It's one in the morning and I'm on the Empire Builder, in Spokane, Washington. They are adding a dining car with a lot of bumping and banging.
I managed to get 4 and a half solid hours of sleep before my knees started to ache, and so now I get a relatively quite time to write and read, in the observation car. Not a lot to observe - it's dark; but I heard an owl call.
Agenda Today:
1. Read "The Creativity Book"
2. Evaluate my creativity habits
3. Make some Save the Butterfly tags
4. Ongo journal
1. Read "the Creativity Book":
A few years ago I started but didn't finish this book by Eric Maisel (one of my favorite writers). The subtitle is "A Year's Worth of Inspiration and Guidance." Who doesn't want that?
I'm on part 8, Be Ambitious, and Week 29: Want Everything. He talks about the "desire to make our mark, to do great work, and to create like a god..." and asks that my focus this month be to dream big, let my ambitions out of the bag, and to want it even in the face of long odds. He says it's in our nature to want what we want: to use our brains, discover new things, live authentically, and create something.
He challenges me to be precise - to want everything true, beautiful, and good. And then plan how to get it.
2. Evaluate my creativity habits:
Once a week I try to take stock of my creative habits:
Have I launched into a large creative project, one worth exhausting myself on, and if not, why?
Have I constructed a schedule for my creative work and am I keeping to it?
Do I set goals at the beginning of each week?
Do I have a daily routine that supports my creative efforts?
Journal: Yes, I have launched into a large creative project - it involves writing, but also practicing all the steps needed to blend nature and culture. It's an all-day, everyday kind of project. I'm making a craftivism component this week: Save the Butterfly tags.
3. Make some Save the Butterfly tags:
I brought along a craftivism project for this train trip - I revived a butterfly tag I made a few years ago, with a new QR code and a compelling message: Save butterflies;
Plant natives!
Butterflies and moths face threats
that are leading towards
extinction. Habitat loss is one
of the top causes of butterfly
and moth species decline - they
do not have the food and living
conditions they need to survive.
Discover how to help at
Homegrown National Park.org
Today I'll take some time to paint some small butterflies on watercolor paper to cut out and sew onto the tags, add a bead, and they will be ready to fly!
My goal with craftivism is always two-fold: Making something with my hands to calm and revive my creative spirit, and in the process make a small token that is eye-catching and educational. My butterfly tags are a gentle gift to both butterflies and to people.
Soon I'd like to design a similar tag for fishes, and clean water.
4. Ongo journal:
One important shift we need to consciously make is to always remember the nature in ourselves and in others. I mean, remember the wild animal that we each are, and the wild needs: The physical survival and sanctuary that earth provides. Just as the wild birds need a safe place to live, with food and clean water, so do we. When we care for the earth, we care for people too.
This seems obvious when stated that way, but we often place all our attention on humanitarian needs, and forget that human needs are the same as all the creatures. And so the opposite is also true: When we care for ourselves and other people, we are also caring for the earth. When I feel cynical about humankind and all our excessive behavior, I remember to look at us as wild animals, deserving of my compassionate forgiveness. When I remember to honor the nature in you, I honor also the earth and the creator.
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