Creativity

Winter Sky at Dusk

/ still a dreamer / 2 Comments

As I was just about finished what I was working on – it was 5 to 5 – I happened to look out at the sky. An amazing bright pink streak of a cloud was winding down to earth in the darkening dusk. A smaller pink streak appeared to the left. Grabbed the camera and rushed out to the porch, and this is what I could catch from the ground floor.

And then as I turned to come inside, I looked up towards the southern sky, and there to the left of the pink cloudshow, was an eighth moon, gently rocked back, and glowing brightly. How grateful I am just to catch moments such as these.

PiBoIdMo – A Month of Ideas

/ still a dreamer

What a great month it was in terms of writing picture book ideas … as hosted on Tara Lazar’s site, PiBoIdMo – Picture Book Idea Month –  was certainly an inspiration. Whether I win one of the 3 idea critiques by agents offered as random prizes or not – and wouldn ‘t that be nice? – PiBoIdMo kept the ideas flowing, and what’s more they are continuing to flow even now through December.

I have a book upstairs, written a while ago, entitled A Kick in the Seat of the Pants. The title pretty much says it all and it’s about getting off our respective duffs and doing what we aspire to do. Well, PiBoIdMo did just that .. and I now have 30+ ideas from which to build new picture books. (And I got that nifty completion winner button, too!)

Are you stalled in your writing? Though November is the official month, one could really do this at any time … it could be for picture books, novels and even illustrations. Or sketches. The idea is getting us moving and in that, it succeeded! Inspiration is definitely a good thing!

Put A Smile on Your Face

/ still a dreamer

My only occasional posting has less to do with lack of things to write about … but rather more to do with not enough time to write and too many things to write about. A million things were flashing through my brain that I would have liked to write about, but were zipping faster than I could catch them, and then … I was reminded of something that I’d seen on the web awhile back which never fails to put a smile on my face. It seemed like a good thing to share.

Need a smile? Watch this …

November is PiBoIdMo!

/ still a dreamer / 2 Comments

Created and hosted by Tara Lazar, PiBoIdMo – Picture Book Idea Month – is a 30 day challenge during the month of November to come up with a new idea for a picture book every day of the month. This is Tara’s 3rd year hosting PiBoIdMo, and my first year of participating. I’m excited! I find I am already buzzing with ideas in my morning shower or while making coffee.

To participate, you are asked to take the PiBoIdMo pledge to record a new idea daily, (you’re on the honor system), and when you sign up at the beginning of November and end the month with a note of completion, you’re even eligible to win prizes, such as critiques with literary agents. Go, Tara! And …. when you are signed up to participate, you can also put this cool PiBoIdMo Pledge button on your blog.

PiBoIdMo, was inspired, by the way,  by NaNoWriMo, the November writing challenge for novelists, but this one is just for us picture book folks.

So go visit Tara’s site, read all about it, and if inspired you’ll find a link to sign up. But hurry – Nov. 7th is the last day to comment/sign up and you’ll have a bit of catching up to do.

Where Is the Joy?

/ still a dreamer

If you are a woman and you are reading this, then there’s a good chance that you are struggling to find the joy in life. Today’s pace, especially for women, is more frenetic than ever.  Many of us are working, maintaining a home for ourselves and others, raising children, and running like crazy. We are often overwhelmed and exhausted. Despite all this, we may still be reasonably happy, or … we may be downright miserable.

I do believe our natural soul state is one of love and joy. And that it easily gets lost in the pace of everyday life. As I am reading Marianne Williamson’s book, A Woman’s Worth, I find myself dwelling on this section where she writes about joy. She writes that joy is what happens when we recognize how good things are, how beautiful and amazingly powerful we are as women. And she adds that we can create joy in our daily life; we can decide to be happy. It may take our attention and some effort to focus on this, but it is possible.

I know, and perhaps you have, too, the feeling of real joy. For me, it is a distinct feeling that all is right in the world; all is well and perfect at that moment. The fact is that we can experience this feeling so much more often by focusing on the good, and on the amazing beings we, as women, are. I want more joy; how about you? Reading A Woman’s Worth is just fueling that desire for joy right now. This might be a book you’d be interested in if you’d like to discover more of your own joy and your own worth in the world.

Without ever getting into a women’s rights kind of attitude, but always staying in the positive and the uplifting, Williamson writes about how women have lost their place and been kept down throughout much of history, and conversely, of all we are and can be.

The passage that I love in this section is as follows. “A joyful woman, merely by being, says it all. The world is terrified of joyful women. Make a stand. Be one anyway.”