creativity

Create-A-Day: your daily dose of creativity #165 — Ira Glass on Creativity

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Ira GlassIra Glass is the host and producer of the documentary radio program “This American Life” broadcast on Public Radio. Today’s inspiration is a clip of him speaking on creativity. To whet your appetite, here’s a quick quote:

“The thing I would just like to say with all my heart is that most everybody I know who does interesting creative work they went through a phase of years where they had really good taste and they could tell what they were making wasn’t as good as what they wanted it to be. They knew it fell short. It didn’t have that special thing we wanted it to have. And the thing I would say to you is that everybody goes through that…

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Create-A-Day: your daily dose of creativity #164 — Writing Groups on Facebook

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FBIt’s another Facebook Friday!! And we have two groups featured today!

Our first group is Christian Authors & Writers and has almost 16,000 members!! It is administered by Mark & Claudette Elliott. Continue reading

Create-A-Day: your daily dose of creativity #163 — The Power of Music

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Gladys Wilson

This is a very poignant and touching example of the power of music to communicate, connect and heal!

In this video, Naomi Feil, founder of Validation Therapy, shares a breakthrough moment of communication with Gladys Wilson, a woman who was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2000 and is virtually non-verbal. Feil is a Jewish woman, yet she sings Christian hymns for Gladys because she knows it is those hymns that will resonate deeply in her spirit.  Continue reading

Create-A-Day: your daily dose of creativity #162 — Dancing In Your Calling

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I love this inspiring story from the Dance Theatre of Harlem. It reminds me of the story of Gideon. While he was hiding from Israel’s enemies, threshing wheat on a winepress, the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.” Gideon responds, “Pardon me, my lord, but if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our ancestors told us about . . . But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.”

The Lord turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?” Continue reading

Create-A-Day: your daily dose of creativity #161 — Taking Imagination Seriously w/ Janet Echelman

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Let’s make today a TED Talk Tuesday!

J Echelman

“I walked underneath it for the first time. As I watched the winds’ choreography unfold, I felt sheltered and at the same time connected to limitless sky. My life was not going to be the same.”

That picture and quote is from a very inspiring Ted Talk with Janet Echelman entitled Taking Imagination Seriously. Listen in here:

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Create-A-Day, your daily dose of creativity #160 — Nature Inspired Art

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Photo by Maddy Thomae

Photo by Maddy Thomae

This is an amazing video from Rachelle Chinnery about how nature informs her artistic process.

It’s 4 1/2 minutes and definitely worth the watch!!

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Create-A-Day: your daily dose of creativity #159 — Rap, Art and God

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Propaganda

Rap, Art and God is a powerful video with rapper Jason “Propaganda” Petty talking about the power of arts, about bringing our “excellence” to the Lord to bring him glory, and about our need for a Savior.

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Create-A-Day: your daily dose of creativity #158 — BodyPsalms

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jodythomae.comOur bodies often cry out to be heard, recognized, nourished. Yet sadly we ignore their cries and live disembodied lives bound by ill-health, dis-ease, and unhealthy desires!!

On BODYPSALMS, Dr. Celeste Snowber shares poetry with a distinctly body-oriented (and body-listening) spin! According to Celeste on her site:

“Bodypsalms are openings for us to deeply listen to words that hold the intention of our own depths, and call us back to living in our own skin.  I write these in the tradition of the psalms, which extend from lament to ecstatic living, but are both an asking and listening at the same time. I have written them or they have written me out of the particularities of my own life, but I firmly believe that we live storied lives and we find each other in our collective stories.”

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Create-A-Day: your daily dose of creativity #157 — Tongues, Art & St. Paul

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HS dove stainglass

In this article entitled Tongues, Art and St, Paul’s Rules of Order: A Few Suggestions author Amber Noel proposes that a certain aspect of the arts could be taken as glossolalia or tongues:

“Could it be that art, at its best (or at what we might call its most Spirit-led), produces a kind of visual, verbal, aural glossolalia that others may then attempt (again, by the same Spirit) to interpret well? On the other hand, if an act of artistic “speech” and its translations fall flat, or explode into total, unmanaged chaos, then could we perhaps turn to First Corinthians for clues on discernment and order?”

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Create-A-Day: your daily dose of creativity #156 — Sharpie Van

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SharpieToday’s post is simply fun! It’s not sacred or deeply spiritual or thought-provoking. It won’t inspire you to worship. It’s just all kinds of fun!

What happens when you hand complete strangers a Sharpie marker and point them to your plain old boring white van?

This! (click here to see the creativity) 

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Create-A-Day: your daily dose of creativity #155 — Women Who Dare to Believe

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“Women Who Dare to Believe” is a musical by veteran actresses and singers Bonnie King and Nan Gurley. Utilizing a 20-foot piece of scarlet fabric, they tell the story of 21 women of the Bible—women who are all part of God’s story of salvation and hope—bringing them to life through story, song and drama. They also have a CD and a two-part Bible study that accompany the musical. Continue reading

Create-A-Day: your daily dose of creativity #154 — 4ever Praise Dance Network

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FBFacebook Friday once again!!

Today’s group is 4ever Praise Dance Network…True Worshipers. Administered by worshiper, teacher & dancer Roxi Arthur, the group description reads: Continue reading

Create-A-Day: your daily dose of creativity #153 — Vonda Drees Art Journaling

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Beloved (c) 2015 Vonda Drees

Beloved
(c) 2015 Vonda Drees

We’ve looked at art journaling several times this year (you can check out last week’s post with links to the other posts by clicking here). Today I want to direct you to the blog of Vonda Drees: Journaling the Spirit’s Stirring. Continue reading

Create-A-Day: your daily dose of creativity #152 — Preface, Foreward, Prologue, Oh My!

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Tamika Hall

What’s the difference between a preface, a foreward and a prologue, you ask? Let’s ask Tamika Hall! I’ve referred you to Tamika earlier this year (check that out here) and I’m sending you there again to hear Tamika discuss the differences on her podcast:

Preface, Foreward, Prologue, Oh My!

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Create-A-Day: your daily dose of creativity #151 — Spoken Word Wedding Vows

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Sometime back in 2011, Janette…ikz, the official poet of the Passion 4 Christ Movement (P4CM.com), did this spoken word piece called Waiting at the Lyricist Lounge:

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Create-A-Day: your daily dose of creativity #150 — Color a Prayer

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Celtic CreativityI have referred you to 12 Tribes, the art ministry of Cindy Fort before (see this post here), and I want to send you there again today to a post about coloring your prayers.

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Create-A-Day: your daily dose of creativity #149 — Visual Prayer With God

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Visual Blessings is a wonderful blog all about art journaling and Bible Journaling. The blog author is artist and workshop presenter Valerie Sjodin, whose personal motto is to “Love God, Serve Others; Make It Beautiful.”

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Create-A-Day: your daily dose of creativity #148 — Worship Arts Conferences

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A camp-churchHave you made time to attend a worship arts conference yet this year? It’s important to carve out time to recharge and to be inspired by being around like-minded worshipers and artists.

If you’re looking for a conference to attend, then let me suggest a few coming up before the end of the year:

Morning Star Wild Love Worship Conference, August 27-29 in Fort Mill, SC. Details at: morningstarministries.org. Continue reading

Create-A-Day: your daily dose of creativity #147 — Imaginare Performing Arts Ministry

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Imaginare Performing Arts Ministry is a creative arts ministry based out of Puerto Rico and Florida that uses a combination of dance, acrobatics, aerial dance, and physical theater to portray the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Imaginare Arts 2“Anointed to impact this generation,” their performances are powerful and prophetic!

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Create-A-Day: your daily dose of creativity #146 — Encouragement for Writers

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Sarah WellsI’ve posted a piece from author and poet Sarah Wells before (see: Field Guide to Resisting Temptation and if you haven’t read this transparent piece yet, I highly encourage you do).

We also spent the week and a half before Easter with Sarah’s poetry, taking us to deep places as we considered the Passion of Christ (see: 7 Virtual Art Walk for links to all those deeply touching posts).

I wanted to post another great article from her today, this one with simple and practical advice for writers! Continue reading