Fabulous Friday May 04, 2012

Gutsy Girl Fabulous Friday May 04, 2012

Weeks seem to fly by when you have Fabulous Friday's.  Seems the very act of accountability, helps your awareness in the process. Between Fabulous Friday's and Tuesday Tips - my awareness should rival the Buddha shortly....KIDDING!

Fabulous Friday is about what creativity we saw in our lives this past week - where we either allowed creativity, recognized we didn't allow it, shared it, stuffed it, sold it, bought it -doesn't really matter...
As long as we were in touch with our creative voice or motivations.

My Roundup

1. I finished (I think) my Gutsy Goddess of Compassion.  I know I could do other things with her, but right now I am just loving her simplicity and Grace.  She is not so much about Compassion to others, as she is about having the GUTS to be compassionate with yourself.
2.  I have worked like crazy on some creative brain storms for my SEO Small Business clients.
3.  Been studying my little brain away - taking a few courses in visual arts right now.
4.  I have tried to LISTEN to comments from people who care about me who have suggestions for how my life might be easier if I listened to them. :-)  (Thus the POLL - have you taken it?  Look to the right -maybe scroll up just a wee bit, of your screen)

\I could tell you a few things I haven't done - like kept my home clean this week, paid my bills on time, or run on my training schedule.  OH WELL- My Goddess Of Compassion says " Harmony - give yourself needed rest and love - us Goddesses don't need a perfect home to be happy!"  AND I SAY YAY to the Goddess in me!

How about you - where did you allow your creative juices to work with you this week?

Tuesday Tips

 Tuesday Tips -Creative Resources for May 01, 2012

Every creative person loves resources - a playground for the imagination. This edition of Tuesdays Tips include help in communicating online, help for business minded people in integrating creative skill into work, and free tutorials for those who really want to express themselves with visual arts. Enjoy!

1. Creativity for Communication-If you have a blog or communicate online and want more readers, you might find this article helpful over at Problogger. It is a guest post on how to get people to listen to you. Although that is the title, I would actually suggest it's more about on how to be heard.  Getting people to listen is another study.  Great info tho.
2. Creativity for Art Play - Art is Fun - if you are really new to art, or want to learn to play around with art - which is HIGHLY encouraged by the Gutsy Goddess (:-) then you might love this site.  The resources are free and there are some great tutorials.
3. Creativity in Business - Take an assessment to find out how effective you are at using creativity in your day to day professional life - to solve problems, implement programs or make decisions.

Love to hear what you think.  Feel free to leave a tip of your own.

Creative Type Series - 30 Seconds to Bliss

Creative Type #2 - 30 Seconds to Bliss

a work in progress - i am loving the texture tho

Creative types tend to find ways to create, no matter how little time they have.  They must or they shrink. The creative type is always looking for ways to open, to expand, to give birth to something; an idea, a solution, a picture, a design - whatever.

Unfortunately, we don't always have hours to create.  In fact, finding AN HOUR can be challenging.  To keep yourself fit and creatively active - use the 30 Seconds to Bliss technique.

30 Seconds to Bliss Techniques

1. Look at the time on your cell phone - and time yourself.  How many words can you think of that have "able" it it?
2. Take a notepad and pen (or napkin - even toilet paper will do :-), time yourself and write as many names of people as you can think of that you have not spoken to in a year.
3. Take 30 seconds and record on your cell phone as fast as you can the topics you would like to write about on your blog.
4. Turn on the microwave timer to 30 seconds and bend - from the waist down - let your arms drop to the floor - no pressure, just as far as they can go, and let you head hang up-dside down. Don't worry about the outcome.  Just do it. Maybe try doing it several times on one day and notice the result.
5. Look at the time on your computer (30 second segments please) and open notepad. Type out words as fast as you can...no second guessing, any words.  Now take 3 of them and write a sentence using those words. Now...you tell me, what happened?

Okay, try one or more, and tell me how it goes. :-)

I will go first and do the 30 second type word exercise - right in front of you, no holds barred. (its a bit unfair since I have already been writing, but here goes)

giggles, spelling, sincere, happy, job, why not, go there, been there, sad, happy, joyful, distant, girlfriend, lover, single

"I got the giggles when I thought about my girlfriend, her lover and why I am single!"

What's your story? :-)

Are You the Creative Type?

Are You the Creative Type?  Check Points to Discover Your Creative Quotient

Like many people you may wonder if you are the creative type - if you could ever create a painting, build a dune buggy without a guide,  start an vineyard out of a field of dry dead looking earth, whip up a meal out of a few veggies, or write a book out of some off-beat inspirations you received while dreaming dreams you don't dare mention in public.

Today we begin a series of posts on Creative Types - helping you identify indicators more common in "creative types".  Just because a person is potentially creative however, does not mean they are in fact, allowing creativity to flourish in their life.

Read it and let it simmer on the back burner of your mind - ask yourself some questions, but don't try to force the answer.  Just listen to yourself when your "self" is talking. Typically this happens when you least expect it - like driving, cleaning, walking, showering, sleeping, napping, etc

Checkpoint #1-Creative Type People May Get Bored with Routine


Creative types usually do something a bit differently just for the fun of it.  They are not always concerned that things be done the way they are always done, that they take the same route they always take, that they use the same ingredients the recipe calls for, or wear the same outfit with the same shoes.
They may change careers more often than most, get bored with sex the same way every time, even mix it up and enjoy a debate - especially if they can represent the point of view they don't personally embrace.


Important Note - Seemingly contradictory are the habits of highly creative people - who by nature often create rituals or routines with which to build the discipline around their creative lives. That is a practice to enhance creative ability and flow and not the topic of this series. Our point today is to recognize the restlessness of people who want to create, and perhaps do not have the outlets to do so, which may result in boredom and an apparent thirst for adventure.

So What About You?

That's it.  Let this simmer on your minds back burner and don't worry about it.  Well talk more next time.

Got comments or thoughts - you know what to do!

What Do You Do On Your Down Days to be Creative?

Creative Juice on Down Days

Down days - low energy in the tank.
Life seems grey
and not much fun.
Loads of expectations
but nothing done

Sometimes I am just painted out
no more "ta daah" in the tank
and that's okay


It's okay to simply work like a bee
Doing what isn't possible, until it is.
Not worried about results or emotions
just riding the wave
along for a ride to grey
Till the blues and greens and pinks and purples appear
And I am feeling the Creative life again.

Where Does A Creative Idea Come From?

 Creative Idea Comes From the Dynamic Integration of Your Experience

Composing Creative Thought

To be realistic one must always admit the influence of those who have gone before ( Charles Eames)

Don't get hung up on where your creative ideas come from.

Let's be really honest.  Most likely it is not unique.  The general idea might have existed before you did it, thought it, played it or put it on paper.

BUT WHO CARES?

We are a composite of so many textures, colors, ideas, voices, influences, experiences, opinions, cultures,  and societies.  They all mish-mash in our consciousness and our subconsciousness and WHALLA...our creation.

It's not about competition.
It's not about winning.


It's vitality. Purpose. Flow


Enjoy it.

Must Creative Juice Create Things?

Must Creative People Create "Things" to be Creative?

Daikon - Mmmm Tasty! Photo by Hancockseed.com

I read a post the other day from a creative teacher who said that after he had studied hundreds of creative people and worked with creatives that he has concluded that you will know if you are a creative person - "if you create things."
While I understand his point - it suggests a polarity of thought from GUTSY ARTS.

You are creative.  Period.

You were born with the ability to think of things a different way, to see something different than it is, to solve a problem using the unexpected, to find resources for what you need - in other words to be creative.

One doesn't need to produce a Mozart sonata to be a creative person.  You may never be a Stephen Spielberg or Meryl Streep.  But baby, you "guts"creativity.

Cultivating creativity it is another issue.  Recognizing it in your life - takes awareness.  And learning to play with it - is an extraordinary gift you can give yourself.

Here is an exercise for today: 

Eat something different.  (Trust me on this)

Go to a different cafe if you live in the urban centre, go to a different deli, and even better - pick up a few things you never have picked up before and make something at home.  Try out some new veggies (or just try a veggie for pete`s sake!).

Recently I plundered the market for daikon.  DAIKON?  In my California and Colorado childhood I guarantee you, we never had Daikon - and neither did my friends or neighbors.

A full size daikon is HUGE.  I learned about it from Alicia Silverstone at the Kind Life.com (for vegans)
 
When I had my first bite (a sample at a farmers market) I thought immediately -  "no way"!  It was bitter, much like a radish.  But the clerk suggested I take it anyway and grate into a salad, add to my miso soup, or roast with veggies.  I did.  And I am here to tell you after 6 months, that the Daikon is a new member of my veggie family.

I practiced a precursor to creative juice - openness, flexibility, willingness to experience something different than I know it to be.

So try it.  Just go eat something different today.  Be open.  Be Brave. Be Gutsy.

Things to note: how willing were you to try it, how much resistance did you feel, did that feeling of resistance feel familiar, what did your head say when you had the new food at your lips?  Just how willing are you to unleash your creative?

Creative People Kinda Itch

Itching to Get out of a Rut?

If you feel that hankering, uneasiness, restless, unsure feeling about your decision, your choice, your dream, your boyfriend...you just might have the Creative Hives.  Creative people kinda itch sometimes.

When my son was 6, our family took a summer evening stroll corner store.  I was playing with the kids, and doing some hide and seek .  Out of NOWHERE known, but so loud it was thunder I heard these words "get Joshua away from the street."

I didn't.  I didn't trust myself because I knew I had a fear about the kids and cars on the road.  I thought it was fear speaking.

Moments later, Joshua was hit, and we fought for his life.  (He turned out great!)

I had creative instinct, gutsy chatter, but I didn't know it clear enough to listen.

The same can be said when you run out of an ingredient for dinner and you need to improvise.  When you do that, you are practicing your creative muscle - the one that tunes into somewhere deep, and finds the answer you need.

But we get crusty.  Tuned out. Turned off. Rigid. Vanilla.

GUTSY ARTS is about the ability to stir up inside yourself your awesome voice.

Travel with me.  Let's learn together.

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Are you itching yet?

Creative Guts - Gutsy Arts

I GOT GUTS

I have not always had the courage to take my artsy creativity out to the public - that's cause I thought I needed to be an artist to give me the credibility to share on creative thinking, feeling and splashing about. Wrong.
Gutsy Arts is about a way of life
Living gutsy is more than spreading paint or ink around, more than molding and sculpting and knitting a row.  Living gutsy is an ART FORM.  It is a process, a philosophy, a passion for living like every day matters, and to be able to FEEL something...(even something uncomfortable) every day.  When you live near your creative edge, there is some excitement, some mystery - a question that begs to be answered.  But then again, just having the question feels vivid and alive.
It may include paint or wood, or plaster or spice - creative juice may make words fly on a page or a wall- but in truth, it's the vital aliveness we are after- and the rest, is GRAVY. 
So join me on the journey - no guts- no glory! 
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