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Monday Blues {the good, the bad, & the ugly}...

Aaaarrgghhh!!! The vicious cycle continues. Either I'm in some sort of crazy growth spurt regarding my creative endeavors and am just unconsciously pushing myself in directions that I need to go....or I'm just plain stupid! I can't even tell you why...because computer things that I don't understand stress me out to NO END...but in the past two weeks I have started using new software, bought and started using new functions for said software, had to figure out the whole video blog ordeal, and now I've joined Facebook {although at the moment I really don't know why}. I just keep thinking that these are the directions I need to go in and although I can't say specifically where the roads will lead, my gut is just leading my head right now. I'm only following because when my head does get everything figured out and put together, I want to be ready!

I know, I'm talking in plain crazy circles today. And I'm feeling a little off my rocker today as well. A went to pick Rayne up off the bus this afternoon and as I stood there wondering why she wasn't coming off the bus, I remembered that I was supposed to pick her up at school today! {nice, right?} So I quickly made the 10 minute drive to the school and schlepped in to apologize profusely to my daughter and to the poor secretaries who had been calling all over to try to get my poor little daughter a ride home. There Rayne sat, with her little Happy Birthday hat on {they celebrated her summer b-day in class today...which I DID remember} with a very, very sad and worried face. {heartbreaking!} Then, at lunch, as I was finally beginning to swallow my guilt and move past this horrible injustice I had bestowed upon her, she tells me that it was gym day and because I forgot to put her in sneakers, she had to sit out. {OUCH...full on blow to the gut!} She's such a good sport, though. She just keeps saying "it's okay, Mom!"

So I sit here on this crazy Monday, feeling all kinds of out-of-sorts, going against my usual grain, abandoning my comforts zones...and all the while, I'm holding on to the hope that this all has some bigger purpose. Sometimes, before big and wonderful change, comes this period of great awkwardness. And I'm choosing to believe that this is what it is rather than just my being a really bad mom and a total glutton for computer related punishment.

So, while I sang my blues to you on this Blue Monday, I thought I would share some very pretty blues in the form of these lavender plants. I'm looking at them and going to my happy place...I hope they help you with your Monday Blues as well!

Fostering Creativity, Part 2: Managing Your Creative Cycle

Hi everyone! I did it. I made a video blog because I had a post in my head that I thought would just take too long to write. But, in the end, until I figured out how and where to upload it and to get it in here...it probably would have saved me a lot of time to just write it. Honestly, this blogging thing is not for the faint of heart. I really have had to learn so much through this process. But anyway...it was fun and it was a personal goal to do one of these so here you go...

A couple of things before you watch. First, I'm sorry that the top of my head is semi cut off. Next time, I won't listen to my husband when he tells me that everything looks centered on the screen will work on that a little better. Also, I reference a couple of past posts in the video and I wanted to put the links here so that everyone would know what I'm referring to.

Fostering Creativity, Part One: Being Gentle with Our Creative Souls
My 365 Photo a Day Project
Kim Klassen's Dozen Details Interview

So, grab a cup of coffee and sit down for a bit. The video is a little over 20 minutes so you may have to watch it in spurts.





Untitled from Maegan Beishline on Vimeo.

I mentioned in the video that I would make notes if I felt I left anything out. But I really think I hit on everything I wanted to. But what I may do in the next day or two is write a quick summary/overview/outline type thing about the topics that I covered. I know, I'm all over the map when I talk!

Thanks for watching! I know I'm a dork, so don't feel like you need to tell me. But I would love your thoughts on the video {primarily the topics covered} and about the Fostering Creativity series.

Realities & Blessings...

Hello & Happy Friday!!!! What?, you ask. Two R&B's in one week? Yes, I know...it's invigorating. Well, not really. But after today we'll be back on schedule and that, my friends, is invigorating.

So, without further ado...

Reality: I officially spent the bulk of my week cleaning up dog messes. The big dog came around quite quickly, but the little one had a rough time shaking that nasty bug. He's 11 yrs. old and he has chronic allergies which makes everything hit him just a little harder.

Blessing: The biggest blessing is that it's OVER! He is finally eating and everything seems to be working properly. The bonus blessing is that any residual guilt I may have been harboring over not bringing anything to the financial table has completely vanished. I am now 100% convinced that I more than earn my keep around here!

Reality: I've been in a creative slump for about three weeks now. I've been dispassionate about photography, editing, & writing...all the things that typically bring me so much joy and fulfilment. Although I know full well that this is all just a part of the creative process, I'm really getting frustrated and grumpy over it none-the-less.
Blessing: It's right about the time that you're coming out of these creative slumps that you realize you've been in one. And I'm happy to report that I do see some signs that I'm rounding the creative corner. {YAAAYYY!!!} Also, my time spent in the underbelly of the creative flow reminded me that I owe you a post on the creative cycle. A while back I posted the first in a two part series on Fostering Creativity and I neglected to post the second. So, I think {hopefully} I'm going to do a video blog on the topic because I have a lot to say and I never get the time to type that much {with both of my hands}. So that will be exciting! Also, my creative slump allowed me a big opportunity to plug away at some of the boring less creative tasks involved with opening up my print shop! So I'm hoping to get that up and running next week!

Reality: Due to all the busy-ness, lack of sleep, and overall unpleasantness going on around here this past week, I re-fueled and pepped up with raunchy, calorically overloaded, sugar coated foods...and lots of them.  I really think that after spending the weekend at my brother's {who happens to make the BEST chicken enchiladas...of which I ate plenty to cover servings for all of us!} and stuffing my face with junk this week that I have easily gained a minimum of five to seven pounds. The part that really bothers me is that I feel like I've spent a week eating nothing but junk: sluggish, bloated, blah!
Blessing: I found solace and a much needed sugar rush in more than one bag of chocolate covered pretzels and a pack of EL Fudge cookies. And, you know what, at the end of the day when you're juggling three kids and two sick dogs, you need to get your jollies wherever you can! And if some weeks that's a bag of marshmallows, then so be it!

Alright... I am ready to leave this week behind me and head on into better days! Did you like the inclusion of all the "dog"wood pictures...get it? I'm trying to re-associate the word dog with nicer images! I'd love it if you joined in on the R&B fun...if you do, please link back here and leave your link in the comments!

I'm very excited about some things I have planned for next week. In honor of my print shop opening up, next week will be full of fun and creativity and maybe even a giveaway!

Have a great weekend, everyone!!!

Wishmama...

I am beyond flattered to be the featured Wishmama over at the inspiring Wishstudio today! I must tell you that about four years ago, when I first really started to read and understand what blogs were, I came across the Wishstudio. For the first time, really in my entire life, I realized that there were other women in this world like me; artistic, creative, family focused, open, honest, authentic. It literally changed my life and allowed me to finally open up and embrace who I really was. The Wishstudio connected me to women who inspired me and taught me about living a creative life. These women encouraged me to embrace my creative side and taught me what all the different faces of creativity could look like. I used to think that "artist" meant "painter"...which I am not. The world of blogging has opened up these terms, opened up my options, and opened up my visions for my own life.

I am so grateful to the Wishstudio for opening my eyes and introducing me to so many great women four years ago. Today, the Wishstudio looks a bit different than it did back then; it's growing and evolving and getting ready to launch its new website! But it's still where I go for inspiration and encouragement. It's also a great place to meet some fantastic women with whom I share many interests!

I was literally over the moon when Mindy asked me to write a Wishmama piece for them. I mean, hello, an opportunity to write about creativity and motherhood {my two favorite topics}...count me in! Please do join me over there and I guarantee you'll fall for the Wishstudio as well!

And if you've popped over here from there...Welcome!

Fostering Creativity, Part One: Being Gentle With Our Creative Selves...

After posting about being at the mid-way point of my 365 {photo a day} project. I 1) received so much support and encouragement that I am so grateful for. So thank you. But, 2) I also received a lot of comments complimenting my ability to change course, be lax in certain areas, and choose not to share my work on certain days. Many of you were relieved and felt that you now could lighten up on your own expectations. It brought up some interesting points and topics of discussion of things I feel very strongly about with regards to personal creativity and I wanted to devote some time to sharing my views.

So often, we start out enjoying our creative time. But somewhere along the way, past the point of excitedly dipping our feet in new waters and before we get to where we feel truly confident in our talents, we begin treating our creative selves somewhat harshly: we expect a lot, we are highly critical, we often and easily get angry and/or frustrated. If we view our creative spirits in the same way we view the creative spirits of children, how would we feel about our the ways in which we are attempting to foster creative growth?  With children, we nurture creativity: we praise efforts, we encourage growth, we withhold criticism, we don't  judge their artwork by the standards of others, and we celebrate growth and improvement. Because of these gentle, positive messages, we allow children to feel that they are safe to learn, safe to experiment, safe to try new things, and safe to be themselves within their creativity. We teach them that if they keep working on something, that they will improve. And we let them know that their creations, the manifestations of their inner selves, are beautiful.

What might our creative potential be if we were to be as nurturing to our own creative spirits as we are to those of children? What if we praise our efforts, no matter how small or misguided? What if we stopped criticizing our own work harshly? What if we infused our creative process with gentle positive messages? If we apply the same theory of thought concerning the creative souls of children, then this gentle approach would allow us to grow creatively, to feel safe to learn and try new things, and to feel confident about being ourselves.

A common misconception is that in order to improve at our skills, we need to push ourselves. We believe that criticism {even the harsh criticism that we give ourselves} is helping us to get better. However, studies have shown that children respond far better to positive reinforcement than negative and our creative spirits {being childlike in nature} respond the same way. There are a number of ways to improve at a skill that don't involve harsh criticism: research, tutoring, focused practice. These methods can be very powerful if we're coupling them with feelings of encouragement and safety. Our creative souls need to feel that their steps of learning, their experiments, their attempts at greatness will not be belittled.

Creating should, first and foremost, be something that we do for ourselves. Both the process and the end result should only be shared if we feel inclined to do so. We need to take away our self imposed measures of success and simply ask ourselves if we enjoy doing what we are doing. And if the answer is yes, than we have definitely succeeded. By definition, creating is a process. Part of that process is learning. We need to incorporate that aspect into the positive feeling we have surrounding the other aspects of creating and enjoy it as such.

We need to be encouraging and supporting and rallying on our efforts, however small or elementary. We need to be our biggest fans, not our worst critics. Every single creative venture is an opportunity to learn and, more importantly, an opportunity to have fun. Children color and create because they enjoy it. Before we were trying to be the best or stay on top of our skills or carve a name for ourselves in the creative world, we enjoyed creating too. So if we can get back to that place of just wanting to create for ourselves, for the way we need it to complete us, and the feeling it brings, while leaving aside any negative aspirations, our creations can come from a place of deeper authenticity. This, coupled with our nurturing and positive reinforcements, has the power to skyrocket our creative potentials.

**{I'm thinking next week} I will discuss how to tap into your personal creative flow and use it to further your creative potential. **

Progess {A Haiku}...

Knitting row by row,

Working steadily with patience,

Creating beauty.

I'm halfway done with my scarf! I try to knit at least a couple rows each day. Some days that's all I can fit in. Some days, I get to knit for pockets of time throughout the day and really make some headway. It's been a good lesson in the value of chipping away at big projects. And oh how I love the steady rhythm of the motions and the soft smooth feel of those beautiful bamboo needles!

I was so inspired to write a haiku after reading Jill's yesterday. I love the simple abundance of haikus. I have decided to join {yet another} Flickr group called 52 Haikus where I'll post a picture and corresponding original haiku every week for a year. I love having all these photographic challenges; they really help me to grow and stay creatively motivated. I'm excited to add the element of writing into the mix! And perhaps my next post will have to be a summary of all my current photography challenges and projects!

A Job for the Elves...

This time of year, I love it when my kids can do something fun that also takes something off my to-do list. After we painted the clothespins for our finger knitted holiday card garland, the girls still wanted to paint with "mommy's paints." So I broke out some plain manila hanging tags, some wrapping ribbon, and the glue sticks.

The girls painted the tags and added glitter while they were still wet.

Once dry, they cut pieces of ribbon and glued them to the tags.

Rayne even added a festive drawing or two to some of hers.

The girls really enjoyed this project and the tags are certainly something will be able to use in our wrapping.

And, as always, this type of project always jumpstarts their creativity and they found new ways to use the materials we had out, making all sorts of lovely things. This project gets a A+ in my book!

Holiday Card Garland...

I recently came across this tutorial on finger knitting. Being a total yarn junkie, I began right away! After a few misguided attempts, I got the hang of it. I adore the way it quiets my mind, busies my fingers and gives me something to do while following the baby around so she doesn't injure herself {she is ALL OVER the place these days, folks!}.

So I had to start thinking about what I was going to do with all my knitted garland. I thought this pretty red one would make a perfect place to display our holiday cards. I had the girls help me paint some wooden clothespins. We used metallic red acrylic paint and sprinkled some Martha Stewart glitter on while the paint was still wet.

Then we hung the garland with some finishing nails and voila! Easy peasy!

Sharing Thoughts on Inspiration & Creativity...

For two days here it's been cold, snowy {yes, I said snowy...I have proof}, and super dreary. Also, Maya has been pretty much attached to my hip...even more than normal. These are not prime conditions for creative genius. I have felt all sorts of lack luster in all sorts of ways this week which, for a creative person, can be immensely frustrating. However, I have been living an art infused life long enough now to know that this is a temporary state. I will come out of my creative doldrums soon. But this particular phase has motivated me to write a post that I've been thinking about for a while on the topic of creativity & inspiration. And since we're all about the sharing this month I thought it would fit in nicely.

Creativity is innate. We are all born creative beings. Often, as we age, the creativity can be reasoned out of us; ie: it is still very much within us but we choose to neglect for various reasons. I could go on and on about the perils of neglecting our inner artist but that is an entirely different post!

Creativity, therefore is not something we can learn, study, or memorize. We can learn skills and tools for utilizing our creativity. But there are no notes to refer back to when we're feeling uninspired. This can be a really intimidating feeling to an artist. For us, the need to create beautiful things is a driving life force. When we're unable to do this, it can be devastating.

If you learn to read your personal creative cues, you can easily recognize when you start to slip into a creative rut. Firstly, recognize the symptoms as a mere phase; momentary and passing. Accept that these are not days to try to push out amazing and brilliant work. I feel that these days come most often when my proverbial well is depleted. If I'm tired, worn out, dealing with family issues, or recovering from something that was hard, I'm all the more likely to have a period of time where I just don't have my normal amount of creative energy. These are days to rest the soul and be gentle with your spirit. This is a great time for collecting; images, scenery, experiences. This is not to say that I do not "show up" for the work. I continue to do the work, repeat the process, go through the motions. Only now is not the time for judgements or harsh self criticism. Remember...accept that you are in a phase.

During this time, I like to watch my children. They are so free of "should dos" and their creativity is limitless. They care not about technique or "proper" ways of doing things. These are the best days to break out the paints and watch them have at it. This is also a great time for long outdoor walks. Nature, fresh air, and exercise are wonderful at re-storing the creative spirit.

Some people like to scour the Internet, magazines, galleries, or stores for inspiration. I like to go to Michael's or even just the grocery store to get some fresh ideas. However, I can usually only do this when I'm beginning to emerge from the phase. If done too soon, sometimes it can be overwhelming and bring on additional frustration to look at the creativity of others. But when the time is right, it can be a powerful tool. When the creative spirit starts to stir within you again, it's good to kindle the fire with lots of eye candy.

Before you know it, you have ideas galore and you're merely trying to find time to fit all of your ideas into your busy schedule. They may even be keeping you up at night. They may be HUGE! I often find that I come out of these phases at another level of creativity. Remember, growth is always uncomfortable...but it's always worth it!

So, bottom line...creativity has an ebb and flow all it's own. It's best not to push it or get angry with yourself. Take some days to rest & re-fuel, gather sights & scents, and prepare yourself for the massive creative wave that surely coming your way!