This love of which I speak is slow to lose patience—it looks for a way of being constructive. It is not possessive: it is neither anxious to impress nor does it cherish inflated ideas of its own importance. (1 Corinthians 13:4 Phillips)

 

Sometimes writing sentences or filling a page with words seems daunting, even impossible. I complicate the process. I believe I have to come upon some deep revelation through my writing every single time. This doesn’t happen in real life. In real life, the aha moments are gleaned from the regular writing practice.

When I’ve run out of sentences, I have to return to a simpler way of processing words.

I need to write a list.

Lists are doable. Listing is away of listening. Lists lend themselves to topics. Write a gratitude list. List your fears. List your excuses. List those things that inspire you. Have fun! List something unexpected. List something mundane, like your groceries. List the distractions that keep you from creating or writing or relaxing. Often naming these things dispels them, and frees us up for the work that we intend to accomplish.

Sometimes an unexpected word will appear on the list. That  word that catches your attention may be the spark of inspiration. One word may jog your memory, or release a hope or intention your forgot, or help you to recall ways to be kind to yourself.

Your prompt for today:

Write a list about a topic of your choice.

If you rather not write anything today, why not try playing with paint. I really like this idea that I learned awhile ago. All you need is paper (printer paper, construction paper, scrap paper, an old envelope, any paper will do) and cheap acrylic craft paint. (You could use expensive paint, but that’s up to you 🙂

Choose one color, or two. Place a couple dime sized blobs of paint on the center of the paper. Fold the paper in half, smooshing the paint together. Open the paper. Voila! Funky shapes. You can use these papers for collage or a background to write your musings on. (I usually let the paint dry first, but I guess you could etch some scribbles into the wet paint with a pencil or any mark making tool you have nearby.) Experiment, have fun. This kind of play often loosens up my creative muscles and leads to the freedom to get back to writing or making art or even cleaning my house. When I give myself a break, it motivates me to get back to the “work.”

If you’re looking for more artsy inspiration, check out Jennibellie’s you tube channel or DaisyYellow’s tutorials. Both are very colorful and accomplished mixed-media artists, who make me smile and grant permission to play. I like to imagine that they believe at least six impossible things before breakfast each day.

 

 

Be generous: Invest in acts of charity.
Charity yields high returns. (Ecclesiastes 11:1 The Message)

 

Keep it simple
Enjoy the process
Yield

Sometimes, we get stuck. Life is boring or unproductive. The process feels like effort. A resistance creeps in to the work. Our perspective gets fogged over.

Maybe, you have been trying to keep up with these daily prompts, or I have overwhelmed you with too many ideas, choices and decisions. And you want to quit. So here’s an idea, take a break. Don’t try so hard. Be generous with yourself. Go gently.

And when we’ve calmed down a little, let’s just face it.

Resistance happens, and sometimes we just have to write through it, splatter paint on the paper, or scribble with a crayon. Maybe we need a change to the routine to outsmart the resistance. Write the same word or phrase over and over, until a new word or phrase pushes through into the light.

This is work, remember. It’s fun work. Work that takes energy. Embrace simplicity. Enjoy the process. Go ahead, pour it out onto the page. Start with this phrase:

Right now, I am resisting . . .

And if writing doesn’t help, try to trick the resistance with some play. Here’s a challenge for you. Try this mixed-media technique below to jump start your creative practice.

Seven Random Layers

And if resistance continues its barrage, confound it by watching one or both of these videos:

“Stuck” is a part of the creative process.

Ira Glass on the Creative Process

 

I thought we’d start with the prompt today. Take 2, 3 or 5 minutes to respond to the following unfinished sentence. (Set a timer, if it helps you.)

Words make me feel….

When you are done, come back and read the quotes of the day, and some ideas about capturing and collecting words.

Gracious words are like a honeycomb,
    sweetness to the soul and health to the body. (Proverbs 16:24 NLT)

 

There is a certain magic in writing down words for me. I don’t know when I developed my affection for words. Was it when I was learning the alphabet by rote in the song? Was it when I was given mimeographed worksheets to write the lower case “a” and then “b” and so on? Or  was it when I was given a blank paper with the solid blue and dashed red lines on it, in order to copy words like at, bat, cat, and that?

I loved reading, spelling, writing and most of all learning. I remember when I first fell in love with definitions. In the seventh grade, the teacher gave us a word list, like we used to get in elementary school for spelling, but the assignment was to not only learn how to spell these words, but also to alphabetize them and look up their definition. I remember trying to pronounce “pungent” as phonetically presented in the dictionary.  And discovering that adamant meant very determined.

I clearly was on my way to being a word lover by the time I graduated high school, and my love for God’s word blossomed then as well. I was introduced to the idea of studying the Bible, and of course, I wanted to learn the Greek and Hebrew origins of the ancient text.

When I went back to college, after my own children were in high school, I was thrilled that UM-St.Louis offered Latin, as a language choice for my foreign language credits. So many of our words originate from Latin roots, especially prefixes.

Words make me feel happy, productive and interested in their origins and meaning.

Maybe words are not your thing, but I hope you give them a chance to bring delight into your life. You could just collect them, or  at least choose one to define.

The easiest way to collect words is in a list. Or you could actually keep them in a little paper box? Or maybe you could house your favorite words in a poem? If you’re not a poet, why not try using another person’s words to find your own by discovering a found poem?

Creative Links:

Masu Box with Lid

How to Find a Poem

 

 

“Sanctify yourselves. Tomorrow God will work miracle-wonders among you.” (Joshua 3:5 The Message)

 

inspiration (n): something that makes someone want to do something or that gives someone an idea about what to do or create : a force or influence that inspires someone; a person, place, experience, etc., that makes someone want to create something; a good idea (www.m-w.com)

sanctify (v): to set apart to a sacred purpose; to impart respect to, to give acceptance or approval to

One of my favorite places to find inspiration comes from gluing random magazine images onto a page of of my journal. I learned about this idea in Journal Spilling by Diana Trout. She uses the idea to confound the inner critic. That inner voice that tells us that we will never be good at what we are trying. That twit that causes us to doubt our abilities and creativity. That sense that we lack approval and acceptance. To silence these lies, I set apart time to realize the wonders awaiting me.

I do this by choosing 7-10 images, then randomly dropping them onto the page. By doing so, I disengage my critical mindset, allowing creativity to flow. After gluing the images down, I paint on the page choosing a color that fits the occassion, no real thought, just responding to one of the colors in my watercolor box. If any words pop into my head, as I work on the collage, I write them on the page, wherever they seem to fit.

Inspiration surfaces, and the serendipity of the moment builds up my confidence as an explorer-artist. Here is an example of a random collage that spilled onto my journal page recently.

I made a video of my process. At first I thought it would be a tutorial of sorts, but the video itself became more of a meditation. You can’t see everything that happens, but you get the idea. Enjoy!

Random Collage video

Prompt for today:

I wonder . . .

Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. (Isaiah 1:18 KJV)

Quotes can be insightful or they can incite disagreement. Either way is good, because my response to a quote can spark a dialogue in my journal. The conversation could be full of praise for the ideas in the quote or I could argue with the quote. Is that really true? Or why do you say that? Of course, this brings us back to the context of a quote.

One way to get more context is to study the person who made the quote. Who was Isaiah? Who was Diana Vreeland? For the Isaiah quote, we have to note that Isaiah actually attributes the quote to the Lord. Who is the Lord? Even if you think you know the answer to the who questions, I challenge you to discover more, to be open to a perspective you hadn’t considered or reasoned through before? Your journal is a safe place to pose these questions for yourself.

Diana Vreeland, earned the title Empress of Fashion, and led a very fascinating life. Some think that she fabricated more than fashion, that she may have fashioned her life story to suit herself.

Her story, presented in a film called Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has to Travel, is worth a watch. The documentary told mostly from her perspective is a visual feast. It offers a glimpse into the history of fashion, and how creativity can influence a career. I like studying others who take art to a different level, than I would ever have the time or ability to achieve. They have experience that can be applied to my own creative practice. Also they say some very profound and quotable things that are worth pondering, whether I agree or disagree.

Your prompts for today:

I agree or disagree with Isaiah’s quote because . . .

I agree or disagree with Diana Vreeland’s quote because . . .