be open

be open.

Above all,
watch with
glittering
eyes the whole world
around you,
because the greatest
secrets are always
hidden in the most unlikely
places. Those who don't
believe in magic
will never find it.

--Roald Dahl

sharing

today i am turning the spotlight over to a fabulous artist who is near and dear to my heart. i hope you will stop over at abbey of the arts and check out the sacred artist interview with bill hughlett ☺.

photo © h3images

nine minutes of resolve

I resolve to sit here for nine minutes and allow whatever wants to come to the page come. I resolve that I will not be disappointed in what I have written and that it will be my choice to decide whether or not I share these nine minutes with anyone else.

I resolve that I really have no idea what nine minutes of writing looks like although I spend hours each day sitting, pondering, writing words into my journal. The timed aspect is something both confining and freeing. What will my words say? When will I start or shall I just ramble along for nine minutes without direction or discourse…that is much how I spent the first 40 plus years of my life. Wondering along. Allowing others to decide what was appropriate or inappropriate. Allowing them to set the time limit. This long to be a child. Now it’s time to grow up. Go to school. College. Get married. Have a career. Start a family. Where was I in the process? Waiting for the time to pass. Hoping that tomorrow would be better with the next achievement, the next goal met, the next decade.

Well, guess what? No more. I may not have more decades. I may not even have more hours. I only have moments and I resolve to use those moments as best I can. If that means sitting and writing for nine minutes so I can discover what I am resolved to then so be it. Cool, huh? I love the moment-to-moment thing and it scares the hell out of me. What if the string of moments does not amount to anything? What if no one finds my words interesting? What if…worse yet…no one finds me interesting? What if I find myself boring? If I find that my words have no soul or meaning. That my life has been a string of meaningless nine minutes…nine years or heaven forbid nine decades.

I resolve to change today. I resolve to listen to my heart. To follow my words. To use my voice. To be the artist that I am and that scares the hell out of me, for no one ever taught me how to be an artist like they taught me to tell time or add numbers or cook a meal. To be an artist, I must learn to play and listen and discern what wants to be sprung forth from the depths of my soul. Sometimes it is childish and other times it is mature beyond my wildest imagination.

I resolve to listen. Not only to myself, but also to others in a new way. Not letting them command me in what to do or say or write, but listening so I can really hear what they are asking for. So I can hear what I really am asking of myself. Just nine minutes!

from Cafe Writing: Option Six: Timed Writing

Take nine minutes (you have to use all nine, you can’t go over), and interpret the topic Resolution.

Any format (fiction, essay, verse) is acceptable; and it’s expected that your writing will be raw, so don’t stress about editing.

a good reminder...

Artists who seek perfection in everything are those who cannot attain it in anything. --Eugene Delacroix

whimsy & romance

There is definitely something romantic and whimsical stirring in my soul these days. Last week I created this image of pink and I have little idea where it came from or what it is trying to speak to me. Yesterday I was drawn to write a poem in Spanish principally because I liked the sound in my ear (more romantic methinks). And last night, I stumbled across a very cool blog called Cafe Writing. While there I decided to participate in the January Project to see where my creativity would go. I chose option #2 with the guidelines as follows:

Pick at least three of the following eight words, and write a paragraph, scene, flash-fic, essay, blog entry or poem using them. It’s fine to change tenses, or pluralize if you want to, but please bold the words you choose.

breathless, change, elusive, pensive, reflect, surge, tide, vibrant

As I read the list of words, a scene of romance and intrigue formed in my mind. The following paragraph is the result of this quickly captured image. Sappy? Perhaps. Predictable? Possibly. But who am I to squelch the romantic creative spirit when it comes knocking? ☺

I plan to spend a bit more time with my collage image and I invite you to stretch your own creativity and help me finish this story or at least let me know what direction you think it might take. Here goes:

Breathless following their brief exchange, the elusive woman turned her face once more toward the pensive stranger. Her image reflected in his vibrant blue eyes and her heart surged with a tide of emotion. She stood immobile, locked in the presence of his eyes until finally, she inhaled deeply and took the defining step, knowing her life would never be the same.


So..what stirs in you? Which way did she step? Toward the stranger or away from him? Why?

I hope you'll give it a try! And I highly recommend stopping by Cafe Writing for a visit and more creative writing prompts. Cheers!

sunday quote

be present.

in life, there are no ordinary moments. most of us never really recognize the most significant moments of our lives when they're happening.
--kathleen magee

friday's fancy

Today being Friday, it somehow seems appropriate to post a brief synopsis of what I have “created” this week. I have decided to christen it "friday's fancy." Who knows…this may become a regular feature for me to keep track of my endeavors for the year…or not. I guess, I’ll just have to see which way the creative winds blow ☺. This week I...

1) Designed and launched lucy creates!!!
2) Created a welcoming space for friends to begin the year 2008.
3) Spent a full day dreaming and brainstorming with blogging pals, C & A.
4) Downloaded and viewed my pictures from Christmas vacation in Bermuda. (If you look closely at this one, you'll see a baby chameleon ☺.)
5) Signed up for An Introduction to Collage here. It begins on January 24.
6) Made plans to attend a Soul Collage workshop tomorrow.
7) Kept two blogs operational, read & commented on many others.
8) Took a walk in the rain and snapped a few photos along the way.

I imagine I could 'creatively' extend this list, but I am happy with it for today. It has been a good week and a great beginning to the new year! I’d love to know what creativity looked like for you this week ☺!!!

creative thoughts

So, if I awaken thinking of creativity, I am making something in my mind.

I have caused something to happen as a result of deliberately acknowledging creativity. I may think thoughts without this deliberate act and the creation—the imagination—may skip by unnoticed and thus I have missed the opportunity. But, by bringing the thought more fully into existence—by listening to the words in my head or watching the colors of the landscape or by consciously hearing the symphony of nature—I have created something new and unique—no matter how brief—if only in my mind. They were thoughts and images that did not exist until I gave them the space and opportunity to be acknowledged and to come into existence.

...and that's my creative thought of the day.

welcoming space

"The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances: if there is any reaction, both are transformed." Carl Jung

The word ‘welcome’ rings in my ears. Welcome the New Year. Welcome creativity. Welcome old & new friends. Welcome the stranger on the street. Welcome wholeness. Life. Rain & sunshine. Warmth & cold. Open your arms and welcome the world. Do your little part to co-create.

Co-create—for I do not do anything alone and it is not a puppeteer God who pulls the strings and says, “Do this or do that.” It is fully me and yet it is bigger than me—this wholeness of which I speak.

With the face of another, we create ‘welcome.’ One offers. One receives. The circle broadens. Preparing space. Setting the mood. Cleaning the house. Preparing the food. Lighting the candles. Pouring the wine. Breaking the bread. Welcoming friends. Welcoming conversation. Welcoming the New Year. Creating space to be together. To create conversation. Relationship. Renewal. Something that did not exist before.

Welcoming creativity in old & new ways this New Year.

This post is dedicated to A & C…I hope you recognize your part in this creation ☺.

photo by lucy

welcome

Welcome to lucy creates 2008!

“To create” has been defined as bringing something into existence or causing something to happen as a result of one’s actions. To be “creative” involves the imagination and/or original ideas. And, “ the creator” is a person or thing that brings something into existence.

There is a great quote by Carl Sagan that says, “If you want to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first create the universe.” Well, “creating the universe” is a high standard to uphold, but I believe being original is fully within our grasp. So on this new and hopefully wonderful blog site dedicated to creativity, I will use the terms “create,” “creative” and “creator” quite loosely & broadly!

Here I hope to create space. To offer an invitation to witness something we may not have recognized before. To freeze moments of time. Clear a brief space out of a busy schedule. Use the imagination. Consider the possibilities.

I would pose that we are all creative. Creators made in the image of a magnificent Creator unique to each of us. We are co-creators. My distinctive life influences what I bring to the page or the easel or the kitchen, as does yours. So let us create—bring into existence new thoughts, words, deeds, and art (from our own unique perspective, of course). For the New Year of 2008, I am committing to at least be aware of the possibility of creation every day.

Pretty cool, huh? Dreaming dreams, playing with words, splashing a little paint here and there. Listening to the call of the great Creator. Will you choose to allow it to happen? Will you set aside your predefined notions of what being creative means? I am excited for this venture. I have broadened my scope and alleviated the pressure. I am simply creating space to be creative. Will you join me? Imagine the possibilities!

photo by lucy