Ingenuity And Creativity Are Birthed In Boredom

Relax, bored kids never stay bored for long Children thrive when they are given ample unscheduled play time. Free time to explore, use their imaginations to amuse themselves and even time to be bored because boredom is the birthplace of creativity and ingenuity.   Surrounded by babies and toddlers, I was not always free to……

Making Something Out of Nothing

When parents are creative, using what is on hand to make do instead of constantly running to the store for ingredients or supplies, we teach our kids to be resourceful.  It is a talent which they can apply to their studies, the workplace, for entertainment as well as in their day-to-day lives at home. All……

Celebrating Individuality Not Conformity

Grace was a unique child with amazing concentration. While four-year-old little boys were struggling to print or draw, my second youngest daughter would cover sheets of paper with tiny intricate drawings at 18 months old. Once she drew at least fifty tiny “eyes” while she stood on a chair and leaned over a piece of……

The Best Art Comes From a Playful Imagination

The best art cannot be forced or controlled because the imagination thrives and creates in a relaxed attitude of openness, a sense of play not duty. Albert Einstein, one of the most brilliant scientists of the last century, valued imagination over knowledge.For a brainy, intellectual, Einstein had a lot to say about imagination: ” Imagination is……

Don’t Think; Just Write

I write to engage with other people, to contribute my voice to issues in our society or to share an insight that might help a fellow human being. I write because no one has the same experiences or the same opinions as I do. I write because I have discovered a voice that is unique,…

Friendship Friday: Cracked Pots

 A story for creative people. Are you considered inefficient, even bumbling by modern society? You might be a cracked pot but your flaws just might be the source of your creativity. An  idealistic young man, Mark, traveled a great distance to find a well-known holy man to mentor him. Although this elder, Fr. Simon, was a confirmed…

Tender Tidings: Free Magazine

The winter issue of Tender Tidings, the free magazine for intentional Catholic parents, is now available for viewing! Just click on the flipbook to explore. This issue is devoted to raising creative children.  Dr. Greg Popcak wrote an article on why family creativity time is good for the whole family;  Marcia Mattern shares ideas about creating……

What’s Your Writing Process?

How do you approach your writing process? Are you an inveterate outliner, or do you let your ideas flow and follow them where they take you? Would you consider using more process than you currently do or less? What do you make of the idea of starting by writing your endings and then working to……

Family Creativity Birthed in Boredom

I learned that children need down time.  They need time just to be and relax, even time to be bored because that is when creativity and ingenuity are born.Surrounded by babies and toddlers, I was not free to entertain my children nor did we have enough money to keep them in an endless round of paid activities. At……

Discovering Our Own Writing Style

A reading prompt once challenged me to: Write about how you choose to write about others in your blog. (Friends, family, etc) Seriously, does every other writer logically plan out their articles, essays, short stories and books with their left brain? I simply cannot function like that. When an episode or opinion has popped into my brain, I did not consciously choose to write about that……

Is a Mother’s Life Her Own?

Is a Mother’s Life Her Own?.

Open the Wings of Your Imagination

As a busy mother of nine children, I have always been an oral storyteller but fear blocked  any forays into writing.  Whenever I started to record our hilarious life on paper, I wrote stilted mummy drivel. It  has been  barely a year since I have discovered a creative fountain of written words buried deep within……

None of Us Are ‘Normal”

Many of us think of our lives as boringly normal, while others live the high life. Take a step back, and take a look at your life as an outsider might. Now, tell us at least six unique, exciting, or just plain odd things about yourself. Most men think in straight logical lines. They shake……

DP:The Great Canadian Novel

If you could choose to be a master (or mistress) of any skill in the world, which skill would you pick? I dream of writing and  illustrating an imaginative allegorical novel. UMMM-  Obviously I would love to write like a pro, not simply short articles like I write now but thick volumes of books that would……

Writers Inspiring Writers

Credit: Megan Broutain inspired words When creativity is expressed and shared, it sparks creativity in countless other people. I was reading an article by Isabel Anders which included inspirational quotes from famous authors, when one quotation resonated within me, lifting my spirits. In a comment, I wrote: “Your quotes slip like liquid sunshine into the……

The Golden Key To This Writer’s Soul.

a frozen writerWhen I sat down to type my first article  on wordpress.com for Blogher’s NaBloPoMo and National Health Post Month  an event hosted by WEGO  Health, I realized that signing up to write on health issues for a month was a rash, impulsive action that would either show me that I was simply a lack luster mum……

Creative Thinking

 Creative thinking may mean simply the realization that there’s no particular virtue in doing things the way they always have been done  Rudolf Flesch   are several ways of looking at a problematic situation.  Early on in my mothering career, I learned that I had a choice. I could either catastophize the dilemma or consider it an interesting challenge. With limited funds, surrounded by lots……

How did you decide what to share? I Don’t; I Just Write.

    Something has been set free within me recently and now I simply write, from my inner self. It was the decision to start blogging that opened this door to writing.   It took me years to finally decide to start writing again. I had taken a 30 year sabbatical since leaving university to raise 9……

Blogging Opens The Door To Writing

Actually I can hardly believe that I feel free  enough today to stand up and boldly yell, ” I love writing and I want to help others  start writing by encouraging them to blog.” It took me years to finally decide to start writing again. I had taken a 30 year sabbatical since leaving university……