June is a month of endings and of beginnings. Graduations, proms, the last exam of the year, and the dreaming of things to come. I was listening to Julia Louis-Dreyfus on her podcast Wiser Than Me and she mentioned a poem that her mom, also a poet, shared with her. She said it gives her goosebumps and it did the same for me. It is called First Fall by Maggie Smith. She wrote: Continue reading
Tag: Annie Dillard
I’m currently reading The Good Life, a book about the longest longitudinal study on happiness. Eight-four years long and still has an 84% participation rate. And what does the research uncover as the biggest predictor of happiness? Relationships. Of any type. Because connection is everything.
But was that what we thought?
Waldinger and Schultz write, “… for the sake of illustration let’s take a closer look at one emblematic keystone, a persistent cultural assumption, shared among many cultures all over the world, that is not only old but ancient and shows no signs of going anywhere: The foundation of a good life is money.” Continue reading
What a few years it’s been. Who knew we could use unprecedented in so many situations? I mean, how do you prepare for a once in a lifetime pandemic? For changes to everyday life that have never happened in your memory.
And yet, here we are.
As we look forward to new chapters, it’s hard not to look back. Continue reading
I love the arts. I’ve been engaged with our local film festival for years. I would buy a pass and attend the shows, while my oldest was the event photographer. I was always inspired by watching the under-the-radar selection of movies that might not always make it to the coast-to-coast big screen.
This weekend I watched Nine Days. Really made you think. A character named Will was interviewing people (souls) over nine days. Each soul was vying for the opportunity to become alive in someone’s body born on earth. When not interviewing, Will watched the souls he had sent to earth previously on TVs showing them living all of life’s moments, big and small. He was torn by one storyline that ended badly and then an interview candidate named Emma challenged Will to face his own demons too. Continue reading
Photographer Chase Jarvis shared a video recently with some exciting news. He said that the oldest university in the world, Oxford, which has been teaching students for almost 1,000 years, has partnered with Chase and his Creative Live online education program. Oxford is now offering this program to all 24,000 students studying there, not just those in the arts.
Chase talks about how literacy used to be for the elite, for royals and the clergy. Then the printing press arrived and it was democratized. Anyone could learn to read and reading set you free. It changed the world.
Now, Chase says, creativity is the new literacy. Whether you are in engineering, medicine, management, finance or anything in between, everyone does a better job when they colour outside the lines.
The fact that a university like Oxford sees the value creativity brings to critical thinking and problem solving is a big deal.
Creativity allows you to create the life you want or change the life you have. What you do with your time, how you move your body, what you cook for yourself or your loved ones, what you read, the stories you share, the music you listen to or create.
As author Annie Dillard said, “How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.”
How can you inject creativity into your day? What creative solution can you find for your closet, your schedule, your pantry, your vacation, your weekend, your life?
As Sir Ken Robinson, author and education advisor, said, “Creativity is putting your imagination to work, and it’s produced the most extraordinary results in human culture.”
How can we harness our imagination and create the results the world needs? Think outside the box and add action to your ideas. You never know what you might create next.
I can’t believe my birthday is almost here. I’ve learned a lot over four plus decades and thought I would pen a piece about the 46 things I have learned in 46 years. Continue reading
Author and poet Annie Dillard, born 73 years ago today, became the youngest American woman to win the Pulitzer Prize at age 28. Annie once said, “How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.” Continue reading