Creativity Archives - Madhu Bazaz Wangu
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Creativity

Day 354, Tuesday, December 24, 2024

Posted on December 23, 2024
in #Story Telling, Creativity, Imagination, Reading, Writing
2 Comments

Reflections Inspiration The act of writing is intimate. The characters in your head become real to you. Yet it is also isolating. This is not very different from reading. Other instances of aloneness are when you allow or encourage your mind to unplug from the daily monotony. In writing, reading, sleeping, or just daydreaming, you intentionally or unintentionally move into the world of imagination and creativity. Under such circumstances, the muses show up. New ideas and insights come when you write, read, or dream. When an idea pops up in your mind, mull over it. The more vigilant you are about delaying writing it down, the more it develops into a mature thought. Then surrender it on the page. It will reveal itself most accurately as an emotional movement that you may use...

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Day 353, Monday, December 23, 2024

Posted on December 22, 2024
in Creativity, Writing
4 Comments

Reflection Inspiration In between periods of writing, do you feel anxious that you are not good enough? Do you realize that almost all writers, from the fledgling to award-winning and bestselling authors, battle the same anxiety? So when you are judging your writing, battling with yourself, you versus you, remember this is part of being a creative person. Only when you are deep into writing does this feeling cease. From the moment you wake up, make coffee, scramble eggs, and pack lunches, let some part of you focus on the moment when you will go to your Power Spot and get back to work. You should be always seeking to improve. Not seeking perfection, however. Perfection is like the horizon no one actually reaches because it keeps moving away from you. Keep in mind...

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Day 352, Sunday, December 22, 2024

Posted on December 21, 2024
in #Story Telling, Creativity, Journaling, Originality
4 Comments

Reflections Inspiration In your writing, focus on your strengths. As I mentioned elsewhere, I am contemplative by nature. I have an insatiable appetite for knowing human life and its dilemmas. I’m a voracious reader of theology and aesthetics, which is the reason I write about creativity and spirituality. So I encourage you to also play to your strengths. If you feel pathos, then write about the suffering of people. Go deep into their hearts. Let your stories bring solace to them, as well as any sadness you observe. If you have a sense of humor, let yourself be hilarious.  If you are good with dialogue, let your characters talk, downplaying the narrative. If you are great at delineating settings, magnetize readers with details in the landscapes or interiors. Always keep in mind what...

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Day 351, Saturday, December 21, 2024

Posted on December 20, 2024
in Creativity, Originality
4 Comments

Reflection Inspiration To write a powerful book you must select a potent theme with a poignant story. No classic and enduring volume has been composed on the ho-hum life of an insect, grass, or mud. But on the other hand, there was a movie made about a housefly that I thoroughly enjoyed which taught a lesson or two. And what is creativity if not an enhanced way of recreating the ordinary activities into impressive artwork! Whatever we do, when we do it with full attention and awareness – in other words, mindfulness – it turns into art. An artistic mind observes a thing in a special way, expressing it creatively. It begins with an idea. Or it might even end with the idea, such as the artist Duchamp who submitted an artwork to the Society of Independent...

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Day 349, Thursday, December 19, 2024

Posted on December 18, 2024
in Creativity
2 Comments

Reflections Inspiration Most authors draw on some of their own life experiences to fuel the journey of their fictional characters. When a writer transfers personal feelings onto their character, the story comes alive. Readers cry, laugh, or hurt when the characters cry, laugh, or feel pain. The readers physically experience the emotions as they read. Great stories help readers navigate their own lives’ obstacles and upheavals.  People of different world cultures and various religions live very differently. Each person’s and each family’s circumstances are unique. But reading builds bridges. Stories set in other cultures expand our horizons far beyond the geographical confines of where we live. While in some cultures the natural world takes center stage, in others family relationships and neighborhoods matter most. And yet in another culture, single-family units are supreme. But...

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Day 348, Wednesday, December 18, 2024

Posted on December 17, 2024
in Creativity, Nonverbal Activities
2 Comments

Reflections Inspiration Practicing any fine art is good training in mindfulness. Attention and awareness deepen and enhance the senses of sight, hearing, and movement. The regular practice of any of the fine arts does not only hone skill in that particular art but also develops a keen sense of observation and cultivates appreciation of beauty.  You can learn to look at a single object or marvel at the view of a scene from different angles and observe how it changes from moment to moment. While painting a landscape, you might observe how shapes, shadows, light, even colors change. A painting recreates what its maker sees into something new based on mood, atmosphere, and of course the image itself.  An artist shows the onlooker certain details or a perspective the naked eye may not see – the...

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Day 315, Friday, November 15, 2024

Posted on November 14, 2024
in Creativity
6 Comments

Reflection Inspiration Love – whether it be romantic, maternal, or friendship – works as a soothing balm on the deep fear caused by the awareness of death. In the snug bosom of my parents’ love, I was unaware of my own mortality. With the caring of my family and comfort of my home, I was clueless about life’s temporariness. By the time I got married to the love of my life, I was conscious of my own demise but could easily put that thought at the back of my mind. Death was something that happened to others – old and sick people. My husband’s love made me forget the ephemerality of life, and in his company, I keep my death at bay. Through the love of our daughters and grandchildren, I feel that I...

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Day 312, Tuesday, November 12, 2024

Posted on November 11, 2024
in Being in Nature, Creativity, Nonverbal Activities, Writing
5 Comments

Reflection Inspiration One morning I watched the sun rise from behind a beautiful cloudy horizon. For a few minutes, I remained mesmerized as the golden yellow orb changed to bright orange, igniting the sky with a fiery otherworldliness. I don’t usually go outside first thing in the morning. If I hadn’t opened the door to bring in a package, I would not have witnessed those few minutes in which the sun and sky were performing their daily display of sheer beauty. That whole day, the glory of the sunrise stayed with me, connecting me with many spectacular sunrises I had witnessed before. It was like a surprise gift sent along with the parcel I brought inside. Perhaps it was a hint not to ignore the beauty that constantly happens in the world while...

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Day 309, Saturday, November 9, 2024

Posted on November 8, 2024
in Being in Nature, Creativity, Travel
0 Comments

Reflections Good morning friends! Do you know of a friend or an event that relates nature and people? Someone you know who lives in the mountains, near a river or in the woods? If not perhaps today's post inspires you to write a short story about it. Inspiration Natural landscape can absorb you in its majesty, shake you up with its exquisite beauty, and spew you out transformed. This has happened to me over and over again in U.S. National Parks. Many individuals report feeling connected to the sacred through nature. Were you aware that regions with higher levels of natural amenities have lower rates of adherence to religious organizations? Mountains, hills, lakes, beaches, coastlines, forests, and pleasant weather all contribute to the powerful spiritual effects on people’s behavior who live close by. Spiritual relates to...

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Day 307, Thursday, November 7, 2024

Posted on November 6, 2024
in Being in Nature, Creativity, Travel
0 Comments

Reflections Magnificence of nature and magnificent art, music, dance-drama performances turn me speechless. Words lose their meaning. Coming from a writer, this is a significant declaration. In silence, my eyes well, heart hurts (in a good way) and my ego self dissipates. I merge into what I'm beholding as the matter turns into spirit. The object can be as small as a flower or a bonsai arrangement. Or as marvelous as Michelangelo's David. Inspiration A photograph of a great work of art is the mere memory of the original. In no way can it have the same impact as an in-person encounter. I experienced this when we visited the Galleria dell’Accademia in Florence, Italy. I had seen the reproductions of Michelangelo’s marble statue of David, but was clueless about how I would...

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