Artist's Corner: A Haiku on Bliss

Lately, I've been feeling moved to write poetry again. It's been the strangest thing, because for a while there I thought I'd sort of moved past that point in my life. Apparently I haven't though, and I can't begin to tell you how glad this makes me. I absolutely adore poetry. All that emotion, captured beautifully and compactly into just a few words. In high school I would write poetry at the back of my notes during class whenever I felt bored. In those days writing was my source of escape. In many ways, it still is now actually, but for whatever reason I haven't felt such an intense need to paint a picture with my words since then. That is what poetry is to me, by the way. It is the creation of a poignant vivid visual experience by using experienced emotions as your paintbrush and words as your paint.

I'm really glad I'm writing poetry again. It's my purest form of self-expression.

Here is my latest haiku, inspired by the theme of bliss.

Bliss

Bright Bursts of colour:

sprinkles of rain mixed with dazzling light

on a summer's day.

Love you all and Stay inspired,

P.S. So let me know what you think. What does poetry mean to you? What is your purest form of self-expression? What is making you happy today? Feel free to let me know in the comments below.

Blogger Awards from Zmaga (and Debbie!) make me blissful :)

My Darling Devotees,

Quite a while back (Sorry it took so long, dearest) the lovely Zmaga tagged me for not one but two really awesome blogger awards! Thank you so much!

Rules:
1. Post the logo on my blog.
2. Pass the award on to 12 other bloggers.
3. Link the nominees' blogs so others can get to know them.
4. Let nominees know they have won this award by commenting on their blog.
5. Share the love and link to the person you received this award from.

The only rule for the I love your blog award is to tag 13 bloggers whose blogs I love :)

I think I'm going to have to tweak the rules a little because altogether that would be 25 bloggers to link and I feel like linking 25 bloggers I love might be overkill. Instead I will just link 10 of the ones that have been inspiring me a lot right now, and that I haven't linked before ( or in quite awhile) so that you lovely people can 'meet' them too :)

Megan Rebekah's The Write Stuff

Between Fact and Fiction

Cafe Fashionista

Cass and Cady

Selina Pittari: Getting a Little Crafty

Leia's Delights

Debbie: The College Years

Shimmer Like Gold

Creative Every Day

The Dream Machine

Also Debbie of The College Years has tagged me for another award but that deserves its own post too. It's a pretty epic award that requires some soul searching :)

Love you all and Stay inspired,

P.S. So let me know what you think. Do you know all of these blogs (if not, you should definitely check them out :) ) Feel free to let me know in the comments below.

Seeking Inspiration: Never Alone

Dearest Devotees,

I love people, I really do. I love being around people (particularly people I know and love) and I can even be said to get my energy from being around many of the people I love at the same time. However, and I'm sure all of you lovely artistic and creative spirits out there can relate, sometimes you just need to get away from it all for awhile to enjoy some quality time with yourself. Inspiration can most certainly come while going through the motions of your daily life, but it is much more likely to hit you in the moments of calm in which you can take in everything that you've experienced, process it all and create with it. This is why I did an artistic retreat at the beginning of this year. I just really needed some time to let things sink in and to prepare my heart, soul and mind to create. This is why some writers go away to quiet little cabins in the middle of nature to write. This is also why I've decided my favorite time of the day is dawn because everything is so quiet and calm and beautiful that I am able to ponder various things freely and without distraction.

Lately, I've felt an intense desire to disappear into some remote place with nothing but the bare necessities, and all my art supplies, and I really think that I may do this after summer school is over before the next school year starts. It would be a creation (rather than inspiration) centered artistic retreat and would honestly be one of the best ways I could spend the remainder of my summer holiday.

That said, not everyone has the luxury of dropping all of their responsibilities and disappearing into the wilderness for two weeks, and even if you do, that isn't always the best plan of action. So here are some ways of injecting little drops of solitude into your week.

• Set apart a creative space for yourself in which you can return to regularly when you want to create. Decorate this place in such a way that it inspires you and moves you to create.

• Use beautiful music, pictures, or scents if suitable to help create the desired atmosphere.

• Find a particular time in the day in which you are least likely to be disturbed while creating. If necessary, ask people not to seek you out at this time. If necessary, get noise canceling headphones that can block out average background noise (very useful if you happen to have a roommate).

• Give yourself time to think. Seriously, I've heard of CEOs who schedule meetings with themselves throughout the day, so they can just stop and breathe every once in a while. The best thing for you to do at these times it to just sit quietly and let your mind wander.

• Take tranquil scenic walks or runs. By doing this, you can exercise and wind down at the same time.

• Do yoga/meditate at the beginning and/or end of your day. Again its all about clearing your mind and taking stock of all the stimuli you receive each day.

Assignment for the week

I'm still working on last week's assignment but I'm happy to say it's going quite well and that it has two different parts to it that I will be really excited to show you next week. That said, here's this week's assignment. It's another song called Never Alone by Barlow Girl and I actually have the assignment for this done.

My Translation

It's a part of one of my songs. It's a pretty loose translation of the above song, (I only really used it as a spring board) but it also has to be pretty loose since they are both in the same medium. I hope you like it. The song is called Locked up.

Chorus

Locked Up in this tower

Away from it all.

Don't want to listen

'Cause I don't wanna fall.

Locked away in this tower

Away from it all.

Don't want to listen

Because I don't want to fall.

Broken pieces, parts of me

Lying on the ground.

People, places, things I've seen

Have turned my life around.

Run me into desperation.

Seeking for a light within

The cold

and the dark that surrounds me.

Ran up here to get away

From everything else.

Hope is so bizarre to me

When all I know is hell.

But yet I want something more.

I long to finally reach that door

And break out.

Escape.

But I am....

Chorus.

It's a work in progress and when its fleshed out complete with melody, harmony and accompaniment I will present it to you in an Artist Corner feature.

Links I've loved this week include:

I absolutely adore the SparkNotes site, especially when I stumbled upon this really sweet playlist on it!

I really miss polaroids, so much so I am considering getting a new polaroid camera. Until then this free application Poladroid is definitely keeping me happy!

This post on being a photographer by Zmaga got my heart racing.

Cafe Fashionista's latest fashion find completely dazzles me.

The poem in this blog post. Honestly, words fail me.

I feel so sad when I see the effects of the BP oil spill.

Zen Habits is just amazing. AMAZING! I suggest you start off your journey there with this blog post.

All images come from We Heart It.

Love you all and Stay inspired,

P.S. So let me know what you think. What's inspired you this week? What links have you been loving this week? Feel free to let me know in the comments below.

P.P.S A huge Welcome to all my new devotees. You make me ridicu-crazily happy :)

Mirror Me: Things that make me happy

Jeans vest: Pimkies

Sandals: Tally Weijl

Jeggings: H and M accessories

Dress: Pimkies

Flower hair pin: So Good Jewelry

Dearest Devotees,

As I've mentioned before I've just recently decided to join the Creative Everyday Challenge hosted by Leah on her blog and this month's topic is Bliss. So I've decided to tell you some of the things that make me happy. This ties in with being indie because an independent person can come close to but does not fit any real stereotypical style. You don't blindly follow trends but instead have your own style that you adapt as you deem fit. Seeing people that exude personality in their dressing makes me really happy. That as well as having a pretty indie inspired day like this:

9 am wake up to the sound of loudly playing Ingrid Michaelson music. Throw open my curtains to beautiful sunlight streaming into my window. Do yoga to a special playlist. Have a lovely hot shower with wildflower shower gel. Dress in a lovely new summer dress and sandals with daisy in hair. Eat strawberries with cream and vanilla yoghurt for breakfast. Bike out to favorite orchard and take random black and white pictures of nature up close with my SLR camera. Spend afternoon writing songs and poetry with my recorder and notebook by the creek. Have picnic with friends at a cute little family owned cafe. Go for poetry reading at jazz club in the evening. Go to indie rock concert (Flyleaf!) at night. Come home and bathe in lavender-scented therapeutic bath oils. Practice piano and french before bed. Meditate and pray. Go to window and wish the stars goodnight. Sleep.

This would make me subliminally happy.

Other things making me happy in my life:

Having lovely friends and family that love me.

A strong faith and belief that sustain me.

Working on my creativity and finding inspiration again :)

Exploring the idea of an artistic retreat after summer school for two weeks...

Hip Hop Classes- So much fun and an awesome workout.

Friends of mine getting engaged!!!!

Having 72 followers on GoogleReader and 7 on Bloglovin'. I love my devotees so much!

Turning my desk, now that its organized, into an inspiration station.

Being almost done with my first collaboration song!

Recording lectures and studying at my own pace. Honestly if you have ADHD or just have problems paying attention during lectures the idea of recording them is a godsend.

This poster makes me really happy.

Finishing my silhouette for the seeking inspiration: cross-training post I did. I said I'd share my translation of this picture:

And here it is:

Not too bad considering this is my first attempt at a silhouette drawing and my first use of acrylic paints to draw. I mean at least it looks vaguely like the photo above. Also I really loved playing with the trees. Practice makes perfect I guess. (Note I only share this with you because I love and respect you all. If you have any constructive criticism to help me with my silhouette drawing I am totally open to it. But please be nice because I am really sensitive about my art. )

Getting ready to attend the 2010 Where Bloggers Create online party! It's open to everyone and anyone who wants to show people their real life creative spaces. You post images and explain the decor and you get to see other peoples creative spaces too! I invite you all to come!!!

Love you all and Stay inspired,

P.S. So let me know what you think. What makes you happy? What makes you blissful? Will you come for the Where bloggers create party (Please come) ? Feel free to let me know in the comments below.

Seeking Inspiration:You ARE Wonderful!

The person that you were has died

You’ve lost the sparkle in your eyes
You fell for life - into its traps
Now you wanna bridge the gaps
Now you wanna bridge the gaps
Now you want that person back

And all your ammunition’s gone
Run out of fuel to carry on
You don’t know what you wanna do
Cause what you want does not want you
If what you want does not want you
And you’ve got no pull to pull you through

Gary Go's Wonderful

It's been awhile since I've done a seeking inspiration post dearest loves and this is because I've been suffering from an intense case of inspirationless living. It's been aweful. It is like being in a writer's block but 10 times worse because it seeped into all aspects of my life. Whenever I dressed up, I felt less than satisfied with my appearance. Whenever I tried to work on my music, or draw I was stumped. Even writing became a chore. I tried to persevere nonetheless. I continued with my hip hop classes, continued attempting to express myself stylistically, continued my meetings with my fellow composer, and even tried to continue blogging. It was hard. I felt like a light within me, the light that enables me to not only see but feel a steady stream of inspiration, was extinguished. As the days and weeks passed, I began to lose hope that it would return. I began to fear that my creativity well had finally run dry. As despair threatened to overcome me I realised that I really am nothing if not hopeful. I tend to have hope in the most dismal of situations and if I could not have hope in this situation, a situation that is extremely close to my heart, I would not be the person I thought I was. As if to reinforce this discovery, a couple of days ago I stumbled upon this quote:

Being defeated is often only a temporary condition. Giving up is what
makes it permanent.

-- Marilyn vos Savant 1946-NA

After this I began anew to look for a cure to my museless state. A lot of things I found online helped me by giving me new opportunities (that I will include in the links below) to challenge my creativity and to interact with others who shared my passion. However the realization as to what had caused me to lose my muse came to in the form of the song "Wonderful" by Gary Go. The lyrics at the beginning of this post as well as the following lyrics below explained me to a T:

If what you’ve lost cannot be found
And the weight of the world weighs you down
No longer with the will to fly
You stop to let it pass you by
Don’t stop to let it pass you by
You’ve gotta look yourself in the eye

My interests, my goals, everything about me has been changing, and in the process of trying to adapt to this change I've lost my muse. I've lost my muse because I am doubting my new self. I am not sure if I have the skills, and talent to achieve the goals I want to achieve now, and everyone knows that self-doubt is an artist's worst enemy. Doubting my abilities had put me in the inspirationless state and only if I believed in my ability to adapt will I get out of it. Hearing theThe final lines of the song:

Cause we are all miracles
wrapped up in chemicals
We are incredible
Don’t take it for granted, no
We are all miracles
Oh we are

Say “I am”
Say “I am”
Say “I am wonderful”
Oh you are

Don’t take it for granted, no
We are all miracles
wrapped up, yeah we’re wrapped up

Oh we are wonderful

Hearing these words in this song helped push me back into believing in myself. It also showed me that being independent does not mean that I don't need social interaction. Humans are social beings and we need relationships with other living things. We need support and in situations like these, when we doubt ourselves, we need people who love and care about us to tell us that we are wonderful.

I love you my darling devotees. You are Wonderful.

***

Now for the inspirational exercise of the week:

How is cross-training your art going? Since I'm cross-training with music I thought I would give a musical exercise. Translate the song into your art form of choice. Get really creative- create an interpretive dance, youtube video slide show, whatever you want to express it. Also this video and this song make me really happy, so this keeps in line with my Creative Every Day challenge of June (Topic: Bliss) !!!

I haven't done mine yet because I just came up with the idea but I may make a video or a composite drawing. You'll have to wait and see (hmmm...).

***

Links I've Loved this week:

Ommwriter and CreaWriter are AMAZING programs for all the mac and windows writers out there (respectively). They are seriously the next best thing to hopping off to your own little cabin in the Alps (in the summer ) and working on an cute vintage-y typewriter.

Creative Every Day- Blog love that I can't believe I hadn't known about sooner! I'm currently doing the June challenge. You just need to se this.

How to get a 4.0 in life: Yes please.

I love this post from Frock and Roll.

Gala darling put this beautifully inspiring youtube video on her blog.

Creative creativity - another creativity blog. You just gotta love it.

I was looking for some more fellow writer support so I joined NanoWrimo, Script Frenzy and this lovely lady's blog.

This is an incredibly well-written story.

I love A Cat of Impossible Colour's Style.

Glamourous Grad Student gives us Style Self Help.

Love you all and Stay inspired,

P.S. So let me know what you think. What's been inspiring you this week? Feel free to let me know in the comments below.

Lyrics for Gary Go- Wonderful on Lyrics Reg.

Photos from: We Heart It