Posts Tagged ‘awareness’
Wednesday, May 11th, 2016
I first came across this term a couple years ago in a TED talk by Dan Buettner on “Blue Zones”—communities (there are 4 in the world) whose elders live with vim and vigor to record setting ages. Okinawa is one of them. Ikigai proved to be one of the core factors contributing to life expectancy. […]
Tuesday, April 26th, 2016
The last ‘Tips’ post spoke to the importance of having lots of ideas whenever we’re trying to solve a problem or move our lives forward in some unprecedented way, as our first ideas are most likely perpetuating old ways of thinking. There are numerous tactics floating around out there. Some are more specific than others, […]
Tuesday, March 8th, 2016
Krista Tippett, who is the host of NPR’s OnBeing speaks to this aspiration in her new and resoundingly inspirational book Becoming Wise An Inquiry into the Mystery and Art of Living. She states the book’s purpose as offering “a grounded and fiercely hopeful vision of humanity for this century—of personal growth but also renewed public […]
Sunday, February 21st, 2016
“If you can’t think, walk. If you’re thinking too much, walk. If you are thinking bad thoughts, keep walking.” —Pierre Helaine, founder of Arche shoes. One of the biggest impediments to creative productivity is the mental block, or rut—sometimes brief, sometimes prolonged. A great and easily-accessible-to-all way to jump-start your thinking and shift your mindset […]
Tuesday, October 13th, 2015
I recently came across a tagline for an interior design business which captures an idea I’ve been pondering for some time now. It read, simply, Creating beauty, Changing lives. Of course the reference to the very commercial enterprise of marketing home furnishings is blatant, but it also speaks to the idea that the presence of […]
Wednesday, January 21st, 2015
There is beauty all around us, all the time, often when we least expect it, if we’re paying attention. A previous post here, ‘Necessary Beauty’, speaks to why beauty, the creation and appreciation of which, was so important to the Greeks—as a value equal to Truth and Goodness. I’d like to propose another reason to […]
Wednesday, October 1st, 2014
One of the most important aspects of Creative productivity is striking a balance between disciplined daily routine and remaining open to new experiences and perspectives—flexible and adaptable—so that we can keep our eyes fresh and energy high. Too much routine can be mind numbing, uninspiring and vortex (tunnel vision) inducing; too little routine reduces the […]
Wednesday, April 16th, 2014
Miksang is a Tibetan word that translates as ‘Good Eye’, and is based on the Shambhala and Dharma Art teachings of the late meditation master, artist, and scholar Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche. Miksang, at its most basic level, is concerned with uncovering the truth of pure perception. We see something vivid and penetrating, and in that […]
Tuesday, June 25th, 2013
There’s a theory that true creative genius stems from a certain amount of unhappiness. Certainly there is ample evidence in the lives of many tortured artist-souls to support this. Without a doubt some unhappiness fuels the intense self-solving, searching, questioning, and re-interpreting of reality at the root of some of our great art, and certainly […]
Tuesday, June 18th, 2013
A few years ago, as I was heading into a period of sabbatical, soul searching and reinvention, I found myself feeling very lost and a little unhinged…..and yet a little excited at the same time. I realized I had left behind so much that had identified and grounded me to that point—my career, home, friends, […]