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creativity

Cacao and Creativity

June 4, 2021 by admin

When we first moved to our little town in the Hudson Valley of New York State a few years ago, I hooked up with a women’s group where we danced, shared, and drank ceremonial cacao. I’d never tried the stuff before, but I loved it as well as the ceremony that went along with it.

Of course, then the pandemic happened, and group events were canceled. A few months ago I decided I could do my own ritual and have been doing it twice a week ever since. I find my little ceremony to be calming and uplifting, a way to slow down, ponder, and re-center. This helps me be more productive in the rest of my week, so I see it as an investment of time.

Ceremonial cacao is a drink made from cacao that hasn’t had the butter removed. The cacao has been lightly toasted and fermented, so it’s less processed than cocoa. There are numerous health benefits attributed to ceremonial cacao, but I don’t know how much its properties have actually been researched. I’ll just say that I feel great after I drink it. I purchase mine from Soul Lift Cacao, though there are several great sources.

Unlike, say, a cup of hot chocolate, ceremonial cacao has little to no sweetener. I put a small amount of honey in mine after the cacao cools a bit (raw honey is never meant to be cooked), but I’m moving gradually toward no sweetener. The flavor is bold because of the amount of cacao used.

Here’s how I do my personal cacao ceremony:

  1. Before chopping the cacao, I take a good, long sniff of it. It helps set the tone for my brain that the ceremony is coming.
  2. I gather my materials, including good, filtered water, spices such as cinnamon, vanilla, and a pinch of chili powder, and a special cup and saucer that’s fancier than my everyday teacups.
  3. I chop the cacao into small pieces so it melts more easily. I use 1/4 cup, but if you’re starting out, start with less. Too much too soon can cause the body to rebel.
  4. I heat the cacao with some of the water in a double boiler, heating it gradually and adding the spices.
  5. Once it’s heated, I take it off of the stove, let it cool for a few minutes, then add the honey.
  6. I then pour myself a cup and go to a quiet space with my planner.
  7. For planning, I use the Dreambook Planner by Dragontree. It works great with the spirit of cacao! You may have your own favorite, but the Dreambook Planner helps me set goals and intentions, but also acknowledge gratitude and self-care.
  8. Once I’ve settled in, I say a prayer of thanks for everyone who grows, processes, and ships the cacao to me. I also ask for guidance from angels, guides, and the Fair Folk.
  9. I review my week to see what I’ve accomplished, what I learned, what stressed me, etc. I also look at my monthly and quarterly goals to see how I’m doing.
  10. Next, I use this information to think about the coming week.
  11. While I’m doing these reviews, I take small sips of the cacao after each section to let it in. I think one of the biggest benefits is the process of slowing myself down.
  12. Once I’m finished, I give a prayer of thanks again and close the ceremony with a sip of cacao.

Since I’ve been doing this, I find myself more creative, more disciplined, and less scattered. If you feel so inclined, give it a try!

Filed Under: creativity, health Tagged With: cacao, mental health, rituals, self-care

Daffodils and New Beginnings

March 24, 2021 by admin

They are peeking up through the soil, these first beacons of hope for a spring after a long winter. I don’t want to wish my life away, but I dream of the day soon when vivid yellow blooms dot my largest garden bed. Right now it’s a blank slate, but after the daffodils come, it won’t be long before other green shoots emerge from the ground.

Don’t be fooled by the delicate flowers. Daffodils are tough. In my case, they survived when I didn’t get them all out of the ground in the summer. The ones I did, I forgot to replant in the fall, so they were stuck in a box in the garage. Doesn’t matter. The ones in the ground are quite happy, and the ones in the box were already sprouting, just waiting for me to tend to them.

Last week I sent The Factory Girl and the Fey to my editor for the last time. The past three months have been intense as I have combed through it over and over again, answering her questions and filling in more detail to the story. As of today, it’s the best I can do without her sharp professional eye.

Winter was the perfect time to work on the manuscript. With all the snow and cold, the last thing I wanted was to go outside, though I stole some walks on better days. Now that it’s spring, what do I plant, both in the garden and in my writing life?

There are two manuscripts vying for my attention. One has been through a few drafts and a developmental edit of the first 50 pages. The other is a rough draft, about 65 pages of initial thoughts. One is a plant that needs repotting, the other is a tiny seed just starting to sprout.

This week I will choose which to work on. Both are equally compelling to me. But one thing I have learned from daffodils, is that whatever I do will probably be just fine.

What are you planting this spring, whether in your garden or in other areas of life?

If you like this blog, please consider purchasing one of my books listed on my homepage. Thanks!

Daffodils in Vase Image by Michi-Nordlicht from Pixabay

Filed Under: creativity, writing Tagged With: daffodils, spring, writing

One More Walk with Julia

April 5, 2019 by admin

She looked sad as she moved to the front of the room. For a moment I thought I saw tears in her eyes. Turns out I was right. As author and teacher Julia Cameron took the stage, she opened by telling us about a long-time colleague of hers who had died two days before. She asked us to send prayers and then bravely began the weekend workshop.

This is the level of authenticity I have respected and admired for more than twenty years. Julia has written more than forty books, and she has never tried to present her life as perfect. In her searing memoir Floor Sample, for example, she details her challenges with mental health issues. Yet her honesty never feels self-serving or pitying. It’s life, baby, and the cure for the pain is self-compassion and making art. On that she never waivers.

Having practiced The Artist’s Way all these years, I have experience firsthand how it changes lives. When I first pulled the book off the shelf in the summer of 1997, I was a writer who didn’t know how to start writing. Previous attempts had resulted in a great deal of creative wounding, even from so-called writing teachers.

Seeing Julia again (my third time), I was still surprised at how the simple tools of Morning Pages, Artist Dates, and fill in the blank exercises could pull so much out of me. Late in the weekend I felt breathless, stripped bare. Several days later, I am still processing what happened, noticing subtle and not-so-subtle shifts…everything from deciding to order a decent blender to digging in deeper to my novel-in-progress.

As a long-time veteran, I was pleased to meet so many people who were new to the book. Some had been given a copy years before and felt like the time is now. I was able to share the many changes life had brought as a result of doing this work: several books, with more in process; a college degree at age 45; multiple new interests, including gardening; an amicable divorce (a direct result of doing Morning Pages); and a happier, healthier marriage.

For an entire weekend I got to have “real” conversations with people, tossing aside small talk and pretense in favor of what was in our hearts. We laughed, we cried, we hugged, and we rooted for each other’s success, regardless of our chosen art form(s).

At the end of the weekend, I felt renewed. And Julia no longer looked sad. Her blue eyes were bright and merry in spite of her grief.

For me, the workshop was a chance to see the master in action once again, and to bring my love and gratitude. I came to The Artist’s Way because I wanted to write. What I gained was that and so much more.

Filed Under: books, creativity, writing Tagged With: art, blocked creativity, Julia Cameron, The Artist's Way, workshops

Day 2 of 3 Quote Challenge #3dayquotechallenge

July 16, 2015 by admin

 

John Muir Quote

 

The Three Day Quote Challenge continues! I couldn’t NOT include a quote by naturalist and conservationist John Muir.

When I lived and worked in Houston, I would pack my lunch and go outside when it wasn’t too hot. Right next to our building was a large grassy area with park benches and a fountain.

Sometimes in the elevator a co-worker would ask me what I was doing. Many times I heard, “Wow, I’ve never done that.” Here was a lovely strip of nature right outside the office, and people frequently ignored it.

After many hiking vacations, we could no longer live indoors with air conditioning. The pull of fresh air and the woods grew too great, and we moved to western Washington where we could be outdoors as often as we want.

Doctors and mental health researchers, more and more, are looking at the physical and mental benefits of time in nature, and there are numerous articles such as this one online. Nature Deficit Disorder is a popular phrase these days after Richard Louv wrote Last Child in the Woods.

I don’t need a study, though, to tell me how much it matters for me to connect with the great outdoors every single day.

Outside, whether I’m in the garden or walking the many wooded trails that wind through our town, I am at peace. Some days I have to drag myself out there, but five minutes later I’m rejuvenated. Throughout my day, between bouts of writing or research, I’m out the door. Here, in a small town, I can connect with sunrises and sunsets, with equinoxes and solstices, with subtle shifts of temperature that tell me of a change in seasons or an early spring.

Maybe if our politicians and lobbyists spent more time outdoors, our national priorities would be different.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have berries to pick.

How about you? Do you get to spend time in nature? What’s your favorite outdoor activity?

 

 

 

Filed Under: creativity, environment

Feels So Good to Finish

February 11, 2015 by admin

I don’t do “projects.” I do long-term relationships. I started my novel-in-progress more than two years ago, and it’s just now shaping up enough for me to think about sending it to an editor. Lord knows when it will be done, though I’m hoping by year-end. I’m forever walking the line between optimism and soul-crushing disappointment as I live with this story over and over and over and over again.

That’s why it’s nice to finish something, anything. And to finish a large project, well, that’s particularly exciting.

So today I reveal to you a new bedspread, a year and a half in the making. The pattern of the double wedding ring is common in quilts, but this is a knitted version. Turns out that for the cost of the yarn, I could have bought a hand-made Amish quilt, already done.

Knitted Double Wedding Ring Quilt
Knitted Double Wedding Ring Quilt

But where’s the fun in that?

The pattern for this, if you are a masochist dedicated knitter like I am, can be found on Ravelry. It’s easy to knit, but putting all those pieces together? Oy. 1,080 pieces make up the rings, and the assembly alone took more than six months.

As with all long-term relationships, there’s the thrill at the beginning. You can’t wait to get started and get to know each other. Each day brings new discovery and excitement, and you want to spend all your time with your new love.

Then one day, you’re sick of your beloved. The relationship isn’t as easy as you thought it would be, and you want space. Maybe you cheat, taking on a smaller project on the side, such as making sweaters for your granddog, or patchwork throws from spare yarn. You have to re-evaluate your commitment.

What all the cool dogs are wearing!
What all the cool dogs are wearing!

Yet when the relationship is real and true, though, you hang in there until you get to the other side, and you fall in love all over again. You notice how the relationship stays with you even on your worst days, waiting patiently without judgment. It’s worth all the trouble and hassle and time.

Under the bedspread at night, I am cozy and safe and secure, the same way I feel in a relationship that works. And as I enjoy the satisfaction of completion, I am buoyed again and know I can finish anything I start, even those pesky manuscripts that aren’t yet ready to release.

With our beloved, whether a person or a project, if we hang in there, we can be more than we thought we could. Safe and secure and warm, we can soar.

Do you have projects that take forever to complete? Please tell me I’m not the only one! 

 

Filed Under: creativity, writing Tagged With: completing projects, crafts, finishing, knitting, relationships, writing

Bedspreads and Novel Writing: It’s the Little Things

July 10, 2013 by admin

A few weeks ago I got it in my head that I wanted to knit a bedspread. I don’t know why. These notions just sort of show up, and I either wait for them to pass or jump on them. Usually I jump on them and am sorry later as I ask, “What did I get myself into this time?”

So, of course, I’ve jumped in. Again. I’ve given up the quest for self-improvement in favor of self-acceptance, so all I can do is shake my head, smile, and say, “Yep, that’s what I do.”

After some searching, here’s the pattern I settled on. It’s easier than it looks, because I’ll make a lot of little pieces that I then sew together. Of course, making a lot of little pieces can get tedious. I started knitting the little colored strips…80 of them for each of 13 colors. I don’t like doing math, but I can tell you, that’s a lot, and those pieces represent just part of the quilt.

It’s no coincidence that I’m revising a novel at the same time. Without boring you with all the little details, it feels much the same as working on this quilt. There is the whole that is the ultimate goal, which I’m reaching by working on thousands of little, tedious pieces.

I’m reading The Wonder of Aging: A New Approach to Embracing Life After Fifty by Michael Gurian. Based on what I’ve read so far, it would appear that this new approach to quilting, writing, and life is a reflection of my age and current stage of life. I’m okay with taking time to work on the little details. Yes, I’d like to write books faster than I do, but I’m more interested in writing better. Eventually I’ll have enough of those little pieces done to put them together in one of the rings. Eventually I’ll read through a draft and say, yes, this one’s ready to go to the editor, because I’ve done my best.

It seems curious and paradoxical to want to slow down the process. There is so much to write! So much to get done! Sometimes it feels maddening to become more deliberate, more thoughtful, less action-oriented. Yet somehow, I suspect, I will get more done. My drafts may go more slowly, but I will need fewer of them (I hope). In the end, I hope to have a beautiful heirloom quilt and a beautifully written book to share.

Filed Under: books, creativity, writing Tagged With: aging, book revisions, craft, detail, double ring wedding quilt, knitting, novel, revising, rewriting, writing

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