Crosley
When I take a break from my writing, it is usually to scratch a dog’s ears. Ah, the perks of working at home.
Daily Diversion #1: Mr. Crosley
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Tag Archives: Creativity
A Year in Books/Day 121: The Artist’s Way
- Title: The Artist’s Way A Spiritual Path to Creativity
- Author: Julia Cameron
- Year Published: 1992 (G.P Putnam’s Sons)
- Year Purchased: 1998
- Source: Unknown
- About: If you’re an artist, writer or other creative type you’ve likely heard of this book; it’s a classic of its kind. I have a confession: I’ve read it at least four times (maybe five) but have never done the exercises for more than a week. I know, I know. Reading it (the easy part) but not following through by actually putting in the work (the tough part) entirely defeats the purpose. I don’t know why I always stop at around the same point in the program: the whole thing makes sense, it is inspiring, my brain knows that it would probably be helpful. Maybe it’s because I’m not very good at following directions (I’m a control freak) and don’t like to be locked into anything with such an open-ended outcome. Given that it’s only a twelve-week program, maybe I will give it another whirl. On the plus side-for me, anyway-is the relative structure involved. I can get behind free writing every morning; that’s a sound discipline to have. I also love the quotes in the margins of nearly every page. The program seems to encourage artistic empowerment and creative openness, both good things. Whether it skews , in actual practice, to the side of personal revelation or empty promise remains to be seen.
- Motivation: It is an attractive concept and was all the rage for the whole of the 1990s and into this century, when I was a very young aspiring writer.
- Times Read: 4 or 5
- Random Excerpt/Page 123: “Jealousy is a map. Each of our jealousy maps differs. Each of us will probably be surprised by some of the things we discover on our own. I, for example, have never been eaten alive with resentment over the success of women novelists. But I took an unhealthy interest in the fortunes and misfortunes of women playwrights. I was their harshest critic, until I wrote my first play.”
- Happiness Scale: My jury of one is still out.
If you’ve actually read the book AND completed the program, I’d love to hear from you. Did it help in any practical way? What did you get from the program?
Introducing: Alternative Muses + Our First Mini Contest/Giveaway*
I don’t like normal muses. I’m not inspired by flawless beauty or a record heavy with wild successes. Convention is a hindrance. I look to the obscure, the weird, the disenfranchised for daily sustenance. I love passion, prickliness, commitment, awkwardness, individuality. A willingness to fall hard on a big stage or the refusal to walk on to it at all, to not shut up when it’s convenient, to live close to the bone and heart and brain. Dead Writers, mostly, but also artists, photographers, performers, activists, life-livers, non-conformists, survivors. The majority are women but, being a feminist, men are definitely not excluded. It’s a personal list-and very, very long-but inclusive. My magpie tastes couldn’t have it any other way. Continue reading
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“Inspiration exists, but it has to find us working.”-Pablo Picasso
[Resources] Starlight Echoes
Starlight Echoes-A music, writing & art group* is an open, highly interactive community on Facebook. Whether you are a new or untried artist looking for a safe, supportive and encouraging community or a professional interested in expanding your network or widening your platform, you will find a warm reception. Artists, writers and musicians from around the world post their work. Taken as a whole the offerings are impressive; viewed individually, they are stunningly varied. It’s heartening to see strangers, united only by a common passion for creativity, be so open and eager to welcome the art of others. It is never easy to put yourself out there; it requires an emotional nudity and brazen nerve that never entirely resolves itself. If you are in need of a critique of your work, then you will have to look elsewhere. There are plenty of forums for that. Starlight Echoes is a place where positivity reigns; it is inclusive and inspiring. Who can’t use a little of that in their lives?
*FYI-This is NOT my Facebook group. It was started and is administered by a lovely, spirited woman named Angela Muchmore.
The Writing Life: Finding a Balance Between Creativity and ‘Mere Absorption’
“I easily sink into mere absorption of what other minds have done, and should like a whole life for that alone.”-George Eliot
George Eliot (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Sing it, sister! I could-and I do mean this to be taken at face value-spend all of my time reading. Yep, from classic and classically obscure literature to history and biography, I’m more than willing to sit on my a** 16 hours a day just taking it all in and enjoying the lovely, lovely words. Continue reading
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“Every act of creation is first an act of destruction.”-Pablo Picasso
Diversions-7 April 2012
Here are some recent discoveries from around the ‘net. They are not all literary based but they are still compelling.
- Few things in life beat the sensory joy-fest of clutching a book in your palms. But my love for the written word is too large to be contained by inky pages alone; I’m greedy, I want to read all of the words in the world! This voraciousness has forced me to accept technology in all of its modern mediums, from a Nook to downloadable PDF books. I still buy way too many physical volumes, as curling up with a glowing and buzzing machine is a huge atmospheric mood killer. However, since so many classics are free, it’s painless to give them a test-run before buying a real-life copy. I don’t do that as much as I should because I am a really compulsive book shopper; wandering through aisles between stacked books makes me absurdly happy. But there are times when I appreciate the chance to read something for free without hoofing it to the library. Finding a free downloadable PDF of Alan Watts’ ‘On the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are’ is definitely one of those times. I’ve never gotten around to reading this volume-until now. You can find it here.
- Sal at Already Pretty has a thoughtful, well-mannered piece about defying cultural expectations about dressing as we ladies get older. I’m an extremist and fierce individualist with authority issues, so I am not about to turn into a pearl-wringing, neutral-wearing forty-something when the time comes. Although she doesn’t take the discussion as far as I think it needs to go, it’s nice to see it discussed at all.
- The lovely Gala Darling gives detailed pointers about how to have an at-home retreat. Yes, please.
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Vintage hand-painted suitcase by bluebernice
Would it be a bit odd for me to pack a suitcase for that at-home retreat? If I had this one, I definitely would!
- Marc Wavra is a fantastic Cincinnati-based photographer-artist. I’ve been crushing on his colourful images for a few months now.
Mt. Adams Steps by Marc Wavra
- I came across this scrumptious Grilled Portobello and Peach Burgers recipe by Green Kitchen Stories on Design Sponge just in time for grilling season. I want it in my belly now! The photographs are guaranteed to make your jaw drop and mouth water.
Quote
“The imagination imitates. It is the critical spirit that creates.”-Oscar Wilde
A Year in Books/Day 82: The Glimmer Train Guide to Writing Fiction
- Title: The Glimmer Train Guide to Writing Fiction Inspiration and Discipline
- Editors: Susan Burmeister-Brown and Linda B. Swanson-Davies
- Year Published: 2007 (Glimmer Train Press)
- Year Purchased: 2007/2008
- Source: Writer’s Digest Book Club
- About: This thick little volume offers some of the best writing advice I’ve ever read. Presented in the form of interviews, it captures disparate writers’ unique yet universal passion for the craft; mixed with sound, structured and common-sense, been-there-done-that advice, it completely lives up to its cover promise. It is one of the few inspirational resources that I have ever repeatedly consulted. Worth every penny, and then some.
- Motivation: I think that I was sent this when I was too distracted to mail in the monthly card and too lazy to return the book. I’m glad I didn’t, as I probably would never have chosen it otherwise. The writing gods fortuitously intervened.
- Times Read: Cover-to-cover/1; as reference: countless.
- Random Excerpt/Page 43: “When I was in college, I began to read Faulkner and Hemingway, two writers that changed my life. I hadn’t read anything so shockingly wonderful as those two writers, and what they could do on the page stunned me. I’ve never gotten over that shock, and don’t want to.”-Kent Haruf
- Happiness Scale: 10+++
A Small Press Life: Books. Art. Writing. Life. Tea. 