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Posts tagged ‘creativity’

Unlock Your Creativity

There’s a muse who lives inside you
She is clever, strong and cute
She is lonely there and waiting
For your visit – she’s not mute

When you meet her, she will speak up
She will help you find your voice
Pick up pen and grab a paper
Writing is your muse’s choice

You’ve a muse who lives inside you
She is waiting to be free
Free to help you find your own voice
Unlock your creativity

Photo by Ylanite Koppens on Pexels.com



My muse just woke me up tonight
She was screaming for expression
Turned my sniffles into giggles
Lifted me from my depression

She can laugh at my incessant cough
She can find light in the dark
Turn her loose and let her be, please
All she needs is one small spark

Don’t you wonder how she does it
How she keeps her spirit light
My muse is just an angel
Her encouragement is bright

You’ve a muse who lives inside you
She is ready to inspire
Unlock her full potential
She will raise your spirit higher

Creativity that’s hidden
Under cover we create
Needs our angel muse to lift it
Unlock it now – you’re great!

Let’s be the spark that lights another!

Have a great Thursday, my friend.
Unlock your muse – and go create!

Love & hugs to you,
from JanBeek

Embrace Deep Doodling

I’m on an art kick these days. Can you tell? Various artists out in WordPress Land have been relating to my blogs in the last couple of days about our Ennis Arts Festival and the 50+ artists who exhibited their talents there.

I am not a person who identifies myself as an artist. An art supporter, yes. But an artist, wellllll … that’s questionable. But, music is an art – and I play the accordion and clarinet and I love to sing. My love of and pursuit of music makes me an artist, right?

Also, I love to cook. Culinary arts count, right?



How about writing? Is it an art? You know I love to write.

Photo by Startup Stock Photos on Pexels.com

In addition to writing, I do love to doodle. I just discovered a new term: Deep Doodle!!

What is a deep doodle?

Well, it is a sketch or drawing that comes from your unconscious mind without your conscious mind interfering. Think of it as what doodles usually are but in an extended way and coming from a deeper place.

How about you? Are you a deep doodler?

A useful comparison is the idea of automatic writing where writers just start scribbling down ideas in a kind of flow state without thinking intentionally about what they are writing. Deep doodling is the artist’s version, allowing for a spontaneous flow of art free of organization and forethought. Does that sound weird or fun to you? Perhaps both!

Have fun expressing your artistic inclinations in whatever way that makes you feel creative! You know we all are formed as creative beings, endowed with talents we have not begun to explore. Do you have a latent talent? What is it?


You are born to be creative.
Where does your untapped creativity lie?

Maybe it is Deep Doodling!
Release it!
Embrace it!

Listen to this Ted Talk about the “Hidden Path to Creativity.”

When you can look with fresh eyes at old data,
the creativity occurs.
Surrender your old preconceptions!

Deep Doodling allows you to look with fresh eyes –
pushing forward into heretofore uncharted territory!

Deep Doodling connects you to Ah-Hah moments –
Let the scales fall from your eyes.
Develop the ability to hold
focused awareness!

Let what is unclear become clear
as you let that still small voice
emerge in your doodling!
Explicate & replicate!

You can create powerful change!
Create something that produces wellness!

Invoke and pull out the insights
that allow you to make choices
that prepare you for a better future.

Unleash your creativity!
Unleash deep doodling
and let it draw you in
to uncharted waters!



Photo by Guillaume Meurice on Pexels.com

Tell me about the ways you
use your creativity to enter uncharted waters.

Happy Deep Doodling, my friends.
See you tomorrow (God willing).

Love,
JanBeek

Embrace What’s Not There

The world always seems brighter
when you’ve just made something
that wasn’t there before.

― Neil Gaiman


More than 500 people came to enjoy the display of art
at the Madison Valley Arts Festival yesterday.

Sue Kinn-Brown created something new with pottery.
I love her poppy motif.
Another artist created unique purses with beautiful fabric.
I love this elegant belt as its closure.
Joe Gillispie used old wood to create a unique table (Thanks, Joe! )
This artist used her photography skills to capture unique images.
Then she enlarged and framed them.
Aren’t these fox kits adorable?
As a seamstress, “Joy” creates personalized gifts.
You can capture meaningful phrases and
create unique wall hangings.
This is personalized fishing gear.
Those rod cases and fishing nets
include etched names –
personalized for your favorite fisherman!
Start your children young – enjoying art festivals
and creating their own art…
Who says giraffes can’t have red eyes?

This children’s art area also gave kids a chance to paint rocks.
Why not?
Always good to have a spot where
young artists can create their own
unique items that weren’t there before.
Let your photography enhance other folks’ homes!
Do you have a wall that needs something that wasn’t there before?
Thanks, Margie Reck, for ordering our 25th anniversary cake.
Baking and cake decorating is another way to
create what’s not there.
And within a half an hour it’s not there again!
Festival customers enjoyed this dessert –
celebrating with us!

Before these artists created their cakes, photo images, colored giraffes and painted rocks, rod cases and wall hangings, stockings and tables, purses and pottery, those items obviously were not there.

Use your God-given talents and unique inspirations to create what’s not there yet.

The world would be a very different place, a much less interesting place, an environment with much less beauty if we didn’t have artists. Thank God for our artists!

Embrace What’s Not There.
Create it!


Thanks for visiting JanBeek.

See ya tomorrow (God willing).

Embrace Borrowing

Today I read a story that so inspired me that I borrowed it. I hope Alicia Bruxvoort doesn’t mind!

I posted a link to it on my FB page and I am embedding it here for your enjoyment and inspiration.

Do take time to read it. You will be glad you did… and then put on your Jesus glasses and see the world, your life, and others through the eyes of love and grace!

Thank you, Alicia, for sharing your writing talent and your faith with us.
God bless you!

Picking up on that theme of “Jesus, I Wanna See What You See,”
I decided to check out You.Tube for “Seeing Through God’s Eyes.”

Look at what I found…
this is an amazing video –
Guaranteed to help you apply
the ideas Alicia shared in her story!

Yes, as Alicia concluded,
“We can just see better when we borrow our Father’s eyes.”

As you embrace borrowing,
what have you read or seen or heard lately
that you can pass along to inspire others?

Hope you’re having a beautiful Thursday.
See ya tomorrow…


Love,
JanBeek

Embrace Creativity

When are you the most creative?
Where do your creative juices flow most freely?
What’s your God-given creative talent?

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

I am not a painter.
I may have some latent talent there, but I have never developed it.

That’s Bob –
He’ll tell you he developed
his painting skills by
painting beehives for 30 years!
Now he’s painting the pastor’s house!!

Do you have hidden talents that you have not fully explored?

Photo by Roman Koval on Pexels.com

When children are given the tools
and the examples early in life,
often that becomes the springboard
for a life of artistic talent shared.

Photo by Steve Johnson on Pexels.com

No one told me that my scribbles
might lead to a creative talent
that would be appreciated by others!

But, I was encouraged to sing as a child.
That was a talent that did not go unnoticed.
How could you ignore it when
I was a 3-year-old singing
“Appo-Tee, Appo-Tee, AppoTee”
all the way through the hymns at church.
Singing loudly and joyfully!

Hah!
It was during the time of WWII
and a popular song was
“Don’t Sit Under the Apple Tree
(with Anyone Else But Me).”

You’re probably not old enough to remember it!!
Go ahead, click on it here.
You’ll love it!!

So how did my “Appo Tee” singing
graduate into a full-blown creative talent?
Like any talent, it takes
involvement,
participation,
practice.

I have been a member of a choir
for as long as I can remember…
… always in school, then in church,
and eventually our community choir.
I am not a soloist,
but I love singing in a duet
or trio or with a large group.
Recently our church choir
was able to start up again…
it is such a joy!


Once I even got to sing
with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir
during one of their dress rehearsals
for their Christmas concert!

The rendition below of
“The Lord Bless You and Keep You”
was sung by the University of the Pacific Choir
at Bob’s and my wedding 2/11/62.
Here is the Mormon Tabernacle singing it.
I love it so much!

If your talent is not singing or painting,
maybe you developed a talent in another area –
like cooking or woodworking or metal sculpture.

Photo by cottonbro on Pexels.com

Of course, one major talent I forgot mention
Is instrumental music …
the piano or a woodwind or string or brass instrument…
Such talent brings so much joy to the player
as well to a world of listeners.

I played the accordion and the clarinet
as a child and continued to do so
until just recently.
My accordion is not functioning,
there’s a hole in the bellows.

Perhaps I will find another
small accordion that I can handle…
and will resume that creative endeavor.
The children at the day care center
and the residents at our local
Nursing Home enjoyed it!

Here’s just a small clip –
(it’s only 10 seconds!!)
of me playing for the residents
at my sister’s place in PA
a couple of years ago.
(I won’t burden you with too much of this!)
Hah!

My cousin always used to send me comic strips
about the accordion.
One was a guy entering heaven
and the angel said,
“Welcome to Heaven,
here’s your harp.”
The other was a gal entering Hades.
The angel greeted her and said,
“Welcome to Hell,
here’s your accordion.”

Hah! I miss Cliff and those jokes!!




The question remains:
What are your God-given talents?
Have you developed an area of creativity?

I forgot to mention writing!!
Us bloggers imagine ourselves to have that talent
or else we wouldn’t be posting here on WordPress, right?

But, even this writing talent
doesn’t improve without practice, right?
Never stop learning and trying to improve –
regardless of the area of creativity…
gardening & photography (Derrick) –
poetry (Dwight, Richard, Pat, Rahul, etc.)
cooking (Andre’ & Caralyn)
You know who you are…
and what you need to do!

Our library was having a book sale last week.
For a dollar, I was able to buy this wonderful book.
Copyrighted 20 years ago, it’s never outdated,
and I can never stop learning how to be a better writer.
Like any talent, it takes practice, study, and more practice.
And feedback always helps!

Roses are red.
Violets are pink.
I’m an emerging poet.
Man, don’t I stink?

No, don’t badmouth yourself!!
Keep workin’ at it…

Embrace Creativity!
Tell me about yours…

Thanks for sharing!
See ya tomorrow (God willing)
Love,
JanBeek

Welcome October!

Welcome October!

T’is a month of pumpkins and spice
A month for Halloween candy
A month to plan your costume
When sheets are mighty handy

Photo by Karolina Grabowska on Pexels.com

T’is a month when ghosts and goblins
And weird imaginations
Concoct front porch scenes
With spiders and smoky stations

Photo by Heorhii Heorhiichuk on Pexels.com

Just as people try to create
Wonders strange and unique ,
Look at what our Creator did –
Come and take a peak!

No one should begin to suggest
These were formed accidentally.
No, it took a God with humor –
To do this so creatively!

What do you think this is?
Look at its funny beard:
Weird, huh? It’s an ant’s face magnified at least 500 times!
And while we are admiring our Creator’s sense of humor,
take a look at this split-colored lobster!!

Our Creator’s imagination is beyond imagination!
Have you ever seen a curly-haired horse?

Well, now you have!
The coat on a poodle is a lot like this, don’t you think?

When I was a kid, Halloween was one of my favorite holidays. We planned for months what our costumes would be. One year I was two things… from the front I was a princess and when I turned around, I was a cave man. How my mom created that, I have no idea. Halloween used to be safe and fun and creative. People made popcorn/caramel balls and cupcakes and candied apples – and no one was afraid to eat what you received. No one was afraid to go alone as a bunch of kids after dark!

Photo by Thirdman on Pexels.com
Photo by Thirdman on Pexels.com

Connection and Wholeness

Yes, we are necessary to one another! If we are going to return to the safety of connection and wholeness, we need to seek to return to the people God made us to be.

We are more unique than an ant, a lobster, or a transparent fish! We are more intelligent and exceptional than a curly-haired horse. Our memories are better than theirs, too.

We need to remember what it felt like before COVID-19. Remember our connectivity. Remember when the world was a safe place for kids to Trick-or-Treat alone after dark. Remember when people knew all their neighbors by name – and people relied on one another.

Remember how creative our Creator is. If He can make an ant with that kind of face, a lobster with those characteristics, and a fish that’s transparent and that exists as an individual and as part of a larger organism, He can help us to emerge a better people when this pandemic passes. Pray for that! Trust in His creative powers.

I need you!
We need one another!
Thanks for visiting JanBeek.
Have a safe and creative October.


See ya tomorrow.
Love, JanBeek

Anxiety Antidotes

Is this pandemic making you feel anxious?


Do you wonder when it will be over and what the “new normal” will look like?

Are you concerned about the new form of the virus that is attacking children? MISC = Multiple Inflammatory Syndrome in Children

Do you feel anxious because the number of deaths continues to grow and there doesn’t seem to be anything you can do to stop it?

If so, you are not alone.

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels.com

The meme at the top of this message tells us that we are not totally at the mercy of helpless anxiety. There are some things we can do to reduce our anxiety:

  1. Go outside
  2. Ask for help
  3. Create something
  4. Drink water
  5. Write about how you feel
  6. Take a deep breath
  7. Listen to soothing songs
  8. Stay present
  9. Find a positive distraction

All those ideas are fine and dandy if all we care about is reducing our own anxiety. But what if what we care about is helping to alleviate others’ suffering? What if we want to play some role in shortening this COVID-19’s life-span?

One of those items on the list hit me as an action that can do more than just alleviate MY anxiety… and it can help others as well. Which one do you think it is?

Here are a couple of clues:

Photo by Yaroslav Danylchenko on Pexels.com

CREATE SOMETHING!

I have a several friends who are eliminating their feelings of helplessness in the face of this virus by using their creativity – – – they are making masks and sending them to the local hospital, the nursing home, and sending them to places where masks are in short supply.

Also, other creative people are using the internet to draw people together, creating inspirational videos to lift spirits. Check this one out:

There are so many ways people are using their creativity to relieve anxiety, bring hope, and send out messages of love and faith.

We are not helpless.

We are not hopeless.

We don’t need to sit idly at home feeling anxious.

Photo by cottonbro on Pexels.com

Let’s put our heads together safely,
activate our creativity,
find an anxiety antidote
that uses our talents
to help ourselves and others
get through this period
with love and encouragement.
What we do matters!

Tell me,
what will you do today?

Treat Each Other Kindly

Donna, who has the WP post, “My Father’s Feet,” posted these scriptures today among others – and among many other important words of encouragement:

Matthew 7:12 NLT
“Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you. This is the essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets.”

Galatians 6:10 NLT
“Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone–especially to those in the family of faith.”

Check out Donna’s post here:

https://wordpress.com/read/blogs/167421393/posts/853

Smile and brighten the corner where you are!

A Time for New Discoveries

My friend, Elaine, who has avoided poetry most of her life (after a high school experience in an English class (where diagramming sentences and picking poetry apart looking for rhythm and rhyme scheme and very hidden meaning turned her off) is discovering the poet in her soul! She sent me these Haiku. She wrote them this morning:

Our world is amiss
One alone proves capable
Gentle as a kiss

Photo by Natalie on Pexels.com

And here is Elaine’s second one:

Choose to share kindness
Chaos only seems to reign
Care completes circle

Kindness in Chaos?

In this crazy world where people sometimes are behaving irrationally, it is easy to write some people off and say they are off-limits! They are adding to the earth’s problems, rather than trying to solve them. One of my followers wrote this note yesterday:

“I’m all for being positive, Jan,
but some people’s behaviour is sickening …
like some here who are selling paracetamol on eBay
for £10 and Calpol for ,£20!”

What to Do?

What should we do about those “sickening” people? Do we write off the toilet paper hoarders and the ones buying cases of hand sanitizer, and the price gougers? Do we condemn the politicians who sold off hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of stock after a preliminary briefing about the upcoming pandemic? Condemn ’em and throw all the bums out??

27 Jesus said in Luke 6:27-31

“But to you who are listening I say:
Love your enemies,
do good to those who hate you,
28 bless those who curse you,
pray for those who mistreat you.
29 If someone slaps you on one cheek,
turn to them the other also.
If someone takes your coat,
do not withhold your shirt from them.
30 Give to everyone who asks you,
and if anyone takes what belongs to you,
do not demand it back.
31 Do to others as you would have them do to you.”

Kindness Rules!
Kindness completes the circle of life
as we want it to be.

Let your creativity reign.
Give birth to your inner poet .

Be the change you wish to see in this world.

My niece, Jodie (my sister, Sally’s daughter in PA,
just sent me a picture of this bouquet
with a note that said,
“Bill brought sunshine to our home today <3 “

What kindness can you exhibit today
to add love and sunshine to your home?

Photo by Engin Akyurt on Pexels.com

See ya tomorrow.

Bee well!!
Hugs from JanBeek

Friends, Food, Feathers, Music, Mustangs

This morning was the first of six community Lenten breakfasts. We held it at our church. The next five will be at five other churches in Ennis and Jeffers, Montana. Our topic today was HOPE. About 40 friends from around the community gathered to kick off this Lenten season with food and music, and a message of Hope, delivered by our Rev. Steve Hundley.

Breakfast was in our Fellowship Hall.

Our faithful friend, George and his wife, Lucy, arrived about 5:30 AM to set up the food, make the coffee and get ready for the 7:00 AM crowd.

After breakfast, in preparation for Steve’s message of HOPE, we sang this wonderful hymn. It lends direction to our hopes for this Lenten season and everyday… especially in this world of hatred, injury, doubt, despair, darkness, and sadness. Let us determine to be the peace we seek to find.

So that’s the food and friends and music. What about the feathers? Yesterday I told you about my friend, Bernie, who is in the hospital and has set up quite an artistic “mess” on his tray table. Let me show you:

He has quite a menagerie of feathers there. Look at the flies he is able to create with them:

Yes, WOW!! That’s the feathers… and their creative use for catching some mighty big trout!

But what about the mustangs? Well, our Ennis High School mascot is the Mustang. When I drove by the school this morning, I had to top and take a picture for you of these MAGNIFICENT bronze mustangs. They were created by a local artist (Ennis is an art town with 6 art galleries in a place with a population of less than 1,000).

Aren’t they something?!!

I’ll try to find out the sculptor’s name and let you know later. It’s important to give him/her credit!

But for now, I am headed to my TOPS (Take Off Pounds Sensibly) group. I hope I didn’t gain too much with those scrumptious egg casseroles this morning. I had to try a little of each!

Look for that trophy again… I want to be the biggest loser. I have 6 more pounds to take off to get back to my goal weight.

See ya later!

Creative People

Creative people
Keep their great ideas in sight
Daily massaging

Creative people
Aren’t afraid to take great risks
They grow through failures

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels.com

It can be painful
And expensive when we fail
Pick up the pieces

Photo by Thiago Matos on Pexels.com

Examine the parts
Carefully rearrange them
Then find new uses

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels.com

Look at those messes
As valuable mistakes
Creative messes!

Photo by Steve Johnson on Pexels.com

I’m off to visit my friend, Bern, in the hospital. He has a creative mess in his hospital room… feathers and wires, hooks and string, paints and brushes, easels and canvases all over the place. But, instead of sitting or lying in his bed feeling sorry for himself because an infection has rendered his legs too weak to walk steadily these days, he is using his creativity to bring joy to life while his body heals.

You and I can do that, too.
We can bring joy to life
by using our
ingenuity
creatively!

What mess do you have
that is waiting for resurgent rearranging
and new uses today?


Go do it!

See ya later.

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