For the next six months, I have decided to write and publish a series of e-books. Today, I found a great article about publishing e-books on my digital sister and fellow author/blogger, Shonell Bacon’s LinkedIn page. It gave me some great tips for publishing my e-books. Click here to read it.
Do you have any plans to write an e-book? If yes, what resources are you using to write it?
What creative projects are you working on this spring and summer?
Mine is collage. I can make them all day long. They help me express what’s waiting to burst forth from my creative heart. They also help me visualize my creative making process. I use them when I am writing my books and working on other projects. I also use them in my visualization boards.
Ananda’s books and paintings
What creative dreams are you longing to give birth to?
I long to give birth to more books and paintings. I have a few e-books and a novel inside of me. I also have some big paintings that long to live on the canvas.
May we all use the Spring season to give birth to our creativity!
From now until 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.
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).
Today, I want to share some of my favorite writing wisdom quotes from writers I adore.
“I write entirely to find out what I’m thinking, what I’m looking at, what I see and what it means. What I want and what I fear.” Joan Didion, European American author
“The ability of writers to imagine what is not the self, to familiarize the strange and mystify the familiar, is the test of their power.” Toni Morrison, African American author
“Writing becomes a way to embrace the mysterious, to walk with spirits, and an entry to the realm of the sacred.” bell hooks, African American author, poet, professor, and cultural critic
Right now I’m a writer who is in the midst of a long creative stretch.
One that involves birthing a book every two years.
My journey is both passion and paradox all at the same time.
At times it can consume me and keep me living on my own planet with enough rice milk, granola, ginger tea, honey, strawberries, bananas, apples, and split pea soup to last a lifetime.
This path has called me.
And I can’t begin to explain to folks what that exactly means because I am living it.
So I hope they can just get the meaning by watching me be me.
#2
I write because language chosen from deep within me liberates my hidden thoughts and gives life to my dreams.
I write because it is one of the best ways I know how to access freedom.
I am talking about the kind of freedom that brings all aspects of my existence into one room so that I can appreciate the fullness of my complex beauty.
The words that express my thoughts and describe my dreams make their way into phrases.
Some find homes in sentences that question and answer.
Others join the gospel choir in my mind and participate in call and response.
A few dangle as sharp, shooting fragments with meaning.
And then there are those that cast their net wide and paint wildly sensational murals on the canvas of my life.
My yoga practice has helped me focus my creative energy and anchored me during my writing process for several books over the past 16 years. I have even wrote poetry about the connection between two of my favorite practices. See my poem below.
When I practice yoga, my ego disappears.
I merge into the Infinite.
We become one.
One Love.
One Creation.
One Vessel.
Messages pass through me.
They become stories, essays, poems, truisms, quotes, prayers, affirmations, letters, e-mail messages, blog posts, and journal entries.
#2
I inhale and raise my hands above my head, pressing the palms of my hands together.
My gaze is focused on my thumbs.
My head is balanced on my shoulders.
My shoulders are rolled back.
My heart shines forth.
My spine is long and strong.
My belly is soft but tucked in.
My arms hang gracefully with splayed fingers.
My legs support my core as my feet ground themselves to Mother Earth.
In this space, I breathe in and out five times.
On my next inhalation, I come into a forward fold.
The blood rushes down from my head.
I get a buzz.
It feels like nirvana.
I take a deep breath and raise myself up one vertebrae at a time.
As I exhale, my arms find comfort by my side.
I stand in place for several moments, feeling the benefits of my short practice.
The next moment encourages me to inhale and bring my hands into prayer against my heart.
I close my practice chanting seven Oms.
Om in my spirit.
Om in my heart.
Om in my breath.
Om in my mind.
Om in my body.
Om in my thoughts.
Om in my writing.
I have also taken yoga and writing workshops taught by my yoga teachers, Yael Flusberg and Kimberly Wilson. Their workshops offered me a chance to explore how different yoga poses and breathing exercises can stretch and energize my body, open my heart to new ideas, quiet my mind and clear emotional space so I can hear my inner wisdom, and focus my energy to meet deadlines for writing projects. They also gave me an opportunity to complete writing exercises after doing yoga poses and to share my reflections with a supportive community of fellow yoga students and writers.
Do you use yoga to support your creative work? How has it helped?
Have you ever taken a yoga and writing workshop? What did you learn?
If you are looking for yoga and writing resources, check out the list below.
Writing a book is a journey in itself. When your write about yourself like I have in my debut novel and creative memoir, you may encounter moments in your writing journey that force you to deal with your fears and past experiences. That’s what has been happening during my Digital Sisterhood memoir book writing process. I have started and stopped many times. I have been overwhelmed and wounded by my own need to control a creative process that requires constant surrender. I have allowed my reaction to the edits I received from my publisher in December to stall my publication process. In short, it has been a creative struggle I often wish I did not have to deal with, but I am hanging with support, positive energy, and love from an amazing team of family, friends, peers, yoga teachers, an acupuncturist, a book editor extraordinaire, a keep it real life coach, and detailed copy editors who keep me on track.
I have also used inspiring books to strengthen myself from the inside out as I finalize the manuscript. One book that has inspired me greatly is writing teacher Judith Barrington’sWriting the Memoir. In her book, Barrington writes with emotional honesty about the memoir writing journey. It gave me the words I was looking for to describe the bottled up emotions I have been carrying around about my writing fears. It was liberating to read her guidance on theme selection, voice, tone, form, plot, scene, and character development. She also stressed the value of having a disciplined practice. I enjoyed her references to writings by Alice Walker and Virginia Woolf. After I finished her book, I felt refreshed and ready to pick up my editing pen and complete my Digital Sisterhood book edits. What a blessing!
I hope you had a great weekend! How did you spend it? What were the highlights?
My weekend highlights included attending my Mastermind meditation group meeting, working at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center as an artist-in-residence with a retired Army airman who told me some great stories as we created two collages with poems and six word memoirs, hanging out/dancing/sipping on cocktails with my cousin Sharon and her friends at a really cool lounge called Cities, running the Race for Hope DC 5K, spending time with my creative accountability sister Jess at Cafe Collage, writing, going to church, napping, taking some nice long walks, and seeing the Restless City movie at the West End (wonderful movie).
The one thing that really stayed with me was meeting people impacted by brain tumor cancer during the Race for Hope DC 5K race. The conversations I had were deep and at times caused my eyes to water up. When I crossed the finished line, I bowed my head in deep gratitude and dedicated my run to everyone living with brain tumor cancer. Click here to listen to my audio blog that includes some of my Race Day reflections.
So what’s your week looking like?
Mine is all about getting my rest, writing, decluttering, fitness training at the gym, running 3 miles 3x this week in preparation for June 5K, yoga/Reiki/meditation, and finishing my homework from my financial advisor.
My digital diet for the week of April 9 helped me be more mindful about my time. I was able to write, rest, practice yoga/Reiki/meditation, go to the gym, take care of home and personal finance responsibilities, attend an art exhibition opening at the Joan Hisaoka Healing Arts Gallery, participate in the monthly artists-in-residence meeting held at the Smith Center for Healing and the Arts, create collages with patients and staff at the Walter Reed National Medical Military Center, and read chapters from Brene Brown’s The Gifts of Imperfection during my morning commute with greater ease. I noticed my creative juices were flowing much better. The best part of the week was not carrying my smartphone with me most days.
My biggest challenge was going online in the evenings to check my email and other social media accounts. On some days, I spent more time than I originally budgeted. So I am working this week on sticking to my plan.
My greatest lesson learned was that when I write my Digital Sisterhood book chapter drafts on paper instead of my lap top I am less likely to go online in the evening.
Collage and photo by Ananda Leeke
Last month I started making a weekly collage to nurture my creativity journey. These collages help me stay on track with my commitment to expressing my visual voice. Many of them serve as visual affirmations that I use to support my fierce living commitment to self-care, fitness, unplugging, and completing my Digital Sisterhood book. I included two collages above from my April collection. What do you think?
How are you nurturing your creativity?
Are you making collages or artwork? If yes, share links in the comment section.
Happy Friday! Happy Good Friday! Happy Early Easter!
How is your day going? I hope it is treating you well. Mine started with a confession and a double dose of positive inspiration for my writer’s soul.
Here’s my confession: when I write books, especially memoirs, I have an opportunity to really explore some deep parts of myself. Sometimes the writing journey can get emotionally draining, scary, and overwhelming. When that happens, I look for positive inspiration. Today I reminded myself to slow down, breathe, and look for some positive inspiration. Guess what? I found two great sources.
Photo Credit: KellyRoberts.com
Artist Kelly Rae Roberts’ April 5th blog post was the first source of inspiration. Roberts’ post about the benefits and pitfalls of an online life reminded me I need to continue taking great care of myself by setting more boundaries on my online life. In short, it’s time for me to revisit my online boundaries, establish a new schedule for going online, and have a more consistent practice of daily and weekly UNPLUGGING (my digital sister and friend Danica Kombol calls it a digital diet).
Photo Credit: Brene Brown photo from The University of Houston
My second source of positive inspiration came from a YouTube video featuring storyteller/researcher Brene Brown’s TEDx Houston Talk on the power of vulnerability. Click here to watch the video. What a game changer! It’s making me dig deeper into my Digital Sisterhood book writing journey. I’m so grateful for Brown’s talk, the power of connection, and the belief and acceptance that I am enough as a spiritual being having a human experience as a woman, friend, daughter, sister, author, artist, coach, yoga teacher, innerpreneur, speaker etc. etc.
So what positive inspiration have you discovered lately?
How do you keep yourself inspired?
Any plans to unplug, set boundaries on your digital life, go on a digital diet (check out Daniel Sielberg’s TheDigital Diet— great tips), or take a digital sabbatical (similar to the one Gwen Bell talks about in her book Digital Warriorship – fantastic book I read in 2011 — had a chance to participate in Bell’s BlogHer 2011 workshop — awesome experience)?
Ananda writing at Smith Center for Healing and the Arts
I am in the middle of writing my second memoir, Digital Sisterhood: Fierce Living Online for 25 Years. It’s my third book in five years!
My creative process is magical, messy, and SLOW right now. I am struggling with the fear of writing a new book and wondering how it will be received. I have turned to my artwork for comfort.
My creative soul has found sanctuary in Collagetry. Collage + Poetry = Collagetry. It is a technique I developed while working as an artist-in-residence for Smith Center for Healing and the Arts at Howard University Hospital.
Ananda's art suppliesAnanda's art suppliesAnanda's art supplies
A few weeks ago I created several Collagetrys (my made up word) for patients I was working with at The Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. I took photos of the collages because they spoke to my writing fears and life as an artist. See below.
Collagetry
This Memoir Collagetry reminded me to own my story and voice in my writing process. It also reminded me of the collages I made during my first memoir writing process and the energy and inspiration I received after creating them. So I made a mental note to make more time in my writing process for collage.
Healing Artist Collagetry
The message of this Healing Artist Collagetry really touched me: Self-expression. This is you. This is now. Healing artist. Your heart. Watercolor landscape. It offered me permission to use my healing artwork as a path back to my memoir writing.
Taking Flight: Inspiration And Techniques To Give Your Creative Spirit Wings by Kelly Rae Roberts - photo credit: Amazon.com
After reading the book’s description on Amazon.com, I ordered a copy. I started reading the book and have enjoyed the journaling exercises which are forcing me to confront my writing fears. One of my fears is running out of inspiration. So I have turned to Pinterest. I created two inspiration boards for my art and writing. I use them on a regular basis to stay energized. Check out the links below.
I returned to reading Poets & Writers on a regular basis. The February issue focused on inspiration. I have been rereading Frank Bures’ article about creating inner space for inspiration. It reminds me to UNPLUG from technology, my to do list, my writing deadlines, etc. Unplugging creates more time to relax and recharge. When I do it, I am able to surrender. SURRENDER is the key that unlocks the door to my creative process. So wish me luck as I practice the art of surrender from now until the fall season, make Collegetrys to overcome my writing struggles, and complete my fabulous Digital Sisterhood book!
Ananda Leeke 