The Invisible Door

Here's a Halloween question that emerged in a previous thread:

How does one "keep the door open" to the psychic or supernatural events? Or keep it shut?

And a similar one:

How does a writer keep the door open to material from the unconscious? And the furthest reaches of the imagination?

I'd love to hear any thoughts you have, any practices that help you.

Fantastical Worlds

I just received a gallery show email announcement from my office partner Carrie Knowles about the show that is going up in the rooms around me. I have the pleasure of sharing space with an artist/writer/gallerist, and I found this description of the art show inspiring in itself. Of course, you're also invited to come should you be in the Raleigh area.

"Coming the First Friday of November
At The Free Range Studio and Gallery
Australian Artist: Diana Maloney

Fantastical Journeys


Come take a journey through the slightly ironic dream life of Diana Maloney who creates an alternative universe through her paintings, drawings, and etchings where naked mariachi bands serenade you, faeries confound you with their presence and their magic, and the role of women in society gets a fresh take.


Diana is a dynamic emerging artistic presence in Australia and her work has begun to garner a great deal of attention as it challenges our senses and explores her own sense of confinement and freedom in the world.


Her work focuses on surreal dreamlike imagery laced with wit and whimsy that shifts between worlds of the real and the unreal. Her subject matter draws on an imperfect, out-of-proportion, half-remembered playground of her childhood. She uses the female form to express symbolic, literal, allegorical and spiritual associations.


As she says of her work: “I create a fantastic and ambiguous world in my work with reference to the role of women in society.”


From her miniature paintings to her large-scale works on paper and canvas, Diana is an important new feminine voice in art.


Opening reception on November 2, 2007 from 6pm-10pm. Fantastical Journeys will be at the Free Range Studio through the end of December.The Free Range Studio and Gallery is at 410 Morson Street in downtown Raleigh. Morson is a one block street between Bloodworth and East and runs parallel to New Bern and Hargett.The Free Range Studio and Gallery is open on First Fridays and by appointment: 821-3478."

Courage in Shadowy Places

In honor of the Halloween season, here's the second spooky story from shaman and author Kelley Harrell about one of her psychic experiences.


Whether you're a believer or not, I think you'll agree that what she did in this moment required enormous courage.


(I'll be at the beach Monday and therefore silent on the blog front. Back on Tuesday.)

Festival of Thinkers

My elder stepson Chuck has just arrived in Abu Dhabi to teach English. This is a place I've known little about--and my research has unveiled for me a dazzling city. The investment in some startling architecture is the strongest first impression. After that, I came to a second surprise. Last week, Abu Dhabi hosted a Festival of Thinkers.

I'd never heard of such a thing--and I really like the idea. Those in attendance included at least one Nobel laureate, a well-known Indian artist who is now in his nineties, the first woman from east or central Africa to receive a doctorate, and an American magazine editorial director sometimes known as "the queen of the tabloids.

I don't know what global problems were solved during the few days of the event, but I'll bet some new ideas hatched and some minds were expanded.

In addition to the homesite, there's a visually stunning photo-report on Abu Dhabi and its thinking festival on New York Social Diary.

The Charisma Tape

Last night in my mailbox was the tape from somewhere in the UK by the Confidence Club on "Physical Presence."

This is the one I reported ordering to help me develop some Bill Clinton-level charisma. So of course I broke into it first thing.

It's a hypnotic induction, therefore I listened in headphones, lying on the floor with my eyes covered. Total attention, insofar as I can manage that.

The assignment is to listen two or three times a week for a month. Here's my response on my initial run: First, it's an excellent relaxation induction. I zoned out pretty quickly. Became altogether still.

After the tone-setting came the material to establish what I think of as a powerful calm. The image that I remember--and I know there's some material I don't recall--was of a majestic tree on a hill that has seen a lot of human problems come and go. The listener practices being the tree, deeply rooted and weathering everything. Good image, I think.

Also--just now when I went to the website to get the link, it reminded me of a piece that had drifted from my consciousness: the part about posture and bearing. I don't remember exactly what was said, but that can be a good sign.

My take at this point: this has a lot of potential. Maybe to help me stop fiddling with this and that while I talk.

I'm going to be interested in what my husband Bob thinks of it. He's a clinical psychologist and last night was busy prepping for a seminar he's giving today on, as it happens, self-hypnosis.

Primitive Fears and Courage

The Halloween time of year brings is a reminder of our old fears of the dark and the unknown and eerie and otherworldly.

In honor of the season this year, my friend Kelley Harrell at Soulintent Arts, is telling of some of her own experiences of the supra-normal.

I find Story One thrilling.

A Boldness Totem

In response to my earlier post about my new archetypal red shoes, writer Mamie Potter sent this photo she took of a pair worn by a guest at her daughter's art show.

The same glorious shoes (almost.)

Red shoes happen to be a hot style item at the moment, but I have a feeling they're going to be a spicy part of my life for a long time after the fashion is over.

Does anyone else have a Boldness Totem?

I had one in the first grade: a starched cotton dress, blue as the Caribbean with white smocking that my grandmother added. It was my lucky dress. I don't think I've had such an item of lucky clothing since. But I do now.

California Fire

Folks, the news of the California fires is very bad. Debra Whaley who often comments on this site lives in one of the fire areas. I haven't heard whether she has had to be evacuated. Please do say a prayer for all the people there.

Permanent Creative Freedom

The lovely Lisa Gates on the Design Your Writing Life blog has posted today a half hour audio interview with me, titled Toward Permanent Creative Freedom. She and I carry on there most entertainingly. I had fun. Also, she has a terrifically helpful blog. I go there often. Do go visit.

Risking The Red Shoes

Couple of weeks ago, I bought myself these red shoes.

As you may know, red shoes have a history as an archetype. There's a Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale by that name, of the girl who puts on red shoes and can't stop dancing no matter how bad she feels or how hard she tries.

In the 1992bestseller Women Who Run With The Wolves, Clarissa Pinkola Estes interprets this tale as one of addiction. The girl is seizing on something external that promises satisfaction, but instead creates only the need for more.

For some time, I'd been thinking about these red shoes. They finally drew me to the store, and I got them. And I've worn them quite a bit since.

I can be the sort who sees one chocolate cookie as a slippery slope. But in my new bold clarity, I'm taking the chance here, risking the possibility of going completely over the top. I'm wearing the shoes. So far, so good. I feel pretty sure I can quit whenever I want.

The Willingness to be Strong

My friend Stephanie Bass, writer and strategic planner, had just come from her yoga class. We were having lunch at Logan's, a garden store with a cafe in an old railway station.

She and I started a group about ten years ago that we call Mystic Pizza. It's a bunch of what might be referred to by others as New Age types who meet for lunch once a month to discuss things metaphysical. She missed the last lunch. We were catching up.

Her news from her inner world: the yoga class had been turning into a struggle, especially with poses that required upper body strength. UNTIL she recently had the thought: I AM WILLING TO BE STRONG.

Since then, she has had far less trouble. When she hits a tough spot, she tells herself she can go a little farther. And a little farther. And when she hits a wall, she just stays comfortable there.

As a result, she has become physically stronger. And the attitude is spilling over into the rest of her life: a bit more calm strength than she thought she had, which leads to more still.

I guess I wanted to tell you about the location of the restaurant, The Seaboard Cafe, because both the willingness to be strong and the surrounding plants and the fact that we got much-much-needed rain today all felt so healthy and refreshing.

I feel stronger and more clear-eyed just from the conversation.

The Dictionary of Creativity

Here's an intriguing new online resource: a glossary of terms and ideas relating to the creative process.
This compendum goes beyond the usual role of a dictionary in that it defines concepts: detached devotion, the ten-year rule, secondary process, etc. And it summarizes research in the field of creativity.
Curiosity doesn't take long to define, but there are interesting little mini-essays on such subjects as novelty, and the distribution of creativity over time and space. I never knew for example that research into the function and enhancement of creativity began with inquiry into what makes a genius.
The writing in this "dictionary" is quite scholarly, with a wide range of sources, Freud to Ecclesiastes. You may want to skim the drier stuff, but there are some interesting nuggest in here.

Remember to Say the (Seemingly) Obvious!

I announced in an earlier post, that I was taping my new law of strong, clear, impassioned writing onto my monitor.

And then forgot all about it, until I was reminded by two people in their comments. This new law for my work (and life) is to remember to say what seems to me obvious, which often tends to be the most important part of the message.

Now in this photo, you see it, as promised, on my monitor. And I'm certain that it's already working.

Technically, for most persuasive power, I should put it more positively, more directly still: REMEMBER TO SAY THE OBVIOUS.

Okay, now I'm putting that one up too, at the top of my screen.

Thanks for the help, Debra and Erin.

My Same Old Communication Error

Yesterday in conversation, I once again made my characteristic error: the one that plagues me in writing and causes me to have to do so many drafts of everything I write.

I left out the part that seemed to me obvious.

That would work if everyone saw things in the same way. But it seems that we don't, so this is a bad strategy.

Therefore, my new motto: Nothing goes without saying. I'm taping it onto my monitor.

A Creative Castle

A wildly successful inventor-entrepreneur has an indoor treehouse and a bunch of other non-standard domestic items at his house.

Scott Jones and his castle and his work habits are profiled in a series of six articles in Fortune. Be sure to click to the next article at the bottom of each one.

He's an inspiration.

Protecting Our Creative Time

Keeping the time open to do creative work can be as difficult as protecting pristine wilderness. The urge to take on too much--and make other people happy in the moment--can be overwhelming.

Today a column for teenagers by Lacia Johnson in The Jamaica Observer offers a checklist of questions to consider when somebody else has an interesting plan for a piece of our time.

Do I have the time (without delaying my own work)?
Will I feel pressured to get it done?
Will I be upset with myself?
Will I feel resentful of the other person?
Will I feel duped, had or swindled?
What do I have to give up to do this?

In my experience, the easiest way to make the right decision is to say: let me think about that and call you tomorrow.

Confidence Club

I just ordered a CD on Developing Physical Presence from a site called Confidence Club.

Here are the results I'm promised:

"You will deal more effectively with potential confrontation. People will listen to you more regularly and more attentively. You will experience less difficulty in making your views known. You will feel more comfortable and relaxed when meeting new people."

I ordered this because I'd like to feel what it's like to be the Bill Clinton in a room, to have my version of his famous charisma to get my various messages across clearly. (This is perhaps a tad more than was promised.)

I'm not exactly shy now, to put it mildly. But a fair number of hello-in-passing acquaintances don't recognize me until I remind them. I'm mild and pale enough that I can blur with others who look like me.


And I know how to be invisible; I use this skill on days when I don't even want to say hello.

More than one psychic/intuitive/reader has told me that my aura is pulled in so close that it barely extends beyond my body. I sort-a like that, so I don't have to get involved with everything and everybody my eyes fall upon. However, I'd like to be able to expand with the speed of an air bag, as needed.

So I've ordered this hypnotic induction that is going to teach me how. I'll let you know how it goes. I'm quite eager to find out.

Age is No Excuse

In an L.A. Times article titled "It's Never Too Late to Create," an economist and the editor of The Chicago Review list some of the artists who have done "game-changing work" at quite grown-up ages.

Paul Cezanne created his influential work in his 60s, for example. Clint Eastwood is making his most highly-acclaimed movies in his mid-70s. Louise Bourgeois bloomed in her 80s. Etc. (L.A. is a town that needs to hear that, since there's such a youth bias in all aspects of the movie business.)

At the same time, being too young is no excuse for holding back either. There's little more pleasingly marketable to a publisher than a writer so young that it's newsworthy.


In fact, whatever we might view as an obstacle can become a news angle to draw interest when the creation is ready to go out into the world.

The Courage Spider

A writer friend of mine had surgery on her wrist that left a narrow scar running straight up her arm.


So she added a tattoo: At the bottom of that thread of a line, she now has an inked-in spider. That little fellow reminds her, many times a day, to have the courage to go into any dark places where her writing wants to take her.

That image might stop a lot of people. But not her. She has found the reminder that works for her. Which is what we each have to do: find what works, on this particular project, at this time.

How Altruism Enhances Creativity

From Karen Armstrong's The Spiral Staircase: My Climb out of Darkness

“Insight does not always come to order, and there will certainly be no renaissance if you are merely trying to ‘get' something for yourself. As soon as I stopped trying to exploit my literary skills to advance my career or enhance my reputation, I found that I was opening myself to the text, could lose myself in the beauty of the words and in the wisdom of the writer. It was a kind of ekstasis…a going beyond the self.”

I ran across the quote in Gaining: The Truth about Life after Eating Disorders by Aimee Liu.


It dovetails with the philosophy of a book I co-wrote a few years ago with Allan Luks: The Healing Power of Doing Good.


I never thought until now about how that principle of expanding my focus beyond myself could lead to better reading and writing, as well as better physical and mental health.

Writing simply to say what needs to be said can lift the heavy restrictions of self-consciousness.

What's Your Book ABOUT?

From Design Your Writing Life, which credits Copyblogger:


"It's not uncommon for writers to get 5, 10, 20,000 words down the road and bump up against the thought, "What in the heck am I writing about?" If this is where you find yourself now, here are six starting points for doing the back cover writing exercise:


Title your book. Go ahead, just make one up.


Write a headline. This should be a grabber, and a great place to start is to pose a question, the million dollar question.


Paragraph One: Answer the question. Provide a thumbnail of the plot through the eyes of your main characters, and their core conflicts. What are they up against? What's in their way?


Paragraph Two: Describe the outer world. Give us some context. Create the bigger world your characters live in--time, place, sensibility.


Write in the language and feel of your novel. Think of yourself as an actor trying on a costume. As a writer, your costume is the nature and feel of the language.


Write a closing sentence. This sentence can allude to the resolution of the book. Because this is an exercise and not the actual back cover copy, don't worry about giving away the store."

Put Your Mug Where Your Mouth Is

If you'd like the U.S. to withdraw from Iraq, here's a step you can take to lobby Congress for this. Send a picture of yourself with some symbol showing your support of ending the war to Americans for Exit. America's political leaders will soon see the many and various faces of those of us who want peace.

Assertive Art

"'...Positive assertiveness is the courage needed to express a disconnect with a ‘different point of view’ or with another person’s style of engagement. It is the capacity to not say ‘yes’ when you mean ‘no’ or ‘maybe’; it is the willingness to put forth a radical, unconventional idea without the fear of ridicule...'"

This quote comes from an article in the India-based Economic Times about appropriate assertiveness in the workplace. The piece points out that such behavior helps the individual's self-esteem and creates a better environment for innovative ideas.

India is one of the last places such philosophy might be expected to come from. I'd read--and I saw when I lived in Varanasi researching Sister India--that Indian business and government tend to be ferociously hierarchical. Protocols, procedures, and chain-of -command rule.

At the other end of the spectrum, American artists are about as free as people ever are. And yet so many of us do struggle with uneasy shifting fears about our work. That it won't be accepted. That someone will hate it/us. That it's stupid. Etc.

I once heard actor/director/ screenwriter/musician Billy Bob Thornton say in a TV interview that he was going to be crucified when his new project came out. What I believe he meant was that he expected to get a lot of criticism.

Criticism and crucifixion are two different things.

That being the case, I feel I have no excuse for not fully expressing myself in my writing. Nobody is going to crucify me. And if Indian employees can stand up to their bureaucracies, surely I can tap out honest words in the privacy of my little office.

The worst that can happen is that nobody buys the piece. And I'll bet more books have failed out of the writer holding back--consciously or unconsciously--than have ever failed out of courage.

BTW, fear doesn't seem to have held Billy Bob back.

To Change One's Life

From William James, author of The Varieties of Religious Experience:



To change one's life:

Start immediately

Do it flamboyantly.

No exceptions.



(A thought about flamboyance: it constitutes a public announcement, which tends to strengthen a commitment.)

Any Questions About Writing or the Writing Business?

Part of my consulting work with other writers is answering questions by phone, things like: how long should I wait before calling the agent who's looking at my work? Or: can I send a story to two journals at once? How do I get myself back to writing? I do charge for these phone calls.

Today, however is FREEBIE DAY for writers with questions. Or, more accurately, freebie post.

If you'd like to send a question in the comment section of this post, I'll do my best to answer it. Not, of course, that I have all the answers. But I can tell you what I'd do, or what my experience and that of other writers has been.

And perhaps other commenters can offer their solutions.

Y'all have been quite helpful with some of your comments to me about my dilemmas. If you think of anything I can offer you here in dealing with yours, do SEND YOUR QUESTION. If this draws interest, I'll continue to do it again from time to time.

CHANGE TO STRANGE

A business professor at nearby UNC has written a book with an encouraging philosophy--one that gives me hope for the world's future.

The book by Daniel M. Cable, reviewed this weekend in my local News & Observer, is Change to Strange: Create a Great Organization by Building a Strange Workforce.

What he suggests here is that there is tremendous value in distinctiveness. So don't hide it, capitalize on it.

I love this idea--as long as the "strangeness" comes naturally and isn't contrived for an audience AND strangeness doesn't turn into a new orthodoxy.

This line of thinking could add a lot of juice to the world, to the process of work and to the product.

Ad agencies have known this for a long time. The hall that houses "the creative side" will sometimes have more bright-colored toys (for stimulating creativity) than a daycare center. And copywriters and art directors tend to dress funky. You'll rarely see flowing sleeves or paper airplanes in flight over on the hall where the account executives reside.

To be able to come up with creations like the Geico gecko it helps to have to have a little room to maneuver. Even if you choose to use that flexibility to wear a Brooks Brothers suit.