catching creativity on your napkin

there is something really magical about sitting in a cozy cafe or restaurant with your favorite drink and the din of life swirling all around you. it often inspires a whir of creative thoughts, and your napkin then becomes a perfect mini canvas... for writing down thoughts, for sketching a little art, or for mapping out a business plan. napkins are the perfect size to capture that initial spark. so many amazing ideas, inventions, and creative works were born on a napkin (didn't jk rowling muse about early ideas for harry potter on a napkin?).

capturing your ideas this way honors the romantic notion of the creative moment... that instant when you have such a shining inspiration, you have to get it down on paper before it flies out of your head. the spontaneity of this moment is what makes it so perfectly juicy. it conjurs up images of an artist sketching intently in a swanky cafe, or of two businessmen talking in a bar animatedly about an new idea over beer and pretzels. one of the coolest creative experiences i have ever seen was a napkin poetry session with the band jim's big ego. everyone in the audience jotted down a few words onto a napkin and somehow the band weaved these into an actual song... really fun and amazing! there is even a napkin doodle contest at this little restaurtant in san francisco.

whatever your inspiration, be ready to capture whatever creativity spills onto your napkin. sometimes it's all it takes to get your idea off and flying!

summer {and beyond} in the wishstudio

hope everyone's summer is off to a great start! aside for the constant cover of clouds here in the northeast, things are heating up for a wonderfully creative season in the wishstudio. i wanted to share with you some little snippets of the exciting things we have planned in the coming months. even though i will be taking some big creative deep breaths away from the computer to take care of my new babe, so many talented and creative souls have come together to to keep the inspiration well overflowing for you here in this space.

we have guest features planned from suzie ridler sharing creative inspiration from her kitchen, as well as from the creator of the wonderful site heart handmade.

the wishmamas series will continue this summer with special contributions from creative and artistic mothers jen lee, denise andrade, melanie mcmullin, and penelope dullighan.

our beautiful monthly columnistas will be bringing you more great stories and inspirations this season. also watch for the launch of and Embracing Butterflies by stacy de la rosa in july. In a New Light by susan tuttle, and Bohemian Whimsey by boho girl will both be making their debuts in august!

also very exciting, will be the addition of wishstudio's very own creative soul life coach to answer your questions! brenda stanton, life coach, mentor, ladies who launch leader, and creative entrepreneur, will be on board bringing you her monthly Q & A column with insight and tips about living a more meaningful, fullfilling and creative life. get your questions ready and keep an eye out for all the details coming soon!

waiting in the wings are many more fabulous guests and creative collaborations soon to be unveiled. one project in the works is a yummy creative treat (for all of you!) from the amazing pam garrison.

although summer is a time to relax and tends to be a little quieter here in the blogsphere, stay tuned to all that the wishstudio will have to offer to keep those creative fires burning. a little inspiration goes a long way.

here's to a lovely creative season for all of us. thanks for being a part of this amazing community!

through their lens

by liz lamoreaux

Lately, I have been thinking about how solitary creating can be at times. When sewing in my studio, The Little Room, or writing at my laptop or taking photos, I am so often alone. I steal moments to create when I can and try so hard to balance it all. I honor this time I spend alone in my creative world and the joy it gives me, but sometimes I would love to invite someone else in. I do not just want to have company in my studio; rather, I have been thinking about how someone else’s perspective could bring some really good things. This is especially true because my own perspective can sometimes be tightly focused and I miss all the possibility around me.

For the last few years, I have used the five senses plus a sixth sense of “know” as a jumping off point for a creative exercise. Some of these exercises have become part of a series of senses posts on my blog. At first, this began as a writing exercise to capture a moment or a memory or a day, but somewhere along the way, it became a photo “artist date” series (the idea of artist dates are inspired by the author Julia Cameron). I find that this exercise recharges my creative well as I get out of my space, even if this just means to the backyard, and capture the world around me with my lens. Sometimes I think about each specific sense when I am taking photographs, but more often I try to hold the intention of the senses as I click away. Then I find the senses within the photos after I look at them later that day.

On Sunday, I invited my husband Jon to join me on a senses artist date. We grabbed our cameras and headed to a town south of us that we hadn’t explored much. We found a park on a hill above Puget Sound and each wandered taking photos. Then we discovered a rocky beach along the water and had fun taking photos there. Each of us were lost in our own thoughts and our own experience for most of the time as we explored in different directions, sometimes crossing paths, other times losing sight of one another for a bit. Yet, for me, the afternoon never felt solitary but instead more like being a student in a yoga class (deeply in my own body while feeling part of a community).

Later, we each looked through our photos alone and pulled out those that represented the senses to us. I created diptychs so we could see them side by side. It was fun for each of us to see how the other person interpreted the senses and to see that person’s visual perspective of this shared experience. For us, the exercise was not about the quality of the photos or a contest to see who interpreted the senses in the most inventive way. It was, instead, an opportunity to connect creatively while exploring and recharging.

Today, I challenge you to invite a friend or partner or child to experience some shared creative time. Perhaps you will invite this person on a senses artist date like this one. Or perhaps, like Kelly Rae and Mati Rose, you will collaborate on a few paintings. Maybe you will visit a farmer’s market and each wander with $10 and then come together for a picnic of what you each purchased. Maybe you will pull out some art supplies and simply get messy. Whatever you decide to do, give yourself permission to let go of the expectations for a specific experience or outcome. Instead, let yourself play and see the world through another’s lens.

To see all the senses diptychs from Liz and Jon’s artist date, visit their flickr set.

june giveaway winners

and the winners are...

for momma zen: the other laura

for the hip tranquil chick book and cd: melissa

hooray! email me so i can send off your prizes

thank you all for entering.

check back next month for more giveaway goodies!

plucking the petals :: a summer solstice project

the summer solstice celebrates the earth, the feminine, and the yin forces of growth and ripening. it's a wonderful time to really live into your dreams and to soak up the juiciness that has begun to blossom from all of your intentions and creative goals set over the previous months.

with this in mind, i wanted to share with you this fun project for an inspiration collage that i created for myself. it is ripe with simple summer hopes and intentions and as it hangs in my studio it will remind me of what is really essential.

envisioning a flower with it's many petals, think about what is important to you this season. focus on the joy and lovely outward energy of the coming months. it's the perfect time to share simple pleasures, connect with friends and family, continue working on a beloved creative project, and enjoy some lazy downtime as well. imagine that you will pluck these petals all summer long!

create your collage and share it here by leaving a comment on this post. can't wait to see what's blooming in your corner!

sponsor giveaways

i have two great sponsor giveaways for you this month, both perfect for yummy summer reads!

to celebrate her first mother's plunge retreat being held today, the lovely karen maezen miller has offered a signed copy of her book momma zen : walking the crooked path of motherhood. you will find beautiful and everyday enlightenment inside the pages of this little gem. all mothers can read and appreciate the simple wisdom offered, no matter where you are on your motherhood journey.



creative yogini, kimberly wilson, has given us a copy of her fabulous book hip tranquil chic along with the companion cd, get your yoga on. this creative guide will inspire you to live a mindfully extravagant yoga lifestyle in all areas of your life! with the seven sensational sequences on the accompanying cd, you can build your practice both on and off the yoga matt.

to enter, leave a comment on this post with any ideas, suggestions or feedback for the wishstudio along with which prize you wish to win. entries are due by midnight on june 24th. two randomly drawn winners will be announced the following day.

good luck!

how i became a mermaid warrior

by mccabe, dancing mermaid

Art has not always been the love of my life. I enjoyed drawing and painting as a kid...but somewhere between 4th and 7th grade, that joy got squished. Years ago I took an artists way class, and one of the first things our teacher asked was, "who told you that you were not good at art?" This was not to blame or point fingers, but more to pinpoint where the magic got lost. We are all born with the natural desire to create in some way... so where did it go?

Mine started to disappear in middle school. By then the "gifted artists" had already been established and everybody else was just ordinary. There was a particular incident in 7th grade where an art teacher used a piece I did as a "bad example." I was horrified, and did not attempt to do art again until my early 20s. People teach the best they can with what they know. It is interesting though how adults project on their own fears regarding creativity onto kids, without realizing it. I don't know anyone that does not hold some old belief that their work is not enough. It can be a lifelong process to finding your way back, to making art for no other reason than it feels good to make it.

It took me all through my 20s and halfway through my 30s to realize that I really am an artist, simply because I have a story to tell. The thought of teaching art to young girls as a form of empowerment has been a dream for 10 years, and yet it did not really come into full fruition until I started making the necessary changes I needed to make in my own life. To those who say, "those who cannot do, teach," I say bullshit. Teaching is one of the most powerful, beautiful exchanges anyone could ever experience, whether you are a traditional teacher or not. The most significant teachers in my life have been the brave souls who have walked their path with dignity and grace, and are generous enough to share their story~even the ugly bits. I think as students we need heros we can relate to.

My inspiration for the Mermaid Warriors Camp came from my own need as a child to be acknowledged and supported as a creative, unique individual. Times were obviously different 20 years ago....and I just don't think most of the adults around me had the tools to foster a child that wanted to color outside the lines. Their generation was all about following the rules and not rocking the boat too much. Our generation is more introspective and aware, and who better to pass these traits along to our young girls then the ones who went without.

Which brings me to the Mini Mermaid Warriors and our camps. I teach online (through video and email) and also in real life. These two mediums are deeply woven together because many of my students appear in the online videos. I don't tell them what to say or how to act when filming, its just real girls being themselves. Through art journaling, photography, and mixed media, we string together all the parts of ourselves without rules or limitations. Doing art as a tool for self expression is not something most of them are used to, and yet when introduced to this type of art they thrive in it. Its like their little souls were just waiting for the opportunity to be recognized in all its imperfections.

My hope for the online class is to connect all these girls from around the world with each other. We have such a supportive, inspiring, online community of artists...how cool would it be to gift this to the next generation? The girls will be able to post pictures of their work, ask us questions, and become penpals with other girls in the class if they wish. Another exciting bit about this e-course is part of the proceeds are going to our african mermaid sisters brenda and gloria in rwanda. (thanks to jen lemen!)

We are all teachers and students to each other. They need us to create the space to make brave art, and we need them to remember what we lost. I truly believe this is a team effort and we are changing the world together...one little girl at a time.

* register here for camp until august 1st!

ordinary sparkling moments :: thinking small

by christine mason miller

Me in a slightly less than keynote-worthy moment with my best
friend Melissa, who drove up from Raleigh to be there for the
event. This was taken the day after my speech at one of our
favorite college haunts, Carol Lee Donuts.

I’ve been asked to be the keynote speaker at an alumni event at my alma mater Virginia Tech, and I just finished my speech. I have procrastinated on this project more than usual, waiting until just over a week before I am scheduled to speak to coherently organize enough thoughts, stories and anecdotes to fill a space of about twenty minutes. When I was first asked to speak, I felt like my life had come full circle. The roots of creativity, entrepreneurship and risk taking that were set when I was a student at Virginia Tech have since blossomed in all kinds of different directions – from a greeting card business, to travels around the world to publishing Ordinary Sparkling Moments – and now I’m returning almost twenty years later to share with some of my fellow graduates how and why I’ve followed the dreams I’ve had.

This feels huge.

And when I think about how huge this feels, I get nervous, and I start to panic, and I begin to have a secret hope that I’ll get laryngitis or the plague or some other ailment that will allow me to call them up the night before and say, “I’m so sorry, but I can’t be your keynote speaker!” This would be the best of both worlds – I would get to brag about being asked to be the keynote speaker, and show that I was, in fact, on the schedule, but, alas, I got sick, so never had to do the actual speech. Which is why I kept putting this off – if I get sick and don’t have to speak, why plan too far ahead?

But then I take a deep breath, and I remember a few things:

· The women I will be speaking to are going to be there because they want to be inspired. They want me to do well. They want the positive energy and messages I am eager to give them.

· I am speaking for twenty minutes – twenty minutes! Think of that in relation to my entire life, and this is barely a blip. I will be introduced, walk up to the podium, and then – blink – it will be over, and less than 24 hours later I’ll be headed off campus, on my way to another event.

· I’m probably not going to impress, inspire or charm every single person in the audience, but there will be at least one person who I am going to reach, who is going to hear what I say and be inspired to take a leap. I might not ever know who this person is or what I inspired her to do, but I know this as sure as I know it is physically impossible for me to resist a Krispy Kreme doughnut. I will reach at least one person, and this is what makes it all worthwhile.

That evening, I will have a job to do. That job isn’t about giving a speech that will go down in infamy or sharing a message that will change the course of the world. My performance will not be analyzed, graded, or judged. What will happen that night is much simpler, and much more intimate. My job that night is to share my stories in my own voice - stories that are positive, meaningful and uplifting. My job that night is to inspire, and I don’t need to make it any more complicated than that.

It feels huge in my heart, in a proud-of-what-I’ve-accomplished kind of way, but it isn’t huge to most of the world, and sometimes it’s OK to see the things we do from a smaller perspective. In a space on my college campus, a few of us will share an evening. I’ll tell some stories, and then we’ll part ways, and we will return to our lives with new memories, new connections and maybe, if I do my job well, a little extra sparkle.

Post Script: I gave my speech on Monday, June 1st on the Virginia Tech campus and it was a wonderful, inspiring experience. The best part: All those tiny moments of heartfelt connections with old friends, new friends and my beautiful college campus.

wishmamas :: mama bird

by brittany soucey

There’s a mama bird who laid a nest right outside my kitchen window. When I’m at the sink I can see her nest all tucked in to my holly bush. She is oblivious to me. Here I am bustling around right next to her with a house full of people to take care of. She has been intent on weaving the perfect nest to protect her little ones and hasn’t realized that there is nesting going two feet away from her.

As the mama bird brings back a long flimsy fiber and starts weaving it into her nest, I think about myself 10 years ago, full of my first child. I had gone to school for art and had wanted to be an artist for as long as I could remember. When my baby was born I put away my paints and brushes. All of my charcoal and colored pencils, my pens and oil pastels, my paper and canvases disappeared. I don’t remember where they went, but I remember feeling like now that I was a mother, nothing else mattered. All the other pieces of me got tucked away into corners because I thought that’s where they belonged.

As the mama bird stomps leaves down to make her nest just so, I think about myself today. I just had twins four months ago and this time I had a studio to abandon in the event of children joining my life. But this time it’s different. My brushes are handy. My canvas and paper are at my fingertips. My paints, charcoal and pastels are tucked into a drawer to hide them from little fingers. They come out for 10 minutes at a time or hours at a time. I don’t have a set schedule for creating; I just know that it is part of my daily life.

Motherhood came as a shock to my system. It hit me upside the head with complete joy but also with a sense of misunderstanding. I had always known I wanted to be a mother, so when it didn’t come naturally, every bump in the road would throw me off balance. It has taken me years to come to the knowledge that if I don’t take care of myself and balance my own physical, emotional and spiritual needs, then my children suffer as well as me. I am a mother; I am a woman of faith; I am wife; I am a creative being. Aren’t we all creative beings in our own ways?

Creative life for me includes the act of making “art,” but is not limited to it. There is art found in preparing meals, gardening, taking photos, improving my home, and arranging the flowers on the table. There is art in the way my husband can make me smile when I’m feeling down. There is art in the way my baby’s eye lashes lay across her cheeks while she sleeps. There is art in finding beauty all around me.

Listening to my children laugh brings me back to my own childhood. Teaching my children to get along with one another helps me recognize my own weaknesses and become better along with them. Helping my children learn about things they love inspires me to learn and love. Being a mother is a creative process; now I know that there is nothing more creative than being a mother. How can you create an object more beautiful than a being that becomes its own creation in the years to come with or without you? Something that can go on to create thoughts and words and masterpieces all on its own? They are my muse. They make creating things worth while.

As the mama bird sits on her bright blue eggs I wonder if she knows what she’s in for. I wonder if she understands yet, the rollercoaster ride of emotions that will be hers. The joy that appears in the quiet moments and the stress that overwhelms when demands are high. I wonder if she realizes the beauty that comes with creating children and the art that life becomes as she mothers them.

share in brittany's inspiring life and art...

Blog
Web site
Etsy shop

blowing bubbles in a concrete jungle :: a joy rebel’s take on creativity

by brandi reynolds




As I mentioned in my last column, I didn’t start exploring my creativity until my late 20’s. I grew up…well…not impoverished by any means but certainly strapped for cash quite a bit. My family moved many times as my parents tried to find stable jobs and we did without a lot to make ends meet.

As you can imagine, that informed my decisions as I got older and my goal became stability. My priority wasn’t creativity; it was to make money so that I wouldn’t have to continue that lifestyle. So I went to college, got a business degree and set out to do just that.

Then a personal crisis hit and caused me to step back and take stock in my life. A creative and spiritual yearning, one that I’d never known existed became very present in my life. Letting my soul breathe and express became the priority and I set out on an artistic exploration that has been maddening and frustrating and joyful and fulfilling.

I am by no means done with this journey but for those that may be starting out on the creative path, here are a few things I’ve learned a long the way:

Try it all

Everything that interests you, anyway. I had no idea what my soul needed to express when I start out on this path. I just knew it needed to. So I tried just about every creative medium out there. Writing and painting and jewelry and paper crafting and collage and photography and…well, anyone that’s been following my blog for awhile has seen the many versions of my creative expression.

It was in trying every creative expression that I could discern which ones (photography and writing) truly fed my soul.

Make it play

I was very intimidated of art and creativity when I first started exploring. I don’t think I am alone in that. What helped me get over that fear was to set the intention before trying an art form that I was just going to play.

By doing that, I took the pressure off myself to be ‘perfect’. And…it became FUN. I know I can get so caught up in my head that creating becomes this huge important mission. MUST.CREATE.MASTERPIECE.

Nothing ever flows easily from me from that space. It is when I allow myself to experiment and *gasp* make mistakes that I have the most fun. Plus I’ve learned more my mistakes than ‘perfection’ I’ve ever created.

It’s okay to copy…sort of

I don’t mean it’s EVER okay to recreate someone else’s work and pawn it off as your own or try and sell it. I mean, when learning a new technique, I often followed someone else’s steps until I got comfortable with the process.

Once I learned the process well enough that I didn’t have to think about it (okay, first I need to figure out my ISO and then I need to adjust my shutter speed and then I need…) that’s when my own creative expression could flow freely.

Limit outside influence

I have been inspired by so many. We all are. However, to make sure I am truly expressing my authentic voice, there are times when I’ve had to step away from flickr and blogs and tutorials and photo websites and all that so that I can let what’s inside me come out without other influences.

I don’t think I could express at all without inspiration from others. It’s an important component and one I won’t give up. I just need to make sure that I hear my voice too. And for me, that’s only done by stepping away from the many forms of inspiration out there.

Patience

Something I will be the first to admit I’m not the best at. But the creative juices, the soul speak doesn’t happen over night. I have found that when I can be patient and allow inspiration to unfold naturally, creativity and wonder and nourishment deepens beautifully.

Til next month…rock on joy rebels!



*Brandi Reynolds is a photographer and joy rebel living in Grapevine, TX with her infinitely patient husband and two rescued furry souls that drive her nuts half the time. Join the joy rebellion here.

just a click away :: inspiring links

• feel danielle's empowering spark, and try her magnetic attraction 101 exercise
• owning pink is a gutsy guide to getting your mojo back...even if you don't like the color you can still embrace the philosophy! read more here as well as my guest post here
• read ihanna's list of 100 ways to spark you into creative action
• one of my favorite sites for inspiration and eye candy, stop by kathleen's world
• take a tour through this "house" and i'm sure you will be touched and inspired
• helping women entrepreneurs grow their business at any stage, check out hatch network
• making their creative dreams real, another girl at play follows many artist's journeys
• check out pam garrison's amazing and whimsical journal pages here and here
• visit the inspiration lounge for creative gems found around the blogsphere

tranquilology 1

by kimberly wilson




Tranquilology: a fancy fusion of creativity, spirituality, do-gooding, style, and entrepreneurship all rolled into one decadent dream of inspired tranquility.

Wondering how to do it all while making a difference and exuding style? Me too! I’ve put together a few key steps that are powerful catalysts in the quest for inspired tranquility. Below is a list of my top ten ways to infuse your world with a dash of tranquilology:

1. Exude kindness: smile, say “thank you” often, listen fully, send snail mail thank yous.

2. Reflect regularly: write in your journal, go on retreat, try a day of silence, meditate, practice yoga, set priorities and goals.

3. Build community: gather like-minded individuals for book club, knitting circles, business development, personal growth.

4. Give back: share your resources, plant a community garden, pick up trash.

5. Go green: reuse paper, eat in season, support your local economy, switch to wind-powered electricity.

6. Challenge yourself: do one thing each day that scares you and moves you outside of your comfort zone.

7. Reach out: touch base with loved ones, send “thinking of you” e-mails, always remember birthdays.

8. Live simply: pack your lunch, savor tea sipping, trim expenses.

9. Be beautiful: put your most fabulous self forward, always do your best, don eco-fashion and artful accessories that make you feel fancy.

10. Explore creativity: design a dress, knit a scarf, bead earrings, paint, cook, write.


Tranquility is within reach, although some days it can feel like a very far reach. Those are the days you really need to indulge in a dose of self-care. Life is a series of two steps forward, one step back. In order to keep moving forward, take time for regular reflection and regroup as needed. Breathe deeply, live fully, laugh often, and leave a legacy. Tranquility awaits.

give a little bit

as someone who worked in the non profit world for a long time, i am always searching for new and meaningful ways to give back. these two beautiful efforts recently have crossed my path and i wanted to share them with you...i am participating in both! with just a few minutes of your time and a quick trip to the post office you can make a big difference in the life of another. here's how...





Donate your Used PILLOWCASES! Plain, printed, embroidered or with characters. We want them all!

"We are sending this e-mail to request a donation for a humanitarian service project. Little Dresses in Africa is an organization that provides relief to the children of Central Africa with simple dresses made from used pillowcases. As mothers, we can often feel ineffective beyond our own walls, but we think that together we can make a big difference in this world. Each drop in the bucket counts and promotes well-being for them AND for us.

The inspiration for this project comes from Mama to Mama. From her site:

As crafters, the reasons we create are many. Just one may be to spread a little bit of peace into the world, to make a small but meaningful difference in one person's life through a simple act of crafting with intention. Mama to Mama seeks to find ways to connect handcrafters with mothers, children and families in need of a little bit of handmade love.

Our goal is to have at least 100 dresses to mail by the end of the month.

We are asking our family and friends to take a few minutes (it took me less than five!) to go through their linen closets and set aside any pillowcases that you would like to donate. No cutting or sewing skills are required on your part, just the time to de-clutter your closet for a good cause.If you have any pillowcases that you would like to donate, please e-mail us back and we will arrange a time to pick them up, or you can deliver them. We would like to arrange a pick-up no later than June 15th, which is less than two weeks away! We would also like to ask that you please forward this along to family and friends who you think would be interested in donating to this project.

If you are interested in cutting and sewing along with us, collecting donations, or contributing in any other way, we’d be happy to have you. Email back for the times and address. If you’re too far away to join us, please consider creating your own group. Together we can instill worthiness in the soul; we can instill hope for a brighter future filled with love.Thank you for taking time to read and consider this. Please let us know if you have any questions. We are excited to see what we can do together to make this happen!"

with love,
jenica mckenzie jekinek@hotmail.com

Donate your childs artwork!

"Hello lovely ladies and dear peeps, I'm getting involved with a volunteer project put together by my awesome cousin Tabatha. She's beginning to volunteer for a Hospice program, and she'll be spending time with people who have six months or less to live. She will sit with them, hold their hands, and listen to their stories as they pass. Unfortunately, lots of these special people don't have family to sit and visit with them, and as a result, their rooms are often very bare.

So this is where "Art for the Heart" comes in. Tabatha and I will be collecting any and all artwork done by our kiddies (anything from coloring sheets to scribbles- anything! The only rule is no last names.) and then she will be taking it to hospice and hanging it up in the rooms. I really believe that this will brighten some days. I know my recycling bin is filled with drawings...so I've started a big bag to pass on to Tabatha. If you are interested, keep some stuff aside and pass it on to me when you get a chance. I'd like to get our first shipment off soon!

thanks, nina
ninamariegilbert@gmail.com


Here's the original posting:

Is your refrigerator overrun by your children’s colorful art work? You may think of them as drawings or paintings. We call them “Art for the Heart” and we have patients who would love them.


Most of our hospice patients are elderly and are delighted by children’s artwork. If you send us your children’s crayon drawings, paintings or other art work, our staff will joyfully deliver them to an appreciative audience.


We visit patients in nursing homes in Manchester, Bedford, Nashua, Goffstown, and the Seacoast. We will all treasure your child’s art.


Mail to:
Art for the Heart
Allegiance Hospice and Palliative Care
340 Granite St.
Manchester, NH 03102

Thank you!

For more information, contact: Susan Nolan, Allegiance Hospice Chaplain, 877-255-4623 snolan@allegiancehospice.com

hope you will all take a moment to help these ladies out!
thanks for sharing the love.

musepreneur :: mid year check-in

by jennifer lee





It’s hard to believe that it’s June already and that we’re halfway through the year! Have you reached your business goals so far? Are you on your way to achieving your targets for the rest of 2009?

Either way, June is a great time to review the first six months of your Right-Brain Business Plan and make adjustments for the next six months and beyond.

Below are four simple steps for conducting a Musepreneur mid-year check-in:

1. Celebrate your accomplishments.

Ask yourself, “What’s working?” Whether you have a solid plan in place or not, I bet that you Musepreneurs have made progress in your creative businesses. Perhaps you started blogging, posted new items to your Etsy store or landed new clients.

As you reflect back on your accomplishments, you might even notice that some of them weren’t in your original plan. That’s okay. Maybe you didn’t anticipate some great opportunities that have come your way. These could be valuable clues to where you want to go next. How do these successes align to your overall vision? How can you proactively invite more into your business in the future?

Now, if you’re saying things to yourself such as, “But I don’t even have a business plan” or “Ummm, I haven’t even finished anything I said I would,” I challenge you to write down at least one achievement per month for the past six months. I bet that you can find small things to celebrate! The more you acknowledge your forward movement, the more momentum and clarity you’ll gain.

2. Course correct, if needed.

Ask yourself, “What’s not working?” Don’t worry. Plans aren’t perfect. You don’t have a crystal ball (or if you do, I’d love to borrow it!). It’s totally reasonable that you didn’t take into account some unforeseen challenges. Maybe you need to adjust your marketing efforts. Or perhaps you need to look into updating your offerings or re-jigging your pricing structure.

What have you learned from what’s not working in your business? As you think about where you want to head, what will you shift or do differently? Yes, plans provide structure but they are not cast in stone. This is an opportunity to discover creative solutions and since you’re a Musepreneur, I know that you’re creative!

3. Go where there’s flow.

Ask yourself, “What brings me joy in my business?” If you’re enjoying yourself, having fun and following your passion, running your business will be a lot easier and fulfilling. Light-bulb moments often come when you’re in a creative flow, so feed your Inner Muse with inspiration and joy. After all, you started your business because you love what you do, so honor that!

And sure, running your business also includes some not-so-favorite tasks that you would rather avoid. But don’t wallow in the yucky stuckness and don’t bury your head in the sand. Both will just cause frustration. Instead, call upon your Inner Muse to help you move through the tough spots with grace and flow. What can you outsource or barter? Where can you ask for help? Having a support system in place can certainly help keep things moving forward.

4. Set an intention.

Ask yourself, “What do I want for my business in the next six months?” Whether you’re continuing to march down the path of your original vision or you’ve tweaked your plans, make sure that you’re explicit about your intention. Having a simple, clear focus will help you make authentic and aligned choices in your business.

May the next six months and beyond be filled with creative flow and business success!
In July we’ll explore ways to bolster support for your Right-Brain Business Plan so you don’t have to go it alone.



*Musepreneur and certified coach Jennifer Lee, of Artizen Coaching, is the creator of the Right-Brain Business Plan. She loves yoga, painting, reading and hanging out with her husband and dog. She blogs at Life Unfolds.

editor's note :: an evolution

me, growing and evolving at 33 weeks pregnant

hello creative friends,

as we head into our second month of the renewed wishstudio, i thought is was good time to share with you a bit of my story behind this creative space. it has been quite a journey to get to this time and place, and has also taken me good deal of heartache, reinvention, and a great measure of patience, belief, and hope.

what started out as a business plan for a small brick and mortar studio, ended up being something very different than i had originally imagined. as many of you can attest to, creative dreams often take unexpected turns. the essance of what i intended for the wishstudio though has always remained the same...to create community and an amazing space for creative wishes to be realized!

when it comes to my creative passion, i am sometime overzealous about leaping. i get an inspiration and before i know it it is off and flying. this can be good and bad. on one hand i know i can actualize almost any dream i have. this is a pretty powerful notion. yet on the other hand, it has stacked up on my creative shelf a fair amount of projects that some might consider failures. i try not to see it this way. i try to focus on the little gems that every experience has unearthed for me, and how each of these has brought me closer to what is really meaningful to my creative process and to my life as a whole.

i am not one of those people who's path is clearly defined. i am not a trained classical artist of a particular medium, or a designer in a corporate office, or a writer, or an activist, or a teacher of crafty things, or a shop owner. i can not be labeled by one word. my creative life is very much like a big closet full of old sparkly costumes that i have worn or tried on and have later hung up, having never really found the one that truly fit. it has taken me this long to learn that this idea of wearing a particular hat as one's vocation is completely opposite the direction i am moving.

i am peeling away the layers. i am discovering and embracing what really brings me fullfillment and joy. i am paring down to my most authentic self and wearing what simply defines Me. what i know now is that my happiness is deeply rooted in my creativity, and my creativity is inextricably linked to all aspects of my life (which is where the wishmamas project was born from). the path is all one and the same. i used to try very hard to organize and compartmentalize the many facets of my world only to be left feeling fragmented and out of balance. now i can see the magic of integrating all the moving pieces into one beautiful and meaningful harmony. i will never find complete fullfillment in seperating home life from work life etc. for me, i realize this is this is the only way.

so in this space i am learning about myself , embracing a passion for passion's sake, and sharing the vision with all of you. it is birthed from a place of real yearning and meaning, so it is deeply personal; not simply a creative venture but an honest and real extension of me. this feels good and right as i am coming from a place of creating for the simple joy of it and not as a means to an end. such a different and freeing perspective.

as things here grow and evolve, i know there will be many wonderful things to unfold, many beautiful connections to be made, many bold and daring projects, and many missteps along the way all to be shared and celebrated. please know that your are all my muse, my inspiration, part of my story and this creative space. so embrace your own creativity as i embrace my own, and see how it makes our community shine even brighter!

warmest wishes,
mindy