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Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Snuggified

This winter I will be warm because I am officially an owner of a Snuggie.





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Monday, September 28, 2009

Creative challenge

I wonder if I’ve always had as much creativity in my life as I find these days, or if I’m merely more focused. I’ve been trying to take notice of all things and thoughts creative as they occur, no matter how small they might be; So small that normally I would account them for nothing more than fleeting, random thoughts.

Seeing bright colors, cooking an interesting dish, and sitting in a book store to read whatever catches my eye or tugs at my interests have all seem to trigger notions of creativity. I’m very visually-oriented and inclined to be interested to these types, but I think somewhere beneath my simple interests rests some deeper connection.

I enjoy getting to know myself better and doing things that fit me. Who doesn’t? Eight of my averaged forty hours of productivity this week were spent focused on seeing and doing things differently in my job search process through a Creative Job Search workshop. Brainstorming, constructive feedback and feeding off others’ thoughts all helped me to further develop my ideas and opinions of myself, learn new ways for figuring out my true colors and identify my skills and strengths for potential job positions.

One of the books I picked up while at Barnes & Nobles, entitled “Do What You Are” said “We think it’s safe to say that usually most extroverts don’t really go to the library to study. They go there to be with other people.” Laughing, I certainly found myself identifying with this. The book connects Myers-Briggs personality-types to career satisfaction necessities for each type, associated weaknesses and industry/careers to explore. Although I already knew my personality-type, I’m excited to explore more options, prevent limiting myself. This feels creative to me.

Almost every day this past week I tried to challenge myself to listen to a radio station that I’d never listen to regularly. I already knew I didn’t like the station I picked, couldn’t stand the DJ’s and wasn’t inclined to the music, but I went about it objectively and tried to open my mind. Unfortunately, I couldn’t do it. It wasn’t the music as much as the DJ’s that I couldn’t come to appreciate. I don’t know if I learned much from this other than that if I there are options in life (or at least radio stations), it’s easy and almost subconsciously impossible for me to choose something that I don’t naturally enjoy. Or, maybe I gave up to easily.


Creative things to work on…

Learning to cook/bake new things…paint canvases…research new job profiles I haven’t looked at before…allow more time for thinking – less for doing…try brain-stretching strategies from creative process class and books 



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Thursday, September 24, 2009

Monday, September 21, 2009

Quest for the perfect domain

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, in his book Creativity, wrote that few people choose to occupy domains that are a perfect match for themselves (page 37). Currently, I struggle with the concept of a perfect domain. It’s easier for me to notice people who express themselves creatively to occupy fitting, creative-type domains, such as painters, sculptors or photographers. But I don’t believe that any of those obvious creative domains are for me.

I realized in college that the degree I decided to pursue wasn’t necessarily something I enjoyed, but something that I was good at. Writing and the English language came easy to me, “obviously I should pursue journalism,” I thought. Motivated by deadlines and the ability and interest to learn about a variety of topics, I did well until I was no longer directed to write. Journalism felt appropriately like work, and I became unmotivated and less and less creative. I was unable to solidify a writing/editing position once out of school and found myself accepting a more stable job that paid well.

Up until the past month and a half I’ve only dreamed myself to work and think about working in domains that feel like work. Now that I am free from an occupation where I was passionless, I am allowing myself to reassess my interests, desires and creativity, and hope that I may find myself in a domain that I truly want to be in. Perhaps then I will understand what a perfect domain is. Maybe I will even find myself considered among the “creative ones” who “choose certain domains because of a powerful calling to do so.”

I’ve found it hard to leave space for creativity in my life. Now that I’m unemployed, most of my time is dedicated to networking and applying for jobs. I’m working on making my life less structured and overwhelming. And I’m excited to have a class that focuses on being creative. When I do have down time I encourage myself to try new things by myself and with others.

In my quest, I’ve focused energy on doing and thinking about things and ideas that bring me joy and excitement. Some of the things I’ve done recently that I’ve found enjoyable include volunteering with seniors, growing vegetable plants and being somewhat crafty. I’m working on painting some canvases after seeing some in the MOMA in NYC that I would like to imitate similarly.

Some things I’ve thought about include starting my own winery, art gallery or some other business, starting to take more pictures and becoming an agent for my many art friends.

Since I’m in the MBC program at the University of St. Thomas, I’ve invested time learning about marketing communications from those who are in the field; learning how people got into what they are doing, what activities they do on a daily basis and what knowledge and skills they use in their job. I think by having a more well-rounded knowledge of this domain, I will figure out if and what part of it may be a good fit for me.



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Friday, September 11, 2009

Repost:: Vancouver 2010: Going for Green?

"Will green be the new gold, silver or bronze?" writes Arlene Gregorious of BBC News, Vancouver.

Can a large event such as the Olympic Games ever truly be green? It's easy to argue both ways.

With many different opportunities to incorporate green elements, one might say 'yes'. There are opportunities to green buildings, consumables, disposables, and materials used. However, where there's a large event, there's almost always pollution, buildings, high energy use, and lots of people.

The BBC reports, "The organisers of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver and Whistler are hoping for gold stars as they seek to set new environmental standards for the Olympic movement."

Read a full article on the "pretty green" state of the 2010 Olympics at BBC News.



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