Creative Revolution {September '10}

My friend Karen says, "Art is natural to the human condition."
And furthermore ...
Creativity is natural to the human condition
Let's just say that. Out loud. Yep, right now.

You may not be quite ready yet to claim "I am creative." There is no sense in forcing yourself to say something that you don't believe. Yet.

Creativity is something you need to foster. You just really need to be brave. You are probably already being creative but not giving yourself credit.
Creativity is just like a muscle: use it and build it up.
Creativity has really nothing to do with talent. I'm not sure what the heck "talent" is. I think it may be desire. Here is a piece of an email I received from a new facebook friend:


"I have absolutely no experience in art. When I was about 8 or so I begged to go to an art day camp and it was disastrous. The teacher told me I'd never be an artist because I couldn't "get" perspective, ... etc. I was 8!  I've always been easily discouraged and painfully sensitive to criticism ... . I'm 59 years old now and finally jumping in. I've always felt as if I've been deprived of something very special--like I got all the desire to be creative, but none of the talent. But, now I do have a lot of confidence. I know that I can do it as long as I take things slowly and stop each day before I get frustrated."
Thank you Xylia for sharing this with me. 


Xylia's words spoke so triumphantly to me. How about you? My life path was not strewn with roses, I had to win back my innate creativity. This is why I blog and teach. To support your own quest to reclaim your creativity.

So right here, right now I'm startin' the 

Creative Revolution 

I'm not completely sure what kind of path this will take yet. For the moment, once a month, on or about the 15th, I will set out an idea. It could be anything: a simple journal entry (see below), a recipe prompt, a nudge to be more creative when you get dressed in the morning. These nudges will be simple, 5-minute (or more, if you'd like). They will be something that can very easily be incorporated into your day.

I'll set up a Flickr group for you to respond to these prompts (as soon as I can figure out a good name for the group, any ideas?).  

Here is the first Nudge: a journal prompt:  

Take a handful of fabric or paper scraps, a glue stick or double stick tape and your journal.

Play and arrange and then, here's the scary part: stick 'em down.

That's it. Go on! What are you waiting for? Stand up, walk away from the computer. If you 

are at work, take 5 and scoot around, look for paper scraps, paperclip them together and get 

them glued down when you get home. Skedaddle!

Your input, as always is welcome! Got an idea, leave a comment.