The Newsletter of the Creativity Coaching Association

Dear Friends,

Our newsletter is back, after a brief hiatus due to technical and logistical problems. But we're pleased to present to you now another issue of Creativity Calling to help inspire you in your creative work and provide new ideas, tips, and fun.

April is a month of renewal for many of us (though for our subscribers who live down under, we are aware that your sense of seasonal movement is reversed!). What are you up to? What type of creative work are you doing?

We would certainly like to hear from any of you regarding the types of articles you might enjoy reading in this newsletter. Please drop us an email soon with your feedback and suggestions.

Rick Benzel, Executive Director

A Creative Linguistic Note

The Relationship Between Deciding and Stonecutting

by Etta Mology

Etta was having trouble deciding what word to explore this month, so I said to her, "Why not see what the word decide means?

She liked that suggestion and this is what she found. Decide is from the Latin decidere whose literaral meaning was actually "to cut off," from de- "off" + cædere "to cut." Oddly enough, cædere is also the root of the word "cement," which as we all know is made from many small pieces of cut or shaved stone.

Etta figures that this is perhaps why people who have difficulty deciding as they work on their creative projects always feel that they have cement on the brain. The act of deciding can be so onerous that we feel weighed down, unable to think, perceive, or move.

But as Etta realized, the Latin word for decide can become a true call to arms. If you think about it, deciding is, as the word's origin suggests, a process of cutting off your alternatives one by one. You might even think of deciding as a youthful whittling game, in which you lop off your alternatives one by one, until you arrive at the only option left. This process reminds Etta of the way that Michelangelo was said to have created his statues: he could see the final statue embedded in the raw stone, and all he had to do was cut and chip away to reveal it. How's that for decisiveness?

So, if you are having trouble deciding between one project and another, or between options within a single project, unload that cement from your brain and learn to enjoy the whittling or stonecutting your mind can really accomplish.

Become a Certified Creativity Coach

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 newly announced 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.

 

Wabi-Sabi and the Dance of Life

Contributed by Quinn McDonald of Quinn Creative

The tree had been invisible all winter. Now, with the sun up earlier, it popped into view as soon as I rounded the uphill corner of my early-morning walk. The sun just tipped into bright green the first fragile leaf tips unfurling on the swaying branches of the willow. Yesterday it was too dark, today the old tree was revealed as new. In that fraction of an instant, there was a flash of knowledge, tied in the leaf, the sun, the dew. Then the moment was gone. I walked on, changed.

That fragile moment of recognition is part of Wabi- sabi, a Japanese word. Wabi-sabi is the beauty of things impermanent and incomplete. It contains a poignant ache and a profound appreciation for things modest and humble.

As an esthetic, it honors things imperfect and unconventional. Wabi-sabi is a term hard to define and beautiful to live. There is an inside and outside to Wabi-sabi. The outside is the beauty we see, feel, hear, touch and taste in things fleeting, seasonal, natural and imperfect. A piece of silvery barn wood, a river rock that time and running water has smoothed, a simple meal with a good friend.

The inside of wabi-sabi is the release of control and the relentless beating up of our psyches for not achieving and creating perfection. It is the letting go of the excesses of competition, achievement, and a willingness to let life find its own pace and place, to allow the world to unfurl without having to control it and everyone around us. It is a life stripped down to what is valuable, rather than randomly acquired. It is not living without, but rather within.

A wabi-sabi life doesn’t dehydrate the inner life by filling every second with activities and stimulation. Instead, it conforms to natural talents and abilities. I plan and organize, but if something crushes the plans, I will not be crushed. I am flexible enough to make choices that create new plans with what turns up.

The Seven Secrets of Big Picture Thinking

A Four-Part Teleclass Led by Nancy Marmolejo of Comadre Coaching

Did you know that the hottest skill you can bring to the table these days is the ability to see the Big Picture? Being a visionary thinker, coming up with original solutions, and sensing trends are the survival tools for today’s ever changing world. These traits can dramatically affect you both personally and professionally, bringing success and fulfillment to all aspects of life.

Now you can tap into your big picture power through an exclusive teleclass, The 7 Secrets of Big Picture Thinkers. In just 4 weeks, you’ll not only fine tune your creative thinking, but develop foundational tools you need now to turn your great ideas into results.

Based on the popular eCourse, this 4 part teleclass will give coaches, consultants, and anyone looking for a creative jumpstart the tools needed to successfully turn ideas into accomplishments. Classes begin April 27 and continue on May 11, May 18, and May 25 at 1 p.m. Eastern, 12 noon Central, 11 a.m. Mountain, 10 a.m. Pacific.

Click here for a full description of the teleclasses and to enroll.

Tap into Our Database of Creativity Coaches

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 nearly 50 coaches who are ready to work with you and propel you forward. CCA-member coaches specialize in nearly 100 different specialties.

Read this Book and Get Motivated

Inspiring Creativity: An Anthology of Powerful Insights and Practical Ideas to Guide You to Successful Creating, will help you find new motivation. Loaded with 22 intelligent and powerful essays by professional creativity coaches, the book will get your creative juices flowing and make you feel confident, excited, and capable to tackle your writing, drawing, painting, music, or craft.

To peruse the Table of Contents and download a FREE sample chapter, go to www.cca-press.com.

Special Offer: $12.75 + $4.00 Shipping = $16.75

Click here to purchase a copy now.

Click here to purchase a copy now.

Hope You Enjoyed Our Newsletter!

This is the end of the April 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.