Creativity

Unleashing My Inner Teen: From People-Pleasing to Authentic Self-Expression

“Be more afraid of losing yourself than losing the approval of others.” ~Unknown
Sometimes, when I feel restless, I listen to angsty music that I used to listen to as a teenager, such as Taking Back Sunday, My Chemical Romance, Paramore, and Bullet for My Valentine.
I can still belt out every lyric to Misery Business with precision, without missing a beat, and with perfect intonation (okay, so maybe not the last one). As I was listening to music from my past, I tried to make sense of this inner restlessness.
Why has this been coming up for me so … …

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The Fairy Tale Tree

Creativity is at bottom the combinatorial work of memory and imagination. All of our impressions, influences, and experiences — every sight we have ever seen, every book read, every landscape walked, every love loved — become seeds for ideas we later combine and recombine, largely unconsciously, into creations we call our own. The most wondrous thing about these seeds is that, when they first fall into the fallow ground of the mind, we have no sense of what they will bloom into years, decades, and selves later, what alchemic cross-pollination will take place between them and other seeds in the… read article …

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Working Out, Working In: Applying the Six Principles of Athletic Training to Writing and Creative Work

The highest and hardest task of life may be to become entirely ourselves — to continually purify and clarify who and what we are, shedding the shoulds of culture, convention, and expectation to discover the innermost musts: those deepest and truest callings of the authentic self, or what we might call soul. And yet the great paradox is that the self is not a fixity but a perpetual fluidity, reshaped by every experience we have: every love and every loss, every person we meet, every place we visit, and every book we read. And so it must be: “A self… read article …

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5 Signs You’re Making Life Harder Than It Needs To Be

Life can all of a sudden get busy and stressful. And in today’s world, our stress levels are higher than ever. But many people are actually making their lives much harder than they need to be, all without realizing it. My name’s Freeman and I’m an international life coach who’s gone from surviving to thriving through simple but effective changes. Now I help others to do the same. So how do you know if you’re making your life harder than it needs to be? Here’s a few simple signs that can help you understand yourself, as well as driving more self-awareness and positive change.

Sign 1. You’re life is driven by externals

Our modern world is monetised by capturing our attention. The “ping, ding, and ring”… We’re surrounded by notifications and information sent straight to the phone in our pockets. This global addiction is something we know damages our mental wellbeing and so it’s critical to take a…

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How to Be a Living Poem: Lucille Clifton on the Balance of Intellect and Intuition in Creative Work and the Healing Power of Connection

“I didn’t graduate from college, which isn’t necessary to be a poet. It is only necessary to be interested in humans and to be in touch with yourself as a human.” …

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The Importance of Trusting Yourself: Nick Cave on the Relationship Between Creativity and Faith

“There is more going on than we can see or understand, and we need to find a way to lean into the mystery of things.” …

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Octavia Butler’s Advice on Writing

“No matter how tired you get, no matter how you feel like you can’t possibly do this, somehow you do.” …

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Uses of the Erotic: Audre Lorde on the Relationship Between Eros, Creativity, and Power

“There is, for me, no difference between writing a good poem and moving into sunlight against the body of a woman I love.” …

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What Rises from the Ruins: Katherine Anne Porter on the Power of the Artist and the Function of Art in Human Life

“We understand very little of what is happening to us at any given moment.” …

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“Little Women” Author Louisa May Alcott on the Creative Rewards of Being Single

“Liberty is a better husband than love.” …

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May Sarton on Writing, Gardening, and the Importance of Patience Over Will in Creative Work

“Gardening is like poetry in that it is gratuitous, and also that it cannot be done on will alone.” …

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How To Make Peace with Regrets: 4 Steps That Help Me Let Go

“Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse and regret.” ~Don Miguel Ruiz
The other day, I told my adult niece that I regretted selling my downtown condo several years ago.
“On no,” she said. …
The post How To Make Peace with Regrets: 4 Steps That Help Me Let Go appeared first on Tiny Buddha. …

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May Sarton on How to Cultivate Your Talent

“A talent grows by being used, and withers if it is not used.” …

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The Creative Accident: Visionary Ceramicist Edith Heath on Serendipity, the Antidote to Obsolescence, and the Five Pillars of Timelessness

On aligning the things we make with basic human values for an enduring world. …

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The Vital Difference Between Work and Labor: Lewis Hyde on Sustaining the Creative Spirit

“The gifts of the inner world must be accepted as gifts in the outer world if they are to retain their vitality.” …

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Seneca on Creativity: Lessons from the Bees

How to ferment our natural gifts into nectar for the world. …

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Music and the Price of What We Cherish: Margaret Atwood on the Bonds and Obligations of Creative Gifts

“Gifts transform the soul in ways that simple commodities cannot.” …

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David Bowie on Creativity and His Advice to Artists

“It’s terribly dangerous for an artist to fulfill other people’s expectations” …

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M.C. Escher on Creativity and Grasping the Largest Mystery Through the Immense Beauty of the Very Small

“What is that so-called reality; what is this theory other than a beautiful but primordially human illusion?” …

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Nick Cave on Music, Mystery, and the Relationship Between Vulnerability and Freedom

“There is more going on than we can see or understand, and we need to find a way to lean into the mystery of things…. and recognise the evident value in doing that, and summon the courage it requires to not always shrink back into the known mind.” …

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How Embodiment Can Make You Feel More Alive (and 5 Ways to Do It)

“Embodiment is living within, being present within the internal space of the body.” ~Judith Blackstone
When I was a little boy, I would dance whenever I heard a catchy pop song on the radio. There are photos of me throwing …
The post How Embodiment Can Make You Feel More Alive (and 5 Ways to Do It) appeared first on Tiny Buddha. …

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Why My Boyfriend and I Play Like Kids and Are Happier for It

“Play is the foundation of learning, creativity, self-expression, and constructive problem-solving. It’s how children wrestle with life to make it meaningful.” ~Susan Linn, Psychiatrist
We met at a job interview for a summer camp. At the time, I …
The post Why My Boyfriend and I Play Like Kids and Are Happier for It appeared first on Tiny Buddha. …

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Henry Miller on Friendship and the Relationship Between Creativity and Community

“To have a friend who understands and appreciates your work, one who never lets you down but who becomes more devoted, more reverent, as the years go by, that is a rare experience.” …

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Creativity at the End: Leonard Cohen on Preparing for Death

On that singular moment at the end of life when all creative energy is concentrated and consecrated. …

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Virginia Woolf on the Courage to Create Rather Than Cater and the Remedy for Self-Doubt

“One must face the despicable vanity which is at the root of all this niggling and haggling.” …

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