Tag Archives: creativity

Focused Imagination

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“You can’t depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus.”
― Mark Twain, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court

 

That quote really hits home for me. While running through the daily grind, I find that my imagination is often out of focus. It takes work for me to think creatively. Between the daily tasks of raising two children, I find it hard to allow my mind to wander in that necessary way in order for the thoughts to flow. I try to drift off to sleep daydreaming but I’m often so exhausted that I can’t think of much else other than sleep. My other creative place is the shower-so many good ideas I get while shaving my legs!

I happened upon this article from Reading Rainbow. Can we just stop one moment to sing the Reading Rainbow theme song….”Butterfly in the sky, I can fly twice as high!” Don’t worry, I sang the whole thing to myself out loud.  Jenni Buchanan, the author and “Reading Rainbow Mom” (I love that!), came up with 3 solutions to ramping-up your creative mojo. I’m happy to say I’ve done all three this week!

I know for myself, I need daydreaming time to get more creative. Sometimes I need to just sit and not think about what I am doing or what I need to be doing that I’m not getting done (I’m looking at you, housecleaning). Kids have a wonderful way of keeping you in the present but it stifles my creative thoughts. Although I do play with my kids actively, I think I need to introduce more imaginative play. That will be my plan to get creatively focused.

How about you? What is your plan? How to you stay creatively focused?

Stay Connected.

Posted in Writing by

First, apologies for the length of time between posts. My computer cord died and it took a while to get a new one. I was computer-less for almost two weeks so, obviously, I got nothing done.

I recently read this interview with Scott Avett of The Avett Brothers and if you don’t know them, you should! Anyway, Scott is a musician who tours frequently and when he’s not doing that, he is an accomplished painter and father of two. What I found interesting in the article was how he talked about staying connected to his art even while going about his daily life. He tries to integrate it with everything he does during the day. I need to figure out how to do this.

My life isn’t particularly crazy. I have a lot of the normal issues that most people have. Two kiddies, who have been sick nonstop this winter, a husband, a home with a mortgage and all that comes along with that, some pain from recent dental work-nothing too stressing. But even I have a really hard time staying connected to my creative self. After spending the day dealing with my 3 year old and 1 year old, I’m spent. My mind is so tired that trying to write feels impossible. As it is, it took me almost the entire day to write this short post.

Do you have the same issues? Are there techniques or daily rituals that you do to stay connected? If you feel creative most of the day, please tell me your secret!!

I’ve included some Avett Brothers that I You-Tubed to help put you in the creative mood(Head Full of Doubt is my fav but Laundry Room definitely helps get the creativity going):

Avettcarpenter

AvettHeadFullofDoubt

AvettLaundryRoom

(p.s. I don’t own any of the video content, I’m just a fan and spreading the love via You Tube…don’t sue me)

Write On!