Valerie Mich'El Oliver (The Pursuit Studio) explores the art and architecture of creativity, healing and storytelling in imaginative, innovative and award-winning ways. The Healing Artist Studio is one project. Tisch School of the Arts (New York University) and The Mystery School (Sacred Center for the Healing Arts) graduate. | Play, observe, imagine, innovate, create, heal, and love this life.
Rachel Ward and Richard Chamberlain in "The Thorn Birds" (Credit: ABC)
Best Content Uses Current & Past Life Stories: Honoring Tom Comerford, R.I.P.
(Story of the Month: August 2017)
Tom Comerford. I was in shock, depressed, and lost after the death of my mother. Tom was a District Manager for the State of New Jersey's Division of Youth & Family Services. He hired me to provide payments to all the foster care parents in the huge district. He helped me get back on my feet mentally, emotionally, and financially; and that job led to meeting my best friend who has been in my life for 37 years. Continue reading . . .
CREATOR'S CORNER is dedicated to sharing ideas that come to mind after reading and selecting articles for The Creativity & Storytelling 'Zine(as the editor/curator) that may be useful in a professional or personal capacity. Interest
in creativity and storytelling as content for usage in arts &
entertainment, media communications, marketing and advertising, and as lifestyle choices for businesses, projects and
services (groups that have a way of life that may or may not be included
in their brand identity), can be relevant to anyone anywhere in the
world covering a variety of professions.
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 December 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!
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). . . .
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 . . .
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.
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 . . .
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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Top Visitors/Countries (Last 7 Days)
1) United States 2) Germany 3) France 4) India 5) Romania
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.
STAGE 32 (ONE OF MY FAVORITE WEBSITES) INVITES IT'S MEMBERS TO SELECT 10 FILMS THAT WE WOULD TAKE WITH US IF WE KNEW WE WERE GOING TO BE STRANDED ON A DESERT ISLAND. I don't know what criteria you would use to select the stories to watch over and over and over again, but the ones I chose impacted me on an emotional, mental or spiritual basis; introduced me to a new world or perspective; or simply fueled my imagination into high gear.
THE DESERT ISLAND MOVIES. The movies I picked are: The Red Balloon (My Top Pick is the original 1956 version), and the rest in no particular order: Harvey, Being There, Jesus Christ Superstar, Ingmar Bergman's Trilogy (Through A Glass Darkly, Winter Light & The Silence), Topper, Life is Beautiful, West Side Story, Chocolat & A Christmas Carol.
A red balloon with a life of it's own follows a little boy around the streets of Paris.
WHO HASN'T BEEN SEDUCED BY A FILMOR TV PROGRAM? Consider one that completely engaged you--and with binge watching original programming content today, how can anyone one of us deny the fact that arts and entertainment professionals (screenwriters, directors, actors, cinematographers, producers, showrunners, etc.) are often masters of storytelling. Therefore, it makes perfect, logical sense for us to listen to what they have to say to help us become much better at it.
THE BUSINESS OF STORYTELLING. Now that those of us who provide strategy for and produce content are being challenged to inform, educate, persuade, inspire and entertain our audience (potential clients/customers and current ones) through storytelling, there is pressure to get up to speed FAST!
"Storytelling must be respected and evaluated as a valued component of growth hacking and ROI."
STORYTELLING MUST BE RESPECTED AND EVALUATED AS A VALUED COMPONENT OF GROWTH HACKING AND ROI. This is similar to filmmakers and original programming writers, studios, and streaming services who carefully craft what they create to recompense their investors and producers (they are first to get paid from the revenues).
THE AUDIENCE OR USER AS THE STORYTELLER. What if you're just not feeling secure as a storyteller, or simply don't have the time, budget or interest to do-it-yourself? If you've been paying close attention, you know that practically every person on this planet is telling stories in a variety of formats and sharing them on the Internet via social media, or there are professional membership online groups like Stage32.
ARE YOU A CURATOR OR DEVELOPMENT EXECUTIVE? People are often extremely eager to share their existing content (in
which case you act as a curator of nonprofessional content from the
general public), or you can collaborate with professionals who will want to contribute original
content (for which you act more as a development executive) to expand their industry resume and portfolio. Either way, the storytelling solutions are available--and some of the best resources come from those in the storytelling industry itself.
Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, Happy Winter Solstice (belated), and New Year!
Valerie
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CREATOR'S CORNER is dedicated to sharing ideas that come to mind after reading and selecting articles for The Creativity & Storytelling 'Zine(as the editor/curator) that may be useful in a professional or personal capacity. Interest
in creativity and storytelling as content for usage in arts &
entertainment, media communications, marketing and advertising, and as lifestyle choices for businesses, projects and
services (groups that have a way of life that may or may not be included
in their brand identity), can be relevant to anyone anywhere in the
world covering a variety of professions.
NOTE: This publication is no longer available. It was phased out and replaced by the Creativity & Storytelling Zine based upon strong reader demand for storytelling content. If you would like to see The Creativity & Spirituality Magazine resurrected--and reader interest is strong enough to do so--I'll consider re-launching it. Email me if so.
TOP STORIES
1. How Art Changes Consciousness
"With so much talk about the evidence of Yoga and meditation, you might be surprised at what scientific research also says about how art affects the brain. Long before modern . . . . " (Read More)
I'm sharing the first beta interactive
multimedia test version of a short story, Gifts. I've integrated literary and cinematic
elements (music score, ambient effects and sound effects) to this tale to expand and enhance the storytelling
experience.
Feel free to leave comments regarding your experience to help fine-tune this new publishing platform made available by Booktrack™based in New Zealand.
The next step planned is to re-write Gifts as a short film script and to use the Booktrack™ platform to create a new soundtrack and sound effects for it. Do contact me if you're a screenwriter, music supervisor or composer who would like to explore collaborating with me on the script.
Technical notes:
1) You can control synchronizing the reading & soundtrack speed of
the story using the (+) and (- ) icons located at the bottom right of
each page.
