Category: creativity

Friday Photo Prompts: Doorways

Whenever I’m in a new place in my travels, I love to look at doorways. Doorways can tell you a lot about a place. Are they open or closed? Thin or heavy? Old or new? What colors are they? How tall or short? Are they simple or ornate?

But beyond their physical appearance, I think doorways can serve as metaphors. Doorways represent possibility. They represent potential for change. They could be beginnings or endings. Portals between one world and the next or even dead ends. Doorways can be invitations or, as with some vampire stories, obstacles. Doors can make you feel safe or fill you with dread…

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FRIDAY PHOTO PROMPTS: Art Installations

Happy Friday everyone! It’s time for – you guessed it – Friday Photo Prompts! Today I decided to post photos of art installations.

I love how art installations alter our perceptions of the world around us. They make us reconsider mundane objects. They transform ordinary spaces. I think there is potential for some great fantasy world-building in these photos. How could you incorporate elements of these pictures into a fantasy or sci-fi story?

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There Will Always Be Laundry; Make Time for Joy!

As many millions find themselves in self-isolation, it’s easy feel like we are squandering our time if we are not “productive” enough. Household chores and little fix-it jobs that we’ve left off for weeks or months suddenly seem imperative. But let me let you in on a little secret – since the dawn of time, since you were born, until you the day you die, there will be chores. There will always be dirty laundry and overflowing trash and drippy faucets and overstuffed closets waiting for us to organize them.

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Setting Intentions for an Abundant New Year.

Last year, I waxed poetic about whether New Year’s resolutions were doomed to fail.

This year, I want to suggest we throw out resolutions entirely.  Resolutions are so 2019; 2020 is all about Setting Your Intentions.

What’s the difference, you might ask?  Well, Intentions focus on the process, while Resolutions focus on the outcome. If we vow to run a marathon, but only manage a half-marathon, instead of feeling pride for the strides we’ve made, we feel let-down. This year, why not take joy in our accomplishments instead?

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What To Do When You Get Stuck

It’s almost a cliche at this point.  The writer staring a blinking cursor in a blank Word document or at an untouched sheet of paper, unable to go on.  And while many claim to have writer’s block, it’s sort of like claiming you’re haunted by the ghost of an 18th-century apple scrumper.  There’s nothing to prove you aren’t possessed by a barefoot French urchin boy in a neighboring fruit orchard, but nothing to prove you are either.  In other words – it’s all in your head.

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New Years Resolutions: Are We Doomed To Fail?

Ahhh, the new year.  A time, when we all collectively rush out to buy gym memberships we will use for a month and pay for for the next eleven.  I’m completely guilty of rushing headlong into resolutions – like a bull charging a red cape.  And surprise! – that cape continually gets yanked out of reach – until even looking at the color red makes me feel guilty and annoyed.  Studies show that only 8% percent of people keep their resolutions, which begs the question: Are we doomed to fail?

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Ezekiel: A novel by John Fanning

Ezekiel Yusuf Moran is 99 years old. He has been many things in his near-century of life – a son, a farmer, a friend, a lover, a doctor, a husband, a father, a grandfather, a homeopath, a soldier and a French Résistance fighter. But most of all, Ezekiel has been a seeker. He seeks truth and the opportunity to speak his truth. He seeks communion – with his soul and spirit, with the natural world around him, with his friends and family. He seeks knowledge – from books, from people, from the world and from his own self.

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How to Stop Procrastinating. (Pt 2)

In the companion post to this one, I discussed the reasons we procrastinate, which was helpful in understanding the psychology behind our bad habits. In this post, I’ll provide tips on how to stop procrastinating.

If you missed part one, find it here: Why We Procrastinate (Pt 1)

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Why We Procrastinate. (Pt 1)

We’ve all been there before – when facing a looming deadline for a research paper or work presentation – we somehow find ourselves binge-watching episodes of Stranger Things on Netflix or re-alphabetizing our book shelves.  We have every intention of doing the thing…eventually.  We even set arbitrary deadlines for ourselves: I’ll do it at 11 o’clock.  And when 11 o’clock comes and goes and we still haven’t done the thing, we move the finish line.  I’ll start tomorrow.  I’ll start Monday.  I’ll start the first of May.  I’ll start in the New Year.  In the meantime, we stew in anxiety, guilt and self-hatred.  Why can’t I do the thing?  What’s wrong with me?  Will I ever do the thing?  Can I even do the thing?

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