​                                 "It is quite true what philosophy says:  that life must be understood backwards.
                                        But then one forgets the other principle:  it must be lived forward."
                                                                                                                               Soren Kierkegaard

This week a friend asked, "How was your week?"  It was at that moment I realized that it has been a really good week.  So often, even when we don't mean to, we forget to stop just long enough to realize that it has been a good day or week and to reflect upon what made it that way.  Living purposely and with intention makes a difference in how we experience our lives. As I was reminded this week, it is so important to do and so easy to forget.  

One of the ways that helps me to begin each week with intention is by finding a positive quote that speaks to me.  I thought the above quote was a perfect reminder that it is important to learn from the past but just as important to take what I learn and bring it with me as I move forward.  There are simple ways to do this.  What works best for me is to set an intention for the week and then an intention for each day that aligns with what I want to accomplish or do.  At the end of the day it always makes a difference if I take time to either mentally, or using my personal Tah Dah list, give myself credit for what I have accomplished.  It also makes a huge difference to remember what I am grateful for each day.  I have come to realize that the things I am most grateful for are the things that should receive the most attention from me.  

What did you learn about yourself last week?  What lessons would you like to bring with you into the next week?  If you set an intention and would like to share, I would love to hear it.

                      When you share your dreams and your talent with world, magic happens.  Let the magic begin!
                                                                                                                                     Ginny

                                                                Create the life you want to live.  
                                                                     ginny.lennox@comcast.net                                            

​Zip-a -Dee-Do-Dah is part of a song that continues on with “It’s a wonderful day.”  When you create the life you want to live there are many Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah days or at the very least moments that you will encounter and remember.  As you begin to become aware of the things that truly make you happy and intentionally include them in your day or plans, life will take on a happier glow.  When you recognize that the process that led you to writing your book or creating a wonderful dinner was just as much fun as the end product you will stop living in the future and begin to enjoy the present more and more. 

Living a creative life is not for the faint of heart.  It means recognizing that there will be ups and downs, changes in plans and disappointments.  It will also mean that self-care and support from others will be more important than ever.  It will mean that you will meet people who don’t understand why you want to leave a perfectly good job to take a chance on a start-up company or to travel with friends.  It will mean that you will have to recognize when you are being your own worst enemy and start to become your own very best friend. 

 It will also mean that you are excited to begin working each day because work has now become play.  It will mean that you will have interesting conversations with people you just met; about things you did not know existed just a few hours before.  It will mean that you notice things that never seemed important before and forget about things that really don’t bring happiness or joy into your world or the world of others.  It will mean you will smile more and because you are smiling so will the people who meet you throughout the day.
​
Creating the life we want to live is a never ending journey.  Times change, we change, the world changes and I have found that it is so much more fun to change with it.  There are always things to learn, people to meet, and places to go. 
I hope that this series has helped you to think about just some of the things that it takes to live a creative life.  For every word or concept I have included, there were hundreds more that were just as important.  Why not start your own ABCs of Living a Creative Life and see where it leads you?  It will be a fun and easy way to find out what is important to you!

              When you share your dreams and your talent with the world, magic happens.  Let the magic begin.
                                                                                                                       Ginny                                                                                                                                                                                             
                                                          Create the life you want to live!
                                                              ginny.lennox@comcast.net                     
                                                                                                                                                                                   

​The holiday season is almost upon us.  Before we know it the food, the parties, the presents, the visits from Santa and relatives will be all that we think about.  Now before the season begins is the perfect time to think about what you really want your holiday season to look and feel like. 

You might be a person who enjoys every minute of the festivities and you don’t want to change a thing. Or like many, you might wish year after year that things could be different.  You longingly picture a quiet home without a lot of frantic running around.  You visualize small intimate gatherings with simple decorations and delicious but light food.  You see yourself relaxing in front of the fireplace reading a book or visiting a museum or gallery with your family. 

The thing that is most important to remember is that you are in charge of your holidays.  You can set an intention to create whatever type of holiday sounds special to you.  If someone asks you to do something, you can take a breath before saying, “Yes” and ask yourself, “Is this in line with my intention?  Will this activity or event add to our holidays or just be something else we have to find the time to do?”  By setting an intention the answer will be easy to find and more important to say. 

So why not take a minute today and set your intention for this holiday season?  Put your intention somewhere where you can see it each and every day.  Then with that intention as your cornerstone begin to create a holiday season that is perfect in every way.

I would love to know what intention you are going to set for this holiday season.

           When you share your dreams and your talent with the world, magic happens.  Let the magic begin!
                                                                                                                             Ginny


                                                               Create the life you want to live!
                                                                 ginny.lennox@comcast.net

​                             "Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage."  Anais Nin

"YES" just three letters that can change a person's life.  Having the courage to say yes can open doors, lead to new adventures, and challenge one's sense of security.  It's not always easy to say yes.  There is often that little voice inside our head that makes it easier to say no.  What if I take the chance and it doesn't work out?  What if the new job or new city isn't all that it is supposed to be?  What if I change the medium I am using to create and I am no longer successful?  

But what if you say yes to the new job or the new city and you love it?  What if you are more successful using a new medium or writing a book in the first person rather than the third?  What if that adventure turns out to be just what you needed to take a small step towards a different but more satisfying life?  

I am a cautious person.  I like to have my facts in order before I say, "Yes!"  But there are times when you can't have all of the facts and you have to go with your instinct or your gut.  Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn't.  But I have learned that saying yes can lead to exciting opportunities and adventures that I never could have anticipated.

It's important to pay attention to how many times you say yes.  Do you say yes to things you really don't want to do or are you aware of what is important to you and what makes you happy and that is what you say yes to most often? 

Is there something that you would like to say yes to today?  When you think of saying yes, how do you feel?  When you visualize saying yes, what do you see?  If you journal about saying yes, what do you write?  

As we live a creative life or are creating the life we want to live, saying yes at the right time becomes more and more important.  So think about what you want and when the doors open and the opportunities present themselves, be ready to say "Yes!" with all of the excitement and joy that the word deserves.

          When you share your dreams and talents with the world, magic happens.  Let the magic begin!
                                                                                                                              Ginny

                                                           Create the life you want to live!
                                                             ginny.lennox@comcast.net

It is exciting to get closer and closer to the end of this series.  I've been asked to turn it into a book and that makes it just that much more exciting.  Because the end becomes a new beginning.   And that is what living a creative life is all about. It's about beginnings and endings.  It's about taking chances. It's about sharing your work with others.  It's about quiet time alone and wonderful conversations with those who understand and support your dreams. It's about trusting yourself and moving forward even when you are not sure what moving forward means or looks like.  

Whether you are living a creative life or just beginning to create the life you want to live, you will experience moments of excitement and moments of quiet.  But both serve an important purpose.  For many the beginning is where the excitement is. Coming up with a new idea or project brings with it a rush of adrenaline for many.  For others the beginning of something new can be a scary place. But when all of the pieces come together, just as they should, then the excitement begins to build.  

I have noticed that many people don't let themselves enjoy the excitement that comes with finishing a project. As soon as they are done with one thing, they move on to the next.  It's ok to give yourself a high five or to take a moment to soak in the wonderful feeling of finishing something that is important to you. Give yourself credit for what you do each day.  It's the small simple steps that build and grow into the exciting moments that will stay with you for a lifetime.

                                                       What are you excited about today?

          When you share your dreams and your talent with the world, magic happens.  Let the magic begin!
                                                                                                                                         Ginny

​ It is hard to believe that this blog series is almost over.  From awareness to wonderful has been a fun writing experience.  Living a creative life is wonderful.  It's filled with Aha moments and fun-filled adventures. The smallest thing can open up a new world.  Asking the question "What if?" opens up doors that you never new were closed.  

When you realize and accept that we are all creative beings who express our creativity in different ways, it becomes easier to share your creative ideas.  It is important to recognize that saying,"it has been done before" only limits what you do.  Most things have been done before but not with our own personal touch and insight. Embrace your creative thoughts and share them with the world.  

Creative ideas and experiences comes is all sizes and shapes.  Sometimes an idea will come and you can bring it to fruition in minutes.  Other times it takes years and years for a project to begin or to end.  Both are important.  Both bring meaning to our life and the lives of others. 

Living a creative life is wonderful.  It often comes with its own set of challenges but those challenges can be overcome.  It comes with its own set of fear and at times frustration.  But the rewards are great and just like anything else when you focus on the positive, the positive seems to appear more and more. 

So I hope you will join me on this creative journey I am undertaking.  It's fun.  It's frustrating.  It's challenging.  But most of all it is wonderful!

             When you share your dreams and your talent with the world, magic happens. Let the magic begin!
                                                                                                                                Ginny

I would love to support you on your creative journey.  Whether it is a project you want to start or finish or you are going through a transition in your life, creativity coaching can help you find the tools and strategies that will  bring joy into your process. Email me today and let's find a time to talk.

                                                           Create the life you want to live!
                                                             ginny.lennox@comcast.net

            "When your values are clear to you, making decisions becomes easier."
                                                                                                                       Roy E. Disney

Value is the word that I would like to focus on this week. When you are living a creative life or creating the life you want to live it is important to know what you value.  Sometimes the people or things we value the most are given the least amount of attention which in my opinion is the opposite of what it should be.  The people and things we value should be given the most time, the most care, and the most attention of all that we do. And that definitely includes ourselves.                     

Living a creative life is not always easy and so it is important that we take care of ourselves. It is easy to get to the end of the day and realize that we have not take a breath or said a kind word or taken a minute to celebrate all that we have done. It is important to value the smallest step we have taken and to celebrate it.  It's important to pause throughout the day to get up and walk away from our desk, to look out the window, or to take a walk around the block to clear our head or to inspire our thoughts. 

What is it that you value?  I value my family and friends.  I value my health and my home.  I value my time.  I value my love of learning. I value my writing and I value my art. I value helping others. The list could continue and it will.  It's important to know what you value and to be sure that it is given its rightful place in your life.  

I'd like to invite you to take a minute to think about or write down the people and things that you value.  Are you taking care of those people and things?  Are they being given the time and respect that they deserve?  If not, what one step could you take today to be sure that the people and things that you value are in your life not only today but everyday?  

        When you share your gifts and your talent with the world, magic happens.  Let the magic begin!
                                                                                                                  Ginny


                                                         Create the life you want to live!
                                                               ginny.lennox@comcast.net

I really love this week's letter -  U - because it stands for something so important.  Unique!  We are all unique and different and special and talented.  Many years ago I was lucky enough to teach children that were identified as gifted and talented. The only thing that bothered me was that I knew that each and every child in the school was gifted and talented and deserved to be taught the same things that I was teaching the students in my class.  So I did my best to share with each person who entered the school my philosophy that we are all special with unique gifts and talents.  I was lucky enough to work with teachers who also saw each child as unique and who welcomed me into their classrooms to share what I had learned with their students. 

I carry this philosophy into this phase of my life.  As I meet people who are embracing and developing the creative side of their life, I encourage them to acknowledge and celebrate their uniqueness. So many times people have an idea but say that it has been done before.  And my standard answer is, "But not by you."  We all bring into our projects our experiences, our perspectives and our knowledge which is different from anyone else's. It's the colors we use on our paintings, the words we choose for our stories, the way we position a chair in the room or the food we decide to serve together that can turn something from ordinary to unique and different.

So I encourage you to celebrate what you do!  Honor who you are and the work that you do.  We are all unique.  We are all different and that is what makes our world so special.

           When you share your gifts and talent with the world, magic happens.  Let the magic begin!
                                                                                                                              Ginny

                                                        Create the life you want to live.
                                                                ginny.lennox@comcast.net

                                          "Don't wait.  The time will never be just right."  Napoleon Hill

This week I had a hard time deciding which word I wanted to focus upon.  Trust is so important when living a creative life. Trusting yourself and your talents. Trusting that the world will understand what you are writing or painting or building.  Yet over and over again I hear people say, "If only I had the time, I would paint or write or run or start my own business.  And then it came to me.  Combine the two words and remind people to:

                                  Trust that you have the time to create the life you want to live. 

In week one I wrote about the importance of awareness.  Awareness is an important factor in finding the time to do what you want.  Look at how you are spending your days. Look at how you are spending your weekends.  Are you filling each moment with something that you want to do?  Are there things you can say no to?  Are you spending a lot of time watching TV or on social media?  What are you doing now that you can replace with something that you really want to do?

Begin making small changes. Watch one less TV show and use that time to write.  Get up five minutes earlier and begin your morning writing in your journal.  During your lunch break take five minutes to meditate or to walk outside and breath in the fresh air.  Notice how you feel. Set aside a specific place for your paints.  Plan five minutes each day to pick up the brush and to create what you can.  If the five minutes turns into more time, celebrate.  If five minutes is all that you can devote each day, that's fine.  The minutes will turn into hours and you will slowly accomplish more than if you had never started. 

Before you go to sleep each night write down the things you did that day which are helping you to create the life you want to live.  Again, awareness is key to finding and recognizing the time you are devoting to living creatively. It's important to celebrate even the smallest amount of time given to your dreams.  Then plan for the upcoming day. Many creative people resist a schedule.  But remember you are the person in charge of your schedule.  You are the one who is finding the time to do what you need to do.  If a schedule helps you to do that, then it is a tool that may become one of your best friends.  

Trust that you have the time to fill your day with special moments.  Then take the time to create those moments and to enjoy them no matter how small.  It's your life.  Spend it the way that means the most to you!

How will you spend your time today?

          When you share your talent and your dreams with the world, magic happens.  Let the magic begin!
                                                                                                                          Ginny

                                                        Create the life you want to live!
                                                              ginny.lennox@comcast.net

                             "To experience peace does not mean that your life is always blissful.
           It means you are capable of tapping into a blissful state amid the normal chaos of a hectic life."
                                                                                                                      Jill Bolte Taylor



Self-care is an important part of living a creative life.  Knowing what you need and finding time for it is essential. The other night I met with a group of writers, editors, and artists.  We had an interesting conversation about self-care.  The concept meant different things to each person.  To some it meant eating right, taking vitamins and exercising.  For another it was having the time to start her day with her horse so that not only the horse would get the attention that she deserved but that my friend would get the time with her horse that was so important to her.  For some it meant getting your nails done or having a weekly or monthly massage.

Finding time for relaxation and play was something we talked about.  Some had never thought of play in terms of self-care while others thought it was a necessary part of their day and life. Play meant different things to each of us but we all realized that taking time to relax and have fun helped us in our creative life. 

Self-care may look and feel different as we go through the various stages of life.  There are the basic things that we all do each day to take care of ourselves.  If these needs are not met, life is much more difficult. Then there are the things that are meaningful to each of us as an individual.  Many creative people feel sad or out of sorts if they are not using their creativity. For them getting into the studio to paint or write or dance is necessary just like enough water and the right food is necessary to be healthy and happy.  Others need time to get out into nature to take pictures or to enjoy the sights and sounds that are there for all of us to enjoy.     

As you are living or creating the life you want to live, think about what you are doing for self-care.  List the things that you are doing now and the things you would like to do.  If you need to make changes in your life, begin slowly.  Just five minutes a day to stretch can make a difference in how you feel.  Stopping, taking a deep breath, and sitting in silence for a few minutes a day can bring happiness and a feeling of calm into your life.  Writing in your journal, sketching a quick picture, or taking a photo a day can be the beginning of new experiences and creative opportunities.  

Remember that while you are taking care of others it is equally as important for you to take care of yourself.  When I finish this post, I am going to do at least 15 minutes of yoga.  How are you going to practice self-care today?

            When you share your talent and your dreams with the world, magic happens.  Let the magic begin.
                                                                                                                                            Ginny

                                                              Create the Life You Want to Live
                                                                 ginny.lennox@comcast.net