December 28, 2021 • 1:00-2:30 EST on Zoom
Register at http://www.creativeemergence.com/creativesource
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Posted by Michelle on December 09, 2021 | Permalink | Comments (0)
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Posted by Michelle on August 30, 2021 | Permalink | Comments (0)
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I uploaded some of my mandala art to Etsy! I will do an official launch in the fall, and still have more to frame and upload. I will eventually offer prints and paintings, but right now it has the original drawings on there.
www.etsy.com/shop/CreativeEmergenceArt
All of the mandalas on the site now are the originals. They are hand drawn with Prismacolor colored pencils and put onto round black wood frames. 10" wide, and 1/2" thick. They have both hooks and two-sided tape on back for easy hanging.
Posted by Michelle on August 22, 2021 | Permalink | Comments (0)
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It is hard to generate creative flow when you
are in a contractive state. While contraction
is part of any creative birth process,
staying in that place too long becomes an energy block - it prevents the creative energy from flowing more freely. Divergence in creative process needs the open energy of expansion. When we are in expansion energy state, we think, act, perceive, respond, and create differently than when we are in a contractive (more closed) energy state.
So how do we get into a creative energy state when those around us may not be not there? There are infinite ways to engage our creativity, thankfully, but I’ll talk about a couple that involve the body. My next public online workshop is The Creative Body workshop, where we will explore many ways to engage the body creatively. We don’t need to wait for others to change our internal states - we can start anytime.
Creative Ways to Get the Creative Juices Flowing Using Your Body
Here are a couple of the many ways I play with moving energy based on my own ways of creating, and what I need that day. Try the ones that resonate for you. And definitely try modifying these in real time - as you are doing them - to get into Discovery to make your own. You may need tweaks to get them to resonate for you. We’re never limited to anyone else’s way of doing anything. :-)
Dancing the Creative Alive Energy in
Movement. Loosen up your body. Have fun in your body. Play with the non-habitual. When I start moving my body differently, my entire mood and energy shifts. I do this before every session I facilitate, and most days in some form. One way to do this is play upbeat songs you love and dance around the room as you breath our tension and old energy. I like to play songs that are silly and fun to uplift my mood, so I literally have a playlist list called “Goofy Playlist.” These are songs that help me not take myself or anything so seriously so they help me move to a different energy state. They are not necessarily songs I listen to on a daily basis - though sometimes I do that. I just know that that when I am having more fun in my body, I feel more alive, expansive, and it is easier for me to be present and creative.
Moving Non-habitually Break Patterns
I also like to move in non habitual ways - trying new moves every time I dance - to be in that “Improv” discovery state, which always feels move alive( not to mention scientists show that creating new moves creates new neural pathways in our brain). I literally do this every day. Whether I am dancing or just sitting at my desk, I play around with all kind of ways to move my body non-habitually (new for me), whih help me feel more alive, present, and awake (especially when on long Zoom days) The key is to play with it, judgement free - let it be off-the-wall and nonsensical to you. It’s abbot breaking patterns in your body movements to help break patterns in your thinking. Do what you can form where you are. If you have some physical limitations, just start small with whatever you can move. (I am not a medical practitioner so please don’t do anything against the advice of one).
Letting the Energy Move your Body - Following and Inhabiting the Energy
The mind is an amazing resource. Even if we don’t feel something at a given time, we can shift our state by putting attention on it and calling it in. Intention leads to attention. Energy follows attention. So if we intend to feel an energy, we can call it in an engage with it, we can actually start to feel it move through us. This one may takes a few times to get used to because, like with meditation, it takes time sometimes to feel the energy, and woks best when we are not distracted. Some people can access this immediately, others practice to get the energies flowing. But if you do practice it, you will be able to state-change by calling in an energy.
For example, if you intend to feel more aliveness energy, you can call it in, and start bringing your sense to it. Ask, “What does aliveness look like? (You can draw it in the abstract or just imagine it) What does it sound like? What does feel like? What does it move like? And start moving form it. As you do it, you may hear the inner voices of judgement (about yourself or about the activity itself), but keep going. Let them be there, but keep bringing your attention to the energy and the full-on experience of it as best you can. Sometimes it takes a few times before you feel anything - other times you feel it right away. The invitation is to try it…to play with it until you feel it and embody the state change.
Create a Judgment-free Zone
Remember to suspend all judgement as you play with these. Be kind to the part of you that forgot what is was like to move and play freely in your body. And to go beyond my descriptions into discovering your own “yes-ands” to this as you go. When we allow our bodies to explore without judging them, they can take us to creative places and more vibrancy. Feel free to email me and let me know what you discover.
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We’ll do a deeper dive into these and many other ways of engaging your body to bringing in more creativity, aliveness, presence, and flow in my next Creative Body Workshop on September 9. There we'll do a deeper exploratory dive into Somatic Intelligence and it's connection creative thinking, being, and moving...and using your body as a creative resource. If you are interested to learn more, click here or contact me directly.
Michelle James ©2021
Posted by Michelle on August 16, 2021 | Permalink | Comments (0)
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Posted by Michelle on July 12, 2021 | Permalink | Comments (0)
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Synchro-tunity is where synchronicity (unpredictable events that are somehow seemingly connected) meets opportunity (new possibilities opening up.) This inflection point is a place from which we can create what’s next. When we pay attention to what’s emerging, and we’ve prepared ourselves for the current moment, then we can recognize and step into new possibilities that were previously unavailable for us.
It's about setting intention, preparing ourselves, paying attention to signals from a variety of places and sources,and taking ripe (timely) actions on those. #applieddiscovery
Posted by Michelle on May 04, 2021 | Permalink | Comments (0)
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Posted by Michelle on April 21, 2021 | Permalink | Comments (0)
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When we stay present In the moment, time
expands. When we fill the moment by talking only about what we already know, or about what others have said, we bury the dynamic, creative aliveness of the moment with history. We have been socialized to fill the moment with history (what we've learned, what others have said said, what are accepted assumptions) - going out of time - instead of staying in time, where creativity emerges and flourishes.
Posted by Michelle on December 14, 2020 | Permalink | Comments (0)
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Posted by Michelle on December 11, 2020 | Permalink | Comments (2)
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"If you give your gifts, people will be envious. The ones who are envious are the ones who are not giving their own gifts." ~ Micheal Meade
This theme just came up in a coaching session with a client last Friday (who has a family member having a hard time with her emergence) and is one of the things that can happen when you cultivate your creative source and start to bring your unique soul's gifts into the world, so it is worth mentioning here. The truth is some people in your life may be envious of your creative process unfolding as you begin to create and produce what's yours to do. That's only because they not in touch with, or fully expressing, their own unique gifts and path. Or, they may be used to relating to you in one way, and now are unsure how to connect with the more "vibrant" energized you. It's really not personal, even though it can feel that way.
When someone is not using their own gifts, they may criticize, belittle, or otherwise negate yours to try to bring you down, even pull away from you, or just feel bad around you without knowing why. At some point in every emergence process, someone you know will be uncomfortable when you follow your aliveness, and how they act depends on who they are and how their own inner feeling of disconnection or fear is related to why they're not cultivating and using their own gifts.
This may bring up feelings in you of sadness, anger, guilt or some way of contracting to try to make them feel better - some people even block their own creative process. The best thing you can do for that person - and yourself - is to bring forth your gifts anyway, no matter what, because most people you know won't feel bad or envious...they'll be inspired! Seeing you create and produce something new in the world often inspires them to bring out their own gifts. So don't focus on the the nay-sayers (which creates contraction energy), but instead focus on those you serve or desire to serve (which generates expansion energy) - those who will benefit - by you bringing out your creatively unique gifts into the world.
And if you ever find yourself feeling envious of anyone else, take some time to delve into why. Listen underneath the uncomfortable feelings for the real longing of your inner creative voice. The cure for that discomfort is to find and cultivate what is uniquely yours to give and offer in your unique way. In that, there can never be a comparison, and therefore no reason to feel envious. Your creative source contains what's unique to you. It needs you to not focus on the other person, and just focus inward into yourself. You can turn any feelings of envy, doubt, or fear into a creative invitation to focus on your own aliveness.
It's never too late to bring your magic into the world. People need that more than ever. And people you don't even know yet will come out of the woodwork and will be grateful for what you have to offer. There is no short cut, but you are worth the time, space, and attention for the journey of your creative self and creative soul.
Michelle James ©2020
Posted by Michelle on November 10, 2020 | Permalink | Comments (2)
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Posted by Michelle on November 10, 2020 | Permalink | Comments (0)
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In times of huge unknowns, with much we have no control over, one of the things that lightens the intensity is creatively focusing on the things we CAN control...like getting out in nature, creative arts and crafts, drawing, painting, moving our bodies to music we like, watching funny videos or comedy specials, meditating, journaling, cooking, playing games, online improv, designing business offerings, or anything we like doing that we're able to do that lightens us up. That will be different for everyone, but we do have agency and at least some things we can choose into and control in the midst of uncertainty.
Posted by Michelle on November 06, 2020 | Permalink | Comments (0)
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Posted by Michelle on October 26, 2020 | Permalink | Comments (0)
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Someone sent me this interview Massage
magazine did with me in 2016 on How to
Think Creatively. I hadn't posted it before
since it used only be available to
subscribers of their magazine, but is now public.
The full article is here: https://bit.ly/3o1yX7w
Main Ideas:
“We’re all born creative—it’s at the very core of who we are,” said Michelle James, CEO of the The Center for Creative Emergence. “We have been socialized and educated out of our natural creativity, so we tend to forget that.”
James, who serves as a creativity coach and catalyst for her clients, believes it is crucial for people to reconnect with their innate creative source, in order to live with greater balance and joy.
“The more access we have to our creativity, the more connections we make, the more opportunities we have,” she said. “At every level, working with creativity leads to a happier, more productive, thriving life.”
According to creativity coach Marianne Mullen, one of the main blocks to living the creative life is a belief that only people with certain skills or special talents can be creative. Usually, this belief stems from a narrow definition of what it means to be creative.
“When you hear people say, ‘I’m not creative,’ they have been conditioned to limit their idea of creativity to something in the visual arts, such as painting or sculpting,” Mullen said. “Creativity and its expression are deeply personal—you need to define it for yourself.”
Beyond Polarities
Getting to know your existing mental landscape should help determine new directions for your thoughts, as you begin to cultivate creative thinking. Consider this process an inner exploration, where there is no right or wrong, only curiosity, observation and discovery.
“Part of not thinking creatively is the need for certainty, the need for certain outcomes,” James said. “To think habitually is to not explore, to not take any risks.
“To think creatively means you try on new ways of thinking and you modify as you go,” she continued. “It means you’re an explorer.”
Remember to maintain that mindset of discovery, and avoid any pull you might feel to label unfamiliar thoughts as incorrect or unacceptable, simply because they’re new and different. The tendency to judge what we think as either right or wrong can cease creative thinking all too quickly.
“One of the blocks to creativity is what I call binary thinking—right and wrong, good and bad, pass and fail, black and white,” James said. “Most creative thinkers are comfortable thinking in shades of gray, which allows more to exist within them, even those thoughts that may seem contradictory.”
James calls this “paradoxical thinking” and she considers it central to the process of creative thought. Being able to hold the tension of two opposites—instead of dismissing one because it appears to conflict with the other—can allow for a third, more encompassing option.
“On one level, you might be holding two pieces of information that seem opposed to each other; for example, you need to make a living and you want to be creative,” James said. “Instead of thinking I have to choose X or Y, money or creative expression, acknowledge that it’s important to you to have both, and then assume that it’s possible.
“Creative thinking assumes there’s a third option that will allow both X and Y to exist—you just don’t know about it yet,” she continued. “Instead of choosing one or the other, look at how you might integrate the two, and allow yourself to explore that.”
As you go through the discovery process, nurturing new and creative thoughts, Mullen warns to watch out for your own inner resistance, which may stem from old thought patterns you’re looking to release.
“This would include feelings based on comparisons with others, judgments and that little voice telling you negative messages,” she said. “In order to break out from negative thinking patterns that do not support your creativity, you need to be conscious of what you say to yourself.”
On guard against any unnecessary resistance and equipped with a growing awareness of your own thoughts, you can begin to build and flex your creative muscles on a regular basis.
It may seem like one of those paradoxes, but developing a more creative mental landscape actually calls for a certain amount of structure and discipline, especially at the start. If you are committed to opening your mind to more creative ways of thinking, then consider setting aside time for creative practice.
“When you’re first beginning to cultivate your creativity, it needs time and space,” James said. “Schedule it in, and do it in a way that works for you—think of it as your creative practice time.”
For example, you might decide to devote 10 minutes each day to a different form of creative expression, from writing in a journal or drawing a picture to telling a story out loud or moving while you think.
“Make this a time when you explore creative ideas, feelings and beliefs,” Mullen said. “The point is, you are mindfully choosing to give your creativity time and space to play, explore, develop, grow and unfold.”
One powerful activity you can bring to this creative practice time is consciously questioning your own assumptions. Using various methods of creative expression, such as dance, writing, acting or painting, explore the beliefs that define your life.
“Assumptions run the gamut, from what success means and what my relationship is supposed to look like to what’s expected of me in the world and what it means to be happy,” James said. “Often, you find that something you accepted as a given actually came from someone else, whether it was parents, teachers or society—you discover it was learned, and once you discover that, you’re more free to shift your perspective.
“You can choose to keep the beliefs that resonate with you, and let go of the ones that are no longer working,” she added. “Then, you can bring in new beliefs that are more alive for you.”
Another assignment to try during the time you set aside for creative expression is called pattern breaking. By doing tasks in ways you’ve never done them before, you may find that more creative thoughts begin to emerge.
“One way to do this is very simple: Write on unlined paper and use colors, because the right brain thinks in colors and images,” James said. “You’re even breaking patterns with the paper you’re writing on—with all my clients, we’re always writing on unlined paper.”
This creative act of pattern breaking can take place in so many ways. Turn on music you might not normally listen to and allow your body to move and dance freely, breaking your well-worn patterns of movement. Grab a sheet of paper and draw out, rather than dwell on, an issue that’s been bothering you.
“When you engage the brain in different ways, you have a chance at different insights,” James said. “When you begin to break patterns, you create new neural pathways and increase the connections in your brain.
“New connections allow more ideas, more aha moments, to emerge,” she added. “Again, when you begin to break patterns and think differently and non-habitually, remember to get comfortable with shades of gray, and let go of right or wrong.”
The goal of your creative practice time should be to try on as many different forms of creative expression as possible, using each method of expression to explore your own thoughts, assumptions, beliefs and patterns, as well as any pressing issue. If you stick to it, you should discover which kinds of creativity work best for you, or how you define creativity.
“Eventually, you’ll begin to find what feels really alive for you,” James said. “Don’t be limited by anyone else’s definition of creativity—what’s really alive for one person might not be for another.”
Article by Brandi Schlossberg, full-time journalist and part-time writer for MASSAGE Magazine
Posted by Michelle on October 16, 2020 | Permalink | Comments (0)
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Posted by Michelle on October 03, 2020 | Permalink | Comments (0)
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My short reflection on, and homage to, the Creative Source -
the creative, life-giving, mysterious, generative source within
us that gives birth to all things creative and emergent...
filled with new potential, dreams, directions, expressions
and creations (posted originally in 2013):
The Creative Source
Inside us there is a spacious fullness, a coherent wildness...
The kind of power that doesn't always display
its full plumage in grand revelry.
Instead, one of swimming silently-boldy
throughout the ether waves
Creating its own energy currents...
Calling, leading, guiding, emerging.
It is the source, within, of full-on aliveness,
generativity, creativity,
and your pristine uniqueness.
Creative source energy moves and meanders and twists
and turns and spirals into itself through our Selves.
It is spiraling dynamics embodified.
It is hide and seek, the seeker and the sought,
yearning and satiation all at once.
It beckons, but does not beg.
It captivates, yet holds no captives.
It thrives on your realness to reveal its true nature.
It is ever-generous and forgiving.
It mourns and rejoices simultaneously,
as it unites and differentiates...and unites again.
The creative source is
bonding, binding, bounding, boundarying,
unbinding, unwinding, unraveling,
restructuring, reorganizing,
deconstructing, disorganizing,
pattern breaking and new pattern making.
It is both the riddler and the riddle...
The one-eyed gypsy dance of converge and diverge,
where what is isn't, and what isn't is.
(The other eye faces inward).
It leads the inside-out, outside-in dance of creation.
The creative source is at once yin and yang,
gentle and strong,
humble and bold,
nurturing and activating,
behind-the-scenes and front-and-center...
throwing streamers, lighting sparklers
to celebrate your uniqueness.
But it will settle for nothing less.
You must be you.
Stay in your ground and
no one, no thing, no way
can make you less than!
The creative source is mutable, fluid,
stable, hard, soft,
transactional and transformational.
It is honoring, sobering, intoxicating,
lifting, holding, releasing.
It is un-languaging and re-languaging.
First, it asks, break some rules.
The creative source can draw forth
the whirl in a dervish,
the bloom in a passion,
the fruition in a dream,
and the purpose in a soul.
It is serious, but does not take itself seriously.
It comes alive with play and fun and the delightful unexpected.
It gets top billing at the Cosmic Comedy Club:
"Take my life...please."
The creative source is not asking us to be filled,
but rather to feel - and engage - how full we already are.
Here. Now.
It is the inflection point where the past, present,
and future meet and tryst...
and, as if by magic, a new creation is born!
The creative source catalyzes resplendent
deepening, ripening, opening, furthering,
recognizing, rearranging, aha-ing, relationshiping,
connecting, embodying, and aligning.
Birth, death, rebirth-
the spiral unfolds.
Truth bursts forth,
shakes itself off,
and settles in to, ahhh,
its own rightful space.
Higher order has organized
and breathes a sigh of relief.
The creative source is in itself a parallel universe.
It is human and divine,
generous and claiming,
shielding and revealing,
It is large and small,
epic and mundane,
reality and fantasy,
universal and unique,
gathering and fraying,
stillness and cultivation,
mystery and revelation.
It offers us an inner authority,
a knowing, and a beacon
to sustain and inform us
amidst fears and doubts,
hardships and crises...
our own or others.
It is the place within us
where life is ever-seeking and
ever-generating more life...
filled with infinite creative potential
just waiting to be cultivated.
It contains the meticulous balance
of flow and stucture for all of our creations.
Just show up, let it lead.
It will meet you at your dance.
It's game.
It will swing you and dip you,
into your very Self.
It will kick up your heels
yet be there, sturdy and steadfast,
to catch you.
It will meet you in your pain
It will meet you in your joy.
Just show up - fully - from wherever you are.
It wants and needs to partner with us.
The creative source is not the answer,
it contains the question to the Universe,
"Who am I?"
It is a knowing, a wondering,
a paradox, and a circus.
YOU are the main attraction.
Step right up.
The world needs your uniqueness. :-)
The creative source is both speaker and listener--
the hearer and the heard.
It washes through the crevasses
of dried up hope and habit
until it becomes fertile,
alive, breathing potential.
I am. We are.
It allows the unique Being in me
to be with the unique Being in you.
Namaste.
By Michelle James ©2013
Posted by Michelle on September 15, 2020 | Permalink
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Posted by Michelle on September 01, 2020 | Permalink
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Anyone who takes creative risks as a facilitator
of creative process can relate to getting mixed feedback (not all glowing) at some points. It's part of the process of experimenting with new things. A few thoughts on being with the places where reality did not match your hopes when facilitating:
1. It is part of the territory when bringing non-conventional - in the business sense - work to business world. People's resistance can some up if they have deep rooted pain in the past about play, dance, drawing, etc, and they may not know it is their defense mechanism to distance themselves form the original story within them. So they contract. Most of the time, there are ways to design to make it psychologically safe to move people through this, but not always for everyone.
2. You can see it as in iteration in your discovery process. You can and choose which feedback feels useful - that which you can legitimately learn from - and which to let go of. I found it useful to use feedback as an "offer" or gift to help me re-frame for the next time I do it - sometimes refining what I do, and sometimes refining how I word it, so I am clear on setting realistic expectations next time, based on the feedback. And sometimes I just accept it may not have not the best learning activity for that person or group and totally revise.
3. You are still in exploration mode, and as you go, you can refine your target audience as you start to notice the patterns of those who really gravitate to it. None of us are designed to meet the needs of all of us. Once you can accept that you - your style, personality, way of working, etc. - are not for everyone, it frees you to be more your unique self, and then attract those who appreciate your unique style and offerings.
4. Go back to those people who already are for you, and ask them if there was anything else that would have made it even better. People who are enthusiastic about your work are awesome at giving ideas for making git even better without the sting of the nay-sayers. They love to contribute in a generative way. You can even ask them if they felt there is anything you would add or change to the description.
5. If everything you do always works for everyone, with no resistance to anything, chances are they are not challenging the participants enough for a transformative experience. Most groups trying something new follow the bell curve - on one end those that easily drink it in, on the other, those that don't get or resist it, and in the "majority" are those who may bump up against, but move through, their edges. That's the Dynamic Tension of the creative process. Allowing people to have their real experience, not the one you hope they will have, is always a good thing for them...and trust they can integrate in ways you may not even imagine.
6. Finally, be gentle with yourself in the places your expectations for a group does not match the reality of what unfolds. That's part of the creative discovery process when trying new things. The fact you are "in the arena" trying new things, and not on the sidelines just playing it safe, allows you to learn and grow as you go...with awesome rewards!
Michelle James ©2020
Posted by Michelle on August 20, 2020 | Permalink | Comments (0)
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Posted by Michelle on August 19, 2020 | Permalink | Comments (0)
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Because it is central to my work, I’m constantly learning and reminded - and in awe of - how what we see as a ”miracle" on one level (i.e., fulfilled intentions in the most unexpected, completely unpredictable ways) is just about partnering the with unknown-yet-to-emerge as a generative, creative resource and letting that be our guide.
I experience it not as "blind faith" in the process but rather faith-from-experience in the natural order of how things are created and emerge...and letting go of outdated, socialized assumptions and ways of being that no longer serve. I'm always looking to more fully inhabit and embody the "emergence lens" (which can be a struggle at times as I bump up against my own inner assumptions that need to be transformed).
But one thing is for sure…is that you can’t discover what you already know - to stay in the discovery process means allowing yourself the spaciousness of being in the unknown. Right now, we are all in a huge unknown. We have a choice to use that for discovery. It is the nature of how things emerge that when you bring intention, heart, and purpose into the unknown, you make discoveries that are often surprising, and always life-giving.
One of the tenets of the creative emergence process is turning uncertainty into discovery. It means you don’t fill up the unknown with something familiar - or avoiding it, relying on others ideas, or numbing it - for security, but allow yourself space and time to discover what is calling to emerge from within your own creative yourself. And something is always calling to emerge if we are present…and listening. Sometimes that means using various whole-brain cultivation “tools” to access it - from drawing it to to journaling it to acting it out in the body and so much more! There are infinite ways to harvest the “fertile unknown” (I’ve seen literally thousands of variations over the past 25 years working with my clients). Different ways work for different people - because we each have out own unique creative style and language.
A place to start is just accepting that you are at the edge of what you know, and you are open to discovering what is there. Just that will start to reduce the fear of the unknown into something you do have choice over - which is engaging your discovery process. Then, stay open to impulses, insights, awareness, and dreams (they contain subconscious information that our conscious minds often do not see) that come to you. Instead of brushing something supposing off, start to connect with it in whatever way speaks to you…through images, words, energy, feelings, etc. - and you’ll deepen the insights.
Discovery turns the unknown for a dark, scary place into a rich, fertile landscape you get to explore. And with enough exploration, something new, clear, and life-giving will eventually emerge. Security comes not from being certain, or in control (which is impossible in volatile times), but from learning to experience the unknown as a creative ally - something that is generous, creative, and there for you. That "bond" strengthens over time as you practice navigating it.
If you’d like additional support in this process, or have questions on how to get started, contact me anytime for a FREE 30-minute discovery session.
Michelle James ©2020
Posted by Michelle on August 16, 2020 | Permalink | Comments (2)
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For the Program Structure, Registration, and more information go to:
Posted by Michelle on August 03, 2020 | Permalink
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We are all needed to create more hospitable, loving, humane world. And, we are not all designed to contribute in the same way. We each have a unique set of gifts, skills, talents, drives, understandings, learnings, and experiences that combine together to create our unique signature offerings/contribution to the world. Whether you work for yourself or someone else, this creative "soul signature" is uniquely yours.
It takes some conscious effort to detach from the belief systems, fears, and judgements (in yourself, and in the world) that no longer serve you, and (re)establish connection to your own "creative source" - the life-generating, source of meaning, purpose, passion, and creativity within you - which contains the unique creative gifts of your soul. We are the ones we've been waiting for, and now is the time we've been waiting for.
For some, that means joining or leading a movement or cause. For others, it means working in the front lines...or creating new systems or structures...or creating in the arts, business, education, technology or science...or in coaching, facilitating, healing, teaching, or serving others...there are as many ways to be of service as there are people who need what you have to give.
Michelle James @2020
Posted by Michelle on July 23, 2020 | Permalink | Comments (0)
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This is a prismacolor pencil drawing I did a few year's ago for my Emergence Series, called “Emergent Potential” - the fertile place filled with potential waiting to be created forth. It's the place within us I work most with my coaching clients - tapping into their unique, ripe, creative potential, discovering what is calling to emerge, and cultivating it out. I see myself an emergence "midwife" helping my clients birth their creative calling and offerings out into the world. #creativeemergence
Michelle James ©2020
Posted by Michelle on July 21, 2020 | Permalink | Comments (0)
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When we are in uncertainty, we often first seek to go to the familiar...which is often the left-brain dominant way of analyzing and making sense of things. I see that all the time in my work. This poster speaks to "Yes Anding" that with additional ways of knowing, intuiting, experiencing, feeling, and being to be able to solve problems, heal, make sense, and create a more generative habitable world.
It is not about the exclusion of critical thinking and analysis, it is about the INCLUSION of other ways of processing as well. Valuing rational-only thinking over feeling, the creative unconscious, and intuition keeps people disconnected. What about rational-AND thinking? We need our whole selves in order to be in connection. We need compassion. We need our creative imaginations. We need space to connect with our inner voice. We're not just talking heads, and emotions have a place in business and life because they contain passion, inspiration, and heart. Much meaningful was created with emotion in times of hardship. This is a reminder in these times, for those who resonate, to value all of your various ways knowing, processing and solution-finding.
Michelle James ©2020
Posted by Michelle on July 21, 2020 | Permalink | Comments (0)
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Been getting back into drawing and panting lately after 6 years. In revisiting, I found some prismacolor drawings I made many years ago that I never posted. This one come from an Emergence series...it's called "Taking Form." It's healing to be back into painting, and helps me get more clarity about what's calling to emerge at this time.
I use an inside-out painting process w my coaching clients to help them access their unique creative source to paint concepts and use for transformation as well. Painting or drawing is one way you access otherwise unconscious thoughts, creative blocks, hopes, aspirations, and inner guidance. It also offers a sanctuary to feel your Creative Self within a chaotic world. Breaking patterns leads to new insights and ideas.
Michelle James ©2020
Posted by Michelle on July 13, 2020 | Permalink | Comments (0)
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"In many shamanic societies, if you came to a medicine person
complaining of being disheartened, dispirited, or depressed, they would ask one of four questions: When did you stop dancing? When did you stop singing? When did you stop being enchanted by stories? When did you stop finding comfort in the sweet territory of silence?" ~ Gabrielle Roth
Good wisdom in this time when so many in the world are disheartened, dispirited, or depressed. Getting back to our Creative Self - dancing, singing, artwork, theater, improv, storytelling, writing, journaling, meditating, movement, reflecting, imagining, writing, visioning, creating in any form - helps us navigate a world disrupted (and even a world not so disrupted). Just more urgent now. It is not about waiting until AFTER the fear, pain, and chaos ends, but rather using the creative practices to help us MOVE THROUGH it...within ourselves and with each other.
It is an often overlooked part of what the world needs to transform. Among other things, the lack of whole-brain, whole-person embodied creating - and the life-generating "enchantment" it brings - in our everyday lives and workplaces leads to feeling disheartened and dis-empowered. This is not the time to contract away from our Creative Source energy in the face of a dispirited world...instead, it is an essential time to learn to CREATE from and with your Creative Self - in whatever ways you are uniquely called - to help change your experience AND the experience of the world.
There is no one right way to engage, create, or produce. There are multiple potentials and possibilities of what can be generated. And all types of creative expression can feel good and be generative. But there IS a way, or set of ways, for you that is uniquely yours - that is more alive and purposeful than others - that is embedded in your soul's purpose. I have seen this without exception in 20+ years of creative emergence coaching purpose-centered, heart-centered, soulful entrepreneurs.
In exploring the possibilities by trying out different forms of expression, without judgement or needing it to be perfect, you can access the uniqueness of your Creative Self. it is a discovery process. Your unique inner garden of creative delights does not look like anyone else's - and when authentically seeded and cultivated, will produce your one-of-a-kind juicy fruit that is also nourishing for the world. The more in trouble the world is, the more new healthy creative foundations are needed - seeded by each of us. It's so significant now to discover what is ours to do to contribute to a more humane, just, life-giving world.
It's not always easy, and takes some time, attention, focus, integrity, and self-awareness. But that's the sweet spot...where your unique creative aliveness meets the needs of the world...as it is, where it is, to naturally create a more generative, alive, healthy what's next. We all need that now. This sweet spot, once cultivated, serves ourselves, others, and the whole. That's embedded in its nature. Don't give up. Your Creative Self awaits your engagement, and it offers a possibility for re-enchantment, re-connection, and purposeful direction - especially now.
Michelle James ©2020
Posted by Michelle on July 13, 2020 | Permalink | Comments (0)
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Nature shows us how the creative process works...with the right conditions and nurturing our seed ideas and impulses can bear juicy fruit. Now more than ever, we need to seed life-giving ideas - not fear-based ones - for a more healthy, generative future in this level of uncertainty we are all in.
No matter how uncertain the external conditions, we have choices in what we plant for our personal and collective future. We have choice to find or make meaning out of this time. We can't know what will happen, but we can know what we are inspired to create, and start the process. We can discover what gives us a purpose, both for ourselves and larger than ourselves.
It's not about waiting until after the pandemic has "passed" - it is about finding what is alive in you to create here now, amidst the situation you/we are in. We are not going back to life-as-usual anytime time soon. Life UNusual requires us to think in UNusual ways to meet it...and move into a more generative way of living, thinking, and being. There is no going back, but we can move forward in a more life-giving way.
Generative Questions to Engage the Process
Given the constraints we are in, here are some questions to consider to start to engage the process:
• What are you inspired to create?
• How are you inspired to contribute?
• What can make this situation better for you?
• For others who are having a hard time?
• What gifts, skills, talents, and knowledge can you bring to this situation?
• Where does what you have to offer, and what feels alive in you,
meet what the world could use?
• What problems do you see that you can help solve?
• What positive outcomes would you like to see?
• What vision do you hold for a positive, generative future?
• What is your best imagining for the future?
• In what ways might you contribute to that vision?
• What do you need to learn for that to happen?
• What do you need to do?
• What boundaries do you need to set?
• What personal edges do you need to push - where are your growing edges?
• In what ways do you need to grow to be able to carry out that vision?
In thinking of those things and answering them honestly, you start the creative seed planting process....
By Michelle James ©2020
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(strawberry image via Marcia Berg)
Posted by Michelle on May 27, 2020 | Permalink | Comments (2)
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