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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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, […]
Keep a notebook/journal for each area of your life. Write down ideas, facts, questions, random thoughts—any information you stumble across throughout the day. There are many planners out there but it’s much more useful, fun and creative to make your own, organizing the information in a way that works best for you. I refer to […]
This, the first in a series of weekly tips in the service of expanding our creative and productive selves. There’s something about sitting down to a blank page, stepping up to a blank canvas or starting any new project that can be overwhelming….commonly known as the creative block. As a freelancer without a structured work […]
So it seems there is a formula, a framework for creative thinking. Creativity is different than intelligence. With intelligence, more is better–more thinking, more information, more knowledge. To foster creativity, from the perspective of how the brain works, less is better–less thinking anyway, in the conventional sense. It’s about allowing freer interplay between different areas […]
This is a post which appeared a couple years ago in another version of this blog. I’m bringing it back because it best communicates why I started this blog, and what the real focus here is. Shift and change are the results, no matter what. Most things that are interesting, important, human are the result […]