your shortcoming not hers. In her mind, the painting is perfect.

But tell her that she is painting it all wrong and you will soon see the momentum of her creativity disappear.

Here is a case in point.

Sally was only 9 when she decided that she wanted to be an artist. Already a perfectionist, she loved drawing and made a neat little book of fine, penciled sketches.

Then some well-meaning friends introduced her to a professional artist who showed her into his studio and overwhelmed her with his larger than life canvases and colourful, bold paintings.

Back at home she took out her meticulous little drawings and careful sketches and looked at them with dismay.

They now seemed so insipid and insignificant that she could only regard them as evidence of her own inadequacies rather than the fine sketches that they really were.

She soon lost heart and after that no one could persuade her to put pen to paper again.

Another child might have been inspired to see the artist’s studio but Sally, being a perfectionist, had a fear of not being able to reach the standards she had set herself.

A sad little story

I think it’s a very sad little story and a classic example of the destructive influence of a fear of failure – perfectionism.

And if you think it only happens to children – just think of the last time you had writer’s block; or left that painting half done. Or gave up playing the piano or – - I don’t really have to remind you do I?

The bottom line is – create with abandon.  Create with passion.  But don’t set such high standards that prevent you from ever starting.

See also Perfectionism can ruin your relationship

We’ve all come across people who hide behind a facade of pretense and whose real personalities are completely camouflaged. With handwriting analysis you can remove the mask in minutes.

Family members, friends, competitors and even rivals will be easier to understand. Not only will it help you to understand the people nearest and dearest to you, you will also be able to see into the characters of those not so dear to you!

When you study someone’s handwriting you are not only looking at the written page.  You are delving into a real live person’s feelings, motives and behaviour.

Of course, not to be overlooked is the actual learning experience itself.  Because the subject matter is so fascinating.

You can collect the handwriting samples of the rich and famous, of historical characters or of your own ancestors.  From their handwritings alone you’ll be able to discover so much about them as real people that it will amaze you.

You can examine the handwritings of presidents, royalty, politicians and film stars such as Frank Sinatra.  You can even delve into the mindsets of serial killers such as Jack the Ripper and Jeffrey Dahmer.

The possibilities are endless.

No wonder so many people get hooked on the study! It gives you a whole new understanding of all kinds of people.

In most cases, yes!  They aren’t deterred by public opinion and they aren’t scared of flouting convention.

Convention is a stifler.  It kills creativity and no creative person can function in a restrictive environment.

As a creative thinker you have to be willing to kick over the traces. To be able to challenge well-established boundaries you cannot concern yourself with what other people think.

To break new ground you have to be able to think freely.  And to create new ideas without worrying about maintaining the old conventions you have to be fearless.

It’s well known that societies that are too predictive stifle their artists. Even so, there have been many brave thinkers who were not stifled by the conventions of the societies in which they moved.

Scientists like Galileo, artists like Picasso and writers like Salman Rushdie today are good examples of fearless, creative thinkers.  They were not only intellectually fearless – that goes without saying – but with regard to Galileo and Rushdie their physical liberties were also severely compromised.

People like these have independent spirits. They are the creative thinkers who are able to crack open the old moulds and set free new, exciting or even revolutionary ideas.

We don’t all have such independent spirits but we all have some latent form of creativity. What we need to do is learn to respect our own creativity and above all, act on it.

One of my favourite crafts is pressing flowers. If you haven’t tried it yet you don’t know what you’re missing!

I use pressed flowers to make greeting cards and pictures and they always attract attention. But most of all, I enjoy making them.

Greeting cards made with pressed flowers are completely different from the ordinary printed variety. And you don’t have to be particularly artistic – the flowers do everything for you!

Here are 5 of my flower pressing tips to get you started:

1.     An important tip when you start to press flowers is to make sure that you only use fresh flowers. Flowers that are not at their best tend to lose their colour very quickly.

2.     See to it that the flowers you press are always dry. Dry flowers press the best because they have little moisture to spoil them. Remember that any damp flowers will simply collect mould and even spoil any other pressed flowers that are next to them.

3.     Try to secure a regular source of flowers for your pressing. For example you will need to be able to rely on your own garden or a market or a florist for a suitable supply of flowers.

4.     Do not try to buy expensive flowers for pressing.  In general, the best flowers for pressing are the least expensive ones.  In fact, orchids, roses and exotic flowers do not press well at all. You will soon find that you will rely mainly on inexpensive, very ordinary and easily obtainable flowers.

5.     You also should not be tempted to invest in expensive equipment. A flower press can easily be made using readily available material that you have in your home. You can easily make a flower press with bricks and hardboard. There really is no need to complicate matters by purchasing ready made flower pressing kits.

Follow these tips and dive right in. Remember that the most important step of all is to get started. Begin with just a few flowers and you will soon start to experiment and enjoy this lovely creative craft.

If you would like to find out more about pressing flowers try Flower Pressing Secrets

But before I get diverted, there is one type of craft that I think is far more important than any of the others and I would like to spend a few minutes discussing it because it is so all encompassing.

I am talking about crafting your own life.

So many of us go through life from day to day at half mast! We get through the boredom of our daily tasks and sigh with relief as we tick them off our “to do” lists.

But what we don’t always realize is that our thoughts and actions contribute hugely towards creating the circumstances of our lives.  Just by our attitudes alone we can lift our lives from the mundane and boring to the heights of creativity and passion.

Of course it helps a lot if you have a craft or creative pursuit that you enjoy.

But to be truly creative, you have to be fired up.

No truly creative work can be accomplished in a mood of boredom. A lacklustre attitude will permeate your craft. You have to be passionate about what you do.  You have to be in a state of fired creativity.

Your Deepest Desires

There is only one way to reach that level of passion.  You have to get in touch with your deepest desires.

Your deepest desires are the things you absolutely crave to do.  The things that give you that magical sense of flow when you don’t even realize that time has passed while you were working.

Only your deepest desires can motivate you to reach your greatest achievements.

So if you find your heart’s desire – something you’ve always wanted to do and you have the opportunity to do it – don’t hesitate and deliberate till you lose the impetus.

Go out there and craft you life!

Did you ever make your own bows and arrows or build kites and fly them in open fields? Or galloped on a horse so fast that your hair blew in the wind?

When I was a child we did all these things and more.  We knew how to entertain ourselves without electronic or adult input. We ran, climbed and jumped. We were healthy and wiry and we learnt how to build and design things.

We used our imaginations to create plays, puppet shows and concerts. We discovered or made secret hideouts under arching trees and overhanging branches.

We found solutions for practical problems and we were physically confident and self-sufficient.

Today children have play stations, computer games, ipods and other electronic toys that keep them indoors, staring at screens for hours at a time. They are not nearly as physically fit or active as we used to be in previous generations and we find that there is a growing and worrying obesity problem everywhere.

To me one of the saddest things is that children in cities no longer know how to climb trees. They may have jungle gyms at school but how many of them have actually climbed a tree?

While we have become slaves to technology our children are paying a hefty price for it.

The best gift that we can give children today is to encourage and help them to be more creative. It’s no use limiting their TV or computer time without providing any enticing alternatives. We need to show them exactly how creativity can be rewarding and more fun.

But we can’t expect them to become interested if we don’t try to be more creative ourselves.  Simply telling them won’t cut it either.  We have to set the example by being more hands on and involved ourselves.

It may require a change of mindset or even lifestyle.  But don’t you think it’s worth it?

Or let me phrase it another way – do you wish you could change your handwriting to make it more beautiful?

So many people admire good penmanship.  The type of handwriting that looks artistically designed with pretty little scrolls and curlicues. Anyone with a pretty or decorative handwriting is much admired – even envied.

Then there are those less fortunate individuals with really ugly handwritings.  We’ve heard such handwriting described as “chicken scratchings” or worse.

Anyway, I think it’s time to dispel one of the many myths about pretty handwriting.

• The fact is that pretty handwriting isn’t the most desirable type of writing to aspire to. And I’ll tell you why.

Graphologically speaking, a handwriting that is pretty and decorative and not much more reveals very little individuality or depth of personality.

Any writer who concentrates on the appearance and style of the writing is more focussed on the decorative aspect rather than on the desire to communicate meaningful information.

Here is an example of pretty handwriting:

This writer is more concerned with appearances than with any serious intent. The focus is on form rather than on function – on decoration rather than intent.

Of course there is nothing wrong with that.

But take a look at this handwriting:

It may not be decorative but it shows individuality, strength and character.

Do you know whose handwriting that is?  None other than the great psychoanalyst Freud himself. You can read more about his handwriting at Freud and Jung

So where do you fit in? Maybe in-between or somewhere completely off the chart!

It doesn’t really matter. I have just tried to show that pretty handwriting is not the be all and end all of style and desirability.

So if your handwriting is less than pretty – relax. It may just show a bit of individuality!

And by the way, if you are interested in a seeing a light-hearted approach to graphology with lots of handwriting fun for beginners go to Graphology-World.

Nothing can compare with the joy of working with real flowers. Not only because of their beauty but because they hold a special meaning for us.

I think that part of this meaning lies in a flower’s fragility and fleeting existence. We know that it will only last for a short while.

A flower is but a brief moment in time.

When you press a flower you capture that moment in time and preserve it in a picture where it will always be able to jump-start a memory.

It can be a flower from a wedding bouquet, a leaf from a memorable holiday or a gift from a loved one.

Pressing flowers isn’t just about sticking flowers to cardboard. It’s so much more than that. Pressing flowers connects us with nature.

It’s a way to appreciate the joyful little things that money can’t buy, like a new bud, a curved tendril or a delicate petal.

It makes us more aware of the beauty in nature and gives us a way of looking at the world with appreciative eyes.

How to press flowers