inspiration – Page 24

October 11, 2011October 19, 2011

Flow~~~

In art, as in life, experiencing a state of flow can be very exciting and great motivation in moving toward one’s goals.

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In Flow

[click to view You-Tube video of Csikszentmihalyi on Creativity, Fulfillment, & Flow.]

~In Flow your activity matches your skill level–mismatches equal boredom if too easy or anxiety and frustration if too difficult.

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Lost in Time

~We lose an awareness of time…our focus and concentration is on the creative process and task at hand.

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Go With the Flow

~It includes patience and an easy, gentle pace…but also the failures, frustrations, impatience, and rebellions! (Make Your Creative Dreams Real, by SARK)

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Optimal Experience

~ In the book Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, Mihaly Csíkszentmihályi discusses that creativity and being in flow contributes to an optimal human experience. When our activities are balanced between being a challenge but within our skill level, we enjoy a state of concentration and a sense of well-being. I think of it as a chance to test myself––in a fun way!

* Today in the studio I will be quilting a wall-hanging–When do you experience being in Flow?

If you have the time, I’d love to hear your thinking! (To Leave a Comment–click below…) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

How To Get Outside Yourself (everydayintensity.com)

September 26, 2011October 3, 2011

Why is it the beginning of things, such as a new week, a new notebook, or a new school year, can serve to bring us renewed hope? Has life really changed or is it our expectations and attitudes that change? Instead of feeling hopeless and in a rut, do we think of possibilities and believe that new opportunities can occur?

Blog Post — Studio Goal #1: Posting a New Blog Article...

I actually believe it is some of both…while the differences in the new maybe small, the resulting new actions and activities can make a huge difference in our outcomes. For example, with the new week we may reassess our goals and schedules, organize our workspace, and proceed in a different manner, thus achieving different accomplishments.

Layering Wall Hanging — Studio Goal #2: Layering and Quilting This Wall-hanging...

With a new notebook, looking at a clean, unmarked page of paper may provide an uncluttered space to write down our thinking, thus providing clarity to our confusion. With a new school semester, being around a new group of people, having a new teacher to guide our learning, and considering new subjects and activities may give us new experiences and, thus gaining new confidence that comes from testing our ability to learn new skills.

So beginning this new week with new goals and new expectations, there is renewed hope that the work I do will be of value and the time spent will have new possibilities, results and opportunities…

Backing Lifeweaving #3 — Studio Goal #3: Adding the Backing Fabric to Lifeweavings #3, Quilt the Top, and Finish Details and Photographing...Hoping to Enter This Into a Juried Exhibit This Fall.

*What new beginnings help you in your work, life, and/or creative process?

September 13, 2011September 19, 2011

Tuesday In the Studio…”Spinning Wheels, Going @”

In the studio, as in life, many times I feel I am spinning my wheels without making much movement forward…even though I have been busy working on many tasks. Why is it difficult to understand that these smaller tasks, or micromovements as SARK in her book, Make Your Creative Dreams Real, A Plan for Procrastinators, Perfectionists, Busy People, and People Who Would Really Rather Sleep All Day (2004) calls them, are very important in reaching the end goals. Perhaps my long-term goals, while important, overshadow the now and add unnecessary pressure, instead of guiding my process and outcomes. I lose the joy of being creative and the sense of play, improvising, and experimenting.

So what have I accomplished today? Well, the top of my desk is organized! Also, the Art Portfolio on my website needed revising so it now has a new look and organization. [Be sure to check it out!] It helps to see my current body of work and gives me ideas of where to head next! So perhaps this is, after all, an important stage in the creative process–a time to organize, generate new ideas, and think of future goals–

The conclusion? Even though some days it feels like spinning wheels, going @…maybe there really are micromovements forward!

*What micromovements did you make today?*