4 Steps to Jumpstart Your Stalled Creativity

“If people never did silly things, then nothing intelligent would ever get done.” —Ludwig Wittgenstein

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Tired of staring at a blank screen? Are all your ideas frozen inside your brain?

Try this exercise. It’ll thaw your brain cells.

4 Steps to Jumpstart Your Stalled Creativity

Step 1. Randomly select a book from your bookshelf. Open the book and plunge your finger to a page. Choose the nearest noun to the left or right of your finger. The one you like best.

MP900201252I plucked a book from my bookcase. A suspense novel. This was going to be exciting. Maybe my finger would land on murder, stabbing, glock, or scream. I looked under my finger and shifted my gaze to the nearest noun. Tickseed? I kid you not. The noun was tickseed. Ew.

 ◊

Step 2: Look up your word online. Even if it’s a common word like man. List facts about your noun. Ten or so. Keep it simple.

I searched tickseed coreopsis online, which led to other pages about their enemies. Here’s my list of facts:

  • Yellow wildflower *
  • Requires a sunny spot *
  • Heavy summer bloomer
  • Perennial
  • Attracts birds and butterflies
  • Suitable for cut flowers
  • Pests: Aphids, Beetles, Leafhoppers
  • Aphids live on stems and the underside of leaves; they’re sucking insects; soldier beetles eat aphids *
  • Beetles are leaf eating or predators; have powerful chewing jaws *
  • Leafhoppers jump, fly, and suck the juices from plants *
Image courtesy of SweetCrisis at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Image courtesy of SweetCrisis at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

◊

Step 3: Choose the 5 most interesting facts.

What drew my attention, besides the gross name, was the tickseed’s enemies. So I chose the facts with the asterisks (*).

 ◊

Step 4. Now create something from your five facts. Something silly or profound. Have fun. Use all five facts but don’t spend a lot of time on the activity. This is simply to get your creative juices flowing.

From my online research, I could’ve printed pictures of aphids, beetles, leafhoppers, and a tickseed plant. I could’ve made a collage of the pests attacking the tickseed coreopsis. But I’m a writer, so I wrote a short story.

◊

Jumpstart Story:

Alf looked up from sucking the green stuff in time to see a black-and-yellow striped tank land on a nearby leaf. What kind of alien was this? He extracted his sucking mouth part from the stem and scrambled over Buddy, Dominic, and a few other aphids from his colony to check out the invader.

Image courtesy of papaija2008 at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Image courtesy of papaija2008 at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

The tank spoke. “What plant is this?”

“Tickseed Coreopsis.”

The tank took a step to the left and to the right. “Where? Where? I hate ticks.”

“Tickseed Coreopsis is a plant, you dolt. Don’t you know your asteronomy? Tickseed Coreopsis is one of the unigarden’s nine plants. The one closest to the sun.”

“Dolt! Watch what you call me, aphid. Be thankful I’m not a soldier beetle or I’d chew you up and digest you.”

Alf regarded the beetle’s powerful jaws. “Okay, okay. So you’ve checked out Tickseed Coreopsis. Now take off.”

“Why? I can see  this is a plant of many suns. They’re what attracted me to it.”

Alf sighed. “They’re not suns. They’re yellow blooms.”

Image courtesy of pakorn at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Image courtesy of pakorn at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

A leafhopper landed on the beetle’s leaf.

The beetle crawled toward it. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“Leaf hopping.”

The beetle flexed his jaw. “Then hop off!”

Alf lifted his head toward the sun. “For sucking out loud. What is this plant coming to?

The leafhopper inspected the leaf at his six feet. “What plant is this?”

The beetle spoke up. “Tickweed.”

Alf rolled his sucking mouth part. “Tickseed. Seed!”

The beetle stiffened. “I will not cede. I’m going to eat this entire leaf.”

Alf kicked the pollen off his feet and turned. Let the hopper and the tank have it out over the leaf. He was going back to his stem.

What was your noun and what creation did you come up with?

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by Zoe M. McCarthy on May 16, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Creativity
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Posted by Zoe M. McCarthy on May 16, 2013

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Brainstorm Distortions of Your Idea and Make Your Creative Work Intriguing

“I paint objects as I think them, not as I see them.” —Pablo Picasso

Buildings Surrounding Potsdamer Platz

Pop! We get an interesting idea and race to our canvas, word processer, or potter’s wheel. Paint flows, words stream, or clay flies. Our critics say, “Nice.”

Nice? What happened to “Wow!”?

We can turn an interesting idea into an awesome one if we sit a while and release our creative brains from their cages to prowl. We can take an interesting idea and twist it, spin it around, turn it upside down, mash it, expand it, explode it, and add sprinkles to it. We pounce on the most fascinating distortion and work our masterpiece.

Image courtesy of Naypong at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Image courtesy of Naypong at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Examples may be the best way to show what I mean. Have fun with the brainstorming process.

Example 1: Years ago the folks at a major cola company took the idea of its bestselling product and turned it upside down. The company drained the sugar, replaced it with artificial sweetener, and came up with its bestselling product: diet cola.

∞

Example 2: Someone had a teen gleaning ministry idea but spun it around. My oldest son attended a Society of St. Andrew’s gleaning weekend. On the last night after gathering potatoes all day, exhausted teens sat at three tables for their evening meal. The staff served the teens a full dinner at one table: chicken, mashed potatoes, salad, buttered rolls, and dessert. At the second table, they served the teens sandwiches and fruit. These teens balked.

MP900177942The teens at the third table stared at the single plops of rice on their plates. These unfortunate teens were outraged. The rice didn’t satisfy their hunger. Some begged at the other tables. Others went to bed hungry.

A few teens from the first and second tables ate faster to protect their meals from the rice-eating teens. Several felt compassion and shared their food with the ones without much to eat.

Teens learned first hand how it felt to have little food when others around them had plenty. The better-fed teens experienced unmerited favor and the reality of the needy. The lesson this creative ministry taught impacted the teens more than preaching about the less fortunate in our societies.

∞

MP900227558Example 3: Courses in the writing craft teach us how to write good scenes. Among other things, writers are to look at the characters’ goals for the scene, then explode their goals. Writers are to ask themselves, “What’s the worst thing that could happen?” and write their answer into the scene. Characters facing and overcoming conflicts and obstacles make a great story.

∞

MP900405508Example 4: While sitting at the green of the Champions Golf Tournament with my sister, I saw young caddies standing next to each other, one female, one male. They looked cute together. He was tall and slim, and her blond ponytail protruded from the back of her pink ball cap. The what-ifs exploded in my mind. I mentioned the romance idea to my sister.

At home, I brainstormed how I could turn “cute” into a gripping story. This is the story I’m working on. I twisted their normal-looking lives into challenging heartaches below their cute appearances. I hope my sister will be surprised at the finished product.

Can you share examples of how you have warped an idea into something intriguing?

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by Zoe M. McCarthy on May 9, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Activities, Brainstorming, Creative People, Creativity, Ideas, Improvement, Novelist, Stories, Writing
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8 Tips on How to Respond to Fans of Your Creative Work

“Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.”— Winston Churchill

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

What are you going to do when:

  • emails pop up about your presentation,
  • comments appear at the end of your blog post,
  • notecards arrive in your mailbox about your art show,
  • mothers stop by your class about your creative teaching,
  • people greet you backstage, or
  • colleagues flock around you after the meeting?MP900390572

Remembering the following tips, you can reply to fans, followers, and admirers with a P-O-S-I-T-I-V-E generosity of spirit that will make them glad they took their time to respond to your creative efforts.

Tips for P-O-S-I-T-I-V-E Replies

P-leasant: No matter what our fans say or how they say it, they own their response to us about our work. We own our reply. If they encourage us, returning a pleasant reply is easy.

If they come across as vindictive, will we change how they feel if we reply with equal fire? We don’t have the full picture of what’s going on in their lives. But we might surprise them if we respond with kindness. If you can’t return kindness, then no reply is best.

Trust Proverbs 25:21-22. If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; if he is thirsty, give him water to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head, and the Lord will reward you. (NIV)

Image courtesy of Idea go at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Image courtesy of Idea go at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

O-pen-minded: Often fans aren’t being negative but have a different opinion than ours. We can wrench open the door to our minds and try to understand what they’re saying. We may find we can agree with them to an extent and can affirm that to them. If we still disagree, we can acknowledge they have a viewpoint different from ours.

S-imple: To avoid putting our fans off with a treatise of our opinion or to further educate them, we can keep our response simple. The more we say the more likely we’ll push wrong buttons. Plus, our work excited or touched them enough to respond to us, so we should avoid boring them and lessening their enthusiasm.

I-nterested: Often fans will share an experience similar to ours or add ideas to what we’ve presented. No doubt we’re busy people. But instead of replying with two-second responses, we can give them the respect of two-minutes of our attention. Hopefully they’ll feel encouraged that we’re interested in their thoughts.

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

T-rue: Yes, we must avoid lies, but I’m speaking more of genuineness. If we try to impress our fans by morphing into someone we’re not, we risk sounding phony. Fans are smart.

I-mmediate: To have the greatest impact on our fan’s enthusiasm, it’s important we reply as quickly as we can. We want to affirm our fans while they’re still excited about our work. This is another reason to keep our replies simple.

V-alid: Respond to what fans say. If we ignore a point they’re making and reply with self-promotion or something off point, we diminish them. When they solely express their excitement for our work, sticking to appreciating their enthusiasm is probably best.

E-dited: If our response to fans and followers is written, we can take 10 seconds to reread our simple reply. Most of us enjoy responses to our work that come across better than a text message full of abbreviations and typos and no caps. (Unless it is a text message.) If our response is verbal, we can take a second to think before we speak.

FanIf we stay P-O-S-I-T-I-V-E we’ll keep our fans coming back for more of our creative works. For me, like an electric fan, I wave praises to God the Creator. God always replies with mercy and kindness. I keep returning to Him.

What works well in responding to your fans?

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by Zoe M. McCarthy on May 2, 2013  •  Permalink
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6 Tips to Control Your Creativity from Taking Over Your Life

“Order and creativity are complementary.”—Lewis Mumford

Image courtesy of ponsulak at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Image courtesy of ponsulak at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Hello. My name is Zoe. I’m a creativity junky. If you’re like me, your creative musings and your compulsive desire to create threaten your sleep, your family and spiritual living, your house cleaning, and your other responsibilities.

Know that once a creativity junky, always a creativity junky. But try theses 6 tips that have helped me know when to free my imagination to fly and when to rein it in.

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

1. Treat your writing, painting, and presentation preparations like an outside-the-home job. Since I retired, I’m a full-time writer. On weekdays, I rise at 5 AM and start my day in Bible study and intercessory prayer, which prepares me for a good day. Around 9 AM after breakfast with my husband and some cleanup, I climb the steps to my office. I take care of non-creative tasks, then unleash my creativity to work on stories, blogs, and ministries. Ahhh.

My writing day formally ends at 6 PM. But remember, I’m a creativity junky, so I need more help than a defined time to create.

Pad of Paper & Pen2. Carry with you something to write on at all times. Creative ideas pop into my head while I’m praying, eating, working around the house, and even while I’m dreaming. Of course, I want to pursue the idea NOW. I can often control that urge by writing the idea down on my notebook or iPad. In effect, it’s scheduled, and I can relax.

I’d recommend having only a desktop computer so it isn’t convenient to whip out your MacBook Air and pursue a fascinating idea. But that’s too extreme. After all, some of the impulsive behavior is the nature of an artistic, right?

Image courtesy of photostock at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Image courtesy of photostock at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

3. Avoid activities at bedtime that tempt your creativity. I’m learning it’s dangerous to work on a scene or blog sitting in bed. When the lights go out, I know I’ll rework the content in my mind for hours. So to protect my sleep and keep the ideas from streaming, I read a little of a book that’s interesting but not a page-turner. Or I play a boring solitaire game on my iPad.

Watering flowers4. Plan moments throughout your day to re-ground you in non-creative living. For me, God is my guide, my counselor, and my Lord. Sometimes, I get wrapped up in my creative work and forget that. So I schedule another few moments with the Lord in a devotional after lunch.

Ahead of time, I plan home tasks, preferably with exercise, to be accomplished when I take breaks.

Canoeing5. Train a habit of keeping certain days for spending time with family and doing things other than creative work. This tip is the most difficult for me. First, it’s hard to shut down the creative frenzy for long periods. And second, when life responsibilities take away an afternoon or day from my creative workweek, I need to make up the time. However, I’m working on the habit of taking off Wednesday afternoons and weekends. BUT, if my husband watches sports on TV, out comes my MacBook Air.

pond6. Do creative activities with others. My husband and I have worked together to design a house, create a garden pond, and plan creative activities for Sunday school children. My creative nature loves and feeds on such times with my husband. And, I enjoy playing make-believe with my grandchildren.

 

What has worked for you to prevent your creative work from taking over your life?

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by Zoe M. McCarthy on April 25, 2013  •  Permalink
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Posted by Zoe M. McCarthy on April 25, 2013

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2 Tips to Pump Up Flat Characters in Your Story

“Men are not moved by things, but the views they take of them.” —Epitectus

We storytellers want our characters to be interesting, plausible, and memorable. But often our characters come across as one-dimensional.

But with a little work, we can do two things that will inflate our flat characters.

Husband John with RV Winnie

Husband John with RV Winnie

To make your plot work, let’s say, three-quarters of the way into your story, your hero needs to remove an engine from an RV and restore a 1970 Chevelle. So right before this event you write: He’d spent many of his teen years working on cars and dreaming of restoring a 1970 Chevelle, so he set to work removing the engine from the old RV’s chassis.

Tips to round out your character. 

1. Layer his dreams and expertizes throughout your story so they don’t seem contrived when the plot suddenly needs them. However, don’t overdo this and slow the story down with many prior events. Your hero might admire a shiny Chevelle early in the story and recall when he worked on cars in high school. Later, a Chevelle in a junkyard might catch his eye. This layering will make your character’s dreams and expertizes more plausible.

2. Understand his passions and the value he sees in things that mean nothing to you. It’s difficult to write an interesting, memorable character if you can’t put your opinions aside and understand what he considers valuable and why. Try interviewing him.

The example below shows what you might need to know to understand your hero’s dreams, expertizes, and values. You wouldn’t employ all the details in your story. You’d simply understand him.

Winnie

Winnie

Example:

In 2007, John and I bought a 1983 Winnebago RV, dubbed it Winnie, and parked it on our land before we built our house. Our youngest son popped the hood, and his eyes lit up. He said the 454 engine was the biggest and one of the rarer engines. His dream 1970 Chevelle was the first model year to have such an engine as an option.

I hadn’t thought about the engine, other than it worked. I cared more about the bed, sinks, and shower. Over the next four years, our son occasionally asked how Winnie’s engine was doing. “Still running,” we’d say.

After we built our house in 2011, our son advised us not to give Winnie away. He said the engine and transmission were valuable. So we put Winnie up for sale on a nearby RV lot.

After a year, it hadn’t sold. We mentioned to our son, we’d be glad if the owner of the RV lot junked Winnie to rid her from our responsibility.

Later, we received a call from our son. He said if we planned to junk Winnie, he’d like to have the engine and transmission. With our happy consent, he:

  • called around until he found a nearby scrape metal place that would take Winnie,

    My Son's just purchased 1970 Chevelle

    My Son’s just purchased 1970 Chevelle

  • purchased a 1970 Chevy Chevelle to put the engine in,
  • ordered original 1970 parts for the Chevelle on eBay,
  • traveled four hours to our house with his family,
  • drove Winnie from the RV lot to the salvage yard, and
  • made the four-hour trip again in his truck the next weekend to get the engine and transmission.
My Son & Winnie's Engine

My Son & Winnie’s Engine

While I write this, he’s at the salvage yard in 26-degree weather, removing his treasure from Winnie.

My son saw value in something we were ready to trash. He pictured more than an old engine and transmission. He envisioned a rusty Chevelle restored to its original beauty. He grasped the opportunity to make his dream come true. And he enjoyed honoring Winnie’s retirement. I received a deeper understanding of my son’s passion with cars.

What have you done or could do to understand your story character better?

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by Zoe M. McCarthy on April 18, 2013  •  Permalink
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4 Ways to Free Yourself from Procrastination in Your Creative Endeavors

“Procrastination is opportunity’s natural assassin.” –Victor Kiam

ID-100142241

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

We don’t plan to procrastinate. We want to fulfill our obligations and move forward. But too often we don’t.

Let’s face it. Procrastination is a weird kind of selfishness, because it robs others and us of benefits and joy.

Fear is often the root of procrastination. What are we so afraid of?

  • Fear the work isn’t the right thing to do
  • Fear the work will be overwhelming
  • Fear we don’t know how to do the work right
  • Fear we’ll abandon the work

If these fears muck up our minds, we need to do something about what we allow in our thoughts. 

4 Ways to Free Yourself from Procrastination

MP9003987931. Prevention. Take a half hour and list:

  • what you like to do,
  • what you’re good at,
  • what you believe in,
  • what challenges you in a good way, and
  • what you’re called to do.

For help, see 4 Choices That Improve Your Perseverance. Let’s call this list your Character Manifesto. Be honest.

Remember, work ends up on our plates because we say yes to someone’s request or our eyes light up at some work that looks interesting, noble, or lucrative. So, stop before committing to anything and ask yourself: Does my Character Manifesto support this job? If it doesn’t, it’s likely not the right thing to do. So, say no thank you, or think and pray about it before committing.

You’re less likely to procrastinate on work associated with items on your Character Manifesto.

ID-10055355

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

2. Planning. Once you’ve committed to a wise number of right projects, you can prevent them from looming. Even if you dislike planning, you can jot down what projects are due in the next few months. And under each project, what tasks need to be accomplished. Then decide what tasks you need to get done next week.

I can’t stress this enough: assign a sufficient block of time for each task. You already know your most likely interruptions, so wisely plan that block of time around them. Then forget about all tasks except the one assigned for the current block of time.

You know all tasks have been assigned a block of your time, so you can relax and actually look forward to and enjoy your next task.

traffic lights3. Permission. Now that you’ve assigned sufficient time on your schedule for the right jobs, you need to address niggling thoughts you may fail at doing them right.

Train your thinking. Give yourself permission to ask for help when needed. That’s so smart. To view the task as an adventure. That’s so fun. To realize failure can be a great learning experience for the next attempt. That’s so freeing.

Who better to do the task than you: it fits your Character Manifesto, you’ll get needed help, and you’ll look forward to hindsight if your adventure turns out different than planned.

Missing Jigsaw Puzzle Piece4. Accountability. You’ve scheduled the right jobs and have given yourself permission to enjoy the work and accept the outcomes. Yet, you fear disappointing people if you get bogged down in other things and fail to finish projects.

Turn your fear into constructive action. Create or join an accountability group that has no investments in your projects.

Your accountability partners have little concern about the success of your projects. They expect you to complete what you determined were the right things to do. Your weekly reports to your group should show them you planned well and worked as planned.

Members can help you look at your pressures and problems more objectively and make suggestions to get you back on track. Plus, they’ll cheer you on.

Having accountability partners helps you to plan well and do what you planned to do.

What works for you to give procrastination the boot?

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by Zoe M. McCarthy on April 11, 2013  •  Permalink
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4 Questions to Answer Before You Bash Critics of Your Creative Works

“We have met the enemy and they is us.” — Ashleigh Brilliant

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

We want people to love our creative works, but find critics dislike them. People refuse to look at or listen to or taste our works. Sure, critics are often wrong. But not always.

Here are 4 questions to answer before you react to your discouragement. Your honest answers will make your next creative work soar.

 

Image courtesy of sixninepixels at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Image courtesy of sixninepixels at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

1. Did you focus on how the audience should be, instead of how you should have performed?

When I was a new Children’s leader for Bible Study Fellowship, I wanted to pray for good children’s behavior. The experienced leaders surprised me when they, instead, prayed for leaders’ creativity to handle the behavior problems.

My paradigm shift made all the difference. I focused on learning ways to handle situations, instead of hoping children would be something they aren’t. I worked to create engaging stories and activities appropriate for their age.

The children reacted in positive ways and learned more when I concentrated on how to work with their wants and needs.

 

MP9002891982. Did you offer your work to the wrong audience, instead of to the very ones who would embrace it?

When I entered the world of writing fiction, I thought if I wrote a good story well, everyone would love it. A book on writing book proposals surprised me when it asked: Who is your audience? I answered: The world. Okay, women and some men. But during an editor appointment at a writers’ conference, the editor asked me to define my audience. “Women and some men” fell flat.

My paradigm shift made all the difference. Writing wasn’t about me; it was about readers. I learned about niches. Not every woman loves novels about horses or young love or mid-life crises or murder or prairie life.

I learned reducing the world to the right niche still left scads of readers hungry for stories they adore.

?????????????3. Did you try to own your work, instead of giving it to the people for whom you said you created it?

I dreamed of a Christian library in our community where people could enjoy current Christian resources and fiction. Over a year’s time with the help of others, I worked to create a Christian library at our church. I expected members to check out the work in progress. When few did, I asked my husband why more members weren’t interested. Maybe the work wasn’t worth it. My husband’s answer surprised me. He said only a small percentage of people (about 15% of Americans) read books on a regular basis.

My paradigm shift made all the difference. I had wanted to give readers and teachers a wonderful resource. The library wasn’t mine to hold back from the few who’d use it often and make a difference tapping its resources.

When I stopped worrying about “my work” and made the library the best for readers and Bible teachers, it was a success.

Image courtesy of photostock at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Image courtesy of photostock at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

4. Did you compare yourself to your peers, instead of the standard of excellence?

Editors rejected my first books. One reason resulted from my wish to please everyone. I changed sentences in my manuscripts according to critique partners’ and contest judges’ feedback. In two different contests, the feedback from judges surprised me. Twice this happened: one judge disliked a line in my story and another praised that same line.

My paradigm shift made all the difference. I had edited the life out of my stories trying to please everyone.

This understanding allowed me to use feedback wisely and to find my own writing voice to create better stories.

What paradigm shift have you made that improved the quality of your creative work?

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by Zoe M. McCarthy on April 4, 2013  •  Permalink
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Posted by Zoe M. McCarthy on April 4, 2013

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How to Use Art to Free Your Anxious Heart

We all bear difficult times in our lives when we feel overwhelmed. My guest, Kristin Blankenship, shares her experience and 4 tips we can employ to heal our anxious hearts.

Using Art to Free an Anxious Heart

It is important to do the work that leads to our renewal, clarity and inspiration and then remember to taste it, experience it and let it flow.  –Linda Saccoccio

Let Your Light Shine

Let Your Light Shine

No one could have prepared me for the journey my heart would travel upon becoming a mom over 9 years ago.  A journey bursting with love for my long-awaited child, a little boy entering the world in hushed awe with wide-open eyes – windows to an old soul.  And, at the same time, a journey fraught with the uneasiness over the feeling that my beautiful boy did not seem comfortable outside the womb.  With the arrival of a little sister less than two years later, came frequent and lengthy meltdowns, nightly sleep difficulties, and the onset of rigid, repetitive behaviors.  My husband and I operated in survival mode for days on end.

autismbooks

Writer, Elizabeth Stone, once described having children as  “forever having your heart go walking around outside your body.” My boy and I shared the same anxious heart as I began searching for answers from pediatricians, child psychologists, behavior and occupational therapists.  At the age of 2 ½, my sweet boy was diagnosed with high-functioning autism.  And while this journey has been difficult at times, especially in those early years, it has also served as a training ground for strength, perseverance, joy and celebration as we experience God’s love through the hands and hearts of those who travel along beside us.

Being the parent of a special needs child often means chronic sleep deprivation and countless hours researching in the desperate effort to understand and make the best decisions for early intervention.  It is easy to become so focused on these aspects, that we lose our true selves somewhere in the mad dash to special schools and multiple therapies all over (and out of) town.  Even play with a special needs child requires work!  It is no wonder that when we do finagle some quiet-time for ourselves, we sit with grieving hearts, trying to remember who we are beyond the Special Needs Mom title.

Spread Joy

Spread Joy

For me, art has played an integral role in healing my own worn-out, anxious heart.  Integrating art and creativity into our daily lives fosters the opportunity to reconnect with our own inner child, that child of God who runs and laughs and feels joy spontaneously.  When we get out of our own heads and back in touch with our true essence, we are better able to connect with God, the Source for inspiration and energy that we so desperately need.  Yes, our children need our intellect.  They need us to be their advocates. Even more, they need our hearts and the joy that God has placed inside them.  Joy that offers healing for ourselves and our children.

So, how can you infuse art into your daily life?  Here are a few suggestions to get you started:

  • Grab the crayons and draw or write with your non-dominant hand.  Studies indicate that this practice promotes access to the right-side of the brain which houses functions such as feeling, intuition, creativity, and inner wisdom and spirituality.

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  • Engage your body in joyful movement.  Try dancing to upbeat music while doing chores, such as cleaning the bathroom.

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  • Create a sculpture with air-dry clay or play-dough.  The act of sculpting and kneading releases stress and reminds us of how God created and molded us in his very own image.

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  • Cut-out magazine pictures that “speak” to you and make a collage. Figure-out ways to incorporate one or more of these ideas into the weeks ahead.VisionCollage

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Allow the creativity to flow and you just might discover a deep well of abundance. Abundance that offers sustenance for a tired heart.

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Stu&MeKristin Blankenship is the wife to her husband of 19 years and the mother of  two school-age children, ages 7 and 9. Before having children, she spent the majority of her adult career working in the public schools as an elementary school teacher and guidance counselor. More recently, Kristin ran with the desire to “unleash her inner artist,” and began working with creative coach, Amy Barr.  Through this process, she discovered healing and a renewed joy for life. Currently, Kristin resides in Midlothian, Virginia where she writes of her faith and motherhood at her blog, The Blue Mug, and creates mixed-media art, celebrating the simple beauty of life.

2 Comments
by Zoe M. McCarthy on March 27, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Activities, Crafts, Creativity
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Posted by Zoe M. McCarthy on March 27, 2013

http://zoemmccarthyblog.wordpress.com/2013/03/27/how-to-use-art-to-free-your-anxious-heart/

4 Choices That Improve Your Perseverance

“We know that … perseverance [produces] character; and character, hope.” —Romans 5:3-4

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Our character is what gains others’ trust. Perseverance is the mettle of our character. But persevering can be harsh.

It doesn’t have to be. Persevering is hard work, but through our choices we can embrace it.

4 Choices That Improve Your Perseverance

sweep1. Choose to do what you love. My daughter-in-law emailed me that my almost 3-year-old grandson helped Daddy shovel snow. He helped for 1½ hours and didn’t want to stop.

I know children. I know they beg to help with a project and after ten minutes find ways to slink away. So I asked my husband what made our grandson shovel snow with Daddy for 1½ hours. John said, “Because he loves it.”

Immediately, I recalled my grandson finding the Swiffer Sweeper in our pantry and running it over our hardwood floors for long periods. At the LEGO KidsFest Virginia, he was the only child getting in line over and over to roll the rug sweeper over spilled LEGOs.

Even an almost 3-year-old can persevere at what he loves to do.

Snail Worker2. Choose to do what you believe in. During my actuarial career, my director gave me free reign to implement an idea I had (2 Ways You Know Your Activity Is a Success). Then our division reorganized. One of my staff and I reported to a different director. The new director promised the idea was a priority; however, he constantly pulled us to other projects. I believed the idea was the right thing to do for the company. I worked on the project whenever I could and had resources available, which wasn’t often.

After one year, another reorganization returned me to my prior director. She gave me four people to make my idea happen. But then we received resistance from another division vital to the project’s success. Because I believed in the idea, I designed a way to gain their trust that helped them. After a year, we were up and running. The project improved our company’s position. After I retired, the director of the resisting area offered me a consultant position to implement the idea at a sister company. I chose to write stories and novels.

I persevered because I believed the idea was right for the company.

 

MP9001749473. Choose to do what challenges you. In a college math class, the professor assigned one problem for homework. My three roommates worked on the problem for a short time and left for dinner. Not me. I knew I could figure it out.

It was one of those marbles problems. I worked on it all evening until my roommates killed the lights. I reluctantly climbed into my top bunk bed. My mind kept working the problem. Finally, I crawled down from bed, grabbed the papers with my scrawled attempts, and went into the hall. At some wee hour, it dawned on me the solution wasn’t a single answer but a set of cases.

When the professor asked who’d solved the problem, two raised our hands. I waved mine so enthusiastically, he chose me to put it up on the blackboard.

I persevered (and became a math major) because I wanted the challenge.

Image courtesy of Nutdanai Apikhomboonwaroot at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Image courtesy of Nutdanai Apikhomboonwaroot at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

4. Choose what you’re called to do. For me, I believe God has called me into relationship with Him and to write. I’ve labored at writing off and on for forty years. Twelve years ago through much prayer, I wrote and self-published two books (5 Reasons I Don’t Care I Lost Money Self-publishing).

Since I signed with an agent, I’ve written five novels. I’ve received my share of rejection letters. I’ve even asked God to remove my desire to write if it wasn’t what He’d have me do. Giving up writing doesn’t seem an option. Recently, I signed a contract for the fifth book I completed.

I persevered because writing is what God laid on my heart.

What helps you persevere in what you do?

2 Comments
by Zoe M. McCarthy on March 20, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Creativity, Ideas, Improvement, Success, Writing
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Posted by Zoe M. McCarthy on March 20, 2013

http://zoemmccarthyblog.wordpress.com/2013/03/20/4-choices-that-improve-your-perseverance/

4 Crucial Elements That Make Your Audience Talk Up Your Creative Work

“The public as a whole is composed of various groups, whose cry to us writers is: ‘Comfort me.’ ‘Amuse me.’ ‘Touch me.’ ‘Make me dream.’ ‘Make me laugh.’ ‘Make me shudder.’ ‘Make me weep.’ ‘Make me think.’” —Guy de Maupassant

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mage courtesy of anankkml at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

We work on a painting, presentation, novel, song, dance, play, or Bible lecture and hope our audiences will talk it up.

Our works will stay in the minds of our audiences if we recognize audiences need intangibles to imbed artistic works in their memories.

People will enjoy our works long after they’ve put down the books, turned off the iPods or left the galleries, conference rooms, or theaters if our works evoke:

  • Images
  • Emotions
  • Stories
  • Ah-Has

Why Evoke Images?

Kyle Buchanan and Dean Roller say in their e-book, How to Memorize Bible Verses, “Your memory doesn’t like rote learning and repetition, it likes to see things.”

Image courtesy of franky242 at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Image courtesy of franky242 at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

People want to visualize as they experience. Even paintings evoke images other than those on canvas. When I saw a painting of a field of sunflowers, the image of the sunflower patch I passed on my way home from work everyday in the summers came to mind.

Songs evoke images through lyrics and what went on in our lives when the songs were popular. Recently I attended My Book Therapy’s Deep Thinkers Retreat. Susan May Warren invited us to listen to parts of songs and note what images and emotions they aroused. The exercise showed the importance of creating images for our readers.

People like to recall the rich images creative works deposit in their memory banks.

Why Evoke Emotions?

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At the Deep Thinkers Retreat, we learned techniques to evoke readers’ emotional responses to our characters. To make our novels memorable, we had to draw our readers into the characters’ lives. Recalling our own past emotions in similar situations helped us show our characters’ emotional reactions.

During the retreat breaks and meals, the latest episode of Downton Abbey dominated conversations. A character had died. If I hadn’t known better, I’d have thought, by the angry and mournful emotions voiced, some beloved actor had passed. Viewers cared.

A presenter wants his audience to care about his call to action. In the book, Resonate, Nancy Durate advocates emotional appeal in presentations along with ethical and logical appeals. She says, “Involving the audience emotionally helps them form a relationship with you and your message.”

People look for reasons to care enough to talk up creative works.

Why Evoke Stories?

 MP900405206When I look at a painting or a photo in a gallery, I see a snapshot. I want to know what happened and what happens next. What’s the story behind the photo of the ballerina? Was she jilted earlier? Is she planning revenge? Was she cut from the ballet? Will she give up her dream and return to her husband and five children?

Song rhythms and lyrics arouse new and past stories. Novels do the same. When I read a novel, my mind scurries ahead to finish the story with what I know so far. I’m delighted when the novel surprises me with a gotcha or replaces my expectations with something far more interesting.

People discuss creative works whose interesting scraps or snapshots turn on their live-in storytellers to fill in the gaps.

Why Evoke Ah-has?

Hanging Light Bulb

Most people love to glean a new truth from a poignant play, a hilarious book, or a country song’s title. It’s like opening door number three and our hearts leap at the sight of the prize. Readers of mysteries delight in the sudden realization of who dunnit.

We enjoy a new insight to share at lunch. To guide our lives.

People talk up creative works that turn on their light bulbs.

What did you imagine when you first saw the picture of the ballerina?

2 Comments
by Zoe M. McCarthy on March 14, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Business Success, Creative People, Creativity, Ideas, Presentations, Stories, Success
Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Posted by Zoe M. McCarthy on March 14, 2013

http://zoemmccarthyblog.wordpress.com/2013/03/14/4-crucial-elements-that-make-your-audience-talk-up-your-creative-work/

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