Creative Inspiration

"The demons are innumerable, arrive at the most inappropriate times, and create panic and terror... but I have learned that if I can master the negative forces and harness them to my chariot, then they can work to my advantage.... Lilies often grow out of carcasses' arseholes."

~ Ingmar Bergman

Ideas are swirling, cogs are turning and possibility is permeating my heart and soul, the whole slowly morphing into faith and trust.

Here are a few things, people or spaces that have been inspiring me these past few weeks...

1. Marked by the Muse - Because Stephey Baker's artwork has captured me. Her Dream Song Series is magical.

2. Sophia Leadership - Because Heather Plett is bold, she speaks of leadership infused with creativity and intuition, and she is very convincing.

3. Bergman's Island - Because it's fun to learn about other creatives and what makes them tick. This is a beautiful and informative documentary about Ingmar Bergman, his life and his creative process.

4. Goddess Leonie - Because Leonie Allan Dawson is not afraid to dream - and act - BIG.

5. Dirty Footprints Studio - Because Connie Hozvicka is not afraid to paint and paint BIG. And while watching her video below I felt an unmistakable and undeniable YES rise through my chest.

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What inspires you these days?

A Year Ago This Month

sunset at Westboro Beach, Ottawa (August 2010)

I thought it would be fun to comb the archives and pull out a few favourite posts from this time last year. Funnily, most of these are still relevant today.

I hope they are for you too...

Permission to Simplify - It seems I was keeping things simple and OK with it, wondering what YOU could give yourself permission to simplify that day. The question remains: What could you give yourself permission to simplify today?

What's in a Name (or A Near-Manifesto) - In case you're curious, the story behind the name of my blog, Creative Living Experiment. This is one of my favourite posts.

Simplicity for Complexity's Sake - "I'm exploring and entertaining thoughts about stuff like trust, fear, roots, silence, gratitude, right work, nature, spirituality, practice, patience, compassion, surrender, money, control, values, worthiness and self-esteem." Whoa. I guess giving myself permission to simplify also gave permission to a lot of stuff to come up!

The Life You Crave - A quick quote from Tama Kieves via Barbara Winter on creating the life you crave. It still rings true today.