Struggling to Live a Creative Life in a Stressful World
One does not discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time. —André Gide
When I turned the page of the small calendar by my desk to December, I was greeted with this quote. It feels so true to me, of all types of creativity and also of life in general.
Today, I’m going to let Gide’s words and this photo speak for themselves. I hope you find them as inspirational as I do.
Since I’m still on Thanksgiving vacation, I’m going to leave you with some images to engage your muse. If you’d like a writing exercise, use one of these as a prompt for a paragraph, a short story, a poem, a memory, a journal entry…or wherever your muse takes you.
SUNRISE ON THE WINDOW:
SADNESS:
ROAD TO NOWHERE:
PERSPECTIVE:
FIELD OF BARLEY:
As we head into the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday, I’m offering a round-up of the writing exercises I’ve created for this blog. All of them can be done in 15 minutes—or take longer if you’re inspired!
Use a clincher detail to create a vivid character in just one sentence
Transform a creative block into a character (with another example here)
Turn your life into a movie, a bubblegum card, a fortune cookie…
Use a word pile to create something tasty
Write a haiku about creativity
Create a faux-history for a random item
Dive into a word pool to write about a physical, emotional or creative journey
Use the environment to reflect a significant change in a character’s life
Turn found words and phrases into something new
For bloggers—create a poem using search engine terms
You’ll also find photo prompts here and here, and some 5-minute creative quickies here.
And, if you want to work on something larger, write the story of your life with a series of 6-word memoirs.
I just discovered Liu Bolin’s series of photos in which he camouflages himself to blend into a variety of backgrounds. These striking images tantalize the mind while making a statement about the artist’s invisibility in Chinese society. Liu began this project after authorities shut down his Beijing studio in 2005. I’m sharing these photos here both because they illustrate a beautifully creative political protest and because they engage my Muse with their mind-bending brilliance.
I had to look pretty hard to find Liu in the last picture!
You can see more of Liu’s photos at Damn Cool Pics. And check out this Daily Mail article for more information about Liu and his project.
The single most common search phrase that brings people here is—believe it or not—”shar pei puppies.” So I’m re-posting the photo that appears elsewhere on this blog and clearly brings in some non-writer traffic.
While we’re looking at the adorable little guys, why not use the photo as a writing prompt? I’d love to read any creative bursts inspired by the puppy pile.
It seems my Muse has run away with my creative mojo for some kind of secret assignation, leaving me in the lurch as I struggle to write something meaningful and interesting. Or at least a coherent blog post with a beginning, middle and end.
So, while I’m hacking my way through the tall grass in search of the fugitive pair, I’ll leave you with this photo for inspiration. I’m sure there’s a good metaphor or two in the picture below. Can anyone articulate one?
Here’s a quick thought about creativity on the U.S. Labor Day holiday.
Images can often inspire us in ways we don’t expect. Especially for writers, since we’re used to spending our time swimming in words.
Does this photograph by Clara Natoli bring up any new ideas?
If you’re feeling creative, use it as a prompt by writing whatever comes to mind while you look at it.
This could be a freewrite, a poem, a metaphor, a full-length story, or anything else that arises.
Happy Labor Day!
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