Thankfulness & creativity – the link

it’s been a while since I posted here but I am still alive and functioning, i just got real busy and some things slid down the priority pile. but here I am again, my batteries are refreshed and my creativity is flowing… sounds great doesn’t it? and it feels great too!

i have just finished the first draft on a new book about how to grow and enhance your creativity. it’s funny – but when you start to write you realise you know a heck of a lot more than you thought. you just are so used to putting it into practise unconsciously that you don’t stop to think what you’ve learnt along the way. you also find out how much you don’t know lol, and how much you can still learn! so the new book is in it’s infancy but should be reality fairly soon. i’ll let you know when it’s ready.

today – can i suggest that you take some time to think about something you are currently involved with doing and consciously be thankful for the things you’ve learnt that you’re putting into practise in that task. gratitude is such a positive creativity booster and mood booster you’ll find that your day will even go better because you took a moment to be thankful.

you also find that your task will go better too.  i believe there is a link between thankfulness and creativity. thankfulness releases feel good stuff (endorphins) into your body and also, i believe boosts your brain function for a period of time afterwards. i’m not a scientist or medical person but i do know how i feel and how differently i see things when i am in a good mood.

if things are going hard for you at the moment, take that time to be thankful for the good things in your life and you’ll find the grey cloud will lift and you’ll see with new eyes.

make thankfulness a part of your lifestyle and you’ll see changes in your life. you may have to be deliberate to start with and you may have to do this a lot until it becomes a part of who you are but it’s worth persevering for.

i used to be a pretty negative person; life had been real hard and abusive to me growing up and it had affected the way i saw everything. then one day i realised that if something didn’t change i would continue to live a negative and depressive life. so i pulled up to my memory the image of a positive person (a fictional image but still a strong one) a young girl called pollyanna. did you ever see that movie – it’s about a young girl who always sees the positive in every situation and always hopes for the best and how her life affects everyone around her. i decided i wanted to be like that – to learn to see the good in every situation and to become a positive person and so i asked god for help to become that person!

it has taken conscious effort and many backwards and fowards moments but my whole life has undergone a huge shift because of it. i don’t get it right all the time of course but i am much improved to how i was in my earlier years and i hope my story and my life is an encouragement to others. an encouragement that they are not stuck in a box, imprisoned behind bars, destined to seeing the same view forever, but there is a whole different outlook to be found.

it reminds me of that old story about the two prisoners, one with hope and one without; they both stood at their barred window looking out into the night, one saw only the bars while the other saw stars.

the man on the silver screen

creativity can happen anywhere, anytime and sometimes it surprises you. a while ago i rewatched the old film “sabrina” with harrison ford and julie ormond and in it sabrina is a girl who has grown up loving the youngest son of a rich family but he never notices her until one particular day. i remember sititng there watching thinking what a predator the guy was and wouldn’t you know it, creativity struck and before long i was sitting there writing not watching. here’s the piece that came from that.

the man on the silver screen

he smiles

with predatory eyes

the man on the silver screen

to him

love is but a game

to the victor the spoils

the young girl

 adoringly looks his way

with innocent eyes

she doesn’t see

beyond

beyond her hopes

her dreams

of a long white gown

and champagne

as the band plays on

but he sees

and to him

the game is on

© Lyn Packer

inspired by the film “sabrina”

More T-Shirt fun

I’ve loved designing the poke-a bit-of-fun-at-ourself Christian t-shirt slogans. They remind me that God gave us a sense of humour and wants us to have fun. Sometimes we just take ourselves too seriously don’t we! So here’s the other ones I’ve done over the last couple of days.

Hope they gave you a wee laugh.

Quotable quotes – on writing

i was looking at my vast collection of quotes the other day – sometimes i love to just read them and ponder them, sometimes i look to them for inspiration and sometimes like today they are the inspiration. here’s a few quotes on writing and creativity to get you thinking.

“you never know what you will learn ‘til you start writing. then you discover truths you never knew existed.” – anita brookner

“let your mind alone and see what happens”.  – virgil thomson

“to me the greatest pleasure of writing is not what it’s about, but the inner music that words make”. truman capote

‘writing is my refuge. it’s where i go. it’s where i find that integrity i have.’ – charles. b. johnson

“the best time for planning a book is while you’re doing the dishes.” – agatha christie

‘writing is the only thing that when i do it, i don’t feel i should be doing something else” – gloria steinem

“the creative power cannot be repressed, one must give vent to what one feels”.  – vincent van gogh

“life is not long for anybody and the problem is only to make something of it.”  – vincent van gogh

“it is a pity that as one gradually gains experience, one gradually loses ones youth”. –  vincent van gogh

“you should be writing something from your life, from the depths of your soul. there is more in you than this,” he said, “if you have the courage to hear it.” – louisa may alcott – from the film adaptation of little women

“humanity is in your tears. “no tears in the writer, no tears in the reader.” – robert frost

but maybe…

grandchildren can teach you a thing or two about life! one of the things i love about my granddaughter eden is her huge, optimistic hope. going past the train station the other day i said “no train today” and she said “maybe…”. another time – “sorry darling we don’t have any juice” “but maybe…” “maybe” is one of her favourite sayings and everytime i hear it i am encouraged to believe that maybe…..

it is all too easy as adults and even teens sometimes to let go of hope and optimism. certainly for creatives we can get in a rut where it seems like our creativity is  shut down and we get what is called artists or writers or whatever “block”. our world and belief in ourself spirals down and we somehow think that we will never find our way out of the rut. but maybe, “maybe…” should be our maxim. here’s a couple of quotes to help keep your “maybe…” alive.

the first is from a fav film “Princess Bride” the film where “maybe” reigns.

“we’ll never survive!” “nonsense. you’re only saying that because no one ever has.” – William Goldman, The Princess Bride

the second was found somewhere, but i forgot to take note of where sorry.

maybe, just maybe, there is a little creative magic about to be loosed from your life… just believe and tell yourself “maybe…”.