On Creativity

I think that working the 9 to 5 grind in a cubicle can sometimes...or always...suck the life out of you. Some days it feels like you are slowly dying, or at least your soul is haha...er or maybe I am the only one that feels this way. So it got me thinking recently about creativity, and I naturally googled creativity, since I sit at a desk all day and therefore google everything that pops into my head throughout the day. Anyway, I found some good tips and interesting ideas of ways to keep your creativity alive. For those that work in an office, or just want some new ideas, here is what I found.

21 Ways to Be More Creative

(I encourage you to click the link above to read the descriptions for each of these ideas.)

1 – Stop watching television

2 – Take a 20-minute walk everyday

3 – Write with pen & paper (or pencil and paper)

4 – Write songs to your pets

5 – Dance around the House

6 – Walk in the rain

7 – Make a collage

8 – Make a list of things you love

9 – Write 10 postcards

10 – Get up early and watch the sun rise

11 – Listen to music you’ve never listened to before.

12 – Eat with your hands

13 – Be quiet

14 – Take a nap

15 – Take photos. Real photos. Not digital photos.

16 – Make an event out of watching the full moon come up

17 – Read poetry aloud

18 – Go see a play or live music or live anything

19 – Visit a gallery

20 – Write a letter

21 – Stop watching television (Yes this one was repeated for its importance)

I also found another 100 ideas for ways to explore your creativity. I won't list them all here because there are 100 of them, but you can find the entire list here.

http://www.kerismith.com/funstuff/100ideas.htm

Some of the unique suggestions include:

• Go for a walk. Draw or list things you find on the the sidewalk.
• Glue an envelope into your journal. For one week collect items you find on the street.
• Find a photo of a person you do not know. Write a brief bio about them.
• Write a haiku.
• Illustrate your grocery list.
• List the smells in your neighborhood.
• Give away something you love.
  
• Choose an object, draw the side you can't see.
  
• List all of the places you've ever lived.
• Describe your favourite room in detail.
  
• Write about your relationship with your washing machine.
  
• Draw all of the things in your purse/bag.
• List 10 things you would like to do every day.

An eventful weekend

Last weekend the weather was beautiful, so I decided that instead of going to hot yoga on Saturday morning, I decided to take my dog for a really long walk. We walked all the way from my apartment to Long Island City, where there is a really nice dog park for her to run around in. its about a 45 minute walk each way. When we got to LIC and were around the corner from the dog park I saw police tape and a crowd gathering outside a building. Olive and I walked by to see what was going on, not expecting to see what we did. A man was lying dead in the street. He jumped from the 25th floor of the building and committed suicide. He didn't even live there. It was one of the craziest things I have ever seen! Once I was less shaken and walking back home, I started to think that maybe I have lived here long enough (almost three years) that I am going to start seeing more crazy things. It seems that people who have lived here a long time have seen a lot and have lots of bizarre, often funny, stories about living in New York. This, unfortunately, was sad, not funny.

You can read a story about it here: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/queens/apt_buyer_tours_high_rise_to_jump_KKWhbFR6HLZrjb5XgxFIkN

The excitement didn't stop either. On Sunday, a blue parakeet wandered into our building and was caught by our doorman. The poor little bird was just walking down the street. The doorman called us because he knew we already had a bird and wanted to know if we could take it. We haven't found the owner, but we don't really want to because our bird is really happy to have a friend with her. Its a really pretty little blue bird. I will post a picture soon!

Handbook for 2010

I got this in an e-mail. It has some good tips for living in the New Year and contains some interesting ideas for changes in 2010.

Health:
1. Drink plenty of water
2. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar
3. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants
4. Live with the 3 E’s -- Energy, Enthusiasm and Empathy
5. Make time to pray
6. Play more games
7. Read more books than you did in 2009
8. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day
9. Sleep for 7 hours
10. Take a 10-30 minute walk daily. And while you walk, smile

Personality:
11. Don’t compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
12. Don’t have negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.
13. Don’t overdo. Keep your limits.
14. Don’t take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
15. Don’t waste your precious energy on gossip.
16. Dream more while you are awake
17. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
18. Forget issues of the past. Don’t remind your partner with His/her mistakes of the past. That will ruin your present happiness.
19. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don’t hate others.
20. Make peace with your past so it won’t spoil the present.
21. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
22. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
23. Smile and laugh more.
24. You don’t have to win every argument. Agree to disagree

Society:
25. Call your family often.
26. Each day give something good to others.
27. Forgive everyone for everything.
28. Spend time with people over the age of 70 & under the age of six.
29. Try to make at least three people smile each day.
30. What other people think of you is none of your business.
31. Your job won’t take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.

Life:
32. Do the right thing!
33. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
34. God heals everything.
35. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
36. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
37. The best is yet to come.
38. When you awake alive in the morning, thank God for it.
39. Your Inner most is always happy. So, be happy.