Return to Main Site

Creativity can permeate a life: a person can be creative in the way she handles her job, solves problems around the house, plans menus for dinner parties, or takes in a sunset. A shorthand phrase for this way of being is that she is “everyday creative” or that she is engaged in “artful living.”

At the same time, people who love things like art, music, literature, science, and, more broadly, smart things, gorgeous things, and evocative things, also want them in their life. They do not want a life devoid of foreign movies, intellectual puzzles, or natural beauty. A shorthand phrase for this way of life is “an art-filled life” or “art-filled living.”

At a higher level of commitment and challenge, a person can decide to spend a lifetime creating in a particular domain, a domain to which she devotes herself. She may be creative as a violinist and devote herself to music. She may be creative as a writer and devote herself to fiction. She may be creative as a research biologist and devote herself to scientific inquiry. A shorthand phrase for this way of being is “an art-committed life” or “identifying as an artist.”

An artful life, an art-filled life, and an art-committed life are not mutually exclusive ways of being. But they present very different challenges. For twenty-five years I’ve concerned myself with the challenges that arise for the person who decides to identify as an artist and who decides to commit to a life in the arts. I’ve equally concerned myself with the challenges that arise for the person who wants to make that commitment but who hasn’t been able to do so yet.

As soon as you decide that you mean to live your life as a novelist, biochemist, actor, or sculptor, you introduce a set of challenges that would not have confronted you if you had “settled” for artful living and an art-filled life. It is one thing to decorate your apartment with found objects that tickle your fancy; it is another thing to decide to become a “found object” artist. When you decide to devote yourself to creativity in a domain, you instantly raise the stakes tremendously, you organize your life around that dream, and your emotions rise and fall with your successes and failures.

I hope that I can help you negotiate the challenges of the creative life and fully embrace your journey. All of the following may help you:

Listen to my weekly show The Joy of Living Creatively on the Personal Life Media Network. The show began with a nine-part series on obstacles to creativity, so you may want to listen from the beginning. Or just catch the current show!

Visit my Joy of Living Creatively blog, where I highlight creativity research, the latest developments in the field of creativity coaching, and creativity tips and strategies.

For a comprehensive look at the creative life, please see Creativity for Life.

For an examination of creativity self-coaching principles of real use to creators, please see Coaching the Artist Within.

For an exploration of the stages of the creative process and what you can do meet the challenges of each stage, please see Fearless Creating.

For a look at the relationships among meaning, creativity, and depression, please see The Van Gogh Blues.

For an exploration of themes of importance to creators set against the backdrop of Paris, please see A Writer’s Paris.

For an exploration of themes of importance to creators set against the backdrop of San Francisco, please see A Writer’s San Francisco.

If stage fright is one of your challenges, please see Performance Anxiety.

To learn how to use Eastern techniques of mindfulness and breath awareness coupled with Western techniques of positive psychology and cognitive therapy to help with your creative life, please see Ten Zen Seconds or visit the Ten Zen Seconds website.

People who enjoy working with decks of cards that provide prompts and tips will enjoy Everyday Creative, Everyday Smart, and Everyday Calm.

If you are a nonfiction writer, you may find The Art of the Book Proposal valuable.

To deal with the challenges of criticism and self-criticism, please see Toxic Criticism.

To learn how to use the affirmation process to help with the challenges of the creative life, please see Affirmations for Artists.

For a 52-week program for deepening your creative efforts, please see The Creativity Book.

To learn how to use your brain’s natural ability to think while you sleep in order to enhance your creative life, please see The Power of Sleep Thinking, an e-book available only at this site.

For an exploration of artists’ issues as seen through the eyes of a budding novelist, please see Phoebe writes her novel, an e-book available only at this site.

For an examination of the psychological, emotional, and practical space that writers need to cultivate, please see A Writer’s Space, available Spring 2008.

For an examination of the relationship between creativity and addiction, please see my addiction page.

Visit here to learn about my workshops and trainings.

Visit here to learn more about working with me in my capacity as a creativity coach.

Good luck on your journey! I hope that these resources will help.