In every workplace, there are three basic kinds of people: givers, takers and matchers. Organizational psychologist Adam Grant breaks down these personalities and offers simple strategies to promote a culture of generosity and keep self-serving employees from taking more than their share.
Today I’m sharing a blog post from Julia Cameron. Julia Cameron is the author of The Artist’s Way. Here’s a blerb from her bio.
She is the best-selling author of more than forty books, fiction and nonfiction; a poet, songwriter, filmmaker and playwright. Commonly referred to as “The Godmother” or “High Priestess” of creativity, her tools are based in practice, not theory, and she considers herself “the floor sample of her own toolkit.” The Artist’s Way has been translated into forty languages and sold over five million copies to date.
juliacameronlive.com
I tried morning pages and I still do my artist dates. Morning pages is when you journal first thing in the morning, as in, right when you wake up. Artist dates are when you take yourself and yourself only out to do something. Can be anything but you have to be alone and you should be doing something that utilizes or inspires you creativity. Artist dates are now a part of my weekly routine. It takes a lot of intention to develop the artist date habit. Even when you’re a full time writer.
Productivity is all the rave, but Julia Cameron teaches artists to look at their creativity in a new and productive way.
In her blog post “Creativity does not have to be high art” she reminds us artists that we need to let ourselves be. She says, ” Stop getting better. Start appreciating what you are.” It’s so easy to hyperfocus on improving your craft and lose yourself in “getting better.” You are an artist. The way you enjoy using creativity is art. She even gives us a list of things that count as art and cleaning your closet is on the list.
I appreciate Cameron’s contributions to the creative world very much.
I really enjoyed all the positive things Andy shared with the crowd. I think he’s a really great role model and creates music for everyone to enjoy. Here’s one song that really touched me.
It’s called
Saved My Life by Andy Grammer and R3HAB
Whoa-oh-oh-oh, whoa-oh-oh I think you should know you saved my life
I don’t think you realize What you’ve done for me Oh, I don’t think you realize What a little love could mean
Oh, you, you stay by my side And you, you kept on the lights And you knew just what to say When I was fading Sometimes all that you need is Someone who can believe in you More than you do
I was lost until I saw your halo I was blind until I saw your light I believe, my friend, we all have angels And you are mine
I think you should know you saved my life Oh-oh-oh-oh, whoa-oh-oh I think you should know you saved my life Whoa-oh-oh-oh, whoa-oh-oh I think you should know you saved my life
I don’t think you realize What your words can do Oh, the whole world was falling all around me But I held on to you
Oh, you, you stay by my side And you, you kept on the lights And you knew just what to say When I was fading Sometimes all that you need is Someone who can believe in you More than you do
I was lost until I saw your halo I was blind until I saw your light I believe, my friend, we all have angels And you are mine
I think you should know you saved my life Oh-oh-oh-oh, whoa-oh-oh I think you should know you saved my life (I was lost until I saw your halo) Whoa-oh-oh-oh, whoa-oh-oh (I was blind until I saw your light) I think you should know you saved my life (I believe, my friend, we all have angels) Whoa-oh-oh-oh, whoa-oh-oh (And you are mine) I think you should know you saved my life
‘No Man is an Island’ No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main; if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as any manner of thy friends or of thine own were; any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind. And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.
Olde English Version No man is an Iland, intire of itselfe; every man is a peece of the Continent, a part of the maine; if a Clod bee washed away by the Sea, Europe is the lesse, as well as if a Promontorie were, as well as if a Manor of thy friends or of thine owne were; any mans death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankinde; And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; It tolls for thee.
MEDITATION XVII Devotions upon Emergent Occasions John Donne
Feeling a little under the weather today. Tired achy headache blahh. Taking it easy this evening. I’m sure I’ll feel better tomorrow. Even though I’m taking it easy, I feel like it’s important to share something.
I decided it might be fun to share my Creative Writing professor, Antoinette Brim-Bell’s work. I’m happy/excited to be in her creative writing class.
It took me some time to learn this. There’s two parts to this: setting clear boundaries, and learning to say no, (or at least take time to think about it).
Part One Setting clear boundaries
When you’re called to leave a situation because it’s toxic, it no longer deserves your loyalty. And it’s clear that it’s toxic when your clear set boundaries are disregarded. It can be hard to notice if your boundaries are being disrespected if you have no boundaries set in the first place. Finding out and practicing what boundaries work for you is important. There is such thing as being too rigid.
Part Two Learning to say no
If you’re saying yes to everything in all aspects of your life out of loyalty you’re burning yourself out. This is where knowing your values helps to prioritize your live events. I want you to keep in mind that you don’t always have to answer right away. Take time to think about your schedule. At the same time it’s important to say Yes! to the things that make your fruits of the spirit grow!
At the end of the day loyalty has its place but loyalty taken too far is called codependency. Take care of yourself, know your beliefs and values, and do your best to improve the life of yourself and those around you. That is where liberation lies.
Meeting The Man : James Baldwin in Paris. Directed by Terence Dixon United Kingdom, France, 1970.
James Baldwin according to The Poetry Foundation is a “novelist and essayist of considerable renown, [who] bore witness to the unhappy consequences of American racial strife.” James Baldwin wrote “Go Tell It on the Mountain, The Amen Corner, Notes of a Native Son, Nobody Knows My Name, The Fire Next Time, No Name in the Street, and The Evidence of Things Not Seen. They represent “a search for roots, a surrender to tradition, an acceptance of the Negro past. Then came a series of essays which probe, deeper than anyone has dared, the psychic history of this nation. They are a moving record of a man’s struggle to define the forces that have shaped him, in order that he may accept himself.”
Critics accorded Baldwin high praise for both his style and his themes. “Baldwin has carved a literary niche through his exploration of ‘the mystery of the human being’ in his art,” observed Louis H. Pratt in James Baldwin. “His short stories, novels, and plays shed the light of reality upon the darkness of our illusions, while the essays bring a boldness, courage, and cool logic to bear on the most crucial questions of humanity with which this country has yet to be faced.”
If the hope of giving is to love the living, the giver risks madness in the act of giving.
Some such lesson I seemed to see in the faces that surrounded me.
Needy and blind, unhopeful, unlifted, what gift would give them the gift to be gifted The giver is no less adrift than those who are clamouring for the gift.
If they cannot claim it, if it is not there, if their empty fingers beat the empty air and the giver goes down on his knees in prayer knows that all of his giving has been for naught and that nothing was ever what he thought and turns in his guilty bed to stare at the starving multitudes standing there and rises from bed to curse at heaven, he must yet understand that to whom much is given much will be taken, and justly so: I cannot tell how much I owe.
I love doors. Look at them! There’s a million shapes and sizes. They can lead to great things or to places you never want to go again. I’m sorry for the doors you entered where you were not valued but let me give you a space where you can enter these doors and be valued for being exactly who you are.
How do my weekly “Doors” posts work?
On these blog posts, I insert a picture of an amazing door and then I insert a safe link to somewhere on the interweb. There will never be anything inappropriate on the other side of these doors. What I hope resides on the other side of these doors is inspiration.
Jayne.press 