7/27 Weekly Creativity Challenge and New Prompt

Two last minute “rushed” entries for this week’s challenge…I think we can probably all relate to Miranda Hersey Helin’s feelings behind her picture below.  Maybe it’s a message for everyone to take a moment, slow down and breathe deeply.

“The past few months have kept me in a nearly perpetual state of being ‘rushed.’ It’s an awful feeling — and over an extended period of time, definitely results in burn-out. Last weekend, I had a long and leisurely walk with my littlest child in the stroller. We stopped for photos, snacks, and smelling the roses, as it were. (The current photo header of clouds was taken that same day.) This waterscape–taken of a stream right near my house — captures for me the peace and beauty of living in the moment that afternoon, and is a reminder of how I really want to live.”

From me (Kelly Warren): Miranda’s photo commentary hit a chord with me.  I, too, go through phases where I constantly feel rushed with so much to be done that, at times, I completely lose my words.  Literally.  I remind myself of my grandmother going down the list of grandkids’ names until she finally stumbled on the right one.  Nana had Alzheimer’s, and I’ve often read that one of the ways to stave off the disease is to keep your mind sharp.  Yet sometimes, my mind is so scattered that the only thing that becomes sharpened is my sense of helplessness as I throw my hands up in the air and walk out of the room, having forgotten what I came in there for.  I’m certain the constant rushing and the amount of things on my plate is the cause of that.  It’s a vicious cycle, isn’t it?  As mothers, whether creative or not, juggling is one of the constants of our lives.

I took this picture in Times Square Saturday night about 1:30am.  Rushed.  All those people. All those cars.  All that noise.  At 1:30am.  Where are they all rushing to?

This week’s prompt: “fly”
Use the prompt however you like – literally, or a tangential theme. All media are welcome. Please e-mail your entries to creativereality@live.com by midnight eastern time on Sunday, August 2, 2009. Writers should include their submission directly in the body text of their e-mail. Visual artists and photographers should attach an image of their work as a jpeg. Enter as often as you like; multiple submissions for a single prompt are welcome. There is no limit to how many times you can win the weekly challenge, either. (You do not have to be a contributor to this blog in order to enter. All are invited to participate.) All submissions are acknowledged when received; if you do not receive e-mail confirmation of receipt within 48 hours, please post a comment here. Remember, the point is to stimulate your output, not to create a masterpiece. Keep the bar low and see what happens. Dusting off work you created previously is OK too. For more info, read the original contest blog post.