Category: Dogs

More Tips to Fire Up Your Creativity

dog in chair
Image by M S from Pixabay

More from

201 Ways to Arouse Your Creativity

— Keep a box labeled for each project. Toss everything in the box, and don’t worry about misplacing things or ideas.

from Amy Ng of Pikaland

— Choose just one creative aim for the day. What one creative project can you begin/continue/finish today?

from Dan Goodwin’s Wakeful Ways at A Big Creative Yes

— Think on paper. With a bunch of loose paper, start jotting ideas down. Here are four benefits of writing by hand.

from Jacob Cass at Just Creative Design

Retirees’ Creative Reinvention Day 11: Move past imperfection.

Buddy snow nose reduced

This post is especially relevant to us as beginners in our creative pursuits.

I like this medium.com post by Thomas Oppong.

Title: Make Life Easier on Yourself by Accepting “Good Enough.” Don’t Pursue Perfection, Pursue Progress

Highlights:

— “In other words, instead of pushing yourself to an impossible “perfect,” and therefore getting nowhere, accept “good.”

— “Perfection is a pursuit of the worst in ourselves, the part that tells us that nothing we do will ever be good enough…”

— “The real world doesn’t reward perfectionists.
It rewards people who get things done.”

Stick with this post for the other valuable quotes from smart people like Brené Brown and Seth Godin.

 

View story at Medium.com

 

Retirees’ Creative Reinvention Day 6: Sometimes, a partner helps.

Black dog looking up at kitchen preparations on counter
When I’m in the kitchen needing to collaborate…okay, bad example.

Finding a fellow painter, photographer, cook, scrapbooker, or writer may be just what you need to launch your creative reinvention.

Educator John Spencer shares his views on this topic here: Ten Things Pixar Can Teach Us About Creativity 

My favorite points:

  • Creativity isn’t a solitary endeavor.
  • Play matters. [Those creativity partners should encourage fun and wild experimentation.]
  • People are more important than ideas. He quotes from the book Creativity, Inc: “Ideas come from people. Therefore, people are more important than ideas…”

Do you have a creativity buddy? How do you contribute to each other’s projects and progress? Let me know in the comments below.

Thanks for reading and stay vigilant for opportunities to stretch your thinking.

 

Photo-a-day 14: Vary your quiet times.

 

buddy and tim reduced

I honestly don’t remember.
Chocolate zucchini cake
Emergency Chocolate Cake

Sometimes, you read. Sometimes, you watch a thoughtful TV show [that DVR lets you race past the annoying ads]. Sometimes it’s music and closed eyes.

And sometimes, a loved one tracks you down.

It all works.

Here is a little more insight on quiet time for retirees.

I’m working on a short book about lessons and realizations during my first year of retirement.

If you’re interested in this and/or
and a fun [in development] community site for retirees, just add the information below.

 

A promise: Your email address will not be shared and will be used to inform you of the book’s status

Photo-a-day 12: Heed that inner voice…

Community chalkboard with the prompt 'Before I die, I want to...'
…that bucket list item that keeps calling your name.

This is a favorite stopping point in Mt. Vernon, Washington. Something new to ponder every time I visit.

[Reminder: These posts are just as much directed at myself as they are toward potential readers.]

Photo-a-day 11: Resist the list.

to do list

Fellow retirees, yes, some list items can’t be put off. [That brake job, for instance.]

But if you’re in a tug-of-war between cleaning up after breakfast and phoning your friend, well, let’s just say your buddy’s schedule is more of a moving target than those coffee mugs in the sink.

And consider the payoff. A few laughs, a listening ear [in both directions], and quite possibly a meetup in the near future.

Take a look at this list. I say, five of the seven items support my ‘call your friend’ suggestion.