Tag: Creativity
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Battling Resistance
Since I took yesterday off, I told myself I would sit down to write first thing this morning. Before getting to my desk, though, I did the following: Cleaned up the dirty dishes in the kitchen Got a load of laundry started Set my kids clothes out for the day Made the beds Scrolled through…
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Intentionally Blank
In an article from The Write Practice, Jeff Elkins offers tips on how to find your “Thoughtful Spot.” This is a trick, Elkins writes, that he learned from Winnie the Pooh. “His Thoughtful Spot was a log under a tree marked by a sign that read, ‘Pooh’s thotful spot.’ It was the place where Pooh…
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In the Valley of the Creative Process
I am in the middle of writing my sermon for our upcoming Baccalaureate service. I have a great beginning, a muddled mess for a middle and no conclusion. Yet the day is fast approaching when I must deliver this creative work. So I am feeling anxious. Last week I listened to a podcast on “Overcoming…
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Practice, Practice, Practice
“We are always practicing, until the very end,” writes Brenda Miller in her book The Pen and the Bell: Mindful Writing in a Busy World. I admit, in such a performance-driven world, the idea that we are always practicing gives me comfort. So what if I don’t preach my absolute best sermon at our upcoming…
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The Artist and the Art: A Theological Relationship
Sometimes, when I feel creatively dry, I venture over to our college’s art gallery in search of inspiration. Yesterday morning I made this excursion with Abraham Joshua Heschel’s Essential Writings tucked under my arm. Upon entering the gallery I paused first to scan through the binder that held the resumes and statements of the artists.…
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The Way I Share My Soul with the World
Today is International Podcast Day—another one of those random “days” that I would not have known about had it not been for Twitter. Generally, #podcastday would not have mattered to me had I not wanted to blog about a new podcast I recently discovered. I’ve been listening to Elizabeth Gilbert’s Magic Lessons whenever I can.…
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It is Solved by Walking, or Stair Climbing
Last week I had no idea what to blog about until I went to the gym. After ten minutes on the stair climber, I had my idea. Fifteen minutes later on the elliptical trainer I had Three Lessons from a Productive Summer outlined in a note-taking app on my cell phone. Actually, I had ten…
Teri McDowell Ott 