Courage

My Declaration of Independence: The Right to Create The Future

Rights, even inalienable ones, cost. We may not have paid those costs personally, but someone did. That is what gives them value. Not claiming our rights costs too, as we choose to suffer in relationships, companies and societies where we cannot flourish rather than pay the costs for our personal freedom.

Creativity, Mindfulness and the Malicious Post

Getting trapped in trying to change things that can’t be changed robs us of our power to change what we can. Circumstances are the most powerful partners we have for choreographing our lives. I may have cracked a rib last Sunday night. But, three creative guidelines emerged from that traumatic moment…

Our stories connect us

I’m sitting on the bench in the Laundromat doing my monthly laundry, waiting for the last of my clothes to dry. It is now only the two of us in this place. The smiling woman has draped her body across the bench and covered her face with her scarf. She is talking incessantly, and laughing without restraint. I can’t quite make out her words. Sometimes it sounds as if she’s praying, sometimes having a conversation with herself. She is not here to do laundry. She is a mirror.

Five Top Reasons Not to Be Creative… and Their Antidotes

We all have good reasons to ignore our creative longings. We invest ourselves in the day-to-day demands of our lives and complain powerlessly about the status quo. So we live with our dreams still sleeping and our visions unrealized. But our reasons have antidotes.