Personal Journaling ~ A Creative Habit

Writing for Life: Creating a Story of Your Own
The therapeutic power of journaling, proven and embraced over the last century by doctors and psychologist, is an effective tool to improve health and achieve healing of the body, mind and spirit. The journaling and scrapbooking techniques taught in this course provide a creative way to connect with the inner self and heal emotional wounds while documenting your story, your life, in a fun and unique way.   [Learn more]   [Enroll Now]   [ Course Reviews ]

Write A Way: Journey to Creativity

You do not need to leave your room. Remain sitting at your table and listen. Do not even listen, simply wait, be quiet, still and solitary. The world will freely offer itself to you to be unmasked, it has no choice, it will roll in ecstasy at your feet.
~ Franz Kafka, Austrian (Czechoslovakian-born) author (1883 - 1924)

A Circle of Creativity
By Sandra Lee Schubert


Creating is a solitary act. It is just you and that darn blank canvas, paper or camera. Many hours are spent alone figuring out what do with an evolving creation. If you are lucky, the art is all consuming and the time passes and you feel exhausted but happy. On the other hand, you could be pacing the room in turmoil because you can't figure out what to do next. It sucks. Really it does. Those all encompassing moments don't come like Santa down the chimney. You have to be in the presence of creation despite anxiety, panic, fear, excitement, manic joy or depression. Exhaustion and boredom haunt you. How do you handle it?

First, put aside all the excuses. Stop the negative internal dialogue. Get a grip on you mental state and create. Like losing ten pounds or taking a test, it won't come easy. The rewards can be great. Twyla Tharp a leading choreographer gets up before the sun to go work out. When she is in the midst of a project she puts aside all distractions and focuses solely on her creation.

I can't begin to conceive of living my life with that kind of dedication to my art. But I can imagine shifting and changing priorities and bad habits to more positive and constructive ones. I like working alone. I get lost in what I am doing most of the time. There are days when I am in that wonderful place of creation. There are other days when I am in the pit of desperation. In his book, Coaching the Artist Within, Eric Maisel speaks about the holistic creator, as "someone who has learned not to arbitrarily and defensively exclude options." He goes on to say when confronted with the decisions of what should you create instead to simply ask, "What will I create?"

If you tell the truth, you have infinite power supporting you; but if not, you have infinite power against you.
~ Charles Gordon

Having said all that, living the artist life does not have to be a lonely venture. I belong to a writer's group and have co-facilitated another for almost seven years. I get out of the house. I share my work and I read the work of others. I learn new things all the time just by experiencing the creativity of others. The social aspect of the groups can't be denied. There is something wonderful about getting together with people who share a common interest. We may not want to do the same things but we want to support each other's creativity. I also have creative buddies. My buddy and I get together and write. We read our work and come up with creative exercises to do. These creative gatherings keep me from getting lazy and fixed in my work. I am also supported and uplifted by the times I get to spend with my friends.

We don't create without the help and input of others even when alone in our rooms. I leave you with a quote by Albert Einstein lest we think we are truly solitary beings.

A human being is part of a whole, called by us the Universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as something separated from the rest -- a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circles of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.
~ Albert Einstein US (German-born) physicist (1879 - 1955)

Developing the 'Creative Habit'
Create a circle of creativity for yourself. If you have children, then make a creation afternoon and do some arts and crafts or put on a play. In fact, have the children write the play and you perform. Made this a family habit. Visit museums. Volunteer to do art at a children's hospital or senior center. Create outings with other parents and children. Make creation fun for you and your family. Begin developing the creative habit now and break the electronic distraction habit.

Find a creative buddy. Most of us have at least one creative friend. Take outings together and support each other's work. If your friends are less then creative, consider taking a writing or art class and buddy up with one or two people there.

Join a book group or a writers group. Hang out in creative places and pick up some creative friends.

Enter a Writing Contest together!

When you have support, you are more likely to want to go back to your studio and create.

Remember to ask, "What will I create?",


Sandra Schubert is the creator and instructor for the Self-Healing Expressions e-course Writing for Life: Creating a Story of Your Own. To learn more about Sandra and her course, click here:

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Copyright © 2005 Sandra Lee Schubert. All rights reserved.