Creativity Calling
The Newsletter of the Creativity Coaching Association

Dear Friends

Welcome to the March issue of Creativity Calling! Spring is the season of changes and renewal—inside and out. New energy and beginnings abound while aliveness is in the air!

The I Ching states,

The way of the creative works through change and transformation, so that each thing receives its true nature and destiny and comes into permanent accord with the great harmony: this is what furthers and what perseveres.

Hope you enjoy the thoughtful spring musings of our CCA Creativity Coaches! I personally look forward to reading their fresh ideas and colorful perspectives every month.

Please continue to send us your comments and suggestions for future newsletter topics—we want your input and love your feedback!

Enjoy,
Bev


Beverly Down, President & CEO, Creativity Coaching Association

Spring Imaginings

By Charlotte Hussey

Samuel Taylor Coleridge, "Work without Hope" Spring brings renewed life. Tree sap rises, crocuses emerge from the snow, and birds return. Although Coleridge was a poet, people from many disciplines and walks of life complain about not feeling ready for this quickening of the life force. What can we as artists and creative thinkers do to ready ourselves?

+ Coleridge got inspiration from his walks and even wrote his famous poem, "Kubla Khan" while hiking. Could going out for a spring walk awaken you from your winter stasis? Could you try doing so with the intention of receiving inspiration from something you perceive along the way?

+ Coleridge and other of the Romantics drew inspiration from Greek mythology. The Greeks, of course, had 9 muses. Who are your muse figures? Can you make plans to reconnect with at least 3 of them over the coming weeks?

+ Coleridge was one of the great theorists of the imagination. His imaginings took him inwards into the visions that led him to write "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner." Would you like to awaken your own inner imaginings? If so, you might try this experiment: Choose an object that attracts you, possibly one you found on one of your spring walks. Explore it with your 5 senses. Take your time. Really experience the object in a fresh way. Then with eyes closed, can you explore the same object in your imaginings by way of your subtler inner senses? (How many of them do you feel you have?) Can you use these experiments with your outer and inner senses to start some art, or to define your own theory of the imagination?

Charlotte Hussey, MA, MFA, PhD, teaches academic and creative writing at McGill University in Montreal. She has published a collection of poetry, "Rue Sainte Famille," and a chapbook, "The Head Will Continue to Sing." Charlotte is currently training to become a Certified Creativity Coach. She can be reached at Charlotte.hussey@mcgill.ca

Reap Great Benefits in Your Creative Life
from the Chaos of Change
By Dave Storer

March is a transitional month. Winter grudgingly, fitfully, gives way to Spring. And that transition is often chaotic: lions and lambs, snow, ice and rain, high and low temperatures, blustery winds.

Transitions in a creator's life can be equally disruptive and chaotic. Times like,

• When you start a new creative habit or change a long-standing old one.


• When you embrace a new skill, technique, creative focus or way of working.


• When changing life circumstances effect your creative work.

But just as the chaos of March is well worth the benefits of Spring, the chaos that change often brings into our creative lives can be equally rewarding.

Know that the chaos of change very often signals the nearness of meaningful creative growth. Some kinds of growth are smooth and linear; others require a chaotic, often painful, break from the past.

Dissatisfaction with what you're doing creatively can build up inside you until it bursts out into a display of temper and frustration, just as bad as any storm in March. When a baby shows a similar frustration, it signals that they are about to make the transition from crawling to walking. Your own deep feelings of frustration and chaos most likely are a sign that you are on the verge of an important transformation in your creative life.

Whenever you feel that deep frustration and chaos in your creative life, I encourage you to focus in even harder on your creative work. Your best way through it is into it. The more you focus and the harder you work, the quicker you'll learn what you have to learn, and the sooner your work will come together, and the great metamorphosis will happen.

Okay, I'll be honest: it's going to be messy. Some days will be very good, some days will be very bad. That's March, and that is transition time. Throw yourself into it, weather the storm, and get ready for great new things to blossom in your creative life.

As a certified creativity coach, Dave Storer helps his clients develop the tools they need to achieve creative success. Check his site, www.thecreativitycatalyst.com.
Don't forget the "the".

Sparking Spring

By Catherine Mellinger

Spring is on its way, and along with it comes the chance of sparking new energy into our projects; either those on the go, those we have been hibernating with over the winter, or those we have wanted to start but just haven't found the sparks to get you going.

Need some help sparking things?

Here are a few suggestions ...

Take the first step . . .

Look to your dreams; what you want to accomplish in the coming months, and start plotting what first steps you can take in achieving those dreams. Buy a new canvas, call that agent, write that first paragraph or page. There is always a first step and spring provides the fresh and fertile ground outside as well as in our spirits to get going!

Surprise yourself . . .

Is there something you have always wanted to try: Oils instead of acrylics? Prose instead of non-fiction? Dance to add to your one-woman show? Surprise yourself by taking a class, going to a lecture, or buying a book to help you start playing around with those new ideas and seeds of inspiration.

Enlist a friend . . .

Invite a friend to try a new class with you. Start a class or group of your own! Meet for tea once a week to chat about creative projects, challenge yourself to a writing series, start an artist exchange or artist trading card circle (http://www.artist-trading-cards.ch/). The importance lies in sharing your creativity. Starting with friends is the perfect first step in beginning to find the confidence to share with your artistic community and target marketplace.

Look around . . .

Julie Cameron stated it well; we need to "refill the well". Go outside and see how your surroundings have changed as the snow melts and the green starts to sprout in its place. Take a walk and breathe that fresh spring air, while giving thanks for the nurturing time the winter has offered.

Most importantly, celebrate! Not only all that can be, but all that has been. Congratulate yourself for going deeper within during the winter months, and most of all, for nurturing the fertile ground for the seeds of creativity that you can let blossom this spring.

Catherine Mellinger is a visual artist and creativity coach to visual & multi-disciplinary artists. She resides in Toronto, Canada. She can be reached by e-mail: mellangearts@yahoo.com.  

Tap into Our Database of Creativity Coaches

Twenty years from now you will be more dissapointed by the things you didn't do than the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. " --Mark Twain

Are you:

• just starting out in exploring your creative desires?
• a working artist who is stuck on a creative project?
• looking for something new to juice up your creative work?
• going into midlife and feeling that now is finally the time to do the art you always wanted to do?
• already a known artist but interested in taking your success to the next level?

For any of these situations, why not hire a creativity coach? Check out our database of over 50 coaches who are ready to work with you and propel you forward. CCA-member coaches specialize in nearly 100 different specialties.

Special Book Offer

If you have not yet purchased your own copy of Inspiring Creativity, why not take advantage of this special offer today? An anthology of 22 powerful essays by professional creativity coaches, the book will get your creative juices flowing and make you feel more confident, excited, and ready to tackle your creative work.

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New CCA Creativity Coaching Classes Beginning in April!

"We shall not cease from exploration And the end of all our exploring Will be to arrive where we started And know the place for the first time" --T.S.Eliot

If you've been thinking about becoming a creativity coach, or adding creativity coaching to your existing life coaching, consulting, or therapy practice, we invite you to explore CCA's Certification Program. Our program includes a variety of basic and advanced coaching courses that can be done online or through telecourses in a reasonable period of time. The knowledge and skills you will develop in this program will serve your own work and open up opportunities for you to professionally coach others.

For details, please visit our Certification Program web page for a full explanation of the courses offered and requirements.

Hope You Enjoyed Our Newsletter!

This is the end of the March 2008 issue. Send us an email and let us know your thoughts and suggestions.

Note: If you are a life coach, executive coach, literary agent, therapist or any other profession involved with creative people, and you are interested in joining the Creativity Coaching Association, please drop me a note at join@creativitycoachingassociation.com for information.