“Let me keep my mind on what matters,
which is my work,
which is mostly standing still and learning to be
astonished.
~ Mary Oliver
Creativity and wellness message for today: Allow for silence and wonder.
Nature’s Flow
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Tag Archives: creative ideas
Setting Boundaries Gains Big Results
My creative work involves having a calendar dating out three years. In addition to my on-going art, writing, and storytelling projects I’m applying to art and writing residencies. These residency applications require long lead times in the submission process. I also work as a Poet-in-Residence in schools so scheduling requires looking and planning ahead because there are lots of moving parts involving different organizations.
Last December, like a good fortune teller, I saw my upcoming year(s) in my mind’s eye. To meet the deadlines I already had in place, I knew I had to set boundaries for January and February so I would have enough time to concentrate on my projects under development. I am grateful to be in a position to set my own work schedule. While I did have to turn down some professional gigs in order to stay focused on my plans, the future rewards are worth it.
This morning, seeing this array of proposals, submissions, and projects, completed or in process, basking in the sunlight on my drawing table, brings me satisfaction. Proof of the seeds I’m planting in my visual and literary arts world. Plus, a new opportunity just came my way, and because I had blocked out this time, I’m able to jump on it! Stay tuned, lots of fun stuff happening here in Adair’s studio.
Creativity and wellness message for today. Plan ahead and allow time and space for opportunity to knock.
Community of Storytellers
I’m sharing a moment of gratitude for my storytelling community near and far. Storytellers have this way of getting to the heart of the matter and for being an inclusive band of renegades and angels. I am fortunate to have stumbled upon the art and act of visual storytelling — writing, creating visuals, and speaking the spoken word in front of live audiences.
As an artist and writer who specializes in personal narratives, visual storytelling is right up my alley. I appreciate my national storytelling exchange group via Zoom and the drafts they sat through, asked questions about, and provided constructive feedback on. The Bridgeport Art Trail Storytelling Exchange is phenomenal! Our local in-person We Rise Storytelling Collective is fun and risky and embracing. Thank you for encouraging me to tell my authentic stories in front of such an appreciative group! Then there is the national Artists Standing Strong Together that connects and weaves and advances the art of storytelling.
Recently, one of my stories “Art Saved My Life: Journey of a Lifetime” was selected for me to present in front of a live audience in a theatre alongside 12 other visual storytellers and the entire experience rocked my world. There is this vibe and connection between the PechaKucha Night Bridgeport storytellers that cut through any phoniness or pretense. The tellers shared their own true stories on the theme: Journeys: How Did We Get Here? Thank you City Lights Gallery and PechaKucha Night Bridgeport.
You can watch and listen to my 2022 PechaKucha presentation here. Please be advised it has adult content about healing and transformation.
Creativity and wellness message for today: Consider creating and sharing stories in the presence of others, it may just change your life!
Renewal and Responsibility
My art was recently selected by juror, James Barron, into the Spectrum Contemporary Art Exhibition at the Carriage Barn Arts Center in New Canaan, CT. The theme of the show is “Renewal,” apt and timely. I’m proud to be in the exhibition. Being accepted helps me keep going, keep creating, and keep creatively experimenting.
I’ve also been submitting to art and writing residencies around the US. I’ve wanted to be accepted into one for decades! I applied to one 30 years ago, got rejected, felt defeated, and never re-applied. Now I have the courage (and time) to keep pursuing applications to a variety of venues and locations. I’ve applied now to four, and have been rejected, so far by three. Still awaiting news on the fourth.
Over the years my mind set has changed from lasting despair if I don’t get accepted to viewing my submitting process as Rejection Accomplishments. It’s my responsibility to myself, as an artist and a writer, and someone who really wants the collaborative and focused work environment of a residency, to keep applying. I learn something new each time I apply to a different residency.
My Excel spreadsheet of possibilities, deadlines, and websites is lengthy, I have more creative opportunities then I have time and space to submit to. It’s a good problem to have!
Creativity and wellness message for today: After feeling the loss of rejection, consider patting yourself on the back and acknowledging “Job well done, now on to the next!”
Hope
Shell by Adair Heitmann
“I believe that imagination is stronger than knowledge. That myth is more potent than history. That dreams are more powerful than facts. That hope always triumphs over experience. That laughter is the only cure for grief. And I believe that love is stronger than death.”
-Robert Fulghum, All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten: Uncommon Thoughts on Common Things
Creativity and wellness message for today: Delight in hidden messages and the blessings of small things.
Valentine’s Day Wish
From Flickr
There’s a long life ahead of you and it’s going to be beautiful, as long as you keep loving and hugging each other.
– Yoko Ono
True Gifts of the Season
They say a person needs just three things to be truly happy in this world: someone to love, something to do, and something to hope for.
– Tom Bodett
Creativity and wellness message for today: I’m taking this to heart during this season of returning to the light. How about you?
Sharing Your Stories
Jubilate @ UVA
The stories people tell have a way of taking care of them. So when stories come to you, you must take good care of them, as well. Learn to give them away where they are needed. Sometimes a person needs your story more than food to stay alive. That is why we put our stories in each other’s memories. This is how people care for themselves.
-Barry Lopez
Creativity and wellness message for today: SYS
Making the World Bearable
Falling Leaves Abstract by (c) Adair Wilson Heitmann, clay monoprint
It was George Bernard Shaw who said:
“Without art, the crudeness of reality would make the world unbearable.”
Creativity and wellness message for today: Be inspired to make the world bearable.
Create When No One is Looking
(c) Adair Heitmann
One of my favorite authors, the Kentucky born Barbara Kingsolver says:
“Close the door. Write with no one looking over your shoulder. Don’t try to figure out what other people want to hear from you; figure out what you have to say. It’s the one and only thing you have to offer.”
Creativity and Wellness message for today: Just do it! Write, create, paint, dance, just do it!
Adair Wilson Heitmann's Blog 