Sunday 28 February 2010

Fear...

'Fear haunts every author. First, we'll never finish; no book is ever finished, only abandoned. Second, nobody will bother to read it. Third, that if and when anyone does, they will hate it, at least immediately identify a thousand errors, etc.'
Harold Evans quoted in Writers News: March 2010 www.writersnews.co.uk

Wednesday 17 February 2010

Haikus

A few months ago I had a rush of inspiration and entered two Haikus in the Writing Magazine competition. http://theonlyconsequence.blogspot.com/2009/08/couple-of-haikus.html In March's edition they have included the winners; of which I am sadly not one!!http://www.writersnews.co.uk/main/default.asp

However, Alison Chisholm did state that they were impressed with the entries and we should all 'feel elated in the knowledge of having produced an entry of merit.' I thought I would share with you my two entries:

Alone. Two ripe fruit.
Just lying. As innocent
as our excuses.



Wind ripples the pond.
Sunlight dances with the fish.
The old green toad croaks.

Saturday 13 February 2010

Anxious or just very Creative?

Catalyst News Issue 66- February 5, 2010 http://www.catalystonline.co.uk included a wonderful piece about anxiety and creativity:

Being anxious about creating anything is very natural because anxiety is an emotional condition and producing something from your inner self, the most deep and private part of you is both highly emotional, and often challenging.

But just what brings up that anxiety? One theory was that was caused by a chemical imbalance or distorted thinking, but new evidence seems to show it is caused by having a creative intellect. In general this means having the mental facility to generate, both consciously and subconsciously, complex scenarios in the creative area of the brain. It seems that every anxiety sufferer has this mental resource which can be utilized consciously to produce creative ability or subconsciously by the autonomic nervous system to identify potential risks and initiates the flight or fight response if needed.

This means that under stress anxiety levels rise the anxiety response releases a series of thought processes which provide a 'risk assessment' asking 'what if?' and uses the sensory organs to collect data and respond with the appropriate course of action. When we are anxious we have physical signs such as breathlessness, or 'butterflies' for actors it manifests as stage fright, for writers it can be seen in writer's block or displacement activity.

Anna suggests embracing the anxiety; seeing it as a validation of how creative you are, and choosing to use that energy in a productive way. Fear and excitement have the same physical responses in the body. You are going to experience the same symptoms, so choose to be excited and use it to inspire you to create.

Sunday 7 February 2010

Spend Less and Live (perhaps even write) More?

Just read a fantastic book; The Spend Less Handbook: 365 Tips for a Better Quality of Life While Actually Spending Less by Rebecca Ash, Capstone Publishing (2008). Although it chiefly focuses on saving money, it also talks about the links between a consumer mentality, stress and why we are not leading the life we dream of.

Consider; 'You won’t get to the end of your life and wish you’d made more money – you’ll wish you spent more time staring at the clouds, playing with your children or doing something more meaningful' and 'Remember that you only have one life, and you really ought to live life as if you only had a few months left of it. Make time to do things that will add real value to your life – things that will make you feel like the person you want to be, the person you would like to be remembered as when you die.'

It features a poem which I have never seen before which I feel sums it all up:

Dust if you must, but wouldn’t it be better to paint a picture, or write a letter, bake a cake, or plant a seed. Ponder the difference between want and need.

Dust if you must, but there’s not much time, with rivers to swim and mountains to climb! Music to hear, and books to read, friends to cherish and life to lead.

Dust if you must, but the world’s out there with the sun in your eyes, the wind in your hair, a flutter of snow, a shower of rain, this day will not come round again.

Dust if you must, but bear in mind, old age will come and its not kind. And when you go, and go you must, you, yourself, will make more dust!

Anonymous

Tuesday 2 February 2010

Jurgen Again (He's Good!) - Match that Mood!

Want to be creative? Be happy! Want to make better decisions? Be grumpy! That seems to be the message of research done by psychologist Joseph Forgas, published in Australian Science. He found that happiness is better for creativity, flexibility, cooperation, and reliance on mental shortcuts. Negative moods trigger more attentive, careful thinking and paying greater attention to the external world, resulting in better judgment and crafting effective persuasive messages.

ACTION: The best way to take advantage of these findings may be to try to match the task to your mood - if you're feeling upbeat, do your creative work and if you're feeling downbeat do administrative tasks that require accuracy and decision-making. Alternatively, manipulate your mood to match the task at hand, using music, visualization and movement (e.g. to get more upbeat, listen to upbeat music with which you already have happy associations, do a few minutes of exercise to get your heart rate up, and visualize the positive outcome of whatever you're about to do.) November 2009 Brainstorm E-Bulletin See: www.timetowrite.blogs.com/