Creative Night Out

For my 38th birthday, I gave myself a special present: a creativity workshop with Manon Lavoie from M comme Muses. I've been following M for a while on the net and love the way Manon approaches creativity - one small step at a time.

Finally, yesterday was the day I have been waiting for a while. I sat around a table with 8 other women, for a night, to reconnect with my inner self and use that space and time to listen, write and create.

I loved how everyone is at the same time different but share the same desire to create, to reconnect, to follow their intuition, their dreams. And with simple questions and exercices, Manon was able to help us start the journey back to our authentic selves.

Of course, three hours is not enough, but the spark lit the fuse. I promised myself I'll take a little time everyday to doodle, scribble, paint, write or just take a picture, to make sure I stay on the path of creativity - and keep in touch with my inner core.

I'm sure I wrote this

And if you ever want to buy me her book, please feel free :).

Finding focus

photo credit: Apricot cafe

I found recently a very interesting blog called Zen Habits. As always, I know this discovery is not a coincidence. Articles like 'living a better life with less' and 'how to let go of hyperparenting and relax with your kids' are more than welcome in my life right now. I found there simple answers to complicated questions.

Yesterday, while going from one link to another I found the beginning of a book written by the author of Zen Habits, Leo Babauta. The book is not finished but he still wanted to make the material available so the first chapters are online. It is called Focus. It's about what he calls the 'Age of distraction' and the fact that we develop addiction to connection and communication.

You should ab-so-lu-te-ty have a look at this document! And realize how much creativity is affected by our consumption and communication habits.

I seriously believe everyone should stop and reflect on the beauty of disconnection. Me first. I'm going offline.

Open doors

“When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us.” – Alexander Graham Bell

So many times I asked questions and didn't want to hear the answer. Because it was not the one I wanted to hear...

Recently I had this weird sensation in my left ear, like if I had foam in it. Some kind of fizzy sound, almost all the time, for 2 weeks. My friend Maude told me that my ear was probably 'unblocking' and that I was ready to 'hear' what God wanted to tell me. I liked her explanation but wasn't really taking it seriously. Well, subhanallah, I guess she was right. I 'hear' more clearly now. I 'see' signs. Even if sometimes I don't like the things I hear or see, I know they are answers to my questions. And when a door closes, I'm trying to look at the one which has opened...

Ad Hoc

“Insanity: Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” - Albert Einstein

Reflections

photo credit Mattfinish

I came accross two very powerful quotes in the last days and felt an urge to share. On my journey to heal myself, I discovered some simple sayings can dramatically change my way of seeing life and handling it. I also feel I could help change your perception by sharing with you. Who knows... Maybe these words will found a resonance in you as they did in me. Read and reflect.

"Realize that true happiness lies within you. Waste no time and effort searching for peace and contentment and joy in the world outside. Remember that there is no happiness in having or in getting, but only in giving. Reach out. Share. Smile. Hug. Happiness is a perfume you cannot pour on others without getting a few drops on yourself." - Og Mandino

"We have the ability now to get to know our little child within us. We have neglected that child for a long time. Like any child they are going to get your attention one way or another. We have let her run wild in the streets with our credit cards. She has neglected to clean her room and to eat good foods. She stays up way to late and doesn't get enough sleep! This makes her cranky. Oh and she spends way too much time on the computer and doesn't get enough exercise. Do you know anyone who would allow her children to do this? So why do you allow yourself to do this?" - FlyLady

A special one for my french friends :)

"(...) Pourquoi prend-on le temps de s’émerveiller devant un chevreuil ou un orignal, pour ensuite ne porter aucune attention à un écureuil? C’est la rareté, bien sûr. Mais quelle drôle d’idée, lorsqu’on prend le temps d’y penser! Ce n’est pas le degré d’originalité d’une expérience qui la rend extraordinaire, mais notre degré de réceptivité et la qualité de l’attention qu’on choisit de lui consacrer. On peut déguster un simple verre de jus de pomme et en retirer énormément de satisfaction, tout comme on peut manger un super gelato à 5 $ la bouchée sans même le goûter parce qu’on est trop préoccupé. C’est définitivement l’état intérieur dans lequel on est qui est délicieux, non pas ce qui est en train de se passer à l’extérieur…" Marie-Pier Charron

Welcome to Artsyville!

Have you seen these amazing drawings? I'm so crazy about them - the colors, the doodles, the messages... Everything is perfect in my artistic eye. 

I found Aimee's art through her Artsyville blog first, then discovered her Etsy shop and thought all her doodleprints are  interesting. This is the kind of stuff that really catches my attention. Very inspiring, too. Triple love!

Idiots

I discovered this inspirational posters serie by designer Frank Chimero on one of my favorite blog, Death by kerning. I love these posters so much, I couldn't help but share. Here's my favorite...

Door Open

I'm fascinated by doors. A mysterious, discreet invitation to discover what is on the other side... A door usually gives very little clue about what is going on inside. It is just there. Tempting yet dissuasive. Suggesting an infinity of possibilities but never easily revealing what it is hiding.

I'm attracted by doors. I secretly, in my head, open some of them and imagine what is beyond what we see. It can be nice and beautiful. It can be sad, pitiful. I can be ugly, dark.

I'm inspired by doors. I like to paint them. My doors are hiding a lot of secrets, pain, memories but you see only the bright colors of the wall surrounding them. Entrance is forbidden.

I tried... "Where is that 'Q' I've been saving?"

I'm subcontracting for a design company in Ontario since April and they agreed to pay for some books I wanted to order. I was able to get 4 new design books for free ! So I received them today : Maximum Page Design (a lot of photos and examples of great designs), Color: Messages and Meanings (a very useful Pantone book), The Word It Book (a gallery of interpreted words presented by Speak Up ) and Caffeine for the Creative Mind (my favorite!). That last book has 250 exercices to 'wake up your brain'. I flipped through it this morning and it looks very interesting.

The challenge proposed by the authors is to take one exercice a day - as a daily creative maintenance. So for my weekly 'I tried' article, I decided to do my first, titled "Where is that 'Q' I've been saving?". I had to take a picture of each letter of the alphabet using things ONLY in my current space. Each letter had to be from a different object. That was fuuuun!

Good Shape Design

I love posters. Wayne Pate (Good Shape Design) has some really cool ones. I picked some of them for you to see, but the whole collection is beautiful. Truly!

Inspiration and saying Yes

I'm often asked about my inspiration. What inspires me? Where do I get all my ideas? Who's my favorite artist? The answer is very simple: I get inspired by life. Small details, big events, a meeting... A wrought iron fence. A door. A flower. Lately I've been inspired by a quote from G. Santayana. Not only artistically but it made me reflect a lot on how sensitive I am to transitions, to changes. How reluctant I can be to the unexpected, the unsought.

While I was meditating on all of that, I came across a delightful blog - Mother Henna by Kara LC Jones. Her latest post was about saying Yes. It's exactly what I need to do. Saying Yes. Yes to changes, Yes to me, to life! You should read the complete story of the Yes challenge, it came from a song she heard. Very interesting.

I'm taking the Yes challenge this week! Mother Henna's post is my inspiration of the moment. Let's see how that will affect my creative process...