Balancing Creativity with Business

 Recently I had an idea that I should add a business page on Facebook for my jewelry sales.  I've had a group that actually works quite well for promotion but I guess I was looking for better sales tools, which Pages offer.

One of the best processes I have ever discovered in seeking answers is to journal and then meditate, or at least quiet the mind and disconnect for a time.  The answers always come through, although not as if someone were speaking to me, but more as a feeling around the questions.

I highly recommend this to all creatives, or anyone for that matter, as a sure fire way to move forward.  We tend to get caught up in not only what we want from our creative business, but what we see others doing.  The latter is a trap of course, but we can learn some helpful tips by observation. 

We all want success in our creative business and this usually means sales, but it's not the only success.  I have found huge amounts of joy watching others be inspired by my work, or just enjoying looking at it.  This is a big deal, because that's a great gift, to give joy.

So after that meditation and journaling experience I did receive my answer and it wasn't to add one more sales platform to my creative business, but to keep it close and personal with my group and of course my online shop.  

As creatives we need enough time away, doing nothing, or at least keeping it light, to allow creativity to flow.  It's been my experience that I cannot make myself create, there is no scheduled studio time on my calendar.  It must be allowed to flow freely and I must be open to it.

I hope this has inspired you, whatever your work is.

Benefits of Handwriting

I heard something today that reminded me that there is a difference between handwriting and using a keyboard as far as how your brain works.
An article I read said “When we write, a unique neural circuit is automatically activated,” said Stanislas Dehaene, a psychologist at the Collège de France in Paris.
In another article it said that  "because putting ink to paper stimulates a part of the brain called the Reticular Activating Center, or the RAS."

I found more information about this as an educational issue for young children but I also know that I myself feel a distinct difference between writing something out by hand vs typing.  I can still relay my feelings and ideas, but handwriting seems to flow easier.

I journal daily.  It's my therapy, my friend, my companion.  My think tank for ideas.  As I write, I get even more information about my subject, often I get answers!  I can almost always figure out a dream if I write it down.

Dr. Wayne W Dyer mentioned many times in his writings and speeches that he always wrote out his books by hand, and that he always felt somehow guided as he wrote.
I have to agree that there is an ethereal element to this kind of process.  My daily journal writing has been very therapeutic.  I actually prefer this over long hours spent with someone who hardly knows me, not to mention the cost.

I also write out my to do lists, my project lists and I still send hand written cards.
So I imagine I am engaging a different part of my brain in this way, and hopefully stimulating it with new cells to keep me mentally fit for many years to come,  as this article states:  "According to The Wall Street Journal, some physicians claim that the act of writing — which engages your motor-skills, memory, and more — is good cognitive exercise for baby boomers who want to keep their minds sharp as they age."