A friend and I recently visited the de Young Museum in San Francisco to see the “Monet in Venice” exhibit. As always, Monet’s art touched something inside me. This day was no exception. Maybe because I’m focused on savoring my life, I noticed things I hadn’t before. The curator’s notes discussed Monet’s “enveloppe” concept of painting. As Monet himself put it: “I want to paint the air which surrounds the bridge, the house, the boat — the beauty of the air in which these objects are located, and that is nothing short of impossible.” Monet recognized that the object isn’t where the aliveness is — it’s in the envelope around…
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5 Reasons Creativity is Important in Your Life Now
“But I’m not creative like you!” I lamented to my long-time friend. What are you talking about? You are too!” She then listed the many creative things I’ve done over the years. (That’s one reason why I love my long-time friends. They remember and help us see things about us we may not see in ourselves.) For all those busy years of kids and career, I rarely had the time to do what I considered to be large creative projects. I tried in small ways to “up my game” with occasionally creative table settings, holiday and kid projects, and interesting vacation photos. More like “creative-lite” I thought. I felt like…
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MicroblogMonday #40 Creativity: Your Imagination at Play
“Creativity is about the process, not the end product. It’s our imagination at play….where joy is in creating, not in what is created.” We’ve all experienced being in the flow of creating. We lose track of time, discover new ideas, try new techniques and learn and practice new skills as our energy and imagination guides us. Creating often feels playful and fun as we allow our imagination to roam free and wild. Whether or not we like our end product, that feeling is usually short-lived and pales in comparison to the joy of creating. We can all use more playtime and joy, so start creating.
