Today we’re going to do something different. We’d like YOU to share your wisdom with us. Is it a favorite quote? A learning experience? Your Grandmother’s advice? Please share! We’ll pick some of your “Words of Wisdom” to post here in the coming months. If we do select yours, we’ll even send you a copy of the latest issue of Where Women Create.
We’ll keep the comments open until Tuesday, July 26th at Midnight(MST), so please post before that time. We can’t wait to read your “Words of Wisdom” … Thank you for sharing with us!
Drum roll …
The winner of Betz White’s FABULOUS giveaway is …
CONGRATULATIONS!!!!
Thank you Betz for this GREAT giveaway!
Speaking of GIVEAWAYS …
I am running one on my personal blog right now … You could win some fabulous RILEY BLAKE fabric!
Rumor has it that they just *might* be attending THE CREATIVE CONNECTION EVENT … STAY TUNED!
Not to mention …
THE CREATIVE CONNECTION blog is up to something great … Keep checking because they’ve got a great giveaway in the works …
We’ll keep you posted!
Have a great day!
when a problem presents itself, confront it. Try to solve it. Ask for help if you can’t do it by yourself. Be brave and you will grow. Be brave and you will evolve, and have the life you want to live.
“You can never cross the ocean if you don’t have the courage to lose sight of the shore.” Christopher Columbus. This is the current quote that my daughter and I have written on our kitchen chalk board. A daily reminder that you need to have the courage to try new things.
This applies to so much in life. Especially Creativity. If you don’t have the courage to let go of old ideas and a successful design, you will never be able to experience the joys and excitement of what you can create if you explore the unknown.
Stacy Weeks Schoell
When I was young I didn’t know what to be when I grew up. So I went to art school. A rather odd choice you might think. I didn’t get around to being an ‘artist’ for many years as I got married and had a family – all that stuff.
When I finally took up my paint brushes again I went to some classes and did many paintings, but I never felt like I was a ‘real’ artist. I always felt I was deficient some how, that something was missing. I didn’t seem to have that driving spark that so many artists had and even though people admired my work and called me an artist I felt like a fraud.
My whole art journey became tied up with trying to make money from my art but every thing I tried seemed to fail. I tried to paint what I thought people might want to buy – a tragic mistake.
It took me many years to realize that my true passion was not being a painter necessarily, but that I was a ‘creative’. When I looked back at my life it was filled with creativity; everything from ballet, to home schooling my children which involved many wonderful projects – writing & producing plays for the children, writing songs, poetry, building a kiln, doing pottery, cross stitching cushions, embroidery, gardening, making silver jewellery, photography……. and now digital art
Suddenly my life seemed full and rich instead of a miserable failure and it was all in my own point of view. I had such a narrow idea of what and artist was and I didn’t measure up to it!
Now I am still painting but my work is developing on a more and more intuitive level and I have come to realize that after every painting I do I need to sit down and write about it because the painting has its own story to tell me. There are things in it that I am unaware of as I paint and that the work is not finished until I have understood all that is there.
The story from one recent painting I did of Kadrona in New Zealand gave me an amazing insight into how the gold jewellery we all wear, the gold I put upon my body, is part of the mountains, Mother Earth’s beauty and I am wearing the mountain on my body. I am literally walking around with part of a mountain!! I thought that was simply amazing.
So what I wanted to share with others was that we are all creative – it is our very nature and if we can stop long enough to look at what we do in our lives, we can see and celebrate our own creativity. I now write a blog called unfolding creativity, which celebrates the creative in all of us and encourages you to explore your own creativity – which is all a part of my own creativity.
I think one of my biggest realizations and gifts to give, is the understanding that being an artist, being a creative, is a journey – not a destination and to enjoy each moment is a thrilling adventure.
The best advice I ever got is the tagline from a shoe company, of all things. “Just Do It” has seen me through childbirth, hiking to the bottom of the Grand Canyon (and even more miraculously, making it back up to the TOP of the Grand Canyon!), opening a business, and most recently, learning to embrace the mysteries of cyberspace, as my 1950s mind struggles to learn html, photoshop, hyperlinks, and how to twitter (or is it tweet? I forget…). Ironically, I have never owned a pair of Nike shoes in my life. Maybe it’s about time to “just do it”. :-)
Andale ! Andale ! Arriba !..Arriba. !……..to uplift my spirits…. “.Descansar a veces debes pero nunca desistir “…to remind me to keep on going….and ” Caminante ..no hay camino, se hace camino al andar… a part of a song that reminds me … I will get there, if I just follow my path……..Where Women Shop….. :-)
My high school history teacher used to say to us, as we were leaving for the weekends, “Be good and be careful. If you can’t be good, be careful”.
There is something my beloved, creative grammie told me towards the end of her life that really stuck with me. She said she spent all her years wishing time away and now that she was at the end of her life she couldn’t get that time back. I have never forgotten that and it has made me take off everyday running to make the most of my time here. It is precious!
Wait not til tomorrow, gather the roses of life today.
“No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” Eleanor Roosevelt
Hi Jo,
I’ve always loved the quote” it’s nice to be important, but more important to be nice”! My Mom used to tell us that when we were ” getting too big for our britches”, as she called it. I have passed it along to my daughters & now to my Grandchildren ~ it never hurts to be nice! :)
Love your mag, & I do plan on attending The Creative Connection this yr ~ can’t wait!
Debbie :)
My favorite words of wisdom? “It’s easier to get forgiveness than it is to get permission.” Some days, it gets me through!
Next in line (from my grandfather) – “Your reputation is your most valuable possession.”
A few years back I had the opportunity to stretch myself as an actress. I had always dreamt about singing in a musical for as long as I could remember but the idea of singing in front of people frankly scared me to death!! So I was torn between my dream and my fear, never really pushing too far until the moment arrived.
I decided, ok, I will audition for this part and chalk it up to more experience! The audition went fine and I got a supporting role in the musical as well as the understudy for the lead. That suited me just fine – I could sing but not have to worry about “the people”. Deep inside me though my dream called out to me to reach higher! No – I pushed back and remained “safe” …. until the day I got a phone call.
The director informed me that the lead had quit and the part was now mine! WHAT?!! Omi … speechless for a few moments ….. she laughed and said “I have full faith in you, you will rock this part!” (Mind you, I had ZERO experience singing in a musical …. and about 6 months of voice lessons at this point …. I was working my mezzo-soprano range – hoping to get to soprano) Before I changed my mind I said Ok, let’s get started!!!
The first few weeks were the hardest I have ever experienced. The first thing said by stage management was “Is she going to be any louder?” …. ugh! I pushed through every fear I had, every doubt crammed onto my shoulders and just went for it! I made that part my own and sang my heart out to sold out audiences the entire run!!!!
I am forever thankful for that experience for I have learned to push past my fears and ignore my doubts to live dreams harbored deep within my soul! -Melinda Brein
My “ah ha” was from the Brave Girls Club Here’s the Truth Memo – A couple of lines really hit home. “All you can do is all you can do. There’s really nothing more than you can do, so fretting over things that you don’t have any more time, energy, or resources to accomplish. When you have done all that you can, please let it be enough.
I truly follow that rule now! What great advice!
I have always liked the quote, ” do what makes you happy, as long as it doesn’t hurt anybody.” I have always tried to live by that. Thanks for the chance to win.
My favorite quote , saying or thought right now is: “You only have one life, live it!” I don’t know if it is original to me or I heard it somewhere but it goes along with another thought of mine: ” Today only happens once, live it to the fullest!” I don’t often so no when my grandchildren ask to stay with me; because that day never comes around again, once we spend it ; it’s gone; we can never get that time or moment back. Children grow up so fast that we can miss huge chunks of time with them is we aren’t careful. The same applies to adult family, friends, dreams, hopes and plans; we just don’t see it so obviously.
One of my favorite quotes/mantras is:
Always come back to work that excites you. It is where you will find your true voice, your real authentic self and it is where your true joy will shine.
Whenever I doubt what I am doing or the ego’s fear creeeps in, this quote reminds me that I am on fire in love with what I am doing. It is who I am and who I want to be for my lifetime.
“When you’re going through hell, keep going.” – Winston Churchill
My grandmother’s most famous saying was that there was many a slip between the cup and the lip, interpreted to mean…don’t count your chickens before they’re hatched. Lots of things can happen that might interfere with an outcome which is anticipated. I’ve always loved this old saying and, of course, that my grandmother gave it to me!
My Grandma A always said “you have to love your family but you don’t always have to like them”. And that has rung true in my family circle. She also always expected us to work on getting the “like” back and we always have as we are a close knit loving family. And we are passing along her wisdom to our own children.