Real Healthy Creativity

Thinking with our eyes...

February 22, 2012
THE MUSE  

 It was a muggy afternoon. His voice mingled with the heat and hovered around the room like a lethargic fly.  ‘Making art’ he was saying, ‘is not about being able to draw. It’s about being able to SEE. 
As an artist, you must be able to look at an object and really SEE its lines, its edges, its shadows; you must be able to capture its three-dimensionality onto a page.’  I gazed at the clock that hung at the far end of the room. The seconds limped across its indifferent face like drunken ants. 

And then a cool breeze brushed my mind and the elusive whisper of a laughing, muse tickled my ear.   She said, ‘Drawing well is one thing… but imagine what it would be like, beloved, to draw your own soul. To be able to see its wild lines, its yearning edges, its hidden depths; imagine being able to splash its ecstatic journey onto a page.’


 MAGIC WANDS… OR NOT 


 In rehabilitation centres they teach a lesson which, if each of us was to learn it, the happiness quotient in the world would simply skyrocket. 
It’s a simple lesson, an easy lesson…. But somehow, it is also one that we tend to miss by a mile; you have to do something different if you want a different result.    
And that brought me to thinking about why we don’t… you see, to change what you’re doing, you have to change your thinking. And that, my darlings, is where the cookie starts to crumble…. Because changing the way you think is probably one of the hardest things for any of us. I mean…. Your thinking is… your THINKING. You don’t just wave a magic wand. 

Thinking differently means thinking creatively.     

Thinking creatively means exploring ideas that you’re not used to exploring… in a way that you’re not used to exploring them. 
When we soul-paint, explore our ideas through art or simply doodle meditatively, we tickle our creativity into life. Given even the slightest chance to express itself, creativity comes bounding out of your soul every time you open that door. 

Need to be more innovative?  Creativity is synonymous with innovation.

Need to come up with new ideas? Being creative the most effective way to find original ideas. 

Need to find your mojo again? Creativity always brings out your gifts, your wisdom and your passion.    


So yeah… maybe a magic wand isn’t the answer… but a magic paintbrush…well that just works a charm.

 

Dancing our way to Power Painting our Dreams

January 31, 2012
Our dreams start off in the air around our heads and hearts as wispy little white puffs like clouds that disappear when you look straight at them.  We know they’re there, but they are undefined… just a yearning, really… for something… we’re not always quite sure what.

Then we think about them, flitting about in the air like mulit-coloured butterflies… powdery yellows, red and blues start to tint them slightly…oranges, golds and purples embolden them... feint shapes may appear…...
Continue reading...
 

Heartsong

January 31, 2012
My heart whispered into my ear but I was busy answering the phone.

It waved frantically at my frazzled mind but I was writing out a long to-do list. It thumped against my ribcage trying to get my attention, but I was busy doing laundry.

Then, exhausted by my long day, I sat quietly for a while on the couch, boiled the kettle for a cup of coffee and with multi-coloured koki-pens in hand, started doodling my stresses away.

‘At last!’ my heart said (as my mind relaxed) and sang a song that f...
Continue reading...
 

DANCING SOUL, DANCING STAR

January 19, 2012
"You need chaos in your soul to give birth to a dancing star." - Friedrich Nietzsche

A morning spent journaling dreams in living colour is a bit like a holiday or a meditation.  It gives me the space to indulge my own creative chaos through intensely personal and joyful self expression and brings my soul back to sparkling, scintillating life.  It hauls my heart’s desires out from the cobwebby attic of my mind and lays them out in front of me so that I can view them, resonate with them a...
Continue reading...
 

Creativity meets high tech!

January 12, 2012
I am very excited to have come across a way to create these tangled word images...have you been seeing them around too and wondering how to make one?

I will be trying to insert the code for it here, but being non-techie I will find out with you if it works!

This is all part of me moving more into the online space and creating digital images and products - I am learning a fortune about being creative technologically every day!

Aha! I see it has worked!  So, this one is all about the Dream Journal...
Continue reading...
 

Be as free as the bird you were meant to

December 22, 2011


 This digital "painting" was inspired by a papaya iPad bag I bought in Greyton this year...it's was an awesome experiment with digital watercolour brushes...and I am looking forward to finding techniques that improve the look n feel I was aiming for! Hope you love her too...




Continue reading...
 

Creative Sensations

December 22, 2011
So, with 2012 knocking on the door, the Creativity Gym Xmas elves & fairies are hard at work!  We're putting together exciting, meaningful creative treats for you to enjoy this coming year, and will be introducing a new team member to you too. 

I have long believed that to lead a creative life, I need to be... awake!  And so leading my creative life has meant finding out what it takes to stay alert, conscious...not falling asleep.  And I don't mean literally, I mean in those every day ways th...
Continue reading...
 

The Curtain Has Been Lifted!

December 22, 2011
Woohoo!  We finally have the ability to leave comments here...so feel free. If you are moved by anything, have a view on something, a question to ask or just feel like saying hello...you now can.  Big happy sigh. Technology is on our side again :-)

Continue reading...
 

Wandering and wondering

October 22, 2011
I am wandering through the online meadows, wondering when I will be able to create a blog that allows comments.  This bowling down the alley into a curtain, not knowing if I have hit a strike or no skittles at all, has finally reached its logical end for me!  I need feedback!  I am a social creature!  I will try to contact Yola and find out if they support this request.  If not, we will need to move the website n blog to greener pastures.

The other think I am wondering is whether Creativity Gy...
Continue reading...
 

Good Morning!

October 11, 2011
Sweet and good morning to you my darling Creative Hearts! 

How are you doing today?  I have woken early (for me) and have decided to create a morning ritual of journaling today.  I will be checking in with where I am and what I'd love to share as I wake up, and before I put on the kettle for some delicious herbal tea, I'll share that along with a few other treats to get our morning juicy and full.

You can imagine this as our own virtual PJ party!  You may already be at work, or you may be gett...
Continue reading...
 
 
Sign up to our Email 
and receive your personal free copy of 
"Four Creative Ways to Self Love".. 
an introductory e-book companion to 
your creativity journey

For Email Marketing you can trust

Who's MischalaJ?


MischalaJ MischalaJ is an intuitive art and creativity business owner, seasoned corporate facilitator, intuitive creative consultant and coach. She started Creativity Gym to have a physical studio available to develop and teach non-traditional creative ways to be our most happy, alive and powerful selves. Innovative sessions and mini-workshops combine creativity and self development to achieve unusual outcomes...see the Creativity Gym FB page for reviews and photos...download products you can do from home from our products page...or book your paintbrush on the "What's Happening" page if you are keen to join me at workshops in Johannesburg!