This week I’m celebrating my 100th post here, and I’d like to invite you to celebrate with me, so I’m doing a give-away.
You know how TV shows make a big deal about their 100th episode? Yeah… that’s what gave me the idea.
What you can win: Registration in Creative + Practice — I’m giving away THREE spots in the workshop.
How to Enter: Simply leave a comment on any post on my blog between today, April 15, and Tuesday, April 22.
Below, you’ll find a list of posts I’ve curated to help you learn more about what you’ll find here on my blog. Might want to go do one now, while fresh on your mind…
What I am looking for in your comment:
TWO things. Please include BOTH.
1. Share something that stood out to you from the post – something you learned, or captured your interest, or you would underline if it were in a book. Feel free to copy/past this part in the comments. Why did that part stand out to you?
2. Share one of your own creative challenges. What are you struggling with? What do you wish you could resolve once and for all? What trips you up in your own creative work or explorations?
I’ll select the winners based on the content of your responses. They don’t have to be long responses, but it’s definitely OK to ramble…I don’t mind. Thinking out loud in the comments, is encouraged! Just like in my workshops.
You may wish to comment on more than one post, which will help me see you and get to know you better — my higher purpose with this giveaway.
The better I know you, the more I can keep writing stuff that you’ll want to read.
Follow the links below and let the commenting begin! And hey, thanks SO much for sharing (and celebrating!) with me.
One of my favorite poems, with journaling prompts for you
My 100th post, which first appeared in slightly different form in the 30 day journal project.
I dare you to shut your device right this second and go lie down.
I want to live in a world where being well-rested is considered normal. Subversive crafty project inside, in case sleep eludes you >
In my experience, work-in-progress doesn’t look like much of anything.
It doesn’t feel like work.
It doesn’t look like progress. This is what it DOES look like >
If you feel lost, try being extravagant
Did you know that the word Extravagant means
to “wander outside or beyond,” especially to wander outside the limits and beyond the rules we set for ourselves. read more >
Practicing Your Art (and what I mean by ART)
…by art and work, these things are not limited to what you don’t get paid for, even if that is your aim.
And if your aim is to get paid to do your work/art, (or, art/work) then by all mean, keep obsessive notebooks documenting your experience. Like this >
Sketchbook as idea incubator. Or mirror of one’s obsessions?
All of my work as a visual artist, writer, and teacher incubates in the the pages of my sketchbooks long before it ever finds form in the world. read more >
When I’m deep in writing, I read a lot of poetry, and a lot of other people’s memoirs.
Includes the text of John O’Donohue’s poem, For the Traveler… one that I meditate upon quite a bit these days…read more >
Doing Creative Practice (In Bed)
The Visual (Art Supply) Packing List: Travel Hacks for Artists and Teachers
After fifteen years traveling across five continents teaching creativity workshops, I’ve learned a few things about flying with paint, not forgetting crucial items, and how to make packing easier. Read, and then share your tips with me (pretty please?) >
Paint Happy: Henry Miller’s Paris Notebook
Are you a writer who paints or takes photos? A visual artist who writes? A keeper of sketchbooks or journals? Do you write or work visually in your journals? Or both? Take a peek inside Henry’s art journal here >
Favorite supplies for keeping sketchbooks and visual journals
How I paint page backgrounds in my sketchbooks and visual journals
Dreams into reality. Why bother keeping a sketchbook?
No Ordinary Moments & The Keeping of Sketchbooks
I Moved to Mexico: On Following Dreams & Reinvention
The Reason Why I Blog
For a lifetime, I’ve kept detailed visual journals as a creative process for healing, problem-solving, inner excavation and exploration.
Until I was 23 years old, I kept my visual journals private. Then I started sharing my process with patients in the psych hospital where I worked as an art and music therapist. Then I started leading workshops outside the psych hospital, blending my experiences in art therapy, spiritual inquiry (lots of zen time in ashrams), and the the path of forging my way as a self-employed artist.
In 2002, I started by first blog, simply as a way of showing my work to my students. What I didn’t anticipate was how much blogging would connect me with a world of other like-minded artists, travelers, and seekers. People who want to create more, fear less, and find inspiration and en-courage-ment along the way.
p.s. Andrea over at Creative Dream Incubator is giving away a spot in Creative + Practice, too. Check out the video chat we did and enter her contest here: http://www.creativedreamincubator.com/2014/04/15/interview-lisa-sonora-beam/
To participate in the giveaway – navigate to the posts you want to read, and leave your comments (using above guidelines) below the posts you are reading and commenting on.
My blog can automagically see recent comments on any post – so your comment won’t get lost. Enjoy!
22 comments
Hi Lisa,
I’ve been following your blog since buying a copy of The Creative Entrepreneur a couple of years ago. Congratulations on your 100th post!!!
Just wanted to let you know that, at my end, the links to the Henry Miller notebook & Favourite Supplies entries are not working. I tried a couple of times – going to ‘error 404’ page.
PS. I’ve posted my ‘Creative+Practice’ giveaway entry comments under each of the posts, rather than here. Is that ok?
Wishing you a very Happy Centenary! 😉
yes, Suzana – posting entry comments within each of the posts is what I intended, although folks have done it both ways.
thanks for the bum links – will check those out.
Oh Lisa! I’ve been subscribed to your blog for a while and already left a comment above – but that was almost 3 hours ago…. I’ve been clicking through your links (Henry James and the one under it didn’t work) watching videos and chasing bunnies around your shares – bought the pdf sketchbooks – up to chapter 3 – would have gotten further but I felt compelled to throw down some Golden in my two traveling sketchbooks just so I could have a start later. Would love to be in your practice but it’s just outside my budget at this time. Will still be benefiting from the ebook though. So many points of resonance – I feel refreshed and ready to make something fun soon! Thank you thank you thank you!
I want to live in a world where being well-rested is considered normal.
This one really resonated and confirmed a recently accepted truth for me… honestly, in just the past year, I’ve finally come to the point in my life where I have accepted that it is not lazy or wasted time to sleep when my brain and body need it! Amazingly, if I’m dozing in front of the TV, or rubbing my eyes to do one more thing, I’m not getting full benefit anyway. Some days (not at the office) a nap is a mega blessing and refreshment. Going to bed early when tired means I wake up contented and ready to be productive and creative. I have no idea why it’s taken me over 50 years to come to this place, but I sure am glad I did an am opening myself to other “radical” attitude changes in other areas as well. Thanks for sharing.
Hi! I actually registered for the class Wednesday night but I haven’t yet received any information about the course or accessing the content. The post I continue to be drawn back to is rest as a weapon. I’ve found that to be true in my own life – basically when I was forced to rest for physical and emotional reasons. But sometimes the thoughts or self-talk can still come to the surface… am I just being lazy? am I just avoiding things? what would people think if they knew how much I rest some days?
But I’ve learned how important it is for me to get the rest I need. (and get enough sleep… although I can rest without sleeping). The past few years, self-care has become *huge* for me, out of necessity, and this includes rest.
If I get enough rest, I can then do so much more. My creative ideas flow more easily. And I can often get more done faster too! (but not always… sometimes things simply take however long they take…)
A big creative challenge for me right now is getting started. The daily getting-started. I can want to, I can have no reason at all holding me back, I can have plenty of time… But there needs to be a moment in the day when I actually *get started* on whatever project I’m working on or have plans to do. So I guess you could say I feel stuck – not in the sense of being stuck about what to work on, or what I want to do, but feeling stuck about taking the first step (the first step of a given day) to make a shift and pick up a pen/paintbrush/journal and START.
I think the Visual Packing List is brilliant! I am a word-list person, but my daughter is definitely a visual person. She travels a lot (sports teams) and this is a great idea that will likely help her.
One of my creative challenges is just time. I work full-time and have 3 youngish children, so time is minimal. I discovered ATCs and that has made a huge difference. The size is small enough to be completed quickly or easily put away for another time. I am trying a visual journal this year too. So far, I’ve had starts and stops, but I am trying! 🙂
It’s all about fits and starts! Circular, rather than linear.
I must share! I spent an hour reading your blog last night, Lisa. I slept and dreamed of creativity all night long. I kept getting this sign that read PREVIEW as we were travelling on a train. We had much anticipation of where we were going and when we’d see this PREVIEW but didn’t know what it might be. (Aside: I LOVE dreams like this. I know my creative soul is speaking to me then.)
This morning I got a complete download of information to begin The Steady Writer program. I went straight to my creativity journal/sketchbook and recorded what was being divinely downloaded to me. For the first time in a long time, I am so juiced up about what’s next.
I attribute this opening up to my creative practice of coming to the pages on a daily basis. I noodle and doodle. And listen and record. Out of this has come this juicy richness that’s making me want to fly higher and higher. Literally. Soaring here!
Thank you for sharing your gifts. You’ve uplifted me with your intuitive processes. Awesome-sauce!!!
ooh, Debra – the download dreams! yes! love those.
Was I on the train with you?
Someone else recently told me she dreamt she saw me in Italy…
can’t wait to hear more about your steady writer program. and PREVIEW. what a word… i hope you play with it in your journal. what images would it have?
Yes, yes! You were on the train with me, Lisa. Perhaps we were going to Italy? I didn’t receive a clear destination in my dream, but that word PREVIEW was on a placard plain as day. And kept showing up often as we moved about the train. Thanks for the nugde to play with it in my creation journal. LOVE the prompt to explore what images would it have?
Safe travels to the U.S. (this week, right?) Maybe some form of transportation you take will also reveal more about PREVIEW for both of us. Yay-O!!!
greatly enjoyed your video interview with Andrea Schroeder. Totally relate to school and it’s ability to snuff out any creativity a person may have. I also found your advise about acknowledging your fears and fallow times very helpful. Thanks for sharing!
“Turning magazines into sketchbooks – a blank slate for my thinking and feeling into what books or paintings or workshops will come next.” (from “Dwell Time”)
what calls me here is the spaciousness i feel in your words ~ not knowing what will emerge ~ sinking into a moment ~ aaah ~ breathing space ~ no pushing, no “making it happen” approach here ~ just this openness ~ invitation to be with and allow ~
also, the idea of “magazines into sketchbooks” ~ luscious ~ freeing ~ outside the “box” ~ and easy – easy in the way of “oh, i believe i can do this – paint on paper” ~ yum! and i like the idea of the magazine continuing to become ~ metaphor for all of it ~ our processes, our unfolding creative expression ~ our lives ~ wow! could go on and on here ~
i knew this post was inspiring ~ how deeply i am moved is continuing to reveal ~
as for my own creative explorations ~ well, the invitation (challenge, opportunity) is simply be and allow and create ~ free doubts and “old messages” ~ and step in more fully ~ blossom even (wow – writing that on the page!
i have been drawn to your posts for a while now (since first finding) ~ gift of participating in workshop would be opportunity to experience affirming inspiring supporting encouraging space and spend time with you and other seeking souls ~ beautiful ~
thank you for this opportunity and gift!
“Thomas Moore, in his books Care of the Soul and Soul Mates, talks about how to nurture a more soulful connection to life. This isn’t, paradoxically, found in the peaks of spiritual experiences, alone on the mountaintop, but in the particulars of wrestling with everyday details.”
This stood out for me as it is something that I have been trying to develop this year – a more mindful approach to life and looking more at the little things in life.
My challenge is to stop living and creating in my head as it were and to commit to paper I often start challenges, projects etc, full of good intentions, but then run into a wall, or allow life to get in the way and then drop the project or get too far behind that I feel I can’t catch up.Then I feel discouraged and disheartened. I would like to get beyond this and know how to work through this when it happens.
Congratulations on your 100th post.
Congratulations, Lisa on your 100th post! I think every milestone, should be a cause for celebration; especially the ones that make us stop and enjoy the present in a joyous way!
I think all of your posts resonate with me and your accomplishments show me the path of what can become, out of a creative practice, especially when one looks fear in the eye and continues in spite of the fear. Your first book was such a life saver to me, since it gave me a guideline filled with inspiration and steps to move forward. I know it was in me, but sometimes we need to see concrete steps in order to wage our own path, and that’s what your first book did for me. Your sketchbooks book, continues to give me motivation and provide mentoring, when I don’t have an ear to listen. So congratulations and thank you!
These bits from your post ‘Rest is a Weapon’
you have permission to rest.
you are invited to listen to your body.
what does my body need right now?
what will nourish me right now?
Man, these sound good. Permission, invitation.
Then, the questions…and I hold my breath a little…ooh, can I really?
That sounds SO indulgent, that if I get too close to all of that yumminess I will melt into a big heap of tears because it’s been so long since I’ve been consistent in that…or, um, have I ever been consistent in that? Ahh.
You know, in taking this course, I could really…{and there is that breath holding again!, so I know I’m on the right track to dig deep and write into this}…set my intention around rest/being present with body needs/ the ‘what will nourish me right now?’ prompt.
Holy fricken wowzers (to keep it clean on here 😉 )
Thoughts: Can I? Can I enjoy this more and have it be that easy and yummy? Like, all the time, without the ups and downs?
Doing Creative Practice (In Bed)
I loved this casual, cozy video.
Your variety of vegan hot chocolate, yum.
The practicality of your tray(s) in bed. Loving. Being visual, this was SO GREAT to see you holding that up, thank you!
the thick journal, drool.the little journal, yes.
well, I have a variety going though haven’t stuck to each of their intended uses. I notice I start mashing it all together; drawings with writing, etc. and it ends up visually distracting and I don’t often want to go back to those. Hmm. Would be cool to have a more intentional practice.
Talking all over the place here 🙂
AND the excitement of creating *something* when you awake: Y.E.S.
more play-less set projects for a.m. would be great. Bring on the total freedom to just play first.
So many ideas, so much fear to ‘not get anything done’. Nobody gets that but me, right?!
I love the idea of keeping things private. You mentioned that somewhere, and it sure does ring true for me. Fear of judgement or reaction before I’ve had a chance to *experience for myself* ideas/play/creation…complete shut down.
Ack! So tempting to show, to prove I’m not just sitting around drooling on myself…though, done creatively, why would anyone even need to know I was?
Sneaky desire to prove. Poop. Stops me in my tracks so often.
From ‘Recipes for Happiness’
obsessive-compulsive or curiously thorough?
in the company of a friend, enjoying a cup of tea in a cafe.
Both of these snippets stood out to me, because, my recipe for happiness falls somewhere between obsessive-compulsiveness and being curiously thorough…though do I fall in any one place, really?
I wonder ‘when is enough?’. ‘Can I call this good enough, or does it need more…oh my gosh, have I done it again and due TOO much?’
And in the company of a friend, enjoying a cup of tea, well, that pokes at my core for sure.
Such simple times, such deeply soul satisfying times that I crave more of.
And, my recipe for happiness sometimes calls for paint. sometimes a fresh page, or 20. sometimes music. sometimes getting my hands in the soil. sometimes a plate of fresh foods piled up, inviting me to pluck from.
Always, always a stretch of uninterrupted time to let myself wander around freely in play-land.
What’s enough time? How can I get to play more often, rather than simply think up more ideas?
I’m so random, how can I…well, I don’t want to leave any of the good parts out, how can I fit it all in? or is that part of me not being consistent? Huh.
from ‘Sketchbook as idea incubator. Or mirror of one’s obsessions?’
the idea of stuff, and how it encumbers or liberates.
obsessing over finding the perfect black pen (it’s like finding the right sofa…or man…if i dare say)
Yes.
Stuff encumbering or liberating, definitely a recurring theme for me, too!
But I NEED more options, I tell myself, to choose from when inspiration strikes so I don’t have to be interrupted by a trip to the store if I run out.
And I’m feeling crowded by all this STUFF, why do I have so much, it’s overwhelming?
Mmm hmm.
The perfect black pen, I see exactly how it fits in here…if I were to have ‘the perfect black pen’, of black pens, of pencil, of paper, of _______, then would I REALLY need or even be thinking about MORE?
Maybe it’s more of ‘the right fit’ for me, than a bunch of good fits? Hmm.
Or is that bringing me back to obsessive-compulsion, haha?
Ahh…having a nice giggle-fest with myself over here, Lisa!!
When is enough?
What is enough?
I tend to dig in deep and obsess about being SO prepared for anything that *might* come up, overwhelm myself, and then start something new…hello exhaustion!
Incubating? Is that something I can do with my body, because I’m ready to crawl up in this thing…with a cup of your hot chocolate, of course.
Alright, miss Lisa, I hope you have room left on your blog after this rambling. And that you can make some sense of it all.
Can’t believe I wrote that much!
Loving you (and Andrea- loved seeing you two together) from afar,
Nicole xo
Hi Lisa,
Wow. How cool that you’re reached your 100th Post! Big CONGRATS! :D! Thanks for the opportunity to celebrate with you in this special give-away. And I’m eager to throw my hat in the ring. In spite of my shyness in sharing or discussing my own struggles, I’m just going to “go for it” because I would really appreciate insight and/or assistance in this area.
So here goes…
I participated in your first Dreaming on Paper online course last year and I got so much from it. I was dedicated to writing and painting in my journal–making it a natural part of my week. And then Typhoon Yolanda/Haiyan happened. It first made landfall in a small, little-known section of the world: Guiuan Eastern Samar–the home of my parents and ancestors. A place I hold near and dear to my heart. Both my parents are buried there. I was devastated, worried, horrified, you-name-it as the typhoon pounded the island and nearby regions. Then there was the very slow and scary process of waiting for news and eventual rescue and recovery. (Thankfully, my relatives survived it!)
The typhoon was such a dramatic and intensive event that I couldn’t bring myself to write or draw about it. I fell out of my newly formed habit of creative journaling. So, I wonder WHY is it that I couldn’t even bring myself to write or paint about such trying experiences even if I know I’ll benefit from journaling? It feels like I keep myself away from the process because it’s too scary, and it’s something so raw or totally without words. I also note that I don’t want to “mess up the pages” :/! Yet, it feels like I am depriving myself of an opportunity to process and deal with the challenge at hand.
I wonder if the Creative Practice course will help me understand this curious thing that I do when I’m under duress? I would love to learn strategies for forging ahead and dealing with the “super” creative roadblocks I set up for myself. Such has been my struggle.
Pardon the long entry and thanks for “listening” 🙂
All the Best,
Edna
The trick of it is to keep working, and not get to distracted by the analytical mind that craves outcome, product, progress…
I love this Lisa…I find journaling to be the most difficult for me. I have tons of thoughts in my head but can’t seem to let them( or allow them to) flow out into my art. It’s like when you wake up from a very vivid dream and you tell somebody about it- it loses the very thing that felt the most real-it seems to deflate. Trusting in the creative process and being able to let go and just be in the moment is powerful-allowing myself to get tripped up by the analytical mind and outcome is defeating/frustrating and is something I need to work through.
“I want to live in a world where being well-rested is considered normal”. – In a world where many work 9-5 particularly in England, it feels like you are a hamster going round and round in that wheel. For me I feel I dance to a different beat than this monotonous wheel I’d just like to know what it is. What is my purpose? Am I an artist – many people have seen I am a creative being enjoying a number of things. That’s why this year I am making a conscious effort to explore this and using creative prompts such as those in your Roots course to get to the bottom of it all.
“Thomas Moore, in his books Care of the Soul and Soul Mates, talks about how to nurture a more soulful connection to life. This isn’t, paradoxically, found in the peaks of spiritual experiences, alone on the mountaintop, but in the particulars of wrestling with everyday details.
Moore writes, “the soul loves the vernacular—the particular place, family, friends and neighborhood that are part of our daily lives.”
In my workshops, I love to share quotes and poems to spark the imagination, to illustrate a point much better than I can by way of explanation. A sturdy quote can illuminate hard-to-reach places in our minds, where logic rules.
A great use of quotes is to turn them into writing prompts.”
This quoted passage from your No Ordinary Moments post will be written directly into my Sketchbook. I write and make art which celebrates the sacred in every day living. And this means I have a lot of material!
Here is my challenge Lisa. I, like you, am multi-passionate. I have a huge flow of ideas burbling around me most of the time. I need an assistant to do the scanning and administrative stuff…though there is comfort in these mundane tasks too. I write and make art and raise kids and keep a blog and a blog series and teach writing and also social media for authors and artists and have several other large projects running.
I have poured over the Creative Entrepeneur. And I end up, almost every day, having tackled and enjoyed about one third of what I wanted to accomplish along with kid-pickup and dinner- which my husband really enjoys preparing. Which is to say, I am well supported and loved. Just not sure I am being effective enough and want to have a ton of fun while doing it.
Is this possible?
How to I tend all these fires and keep the important ones well fed?
I’d love your insight here.
xo S
“All of my work as a visual artist, writer, and teacher incubates in the the pages of my sketchbooks long before it ever finds form in the world.” (From post: “Sketchbook as an idea incubator”)
This quote jumped out at me as I am in the process of trying to find my own unique voice & the thing that holds me back is journaling deeply in my art journal. This quote spoke right to my heart in that it made me realize how the seeds of ideas are planted in journal pages & if I do not start expounding on those words/seeds, they will not be given life…they will not germinate & bloom. I struggle with putting my words honestly down on paper – the visuals I have no problem with, it’s the honest feelings & words…what holds me back? Not sure – perhaps afraid of people reading my words & not “getting it”… But does that matter? It shouldn’t. And if it does matter, why? I would love to get past this as I think it would allow me to break through & break free!
Thanks for this opportunity, Lisa!
Patricia – thanks so much – from what I see here, you are already well on your way of both finding and expressing your unique voice.
One thing I would offer to you and anyone struggling with putting words on paper, is to make a pact to keep your journaling private.
First and always – private.
You can always decide if and when – if ever – to share something.
But the main thing is, we need a space to work entirely for our own process.
The minute we think someone else will see it, or we have to show it – BOOM. The process shuts down.
Great advice, Lisa, thanks so much for your encoraging words! Love your blog & I just started your workshop in 21 Secrets! Your 30 days of journaling earlier this year helped a lot too.