At this time of Hallowe’en, I want to share a few thoughts about Samhain, its relation to thin places, and how these thoughts may help us be better creative humans. You can read on, click the image link above and go to YouTube or scroll down and watch the video below.
I have always been interested in what lies beyond… what is unseen, unknown. What is perhaps erroneously called the supernatural. My interests are in the mystical, the magical, the theological, in gnostic thought, science fiction and science fact, and multiverses and quantum foam. That which can’t be seen. Perhaps best described as reality not yet fully understood.
I believe this is where my interest in the arts lies. The arts express feelings beyond words, beyond sound, beyond image, beyond reason. That’s why I lose myself creating music, journal pages and other arty-type stuff… or perhaps that is where I find myself?
I seek answers philosophically, scientifically and in faith. A paradox?
Some believe that certain times and certain places make seeing into the unknown easier, or even crossing from one side to the other. From beyond to here, from here to the beyond. Samhain is a thin time. The pop festival of Hallowe’en is a crass veneer to make money, belittle any spiritual dimension and promote the latest genre trend in horror.
Samhain and the later Christianised All Hallow’s Eve and All Souls’ Day are moments to think about ‘ends’ and those who have passed through the thin veil… and upon that which may be able to come the other way. It is the beginning of the dark time, and the long nights of winter lay ahead. Life becomes sparse, survival becomes scarce.
This is a time when life lets go.
Life and death inhabit different spaces, yet Samhain allows liminality.
It can be a metaphor for us. To let go, discard. Let what is no longer giving us life pass over, or let the clutter we have accumulated decompose. Yet, at the same time, that which has already passed can be used for guidance, wisdom and warning.
I’m not advocating celebrating death, demons and decay… what you do in your own creative journey is your choice. I’m just letting you know that especially at these thin times and thin places I think about those people, practices and possibilities. As I mentioned above, I am interested in that stuff.
May you let go of what is no longer needed and unburdened travel further.
Blessings
Thank you for reading this post. Please share your thoughts in the comment section below. namaste d xox
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So I might be doing a thing. If it is a thing it will be all about creating. Every day I am aiming to create something. It might be art, music, or some prose. I want to discover my ‘voice’ if there is such a thing, and one way to do that is to create and see where it takes me. I have several projects in need of work but I won’t limit myself to those. I don’t want to restrict the creative flow just see where it takes me. I don’t like restrictions they… well… restrict.
Today’s creative practice, or act, was the logo above. I used Adobe Illustrator and reminded myself how to subtract a shape from another shape. As you can see these acts of creativity don’t need to be too demanding or difficult. The only rule is to do something each day, an act, a practice, a ritual of creativity.
So if this does become a thing it will be a thing with minimal rules. The act doesn’t need to be completed. It could be 50 words, 100, one or two thousand. It might be a musical theme, a song or a soundtrack. It may be a page in my art journal. But I will create something… if this is a thing.
I have been in a creative rut for too long. I have spent too much time thinking about processes and lists and projects without actually doing anything creative. This thing is a way to get me out of the rut. Each day; an act of creativity.
Thank you for reading this post. Please share your thoughts in the comment section below. namaste d xox
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I loved the shapes the clouds were making the other day at the beach. I then ran this image through the HDR filters on Photoshop… I quite like the enhancements so I thought I would share them.
Thank you for reading this post. Please share your thoughts in the comment section below. namaste d xox
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It’s springtime and like many others, I have been tidying, sorting and clearing things out. As a consequence of this spring cleaning, piles of boxes have been moved, used and emptied. And, of course, that has got me thinking creatively about these containers and their metaphorical meaning.
This week’s creative prompt is box. Each week we begin with a single word and expand it to inspire writing fiction, journaling and other creative activities. These creative prompts, are to give me, and anyone else who wants to join in, some inspiration for creative work, personal development and even a little self-care.
The word box can mean and be used in many things. It is the sort of word that has literal, practical uses, but also has metaphorical and even spiritual connotations. It is a business cliche to ‘think outside the box’ and is often used by businesses in the wrong way leading to a move away from their core aim. However, for creativity, thinking outside of the box, or the rules, is what makes genius art.
Definitions include…
box — a container with a flat base and sides, typically square or rectangular and having a lid, an area on a page that is to be filled in or that contains separate printed matter, a separate section or enclosed area reserved for a group of people, a protective casing for a piece of a mechanism
— verb: put in or provide with a box
Box has an additional meaning to hit, or fight, using hands or fists. It’s not really what I had in mind for a creative prompt. However, sometimes the only way out of a situation, especially creative ruts, is to fight or let off some steam, to punch something even if that punch is metaphorical.
box is summed up for me as a container, either wanted or not.
Let the prompt ‘box’ inspire you in any area of creativity that you are interested:
writing fiction
journaling
art journaling
songwriting
photography
painting
composing
blog posts
art therapy
anything that could use a little nudge to begin
Writing prompt
A Fiction Writing Prompt exploring the word box to stretch the literary muscles. No rules. No word counts. Simply write and explore. It’s time to let your creative writing skills free.
I had no idea what was inside. However, I began to remove the box’s lid.
Writing Prompt Expanded
As part of my spring clean, I have been putting things into boxes. Each box is even a nice label so I know exactly what’s in it. I have a habit of forgetting what I have and where it is, therefore boxes and labels are my friends. I know what I have stored.
Our protagonist doesn’t. A box could contain a treasure or something else. Let’s explore…
What size and shape is the box?
Why don’t they know what it contains, have they just found it?
How d they feel as they lift the lid?
Apart from a box with unknown contents, everything else is down to you, the writer. The prompt is in the first person, but you can change that if you want. The contents of the box could be anything, let your imagination run. As mentioned it could be treasure, it could be dangerous, it could be something seemingly unknowable, remember Pandora!
Enjoy and may the contents of the box lead you to write an inspiring tale. Bring the contents and your ideas outside the box.
Quick fiction writing
Set a time limit, use the following random prompts and write a short piece of fiction.
Character: child
Place: playground
Item: surrounded by a box marked in chalk
Journal prompt
I often use boxes in my journal. They are used to highlight important things. They are used to separate areas, to make them distinct. I also find myself writing the same thing. Quite often I am writing negative things over and over again. I end up putting myself in a box, defining and limiting myself. Next time I do that, I’ll contain those negative thoughts in lines. I’ll box them up and then cross them out with a big black marker. Time to get outside self-made boxes that limit us.
Three ideas for your journal
think about your articular creative pastime. How can you think outside the box and create differently. Write a list that breaks the rules
draw, paint or collage an image made entirely of box shapes (literal cubism, or boxism)
draw a box in the centre of your page, write negative thoughts, feelings or habits within. Cover it with a positive image
Theory of General Creativity
I now have ‘box’ written on the board above my computer. I am confident it will inspire me on my creative journey this week. I am involved in far too many creative projects. I find zoning them and putting them into literal boxes helps me to focus on one at a time. And I now have all my pens, paints and other creative tools in their own box or area. That should help.
capture boxes or square/rectangle shapes and lines with your camera
paint a cube with something inside
explore escaping any boxes that contain and hold you back in songwriting or poetry
Let ‘box(es)’ inspire your music, photography, and painting this week.
Finally…
As always, these creative prompts are optional and entirely open to your interpretation. Use them as a starting point for a short story, a moment in your journal, something a little more grandiose or any creative project or idea.
As mentioned before, this isn’t a ‘challenge’ but the prompts can be used that way if you want. If you do create anything using them, I would love to see or hear about it. Leave a link in the comments below or tag me #thecreativeminimalist on any social platform.
Thank you for reading this post. Please share your thoughts in the comment section below. namaste d xox
Sign up for my (ir)regular newsletter to keep up to date with my creative adventures, including special offers, and join me on Instagram | YouTube | Twitter | Pinterest
Sign up for my (ir)regular newsletter to keep up to date with my creative adventures, including special offers, and join me on Instagram | YouTube | Twitter | Pinterest
I have the amazing privilege of living within walking distance of the sea. If I need to reconnect with nature I can be standing next to the untamed wilderness of the ocean in minutes. I can be face to face with its beauty and its danger.
This week’s creative prompt is waves. Each week we begin with a single word and expand it to inspire writing fiction, journaling and other creative activities. These creative prompts, are to give me, and anyone else who wants to join in, some inspiration for creative work, personal development and even a little self-care.
The word waves can mean many things. It can be the waves upon the water, a friendly gesture or a way of upsetting the status quo. All variations on frequencies and ripples in different settings and situations. And if we think in terms of frequencies, then everything we can see is down to waves.
Definitions include…
wave (singular of waves)
— verb: move one’s hand to and fro in greeting or as a signal, move (one’s hand or arm, or something held in one’s hand) to and fro, convey (a greeting or other message), instruct (someone) to move in a particular direction by moving one’s hand, move to and fro with a swaying motion
— noun: a long body of water curling into an arched form and breaking on the shore, a ridge of water between two depressions in open water, a shape regarded as resembling a breaking wave, a sudden occurrence of or increase in a phenomenon, feeling, or emotion, a periodic disturbance of the particles of a substance
waves, for me, are something moving, there is motion.
Let the prompt ‘waves’ inspire you in any area of creativity that you are interested:
writing fiction
journaling
art journaling
songwriting
photography
painting
composing
blog posts
art therapy
anything that could use a little nudge to begin
Writing prompt
A Fiction Writing Prompt exploring the word waves to stretch the literary muscles. No rules. No word counts. Simply write and explore. It’s time to let your creative writing skills free.
I face the Waves, but would I cross them or be engulfed?
Writing Prompt Expanded
When I look at the sea I can feel so much potential. There is energy from the waves themselves, the thoughts of travelling across them and the danger of riptides and currents. When I look at the waves I feel inspired.
That’s what inspired this prompt. We begin with the waves in front of your protagonist and their potential. Let’s explore…
Why is the character looking at the waves?
What has led them to this point in their life?
Are the waves literal or metaphorical?
The context for this prompt is entirely up to you. It is set in the first person as this can make it easier to describe feelings and emotions, however, feel free to change this. The challenge here is to capture and describe the two potential outcomes, one positive and the other not so, from the perspective of the protagonist.
Enjoy and may the words wash upon the page like waves upon the shore.
Quick fiction writing
Set a time limit, use the following random prompts and write a short piece of fiction.
Character: albatross
Place: above the ocean
Item: floating branch
Journal prompt
I am a bit of a worrier. When I stand on the beach and see the waves I can let the feelings of being overwhelmed and the fear of the unknown take hold. Exploring my fears and worries in my journal often follows a visit to the beach. And journaling is the perfect place to dream of travelling across the waves to distant shores and lands where dreams become realities. Again, either literal or metaphorical.
Three ideas for your journal
explore your metaphorical waves that appear before your dreams
draw, paint or collage a representation of waves
draw wavy lines and make them into a background for your art journal
Theory of General Creativity
I now have ‘waves’ written on the board above my computer. I am confident it will inspire me on my creative journey this week. The uniqueness of each wave is an inspiration, each can have a different frequency or amplitude, an almost limitless range.
capture waves with your camera, either on the sea or items waving in the air
paint the sea with its waves, but are they calm or wild?
explore the building of an emotional wave in songwriting or poetry
Let ‘waves’ inspire your music, photography, and painting this week.
Finally…
As always, these creative prompts are optional and entirely open to your interpretation. Use them as a starting point for a short story, a moment in your journal, something a little more grandiose or any creative project or idea.
As mentioned before, this isn’t a ‘challenge’ but the prompts can be used that way if you want. If you do create anything using them, I would love to see or hear about it. Leave a link in the comments below or tag me #thecreativeminimalist on any social platform.
Thank you for reading this post. Please share your thoughts in the comment section below. namaste d xox
Sign up for my (ir)regular newsletter to keep up to date with my creative adventures, including special offers, and join me on Instagram | YouTube | Twitter | Pinterest
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