Guest Writers On Creative Living

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9 Ways to Live Creatively

Financial Solutions for the Creative Person

A Woman's Guide to Living a Fulfilled Life

Stitched Together: My Life in a Crazy Quilt World

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These articles may not be reproduced without including the author's credit which appears after each individual article.

"Nine Ways To Live Creatively"

By Lise Richards

Creativity – according to Webster’s it means having the ability or power to create; characterized by originality and expressiveness; imaginative. Ok that sounds great, wouldn’t we all like to be more creative every day? Sometimes the hardest part to trying something new is the first step. Here are nine inspired steps to help you start living a creative way of life:

Be willing to try something new.

When was the last time you stepped out of your everyday routine and did something totally different? Taking a dance class, going to a concert to experience something different than what you normally listen to on the radio, or even picking up a pencil and sketching the trees in your own backyard is creative action. Creative thinking and creative action start with a new decision about how you’re going to spend your time.

Create something with your own hands on a regular basis.

There are plenty of opportunities to express your creative side. Even mundane tasks like setting the table allow you to try something new. For example, instead of buying new napkin holders, my daughter and I made our own out of some extra wire and brightly colored beads. They turned out awesome. We were both so proud of them and they are treasured pieces we will use for years.

Express yourself through visual, performing arts, or creative writing, music, or dance.

You can turn off the television and do some creative journaling every evening instead of tuning in and shutting down. Create a play with the kids. Try lip synching to a new video on television. Take turns creating a different ending to a familiar fairy tale. Use your imagination.

Make creativity a habit.

If you already dabble in creativity, make it a habit by scheduling time on your calendar for it. You’re more likely to live creatively if you actively write down your intentions. You don’t even have to sign up for a formal class. Try it for 30 minutes every week and increase the time spent on these activities from there.

Display something in your home and office that you made yourself.

Your surroundings reflect your ideas. What better way to inspire more creativity, charm, and character than to include objects that you have made? Hand-made objects give you more to talk about, more vivid memories, and provide richer experiences overall than buying something similar. Over time it is also a visual reminder of how far you’ve come since your first started creating.

Visit creative spaces

Museums, art shows, gallery exhibits, theatre, performances these places remind us of our own innate creative abilities. Plus they’re fun to visit.

Take time to find new inspiration

Inspiration can be found in a variety of different places. Ask people you’ve known for years what creative stuff they do – you may be pleasantly surprised. Research within your own family. I bet you’ll find someone in your family that is artistic and can be a source of inspiration for you.

Ask Questions

Stay involved with other creative people. Inspire others with questions about their progress in their own endeavors. Something they say to you could provide you with an idea that moves you in a new direction.

Provide a creative outlet for someone that is new to the idea of living creatively

Just when you’ve figured out some new ways to live creatively, share your knowledge. Give the information away to someone who is totally new to the ideas. They will undoubtedly have a twist on your information that allows you to learn something new and keep growing.

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This article is courtesy of www.centerofcreativity.com . You may freely reprint this article on your website or in your newsletter provided this courtesy notice and the author name and URL remain intact. Lise Richards is an Artistic Lifestylist, and owner of the Creativity Center, Inc., a creative arts education center and gallery. Her Aspiring Artist Program helps people develop their art and market it to a diverse audience. Visit the Creativity Center online at www.centerofcreativity.com .

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"Financial Solutions for the Creative Person"

By Francine Huff

Boring. Uncreative. Complicated. Tedious.

Those are some of the adjectives that may come to mind when some creative people think about the process of managing their money. Organizing and cleaning up their finances just isn’t exciting to many people, so they dread anything having to do with this task. Start crunching a few numbers, toss in the word "budget" and before you know it many people’s eyes glaze over with that disinterested, but polite look that signals that any financial discussion is over. Many creative people like to have money and spend it, but just can’t bring themselves to do anything about improving the way they manage it. And because they may not view financial planning as being relevant to their creative gifts and pursuits, it often doesn’t make it on the "to do list".

This lack of interest and inattention to the details of managing money can wreak havoc on a person’s overall fiscal well-being. Ignoring warning signs about poor spending habits and money-management skills can cause problems that spill over into other areas of a person’s life, such as marital difficulties, indebtedness, physical ailments, and a lack of direction and purpose. Not putting in the time and effort needed to be a good steward over money and other resources God has provided can also contribute to an unfulfilling spiritual life.

If you’re a creative person who avoids financial issues because you find them tedious and uninspired, perhaps you’re approaching the subject in the wrong way. Begin to think out of the box and look for creative ways to manage your money effectively. The following tips will help put steps in place to creatively handle your funds and answer the call to good stewardship.

Save with a purpose. Don’t view saving as just randomly putting money in a bank account from time to time. Start out with some goals for why you’re saving, and figure out how those goals relate to your creative pursuits. Jeremiah 29:11 describes God’s plan for you to have a purpose for your life and prosperity. Establishing short-term and long-term goals before starting a savings plan can help you stay motivated in your efforts to build a financial cushion. Will having a nest egg free you up to transition from working a 9-5 job to running your own crafts business? Perhaps your goal is to participate in a local outdoor art festival but you don’t have money to pay for the booth space.

1. Write down your short-term and long-term goals for saving and how they relate to your purpose in life. Refer back to this list regularly to remind yourself of the importance of your goals and to check your progress. Set up a regular schedule to "pay yourself" no matter how small the amount you’re putting aside may seem to be. Putting this money in an actual bank account rather than keeping it in your home will help to discourage you from dipping into it from time to time for unnecessary spending. By being invested in funding your life’s mission, you’re more likely to stick with your savings plan.

2. Find your own rewards system for spending money. Think about all the items you’ve bought recently that you really didn’t need. Did you regret any of those purchases and wish that you had better control over your spending? Do you have clothing in your closets with the tags still on even though you bought those items months ago? Is your idea of fun going to the electronics store to buy the latest gadgets? Do you often have trouble stretching your paycheck to cover your household expenses?

Learn to discipline yourself to avoid impulse buys and save those times of spending for necessities and occasional treats. Give yourself an incentive to complete a new short story, piece of artwork or song lyrics. Tell yourself that when you complete that creative project you started but never finished, you will treat yourself to something special. Perhaps you’ve been wanting some new art supplies, computer software or to pay for the registration at a conference where you can hone your craft, make new contacts and boost your creativity. Remember: your reward doesn’t have to be something that cost money. It can simply be taking a much needed day off from work to spend with your family, going for a hike, visiting museums on free admission days, or spending time in your garden. Don’t just shop aimlessly to pass the time, but set goals for what you really need – or want -- to spend money on.

3. Stop loading up your credit cards with purchases and find creative ways to obtain goods and services. While it may be tempting to use credit cards to buy many things, including supplies for artistic pursuits, try to think of more creative ways to get the items you need. Do you have goods or services that you can barter and exchange to obtain things from others?

For instance, maybe that conference you want to attend will waive or reduce the registration fees if you volunteer to help out during the event. Perhaps your local internet café will give you free computer time for painting a mural on one of their walls. If you have a friend who has the most up-to-date versions of all the writing magazines and annual writer’s guides you can’t find at the library, ask to borrow some of them in exchange for proofreading their next manuscript. By using a barter and exchange system, not only will you get the items you need, but you’ll also form stronger relationships with other creative people and business owners in your community.

If you’re having trouble controlling impulse spending and are over your head in debt, ask God for the strength to stop harmful behaviors and to be more disciplined with finances. Leave your credit cards at home and make it your business to only pay cash for items. Set aside a period of time -- try a week to start -- that you will avoid going to the store for anything other than basic food and necessities. Once you get through this period of time, add another week and try the same approach. Use the time you may have been wasting in malls and on the internet shopping to further your artistic and other creative interests.

4. Use your creativity to earn extra income. Have you ever used the Ebay website or some other online auction to buy things at a discount? Why not set up a shop to sell items you no longer want or need and earn a few bucks in the process? It’s relatively inexpensive to get your own online auctions going and you’re likely to earn a bit more than at a traditional garage sale. If you’re an artist or crafter waiting to get discovered, why not sell some of your work online? Not only is there a potential to earn money, but having an online presence and making a sale may boost your confidence in your own work. Poets may find success putting some of their verse on fancy papers, woodcuts, fabric or other materials to sell as wall hangings. Whatever your product may be, the sky’s the limit in terms of the opportunities for selling on the internet.

Also, don’t overlook the potential for income from entering contests and applying for grants and fellowships. There are many organizations that fund artistic and literary projects that focus on all kinds of subjects. But don’t spend money paying entrance fees if you haven’t done everything you can to put your best work out there. For example, save yourself some postage if you’ve written a literary masterpiece but haven’t bothered to edit it for grammatical, spelling and other errors.

Ultimately, you have to decide how important it is to develop better money management skills. If you know you have poor spending habits, decide now if you want peace of mind about your financial situation and more time to pursue creative gifts. If you’re still hesitant, consider the alternative: longer hours on a job you don’t enjoy to pay off all the debt resulting from an overemphasis on acquiring possessions. By learning to manage money more wisely, you’ll be investing in your creative future.

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This article may not be reproduced without including the following credit: copyright  Francine L. Huff. Francine L. Huff, a financial journalist, is the author of "The 25-Day Money Makeover For Women," available in bookstores and online from www.HuffWrites.com.

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"A Woman’s Guide to Living a Fulfilled Life"

By Lynn Seth, MPH, MA

For many years, I spent a great deal of time trying to learn how to live a fulfilled life. I was trying to figure out how I could happily have it all as a mother, wife, businesswoman and more. I searched for answers through friends, family, relationships and whatever Oprah had to say. It was an exhausting, confusing and expensive process that really did not lead to the "right" answers; at least not the right answers for me. As a result, I started to seriously study the process of gaining life fulfillment; not only for myself but for women in general.

My research and current work as a personal and professional coach for women who are has brought interesting insight to the issue of life fulfillment for women. Most importantly, at the core of this question is the reality that many women and people in general, are trying to determine what makes a fulfilled life. It is no wonder why the likes of Oprah, Dr. Phil and other public self-help gurus are so popular; we all are craving to live the life of our dreams. For women, the process of finding fulfillment becomes slightly more complex because of the common practice of caring for everyone else before we care for ourselves. The result is not having a sense of what we really want and need, because we are so busy trying to fulfill the needs of others.

Without addressing this matter head on, many women fall into a chronic state of feeling unfulfilled. To help those that would like to pursue a fulfilled life, take into consideration the following practices that have worked for others:

Define Fulfillment: The secret to living a fulfilled life is in understanding that a fulfilled life is a state of mind; specifically the state of mind of the individual at hand. Therefore, life fulfillment becomes whatever you define "fulfillment" to be for your life. Is fulfillment having a big house? Is it staying at home to take care of your children? Is it making a lot of money? The answer is neither right nor wrong – it simply is whatever you determine is best for you.

For many women, this leads to a dramatic shift in thinking, because it means actually taking time to figure out what you want and what you need. All too often women are placed in the position of determining and meeting the needs of others, so we rarely take the time to determine what it is that we need. However, this is truly the foundation of living a fulfilled life. Without knowing what you want and need out of life, it is impossible to pursue the goals that will ultimately lead to life fulfillment.

Strategically Plan for Your Fulfillment: Many women spend countless hours assuring that their families are fed, that projects are complete at work and that the people around them are happy. Women go through painstaking measures to assure that everything is done on time and in the most effective and efficient manner. However, we spend little time focusing on strategically planning for our own fulfillment. At some point, the practice of living with the hope that fulfillment will miraculously find you must end. After you have determined and defined what fulfillment is to you, you must develop goals that will help you successfully reach your self-described fulfillment. In essence, take time to strategically plan for your fulfillment. This can be done on your own or with the help of others. For example, working with others may include participating in programs such as The Strategic Life Planning Program, a group coaching program offered through The Seth Group. This program is designed to teach women how to proactively plan for personal and professional success and fulfillment.

Building Spiritual/Religious Connections: There are theoretical rationales and empirical support for the importance of religion, or at least a sense of spirituality, when it comes to life satisfaction and ultimate fulfillment. For women, it is believed that the sense of fulfillment ties into the happiness that comes from nurturing friendships and reliable support systems that often coincide with a spiritual community.

Seek Out Relationships: Research from Wellesley College’s Stone Center has informed us that women thrive and develop within important and nurturing relationships. In fact, the relational pathway is primary and continuous when it comes to a woman’s development and fulfillment (according to Women’s Growth in Connection, 1991). With this in mind, we can easily understand why women who claim fulfillment will often state that they have a number of positive, supportive and nurturing relationships in their lives. Therefore, if you do not do anything at all to actively pursue fulfillment, at least take the effort to stay connected to others that enrich your life!

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Copyright  - This article may not be reproduced without the following: The Seth Group (TSG) is a full-service personal and professional enhancement firm. Our team of highly skilled and experienced professionals helps others create pathways to their own personal and professional success. At TSG, our mission is to guide individuals and organizations to their self-described center-of-success! We believe this occurs through positive behavioral change, which promotes functioning in an equally distributed manner of fulfillment, productivity and balance. In doing so, we serve as a partner to help clarify and put into action the following:

The Seth Group operates under the direction of its founder and President, Lynn Seth. Ms. Seth, who is a mother, wife and businesswoman, draws on over a decade of professional experience in which she has helped individuals and organizations, create their own personal and professional success. Ms. Seth has been successful in both private and public sectors where she has served in an array of staff and management positions. Ms. Seth’s diverse work experience as a personal and professional coach, corporate trainer, corporate recruiter, public educator and social worker provides a strong foundation of which she draws upon to propel clients into action and subsequently success.

The Seth Group, PO Box 424, Mt. Freedom, NJ 07970 973-441-9654

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"Stitched Together: My Life in a Crazy Quilt World"

By Anne Copeland

I have done many disassociated things in my life--all of them exciting; but at the same time, it was as though my life was a series of bits and pieces of this and that, with no central motif or theme. I had tried many different art forms--watercolors, pen and ink, colored pencils, chalk, pottery (including raku), macrame, weaving, and making all sorts of crafts. It was through my entry into the quilt guild that I began to be interested in quilting. When I discovered a quilt guild in the mid 80's and began to quilt, I had no idea where the adventure would take me. I had sewn since the 60s, but mostly clothing. But as I began to get more and more involved, it began to make all the parts fit together into a cohesive whole.

I had gotten a degree in Archaeology and worked in that field for some years, but had gone on to do other things. Yet a part of me always longed for the thinking I used in Archaeology. I would use that skill again when I became a certified appraiser. The discipline, the skills, the thinking all came into play. One by one, each part of my life began to be reshaped by my involvement. Once I became an appraiser, I went on to become a quilt historian and again, my seemingly unrelated writing and research skills and my archaeology all came into play. In archaeology, we take a lot of different elements of a culture and try to piece them into a cohesive whole. In appraising quilts, we look at a lot of different aspects of a quilt--its date or approximate date, any known history, the techniques used to make it, its condition, its fabrics and dyes, the batting--and bring them into a cohesive whole to come up with a value for the piece.

I even found that my interest in quilt history renewed my interest in history in general, geography, and all kinds of other subjects I had muddled through in school. Before I really had no context for anything, but suddenly a context was there to fit all my knowledge and all my skills into.

Initially all my work was in the realm of services in quilting, but eventually I took my own quilting more seriously and added it to my other quilt-related skills. I learned how to restore quilts and other textile items, and it was rewarding psychologically, not only to do a good job at recycling textiles, but I was helping to create meaning in the lives of others.

About four years ago I branched out into making art quilts: quilts that are made for decorative rather than utilitarian purposes, though there are no strong lines of distinction. That led me to where I am today, doing creativity coaching with fiberartists. Fiberartists are artists who use fabric or fibers in their work, such as weavers, or they use fiberarts techniques such as basketmakers. I created the first online fiberarts competition and then arranged a number of live venues for the pieces that were displayed online.

With some help, I created two web pages and an organization to help other fiberartists. My organization is called Fiberarts Connection of Southern California, and you can see it at http://www.fiberartsconnsocal.org . My competition last year, "My World in Black and White" has been a major success for me with 126 entries from all over the world in many forms of fiberarts, and eight live venues. The theme for this year is Myths and Legends: Past, Present, and Future, and you can write to me for an entry form if you are a fiberartist (see contact information at the end of this article).

When I was laid off from my previous job of Regulatory Compliance Specialist at a major pharmaceutical manufacturer in May of 2003 I could have let myself be mired down in how bad things were; but instead, I gave myself something precious that no amount of money could buy. The same week I was laid off, my dad died, and those two events helped me set my priorities about what is important in life. For one thing, I realized that all my life I had worked at being a professional with my end goal being that I would have security for my later years and that I would earn the loyalty of a company for all my contributions. In the end, though, I really had neither. I had no security, and there was clearly no loyalty on the part of a company. I understood too that the time remaining in my life was finite--perhaps 20 - 30 more years, and that had a huge impact on me. I did not want to spend the remainder of my life sitting in a cubicle doing work that had no lasting effect for me or for the earth. It is important to me to contribute something meaningful and something lasting to the world. That doesn't necessarily mean being famous, but at least feeling good about everything I do at the end of the day. I had no credit cards and no bills other than my mobile home payment and my space rent, and auto, health and home insurance, as well as annual taxes for the home.

I felt there are a lot of things I can do without to pursue my goals. I don't need a new car every year; in fact, I would be satisfied to drive the one I have for as long as I am able to keep it running well. And even then, I would probably not get a new one. It just isn't something that has ever been important to me. So I can get by with very little and still have an exciting life. There is a lot available for us if we look for it.

I took my Social Security early. It isn't much, but it allows me to work only part-time to earn enough to supplement Social Security. It has enabled me to make my own schedule and to continue to pursue my art the way I want to. I am very adept at finding ways to earn money here and there doing odd jobs for neighbors, teaching quilt classes, doing appraisals, etc. I am also very good at bartering for the things I need. I just have to approach what I am choosing to do without fear and take life on a day by day basis. I have looked back over the reality of my life, and I saw that I have lived with a lot less than I have now, and I still managed to do things I wanted to do.

I am choosing to live the remainder of my life as an adventure. I am very dedicated to what I am doing, and I pursue it with everything I have. The interesting thing is that now that I am free from the confines of a "regular job," I find that my mind is constantly creating new and exciting ways for me to manage. What is great is that I don't have any fixed ideas about what I will do to earn money. I am not against doing house cleaning or trimming the plants in neighbors' yards. Lots of artists I know do these kinds of jobs to earn enough money to keep the roofs over their heads while they continue to practice their art.

I gave myself a dream. At every step of the way, the various aspects of the competition and the live venues have happened the way I envisioned them, or they have even surpassed my vision. But none of them would ever have happened if I had stopped trying. Doing all these things taught me that my only limitations in what I am able to achieve are those I create in my mind. And I also learned that if I try, I will never be a failure, because I learn something from everything I do.

I would like to think that I have encouraged some of you to do the things you have dreamed about. Nothing is impossible if you are not afraid to give your dreams a try. Don't fear falling down. We are already close to the ground. If you have a dream, give it to yourself. It will be the best gift anyone ever gave you.

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Anne Copeland is a Certified Quilt Appraiser and a Creativity Coach. She lives in Lomita, California with a household of pets. You can reach Anne at http://www.fiberartsconnsocal.org/ .

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