The Artist Way – Ananda Leeke

Happy Creativity Thursday!

February is a great time to open your creative heart with artist dates. Artist dates are scheduled play dates that you commit to on a regular basis (weekly or monthly). These special moments can jumpstart your imagination and inspire your creative juices. They can also help you explore your own creativity and witness the creativity of others and Mother Nature. I learned about artist dates while reading Julia Cameron’s book, The Artist Way in the 1990s.

Photo Credit: National Museum of African Art

Each month, I schedule several artist dates. I started this month with an artist date to the National Museum of African Art’s Earth Matters celebration and exhibition on February 1. It was just what I needed: spoken word, live DJs spinning groovy music (yes I love the word groovy!), photographers taking photos (will blog about my own experience next week), body art performers, African dancing and drumming, live bands performing incredible music, and a documentary film about Kenyan feminist and human rights activist, Wangari Maatthai.

What artist dates have you gone on this year?

What type of artist dates are you planning this month?

Opening Your Creative Heart Coaching Special Discount:

From February 1 to March 31, I am offering a special discount package on my creativity coaching services. See details below.

My Creativity Coaching Practice: Click here to read more about my approach and background as a creativity coach.

Discount Period: The creativity coaching packages must be purchased via PayPal by March 31, 2014. They must be used by July 31, 2014.

Fees and Services:

1) 1 one-hour session with 2 email follow ups – $99.95 (original price – $139.95)

2) 3 one-hour sessions with 4 email follow ups – $359.95 (original price – $389.95)

3) 6 one-hour sessions with 7 email follow ups – $769.95 (original price – $799.95)

4) 9 one-hour sessions with 10 email follow ups – $1,169.99 (original price – $1,199.99)

5) 12 one-hour sessions with 13 email follow ups – $1,569.95 (original price – $1599.95)

Contact Information: If you are interested in one or more of the packages, please send me an email at kiamshaleeke@yahoo.com to schedule a free 20-minute consultation call (available via telephone, Skype, and Google Hangout).

Happy Tuesday!

On Saturday evening I finished reading Floor Sample, a creative memoir by Julia Cameron (www.theartistsway.com), author of The Artist’s Way. The Artist’s Way is one of my favorite books. My sistalovefriend Toni Blackman (www.toniblackman.com) introduced me to the book in 1995. Together, we embarked on an accountability journey of morning pages, artist dates, and long walks. I know the work that I did during this period solidified my calling, commitment, and creative expression as an artist. It also laid the foundation for my current role as a creativity coach who midwifes the creative efforts of other creative folks.

Cameron’s Floor Sample was a powerful read. When I learned that she grew up Catholic and attended Georgetown University like me, I felt more connected to her story. Floor Sample helped me understand Cameron’s journey as a creative person, divorced mother, and sober, recovering alcoholic. I learned a great deal about her creative process and the importance of taking great care of yourself, claiming your creative life, and nurturing your creative gifts. I was inspired by the way Cameron has been able to work on multiple creative projects and produce a timeless body of work that serves others. Her creativity energized mine! I needed that boost of energy for the final round of my new book’s publication process. My favorite quotes from Floor Sample were:

“Stop trying to be a great writer … That’s your ego. Get your ego out of your writing. You should be writing from a spirit of service. You are just the vehicle, the channel. Let God write through you.”

“My story was one more story amid many. And that story wasn’t over. I wasn’t at an end. Instead, I was at a beginning. I could add my voice to a choir of voices. I could try. That’s all you need to do.”

Aren’t they? I’m going to write them on a piece of pink construction paper and keep them near my writing desk for inspiration.

Thanks for stopping by!

Peace and Creativity,

Ananda

PS: My copy of Colson Whitehead’s Sag Harbor hasn’t arrived yet. So I started reading a social media book, The New Influencers: A Marketer’s Guide to the New Social Media by Paul Gillin (http://paulgillin.com/newinfluencers). The BAP Living Radio (http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/18598) series on Black women in social media that I have been hosting this month inspired me to pick up the book. I am so glad I did. It is so yummy because I am gaining a big picture perspective of 21st century communications and how to use them in branding myself as an author/artist/creativity coach/blogger/innerpreneur/radio host/yoga teacher/Reiki Master practitioner/social media strategist. It also help me revise my social media marketing strategies for my author web site (www.anandaleeke.com – launch date at the end of June) and new book, That Which Awakens Me: A Creative Woman’s Poetic Memoir of Self-Discovery. After I finish The New Influencers, I am moving on to Gillin’s second book on social media, Secrets of Social Media Marketing: How to Use Online Conversations and Customer Communities to Turbo-Charge Your Business. I plan to finish both books before I head to Chicago for the Blogging While Brown Conference next week (www.bloggingwhilebrown.com).

I am trying to decide which books to take with me to Chicago. I really need to finish Toni Morrison’s A Mercy before I take on another book. However, Sandra Cisneros’ The House on Mango Street, a coming-of-age novella that tells the story of Esperanza Cordero, a young Latina growing up in Chicago.

So what are you reading this summer?

Tag: The Artist Way

Happy Creativity Thursday: Open Your Creative Heart with Artist Dates & Special Creativity Coaching Discount