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Mar
14

Joy and Creativity

 Welcome!  This week we’re turning our focus from creativity and mindfulness, to joy and creativity.  

Let’s talk a bit about the nature of joy.  Psychiatry professor George Vallant reminds us, “We can laugh from either joy or happiness, but we weep only from grief or joy…Without the pain of farewell, there is no joy in reunion…without the pain of captivity, we don’t experience the joy of freedom.”  Happiness is cognitive (a state of mind), where as joy is affective (an emotion).  Joy is the least studied of all the emotions – but that is changing with better technology and being able to look more specifically at brain function. While happiness is not joy – often we can use happiness clues to lead us to our joys.  Happiness is a choice we make. Joy appears when we are deeply moved or when we accomplish something deeply meaningful or fulfill our natures as human beings. Humanistic psychologist and classic creativity theorist Rollo May’s writings link the concepts of joy, creativity, and human potential with anxiety.  Joy almost always shows up when we’ve overcome a challenge or worked hard to make a discovery or create something original. None of those things are easy – even when certain people feel they have ‘a gift’ – it does not bear fruit unless the ground is plowed and the seeds are planted and tended for a long, long time. Does this mean joy is out of reach for most of us? Absolutely not. In fact, doing something very simple – daily – can turn you into a virtual joy magnet. It required making joy and creative action a priority. You must also be willing to take baby steps in the direction of what you love – a dream, a project, something you’ve always felt a desire to do. By giving yourself as little as 10 minutes a day indulging in some ‘positive pretending’ and small actions you can see joyful syncronicities showing up where you least expected them.  A link will be provided later in this post to walk you through the process if you so desire.

“Joy, rather than happiness, is the goal of life, for joy is the emotion which accompanies our fulfilling our natures as human beings.
It is based on the experience of one’s identity as being of worth and dignity.”
Rollo May

Have you been practicing mindfulness for 15 minutes a day?  Are you seeing some benefits from journaling? I’d love to hear about your experiences. For me, mindfulness plus movement triggered great creative results.  Keep that in mind as you begin to explore your joys and use them to direct your creative play activities for the week ahead. Given the disaster of the earthquake and resulting trauma in Japan – we are reminded to be grateful for this moment and the blessings surrounding us – seen and unseen.   In times of emergency – we reach out to help others in our global family.  Life is precious precisely because there are no guarantees.  No one is promised a tomorrow. We have an obligation to ourselves and the world to use each day to the fullest doing what matters most to us. Joy and gratitude always appear together. It is simply impossible to feel waves of joy without being drenched in gratitude.  I invite you to reflect on what you may be taking for granted in your life right now.  Then as part of your creative actions for the coming week – reach out and make a positive difference in your world. By sharing a smile, a hug, a hand written letter, or a compliment  or encouragement – you will open doors to your own potential.

“Begin doing what you want to do now. We are not living in eternity. We have only
this moment, sparkling like a star in our hand, and melting like a snowflake.”
Marie Beyon Ray

What does love have to do with it?  Decades of research led E. Paul Torrance, the man many call the father of creativity, to conclude: “One of the most powerful wellsprings of creative energy, outstanding accomplishment, and self-fulfillment seems to be falling in love with something – your dreams, your image of the future.”  Harvard researcher Theresa M. Amabile’s studies also show: “The best way to help people to maximize their creative potential to to allow them to do something they love.”  So what is your creative dream?  What would you do if you knew you could not fail?  Part of the reason you are on this planet right now is to pursue that passion. The dream and the dreamer are always matched. You would not have your particular dream if you did not have the means – right now – to begin walking in that direction.  This is not to say the dream will turn out exactly as you imagined, but I will assure you it will lead you to the place you need to be to find joy and meaning in your life.

 Did you know dancing with joy literally builds new brain cells? 

Biologist Carla Hannaford, PhD, reports:
 ”Self-initiated movement, exploration, interaction and physical experience for the joy and challenge of it, facilitates neurogenesis (nerve growth) for a lifetime.”

 In her fascinating book, Smart Moves: Why Learning is Not All in Your Head, Hannaford makes it clear new brain cells (neural connections) can ONLY be grown if we’re totally focused on (and enthused about) an activity.  What makes us most excited?  JOY!  Creative projects offer a great mix of challenge and joy.  If an idea gives you lots of energy – it has the potential to bring you joy.  What are you inspired to try?

Can you tell me 10 activities which bring you joy?  Before getting out of bed in the morning, spend 10 minutes thinking about what brings you deep joy. If you’ve never made a joy mandala, check out this link:  ActivateJoyPower .  Many people find this technique transformational. With a little practice, you can move joy into your ‘top of the mind awareness’.  When that happens you’ll begin attracting more and more joy.  My life is filled with joy because I use it as my GPS in life. My current ‘top ten’ creative joys are:  1. Zumba classes 2. Nature walks 3. Journaling 4. Making collages 5. Reading & researching 6. Being a creativity catalyst 7. Finding great quotes 8.  Creating and sharing inspiring ‘tweets’ on Twitter 9. Taking a trip to Ukraine with my kids 10. Latin music & dancing.

I’m happy to report I had my most creatively productive week since starting this project.  I give the credit to my joyful Zumba instructor, Tammy Davis, at Terries Workout Center in Buffalo, NY.  Her classes are sing-out-loud fun and energizing.  I love the results so much I’ve decided to commit to doing 40 Zumba classes (5x a week) between now and May!  If Zumba is too big of a stretch for you – commit to taking daily walks or swimming laps. It doesn’t matter what you do – as long as it makes you smile and fills you with energy.

In addition to making more art, I experimented with different processes. Normally, I create my collages inside my journal, but this time I painted a canvas board hot pink and used it as my ‘joy collage’ base.  How many of my joys can you find?  After completing my ‘joy collage painting’ – I painted facing pages inside my journal and then collaged them, too! 

“It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge.”
Albert Einstein

Creative Prompt #1:  Think about what brings you joy and start a joy list in your journal. Spend the next few days looking for small ways to experience your ‘joys’. You’ll get extra brain cells for trying something new. What creative project have you been wanting to do?  What’s stopping you?  

“What if imagination and art are not frosting at all, but the fountainhead of human experience?”
Rollo May

I was inspired to combine oil pastels, paint, and collage elements to this piece.  A friend e-mailed this beautiful  quote and print by visionary artist Gordon Wood.  His piece is called “Birth of Awe”.  Visiting his site was a joyful experience for me.  The background is a ‘scribble drawing’ I did in the dark with the oil pastels. It was a fun experience. Ihighly recommend it if you are stuck in ‘critical mode’. Closing your eyes, reaching for colors blindly, and drawing out emotions can be incredibly freeing.  I did it a month ago. It’s just been sitting and waiting for me to get the inspiration to finish it. Last night – I worked madly until nearly 5am to finish all six art projects and this blog.  This burst of creativity came from all the connections I’ve been making. Reading books, coloring, clipping images, dancing, taking walks, doing things outside my comfort zone, and most of all – letting all those elements blend in the big creative cooking pot called ‘incubatation.’  Inspiration comes from working at something daily – not waiting for the muse to move you.  Just do something – then relax.  Practice mindfulness, be silly and playful.  And get over your ‘old stories’ which sound like “…nothing sounds fun to me” or “I can’t do that” or “I don’t have time”.  Those are all just excuses.  Change your thoughts, take action, change your world!

 

“No need to hurry. No need to sparkle. No need to be anybody by oneself.”
Virginia Woolf

I created this ‘positive self-image’ collage to help me visualize my new mantra:  NOW to WOW!  It was triggered by insights I picked up from Chip and Dan Heath’s book Switch (I reviewed it in last weeks’ blog).  Their ‘form an instant habit’ prompts are working for me.  A second book which also influenced me this week was the 365 A Daily Creativity Journal.  I’ve been thinking about something fun I’d like to do for a year – and Zumba came up as my answer.  As mentioned earlier – I’m going to try 40 classes in 2 months first – if it’s still joyful I’ll commit to the ‘long haul.’  What’s really exciting about all these insights and art projects is this:  the mindfulness and movement combination is working like magic.   I set an intention to unlock my creative potential and stimulate personal growth and I’m really experiencing the results.  Just a month into the process, I’m genuinely excited about the possibilities.

The next image shows all the creative projects I was inspired to complete this week.  It’s alot!!!! I’m happy I broke through my resistance to using acrylics and watercolor paints. I also played with Mod Podge and a variety of brushes. I let go of criticism and simply played with possibilities.

This is a crazy amount of creative expression isn’t it???  I tripled my usual output.  If you are really ready to break through blocks and get into the creative ‘flow’ – try movement and mindfulness – with a dash of joy.  There is no way I’d do any exercise class daily (for love nor money).  But joy makes it a fun thing so it’s a double win.  Your job this week is to find what turns you on in terms of creative, joyful actions.  Experiment. Play. Pay attention to your energy.  All this information will point you in the direction you need to go.

Creative Prompt #2:  Play with paints – buy a tube of white acrylic and another color that feels joyful (I picked magenta and bronze). Now flip through magazines, keeping your eyes open for images and words which catch your attention. Tear them out and keep them in a big envelope until you have enough to create a collage. Think about adding in collage ‘scraps’ – things like receipts, ticket stubs, or ideas scribbled on bits of paper make interesting additions. You can even Google a topic and find images to use – simply right click on an image, and do ‘save as’.  Stretch yourself.   There is no one grading you on your work. Just make a personal statement.

“Even without success, creative persons find joy in a job well done. Learning for its own sake is rewarding.”
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

Creative Prompt #3:  Basic – buy a coloring book (they have a great selection at Target starting at just $1!) Coloring will get you relaxed.  It’s a non-threatening way to get your feel in the creative waters.  Color mindfully. Have fun with it! Advanced – create a coloring book.  Sit for a few minutes in silence, or take a 15 minute discovery walk and jot down  ideas which pop up, and start drawing.  A good book for drawing prompts is: The Confident Creative…Drawing to Free the Hand and Mind by Cat Bennett.  Cat suggests starting an artist’s sketchbook as a way of documenting your journey into deeper creativity. If you are interested in this topic, it’s a book worth having.

“Joy does not simply happen to us. We have to choose joy and keep choosing it every day.”
Henri Nouwen

This is my first watercolor in ages.  I played with colors and swirls and then decided to place my new ‘creativity button prototype’ in the center.  It’s very much simpler (less cluttered) than my usual collages.  I used a mat board backing which ended up warping a bit. Oh well.  It’s not my favorite – but this blog is my record of all the pieces I produce week to week – so here it is!

“Movement is a medicine for creating change in a person’s physical, emotional, and mental states.”
Carol Welch

My dear friend Ann (shown below)  developed a practice she calls ‘gratitude dancing.’  She dances her joy on Siesta Key beach in Sarasota, Florida, to the delight of passers by.  Her creative actions have stimulated wonderful ideas and connections.  If you’d like to give spontaneous dancing a try – this Friday, March 18th at noon is the perfect time!  It just happens to be global:  ’Dance Anywhere You Are’ day.  For details visit:  www.danceanywhere.org

“True joy is that which gives us more energy and makes us feel more alive.”
Robert Puryear

I am thinking of creating a pin with this message. What do you think?  Do you prefer this message or the one which asks “What did you create today?”  Your feedback is important to me.  Please leave a comment.  I got my new FLIP camera, but can’t get it to work, so hopefully I’ll be able to debut a video next week.  I also want to report my Arthur Murray (dreaded) dance lesson was actually fantastically fun!  Thank you Myron – my cha-cha master at the Buffalo Arthur Murray Studio on Bailley.  Our hour together was pure pleasure.  I appreciate your patience and your affirming comments about my ‘club style’ dancing abilities.  Yea!

If you’d like to share art you’ve created on this blog, send it to magicalmarta@aol.com  Visit www.JoyofQuotes.com for our complete selection of creativity, risk, courage, and self-expression quotes.  The world is waiting for your unique contribution – that’s why it’s important to find your joy!  Create a wonderful week!

Marta Davidovich Ockuly
(Dancing with joy!)

 

Category: Brain, Creativity, Creativity Quotes, Dance, Journaling, Joy, Joy Quotes, Life, Mindfulness, Movement, Personal Growth, Play, Potential, Take Action  Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,  5 Comments
Mar
06

Mindfulness = Creativity

Have you been playing with your creativity?
It’s time to add the element of mindfulness. 

“The most precious gift we can offer anyone is our attention. When mindfulness embraces those we love, they will bloom like flowers.”
Thich Nhat Hanh

Mindfulness is the act of paying attention and being fully present in each moment.  This week I invite you to give this gift to yourself by practicing 15 minutes of mindfulness daily, and journaling about the experience.  This practice builds new neural pathways while reducing stress and sending increased oxygen to the brain.  It’s also a sure way to stimulate creative ideas – so always keep a notebook and pen handy. Life is jam packed with ‘to dos.’  We are absolutely blessed when we claim a piece of our day to consciously slow down, notice our breath, feel, smell, touch, and truly see the miracles in our moments.

 Creative Prompt #1:  Take a discovery walk. This can be in your neighborhood, at a park or anywhere it’s convenient.  Turn off your phone, walk at a leisurely pace, and simply look and listen. Notice what calls your attention.  Keep your mind in the present moment.  Take photos or make sketches if you like, as long as you are fully immersed in the luxury of 15 minutes of ‘nowhere else to be, nothing else to do.’  When we are fully present, even a grey day is beautiful.  We notice things like the curving pathway which leads us, gently, into new ways of seeing.  And while you’re walking unfurl your wings – shake them out – and like a little bird perched on the end of a limb – begin to flap them.  Feel yourself drop and then lift with the current and soar. Mindfully observe your feelings…reactions…insights…and end your experience by recording random thoughts in the little notebook/journal you carry with you.  This is a good time to express gratitude for all the blessings which come to mind. This is how you will gather more pearls.

The collage I created below is filled with pieces I’d clipped long ago, combined with images I took on my discovery walk last week.  The only person I saw the whole time I was walking was David (the statue!).  Last week I asked you to speak: I am creative! out loud.  This week’s mantra is:  I am worthy! You are worthy of the time it takes to express your uniqueness. You are worthy of time to simply BE.  You are worthy of your dreams and desires. You are worthy of being authentically you. Who you are is priceless and irreplaceable.  Your creative contributions have tremendous importance to the world.

 

Creative Prompt #2:  If you can’t go outside, find a quiet cozy place to relax. Find a pair of scissors and a pile of magazines and do 15 minutes of mindfulness paging through magazines looking for words and images to use in future collages.  Set an alarm so you don’t end up doing this for an hour. I never fail to notice articles of special interest or recipes I’d like to try.  Your choices provide ‘joy clues’ as well as an opportunity to incubate. Incubation is time your brain uses to combine complex information and pull ideas and answers out of the air for you.  That’s why keeping a journal nearby to record insights and ideas is always a great idea.

 Creative Prompt #3:  Eat a piece of fruit mindfully.  This experience is amazing. Take one bite, close your eyes, and chew slowly.  Feel the burst of sweetness and the texture.  Do not swallow that bite until you have chewed your food to the point of being liquid. Then feel it move from your throat to your stomach.  Ask yourself if you are still hungry.  If you are, take another bite and repeat.  When your eyes are closed you will be amazed how easy it is to focus attention on the act of eating – as well as sensing fullness. Journal your discoveries.

 

During my discovery walk this past week, I experienced a whole series of awakenings.  Seeing a frozen lake starting to thaw clearly showed me places my resistance to change was beginning to melt.  Walking up a hill I imagined myself flapping my wings and lightening up.  No one was around so I did it and I felt like I was soaring to new levels of awareness.  I filled up 5 pages in my little pocket-sized notebook-journal.  I also got the idea to take my own picture using the timer (which I’d never used – or thought of – before). The image of me waving to you from the collage is the result.   Collage is a great way to display artifacts from your life. The combined images tell stories. To me – each door represents new possibilities, the little elephant by my ear is testimony of the way I’m led by my emotions (this goes back to the book SWITCH mentioned last week).  I loved finding mindfulness quotes in my clipping file. Believe it or not – this is the first time I’ve incorporated photos I’ve taken into a collage!  This process of unfolding is opening new pathways for me. I am seeing and feeling Spring in the air – a time of rebirth. I invite you to dive deeply into your eternal Spring and nurture your creative ‘idea babies’ to life!

Creative Prompt 4:  In the week ahead, explore your closed creative doors. Ask yourself what’s stopping you from opening them. Look into ways you can share an art making experience with others – strangers or friends.  Sign up for a class that sounds interesting – in your neighborhood or on-line. If you have art play web sites or blogs to suggest, please share them in the comments section.  The point is to be a beginner at something – anything.  Learning something new grows brain cells and possibilities.  I’m sticking my neck out and taking an Arthur Murray Dance Class!  How about you?

“Creativity, which is the expression of our originality, helps us stay mindful that what we bring to the world is completely original and cannot be compared.”
Brene Brown, The Gifts of Imperfection

 I came across Dr. Brown’s TED talk on Facebook.  It inspired me to read her book about ‘letting go of who you think you’re supposed to be and embracing who you are.’  It speaks to issues around shame and perfectionism and all the ways people block their full creative expression.  More than anything – it is a book of practicing self-compassion.  Her work is well documented and grounded in both science and research.  If you like taking personality assessments, take Dr. Kristin Neff’s Self-Compassion Scale at: www.self-compassion.org  I felt turned-off to Brene Brown’s talk of ‘shame’ – I didn’t relate.  But exploring the book further – I found lots and lots of meaningful touchstones.  The process of creative self-discovery is fraught with old thinking patterns and ‘pitfalls’ which have the power to derail us – but only if we leave them hidden.  This book is about looking at resistance square in the face and finding compassionate ways of finding peace with it all.  We are all on journeys in life – inner and outer.  We all have the power to make small changes which lead to wonderful shifts – but if our unconscious thoughts, feelings, and emotions are not addressed – we have no chance of long term success.  Let’s open the closet door and invite all the ‘monsters’ to come out to play. They are  a lot less scary in the light of day!

  “The thing that is really hard, and really amazing, is giving up on being perfect and beginning the work of becoming yourself.”
Anna Quindlen

  

 Creativity Prompt 5:  Did you think you’d get off the hook this week just doing 15 minutes of mindfulness?  Not a chance!  I’m asking you to plant some creative seeds by thinking of something interesting you’d enjoy making or doing every day for a year.  Visit http://www.makesomething365.com/ for inspiration!  Noah Scalin, author of A Daily Creativity Journal: 365 Make Something Every Day And Change Your Life! decided to create a skull a day.  He recorded his daily creations on a blog and it led to publishing two books about the process and getting an appearance on the Martha Stewart Show.  Doing something every day takes persistence and imagination and commitment. It also delivers lots of practice and a sense of creative accomplishment. Are you up for the challenge?  I could share an inspiring quote daily or tweet words of encouragement.  I love the simplicity of what this photographer did – he has taken his own photo  - every day – for six years.  The video http://www.everyday.noahkalina.com/ is amazing!  What would you have fun ‘playing with’ for a year? Maybe I’ll make lizards or hearts or post quotes in all kinds of places.  What are your ideas?  Remember to make them easy enough to do for 365 days in a row!  (And have fun with it!)

NEW THIS WEEK:  Last week I made one posting and left it up – unchanged for 7 days.  This week I’ll be doing updates daily.  I might add an image, a whole new section, a new prompt, or even offer a challenge – so keep checking back!  I’ve also ordered a Flip Camera so I’ll be able to add my own videos to this blog.  This goes under ‘creative stretch-embracing new technology and change-and being a beginner’ for me.  What’s the worst that can happen? It will look goofy and people will laugh. So what. We’re here on this journey to grow together.  When we fail – it’s evidence that we’re taking risks and that’s a huge WIN! So stay tuned for multi-media magic…coming soon!

“Life is sweet when you pay attention. When it doesn’t seem sweet, put a sticker on your nose and do a funky dance.”
Whitney Scott

OK. This is a test to see who’s having fun with all this. Vote for your favorite ‘sticker kid’ (girl or boy) in the comment section. The first one who posts a comment wins a prize!

 Hot off the presses! My book review of Sir Ken Robinson’s fabulous book: THE ELEMENT was just posted on the International Center for Creative Studies Blog. Please visit and comment (I’ll get extra points!!!!!) Thanks!Here’s how I tweeted it this morning:  Passion pays! Connect to your creative capital. Stimulating positive change in the world starts here: http://tiny.ly/yGs8

I hope you are enjoying this process.  If you are on Twitter, be sure to follow http://twitter.com/quotejoy for my daily prompts, quotes and encouragement.  If you have questions or need a bit of extra coaching, feel free to e-mail me directly: magicalmarta@aol.com  Your participation and feedback is greatly appreciated.  If you need more positive, empowering quotes visit www.JoyofQuotes.com  Have an inspired week!

Mindfully….Marta

Category: Creative Expression, Creative Play, Creativity, Inspiration, Journaling, Mindfulness, Mindfulness Quotes, Personal Growth  Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,  2 Comments