10 Unusual creativity prompts to help you get unstuck

10 Unusual creativity prompts to help you get unstuck

I've developed a bit of a collection of books with creative prompts - some of which I've worked through from start to finish, and some of which I dip into when I'm feeling stuck. They can help get projects going, but they also encourage the practice of creative play, which is super important. Creative play is anything that gets you energised and feeling good about making stuff. Something that requires some effort but isn't too challenging, and that stretches your perceived creative capacity. It can be a warm-up to other activities, a springboard to starting something new, or the purpose itself.

 

When every idea you have sounds stupid

When every idea you have sounds stupid

To keep this blog happening every week, I usually plan topics a month or two ahead of time so that I’m not scrambling on Monday to decide what to write. Usually it works quite well. But every now and then I look at the calendar and I despise every single thing in it. No I do not want to write about my feelings today. Who could possibly care about that time I went on that trip. Everything on the list is boring, stupid, lame, boring, dumb, stupid. So what do I do? Scroll Facebook, scroll Instagram, look at the calendar, scroll some more. And then, eventually, I sit down and write a post.

When creativity = magic (plus a giveaway!)

When creativity = magic (plus a giveaway!)

Magic. What do you think of when you hear the word? Men in tuxedos waving silk scarves? A boy with a zigzag scar on his forehead? A card game played in the corners of comic book shops?To me magic is what creativity feels like when it’s working properly. It feels like a tiny tear in the shiny gloss of everyday life where something not of this world can sneak in. And it’s something I have spent my whole life seeking.

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Creative Living: Interview with Amy Dixon

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Creative Living: Interview with Amy Dixon

I got to know Amy and her stunning paintings on Instagram before reaching out and asking her to meet in real life. We both felt like we'd already known each other for awhile, which is a cool feeling! I love chatting with her about art and creativity, and am excited to share her insights with you.

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What I've been reading: winter 2017

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What I've been reading: winter 2017

I'm stepping away from the heavy stuff this week to bring you a list of books! Fun, inspiring, beautiful, and possibly magical books. Since this post is a month overdue, and since I spent most of the Christmas holidays reading, I had a huge list of books and though I narrowed them down to my absolute favourites the list is still super long. Buckle up! And maybe take a couple of weeks off work ;) Enjoy!

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Finding my voice part four: moving forward

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Finding my voice part four: moving forward

In the first part of this series, I talked about how social anxiety has impacted my life, and the things I did that made it worse. The second post was about all the ways that I've been working on changing my mindset from fear to openness, and the last post was about the things I've done to push my boundaries and leave my comfort zone. Today is the final post in the series and I'm going to share where I'm at with the process right now and where I see myself going.

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Finding my voice part three: breaking free

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Finding my voice part three: breaking free

This week I'm covering some of the actions, behaviors and situations that have pushed me outside my comfort zone, and helped me become stronger and less fearful. If you haven't already, make sure you read last week's post on mindset shifts, since I've found that pushing myself to do scary things without bringing a ton of mindfulness, softness, and self-care to the table just makes me feel worse about myself.

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Finding my voice part two: loosening the bonds

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Finding my voice part two: loosening the bonds

In my last post I wrote about my struggles with social anxiety and all the things I did that made it worse: obsessing over what was wrong with me, trying to fix myself, reading endless books about communication and social skills, putting my tale of woe on repeat, and letting other people define me. In this post and the next one, I want to share what I've done that has helped, and how you can apply what I've learned to your own life.

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Finding my voice part one: how I got trapped

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Finding my voice part one: how I got trapped

Talking to people has been my biggest challenge and the biggest obstacle between me and my dreams. I always believed that I would never get what I wanted because I couldn't make connections. I've never found a mentor because I never asked for help or advice from anyone. The only time I ever applied for something that required reference letters, I nearly gave up because my teachers said they didn't know me well enough to write a reference.

Moving mindfully through mistakes

Moving mindfully through mistakes

When I realize I've made a mistake I can feel my stomach drop, like the floor just fell out from under me. Depending on the severity, a slow burning panic might start to spread across my body and I feel like I'm flailing - attempting to grab at the edges of reality like it's a page I can turn back to when I was doing things right, or a sheet I can pull over my head. And then the stories start spinning, telling me that I'm stupid or selfish or a terrible driver who doesn't deserve to be on the road.