The Muse is IN Blog

A word from Rumi and Thomas Merton
Art and animation by Jill Badonsky

Holiday Creativity workshop on Dec 4!

http://www.gomnb.com/email/newsletter/1414883400

Welcome to My Pillow Fort

Welcome to my Pillow Fort.   Despite the fact that it's a metaphor, there are actual pillows in my immediate vicinity so it does basis in reality. Plus. it 's comfy and safe in both literary and real dimensions.

 

You're invited in.  Everyone gets a pair of socks* . 

 

Art and writing give us metaphors that we can climb into and, if you're like me, you're wanting to climb into something that is far away from the news. My upcoming newsletters will be containing  comfort and inspiration, because I need it too, stay tuned.

 

 

Today my husband and I purposely walked down a metaphor. It was a alley. and our mission was to find something beautiful on this through-way that was deemed less visual appealing than the manicured side facing the street.

A metaphor.

 

There were bush clock vines, bougainvilleas, a beautiful peppertree , and simply the art installation an alley can be when you decide to see it as as an art .  It really was beautiful when we looked at it that way.

 

Finding the beauty in unexpected places is a mission right now... it's a quest of not crumbling from reality.

 

I'm lucky to be in a vortex of magnanimous souls so I see the quotes, wisdom and needed humor of authors, artists, and people who 

speak out with precisely the truth I 

need to hear right now.  

 

I weed through some of the ones that seem superficial, cliche', or trite, but I'm glad to read the majority. They give me another perspective and seeing things differently is a trait of the artist and writer that I badly need to be right now, as well as having an open mind. 

 

Here are a few sprigs of thought that have been helpful to me (some don't have sources):

Paraphrased from my friend Chess Edwards:

We thought politics would save us from the darkness, but it didn't. Now we have the job of turning to the consciousness of love. 

 

"Dogs aren't just pets, some days they're the only things that makes sense."

 

"Normalize telling your friends you love them. Tell them a lot."

 

"You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you."

~Ray Bradbury

 

"We make art so we don't die of reality." ~Nietzsche paraphrased.

 

 Creativity is remembering who we you are. We are still the same people we were before the election. We still know what love is. There are still beautiful peppertrees in the alley.   

 

*(Actually...everyone who comes to my Taos retreat in February DOES get a pair of comfy socks, a writing journal, and some art supplies.)

 

Read How to Administer Facelifts .. on Substack

 

Join me in staving off despair by participating in art as a solution for reality.  Scroll down for my offerings.  I don't know about you, but I need community and creativity right now. 

 

 I recommend the Kaizen-Muse Creativity Coaching Training. 
As you go through it, you take your creativity to new levels, using the tools you're learning to break through resistance, procrastination, and all the other usual suspects that stand in our way. I've been teaching now for twenty years, last year it won best creativity coaching training, and as I teach it, I find that creativity keeps unfolding the best in life... and in myself.  Take it for yourself or to be a creativity coach.

You can read all about that here,KMCC  here  

 

 

 

 

 
Creativity Classes, Trainings, Retreats

 

Art as a Solution to Reality on Zoom through the La Jolla Athenaeum
Thursdays, 2–3:30 PM PST/ 5pm eastern
January 9–30

Sign-up and information

 

Stay Drunk on Writing
Wednesdays 2-3:30

January 8- 29

Stay drunk on writing here

 

Creativity Immersion

January 17-week KMCC training
You can read all about that here,KMCC     

 

The Muse in Winter Taos Retreat February 8-12, 2025
Creativity at the Mabel Dodge Luhan House in Taos.

Four Days of creativity immersion, nurturing, far away from the maddening crowd. Find out why people keep coming back, all levels from intimidated beginners to pros.

 

The Muse in Winter Retreat 2025 The Muse is IN www.gomnb.com

 

 

The Underground  newly named, "Pillow Fort": On going monthly workshops, weekly prompts, and a supportive community of nurturing people. Anti-overwhelm, pro-inspired, chill.
One of the best ways to make creativity more of a priority. More here.

 

Underground Highway to Creative Results: Making Showing-up Easier The Muse is IN www.gomnb.com

 

Follow me on Substack for a more regular dose of inspirational humor and creativity tips. Free but perksfor paid members (like class discounts and special benefits including a $50 discount for my Taos retreat).  

 

 

 

 

Dispatching Muses, Wishing Ease and Joy,
Jill Badonsky
"Happiness is available .. help yourself to it."
~ Thich Nhach Hahn
 
www.themuseisn.com

Art as a Solution to the Current Anxiety: Pull Up a Chair

 

“… hope is 1,000 times as thunderous as a movement that marches with dread."
~James Carville
 
I am vacillating from anxiety to hope, dread to relief, excessive consumption of pizza to juice fasting – rinse, repeat, and scream. What a crazy time.
 
What I consider a disturbing and preposterousness possibility is flirting with upcoming election results and boggles the minds of millions as to how this could be a remote reality with the information we know.   Some days it seems like it won’t happen, other days… we hear it’s imminent.
 
Emotional whiplash prevention is in order.

Eight perfectly imperfect ways to cope with the current anxiety using creative thinking, art, and  writing

 

1.     Let  Go
I’m letting go of speculation-obsession, (easier said that done because wondering what’s going to happen is laced with fear – real and imaginary -and fear has a way of removing cucumbers from my cool-as-them intentions.)

When the speculation-fear pops up, I say,  “Thanks for sharing but I have some living I’d like to do, a poem to write, a doodle to midwife, a laugh to emit.” I’ll find out who wins on election day. Hoping justice is finally kicking in and looking for it every day in the often toxic and ego-driven web of social media won’t make it happen and can eat away at my time, if I let it.   
 
2.    Trust
No matter what happens,   I’ll handle it. The perseverance required in the chaos of art and writing teaches resilience, enjoying the moment, and letting go of attachment to way things need to look in order to be happy.  I’ll flourish no matter the results because my power comes from within not without. I’m not perfect about that either, and that’s okay. When it works, it gives me a lovely break from dread.
 
3.    Physical Outlet
I put on Brent Lewis and move to the rhythm of his drums letting the heartbeat of anxiety morph to the ancient healing of a drum beat…Sometimes I pound on bongos for the subsequent catharsis. Any enjoyable physical outlet helps. Brent Lewis - Dinner at the Sugarbush
 
4.    Gratitude
Redirecting the mind to that which I am blessed has instant anxiety reducing powers. I’m grateful for about two million things… I just got back from teaching during a phenomenal Art Walk on the Italian Riviera - that’s a wonderful memory to return to. with a slice of pizza.
 
5.    Beauty
Fear has a greater pull than tranquility. It has more sponsors.   Fear is how humans are wired to survive so it kicks in easier than being chill.  I’m giving more airtime to nature, peace, and beauty even if it’s in five minute spans of time.  Beauty is medicine.
 
6.    Connection
When introversion doesn’t keep me happily solitary in my hovel of cats and books, I reach out to friends for connection, fun, and deliciousness with the understanding that we not talk about the thing. We are pack animals, connection is healing.
 
7.   Make art or witness it.
 Research shows we are less anxious, depressed and more fulfilled when we are immersed either in making art or receiving it.  Not like I needed an excuse, but this boosts me aiming my direction toward writing and painting or going to a museum or concert.  
 
8.   Halloween Wild Abandon Creativity Workshop: Tuesday October 29 12 pm pacific/ 3 eastern
If you want to experience how #7 works, come find revery by making art and receiving a guided relaxation writing in my Halloween Creativity Zoom workshop, join The Underground Highway for a supportive community . Especially for intimidated beginners and those who know the power of creativity to provide a timeless, fearless experience away from the craziness of the world.
 
Halloween Workshop $25 Free to Paid Substack Subscribers (let me know in the comments you’d like to attend) and to Underground Members.
 

 

Dispatching Muses for love and protection,

Jill Badonsky
 

www.themuseisn.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tuesday, October 29 12pm pacific/ 3pm eastern

Wild Abandon Halloween Creativity on Zoom

Come escape the craziness with one of the best things you can do...having fun makiing stuff.

More Here About that.

 

 

February 8-12, 2024

Creativity Retreat in Taos, New Mexico

The Muse in Winter retreat and the Kaizen-Muse Creativity Coaching Certification Training is filling up. Five spaces left. Don't miss an immersive experience of creativity, community, and darn good food at the Mabel Dodge Luhan House. My 14th year. More information - Taos 

 Still a few spaces left.. Ask about discounts

 

 New KMCC Training begins in January.

Meet with me on Zoom and I'll tell you all about it.

Learn to free the creativity of others and unleash more of yours in the process. Voted best creativity coaching training by Life Coach Magazine.

More here.

 

Follow me on Substack for a more regular dose of inspirational humor and creativity tips. Free but perks for paid members.

Art as a Solution to Reality

 

 

Hi There,

I had the honor of speaking at Vision: A Center for Spiritual Living this past Sunday, about Art as a Solution for Reality.
My talk starts at the 34:47 minute mark and goes until 1:05:40

The lives of Bill Murray, Frida Kahlo, Mary Oliver are included as people who actually were saved by the arts.

I share a poignant poem called Shout Out from Sekou Sundiata, who was an African-Amerian from Harlem who moved from heroine addiction to theater, poetry, and music. From anger and hostility to grace and inspiration.

And I share a bit about how art saved me too.  It continues to do so. I hope you find a sanctuary in your creative process. 

(The last song during my talk, Can't Hold Us, is cut off because of copyright reasons. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VG3JsmOmDqw 

Enjoy.
Jill

There are spaces open for the February Taos Retreat

Join me in immersing yourself in art, writing, and smart phone photography in a different way. Be nurtured by the healthy gourmet food and a stressfree environment for introverts, intimidated beginners as well as pros.

My own challenges to the creative process inspired a system using mindfulness, psychology, and reckless play to make it easier to enjoy not only what I do creatively, but how I do it. It’s more about fun and capturing the moment than precision, perfectionism and the final product. It is NOT about competition and comparison.   

 

The Lazy Person's Guide to the Autumn Equinox

"Every leaf speaks bliss to me,
fluttering from the autumn tree."

~Emily Bronte

 

Greetings Creative One,

 

It equinoxed into Autumn today here in the Northern Hemisphere.
 
I figured there ought to be some sort of celebration other than drinking pumpkin spice lattes we can do without getting out of our chairs, so I just pulled two out of my horn-of-plenty.

The Enlightened Lazy Person’s Autumn Equinox
Two-Part Celebration:

Part One

Equinox descends from “aequus”, the Latin word for "equal" or "even," and nox, the Latin word for "night"—a fitting history for a word that describes days of the year when the daytime and nighttime are equal in length.
 
I taught yoga in various settings for 30 years and one of my favorite breathing (or pranayama) exercises that can “even” out our brain and elicit more creativity, is the alternate nostril breath. I’ve modified it for the equinox and just did it so I feel great. Feel free to do it as you read this.
 

1. Hold your right nostril shut with your right thumb, breathe in your left nostril for the count of six, hold both nostrils shut for the count of six - using your right index finger on your left nostril, release your thumb and breathe out for the count of six.
2. Repeat on the other side- holding the left nostril shut, breathing in for six, hold for six, out on the right for six.
3. Keep going five more times,( six all together!) and the last time, breathe in as much as your lungs can take, hold for six, release both nostrils, and let a beautiful, slow exhale out, feeling it’s release all along the way.
4. You will feel relaxed, balanced, creative, generous, magnanimous, inspired, mischievous, smarter, taller, and thinner. Or maybe just more relaxed - I keep mixing it up with caffeine.
    

Part Two
Gratitude - Whenever possible, take advantage of reasons to ponder your good fortune. Gratitude is scientifically proven to reduce depression · lessen anxiety and crankiness · support heart health · relieve stress · and improve sleep, relationships, and perspective .

1. Since it’s now Autumn, it’s a good time to take a minute to write down two projects you’ve “sown” throughout the year.
2. Don’t panic if you don’t think you have any… you do.
   
   1. You’re a project. You’re a work of art. How have you progressed this year? If you’ve endured the current crazy climate in the news and the ways of reality in general, you’ve cultivated resilience. Phew!
   2. If you’ve done one nice thing for another person, you’ve cultivated kindness.
   3. Or, maybe you wrote a book, painted a picture, had a huge event, took a great photo, told a joke well, smiled at a stranger, or made a delicious meal. Those count! Feel some gratitude toward yourself and the opportunities.
   4. I’m grateful you read this far so you can count that. Thanks!
   5. Shuck some corn on the cob, smear it with butter and chomp away, grateful for your teeth, for fresh corn, and for life. (candy corn doesn’t count, ew)

Crunching dead leaves,
Jill

 

 

Art As a Solution for Reality: The Power of Creativity 

(I make art so I don't die of reality)

 

I've been loving teaching art and mentoring for the last few years, but have been yearning to get back to giving talks with performance poetry and various and sundry forms of inspiration.

 

I will be back on stage 10 am pacific, October 6 giving this talk (and optional workshop) and would love the support of friends and newsletter subscribers there in person or if you're not in town, you can be there for me as it's streaming live here.

 

I'll be speaking from the book I've been working on for the last .... 92 years. Singer Songwriter Mark Montijo will be sharing his original music during the workshop.

 

If you're in or around San Diego, come join this lovely group of people this day. I hope you can make it

4780 Mission Gorge Place, Suite H San Diego, CA 92120

It will be streaming live here.

 

Invitation to Creative Courage

 

"Creativity takes courage." ~Henri Matisse

 

You won't see me skiing or sky-diving, or ... even skating. I've never wanted to do those things, (the one time I skied, I cried all the way down the bunny slope).

 

Physical acts of adrenaline are not how I roll because rolling down hills is not how I ... roll.

 

I prefer the adrenaline of getting up in front of audiences large and small, to peddle creative freedom, perform poetry, or share stories of my broken past, glued together with humor, irreverence, and redeeming perspective .

 

I share the art I make.  My poet friend, david brydges calls my art, "wickedly whimsical poetry painted with passionate imprecision."  I relish that description. If I had to be perfect or make my art look like that of  any other artist, I wouldn't do it at all.   That painting of my breakfast at the top was done mostly with my eyes closed - it's not for everyone. But I love the free and reckless nature of it so it's for me...

 

These things require courage and are accomplished with the help of the sixth Modern Day Muse, Audacity, the Muse of Courage. She urges us to ask this question for awhile, "How would it feel to be more courageous?"  and then take small steps. 

 

Pause for a moment and think of all the creative things you don't do because it scares you. Think of all the reward, exhilaration, connection that might happen if you did them. Fear is a natural part of creativity, so persisting with your passion despite nervousness or terror, builds courage and courage is freedom; freedom to share, push limits, wade out of the comfort zone and swim into a sea of cresting possibility. 

 

Art as a Solution for Reality: Sunday, October 6 at 10 am pacific/1 Eastern 
I will be speaking and giving an inperson workshop in San Diego, doing my preferred version of adrenaline - standing in front of people sharing poetry, story, creativity, and inspirational humor in a talk called,    4780 Mission Gorge Place, Suite H San Diego, CA 92120 and streaming on Youtube. Watch here or on my website for details.

 

A Public Service Announcement about sharing your work:

Two minutes and 33 seconds

 

 

 

 

Share your work with me, or join a safe supportive space, and share it there.

 

 

Dispatching Muses,

Jill Badonsky
and Audacity, The Muse of Courage and Uninhibited Expression

www.themuseisn.com

 

 

 

 

 

Creative Thought Card Workshop

Sept 11, 2024 11 am pacific/ 2pm eastern

If you purchased Creative Thought Cards from me, this is the date for the workshop that is included.We will talk about applications of the cards and dip into some low pressured, activities that make creativity easy- you can partake in or view surreptitiously off- screen.  Recording sent to all who register.

 

TwoCreative Thought Cards on today's Audacity Theme.

 

 

 

 

San Diego

October 6 Vision Church and Streaming on Youtube

Talk and Workshop: Art As A Solution for Reality - 10a  pacific/1p eastern

Optional Art as a Solution for workshop to follow: 
 and hear a song from singer/songwriter Mark Montijo.
4780 Mission Gorge Place, Suite H San Diego, CA 92120

 

Creativity Retreat in Taos, New Mexico

The Muse in Winter retreat and the Kaizen-Muse Creativity Coaching Certification Training is filling up. Five spaces left. Don't miss an immersive experience of creativity, community, and darn good food at the Mabel Dodge Luhan House. My 14th year. More information - Taos 

 

What if You're Not Your Own Audience? -Repurposed Storytelling

In the gaggle of Modern Day Muses (and a Bodyguard), there is a Muse that hails imperfection. Here’s one of the reasons why.

I had a cellular shift around my art several years ago when I painted prolifically with my partner. We ventured out to the everywhere of landscapes, coffee shops, and unsuspecting people to sketch then paint in watercolor and outline in ink. We brought home copious amounts of half-done works, a lot of mistakes, and maybe an accidental masterpiece.

I liked very few of the paintings we did. He liked them all.

I would put my painting-mishaps in a portfolio sometimes using the other side for another painting or ripping them up to make collages. My partner would frame all of his paintings with glass and black electrical tape! and hang them in cafes and hair salons around town. I his style, but I was in awe of his courage.  He had this unspoken acceptance that all of his paintings were worth framing.

Audacity* was an inspiring trait of this man, having boundaries was not. One day I walked into a café and saw a unfinished painting of mine that I despised, and it was framed and hanging. There was my blunder on display for everyone to see. I had given no permission for him to do this. I was horrified, angry, and I’m pretty sure overly dramatic.

When I went to retrieve my painting, it had sold. Huh? Someone bought and hung what I considered my bad art in their living room, and it wasn’t even finished. I met the buyer I sheepishly asked her what she liked about it.  She said, “Well, everything ... especially the unfinished look.” Really?

That’s when a cellular happened.. the epiphany was greater than the sum of the painting. How is it that I couldn’t see the beauty someone else could see in my work? Was I doing good work and not even knowing it? Am I not even my own audience?  I was sad, excited, confused, and inspired to paint more. I had no idea that my standards for what was considered “good” might be suspect until I realized my standards weren’t for me, they were for someone else. 

 

T.S. Eliot said, "Between the idea and the reality ... falls the shadow." How we think our art and writing should look and what actually happens is often out of our control. But that doesn’t mean it won’t be something as good or better than we planned. If we are attached to the vision of what it MUST look like, we are robbing ourselves of the pleasure that can come from going with the flow and looking for what the work itself wants to become, and then accepting it as the wonder it is.

When I started looking through the eyes of the people who appreciate it, the deep-rooted illusion that my art sucked began to dissolve. I realized that when I stopped trying to paint the way I thought you’re supposed to, I saw a quirky, purposefully imperfect, whimsical voice and gave realized I did like my art the way it is, it was messy and imperfect, like me.      

Share your half-finished works with the world. Frame them with boldness and defiance. If you make enough mistakes, it becomes your style.

This week I will share with you some wisdom from Spills, the Muse of Practice, Process and Imperfection.  

*Audacity is an upcoming Modern Day Muse

Dispatching Muses,

Jill Badonsky

Find out more about Kaizen-Muse Creativity Coaching or become a coach

Reminder to Begin Again

 

Beginning again is the path of a resilient creative practice  ... not to mention life in general.
It’s the step by which we can surmount every disappointment, embarrassment, and indignity..

We are free to live this next moment as though it were new, because it is.
However we failed or didn’t succeed or lost the plot, we can begin again in the next moment, or the next day rather than
be dragged down into ruminations born of our negativity.

Or we can just take a break and reboot and trust we will begin again refreshed, reinvigorated,  or re-inspired once the idea has incubated.
.
If you have not been as disciplined as you like,
If you’ve been spinning your wheels , stuck in creative chaos
or distracted when you wanted to be focused.
If are resistant to starting at all… lower the pressure
And begin again.

You've heard this before from me.
It's something I constantly need to remind myself,
so I thought it might be good timing for you too.

Dispatching Muses,

Jill Badonsky
and Muse Song, The Muse of Encouragement

www.themuseisn.com

Become a creativity mentor.
There are a few spaces left in the August
Kaizen-Muse Creativity Coaching Certification Training.

Email me with your background, your creative passion, and why KMCC is a good fit for you.
www.kaizenmuse.com

The Rebellious Poet and the Frustrated Muse

Dear Rebellious Readers, Writers, and Artists,

Here’s what happens when someone tries to tell a poet what to write.
And the four minute podcast with some music and sound effects is at this link.

The Muse has large flowing green feather wings…
and is fluttering dangerously close to the chandelier.
She is holding a BIG red and black neon sign that says,
“WRITE SOMETHING.”
The poet sees the sign, …..sighs and writes nothing

The Muse waves the sign dramatically,
With teeth pressed together in a large, forced smile.
The poet sighs and shrugs. Still nothing.

The Muse kicks a few clever adjectives onto
the poet’s blank sheet of paper:
TENDER, TURQUOISE, TELLTALE.
The poet swats them with a fly swatter
and places them in the garbage with the trout
and pilaf leftovers from dinner last night.

The Muse, perturbed, pulls out her secret stash of nouns:
CONCOCTION, SKYSCRAPER, BUICK
But the poet is reading the back of the Rice Krispies BOX
that was left on the TABLE from breakfast … then checks Facebook.

The Muse drops a few of her best verbs on the poet’s blank paper.
The poet PUSHES the verbs around with her pen,
and then COLLECTS them in a Mason Jar,
PUCNHES holes in the lid,  
and PLACES the jar next to the cinnamon that expired in ‘09.

That’s it.  The Muse is frustrated, done with this poet, and flies out the window
to inspire the songwriter who is strumming a guitar behind
the morning glories on the porch swing next door.

The poet smiles and writes this poem.

;)

I’m on a writing retreat and will be back next week to continue with the Modern Day Muses series. I’ve been cooperative with my Muse while here… but only when she doesn’t tell me what to do. (And being on a retreat motivates me to get value from the money I spent, I procrastinate at home for free). We all have our own ways of approaching our creativity.

What works for you to get you started on what you love to do?

Leave a comment

Dispatching Muses,

Jill Badonsky

Creativity is an Act of Rebellion: Muse #3

 

 

“You can’t tell a creative person what to do.” < That’s the first thing Kaizen-Muse Creativity Coaching students learn in the KMCC training. 

When it comes to nurturing creativity, even well-intentioned, seemingly perfect advice can backfire. The moment you tell a creative person what to do, you risk stripping away the fun and sense of autonomy they derive from steering the creative process themselves. There may be initial compliance, but then resistance, resentment, and swear words are eminent.   I know this from experience

When I started writing my Nine Modern Day Muses book, I was procrastinating, resistant, and overwhelmed. I decided to enlist a life coach.

She told me what to do to get the book written according to her own ideas. The suggestions weren’t suited for me, they just overwhelmed me even more. Nothing sounded fun.  I needed help with getting beyond resistance, not how to write a book - that would come with my natural instincts.

I tried to comply to her to-do list, but I had this subterranean urge to say, “ F^#! this” so I did. I don’t want to be told what to do.  I want questions. Questions open me up to explore possibilities from my own resources, experiences, and connections to an inner creative landscape which is wacky not conventional.  I needed someone familiar with the sensitivities of the creative person.

One of the attractions of being a creator, whether it’s writing a book or painting a weird thing with three hearts is acting on some curious and irresistible impulse delivered from the depths of our mysterious selves, and then playing with it inside the unique laboratory of who we are until it validates our brilliance, or at the very least, gives us a joyride. It’s not always easy to answer a creative call but worth moving beyond the complexities, inner demons, and endless distractions to be true to ourselves.

When its flowing, creativity gives us a sense of control in a world where we often feel helpless, it is driven by the fiery passion of being in charge of our own adventure.

Feedback, suggestions, and constructive criticism from others is helpful and smart to elicit; they give perspectives we don’t always see ourselves  When someone offers kindling, I check in with my intuition, then make a choice. I’m still in control; that is what’s different from being told what to do… the respect that comes withobvious choice.  

Instead of an edict, there is a “what if ..” question.  What if I made this process fun? What if I let the Muses tell me about themselves? What I you focused on what I love about writing? What if I called a muse, Bea Silly. We do better asking ourselves these questions because oppressively telling ourselves what to do, also results in resistance.

I finally wrote The Nine Modern Day Muses and a Bodyguard by finding a fun structure and tapping into my love of writing, but I wasn’t confident it would sell to a publisher. I met with a book coach who told me the name was impractical and elusive, I should call it Ten Creativity Principles or something dry like that, so people knew what it was about. She also said a publisher wouldn’t look at it with the way I used the whimsical fonts and format. Poo!

I stomped home and had some rocky road ice cream. My first thought was she must be right, she has published books out there. My childlike self was cranky, pouting, and crashing from the ice cream until an intuitively defiant, creative wonder woman aha moment kicked in and I realized I didn’t have to follow this person’s advice.   It was a clear feeling that it wasn’t right for my work.

Creativity is an act of rebellion and a world we do best to pioneer ourselves.

 “So what, I’ll do it anyway, I’d rather publish it myself than make those changes,” were the words that floated above my curly hair in a cartoon thought bubble.

I sent it out into the universe as is. Two weeks later an agent grabbed it sold it to Penguin Putnam who published it … with the same title, the fonts, format, and silliness. Poignant lesson.

Intuition and defiance can be a dynamic duo when figuring out our own path in a world of people trying to tell us what to do and with so much out there to compare ourselves.   

The response, “So What, I’ll do it anyway,” works in myriad ways.

Voice                                                                          The Rebellion

I’m too old…                                                              So what do it anyway.

I am not confident                                                   So what do it anyway.

I am resistant…                                                        So what… do it anyway.

People won’t get it:                                                  So what..

I’ll be exposed…                                                        So what..

I don’t know where to begin                                  Start anywhere for 30 seconds.

What else stops you? Say, so what and do it anyway.

This response to voices that can derail creativity is the gift of the Modern Day Muse, Bea Silly, the Muse of Childlike Play and it’s one of the tools that has freed people’s creativity for twenty years in Kaizen-Muse Creativity Coaching. It neutralizes or supersedes voices that are often operating in irrational or exaggerated fear. It frees us with defiance, rebelliousness, and satisfaction.  

There are many life coaches who are exceptions to the one mentioned in this story, they ask questions and respectfully guide the client’s own course of action. But I’m grateful for the dubious experience I had because it was responsible for the genesis of the Kaizen-Muse Creativity Coaching. I wondered how many people were being blocked by people who don’t understand the creative process.

The Modern Day Muse, Bea Silly will be back this week for a few short and sweet ways she can help unleash your creativity and creative living.

Come play in a Wild Abandon Zoom Workshop this coming Wednesday, July 10 at 4pm pacific/ 7pm eastern. $25 Hour and a half.

Dispatching Muses,

Jill

Find more Jill stuff here.

Taking applications for the August Kaizen-Muse Creativity Coaching Training