Jan 5
If you haven’t yet seen this amazing video yet, enjoy. Eirik Solheim took a series of daily photos every day in a set location outside his home and the results are stunning. Necessary inspiration for winter doldrums, which will hit New England in about three weeks!
Vodpod videos no longer available.
Jan 1
Well, our little blog is one year old today. We’ve grown from a single person (me) to a rich community of bloggers, commenters, and silent friends. We had more than 25,975 page views in 2008. We wrote 285 posts and tallied 1,705 comments. In February we started the Monday Page for posting periodic goals and commenting on those goals. On May 1, we launched a weekly creativity contest and since posted 36 weekly prompts. Breakfast, our weekly (now bi-weekly) profile of a creative mother from the blogoshpere, began in June. We’ve since visited with 26 amazing women who are turning their creative dreams into reality.
I’ve made some true friends through this blog this year — women that I think about and care about, every day. I am so grateful for the learning and shared experiences of motherhood and creativity that have materialized through our virtual connection. The inspiration is invaluable. Thank you to all the regulars, as well as to those who pop in on occasion to say hi — and to those who visit with us but prefer to stay anonymous. You are all part of what makes this a special place.
I’d like to give special thanks to Cathy Coley, who unfailingly comments on every post, contributes her own blog post every week, always enters the weekly contest, posts to the Monday Page, and in general serves as a leader in our community. I appreciate everything you do, Cathy!
I look forward to seeing Creative Construction’s continued growth in 2009 — and I can’t wait to see what all of you creative women pull off this year. I hope that your 2009 is full of love, happy and healthy children, and more creative joy than you can even imagine.
Dec 30
New Year’s Eve is a wonderful excuse for taking stock in where you’re at. What were the highlights of the past year? The challenges? Have you redefined yourself in small ways — or big ones? Where do you want to go in 2009? Are there a few things on your “someday” list that you could turn into reality in the near future?
I like to come up with a list of goals for the new year. Some are measurable (train for — and run in — a half marathon in June; lose ten pounds; finish my book) and others are more nebulous (keep working toward living in the moment and letting go of stress). I haven’t completed my list yet — I’ll save that for Thursday evening. But I’m thinking things through.
Here are a few interesting ideas, if you’re working on your own resolutions.
Resolutions for writers
Resolutions for artists
Resolutions for photographers
Resolutions for quilters
Resolutions for bloggers
Resolutions for mothers
You might also want to consider creating a vision board that illustrates your goals — or mindsets — for the coming year. Having a graphic representation in view might be just the thing to keep you focused as the weeks progress.
And if, like me, you’re working toward enjoying the present moment more, here’s a lovely blog post from Anna Johnson about bathtime as meditation.
How about you?
Dec 29
I hope everyone had a wonderful, joyous holiday!
I had an unusually chaotic week, as the holiday was bookended with house showings — but the very good news is that we signed an offer on our house over the weekend. Fingers crossed that everything proceeds smoothly. We’ve spent nearly two years in real estate limbo, and I can’t believe that this protracted process might really be coming to and end. Now, to negotiate on the new house, and try not to fall into panic mode.
While trying to take a deep breath, I was reminded of this beautiful video from writer Kelly Corrigan, who articulates so vividly the strength that women draw from the sisterhood we share with other women. (Thanks to Rebecca for the video link.) Without question, this blog is evidence of the sisterhood.
Dec 16
The crazy weather in various parts of the US, combined with the impending holidays, means that many of us are running around like lunatics just a tad busier than usual. Still, I hope that a few of you will be able to pull off a quick entry for this week’s creativity contest prompt: waiting. C’mon — I know that the token $10 amazon.com gift certificate is starting to seem worthwhile, given our new ecomonic realities! 🙂
Dec 16
From the Brooklyn Rail, an extensive and personal exploration into motherhood and art, written by Sharon Butler. Three excerpts:
Ever since the Abstract Expressionists held forth at the Cedar Tavern in the 1950s, the unwritten rule has been that making art is a consuming obsession that leaves no time or space for worldly responsibilities like childrearing. Before the AbExers, an artist like Gaugin left his wife and kids in Denmark to pursue painting in Paris, and later Tahiti. With artists—unlike, say, poets, novelists, or filmmakers—there’s an expectation of an ascetic, blinkered life focused exclusively on making art. Artists with kids have often ignored them while spending all their time in the studio. In Night Studio: A Memoir of Philip Guston, Guston’s daughter Musa Meyer tells the heartbreaking story of a disengaged father who had little room in his life for her. So, why then, closing in on the final years of fertility, with scant investigation or evidence that the outcome would be salutary, did I stop using birth control in 1998 and let fate take its course? My decision was more intellectual than emotional. I reasoned that I was an artist. If I did get pregnant, wouldn’t this primal experience strengthen and inform my work? If I didn’t, then I wouldn’t have any regrets. I rolled the dice, and three months later the pregnancy test was positive…
The accepted wisdom among the first generation of feminist artists who disdained baby-making was that women who reproduce spend at least a year or two making idiosyncratic, excessively inward-looking “baby art” and then, if they are lucky, eventually get their wits about them and return to their previous, more serious work. It’s a condescending view, perhaps, but to my mind more or less valid. Growing a baby from a seed is an inexorably life-altering, eye-opening, intense experience, and always will be. In the first stages, child-rearing is so existentially consuming and preoccupying that it cannot help but suffuse any artwork….
Of course, it would be naïve to contend that nowadays reconciling motherhood and art making is always a smooth and effortless endeavor. But contemporary female artists are more determined than their predecessors to overcome barriers to harmonizing the two aspects of life rather than acquiesce to them. Emerging artist Jennifer Wroblewski, mother of a six-month-old, was originally discouraged when older female artists she knew intimated that her pregnancy would adversely affect her career. Rather than accept the projected consequences of professional indifference and potential dismissal, Wroblewski decided to curate an exhibition tentatively titled “Mother/Mother” that would explore ideas garnered from the process of parenting….
Read the full article here.
Nov 27
Wonderful wishes to all who celebrate Thanksgiving today.
May your holiday be full of love, laughter, and lots of good food.
If you haven’t discovered Momversation, hop on over and join the fun. This site features slick video conversations — and a lot of laughs — with notable women from the blogoshpere. Don’t miss Heather Armstrong from Dooce.com lead a video discussion on the perils of navigating work and family life. [Note that the image to the right is not embedded video; you’ll need to click the link above in order to watch the video.]
You might also enjoy the video conversations on surviving the holiday season and how to deal with family members of a different political persuasion, among others.
Heather Armstrong’s blog, Dooce.com, is an internet phenomenon, as reported by the New York Times. Heather has just announced that she’s pregnant with her second child. If you’re not yet familar with Heather’s no-holds-barred blogging style — even when it costs her sponsors — you’re in for a treat.
Nov 20
Not that any of us needs another way to waste time online (ahem), but I can’t help but share Judge By. Go to the site and you’ll see a random book cover from Amazon.com. Guess how good you think the book is, based on its cover. After you click your assessment, you’ll see what Amazon reviewers actually rated it. You can also click through to the book on Amazon, in the event that you stumble across something interesting. Quite addictive…
Don’t forget: tonight is the deadline for your “quilt” prompt entries!
Nov 13
For anyone who has ever wished for an onsite coach to keep them focused during a writing stint, your dream (or nightmare) has come true. Meet Write or Die from Dr. Wicked’s Writing Lab. You select a target word count or time duration, as well as the strictness level you desire, and begin typing in the writing box. If you stop typing — perhaps because you started surfing the web or checking Facebook — Dr. Wicked will unleash a systematic “reminder” arsenal to get you back to the page and start typing. At his most evil, Dr. Wicked will actually start erasing what you’ve written — which should certainly be a negative enough consequence that you won’t let it happen!
When you’ve reached your goal, you can copy and paste your text into a Word document, or use the program’s clipboard function.
This web application is FABULOUS. Not to mention hysterical. And great for NaNoWriMo participants who need a shot in the arm. Even Natalie Goldberg would approve, I’m sure. From the Write or Die website:
Write or Die is a web application that encourages writing by punishing the tendency to avoid writing. Start typing in the box. As long as you keep typing, you’re fine, but once you stop typing, you have a grace period of a certain number of seconds and then there are consequences….A tangible consequence is more effective than an intangible reward.
If I don’t write stories for class, I will receive scorn from my teacher and a bad grade in the class. If I don’t write my own stories I am only disappointing myself. I experience perpetual disappointment in myself so I’m kind of used to it. Add to that the fact that I simply have neither the self-discipline to write consistently on my own nor the capacity for self-deception that would enable me to create artificial deadlines. That is how Write or Die was born.
The idea is to instill in the would-be writer with a fear of not writing. We do this by employing principles taught in Introduction to Psychology. Anyone remember operant conditioning and negative reinforcement?
Negative reinforcement “strengthens a behavior because a negative condition is stopped or avoided as a consequence of the behavior.” Consequences:
- Gentle Mode: A certain amount of time after you stop writing, a box will pop up, gently reminding you to continue writing.
- Normal Mode: If you persistently avoid writing, you will be played a most unpleasant sound. The sound will stop if and only if you continue to write.
- Kamikaze Mode: Keep writing or your work will unwrite itself.
These consequences will persist until your preset conditions have been met (that is, your time is up or you’ve written you wordcount goal or both).
This text box is not a word processor, it is not for editing, the way to save is to select all of the text, copy and paste into your own text editor. The idea is to separate the writing process and the editing process as much as possible.
This is aimed at anyone who wants to get writing done. It requires only that you recognize your own tendency towards self-sabotage and be willing to do something about it. If you’re sick of saccharine writing advice that no one could honestly follow and you want a real method to getting work done.
See for yourself! And thanks in advance, Dr. Wicked.
Nov 11
So says the Boston Globe:
SOME RESEARCH HAS found that expressive writing has positive effects on both mind and body. Two psychologists decided to see if even a fleeting episode of writing could make a difference. College students were given just two minutes on two consecutive days to write about a traumatic experience, a positive experience, or a prosaic topic. A month later, the students were asked to report symptoms of ill health. Students who had written about emotionally charged experiences — either positive or negative — reported fewer health complaints than the others.
Burton, C. and King, L., “Effects of (Very) Brief Writing on Health: The Two-Minute Miracle,” British Journal of Health Psychology (February 2008).
Studio Mothers: Life & Art 