For Lent I gave up listening to business-related podcasts. I only listen to a few, but I could feel that all that business talk was affecting my work. I wanted to clear out the business brain and focus on what was at hand, both for my work life and personally. Let me begin by clarifying what I mean by work. I have one primary part-time work-at-home job as a researcher and writer. I also take portraits, do some real estate photography, and sell stock photographs through my business, and my …
creativity
How Routines Help Creativity
"Be regular and orderly in your life, so that you may be violent and original in your work." -Gustave Flaubert I stumbled on this quote several years ago, and it resonated with me deeply. I immediately wrote it down in a journal where I kept track of things I'd read that I wanted to remember. I filled that book in less than a year, its pages a transcript of my searching and wondering how I live creatively, do the work I'm meant to do, and be a mother. In my first year of motherhood, I read …
Being a Creator
The other night, my husband and I were in the middle of a serious talk and he said, "I never realized how much of a creator you are." I was in the middle of a mini meltdown. To be honest, there have been a lot of mini meltdowns this year. I've had too much on my plate, and after awhile it starts wearing me out and I start wearing everyone else out. None of this is surprising, and I'm guessing it's not uncommon. And when the conversation begins with, "Well, at least you can take it easy this …
Letting Go of Perfect
When I was younger, I was paralyzed by perfectionism. If I couldn't do something right (and by right I mean absolutely perfect), I wouldn't do it. I collected notebooks, beautiful ones, and would never write in them because if I wrote in them I'd probably end up crossing something out and they wouldn't be perfect anymore. I remember saying that to a friend in college, asking her if she ever felt bad about crossing stuff out and making a mess of something beautiful, and she answered incredulous, …
Fearless: My One Little Word
Fearless. It's my one little word for 2015, the word that I'm holding onto for dear life as I navigate this already intense year. Synonyms: bold, brave, courageous, intrepid, valiant, heroic, daring, audacious, indomitable. Remind me of all that when I'm ready to cower under the table. Remind me when I can't seem to make out the road ahead. I've already been there, terrified and clinging to fearless. I'm hanging on, good, bad, or ugly. The fearless quote I love: "Be truthful, gentle, …