“In order to flower, self-compassion depends on honest, direct contact with our own vulnerability. Compassion fully blossoms when we actively offer care to ourselves,” wrote Tara Brach, psychologist, meditation teacher, speaker and author of True Refuge: Finding Peace & Freedom in Your Own Awakened Heart. Reading these words, an uncomfortable chord struck, for despite my musings on […]
George Saunders’ Short Animated Documentary on the Art of Storytelling
“A good story is one that says, at many different levels, ‘we’re both human beings, we’re in this crazy situation called life, that we don’t really understand. Can we put our heads together and confer about it a little bit at a very high, non-bullshitty level?’ Then, all kinds of magic can happen.” ~ George Saunders […]
Poetry | Caged Bird by Maya Angelou
“All great artists draw from the same resource: the human heart, which tells us all that we are more alike than we are unalike.” ~ Maya Angelou, Letter to My Daughter Caged Bird By Maya Angelou A free bird leaps on the back of the wind and floats downstream till the current ends and dips his wing […]
Frida Kahlo on Being Just as Strange as You
2 Minutes of Stillness | Meditation
Just a couple of minutes of soothing visualisation can calm you in body and mind, silencing your internal chatter, reduce creative anxiety, and refresh your passion and inspiration too. As our inner voice can be so easily drowned out by our busy world, it makes it all the more essential — for you, and your creativity — to find stillness and connect to your inner being. […]
15 Secrets to Achieving Your Creative Goals Every Day
Achieve your creative goals with ease and purpose every day with these tips from successful creatives Every creative soul knows that creativity, enthusiasm and inspiration too, cannot be consistently sustained or even necessary to do the work. In fact, showing up regardless of a dip in drive or plummet of passion, is what separates the aspiring writers […]
Henry Miller on Art, Creation & Change
Music | Happy Birthday Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong
“The memory of things gone is important to a jazz musician. Things like old folks singing in the moonlight in the back yard on a hot night or something said long ago.” ~ Louis Armstrong In honour of Louis “Satchmo” “Pops” “Ambassador Satch” Armstrong’s 114th birthday today, instead of sharing a poem, here’s a little musical interlude for you […]
Juice Bar | What to Eat to Keep Calm & Creative
Following on from last week’s post, find calm equilibrium with these nutritional tips for stressed out creatives. Writers and artists aren’t necessarily known for their healthy dietary habits. Honore de Balzac famously consumed as many as 50 cups of coffee every day. Andy Warhol was equally hooked on sugar. Alice B. Toklas published a recipe for hashish fudge. While Edvard Munch […]
10 Ancient Healing Tools to Relax, Ease Stress & Keep Your Creative Cool
Soothe your spirit, calm your mind, ease stress, and let your body chill with these techniques If you’re feeling a little over-heated, overwhelmed or stressed, finding the inspiration to write and create may be far more difficult, motivation too, all the more slender. In the spirit of chilling out and keeping your cool — creative and otherwise — […]