http://creativeperch.com/community/forum/the-creativity-book-with-melanie-sklarz Inspiring Creativity and Encouraging Innovation en-US Fri, 10 Sep 2010 13:48:46 +0000 http://bbpress.org/?v=1.0.2 q http://creativeperch.com/community/search.php http://creativeperch.com/community/topic/everyday-creative-let%e2%80%99s-begin#post-6 Tue, 26 Jan 2010 11:32:37 +0000 Dee Wilcox 6@http://creativeperch.com/community/ <p>Check out Melanie's first post in the Everyday Creative series! Are you ready to nurture your creativity and bring into the everyday aspects of your life? Join Melanie's challenge and post your experiences here!</p> <p>---</p> <p>Like most years, I decided to start 2010 by dedicating the year to becoming more creative. Usually, my dedication ends up occurring in not so everyday inspirational spurts. I hope this year will be different. I hope my creativity remains constant and in the forefront of everything I do. </p> <p>So how am I going to manage to pull off this feat? By learning to be everyday creative by following Eric Maisel’s The Creativity Book: A Year’s Worth of Inspiration and Guidance. Yes, that’s a year’s worth of dedication!</p> <p>I first encountered creativity coach extraordinaire, Eric Maisel’s work when I signed up for his Intro to Creativity Coaching online course five years ago. At the time, I was working as a museum educator, where I was focusing on everyone else’s creativity but my own. The course not only taught me how to empower other creatives but how to focus on my own creativity. </p> <p>After I finished the course, I worked for almost a year with a creativity coach, moved to another part of the country, and switched careers. But before I changed careers completely, I had some time to explore my inner creative urges. I signed up for art classes, exhibited my work in shows, launched my blog, taught creativity and art workshops and realized that I was creative. </p> <p>But like most things, life got in the way. I began to create less frequently, post only weekly to my blog, and abandoned my membership to the National Collage Society. So when Dee approached me about writing for Creative Perch, the first thing I did was dust off the Creativity Book. Then I told her I wanted to explore being an everyday creative person- something I’ve never really been able to accomplish. Like a lot of creatives, my inspiration erratically ebbs and flows, but what if I focused on it and nurtured it everyday instead of just some of the days?</p> <p>You are probably wondering why I am starting the program now after the year has already begun. Well, there are two reasons. The first is that the book is only divided into 11 monthly sections. The 12th section is dedicated to creating a work, whatever you want it to be. My work will be to continue to be an everyday creative, which I realize could change during the course of the year. Secondly, I want you to have the opportunity to join me. Dee has set up a forum that will allow you to do this. </p> <p>The challenge starts on February 1. Stay tuned… </p>