This online Feng Shui class, which begins in January, 2015, is designed to help creative people find balance in their environments and to understand what is needed to keep the energy and creativity flowing while they work and in their daily lives. Sign up starts January 15th, and will continue on after that. The class will be online starting January 20th .
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The Cougar, known as the Mountain Lion to many of us, has inspired me to write this blog. Yes, I've known the Cougar throughout my life, and had a few encounters. She is one wonderful teacher. She knows all about FOCUS and AWARENESS, she has mastered PATIENCE, she sometimes struggles with CHANGE, but soon adjusts never losing her sense of GRACE, and she is the ultimate when it comes to living in the NOW - the PRESENT. Focus! How many times has someone told you to Focus? In school, parents, professors, writing coaches, and the list could go on forever. I've heard it most of my life, and now it is easier to understand the importance of it all. By addressing this, I am hoping it will help many of you who are as tired as I was of having projects in different stages of completion scattered throughout my office, my life, and never knowing where to go or what to do next. Many writers and creative people struggle with FOCUS, our minds whirling in an unending dance of creating. To sit, with our 'butt in the chair in front of the computer' for hours and days at a time…
I, like so many, have been all caught up in the chaos and ugliness that seems to have permeated our country, and maybe even the world, but I have had enough. I believe the sun is out there, maybe it is behind some thick, dark clouds right now, but they will dissipate soon and the light will fall on all of this. And, when it does, we will have changed. We will be more aware of how easily things can go awry. We will know how fragile our democracy really is, and the work that is required to keep it healthy and safe. So, while we are waiting for the sun to come back out, I've asked myself what am I doing to make the world a more peaceful and safer place? I needed something bigger than myself. Before I could answer it, I had to search down deep and grab a hold of my passions, dust them off, and let their energies rise to the top, let them breathe again. I have several passions, but it seems they all weave together to make this human called me - me. I was lost there for awhile, just way too much…
I have one of my writing classes up and running, and have two more in the kiln, firing them so to speak – getting them ready for the world. Now I am talking to people about wholesaling my tea products in some of the stores, and also am making a presentation Monday night at the Farmers’ Market meeting to see if what I have to offer is something they want, and also to see if this is what I want. Talk about commitments, this would be a commitment. Here in Boise, it runs every Saturday from mid-April to mid-December. The starting of a new business is not for the weak of heart or mind. It seems so easy just to roll along, with sales here and there, and not to struggle with any of it. Let it all come as it may. But, the time comes when we either have to jump over the crevice that is cut deep into the earth (our minds) and tell the world we are ready, or else just be happy with what little comes or let the business idea die. I’ve been told trying to bring two different businesses up at the same time…
We don’t hang out in the shallows, we dive deep!” That’s what I say about the online classes I create. When I came up with this tagline, I had no idea how truly on target it would be. First of all, ‘creating’ is work, and it is one of the hardest jobs I’ve ever had, but also the most satisfying of all of them. In the process of writing one novel over a period of fifteen years and now the second one, which is moving along much faster, and creating and teaching online classes, I’ve learned a thing or two that I would like to share with you. All of this ‘creating’ for others’ consumption is not only a lot of work, but it is the best teacher I have ever had. After a time of dreaming or manifesting a project, the real work, the ‘getting down in the trenches,’ so to speak and bringing it to life, comes into play. The process has been like a research project, but as I scoured books, and others’ research on different subjects, I found I was digging deeper into myself, finding out more about what made me tick at the rate I…
Video Blog – My Wish for our New Year!
Establishing a Writing Space that Fits You. Since I’ve made the move to being a professional writer, I’ve lived in two houses. Each one had a basement office area where I worked if I needed to get away from the hustle and bustle of family life with young kiddos. For the most part, though, I like to work amidst people so I’ve also set up shop on the dining room table or put a desk in my family’s living area. If I need to get out, I go to the local library or to a coffee shop where I can eavesdrop on others’ conversations to get material for my writing or just fade away into the background of the busyness. For me, I need flexibility in my writing space, but these are the things that I have consciously created in my home work space. The Desk My writing desk resides in a corner of my living room. It is dark wood and L-shaped with a pull-out keyboard tray that is at the right height, ergonomically, for me. I have a big leather chair that moves up or down so I can sit with good posture. The desk is full of…
Are you stuck in your creative endeavors? Do you feel the need to burst through the muck and let your creativity soar? Silence has been proven to unleash our creative power. Internationally recognized yoga teachers and frequent leaders of silent retreats, Joan Ruvinsky and Kathleen Knipp, are joining me as we explore the ‘textures of silence’ in the beautiful Ozarks. (Other than times of instruction, silence will be held.) Leaning Into Silence unleashes our spirit in all of our creative endeavors, our practices and in our lives. This will be a retreat no one will want to miss. Be sure and click above for your FREE Gong Recording by Melissa Crowder. Details of the Retreat As we settle into this silent retreat, embraced by the beautiful Ozarks of southwestern Missouri, spring unfolds around and within us. This retreat is for all creative souls who wish to live the art of silence and come away with a deeper understanding of themselves and their artistic path. Whether writer, painter, dancer, nature lover, or whatever your path may be, silence is the seminal experience that fosters an inner listening which leads to new forms of expression. Through Joan and Kathleen’s gentle body-sensing yoga…
A 7-Week online Writing Course that takes us to the deepest caverns of souls as we explore through story our personal passions. Details to follow.
What a way to start your year! Dig for your gold, your truth, in memoir! This page will come ‘alive’ on January 1st, 2015 for signup. The class will start January 19th, 2015. This 7-week online course is designed to focus on honing creative non-fiction, and to take risks in order to achieve the kind of brutal honesty that affects readers more deeply because of its truthfulness in our work. By participating in this course, writers will revise or create and revise a piece they are struggling with, and come away with an unwavering understanding of the perception of truth in his/her writing and how best to ‘own’ that truth. We will explore different processes to accommodate the different learning styles of the participants. Sign up will start on January 1, 2015. The class begins January 19th, 2015.