Showing posts with label coaching. Show all posts
Showing posts with label coaching. Show all posts

Monday, October 17, 2016

Creator's Corner Content Roundup: Best Creativity & Storytelling Is Within Our Grasp (March 2016 - August 2016)

NOTE: Creator's Corner is now being published on Wordpress, so you can access and read all of the columns (past and future) easily at one location. Click Here.

IT'S TIME FOR AN UPDATED ROUND-UP OF  CREATOR'S CORNER FOR EASIER ACCESS TO THE CREATIVITY COACHING CONTENT HERE with a brief excerpt and link to each one (March 2016 to August 2016)--in the spirit of "Everything we need for creativity & storytelling success is within our grasp." Of course it may not be everything we need, however; between Creator's Corner and the Creativity & Storytelling 'Zine, there is a hearty helping.


I BEGAN WRITING CREATOR'S CORNER IN AN INFLUENCER, COACHING, INSPIRATIONAL CAPACITY to share original ideas and solutions for you to consider based on my own thoughts and experiences inspired by the curated content in the Creativity & Storytelling 'Zine. Due to my work and volunteer schedule, Creator's Corner columns will not be as plentiful as in the past, but I will be posting new content as space clears to do so. Cheers! 

 

Creator's Corner Round-up (March-August 2016)
 

Lies & Storytelling: Strange Bedfellows in Shades of Gray) - August 14, 2016 | Liar! Who hasn't had to enter into an almost daily relationship with lies in our political climate today as we countdown to choosing our next president of the United States of America (#45). . . .

Best Storytelling Has Sensory Empathy (or It's Important To Engage the Senses) - July 27, 2016 | I had the responsibility of creating visual content (publications, packaging, and safer sex advertising campaings) to help save the lives of men, women, and children at-risk for HIV/AIDS during the fours years that I worked at Gay Men's Health Crisis, Inc. in New York City . . .  

Get Up to Speed On Quality Do-It-Yourself Storytelling (On a Low Budget) - June 25, 2016 | In our world in which content is king/queen and we must use vital creativity and storytelling mojo, and provide it in ways that engage, inspire and energize our fellow humans, what can we do to achieve quality . . .

Best Storytelling is Copied, Stolen Content? (or The Lighter Shade of Led Zeppellin) - June 5, 2016 | Breakout from traditional approaches and models despite potential flack that you might receive from doubters or critics who aren't as courageous, and/or fear conflict or change.

The Joy Is in the Story Journey (or Mission Impossible) - May 18, 2016 | What really kept me on the edge of my seat wasn't the mission getting accomplished or the end (though I was happy to get the payoff): it was everything that occurred prior to actually accomplishing it.




**YOUR TOP STORY**Best Story Content Grounded In Our Past & Current Life - May 4, 2016 | Lisa Sanderson's dad taught the creative writing elective, and he drilled into our heads the following regarding story content: Write about what you know, what you are . . .


Conflict Has Creative Value. Learn How To Use It. - April 19, 2016 | Creative breakthroughs often occur as the result of conflict in many aspects of the human experience. I feel like screaming again because conflict and contrast commands attention. They SHOUT and we. . .

Here Comes Play-Doh - April 6, 2016 | Certainly it's easy to see that Play-Doh can be used as content to attract and communicate with children in your particular business, project or service, but what about with adults? Many of us are familiar with Play-Doh because . . .

Sacred Geometry, Visual Storytelling Content: One of Top Four Creative Trends 2016 - March 27, 2016 | Sigils are sacred geometry symbol forms that the ancients considered to be the marks of angels, deities, and other powerful entities; they are archetype conduits that merge science, creativity and spirituality.



Card Decks and The Mystic or Visionary Persona - March 25, 2016 | Create a card deck as visual content to inform, educate, inspire, attract, promote, aesthetic (purely as art for arts sake ), or for fun and play to help achieve your goal or purpose.

MAY YOU DISCOVER MORE CREATIVE ideas and storytelling support now (and in the future)  

Dare to shine, be generous, and love this life.

Valerie 


 
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Tuesday, June 7, 2016

What's In Or On Your Bedside Table? Objects As Storytelling Content

Image Credit: decozt.com
EVERY OBJECT WE UTILIZE IN LIFE HAS A STORY TO TELL ABOUT US, OR REFLECTS WHO WE ARE or what we value—past, present and future. (As Sherlock Holmes says, “It’s elementary.”) Some stories we want to hear, and some, perhaps not.

A REVIEW OF SOME OF THE EVERYDAY ITEMS THAT WE RARELY CONSIDER as we rush about our lives can also inspire a valuable journey to self-discovery. It’s a way to get in touch with ourselves, our relationships, our environment and structures we have created.

JOIN ME IN SURVEYING SOME OF THE SIMPLE OBJECTS most of us take for granted that can serve as storytelling and other content creation resources. I will take a close look at one of them.

THE OBJECT WILL TELL IT'S OWN STORY ABOUT WHY I HAVE IT or how it impacts my life. I’ll let the item do the talking to keep me honest about our relationship. I invite you to try this creative exercise as well.

1. A BOX OF TISSUES

I am almost empty. Val has had sinus problems for a long time. The worst is when she develops sinusitis. This happens because she ingests things into her body that weakens her immune system: dairy products, sugar, some caffeine, and products with monosodium glutamate. Today, her sinuses are revolting and pain is their way of communicating to her, of saying: “Change your habits!”

Her respiratory system has had huge challenges with two pneumonia bouts. The last one occurred in Cusco, Peru. It’s a miracle she’s alive. She had severe pulmonary edema with her lungs full of water and the liquid seeping into her brain. The clinic director said: “If your friend hadn’t called this morning when she did, you’d be dead. In another 30 minutes you would have died.” Actually, she did die.

Image Credit: blog.toiletpaperworld.com
Sometime in the evening, Val was in the crossing over tunnel. Her mother (who died in 1979), her maternal grandmother, and an extremely bright Being whose face she could not see, were at the end. She was so happy to see her mother and grandmother again and ready to join them. Without moving their mouths--speaking consciousness to consciousness--they told her she had to return. The Being put an incredible amount of light into her body. When she opened her eyes, her friend was in her room telling Val she was calling for help immediately.

The clinic director rushed over to the hotel in which she was staying and drove her to the clinic. The doctors put her in a hyperbaric chamber because her oxygen level had dropped to the low thirties. A normal level is in the 90s. Val has anemia. Cusco is 13,000 feet above sea level and her blood couldn’t make enough oxygen.

Although she is reaching for me tonight, I must say she has made changes so she doesn’t need to use me very often. She’s sworn off two drains on her immune system: alcohol and cigarettes. Plus, she almost only uses Yacon honey & syrup (a low-calorie, low-blood sugar sweetener for diabetics and weight-watchers she discovered in Peru), uses Almond beverage and goat’s milk, and minimizes caffeine intake. 

Image Credit: savvysistershops.com
Her greatest enemy is her love for sugar-producing carbohydrates (the “bad” carbs) she eats for comfort food, or just because it’s a hard pattern to break. Also, she loves sour cream mixed with Lipton Onion Soup to make a dip that complements her favorite potato chips, Lays Classic. The soup mix has monosodium glutamate. Also, she’s prone to binges of putting cheddar cheese in her morning grits and making grill cheese sandwiches.

Sinus problems are a symptom of deeper issues—emotional ones. She was abused as a child, and it left an imprint on her. It says: “You’re not worthy. You’re not good enough. You aren’t a person to value.” Sometimes these feelings rear up—even though she’s worked hard against them, knowing they are not true. 

The more she eradicates the harmful programming she received as a child, the less she’ll need to eat things that feed the sinus problems. She’s doing more work on the inside to affect her outside choices.

She uses me to wipe her tears too; although lately, she wipes her tears with her fingers and rubs them into her skin where her heart resides.

See what I mean about how one ordinary object can be used as a storytelling resource, and has the capacity to impact a life? Here are the rest of the items:

  1. The book, “The Secret.”
  2. The book, “Messages from Your Angels.”
  3. A hand-painted, black lacquer jewelry box my dad brought home to my mother after serving in the military in Okinawa.
  4. A digital microcassette recorder.
  5. A remote for my DVD/VHS player.
  6. A small, white box with pearl earrings inside.
  7. My Zrii notebook.
  8. A maroon cloth napkin with a pattern of tiny white roses.

NOW IT'S YOUR TURN. What’s on YOUR bedside table?

Note: The “What’s In or On Your Bedside Table” is an idea inspired by a dream I had in February 2009. I was a guest in the audience of the game show, “Let’s Make a Deal.” Audience members were offered a deal if we could find the requested object in our pocketbooks. I don’t recall what object was requested, but I found it. Monty Hall, the host, picked out a piece of paper from a bag with the prize written on it. I won $37,000.75. I awakened.

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Tuesday, May 17, 2016

I Am Definitely Not Perfect by Cassie Parks, Money Maven (Guest Blogger)

Cassie Parks, Money Maven
The Healing Artist Studio Project welcomes Cassie Parks, a coach, author, radio program host, and creator of  the "Money, Money, Money" course. As I recall, I discovered Cassie through a Facebook friend's post inviting friends to participate in a course she is taking (and this is the part that grabbed my attention) that offers clients the option of paying for the course AFTER they manifest the bucks! What? Did I read that right? So I read it again. Yes. I did read it right. Cassie suggested that client's pay 10% of the income they receive as a result of taking her course as an exchange for service. Immediately, I registered.

Check Out the Book!
Later, I decided to wait since I realized that in the excitement of the moment, I forgot my commitment to focus on giving myself time to deal with the PTSD fallout that has interfered with my success to fully reap the benefits of the many other programs, mentor relationships, courses, seminars, and groups in which I have participated since the early 2000s. I asked my Creator to help me stay on track with all that is before me now, and in the meantime, to act as a "Curator" by sharing what Cassie offers (See "The Healing Artist Studio Project: It's What?" and "Child Abuse PTSD Survivor: Never Thought That I Would Be Healed and Changed By This Blog"). A few days after making the decision to postpone getting into something new, I received a letter via email from Cassie about her not being perfect. I find her letter about not being perfect to be--well--perfect. She agreed to share it here as a guest blogger.

Dear Valerie,

I am definitely not perfect. 

Recently, I published a blog post with a typo in the title. Someone pointed it out in a comment on Facebook. Honestly, I had to look at it for a few minutes before I saw it. I haven’t changed it yet. I’m human, and to be human means I’m not perfect. I am never going to be and thank goddess I stopped thinking that was the only way I would be valued.

Not that many years ago, I was a perfectionist. I would work really hard and try my best to be perfect. Be the perfect employee. Make the perfect life choices. Work until I got something perfect.

But I never got it. Trust me, I look for typos and even when I spent hours looking, I would miss them. Typos is also a symbol for everything in my life. One day I decided I was going to be happy instead of perfect. It was like a weight lifted and I could finally start enjoying my life instead of feeling like I had to wait until I was perfect. I decided to love myself even though I am far from perfect.

When I saw that comment I thought about running over and changing it, but I wanted to do something more fun. Then I remember thinking, “Remember when that comment would cause a sinking feeling in your stomach and you would feel like a failure for a couple days?” It’s really good not to have that feeling anymore, especially because if you’re that hard on yourself about the little things, like a typo the big things feel really, really bad.

This week alone I sent a $10,000 payment to the wrong credit card, and sent a wire that was short $1000 to purchase some real estate. The $10,000 went to an account that doesn’t even exist anymore. Seriously, I could have beaten myself up for days about that. My hunch is because I didn’t that the problem was relatively easy to solve. And shorting that wire is going to cost me another hour in the bank to send another wire, but that’s ok too.

Seriously, I could have beat myself up big time in the past week. The truth is, I could probably find reasons to beat myself up every single day, but that sucks. I’m glad I have chosen to be happy instead of perfect. I wish the same for you. Go easy on yourself today, tomorrow and always. It took practice to be able to let go of the things that I didn’t do perfect. Now that I have made a habit of it, it’s a lot easier.

Be really, really good to yourself today.

Cheers!
Cassie

P.S. I totally adore the person who made the comment and I know she was just trying to help me out.

Check Out Cassie's New Book: Manifest $10,0000. It received over 9,000 downloads in nine (9) days.
 
Contact Info: 
Spiral Up LLC/Loving Yourself Univ/CassieParks.com
1020 15th St. #22A
Denver, CO
80202
US
cassie@cassieparks.com
(720) 231-5213

Please note that the "Money, Money, Money" course gets offered at different times during the year. You can email Cassie about the course, "Manifest It Now" episodes, requests to interview her on your show, her book, and other services she offers.

Thank you, Cassie!

GRATEFUL TO BE OF SERVICE: HEALING AND CHANGING LIVES

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