Creativity with the Kindle Fire

My daughter gave me a Kindle Fire for Christmas and I was initially skeptical of its value to me.  I'm an avid reader and have been known to finish a book in one day.  I love my books; I love having bookcases full of them and stacks of them by my bed.

Some of my creativity related books.  Recognize any of the titles?

When I moved from a 3 bedroom house to a small 2 bedroom apartment, I weeded out a lot of reading material.  I donated to thrift stores, to the public library and even took stacks of books to the local used bookstore and donated over $100.00 worth of book credits to a friend when I moved.  Five bookcases stuffed with books became three bookcases and then two.  I know my kids were entertaining thoughts of my having only one bookcase, or even none, but I couldn't even contemplate letting go of more.

I'm pretty sure that my kids are hoping that having the Kindle will mean that I'll stop collecting physical books.  But do I think that it will replace the feel of a book in my hands, the touch of pages on my fingertips or the visual beauty of having book spines lined up in glorious color on a shelf?  Definitely not!  I am, after all, still the little girl who spent hours each day at the library around the corner (I ran into my favorite librarian 20 plus years later - and she still remembered me!) and dreamed of having a library of her own.

I have to admit though, that I am liking this whole Kindle thing!  A month after the holidays, I have over 200 ebooks saved to this new electronic gadget of mine, most of which I've found for free via a newsletter - Kindle Buffet.  I actually started collecting ebooks in October, using Amazon's free Kindle for PC or Mac program.

And, while that's wonderful enough on its own, what is really making me love the Kindle is that I've discovered that I can download videos to it from my computer and this is where the creativity with the Kindle Fire comes in.

Yes!!!  Art videos, art journaling videos, craft videos...oh, my goodness!

Do you like the background?  My four year old grandson and I created it together with homemade alcohol ink sprays and tissue paper!

I'm over the top excited because it means that I can not only watch my videos from last years Willowing's Lifebook  class, but also from Effy Wild's Book of Days class, Stephanie Gagos' wonderful workshops and Sheri Ann Ponzi's Angels In My Studio workshop - but I can also take the videos with me into my corner of the bedroom studio!  Woot!

That may not seem like a big thing.  But I wasn't often able to watch the videos on my computer because my computer stopped doing whatever it needs to do to allow it (can you tell I'm technologically challenged?  Lol) and I haven't been able to find a solution or afford repairs.  Not a problem with the Kindle!

It also means that my fibromyalgia, fibro fog, arthritis and disabilities won't be as detrimental to my creativity because I won't be having to travel from the computer desk in the living room to my art table in the bedroom.  All of that back and forth traveling just wasn't helpful for my pain levels OR my memory issues.

Creativity with the Kindle Fire - oh yeah!  I'm totally looking forward to getting back into my art journaling and other creative projects this year!

Are there things that interfere with your own creativity (whether or not you have health or disability issues)?  Have you found ways to move around the roadblocks and challenges that keep you from creating? Please share...it's something I always need help with, and I know I'm not alone!

Shared on the Friendship Friday link-up

Shared on Paula's No Rules Weekend Blog Party

Gifts Of Compassion

Gifts of Compassion is a new project started by Sung-Hee Regina Hong, who was inspired to create something that would benefit the people whose stories she had featured on her blog The Beauty Of Sorrow .

The project, now in its beginnings, consists of an Etsy shop  featuring art created by those people – all of whom live with chronic illness, depression and/or disabilities or have healed while moving through major life challenges.  Our art has enabled us to move through our challenges with grace, gifting us with healing and keeping us connected to ourselves and the world around us.

It’s Regina’s dream; our dream; to be able to share those gifts, and facilitate them within you,  and to give each of you a simple, healing way to connect with the people in your life.

 It’s also our dream to nurture and build a form of income for ourselves.  For some of us, our challenges have affected our ability to have, and keep, mainstream employment.   This is especially true for me.  For others, it is part of who we are, to want to earn an income doing something we love so well; that we can put body, heart and soul into our work and offer it to you from our hearts.

There are currently 37 postcards available through Gifts Of Compassion, highlighting the work of seven very different artists, with five more artists being added in the very near future.  Each artist has a title, such as King of Sorrow or King of Lupus.  I’d like to introduce them here and if you click on their names, you’ll be able to read their stories on the Beauty Of Sorrow blog. 


Sung-Hee Regina Hong - King of Sorrow

"...a creative way of looking at pain, healing by sharing sorrow, and letting people know that they are not alone and that we are there for each other."

Jijo Jacob - King of Faith

Keri Colestock - King of Lyme Disease

"My art was my saving grace as staying home in bed was not an option."

Ady Almanza - King of Friendship

Nancy Baumiller - King of Woman/Women

"We have choices...and choosing to be happy is the greatest one! Self-love!"

Lainey Parker - King of Artistic Depression

"There are statistics that show a higher percentage of artists, writers, and other creative souls deal with depression more so than other types of people."

Cynthia Hanna - King of Fibromyalgia/Disabilities

"Art connects me with my intuition and provides me with a symbolic, visual language…a way to process whatever comes up, whether it’s joy, pain or any or the myriad things between. And sharing the process of learning, experimenting, healing is healing in itself…"

We invite you to watch the video (above), to visit the Gifts of Compassion shop, and to share both our art, our shop and our purpose with others - and of course, to purchase our healing, uplifting art for yourself and others in your lives.

A Hero's Heart

I had trouble picking up the coffee pot this morning.  Arthritis…I think I have more trouble with the psychological aspects than the pain, I really do.  

I’m remembering being 31 and beating two grown men who jumped me.  I had just had my daughter two months before (a Caesarian) and she was in her car seat, in the car, when I was attacked.  I remember other times when physical strength was a blessing…not just during times of crisis, but in daily life.  In being able to do things for myself and hold my own when working with others.  

1988

And when my legs, feet and lower spine started affecting my ability to walk and stand I can remember how precious and exciting it was to discover kayaking.  It was an activity that I could do using my upper body strength; it allowed me to be and feel active and I loved it – until I became ill with fibro.

1996

But even with the fibro, I could still lift coffee pots.  More than anything else that my body has experienced, the arthritis makes me feel weak.  Makes me feel helpless and dependent.  I’m struggling with that right now.  I know the pain is related to the cold weather, with temps below 30 degrees many mornings.  And I know that I’ll adjust and adapt, it’s just being in the ‘how’ stage that is uncomfortable.

Multiple crises in my life have taught me that I am strong.  Not just physically, but emotionally as well.  I am not afraid of taking action; I’m not afraid of stepping in and doing what needs to be done or of defending others when it's needed.  

 I have no idea where it came from, but I have a hero’s heart.  I can see that so clearly now.  And that heart has made a difference, not just for me, but for others as well.

From living through a revolution in a ‘third world’ country at the age of 6; surviving years of abuse and neglect; an abusive marriage; many, many multiple miscarriages and a near death experience; being hit by a car; single parenthood and poverty; to surviving a bombing and the resulting homelessness at the age of 36, I have survived.  

 

In being called to work in social services; in advocating for myself and others; in speaking in public and giving workshops; in using my life experiences as fuel to make a difference; I have survived.

I have been true to what has meaning in my life and am learning more and more to be true to myself .  I have grown, I have triumphed and I KNOW that there are so many different kinds of strength other than the physical.

If I hold these memories close right now, it is because they remind me of who I am and what I’m capable of.  They give me strength for this part of my journey, traveling through my personal ‘undiscovered country’ and seeking new ways of being in the world.

2010

 

Yes, I may have trouble lifting the coffee pot.  But I can still hold my grandson and hug my kids!  I can still create and craft.  I can write, type and read.  I can advocate.  And I can see, feel and cherish all the good, all the light, that life has to offer.  I’m still learning.  Part of the wonder of being human is our ability to learn, to change, to adapt, to grow and to choose, in each moment, what our perceptions and focus will be.   

What are you choosing? 

When Life is Overwhelming…

I really debated whether or not to make this post; to bring out something so personal.  But my journey isn’t just about me.  I’m not alone in living with chronic illness, with having multiple life and health challenges, with being a survivor of sorrow and pain.  Perhaps what I write will speak to you with whispers of hope or intimations of healing.  It is my heartfelt wish that, in sharing our journeys, we can share and support each other in our healings as well. 

We may not have the details in common, but the underpinnings of our lives will always have commonalities.  We share the human experience and are connected in so many, many ways, both seen and unseen and we are NOT alone.  We are never truly alone.  Hang on to that thought – embrace it, believe it!  You are NOT alone!

One of the outcomes of my dealing with fibro, disabilities, and loss of all income has been a huge grieving process and the brief dissolution of my already shaky self-worth.  Overwhelm??  Definite, absolute and mind boggling overwhelm!  My tolerance for all things outside of myself telescoped to the extent that being around anything even mildly stimulating – people, conversation or noise, too much input or information – would trigger feelings of being overwhelmed.  As though my body and mind were screaming “Enough!  Enough already!  I’ve already got too much on my plate and I can’t digest any more!”   

I’ve always been an introvert, but this is like being the mother ship of introversion!  At a time when I most need to feel connected, to feel involved with life, my being seems to experience overwhelm and simply starts to shut down.  And that overwhelm translates into disorientation, anxiety, exhaustion, sometimes as panic and often as fibro fog.

All my life I’ve considered myself strong and resilient; I’ve always bounced back.  Through childhood, through multiple miscarriages, through divorce, through homelessness and so much more.  Like a soap opera heroine, I’ve always triumphed over the dark.  Until recently. And I’ve been hard on myself; I’ve judged myself weak and lacking. I questioned and doubted so many things that I believed about myself.

While meeting with a counselor yesterday, I had several “Aha!” moments.  The biggest one came about when he asked me how I had dealt with the level of abuse that I’d experienced while growing up.  I responded that I often had out of body experiences; that I disconnected from what was happening.  And that doing so helped me to survive; helped me to keep my core – my spirit and my heart – safe.  And I realized that that is essentially what I’m doing now.  The abuse isn’t there, but so much of life is overwhelming, and I’ve brought into play tools that worked for me in the past – that disconnection, the disorientation. Simply having that insight has been profound, allowing me to be compassionate towards, and more gentle with, myself.

I know that there are better tools; there are ways to address all of the things I’m experiencing.  The evolution of my life and my spirit require tools that do more than simply allow me to survive.  I also need to grow and thrive and continue transforming myself and my life in ways that are meaningful, uplifting and affirming.  With  40 or so added years of living, I’m more than ready; more than willing!

I’m discovering that there is a positive side to overwhelm, and how I experience it depends on the focus that I choose.  For me, part of the answer has been reconnecting, in new and wonderful ways, with my innate creativity.  Collage, altered art and most recently, art journaling; they’ve all played a part.  Remembering to “keep it in kindergarten” and not worrying about what others think of what I create, but simply creating for the joy of it!

 The connections that I’ve made via my creativity and the warmth, support and encouragement that I’ve received are such tremendous gifts too!  Even being gifted with this blog and learning how to be here; remembering how to write, having this special space to connect and communicate is part of the answer.  My steps may be small and halting, but how I dearly treasure every one of them, knowing that those steps will become strides.

I’m looking forward to discovering even more tools and techniques to wrap around my soul, to bring more vibrancy, energy and healing into my life.  A new adventure; new discoveries; new ways of being.  And I’m so very grateful to have you here.  Every word, every wish, every interaction, every touch of your humanity, heart and wisdom are wondrous things to me.   

That I am still here – and yes, still alive - is testament to the light I’ve found within each of you.  This is the kind of overwhelm that I can live with – the gratitude and grace that you engender in me.