creativity

The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls.

- Pablo Picasso -

Every day in my work and in my personal life, I find that creativity gives me freedom to explore new ideas, manipulate old, tried and true concepts and rework everything for my own self-expression or to put a twist on my work.

I love music. It is a language I have understood for as long as I can remember. I can express myself through music. I use music to help my students learn and recall facts. I love making music even more than I enjoy listening to music, but I can be inspired by other artists, especially singer-songwriters like me.

I love visual arts. I love photography in particular because it is accessible to me. I have a intuition about subjects and composition. Photography is quick and can be very spur of the moment. Miss the opportunity, the light, the subject and it's gone. Photography can be tinkered with back at home on a computer. I am moved and inspired by other people's expression through photography. I use photography only in my personal life as a mode of expression. I cannot remember using it for work.

I love writing. I have always loved reading and have been reading probably as long as I've been talking. I love the written word. I love language. I love the meaning of words and their combination like I love melodies and rich 7th and 9th chords in music. I write for pleasure every day in my journal. I also use my talent for writing in my work. Words flow easily in both English and French even though I prefer English. Writing really opened up for me when I attended Linda Rief's conferences in the Laurentians. Poetry and creative non-fiction opened up writing as expression for me like the blues opened up my guitar playing and 7th and 9th chords opened up my attempts at the piano.

I also find that moving my body also liberates my mind: swimming, cycling, skiing, snowshoeing, even gardening. My body is busy and working and my mind is free chew on its bones or to wander free.

How do you wash off your daily dust?

Winter solstice

Where did 2014 go?
Okay. It's not totally gone yet. We're into some of the darkest days of the year and yet, I find it warm and calming. I give myself permission to be less  than perfect.

Permission to go easy on myself and my students. 

Permission to rest and be lazy, especially as I see colleagues battle fatigue, colds and the flu. There will be no messy crafts or Christmas concert this year. I've decided to be less than perfect and to stay healthy and patient for my own good and for the good of others around me. 

Permission for a second glass of red wine, I'm in my pyjamas by 7pm and not heading back out until morning so no harm can be done besides falling asleep on the couch as I read or watch another rerun of Blue Bloods.

Even though the days have been getting shorter since June, it will seem almost too soon to witness them getting longer next week. I haven't yet been skiing or snowshoeing. I need more snow for that.

Sundays are spent making big pots of veggie soups and chilis and cornbread and muffins, sipping herbal teas and reading and watching the dog walkers hike up the lane.

Everyday is lived fully even though lately, I've neglected my writing and photography.
I'll forgive myself. I've kept up swimming 100 laps a week and I've almost kept up composing new music each week. I even surprised myself and my students as I noodled away on the guitar waiting for them to settle into the class earlier this week. They clapped when I finished a piece of music that I'd just created as I watched them sharpen their pencils , tie their indoor shoes and read the daily plan. They're used to hearing me play quietly in the back of the room when they are on task and don't need me. They don't usually clap. And I admitted to them that I had just surprised myself too with what I'd just created. 

So, I'll go easy on myself if I haven't kept up all of my challenges.

Go easy on yourself too. Take time for yourself, take an extra cup of whatever makes you sane.

All of my challenges in one day

Where did the week go?
Work got in the way.
Then there was the matter of my birthday with phone calls and visitors for a couple of evenings. The there were a couple of evenings of dinners with good friends, one of which I hosted. And I wake up this morning thinking that today's To-Do list is pretty long:

Swim between 30 and 40 laps in order to get a decent start to the week and to help me sleep because this sound sleeper has been having sleep problems the last couple of weeks.

Get a notebook going to organize the 52 songs that I'm writing this year and compose another song before I go to bed tonight.

Walk or cycle.

Write a blog post. This is my second one this morning, so I'm okay.

Take, edit and publish a photo...no problem.

Read. When all that is left is reading, I'll feel as if 'm on vacation.

If I get any free time, I'd also like to draw something. Drawing has been on my mind in the last few days and I'm not sure why. I also get a release from drawing and mind-mapping but I rarely make time for these 2 activities.

For now,  I have a breakfast date and must get dressed to join my friends. When I get home, I'll take another look at my list and maybe only do what really needs to be done today and enjoy this autumn day.

This is why I love spending my days with kids: Adora Svitak

Adora Svitak illustrates just by being herself what I love about spending most of my waking hours with my students. Yes, I know that I'm the teacher, but honestly, I am learning every day as much if not more than they are. All of my students have something to offer me and I love exchanging ideas with them and trying to figure out how I can hopefully help grow into who they would like to become while doing no harm and not being a hindrance to them.

If you are at all intrigued, listen to this amazing young girl:

My new favourite artist: Shea Hembrey

My mind is blown! I so get this guy it ain't even funny! He is wacked out amazing in how he goes after different styles of contemporary art going so far as to even create bios for his imagined artists. I just love it.

For once, I see someone who is doing things in so many different directions and it inspires me with my fruit fly attention span. There are so many things that I love to appreciate in art and nature and so many ways in which I enjoy expressing my gratitude, playfulness and curiosity and Shea Hembrey validates all the personas that we can be.

He inspires me to keep reaching towards different methods of expression and trying to tap into my students in different ways, especially my harder to reach students who can be dyslexic or dyspraxic or just plain shy and unsure of themselves.

If you are just a bit curious, have a look at the art and a listen to this wonderful artist on this Ted Talk.

New quote

Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant.

- Robert Louis Stevenson -

Thanksgiving Monday check in

“Do not fear mistakes - there are none. ”

― Miles Davis

 

A week ago Sunday, I wrote down several challenges for myself:

1. Write 1 song a week. Goal 500 songs

2. Write 1 blog post every week. Goal 52 posts

3. Read every day. Goal read 1000 books

4. Publish 1 photo every day. Goal 1000 photos on Flickr

5. Cycle/walk to work all school year. Goal walk cycle 1000 km

6. Swim 100 laps every week from October to April. Goal 3000 laps

Songwriting
I managed to compose a song sans lyrics so far which keeps playing over and over in my mind. I must write down the music and start recording it today. I've also started a second riff. I brought one of my guitars and a stand and put it next to the bed in the master bedroom. Having the guitar out and within easy reach entices me to grab it and play. I improvise a lot  and often follow the path of "mistakes" in my playing realizing that they lead me to discoveries.

 

 

Writing

I'm writing now as an update so I'm counting it as writing a blog post. I write every day. I've written over 100 pages in my journal since starting a new notebook on September 10th. I'm not terribly good at updating blogs.

Reading

I read every day and manage to read one or two books a week on a good week. I've been adding books to my Goodreads bookshelves, but I'd like to know how to delete books from the "want to read" shelf. I'm currently reading Isobel Losada's "A beginner's guide to changing the world". I love armchair travel. No altitude sickness. No border crossings. No visas. 

Photography

I've been having a lot of fun taking photos and playing around with cropping. I've faithfully posted at least a photo a day on Flickr. 
My best buddy and I went on a nowhere trip yesterday stopping anywhere we thought might snapworthy.

I even encouraged a talented, local photographer to get onto Flickr. After searching to find a photographer who inspires me, I finally found a link to her website. I couldn't remember Mary Jo Hoffman's name nor her website's name, but I stumbled upon it through Pinterest.

http://stillblog.net/ 

 Cycling/Walking
Despite, some rainy, cool and stormy days, I rode my bike or walked everywhere I went in the village except when I went to swim laps at the hotel pool or when I needed more than 1 grocery bag. I'm proud of myself even if the distances in the village are negligeable.


Swimming 
Last Monday, I swam 50 laps (each lap is 75 yards), Wednesday, I swam 25 laps and I got back to the pool and swam 25 laps Saturday night. Again, a real, hardcore swimming would spit me out with a gulp of chlorinated water, but I'm still proud of myself because I at least get off my butt and go swim when I could very well just lay back into the Lazyboy and read some more.