How to build your creativity

Ready to Start a Journey of Creativity and Spiritualty

Most people feel they would love to say they are fulfilled spiritually and creatively but rarely is this the case. The truth is both creativity and spirituality are not something you are given but more about things you discover on the way of life's great journey. Unfortunately, with the pace of most peoples' modern lives, life's journey tends to be a mad rush to get from A to B as fast as possible with little time to explore our own feelings and spiritual beliefs. This lens is intended to give some suggestions of exercises that are simple to carry out, but either slow us down and give us time to breath, or open our minds to start exploring. The exercises I suggest will be non-religious or rather not religion specific so everyone what ever their spiritual path will feel comfortable taking part.

So lets stop rushing through life's journey and start enjoying the scenary!

Notebook Therapy 

get scribbling, make room for creativity

It is often reported that a stumbling block to developing creativity is the fact that most peoples heads are crammed full to overloading with information from the day. Worries, to do lists, constant internal dialogue, visual and audio stimuli all buzzing around our brains, no wonder there is no room for creativity.

There are all sorts of wonderful techniques for quietning the mind and some of those I will investigate as we cover different exercises. But many of these meditive techniques take practice and some even years of training and dedication. We want to skip that and fast track ourselves to being open to creatvity.

My First exercise is to grab yourself a notebook and pen. Get ones that you really like so that the whole process is a pleasure. Find your self a quiet moment where you wont be disturbed and get scribbling. Write what ever comes into your head, your to do lists, meal
, random thoughts. It will act as a mind purge. You may only be able to stick to it for a minute or two at first but stick with it and try and fit in some notebook therapy every day, gradually building up your time.

Over time you will find your mind starts emptying of the junk you don't need, freeing up valuable space to develop your creativty or explore your spirituality. The obvious getting things off your chest will act as a therapy session (cheaper than regular therapy) you may start to view emotional issues in wa you hadn't before and with time positively learn to
 with them if not accept them. Not only that but you will start to see threads of creativity as your mind becomes freer and more used to this free flow of expression. thoughts will come more easily, and start to form more tangible ideas. Don't restrict your self to words, doodle, sketch, use coloured pens and bring your notebok to life.

Your on your way to being more creative!

Great Creativity Advice from a great creativity Blog I've discovered

I discovered this creativity blog by Justine Musk. I think she is totally right, by pursuing creativity not only do you feel more fulfilled and more rounded as a person but also others have a more 3dimensional perception of you too. I haven't explored many of her other posts but probably worth a more in depth look.
10 reasons why pursuing your creative work is actually highly productive (+ not selfish or self-indulgent) by Justine Musk
1. Carving time from your regular, 'productive' life to pursue a hobby or project that you're passionate about means that you increase your chances of being in flow.

Which I wrote about in this post here.

Long story short: flow is you in your element. It reinvigorates you. It wakes you up to new possibilities for yourself and increases your sense of well-being.

This is good for you.

It's also good for the world, because

2. Your happiness and well-being are contagious.

Human beings are wired into each other to an extent that most of us don't even realize. The mirror neurons in our brain enable empathy: we absorb and reflect what other people are feeling, and their moods influence our moods (which go on to influence the moods of others).

This is called emotional contagion.

And because of how we network off each other, you're more contagious than you know.

In their book CONNECTED, authors Christakis and Fowler show how we're influenced not just by our friends, but our friends' friends, and even our friends' friends' friends. What you do and what you say and how that makes other people feel ripple out along the invisible lines that link us to each other, just as the bad mood of someone you don't even know comes echoing down to affect your day.

When you are happy, you are healthier, more productive, better able to contribute to society. Imagine if you could cultivate all those benefits in yourself - and radiate them out to the people in your network.

The world becomes a better place.

3. You are less likely to tolerate other people's bullshit when
 DOES NOT DEPEND on their acceptance or approval.

Elizabeth Wurtzel expresses this rather nicely:

I would argue that a woman is more likely to put the kibosh on her manhandling, leering boss if she has lots of things she likes to do, because there is something about loving life and yourself and your enthusiasms too much that makes it hard to put up with any idiot's crap. And the people most likely to be in possession of that quality known as joie de vivre are people who have insane interests, consuming passions, constant sources of enjoyment that do not depend on the approval of other women. Women must learn what it means to be besotted with something other than some useless bloke.

When you look to your creativity for a sense of your identity (you don't know who you are until you know what you can do), that means you are not looking to other people to define your worth. After all, as Eleanor Roosevelt so saucily put it, "No one can make you feel inferior without your consent."

So developing your creative side increases your sense of personal power because

4. It deepens and strengthens your sense of who you are.

We are what we make. It was writing, for example, that helped me find my way back to myself when I made the mistake of giving waaaaay too much of my power to someone else (*cough*a man*cough*). I let that someone shape my sense of who I was - or more specifically, who I wasn't - according to what that person thought I should be (which had everything to do with that person's agenda serving that person's interests).

The result was a kind of amputation of self, a numbing-out. Reading through my blog and other writings, as well as the reactions they inspired, brought me back to enough sense of self that I could build on, reset, start again. Saying I'm happier for it is like saying I was happy to walk away from a car accident. What you feel, instead, is a deep shaken sense of relief - and gratitude for the second chance (or third, or fourth).

5 more tips for building your creativity

more great advice from 10 reasons why pursuing your creative work is actually highly productive (+ not selfish or self-indulgent) by Justine Musk

5. and knowing who you are allows other people to know you better.

We all want to connect. We all want to be recognized for who we are (and not the car we drive, the clothes we wear, the title on the business cards we do or don't hand out). But how can other people - including your friends and loved ones, including your own - know you, the way they want and need to know you, if you don't express those deeper parts of yourself?

We are what we make. But are we making the right stuff?

6. which means you have a stronger personal 'brand'.

God, there's so much about personal branding these days. You're a brand, I'm a brand, soon even the family dog will have a brand. But all the douche-y associations with branding (bad branding) aside, the reality is that other people will react to you, choose or ignore you according to the mental imprint they form of you. Being known for something that you do (and are good at) outside of the way you earn your living can make your 'brand' more memorable.

Who would you rather talk to at a cocktail party: an accountant, or an accountant who moonlights as a jazz pianist?

When I was 17, I spent a year as an exchange student in Australia. I lived with four different host
,which means I had four different host 'fathers'. One had a passion for bonsai. He was often in his greenhouse, nurturing his remarkable little trees. Of all the people I met that year, twenty years on he's the one I remember the most (along with this crazy Belgian girl who liked to get us into trouble, but that's a different kind of blog post).

When I was a teenager, my own passion for fiction writing paid unexpected dividends when my school nominated me for a four-year scholarship to a highly competitive Canadian university. I had an erratic academic record (let's just say that I did not have perfect attendance). I wasn't valedictorian (the thought inspires laughter). I wasn't much of a joiner (the one time I tried out for and made a sports team, I quit when I discovered that all the mean girls were on it).

What I did do, was: write novels. And other things. I had so much practice under my belt that I'd gotten rather good at it. "Justine," my guidance counselor told me, "that's going to set you apart." And it did (I was one of a handful of students chosen from across the country to get this scholarship.) It was, I realize now, my first lesson in the importance of differentiating yourself- which, in today's cluttered, noisy, post-consumer society, is not just important but necessary.

7. It opens you up to new people, ideas, and connections.

As Michael Margolis points out in his speeches and courses on 'brand storytelling' (ie: how you present yourself through your bio or your 'about me' page), your interests allow people (including, say, the potential employer interviewing you for 
) to find points of connection. Your passion allows you to open up new conversations with people, which brings richness and diversity into your life.

A less-than-obvious benefit of this has to do with the importance of weak ties. (Strong ties are your relationships with family members and close friends; weak ties are acquaintances, people you know only passingly.)

Sociologists have discovered that most new information (like the kind that would help you in a job search) comes to us through weak ties. People inside the same networks tend to know the same stuff. It's by linking - however casually - to people outside your usual habits, places and routines that you open yourself to new influences, new facts and forms of knowledge. This could end up changing 
 (or introducing you to your life partner).

8. It makes you creative in other areas of your life, including your regular work.

Creativity thrives at the intersection of different disciplines and perspectives. The way to seem like a freaking genius is to take ideas from a field totally alien to your own, and find ways to adapt and apply them. Creativity, after all, is finding the unexpected connections between things: combining and recombining old ideas until you come up with something - original.

In the book THE MEDICI EFFECT, Frans Johansson suggests that the best way to stimulate the kind of creative insight that, you know, changes the game (what exactly is 'the game', anyway?) - is to educate yourself in a second discipline, something other than what you already do or what you're already known for.

When you pursue your creative work, you might regard it as something you're doing strictly 'on the side' - but you're opening the door on a dimension of ideas that just might find their way to the center of your life. In a good way.

9. It's good for your brain.

Dude, learning something new is so good for your brain. It's like the old saying goes: Use it or lose it. The brain turns out to be far more plastic than we realized. It changes and grows according to the experiences we provide it. Developing a new skill(set) forces the otherwise-lazy brain to form new neural pathways that keep you sharp as you grow older (and older). One of the best ways to stave off Alzheimer's? Learn a new language. Or a musical instrument.

Your brain will thank you.

10. It makes you totally sexy.

I mean, c'mon. Being passionate about something - anything - lights you up with the kind of energy that attracts total supermodels. (I swear to God.) Which doesn't necessarily mean that they'll sleep with you. But they're more likely to consider it. Or at least to consider considering it.

You know what I mean

The Creative Brain

It has been established for many years that people that display different skills, whether an excellent artist or a brilliant mathematician, have different parts of their brain more highly developed. This has lead to the theory that people with highly developed "right" brain activity are more creative than the "left" brain logical types. Whether this is something you are born with or something that you can develop is open to debate.

The Right-Handed Brain

Traditionally the Right- Handed Brain person is thought of as the naturally creative person. Creative, daring and flexible, you are likely to consider your intuition as valuable as your IQ in making decisions. You "see" in pictures not words. But by boosting your left brain, you could become more organised and that could make you more productive.

The Left-Handed Brain

Those with left-handed brains tend to be thought of as logical and analytical. You are good with words and wonderful at detail and reasoning, logical is your middle name. You are good at finding the right persuasive argument. You find inspiration in being quiet and alone. But by boosting your right brain you could become more intuitive and that could make you more creative.

What's next?
More Creativity & Sprituality Exercises

I will be adding more and more exercises to help build your creativity and explore spirituality, so be sure to drop by again. Feel free to use the comments box to add any of your own suggestions on how you get your creative juices flowing!

Charming Holiday Cottages to Let in North Cornwall

North Cornwall Holiday Cottages To Let

These lovely familiy run holiday cottages to let in North Cornwall hold a speacial place in my heart. Please check out our new video.

Healthy Fat Free Snacks usin my Stokli dehydrator

Fat Free and Tasty, Dehydrated Nibbles, The Ultimate Healthy Snacks

Dehydrating Food and Healthy Snacks using a Stokli Food Dehydrator

I have had my Stokli Food Dehydrator for a year now and after some tasty experiments I wouldn't be without it. The Stokli Dehydrator uses warm air to gently preserve food without losing much of the nutrients associated with cooking or other preserving techniques. Ideal for making nutritious health snacks for all the family but also preserving gluts, from home growing from the garden or allotment, drying herbs and flowers and much much more.

How Do Food Dehydrators Work?

 Dehydrating food is a very gentle way of preserving food. A Food dehydrator works by exposing food to low temperatures of heat for a long period of time in order to remove the moisture from the food. Without

moisture, bacteria, moulds and yeasts are unable to grow. Food dehydrating also slows down enzyme action, although it does not stop it entirely. This means that when water is added back to some foods after drying, they return to its original size and weight.

Vegetable Crisps

The ultimate health snack

 Vegetable crisps or chips are a low fat snack that can be munched guilt free. It's a great way to get children to eat more vegetables and they probably won't notice the difference between these super healthy ones and regular crisps.

Many articles written about making vegetable crisps suggest blanching or part cooking the veggies before

drying. This helps preserve the flavours for much longer. However my crisps never hang around that long and are always munched as soon as they are ready so don't have a chance to lose any flavour. Dehydrating from raw will preserve many more of the important nutrients from the vegetables. Always start with vegetables at the peak of freshness. Good veggies for crisps include sweet potato, carrots, parsnips and beetroot.

If possible, pick and dry them the same day. If you cannot dry them the same day they were picked, then store them in your refrigerator- not at room temperature to preserve their freshness.

Wash the vegetables in cold water and trim away any bruised, mouldy or decayed spots; peeling is optional. However, the vegetable's skin will toughen as it dries but somehow that does add to the crunch! For speed I use a food processor which also makes sure the slices are all the same thickness.

I like to season my crisps, maybe not as healthy as plain vegetable crisps but does enhance the flavours. A quick seasoning is to use a ready-made seasoning like "all-purpose seasoning" this can be sprinkled on when the vegetables have been prepared but still moist so the seasoning sticks to the slices. Experiment with different flavours, try adding chilli for a fiery kick, or a drizzle of sweet chilli dipping sauce for something softer. Garlic powder used in moderation will give a mellow flavour but perhaps my favourite is a dusting of Italian herb seasoning.

Always arrange vegetables on the mesh dehydrator sheets in a single layer.

The temperature for how to dehydrate vegetables is lower than of that for fruits. Set you dehydrator at about

115º F until your vegetables are at the desired dryness.

Drying times differ on the vegetables, the way they are cut, the humidity in the air, the types of vegetables, etc. You want your dried vegetables to have the texture that is somewhat leathery or brittle.

Cool the vegetables in the dehydrator for at least 30 minutes, but not more than an hour before removing and storing. Leaving the dried product in the dehydrator for too long will have the vegetables absorbing moisture from the air.

Store in zip lock bags in handy snack sized portions.

Enjoy!

Drying herbs for the kitchen and the hearth

 An alternative way to prepare your herbs drying herbs using a dehydrator

OK it’s not the most natural way of doing things but the dehydrator is a convenient method of drying herbs. If you intend to use some of your herbs for culinary use the dehydrator will dry and preserve your herbs quickly but extremely gently. The quick

drying preserves more of the natural oils of the plants, so flavour is often more intense and it also gives less time for moulds etc. to grow, giving you longer lasting safer herbs.

Herbs make great gifts

The Great Sewing Revival - I'm not letting it pass me by!

Thanks to Kirsty Allsop and friends, sewing and crafting is very much 'on trend' at the moment. Craft magazines are flying off the shelves and the WI is enjoying a real renaissance, but the whole sewing revolution is just passing me by. Now I am a fairly creative person, I enjoy crafting, gardening and cooking but I really struggle with sewing.

My Mother is a great seamstress and often makes her own curtains and and has made beautiful things for my daughter. You would think that would have rubbed off on me, but I think it has skipped a generation. In fact my daughter loves nothing better than to spend time making little creations with fabric and thread. One of her favourite activities is arranging and re-arranging all the bits and bobs in her sewing box, a cherished gift from Grandma. I don't even have a sewing box, anything remotely connected with this past time is kept in the junk drawer, including my collection of loose needles. There it all sits, next to the sellotape and the bit of grey blu-tak. It's like a little booby trap, waiting for you to route around for new batteries or the instructions for the telly, then it attacks and you inevitable find yourself at best a little pricked or worse looking like an acupuncture trainee! (OK so we will add sorting the junk drawer out to my to do list, then I can write the post titled 'Feng Shui for your kitchen drawers' that I have always wanted to).

So what? I hear you say, make jam instead and still be part of the craft revolution, but the thing is sewing isn't just a fashionable past time for all those stay at home mummies, its actually a really useful skill to have under your belt. As I have progressed further into my adult life it has become apparent that simply buying a new pair of trousers because the hem has come down isn't really the most viable option, and running to my mum every time I have a loose button, can not go on forever. what really brought it home to me was when my daughter got three badges to put on her Rainbows uniform, she looked at me with sad despairing eyes and

sad "oh no Mummy, what are we going to do? Grandma is on holiday"!

So I am taking the bull by the horns and going to give it a go, I am persevering, It may have taken me ten weeks but by hook and by crook I have got two of those badges on!

Writing For Pleasure and Fun!

Start Writing

like now!

So why the renewed energy I here you ask? well two reasons. One - Demand Media have just excepted my other blog for distribution through their network. My other blog, which can be found at blog.stocksigns.co.uk, is for my other job. When I'm not trying to be "Supermum" or an "Eco warrior" I actually have a proper job. The writing for that is going rather well, and lovely people from all round the world tune in to read my hints and tips on safety signs for the workplace. (did you see what I did there? all part of my link building campaign - a bit of self promotion never hurt any one!). My second reason is that I have a very dear friend that has been subtly telling me to get on with it. She's not being pushy at all you understand, just a gentle couple of words every now and then at the end of our general chit chat emails.Just a teeny weeny reminder to start writing again just enough to shame me into action!

No More Excuses

Get writing!

Actually I have a third reason - I like doing it and I have so much to say! Not because I love hearing my own voice or that I think that what I have to say is of great importance to all that read it but because I have learnt so much from others. I like most people, well those that are honest with themselves anyway, struggle. I struggle with working full time, with trying to be a good Mum, with trying to make all my relationships work, in essence I struggle with life. Friends,
 and the good old Internet have all passed on valuable information to me that have made my struggles easier to deal with or at the very least made them a bit more fun, all survival tips for the modern age which I want to share with other strugglers.

So mutterings over with for now. I am going to stop daydreaming about the life I want to live and start creating it.

Helping Depression with Vitamin B

Can Vitamin B help with the treatment of Depression?....my story

After the birth of my beautiful daughter I spiralled down into Post-Natal Depression. I didn't actively seek help until my daughter was two years old and by this time my depression was deeply ingrained and I had reached rock bottom. A visit to my GP (and I would always suggest that your GP should be your first port of call if your are suffering from depression) diagnosed the problem and a course of antidepressants and I was put on the waiting list for counselling. In the first instant the relief to have been diagnosed was overwhelming and family life became easier but it was the counselling that opened my eyes to vitamin B. My councillor, Angela, suggested a strong vitamin B supplement to take in conjunction with the antidepressants.

Eventually my equilibrium was restored and I was able to come off the antidepressants and I stop the vitamin B.....but I slipped back into depression. A demanding job, running a home and my partners shift work took its toll. That's when the vitamin B came into its own. Rather than going back onto prescribed medication I took a high dose of vitamin B. The effects have been marvellous, I feel reinvigorated, calmer and alive. It doesn't solve everything but I can tell that when I stop taking them my mood slips back. The effect has for me personally (and remember every one is different, and what works for one may not necessarily work for every one) has been so good I wanted to share my story and investigate further. This is what I have found our about this wonderful vitamin complex.

 

Can Vitamin B help Sufferers with Depression?

Some Scientists believe so

Vitamin B supplements may help people to fight depression, research suggests. The depression website depression-guide.com has these comments.

Scientists have found that people with depression responded better to treatment if they had high levels of vitamin B12 in their blood. They suggest taking vitamin B supplements may be a way to boost the effectiveness of anti-depressants. The research, by Kuopio University in Finland, is published in the journal BMC Psychiatry. The research involved the monitoring of 115 outpatients who were undergoing treatment for depression for more than a six-month period. They measured vitamin B12 levels in the patients' blood when they first came to the clinic, and again at their six-month check up.
The patients who responded fully to treatment had higher concentrations of vitamin B12 in their blood at both the start and the end of the study than those for whom treatment was less effective. The association remained significant even after other factors such as smoking and drinking habits, type of treatment received, and family history of depression were taken into consideration. From this it can be said that taking a supplement to keep Vitamin B levels up would be beneficial.

 

The Big Freeze - it's still one of nature's wonders

With all the disruption it brings it's hard sometimes to see the natural wonder that winter can bring.

 Take time to marvel in it's beauty and power, feel the unique excitment from children building their first snowman. It will be gone as quick as it came, so enjoy it if and while you can!