Creative Lift

In this episode of Creative Lift: "Creating Space: Finding Flow," we're revisiting the ideas offered in season eight. Join me to reflect on our journey through the Illuminary's five rooms - the Studio, Workshop, Attic, Library, and Garden Cafe, in Creative Lift episodes 60-70. Each of these Illuminary rooms offer unique tools and mindsets to support different aspects of your creative process. In t...

In today's episode of Creative Lift,  Creating Space: Collaborating in the Cafe , we're getting practical about how we might invite feedback in the most helpful way.   Rather than asking someone to tell you what they think of your work, how might you shape a question that makes it possible for them to give you information that will illuminate the next steps of your creative process?   Episode Link...

  In today's episode of Creative Lift, Creating Space: Designing with Collaboration in Mind , we're considering the importance of collaboration in the creative process. How might we outfit physical spaces and design our mindset to make the most of the varied perspectives and possibilities that arise when we work creatively with others?   What approach might we take to sharing our ideas, inviting f...

In today's episode of Creative Lift,  Creating Space: Learning in the Library , we're building on last week's exploration of an expansive library space, dedicated to learning, which houses artistic masterpieces of all kinds. Today, we'll step into that space and learn a reverse-engineering strategy. This strategy will make it possible for you to apprentice with any creative hero in an approachable...

In today's episode of Creative Lift, Creating Space: Designing with Apprenticeship in Mind, we'll explore another essential mindset for creative thinking: apprenticeship. So far in this season, we've considered the importance of improvisation, critical thinking, and reflection, and their related skillsets. We've given each of these thinking modes a specific space in our mind. We've visualized a bu...

In today's episode of Creative Lift,  Creating Space: Reflecting in the Attic , we're building on last week's exploration of an inner, mental space, specifically designed for reflection.   Today, we'll step into that space and try an activity together called The Emotion Jars . You'll consider the emotional fuel you currently have for your creative work through a hands-on experience. I encourage th...

In today's episode of Creative Lift, Creating Space: Designing with your Voice in Mind , we're continuing our series that explores the Illuminary. The Illuminary is a visualization tool that invites you to picture your creative thinking process happening in various rooms. Our goal is to make the abstract and sometimes confusing creative process more tangible, giving ourselves tools to see the way...

In today's episode of Creative Lift, "Creating Space: Strategizing in the Workshop," we're continuing our series that explores the Illuminary. The Illuminary is a visualization tool that invites you to picture your creative thinking process happening in various rooms. Each room is designed to support a particular mode of thinking. For instance, your Studio is a space for divergent thinking, brains...

In this season of Creative Lift, "Creating Space," we're making the abstract and sometimes confusing creative process more tangible. We're giving ourselves tools to see the way we move through the creative process so that we can ideate, craft our work, gather feedback, and revise our work with more clarity and flow. Today's episode, "Designing with Strategic Thinking in Mind," builds on the concep...

Today's episode of Creative Lift, "Creating Space: Playing in the Studio," is a hands-on experience of playing in one of the Illuminary's rooms, the Studio. You can think of the Illuminary as an inner creative hideout that is made up of various rooms designed to support your creative thinking process. The Studio is a space for divergent thinking, brainstorming, improvising, and experimenting.   La...

In today's episode of Creative Lift, dive with me into the first of the Illuminary's rooms, the Studio. You can think of the Illuminary as an inner creative hideout that is made up of various rooms designed to support your creative thinking process. The Studio is a space for divergent thinking, brainstorming, improvising, and experimenting. In our episode, we'll explore why play matters, no matter...

In Season Eight of Creative Lift, our theme is Creating Space. Today's episode is titled A Room of Your Own: Why Creative Space Matters . When you think of creative space, what comes to mind? Do you think of your physical creative space? Or does your mind turn to something less easy to define, such as your mental or emotional space? Maybe right now, you're in a season where you feel you have the j...

Much has already been researched, said, and written about the tension between creativity and fear. Even so, I didn't feel this season would be complete without a discussion of creative courage, and why daring is so crucial in the artful life. Brene Brown writes, "The willingness to show up changes us, It makes us a little braver each time." What if you didn't have to produce perfect work on the fi...

Why is play important in the artful life? In episode 58 of Creative Lift, Living the Artful Life: Permission to Play , we'll chat about some reasons that play may be more important than most of us give it credit for, and how you might give yourself permission to play. We all know that the amount of energy we have when we approach a task is essential. If we experience our task as a slog, it likely...

In her book, Present Over Perfect , Shauna Niequist asks, ″What would our lives be like if our days were studded by tiny, completely unproductive, silly, nonstrategic, wild and beautiful five-minute breaks, reminders that our days are for loving and learning and laughing, not for pushing and planning, reminders that it's all about the heart, not about the hustle?″ What would that be like? Today's...

What does it mean to "seek the metaphor?" Here's a quote from Twyla Tharp's The Creative Habit that puts this hard-to-describe concept into words: Creativity is more about taking the facts, fictions, and feelings we store away and finding new ways to connect them. What we're talking about here is metaphor. Metaphor is the lifeblood of all art, if it is not art itself. Metaphor is our vocabulary fo...

In today's episode, Living the Artful Life: Create Story Moments we'll pay attention to the moments that make up our lives and think about how we might intentionally create opportunities for connection and joy. To me, living an artful life isn't so much about what I make or do, but more about the way I pay attention. That phrase, pay attention, reminds me that in each moment I have a choice. How w...

This season, our theme is Living the Artful Life and today's episode is titled, "Listen Deeply." Listening is something we do all the time, but it's also a powerful tool that is easy to take for granted. What if, instead of filling our calendars with pre-determined goals, we took time to listen for the possibilities first? Listening opens up an invitation for surprise, and can lead to self-discove...

In Season Seven of Creative Lift, our theme is Living the Artful Life. Today's episode is titled, "You've Already Started." What is the artful life and why might we want to live one? It's important to note that there's a big difference between living perfectly and living artfully. In fact, as we kick off this season, we're giving ourselves permission to let go of the "perfect" life in order to ope...

We're wrapping up Season Six of Creative Lift: Ring in a New Year of Creativity . If you've found this episode around the time it was published, 2023 has just begun. In this season, we've been exploring what it might mean to frame our new year as a story rather than a slog. What if instead of deadlines and must-dos, you had an unfolding story to follow? What if instead of a list, you had a map to...

I often encourage people to play their way to the page, which may sound whimsical, but I mean these words in all seriousness. Words matter, and when we say, "I have to write today," or "Once I write 1000 words, I can get on with my day," or even, "My most important task today is to sit down and write," these words reinforce the idea that writing is work. It's true: writing requires a lot of heart...

What if you could show up at your creative desk with no ideas at all, or with a million ideas, and either way, feel sure you had a process to move you reliably into flow? What would it mean to be able to count on creative momentum? We all face blocks now and then, sometimes major ones, and that reality makes it hard to believe in a world where we could count on creative momentum. On the other hand...

What if you could dream big and move toward those dreams without having to worry about New Year's resolutions? No more rules, expectations, no more painful slog through lists of to-do's toward your idealized self. A call to adventure does present us with challenges, but it also engages our creativity. When a story shows up, we generally know what we'll be working toward. However, there's all kinds...

It's time for Season Six of Creative Lift! We're approaching the end of 2022 and the beginning of 2023, and our theme for this season is Ring in a New Year of Creativity! I wonder: if you were to give a gift to that imaginative part of yourself that loves to play and explore and wonder … what would you give them? In this season of Creative Lift, I'm encouraging you to not only give yourself one gi...