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Posts by Miranda

Jun 4

4 Comments

6/4 Weekly creativity contest winners & new prompt

For last week’s prompt, “the ocean,” there was no way to pick a winner between two outstanding submissions: a poem and a painting. Picking a winner was a foray into the proverbial apples and oranges. So, they both win. Why not? I’m allowed to make up the rules, after all 🙂

The painting was submitted by Penny Boyd of Poppy Jane (where you can read about Penny’s submission). The painting is gouache, watercolor, and ink on wood. Penny says the piece is “still in its rough, early stages.” Well then–we can’t wait to see the final.
 

ocean_boyd

 
And a beautiful poem by regular Creative Construction commenter, writer Cathy Ann Coley, appearing here accompanied by a photograph by the author:
 

i could write an ocean on the oceanocean_coley
the ocean is my solace
i grew up in a beach town
she is coming home for me
feel her salt drying on my skin in the sun
smell her in the breeze tangling my hair
waist deep
hips pulled in her rocking motion
mother my comfort
my boys play in the surf
tumble ass over tea kettle
and come up grinning
now we live near a big wave beach
just like me
can’t keep them from the water
my daughter, just born from my salinity,
will return to hers, the one who rocks the earth
and all of us
in her constant tidal embrace
shhh-shhh upon the shoreline
rock me to pleasant sleep

 

Nice work! Thanks to both of you. Your $10 amazon.com gift certificates are on the way.

Just to show how low the bar can really go, after the jump I add the haiku I wrote for this prompt–written in my head during the course of about 10 minutes. If that’s all the creativity you can manage right now, then that’s plenty. Just keep the embers alive.

This week’s prompt: “The crow.”
Use the prompt however you like. All media are welcome. Please e-mail your entries to creativereality@live.com by midnight on Tuesday, June 10. The winning entry receives a $10 gift certificate to amazon.com. 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 contest, either. (You do not have to be a contributor to this blog in order to enter. All are invited to participate.) Remember, the point here is to stimulate your output, not to create a masterpiece. Keep the bar low and see what happens. For more info, read the original contest blog post.
Read more

Jun 3

3 Comments

The Boston Globe on mothers who write

This morning’s Boston Globe ran two complementary pieces on working mothers: some who are working on their PhDs while having babies, and others who forge literary careers while raising their kids. An excerpt from the latter:

globeMany stay-at-home-mothers create new careers they can pursue at home, but it takes a dreamer, or a masochist, to choose writing. Why pick solitude, intensity, and lack of validation when stay-at-home mothering already embodies those things for many women?

Lynne Griffin, 48, a former pediatric nurse, finds writing an antidote to the isolation of stay-at-home motherhood. As a young mother she’d felt lonely and reached out to connect with other mothers. Once she trained herself to be a writer, the loneliness disappeared. “I get in the flow, and there’s no better place than that for me,” said Griffin.

In 2005, she found friendship and validation in a writing group that includes MacKinnon. “That’s why mothers seek out play groups and writers seek out writing groups – to be seen, to be heard, to be relevant,” MacKinnon said. Within two years of joining the group, Griffin’s first novel, “Life Without Summer,” was snapped up by St. Martin’s Press for the kind of advance writers fantasize about.

Finding time to write seems a special challenge for stay-at-home mothers, who describe round-the-clock responsibilities for child care and housework. They write whenever they can – in short bursts, between chores, or when their children nap. They meditate on their stories while driving or vacuuming or playing Candyland. Most said they sleep little and rise in the pre-dawn hours to write. But they believe the intensity of their two loves, family and writing, inform each other.

The piece goes on to ask if writing helps women become better mothers. Check out the full article–it will resonate for many.

May 31

1 Comment

Writers: Summer deadlines

For those in the northern hemisphere, summer is just around the corner. Many of us slow down a little during the summer–school’s out, the days are longer and lazier, and you may find the opportunity to sneak in a little more creative time. So, while enjoying yourself, you may be able to keep one eye on the prize–the literary prize.

Whether you’re writing something new or dusting off a piece that’s already gone out a few times, it’s always fun–and good for you–to have a few contest submissions in the offing. Unlike unsolicited submissions to a publication, entering a contest requires you to meet a specific deadline–usually with the assurance that you’ll hear back by a specific time frame as well.

I much enjoy the challenge of meeting a specific word count requirement; for example, culling 1,542 words from my latest short story in order to enter the 2008 Iowa Review Award back in March (which–and I know this will be as shocking to you as it was to me–I did NOT actually win).

p_and_wPoets & Writers Magazine website is my favorite contest listing source. From the P&W site: “Feeling overwhelmed by the number of writing contests? Having trouble deciding which ones to enter? Are deadlines passing you by? Poets & Writers Magazine offers a unique service to its readers. Every two months it publishes a listing of the competitions for grants and contest awards whose deadlines will come due soon. This editorial feature lists only competitions that will benefit a writer’s career and only those (with a few exceptions for prizes of stature) that offer $1,000 or more.” The P&W website also offers a searchable database so that you can look for deadlines relevant to your genre.

You might also check out About.com for short fiction contests listed by month.

If you have a favored resource to share, please do. Happy writing, and good luck!

May 29

10 Comments

Online Inspiration: Design for Mankind

Periodically, we post reviews of online sources of inspiration: websites and blogs that encourage creativity and connect creative souls. If you’d like to suggest a favorite site for a future profile, please e-mail your pick to creativereality@live.com.

erinSometimes you meet someone online who is so obviously cool that you wish you could sit down and have a latte together posthaste. That’s how I felt when Erin Loechner responded to my profile request. I’d stumbled across Erin’s blog, Design for Mankind (via a post at Creative Every Day) and was blown away by her beautiful, free eZine, Inspiration. Both publications are appealing explorations of creativity and creative people.

Erin describes herself as “a 24-year-old Midwesterner living in Los Angeles with a passion for reading, writing and [not] arithmetic.” (OK, so if I was 24, artsy, and living stroller-free in LA, I might have a shot at being cool too…hey, a girl can fantasize, right??) Erin may be younger than many of this blog’s regular readers, but you’ll find plenty of inspiration in her blog and work. Here’s what Erin has to say about her creative life.

CC: What led to the creation of your blog?
EL: I began Design for Mankind almost a year ago for absolutely selfish reasons. Living in LA has its perks, but community is one thing that I had struggled with. It was so difficult to meet like-minded people when I spent the majority of my day plugging away at an ad agency and spending time with my husband at night. I’ve always been a blogger (I started a personal blog in 2001), so I thought I’d channel my love for art and design and seek to build a community of individuals in need of inspiration [much like myself!]. The blog has grown immensely from there, and I’m so grateful to my readers for its success!

CC: And how about the eZine?inspiration
EL: The eZine was one of those light-bulb moments. Last December I was finding very little inspiration in print and was discouraged—after all, as fantastic as the web is, I love something tangible to flip through and make notes on. My magazines just weren’t doing the trick anymore and I wanted to know more about what “normal” people were like, rather than executive editors of million-dollar corporations.

The eZine launched in January of 2008 with a glance at the inspiration boards of various artists/designers and has since grown into a monthly topic to ponder and be inspired from. It has been an incredible tool in meeting new and creative individuals and has been such a fun project for me to work on. I’m excited for the coming months, as the eZine has been shaping itself into a very powerful gift. I can’t wait to see how it grows!

CC: With a fulltime job and a marriage, where do you find time for creativity?
EL: Ahhh, precisely my dilemma. I recently resigned from my position (in April, actually!) and am now a full-time blogger. I found that I was encouraging so many of my readers to take time out for creativity and wasn’t practicing what I preached. Thankfully, my advertisements will supplement my income for now (I live very simply).

CC: What are your personal creative projects (aside from the blog)?
EL: I’m learning to illustrate! It’s such an exciting experience, really. I know nothing of how to create art and am not a very crafty person, but am so inspired by artists like AshleyG and Keri Smith who have found their own way to create something beautiful.

CC: How do you organize (share) the Dailies on your blog?
EL: I like to keep the Dailies well-rounded and offer a peek into the lives of bloggers/artists/designers that are very well known (Irene from Bloesem, Victoria from SFGirlbyBay, Mav from Port2Port Press, Stephanie Congdon Barnes, Lisa Solomon, and the like). But, I always balance that out with those smaller folk who I feel should have a light shed onto their work. I featured Vic from Lost today (a fantastic Aussie blog) as a tribute to hard-working bloggers who feature great content and aren’t always given credit for that.

CC: What do you do in terms of marketing/promotion for your blog (if anything)?
EL: You know, I’m actually not so good at this part. I’m a natural socialite, so I love commenting on other bloggers’ posts, and I think that sort of established relationship does the marketing for itself. I’d hate to “use” other blogs to self-promote Design for Mankind, so I like to keep things solely based on friendships and not so much on the PR side of things. I’m a firm believer that things will unravel the way they are meant to, and I try to let nature run its course on the blog—whichever direction that may be!

CC: How do you find all the cool people, resources, and things you write about? (Or do you just know ALL the cool people online due to your natural coolness??)
EL: Ha. You’re sweet! I’m a digger. I LOVE research and find new artists in the most unexpected places. A good rule of thumb for me is to ALWAYS check out links from other artists/designers’ sites. Chances are, if you love the artist, you’ll love their friends.

CC: How is your Etsy store doing?
EL: Eh. It’s OK. I don’t pay much attention to it, to be honest. The posters were something that came from a few readers requesting a copy of a graphic I had designed for the second issue of the eZine. I wanted to make them available for everyone, so the Etsy store was the easiest solution. It’s been a learning experience—I’ve lost a bit of money in the process, but you’ll have that. The main thing I like to keep in mind is that inspiration begets inspiration, so the act of producing something tangible and offering it to a wider audience can only come full circle!

CC: Great to meet you, Erin–thanks for the inspiration!

May 28

2 Comments

5/28 Weekly creativity contest winner & new prompt

The winning entry for last week’s prompt, “the last time you kissed me,” is a poem submitted by Brittany Vandeputte:
 

 

The Last Time You Kissed Me
The last time you kissed me,
I didn’t write all my poetry in Edwardian Script —18 point font
I wasn’t into velvets and corsets then
I was peasant blouses and long skirts and boots.
And I had long hair—
That I wore down every day for you.
It was in a bun though when you kissed me.
Your hands wove themselves over and under the elastic
Gave a light tug as your lips met mine.
It cascaded free as you pulled me into you—
A tangle of loose threads.
I remember.
The last time you kissed me
Was the first time you told me goodbye.

 

 

Thank you, Brittany. Your $10 amazon.com gift certificate is on its way.

This week’s prompt: “The ocean.”
Use the prompt however you like. All media are welcome. Please e-mail your entries to creativereality@live.com by midnight on Tuesday, June 3. The winning entry receives a $10 gift certificate to amazon.com. 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 contest, either. (You do not have to be a contributor to this blog in order to enter. All are invited to participate.) Remember, the point here is to stimulate your output, not to create a masterpiece. Keep the bar low and see what happens. For more info, read the original contest blog post.

May 26

8 Comments

Miranda: Decision time

I have the good fortune of working from home. At least, I thought it was good fortune. But my husband and I have spent much of this holiday weekend reviewing our budget.

While I’ve continued to add more babysitting hours to each week, last month I let go of a long-term retainer client (parting was overdue) and the recent arrival of baby #5 has put a serious crimp in my work life. Sure, I can type on my laptop with one hand while nursing the little one, but I can’t attend onsite meetings and even conference calls are a major challenge. Then of course there’s the utter exhaustion occasional fatigue associated with newborn care. And if you read my previous post, you’ll know that I’m trying to focus more on my family and creativity and less on things that don’t really matter.

We can throw into this mix the budget-busting gasoline and heating oil bills we’re all well too familiar with–and the fact that everything is just more expensive than it used to be. The numbers add up to the reality that my professional life is only worth maintaining if I’m going to work at the level I’ve been working at–and then some. Scaling back means barely breaking even. The combination of my babysitter (not cheap, but excellent), my editorial assistant, the other freelancers I hire, and the regular business overhead all adds up to A LOT of money. A lot more than I realized. (Even though I’M the one who manages the finances at our house. Apparently “manages” was an overstatement of the operation.)

That said, I do need to bring in a minimum net number, however I figure out the income/expense balance. How am I going to get there? Losing my assistant is not an option I can entertain. I need her in order to maintain my two current retainer clients; if I had to do all of her work as well as my own I would have a nervous breakdown. I see that I can’t maintain the luxury of a babysitter three days a week (and she does a lot of work in the house as well). I often use babysitting time for personal writing projects, errands, exercising, and non-work-related appointments, as well as goofing off. I’ve become quite used to this convenience, but that has to go. I’m worried about how my sitter will take the news that I need to cut her hours back, but I don’t think it’s avoidable.

I have to make sense of the situation quickly, because we need to decide what we’re going to do about the contingent offer we have on new construction that comes up for renewal in one week–and our financial details are paramount. I think these are the three options:

a) Continue working at my previous level and beyond, which means soliciting more work (something I’ve never had to do before). Keep sitter three days. Shoot for bigger house. Pros: more earning potential; more flexible schedule; a bit of time for creativity, maintain professional standing and client relationships. Cons: a lot more stress; too much time away from kids; very difficult to manage with a new baby.

b) Limit work to the two current retainer clients, cut sitter down to one day and work an hour each morning while husband is home. Shoot for bigger house. Pros: less emphasis on work; lots more time with the kids. Cons: much less flexibility in scheduling; creative time evaporates.

c) Chuck the whole business, buy a smaller house, become a fulltime SAHM.

Right now I am really leaning toward the second option. I just don’t want to work like I’ve been working–not while the babies are so young. I miss how things were when my three older kids were little; for many years I didn’t work at all and was able to focus entirely on the family and house. On the other hand, downsizing with five kids (option c) would be a domestic challenge I’m not sure I’m up for.

What I want to absolutely avoid: a situation where I have lots of high-pressure work and not enough babysitting coverage. I don’t want that kind of stress, and it’s not fair to the kids.

Does anyone see any other options? Am I missing something? What would you do?

May 22

3 Comments

Miranda: The onus of happiness

I just stopped crying. The pile of wet tissues is still right here beside me. In part I’m hormonal, on account of having a baby two weeks ago, but the main reason for weeping is that one of my husband’s remote employees just lost his 3-month-old daughter. Apparently she got tangled up in her blankets during the night, and when her mother checked on her in the morning, she was dead.

We can all imagine what this family is going through, while at the same time we have no real understanding of what that bottomless grief really feels like (unless we’ve been there ourselves, which I have not). I hold my own infant and can’t help but delve into the pain that this family is experiencing.

Such horrific loss finds unhappy company in a larger context, even though it’s overwhelming to extrapolate this pain on a global level. There is so much grief and tragedy around us, every day, parents losing children, children losing parents. The astronomic death tolls in China and Myanmar are growing exponentially. Thousands suffer and die in Iraq–on the battle field and beyond. Our local and national news are filled with grisly tales of the awful things that people do to each other.

The enormity of pain around us is enough to make one shut down, which is of course what many people do. (As a kid, I refused to read books that I knew contained a tragedy or unhappy ending; I stayed away from Where the Red Fern Grows and at all costs avoided watching Bambi.) For those who manage to stay engaged, what kind of change can one person accomplish, after you’ve written out all the checks you can write, signed all the petitions that matter to you, held signs at the side of the road? How can we who are fortunate reconcile the trivialities of our own lives against others’ desperate realities? Sit around watching TV and gloss over the pain of parents in China who lost their governmentally mandated only child?

I recall that Christa once explained how writing horror fiction is one way that she copes with demons, and I imagine that applies to not just the demons in her mind, but the real demons around us. (Correct me on this point as needed, Christa.) I think this kind of therapy-through-art (even if it’s subconscious) is important, but I’m not sure what it looks like for me yet. I’m not brave enough to write about the things that most disturb me (kids in pain or parents losing children, for example); it hurts too much.

While I can’t wrap my arms around a starving, terrified orphan in Myanmar and provide her with food and shelter, perhaps my obligation is to wrap my arms around my own children and love them as well as I possibly can–and then some. Push beyond my previous standards and comfort zone. The fact that my life is not touched by tragedy means that I need to step up and make the absolute most of every moment. Of course, tragedy will likely come my way one day too–it seems to be inevitable–but while I have it so “good,” I have the urge to make up for the “bad” in the lives of others through my own mindful living, like some kind of karmic carbon-credit system. Is this ridiculous?

Maybe this means being the best mother I can be, the best wife, the best artist. Not “best” by some external measure, but best in terms of what I know to be true–following the inner voice that really does have all the answers if I shut up enough to hear it. How can I whine about not having enough writing time in the face of a family who just lost a child? It’s nonsense. There is time. Write. Create something meaningful that may heal someone else’s heart, even just a little bit. Understand creativity at a different level. Share the burden of others’ pain by feeling it and turning it into something good, something mindful, something full of joy. Something that matters.

May 21

4 Comments

5/21 Weekly creativity contest winners & new prompt

Well, this week there was positively no way to chose a winner between two beautiful and highly original pieces of art submitted for the prompt “little black dress.” Instead, they both win (and each will receive a $10 amazon gift certificate). I wouldn’t say that either of these pieces of art are good examples of “keeping the bar low,” but hopefully they won’t intimidate the rest of us! I’m also posting two text entries from Creative Construction commenters–a poem from Cathy Ann Coley and a humorous prose piece from Jenn that we can probably ALL relate to–see those two pieces after the jump. The winners:

From artist Dale Meister, a mixed media piece on watercolor paper (read about Dale’s creative process for this entry at her personal blog):

Nice work, Dale! The second winner is puzzle-maker Juliet Bell, who submitted an extremely intricate, hand-cut wooden puzzle containing three figurals and measuring approximately 14” tall by 4.5” (some of her work is listed at eBay):

litte black dress 2

This week’s prompt: “The last time you kissed me.”
Use the prompt however you like. All media are welcome. Please e-mail your entries to creativereality@live.com by midnight on Tuesday, May 27. The winning entry receives a $10 gift certificate to amazon.com. 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 contest, either. (You do not have to be a contributor to this blog in order to enter. All are invited to participate.) Remember, the point here is to stimulate your output, not to create a masterpiece. Keep the bar low and see what happens. For more info, read the original contest blog post.

Two text entries for “little black dress”: Read more

May 16

1 Comment

Miranda: That finishing touch

As mentioned in an earlier post, I subscribe to the weekly newsletter of Canadian painter Robert Genn. While Genn writes about painting, his thoughts usually apply to any creative pursuit, including writing. This week’s newsletter is about art that is “overworked”–which relates to how to decide when something is “finished.” Genn’s newsletter is reprinted here in full, by permission.

Yesterday, Rich Woy of Ocala, Florida asked, “How do you know when a painting is overworked? Are there boundaries or clues? Is this judgment left to the artist or the critic?”

Thanks, Rich. Good question. Funnily, at dinner last night a subscriber happened to mention that I habitually overworked the word “overworked.” I had to explain myself.

For sure, it’s a term among artists. “Too many notes,” said the Emperor-composer Joseph II to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Similar thing comes up in painting. Too many strokes. Having said that, you have to know that tight photo-realism is not necessarily overworked. A close-up look at evolved realism can show understated brushwork and strokes in appropriate places. Overworked mainly applies to expressive, impressionist and broad-treatment works where freshness and surface quality are denied.

Overworking takes place when you lose control. As you fail in facility and freshness, you try to save the day with fiddle and fuss. The passage looks laboured.

Overworking happens when you’re overtired, distracted, suffering from desire deficit, and particularly when you’re not paying enough attention to reference material or personal creative vision. More crudely, it happens when you don’t know what you’re doing. The clue comes when you see you’ve gone too far. Work doesn’t look as good as it might. “A painting,” says Harley Brown, “is always finished before the artist thinks it is.”

While the general public may not be so sensitive to overworking, and sophisticated critics may be looking at other criteria, to the actively creative eye, overworking is easily spotted and often spoils the look of otherwise fine work. Artists have ruses, however. The bad areas can sometimes be obfuscated by nearby passages of bravura or other visual distractions, but smoke and mirrors doesn’t always hide the true measure of the artist. The main antidote is to scrape off and start over.

The overwork boundary often lies in the grey zone between the intuitive mode and controlled rendering. The fine art is in watching yourself in the act of intuiting. As Ted Smuskiewicz says, “You learn to leave your strokes alone.”

Best regards,

Robert

PS: “Great is the art of beginning, but greater is the art of ending.” (Henry Wadsworth Longfellow)

Esoterica: The most powerful antidote to overworking is a habitual, timely pause. Work periods need to be laced with both brief and long ones. Lean back, stand back, walk around, move the work to another easel. In my much-celebrated case of Attention Deficit Disorder, long pauses are difficult, so I work on more than one at a time. As Quebec plein air painter Sylvio Gagnon says, “The best way to finish a painting is to start a new one.” In any case, you need to neutralize indecision. “When you’ve just done it, you’re not sure. But when you’ve sat with it for a couple of hours and you don’t want to do anything more to it, that’s a great feeling.” (Damien Hirst)

May 14

2 Comments

5/14 Weekly creativity contest winner & new prompt

The winning entry for last week’s prompt, “a cup of coffee,” is a digital image submitted by Karen Poneris:

Congratulations, Karen! Your $10 amazon.com gift certificate will be arriving shortly.

Contest update: The number of submissions has been lower than I’d hoped for–if you’re holding out for some reason, please lower the bar and participate–especially all you regular Creative Construction bloggers! Set the timer for 15 minutes and see what you can come up with.

I fielded a question from someone about the legitimacy of entering work that was created previously but happens to fit a given prompt. If you have something in your portfolio or filing cabinet that works for the contest prompt, by all means send it in. Simply the process of reviewing something you already created, thinking about it, perhaps tweaking it as needed–that’s all part of the creative process, so it’s legit.

This week’s prompt: “Little black dress.”
Use the prompt however you like. All media are welcome. Please e-mail your entries to creativereality@live.com by midnight on Tuesday, May 20. The winning entry receives a $10 gift certificate to amazon.com. 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 contest, either. (You do not have to be a contributor to this blog in order to enter. All are invited to participate.) Remember, the point here is to stimulate your output, not to create a masterpiece. Keep the bar low and see what happens. For more info, read the original contest blog post.

May 7

1 Comment

5/7 Weekly creativity contest winner & new prompt

The winning entry for last week’s prompt, “view from the window,” is an untitled poem submitted by Elizabeth Campbell:

I come late
to nature
I am not
a climber of mountains
a spelunker of caves
a diver of oceans
except within these walls,
where I weave webs that
keep me close to home
watching through windows
with wanting
the wind, the dark, the leaves
familiar and foreign, alive.

Congratulations, Elizabeth! Your $10 amazon.com gift certificate will be arriving shortly. Don’t spend it all at once! 🙂

This week, I am also posting two other entries (both short prose pieces), one from a regular blog contributor (Jenn), and one from an occasional commenter (Juliet Bell). Click on “continue reading” below to read those entries.

This week’s prompt: “A cup of coffee.”
Use the prompt however you like. All media are welcome. Please e-mail your entries to creativereality@live.com by midnight on Tuesday, May 13. The winning entry receives a $10 gift certificate to amazon.com. 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 contest, either. (You do not have to be a contributor to this blog in order to enter. All are invited to participate.) Remember, the point here is to stimulate your output, not to create a masterpiece. Keep the bar low and see what happens. For more info, read the original contest blog post.

Read more

May 4

1 Comment

Online Inspiration: Creative Every Day

Periodically, we post reviews of online sources of inspiration: websites and blogs that encourage creativity and connect creative souls. If you’d like to suggest a favorite site for a future profile, please e-mail your pick to creativereality@live.com.

Creative Every DaySome of you may have noticed the Creative Every Day icon in our sidebar. This site was created by Leah Piken Kolidas, an artist and blogger. Part of the site is dedicated to the Creative Every Day 2008 challenge, which encourages daily creativity regardless of media or creative outlet.  Leah writes:

“Here are the basics first! Creative Every Day 2008 is a new challenge I’ve started to help infuse my life and lives of others with daily creativity….Creativity is meant in the broadest sense, so it doesn’t have to be something art related. Your creative acts could be in cooking, taking pictures, knitting, doodling, writing, dancing, decorating, or making art in the form of collage, paint, or clay or whatever!”

Every time I visit this site, I am impressed by the wealth of what others are creating. I like Leah’s broad application of creativity, because it helps me to be more mindful of what creativity really means. All of those “other” creative outlets serve to bolster my “real” art, if I let the edges blur together. For me, blending creativity into the mundane parts of domesticity that I can’t escape (cooking, cleaning, driving, etc.) make me feel less like a drone and more like a creative person who lives in the moment, taking in the beauty even if it’s just lying quietly in a bowl of perfect tangerines.

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