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Cynthia Morris

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Rebel at the Peril of Your Creativity

If you’re like my clients, you’re a bit of a rebel. You don’t like being told what to do and you’re happiest when you’re doing your own thing.

This rebellion might feel good, powerful, even, but if you’ve turned this rebellion upon yourself, you may be sabotaging your creativity.

Are you self-sabotaging?

You say you’ll write for an hour on Saturday morning. Once your writing time rolls around, you ‘don’t feel like it’ so you do something else. You chafe against structure so you never end up finishing your articles, stories and book.

Or…

You set up studio time, and choose a specific focus for your work. But once in the studio, you pass hours not getting anything done. You assert your right to ‘flow’.

Often creative people internalize the obstinate stance. We become so accustomed to positioning ourselves against something that we struggle against ourselves.

We like being bad, even if it’s damaging our creative power.

[Read more…] about Rebel at the Peril of Your Creativity

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Draft Your Writer’s Obituary to Have a Great Creative Life

I know no one wants to talk about death, but sometimes staring at the reality of our mortality can help us live our juju a bit more.

If I were to open Poets & Writers, or Writer’s Digest, or Writer of the Year magazine and saw your writer’s obituary, what would it tell me about your writing life?

Often, creating a vision for our creative work can help us choose what to focus on and what to discard.

Clarifying what we ultimately want to be known for helps us make powerful decisions for our creativity.

Try this: Cast your vision to the end of your life and reflect upon what you accomplished by drafting your Writer’s Obituary. Include some or all of the following:

  • What will you be known for as a writer?
  • What genres have you explored?
  • Include publications, awards and any accolades you would like to garner throughout your writer’s life. Include the impact you will have upon your readers.

Artists of all genres can play with this. Let this be playful instead of morbid. Create a really big and outrageous vision. Don’t overwork it – just write whatever comes to you, letting yourself be surprised. Write a juicy one for yourself!

Here’s mine:

Cynthia Morris wrote and published widely. Her articles and books about the creative process inspired millions to be more empowered and expressed. Her novel, Chasing Sylvia Beach was a global bestseller and the basis of the hit film of the same name. She was in great demand as an entertaining speaker and workshop leader. Morris died from a giggle fit at 89 in her home in Paris.

Try it

Keep it to 200 words or less. Post it on your blog and include a link in a comment below.
Drop a comment below and let me know what you learned from doing this.

 

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Your Talent Is Not a Twinkie

Remember the Twinkie? That golden cake with fluffy white filling is rumored to have no expiration date, meaning it can sit on the shelf indefinitely and still be good when you unwrap the plastic.

While an infinite timeline can seem seductive, your brilliance is not meant to be held off forever.
Your talent is not a Twinkie. Your ideas, your projects, your unique expression, cannot sit on the shelf indefinitely.
Talent has a shelf life.
[Read more…] about Your Talent Is Not a Twinkie

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Spring Cleaning the Body

Let me start by saying that I am grateful for the incredible privilege I have to choose my food, to choose the most vibrant, fresh and healthful food.

Spring greens!

And, I think it’s a good idea to do a cleanse for the body and spirit every year.
For two weeks I relinquished:

  • dairy
  • caffeine
  • alcohol
  • sugar
  • processed foods (including wheat).

What’s left!? I opted for a diet of vegetables, fruits, grains, beans and cleansing herbal teas.
I know you’re thinking, I could never give up my…. That’s why I’m writing this article, to share some surprising insights that may help you reevaluate your own choices.
First, my approach

  • I set the dates months in advance in my calendar.
  • I got a cleanse buddy, who is also an herbalist.
  • I got clear on what I wanted from this: to feel lighter, to lose a few pounds of winter weight, and mostly to see what my body is like without all these stimulants.

With this preparation, I was able to develop a mindset that helped me commit. I didn’t focus on what I was going to miss or on how hard it was going to be. Instead, I focused on how curious I was about what would happen.
My values of curiosity and health trumped my fears of lack or deprivation.
Treats!
I see how  I experience food as a ‘treat’. It’s something I eagerly look forward to. It’s a very creative endeavor for me, this eating, so the week is peppered with food treats:

  • Daily cappuccino right away upon arising
  • Oo! Let’s make pizza tonight!
  • Friday night happy hour with friends – wine! cheese plate, fried treats!

Organic market haul, Paris 2007Even though vegetables, grains and salads are delicious, there’s not a lot of ‘treat’.
Bottom line: I am doing that thing I’ve heard of but didn’t think applied to me: emotional eating. But that’s okay. I’m more aware of food’s role in my life, and that’s a start.
Food is life’s best art – one you take into your body – and I plan to relish it for as long as I can.
Easier than you think
This elimination plan may seem daunting.
How will you ever get through the day without caffeine! You probably want to kill me for merely suggesting it. But it’s actually not as difficult as you think. If you find a positive perspective, you can overcome some of the more difficult moments.
I know that sounds very coachy and Pollyanna-ish – ‘Think bright thoughts!!’ but so much of our experience really does happen in our minds, and we truly can change how we think.

I ate a lot of sea vegetables and lemons!

I also didn’t go out much. This helped a lot to avoid temptation and also made this time a more sacred, an inner process.
Bottom line: you can do more than you think. You are capable of more than you think. Your will is strong.
Remember my crazy yoga stunt this time last year?
Even keel I’ve often suspected that what and how I eat and drink may contribute to my mood swings.
The first few days of the cleanse, I felt pretty flat. Not HIGH not low, just flat. By day five, I felt more energized but still on an even keel.
Bottom line: if I am feeling overly emotional, I know I can back off on some of these stimulants to enjoy life on the plains instead of the peaks and valleys.
Insights
I need things to look forward to in order to feel joy in life. I’ve been planning my autumn trip to Europe and how I will celebrate completion of my novel. (Peek: It involves Amsterdam!)
I can’t say I will stay on the straight and narrow with caffeine, alcohol and sugar. I do hope to be more mindful. The cleanse wasn’t about eliminating these treats forever, just clarifying their role in my life.
My cappuccino will be decaffeinated and I’ll use less milk. I’m trying for as little caffeine as possible.
For over three weeks I have not reading while eating. It’s hard, and I tend to eat more quickly to be done with it and go back to work. I’ll make an effort to slow down and savor.
Paris market salad chez Cynthia

I’ve lost four pounds, and I feel great without it. This lightness and feeling good in my clothes is the motivation I need to stay moderate in my eating. I’m gearing up to escape the cocoon, and I want to feel and look great out there!
I’m dying for pizza, for tortilla chips, and for yogurt. I’m celebrating the end of the cleanse by feasting with friends. I’ll take it easy, don’t worry!
What about you? I hope this inspires you to think differently about your choices. I encourage small changes. It’s not just radical adjustments that make a difference. It’s the little things that add up. What does this spark you to change? Share it in a comment below.

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Listen to Find Your Writer’s Voice

I opened the document eagerly, excited to see the progress my client had made. She had read a book about how to write a book proposal and had dutifully followed its dictates.

But when I read the proposal, I was dismayed. The ‘about the author’ section was particularly awful. It wasn’t that it was poorly written – it was just drafted in someone else’s voice.

My client had followed the advice to write about herself in the third person. But that didn’t work for her book, which was a very personal story.

Don’t take advice – listen instead
In our efforts to find our elusive writing voice, we often seek advice to make it easier. Sometimes being told how to write isn’t as helpful as being taught how to listen.

As a professional listener, I’m always attuned to what’s being said and how. When you tune in, you can hear your voice become clear. Soon, you’ll be empowered to write captivating blog posts, authentic articles, and amazing books – resonating with your authentic voice.

Listening practices for artists of all kinds
These suggestions apply to artists in all media; rather than jumble the article with multiple examples, I invite you to play with these ways to listen for your authentic voice.
[Read more…] about Listen to Find Your Writer’s Voice

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I Can't Draw – But Who Cares?

“I can’t draw!”
I hear this often, especially by people who are attracted to my Curious Excursions but feel the need to profess how much they are not an artist.
Drawing is one of the creative tools in my toolkit because it’s a practice in attention and awareness. The kind of drawing I encourage is about looking, not producing.
Drawing as meditation for those who can’t sit still
I began drawing in 1994 as a way to still my thoughts. Encouraged by others to meditate but unable to sit still, I found something amazing when I came upon Frederick Franck’s book, Zen of Seeing: Drawing As Meditation. Franck’s work helps people calm and still themselves by focusing and rendering on paper what they see.
When you look, really look at something, a calm settles in. The concept of ‘being in the moment’ finally roots in a practice of applying your pen or pencil to paper. When you truly give your attention to something, you occupy the moment in a simple yet profound way. [Read more…] about I Can't Draw – But Who Cares?

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Three Days in Paris

I am often asked what to do with three days in Paris. I’m not a tour guide and I don’t have hotel recommendations, but I can share some tips on how I like to enjoy the City of Lights. Try this:
First thing, after checking into your lodgings, is to hit the city. If you’ve got three days only, it’s your duty to soak up as much as possible. Jet lag be damned.  [Read more…] about Three Days in Paris

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Dumping Mr. Perfect

He’s busy inside your mind, squirreling away on a treadmill that never ceases. “Again!” he cries, never satisfied. “Better!” he urges, and you comply, re-working that sentence, re-painting that corner.

He is Mr. Perfect, and if he rules you, your creativity is at high risk. Your perfectionism gremlin is actually not helping you – he’s draining your creative vitality.

Mr. Perfect is a sneaky gremlin. He has you convinced that perfectionism is a good thing, that re-working something endlessly means you have integrity and high artistic standards.

The problem is, more often than not, Mr. Perfect grinds away at you for so long that you end up never completing that draft or that sculpture. Because it’s never perfect, you never feel satisfied and you don’t advance your creative career.

Mr. Perfect tries to dominate my clients’ creative process. They proudly and sheepishly proclaim that they are perfectionists, sensing Mr. Perfect isn’t good for them, but feeling unable to escape his grip.
Why do we labor under this illusion of an attainable perfection? [Read more…] about Dumping Mr. Perfect

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Permission Slip for Creatives

You have permission to be wild.
You have permission to create your most brilliant work.
You also have permission to produce mediocre work.
You have permission to sleep in when you want, and you have permission to play hooky from work when you feel like it.
How does it feel to receive my permission to be yourself? Kind of weird, isn’t it. I mean, who am I to wave my wand and say that you’re free to do this or that?
Yet permission – or lack of it – is one of the biggest issues standing in the way of creative people enjoying their talent. We wait for permission to:

  • be loud
  • be ‘over the top’
  • take risks
  • try a new medium
  • create according to our own rhythm
  • say what we really want to say.

The problem is, we seek permission outside of ourselves. And guess what? That’s never going to come. When it does, you’ll likely shun it, preferring instead your own independent path.
Write your own permission slip. Consider this to be your global permission slip to be and do exactly what you are moved to do. What permission do you need to feel fully expressed, fully and creatively exuberant?

Share your permission slip in a comment below.  Yes, you may.
Give yourself six weeks of permission to focus on your writing – your way, in your style, in my unique online class, Make Writing a Happy Habit, which starts May 16th. Get in now.

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Got the Creative Blues? Write Your Acknowledgement Page

There comes a point in the writing of your novel when it’s just a slog. You’re close to the end but you don’t feel like you’ll ever see that finish line or hold your book in your hands.

This creative despair can be crippling. Time to lighten things up with gratitude.

The quickest way to gratitude is to write your acknowledgement page. If you’ve written a book, you know that this page isn’t just a nicety. Finishing a book really does require all those people, and even though it’s your name on the cover, the names on the acknowledgement page are equally important.
They’re especially valuable when you need to gather encouragement. You may not be able to invite them over to soothe your writer’s soul, but you can bring them together by drafting your acknowledgment page. [Read more…] about Got the Creative Blues? Write Your Acknowledgement Page

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Sleep Tweaks for a Better Creative Life

Just a few more minutes online. Another couple minutes tidying things up. One more task, and soon it’s midnight before you’re getting into bed.
Once there, your mind races with memories of your day, ideas for your blog, reminders about your kids’ schedules. The details of the day carom through your head and you don’t fall asleep until after 1:00 am, waking exhausted the next morning.

Maybe the 'Duvel' - devil - made you do it?

We know better. We know we should get to bed earlier, but there’s so much to do. Like rebellious children, we stay up past our limit even though we know it will deplete our energy for the next day. And it’s true; the next day we have a hard time focusing, we’re exhausted and we barely make it through the day, let alone create something brilliant.
A few sleep tweaks can make all the difference. I coach every single client about getting enough sleep and I can share what’s worked for them. Take what works for you and develop your own satisfying and nourishing bedtime rituals. [Read more…] about Sleep Tweaks for a Better Creative Life

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Don't Let the Deadline Zone Kill You

Among the many strategies to help get creative projects done, deadlines rule. I love setting deadlines to complete my books and projects.
And, I nearly always miss my deadlines. But that doesn’t mean they’re not working – I’m just using them differently.
Deadlines aren’t just about meeting a goal by a certain date. Deadlines are a chastity belt for your wandering creative lust – keeping you focused.



Nowhere else to go!


But sometimes our deadlines can turn against us, applying too much pressure and choking our creativity instead of serving it. If you find yourself feeling too much pressure or avoiding the work, your deadline may be killing you.
Use your deadline as a way to focus rather than a whipping stick. Let your due date help you make choices that guide you toward completion. If the deadline’s choking you, back off on the pressure. Don’t decrease your workload or focus and don’t extend the date. Just keep going.
When you miss the deadline, just set another. Don’t make up stories about your integrity or your ability to write. Learn from it, and keep going.
How about you? How do you use deadlines? Do you always meet them and if not, what do you do when you don’t?
You know missing a deadline doesn’t mean you’re a dullard. Just another atom in the creative ignorosphere. This is part of my Creative Ignorosphere series, published here on the Original Impulse blog. Spread the word and help your friends out of the ignorosphere! #creativeignorosphere

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Why Artists Make Great Businesspeople

The Starving Artist myth proliferates because it is often accompanied by that other myth: creative people aren’t good at business. With these ideas circulating, it’s easy to see how artists struggle to succeed professionally.

But I don’t buy these myths. In fact, I believe that artists and creative people make the best business people. Here’s why. [Read more…] about Why Artists Make Great Businesspeople

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Not Getting Things Done? Enter the Deadline Zone

Wouldn’t it be nice if you had a focused space in which to write your book or finish your project? You often yearn for that far-off creative zone, an idyllic escape where you can focus on your work without daily distractions, tempting dates with friends and other seductive projects.

A mountain getaway would surely help you stay focused on one project. You may even replace Julie Andrews with an image of yourself, singing blissfully to the sky because you’re so tuned into the creative flow!
Sigh. Maybe you can’t escape your daily grind, but you can create what I call The Deadline Zone. This is less a place than a practice – and your ability to shut off distractions to complete projects is a key factor in your success.

Something about the word ‘deadline’ strikes fear in the hearts of many. Most people understand the urgency and focus of a deadline. [Read more…] about Not Getting Things Done? Enter the Deadline Zone

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Too Much On Your ‘Plate’? MindMap Your Way to Sanity

As usual, you’re juggling a lot of things at once. You’re managing creative projects, work projects, family projects. You have a lot on your plate but you get lost in the daily details. You keep adding more and because you don’t have a sense of the whole, you live in a state of overwhelm and stress.

The problem? You don’t have a solid sense of everything that you’ve committed to, so you keep saying yes.
The solution is simple. Draw a visual of your ‘plate.’ I use a mindmap for each month so I can see at a glance what I’ve committed to.

Mindmap your plate

At the end of the month, do a plate map for the following month. In a page in your work journal, put the name of the month in the middle. In circles or boxes around it, name your projects. From each of those projects you can list out tasks to complete each project.

I don’t list ongoing things like client work, administrative work, or miscellaneous things like commenting on blogs and in forums. The map tracks major projects that require immediate attention and focus to complete them.

There are at least three ways this helps you be sane with your commitments:

Reality check. Seeing my big projects on the page helps me know when I’ve taken on too much. Throughout the month I can flip back to the plate map and get a quick reminder of my focus when days threaten to dissolve in minituae.

Just say no to shiny new things. When new opportunities arise, I can check my plate map to see if I can truly add anything more.

How did it go? At the end of the month, I go back to the page and check in to see if I completed my projects. If not, they go onto the next month. Like this, month by month, I am able to manage multiple projects and complete things without feeling overwhelmed.

The numbers. Here’s a bonus. Last month I added a list on the plate map of my estimated expenses for the month. At first I thought this kind of thing didn’t belong on the plate map. Then I realized it was a simple way to see that month’s expenses at a glance, and also to see how what I was working on related to my finances. (If I were really doing that thoroughly, I’d add income as well.)

Try it – place everything you’re trying to consume on one page in a notebook or online document. What do you see? How do you use visual planning techniques to get things done?