Category: Book

It’s spring time-Use your noggin!

Engaging your brain in new tasks is a key to boosting brain performance, or at least that is what the website of “Brain World Magazine” says. I will summarize the webpage here to get to my point: Most fabulous inventions happened when someone asked themselves- Is it possible and how can I do it? When you ask the hard questions, you expand your brain. This makes sense for it forces you to think and problem solve. As healthy humans, we WANT to discover-to search for new. This process keeps our brains active and functioning. “True creativity comes from an integrated brain that establishes new, robust connections between the parts of your brain dealing with cognition, emotion, vital functions, and crosstalk between the two hemispheres of your brain.”  ( http://brainworldmagazine.com/ask-brain-spring-creativity-within/)  My thoughts today are about creativity.

Think about a snake, a crab, a caterpillar. They all shed one skin and start anew. If we don’t keep trying to rejuvenate ourselves, we too can get stuck in our old skin. It’s SPRING, the season of renew-Go For It! The transformations we create and abide by change with the times and what is going on within ourselves. It is this pursuit of transformations, this metamorphosis, that forms the very base of the process of LETTING GO!  I believe this shedding is the core of what I will call creative imagination. My imagination most often happens when I just “DO”, when I don’t worry too much about what I may be creating.  I might not know “the hard question” and that’s ok. My brain is stretched by the creative process regardless of a conscious question. The process relaxes me and lets the questions flow. Right now I am working on an array of new projects. That alone is maxing out part of my mind. Creativity churns and keeps my imagination going full steam. (Or would it be imagination churns and keeps the creativity going?) It’s hard to dial my brain down and do things like sleep sometimes.  One project is my third children’s book which is indeed about imagination. I am struggling with a cover design. Resisting the usual exploding of things from a cloud, or a head, is difficult. Colors are about the only thing I have come up with. I might resort to the ‘norm.” After all, it is tried and true- but, it doesn’t feel very creative or imaginative.

So far I have a line drawing of a book open and exploding colors.
I like the “look,” but it does it say – “Hey this story is about the main character, our friend Fuddles, who has lost his imagination and then it’s found! Ideas?

Possible book 3 cover
Possible book 3 cover

Travel is fatal to prejudice

“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.” – Mark Twain.

Summertime arrives, and many of us travel near and far, and that’s great.  As our world gets smaller and smaller, and seemingly crazier, an escape, an adventure, a mind opening experience, a new path, all seem appropriate.

Picnic table image
Find a new table in a new spot
“All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware.” – Martin Buber

The journey might be five minutes away or 5,000 miles-both count and both matter.

Spread your wings, fly, walk, run, ride (whatever is your pleasure) and discover your destination.

(Note-background is from the series of illustration backgrounds that I am creating for Book #2 – Working Title of Garden Bud – stay tuned!)

 

You can’t use up creativity. BUT…

I am still pondering the question of creativity and imagination. The part that is clear is that the power and magic happens when combined with actions.

“The biggest difference between c is that imagination is thinking of something ‒ whether it’s an object, place, time, etc. ‒ that is not present, while creativity is doing something meaningful with your imagination….

Sir Robinson explains that imagination is the “act of bringing things into conscious that aren’t here …

Imagination allows us to think of things that aren’t real or around us at any given time, creativity allows us to do something meaningful with our imaginations.

Knowing the difference: ask yourself how you are creative? How do you use your imagination to do something meaningful that is creative?”

The above is referring and referencing the book below. It was posted on March 16th, 2010 by Tanner Christensen on his blog CREATIVE SOMETHING.

Book Cover-The Element

“A New York Times-bestselling breakthrough book about talent, passion, and achievement from the one of the world’s leading thinkers on creativity and self-fulfillment.  The Element is the point at which natural talent meets personal passion.”

“You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.”   -Maya Angelou

Creative activity aims to do something purposeful.
Imagination is something that emerges.

(I say to myself and you all.)
Go and Mix it up.
Show up and do something with your thoughts.
Use it… both your creativity AND your imagination.
Expand your universe.
Get out and Go and Try.
Read the poem, show the artwork, share the music.
Explore the idea.
Revel in the ideal.
Let the fear go.
GET THE IDEA OUT OF YOUR HEAD and INTO THE WORLD. –

“As an old peer of mine, Jez Burrows, once said:
“If you do nothing, nothing happens.” (-from Tanner Christensen blog.)

32 pages of Awesomeness!

Fuddles the Feather
Fuddles the Feather

• It was Tuesday morning.
• I was a bit nervous!
• I put on my best fluffy pink boa, and my magic feather hat
(which is technically called a Fascinator Headband.)
• I picked up my basket, took a deep breath, and jumped in with both feet.
• My audience was unfiltered truth tellers – Toddlers!
• Kids tell it as it is, they would either be interested and engaged or not.
• My stage was story-time at the local library.

To my total delight, the kids were totally engaged! On each page, they were chanting the word Awesome with me. They were searching for Fuddles, and enjoying themselves! I was (and still am) THRILLED.

Birds fly – Awesome! – Sample Page

For those of you unfamiliar with my book – called Awesome, here is a bit of info: It is for the younger set – three to about six, maybe seven-year-olds. The words of the book are simple, however, the concept is not. It is about Awesomeness, and what makes something/somebody awesome. The illustrations are a large piece of the book and in part carry the younger children along. I see lots of potential for interactions and ‘projects’ that can weave their way around the themes of kindness/awesomeness. I am working on many ideas, so, stay tuned!

I am looking for places to read to more kids-schools, libraries, playgroups, even parties! Have other ideas of places? If you are interested, or know anyone else that may be, please contact me at botanicalbb3@gmail.com.

If you are interested in purchasing a copy, please contact me at botanicalbb3@gmail.com.   Please put Book Purchase in the subject line.(The price is $20 + shipping. It is a 7″x 7″ full-color paperback.)