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Archive for the ‘Creativity’ Category
Monday, May 13th, 2013
 I am delighted to introduce this guest article from IACCW Expert Eric Maisel. Enjoy!
If you want to live a creative life and make your mark in some competitive art field like writing, film-making, the visual arts, or music, and if at the same time you want to live an emotionally healthy life full of love and satisfaction, you need an intimate understanding of certain key ideas and how they relate to the creative process.
One key idea is that you must act confidently whether or not you feel confident. You need to manifest confidence in every stage of the creative process if you want to get your creative work accomplished. Here’s what confidence looks like throughout the creative process.
Stage 1. Wishing
‘Wishing’ is a pre-contemplation stage where you haven’t really decided that you intend to create. You dabble at making art, you don’t find your efforts very satisfying, and you don’t feel that you go deep all that often. The confidence that you need to manifest during this stage of the process is the confidence that you are equal to the rigors of creating. If you don’t confidently accept the reality of process and the reality of difficulty you may never really get started. Read the rest of this entry ›
Tags: confidence, confident, conscious creativity, creative, creative cycle, creative process, creative soul, creative spirit, Creativity, ideas, resistance, Writing
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Monday, August 6th, 2012
 Six weeks ago I broke a large bone in my foot and entered a phase of involuntary stillness that has been both challenging and surprisingly rewarding.
As a core component of my daily practice, stillness has been an integral part of my life for a long time. So I chose to accept this unexpected situation fully and see it as an extended meditation on stillness and surrender.
Naturally, there have been moments when I have felt a long way from this balanced perspective! Yet, overall, the requirement to prioritize physical stillness has opened up a whole new level of appreciation for the depth of creative potential accessible to us all through stillness.
Fortunately, there is no need for you to have such a dramatic entry point or such an extended duration of stillness to benefit from the conscious and creative gifts it has to offer.
Conscious Stillness
Conscious stillness means being fully present to deep inner and outer stillness at every level. Having a still body with a chattering mind will not deliver up the same results.
When we prioritize complete stillness, even for short periods of time, a whole new world is revealed. Imagine seeing the reflected world in the surface of a lake and suddenly finding yourself within the reflection looking out.
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Tags: conscious, creative, creative process, ideas, insights, readers, words, Writing
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Monday, April 2nd, 2012
 In a recent coaching session with a Mentor Program writer, I was reminded of the importance of refreshing our memory about core principles on a regular basis. This ensures we remain on track at every level as conscious & creative writers.
On this occasion, the prompt was to do with giving full permission to pause briefly following an extremely successful burst of creative productivity. This pause provided a much needed mid project recharge before diving in to the next phase of activity.
The core principle being applied here relates to the fact that the creative impulse arises from – and returns to – space. This alpha and omega of creative expression includes space in our schedule, space in our environment, and most importantly, space in our mind.
Even if we aren’t consciously aware of it, at a deep level the original creative impulse has its source in the space of infinite potential out of which everything flows.
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Tags: authentic, conscious creativity, creative, creative cycle, creative expression, creative process, space, writer, Writing
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Monday, August 1st, 2011
 Most writers know the feeling of creative abundance. The energy of it sparkles, ideas are plentiful, there is a natural sense of infinite possibility and a real clarity of focus.
Yet how often is that feeling fully present? For many writers, the answer to that question is not often enough!
We forget that putting energy out to the world on a constant basis means that we need to replenish our inner creative well regularly. Unless we do so, we end up having to write despite feeling depleted just to get our writing done.
Even if we understand the importance of nurturing our creative soul, other commitments and priorities – real or imagined – frequently take precendence.
Breaking through onto a new level of creative abundance with your writing requires a conscious choice to fan the flames of your creative fire. So how do you fire up your imagination to write?
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Tags: creative, creative spirit, imagination, inspiration, writer, Writing
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Monday, July 18th, 2011
 Conscious creativity of all kinds requires space – in your schedule, in your environment, and most important of all, in your mind.
Despite the best of intentions, many writers struggle to find enough time in their everyday lives to write.
Usually this is an indication that some form of resistance is at work. However, your schedule will always be full of other priorities unless you make a conscious choice to create space for conscious creativity – especially for writing.
Space in your environment can simply mean a clear desk on which to write or a clear corner in which to paint. And it can mean exploring the vast landscapes of the natural world with a notebook and pen or a sketchpad and pencil.
The highest priority of all, however, is creating space by emptying the mind to hear the guiding voice of your soul and for the richest levels of conscious creativity to flow.
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Tags: conscious, conscious creativity, creative, creative process, resistance, writer, Writing
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Monday, May 16th, 2011
 Q: Why is intuition so important?
A: Intuition can be your most powerful ally when it comes to writing your book. When you have built up your experience of listening to your intuition, it will serve as a reliable inner guide at each stage of your authorship.
Intuition plays a leading role in capturing and communicating your most original and inspired ideas. Intuitive writing will always deliver deeper, richer and more meaningful insights and stories than your rational mind can create.
To achieve the best results with your book you need to go the extra mile. Working consciously with your intuition will enable you to do just that.
Q: How do you define what intuition is?
A: Intuition is an important gateway to conscious creativity as it works at a level beyond the everyday mind. The hallmark of intuition is immediate and direct knowledge without the conscious use of reasoning. Rising above thought but using the mind as a vehicle, intuition is a distinct sense of Knowing.
People experience intuition differently. For some it is a distinct feeling that permeates the whole body. Others experience their intuition through visual or auditory impressions that often have symbolic meaning. Alternatively, intuition can make itself known using a mixture of these mechanisms.
Q: How can writers experience intuition?
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Tags: author, book, conscious creativity, intuition, writer, Writing
Posted in Creativity, Writing | 2 Comments »
Monday, January 31st, 2011
 Like many people at this time of year, I am just recovering from a bout of flu. Being ill is happily a rare occurrence for me so I had forgotten that flu has different phases. Just when you think you’re feeling better, you slide back down the ladder to feeling wiped out again!
All you can do is let go and surrender to what ‘is’.
The ‘one step forwards two steps back’ scenario combined with conscious surrender echoes something else you may recognize – the creative writing process.
Our muse does not (usually) respond to willful demands to appear and pour forth her magic through us onto the page. She cannot be forced to show her face and become our trusted creative partner.
Instead she requires an open-hearted invitation to inspire us to capture the faint sparks of potential that become the flames of our deepest writing.
She thrives on clarity of intention combined with the creative surrender that comes from trusting that greater forces are at work.
She shows up most when we learn to allow as well as to plan … and when we consciously live the full creative cycle over and over until it feels as natural as breathing.
How do we begin the process of creative surrender?
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Tags: article, book, creative, creative process, surrender, Writing
Posted in Creative Reflections, Creativity, Writing | 2 Comments »
Monday, January 17th, 2011
 In an ideal world, all publishers would love to publish books containing totally original ideas from writers who have entirely authentic voices.
In reality, there is truth in the saying that there is nothing completely new under the sun.
Yet most things in life are relative to your perspective. In the light of this, I see 3 levels at which writers can shine the light of originality:
1. Genuinely Innovative Ideas
Firstly, there are writers who come up with genuinely innovative ideas. They have the ability to see how a subject is developing or may be at its cutting edge with their research and development work.
If we were to investigate deeply within ancient wisdom, we may find many principles to echo the work being done today, as has often proved to be the case in recent years.
However, few of us have the aptitude, access or inclination to delve into ancient texts, understand their message and draw out aspects to be re-presented with fresh relevance for a contemporary audience.
For those who do, or for those who are able to write on the cutting-edge of information that readers today are excited to know, the credit of ‘original work’ is rightfully theirs.
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Tags: authentic, author, book, market, publisher, Publishing, writer, writer's voice
Posted in Authenticity, Creativity, Publishing, Writing | 2 Comments »
Tuesday, January 4th, 2011
 The New Year is a fabulous time to inject a fresh burst of energy into your plans for writing your book for publication.
So here are 7 tips to help you have your best writing year yet:
Identify what’s really important to you about your writing. So many people today live in the fast lane. As a result, it is easy to lose sight of what really matters.
1. Identify what’s really important to you about your writing. So many people today live in the fast lane. As a result, it is easy to lose sight of what really matters.
With your writing, being consciously connected to what is really important enables you to give yourself permission to prioritise your writing time. This means that you will get your writing done and feel more creatively satisfied as a result.
So start this year by taking time to re-connect to the source of your inspiration to write. Then write about that in your journal to refer back to in the coming months.
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Tags: action, author, book, creative process, inspiration, publication, vision, writer, Writing
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Monday, November 15th, 2010
 When it comes to writing a book, most people would agree that inspiration is a key ingredient. Yet inspiration alone is not enough. The sparks of inspiration need to be fanned into the flames of action for creative potential to manifest both on the page and in the world.
Inspiration is the first stage in the creative process. Writers who know their sources of inspiration and immerse themselves regularly in situations that are rich with potential never run out of ideas for their writing.
As the creative wheel turns, inspiration flows naturally into the realm of imagination where detail is added. Here the original impulse expands, and new, often unexpected possibilities unfold.
Yet without appropriate action, all of this remains as creative potential. Inspiration needs action to manifest its full spectrum of colours for everyone to benefit from and enjoy.
Writers need to understand that this creative dynamic applies to every stage of writing a book and becoming a successful published author – whatever form that takes and whatever definition of “success” is appropriate to you.
Inspiration and action combine for your words to meet the page and for connections to be made directly with your readership through your platform-building activities.
Obvious though this may be to some, understanding and applying what you know to your own situation each and every day takes real focus and commitment.
So here are 3 tips to support you to combine inspiration and action, with the emphasis on “taking action”!
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Tags: action, book, creative, creative process, inspiration, platform, potential, professional, readers, writer, Writing
Posted in Creativity, Publishing, Writing | No Comments »
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I am delighted to introduce this guest article from IACCW Expert Eric Maisel. Enjoy!
