Marketing Your Creativity

It was Hillary Clinton who popularized the phrase “it takes a village to raise a child” bringing new understanding to child rearing.  Now, 15 years later, some of those villages or communities are struggling.

A little over 3 years ago I moved from Van Nuys to Altadena.  I wanted to be closer to the Xiem Clay Center – a community of ceramic artists and in turn I discovered a number of other communities to join – including that of Altadena.  I hadn’t realized I was not apart of the community of Van Nuys until I discovered the diverse community of Altadena (more…)

For too many years I have been defined by what I do instead of who I am.  Even when asked, I would list my current job title . . . as if this could somehow explain who I am really.  Recently, I’ve started making an effort to not answer the question with my job title and to not be embarrassed by who I really am.

I know, I know, who am I?  Similar to Hamlet, I have spent many years pondering this and have had a lot of employment opportunities to test my own perception of who I am against those of others.  What I have discovered in all of my jobs from selling popcorn to being a nanny, I have always used my creativity.

At the movie theatre, I would create the weekly movie listing flyer with all the passion of an aspiring advertising executive.  As a nanny, I went to my charge’s 4^th grade class and directed them in the last scene of “Hamlet” to teach them about Shakespeare.  The kids loved “dying” (more…)

In the summer of 2007, I bought and moved into a house with a lot of fruit trees.  Growing up back East, I had not really been exposed to fruits.  Sure there were apples and Florida oranges, but nothing like what was awaiting me in my own yard.

As I began harvesting the trees and enjoying the literal fruits of my labor, I began to realize how blessed I was (more…)

Let’s start by talking about creativity and what my definition of creative is. Creativity is the act of making something new. We all, by definition are creative as our bodies are constantly creating new cells.

When I think something is creative, it is a judgment call. It usually comes out of my internal thought of . . . “I wish I’d thought of that.”

I know that when people tell me that I am so creative, what they are really saying is (more…)

This weekend I laughed and laughed and laughed.  Notice you can’t read the word laugh without at least smiling and maybe giving a little chuckle.  It has magical powers, laughter that is.  It can transform situations and shared experiences.

Usually, I am pretty good about laughing at my own foibles; however, this time it was my Scottie, Abbey, who was the cause of the laughter.  And, unfortunately, she understood (more…)