Beginner’s Mind

Beginner’s Mind is a term in Buddhist thought referring to how fresh “things” are to someone who is just beginning. I am a beginner when it comes to art (just completed my first online class)! Our society tends to laugh or look down at beginners. But when and how else are you to get good? You have to start at the beginning.

I love learning about basic lines and curves and putting them together to create art. Wow. I surrendered to it. I don’t judge. I just draw. Using Skillshare’s free classes (to start with), I took “Become a Pencil Ninja.” After completing it, my eye caught one of the feedback comments, “This is a perfect class for children.” I had to laugh…for children, indeed. I am a child when it comes to drawing.

Next up: a self portrait. This looks like it will be much more challenging!

face

Skillshare is pretty cool. You can teach classes as well ask take them. Check them out! Skillshare.com.

He(art)

“If you hear a voice within you say ‘you cannot paint,’ then by all means paint and that voice will be silenced.”

Vincent Van Gogh

The voice might then say, “See? This is terrible!” But great work only comes from practice.

Stop procrastinating.

Creativity is the answer to all the “bad” in the world, because art is a culmination of love over time. It is optimism defeating pessimism.

Waiting for My Muse

I waited. Surely, it will come.

I wait, eyes closed. I wait for the rumblings, the signs of it arriving.

Nope.

With my first self-published book under my belt, I’m raring to forge on! I want to write another one. I will write another one. Alas…nothing. No (good) ideas. Not yet, anyway.

The harder I push, the further it seems. So I’m going to relax. Enjoy all the goodies in my life and trust that it will surface.

More Than One Way to Get There

Naturally, clarity of your life’s ambition will help you get there. But lucidity of your vision will also foster creativity and cultivate resilience. For example, I want to help people (children and adults) feel empowered and be the best they can be through my writing and teaching. I applied for a job that would have helped me reach even more (students) than the 90 I help now. I received a letter of rejection and felt pretty awful. Until…

I realized there are many other ways to achieve my ultimate goal. I’m excited and energized all over again. “Failing” is just another way to readjust your road.

As Robert Frost infamously wrote:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.*

His point: know that there are more ways to get there and whatever you choose, you’ll be just fine.

*from Robert Frost’s poem, “The Road Less Traveled”

You Be You

It’s cliche – “Just be yourself.”

Most of us don’t really know what that means, or we believe that “being ourselves” isn’t good enough for xyz.

But if you focus on just being the best you that you can be, you’ll find that you naturally are more innovative, creative, original. Because you’re not expending any energy to fit a mold or be like someone else.

So, think outside the box. But look within.

Shoot High, But Ship It

9ooxcp1jcqu-ayo-ogunseinde

Work like mad.

Give it your all.

And then deliver it, knowing it’s not perfect and never will be.

Hustle!

b5shxemoqkk-linnea-sandbakk

Afraid that you’re getting old and haven’t reached the “pinnacle” of your career? Anxious that your lofty goal seems out of reach while your milestone birthdays are being thrown at you? Never fear! Published in Science magazine this month, a study of over 2,800 scientists showed that most wrote their “break through” career paper after 20 years of work.

There is little correlation to age and “success.”

In fact, there are many careers that require a passel of years of experience and learning, such as “law, psychoanalysis, history, or philosophy” and the average age of summit success came at 48.

Einstein once said that if you haven’t made a discovery by the time you’re 30, you never will. But data shows that the age where scientists are making ground breaking work is getting older and older, because there is more for them to learn before they reach the area of discovery. Makes sense!**

The most important factors for success are:

ability to create time to work;
ability to collaborate successfully; and
to make sure your work gets in front of the right people at the right time.

So keep working and protect your work time.

Sources:

http://nymag.com/scienceofus/2016/11/can-you-be-too-old-for-success.html

**http://www.nbcnews.com/id/45198217/#.Uo-c-tJDsc8

What Makes You Tick?

photo-1477973770766-6228305816df

When I use the “chuck it” with my dog, Opal, she runs as fast as lightning. I’ll throw the tennis ball 6 or 7 times and when we’re done, Opal is exhausted and happy. And then she’s mellow for the rest of the day. She is kinder with other dogs and she’s a delight to be around.

When I skip my own workout, I feel sluggish. I don’t have as much energy. When I force myself to work out – despite fatigue – I feel energized and I’m ready to take on my work.

Sometimes, the “magic pill” is just hard work.

What is it for you? Meditation? Yoga? Weight lifting? Set yourself up for success and do it, even if you don’t feel like it.

It’s Na-No-Wri-Mo Time!

ljizlzhgq7wpsh5kvtcb_typewriter — by Florian Klauer

National Novel Writing Month

I’m not quite finished with my children’s book, Esther, Mia and the Stars, but I’m close. I am short just a few illustrations and I have someone translating it into Spanish. I’m going to have my mother translate it into Korean over Thanksgiving. I will ship it! It WILL happen!

I thought I should finish that before I started another project, but… it’s Na-No-Wri-Mo right now. I’ve been doing research in October in anticipation of this. Tomorrow, I commit to the writing. I’ve written several fiction stories, but I’m especially excited about this one.

A fellow teacher/writer asked me three weeks ago, “Why don’t you do Na-no-wri-mo?” My first thought, Yeah, right. A novel in one month. I’m working full-time, I have kids and a husband. There is no time.

And then another voice:

“You MAKE time.”

Yes, you make time. Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison, Marie Curie…all had the same 24 hours we have.

So, what’s it about? I can’t say.

Advice I’ve always remembered: Do not share or reveal too soon. It invites naysayers and judges at the most critical time. Focus on the content. Focus on the work. Reveal it later.

So, what do you say? Want to join me? I’d love to share our ups and downs!

Click on this link to get started now!

4 Ways to Creative, Financial Freedom

I have been following Deep Space Sparkle by Patty Palmer for years. I’ve watched her grow from an art teacher writing about her passions to a full-fledged entrepreneur with one of the most generous websites I’ve ever landed on.

Yesterday, I told you about Teachers Pay Teachers, a website where you can post your hard-earned work and start getting paid for it. Patty has created her own website and offers curriculum for sale (as well as a lot of FREE valuable resources).

deepspacesparkle

In her latest podcast, she reviews and shares her successes as a teacher and businesswoman. Teachers are some of the most creative, loving people you will ever meet, but it’s hard for them (us) to ask to be paid what we’re worth. Here are some of Patty’s tips for success while leaving your love of teaching intact:

Enjoy – really enjoy – your teaching right now. Use this opportunity to experiment with your students…see what works. Bring your best each and every day.
Start selling slowly. Use Teachers Pay Teachers, or start your own website. Don’t quit your job to do it, just begin.
Create your curriculum based on your passions, don’t look to children or their parents for direction.
Learn new skills! Have fun as you learn. It’s never too late.

One (of many) things I love about Patty’s site is that she emphasizes the importance of living and loving the present moment. This is what Kismet is all about. The paradox of success: In order to “get there”, you need to “be here.”