Tag: writing

Discarded grief

by Maja Todorovic, posted in My personal rhyme - from time to time

Look at this leaf.

Where did it come from?

Stuck in a mud, like a

discarded grief from a weeping willow.

I like its shape.

Follows my hand. Pair it

in two and you can make a glove

or a puppet doll that says “I love you!”

It’s full of wavy hurdles,

a catepillar’s slalom track.

Can be frozen, curled or wet,

wears all season’s colors like a traffic light.

Enjoys to float, especially in waters of Hoogvliet

rushes to meet other leaves,

while gives a ride to marsh fleas.

Once it went disguised,

I couldn’t recognize it.

Dressed in the lost feathers of

floating white hearts and undived “quack, quack”

pretends to be a Sioux Holy Man.

It may come in different sounds too.

Like a bandmaster, it orchestrates winter winds in dramatic

symphonies.

Or, when a thickening fog occupies city parks

still dark and tainted from night,

you hear a crunchy, cranky sound as it get’s

crushed under lover’s heels or

sporadic brave joggers,

in short sleeves.

Dissipated in the air

it’ll wait for its turn,

to blossom proudly again and stare

how spring Sun in the west burns.

Hey little leaf

you would like to crawl into my pocket

like a sneaky thief?

I’m lonely too,

keep me company

in my autumn view.

Maja S. Todorovic

Mark Strand and his take on creative action

by Maja Todorovic, posted in Write, create, innovate!

MarkStrand

Mark Strand was one of the most celebrated American poets. He had a very dynamic career, where besides writing poetry, he was accomplished editor, translator, and prose writer.

With very distinctive style in most of his work he dwells on the position of human consciousness, exploring the ideas of the self and life purpose in general.

In 1990 he was named the U.S. Poet Laureate, and along his career he won numerous prizes like  In 1999 he was awarded the prestigious Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for his collection Blizzard of One.

During his 5 decades long career he worked as a Professor at many Universities, encouraging young generations to take the leap and find their career in creative writing and poetry. (source: poetryfoundation.org)

But what’s mostly interesting about Strand are his responses in an interview he had with with psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, who during the 1990s interviewed 91 people dedicated to intellectual pursuits about their take on the creative process. Strand believed that creativity is an expression of consciousness itself; that speaks and communicates through human spirit and search for the most exquisite ways to be delivered and brought to daily light. In each and every act of creation Universe is mirroring and proving its own existence:

We’re only here for a short while. And I think it’s such a lucky accident, having been born, that we’re almost obliged to pay attention. In some ways, this is getting far afield. I mean, we are — as far as we know —the only part of the universe that’s self-conscious. We could even be the universe’s form of consciousness. We might have come along so that the universe could look at itself. I don’t know that, but we’re made of the same stuff that stars are made of, or that floats around in space. But we’re combined in such a way that we can describe what it’s like to be alive, to be witnesses. Most of our experience is that of being a witness. We see and hear and smell other things. I think being alive is responding.

[When] you’re right in the work, you lose your sense of time, you’re completely enraptured, you’re completely caught up in what you’re doing, and you’re sort of swayed by the possibilities you see in this work. The idea is to be so… so saturated with it that there’s no future or past, it’s just an extended present in which you’re, uh, making meaning. And dismantling meaning, and remaking it. (source: brainpickings.org)

Here Strand’s offers us a different view on the act of creation and that  aligning ourselves with who we truly are, is the only way to find our place in the world – where we can express our full potential. There is no wrong or right, good or bad – we only need to be fully aware of who we are and that moment creation speaks and lives through us.

Keeping Things Whole

by Mark Strand

In a field

I am the absence

of field.

This is

always the case.

Wherever I am

I am what is missing.

When I walk

I part the air

and always

the air moves in   

to fill the spaces

where my body’s been.

We all have reasons

for moving.

I move

to keep things whole.

3 R (creativity exercise)

by Maja Todorovic, posted in Write, create, innovate: exercises

pablo

In many years of environmental practice what I learned is that everything revolves around resources: how you use them, manage or generate them.

Well, this same notion we can apply in different ways in order to get our creativity flowing – especially when it comes to writing. Rewriting, revising our own or somebody else’s work helps us not only to become better writers, but also it helps us develop our reading and analytical skills. You learn to question ideas, statements and arguments. You learn to notice and search for new relations, discover weaknesses and come up with new ways to improve what’s already there. So, this is what I propose:

1.Reuse

your old books, magazines or even shopping receipts and try to create new poem. It can be similar to collage, but this time try to focus specifically on words and create your poem out of them. Cut out your favorite words and phrases or circle them on the given page and make them the constituent part of your new writing venture. Play with the words. Try different arrangements. Pick words that somehow inspire you or relate to a project/problem you are working on. Once you found an arrangement you like, you’ve created a found poem. What kind of emotions or reaction words trigger?  Read them, play with them and they just might offer some new, fresh perspective on the questions you have.

2. Reduce

Now, this one I believe is going to be fun – at least was for me and can really help you in you writer’s block. Try to find a poem that you dislike, that you feel negative about and simply wreck it! That’s right: tear it apart! I don’t mean tearing the physical paper, but omit, reduce, erase, everything from the poem you don’t like and use it as the basis for writing a new one –  in a way that feels and sounds right to you. This little, simple exercise can be really helpful later in your own writing.

3. Recycle

This one is similar to the previous but it refers to your own writing. Find something that you wrote long time ago, when you were in a different mood, influenced by other circumstances and give your writing a make-over. Use your own writing as an inspiration for your new poem, dress it in new words, develop stanzas out of sentences and see where it takes you. Our past experiences are our best teachers and what we’ve learned we can use to adequately manage our creativity and direct future actions. Take the knowledge you acquired into your own advantage and just let your free writing do the rest.

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3 simple truths about your online presence

by Maja Todorovic, posted in Read, write, lead!, Write, create, innovate!, Writer's creative bites

frank capra

In one of my previous posts I talked about the importance of building your community of supporters, people who share your view of the world and values –your tribe as some refer to it.

And when I think of community, I think in every aspect of it: people in physical community are organized and engaged in certain activities and mostly are oriented towards shared goals, values and trust.

Well, much of that we can apply to our online community as well:

  1. Engagement. For fostering mutual trust we need interaction, honest exchange of information and responsiveness to inflow of new ideas, opinions and views. In every community, communication is a two-direction street, a beating heart of your online presence. No matter how large community you might think you have, empty number without discussion and healthy exchange of ideas is like living in an empty, cold, dark cave when from time to time you stumble upon some living creature, and the only sound returning to you is your echo … I always encourage even having smaller group, but the one that is your real audience, ready to complement your every victory and comfort you in your small omissions…that is warm and feisty; that in the same time can understand you and guide you. One simple way to improve engagement is a call for action. Invite your audience to share their experiences, their views, problems… by honoring them in this way your empty and cold cave is transforming into a warm home, filled with real emotions.
  1. Sharing is caring. In old times, before the internet era, companies were in charge of disseminating information, which means they had better control of what kind of information went into the ether. Now we have a different problem: we are facing the challenge of getting the right information. People are turning to internet and social media to dig up what they need to know. In order for your content to be noticed, It has to be relevant to your audience, that is helpful and contributes to improving their lives in some way; entertaining or provides different experience. That’s why sharing is important. It’s your ritual of giving pieces of your time, knowledge and energy and this type of investment that adds value, is building even stronger connections of trust – among you and your target audience.
  1. Make your message clear and focused as much as possible. In other words, find your writing niche. I like to read poetry, for example. But even in poetry I have preferences: I like long, prose poems, with lot of mythology even Gothic atmosphere entwined. So the writings of Margaret Atwood, W. B. Yeats and Kelly Boyker appeal to me very much. Or surrealist approach to poetry.

So, even in your writing, when you try to be narrow as much as possible, you attract right people. If you write to be liked by everyone-chances are you hardly get noticed. People like to feel special, like you are writing specifically for them or referring to their specific experience. When people identify with the message you are sharing, they like to talk about it, share it further: in simple words – your community is growing.

And of me say the fools:
With my poetry
I violated the sky’s commands.
Said who
Love is
The honor-ravager of the sky?
The sky is my intimate.
It cries if I cry,
Laughs if I laugh
And its stars
Greatens their brilliance
If
One day I fall in love.
What so
If in the name of my beloved I chant,
And like a chestnut tree
In every capital I, her, plant.

Fondness will remain my calling,
Like all prophets.
And infancy, innocence
And purity.
I will write of my beloved’s matters
Till I melt her golden hair
In the sky’s gold.
I am,
And I hope I change not,
A child
Scribbling on the stars’ walls
The way he pleases,
Till the worth of love
In my homeland
Matches that of the air,
And to love dreamers I become
A diction-ary,
And over their lips I become
An A
And a B.

Nizar Qabbani
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Few quick updates

by Maja Todorovic, posted in Business in Rhyme

As Business in Rhyme, just few days ago has celebrated six months of its existence and is becoming an amazing community, I’ve been contemplating best forms to share even more content concerning poetry, creativity and writing. Now, since I don’t want to spoil already established essayist atmosphere of the blog, I’ve decided to launch a bimonthly newsletter where I could share even more articles, ideas, advice on how creativity and writing can be improved. So if you are interested in something like this you can sign up here. I also invite you to follow me on twitter where I frequently share interesting and fun links related to creativity, poetry, entrepreneurship and ext.

Let’s create and have fun together!

Being multi-creative: a curse or a blessing in disguise?

by Maja Todorovic, posted in Business in Rhyme, Read, write, lead!, Write, create, innovate!

01f/03/arve/g2036/040

This story you are reading  turned out to be longer than I wanted/expected, but it was never intended for bragging about my achievements: on the contrary…

When I was 5 years old I wanted to be a rock star.

That apparently didn’t happen. Then, at age of six I had to be satisfied with short ballet lessons. Soon, already at a school a fling towards poetry was quickly forgotten and “heavy” stuff like math, physics and chemistry took place. I grew up in an environment and belief system that only by being a good pupil/student, hard working in some technical field would only pay off. In high school somehow I got fascinated with magnetic fields,  earthquakes and volcanoes (although in my home country there isn’t almost any). Yet it was interesting scientific field, unexplored enough to satisfy my hunger for knowledge…Strangely enough, due to some circumstances I got a chance to work in the medical field and apply my engineering knowledge in a completely different way! A gratifying experience that introduced me to a whole new world. Nevertheless, I worked in research for several years, when I fell in love with sustainability. Again, my curiosity was awaken and I branched into a PhD research, connecting geophysics, management and sustainability.  And that’s how I led my life until my early thirties. In the meantime I took language courses (English, Italian, Dutch..), dance lessons, ext. I traveled across Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Oceania, Africa..Taught at the University and worked as a consultant for big corporations…As a great fan of mythology I drifted into learning astrology as well, which is still my active hobby…

Then first health issues began to appear (with some I’m still dealing with) and obviously something was wrong. We sometimes pay high prices for our high ambitions, yet something inside  is driving us to move forward. Being multi-creative, curios about the world and having many interests turned out to be both curse and a blessing in disguise, for me. You simply don’t know how to stop, but insights and revelations thrill you all the time; you always feel like you are playing; that you have insatiable need for new and that you have inexhaustible source of energy.

In very interesting post How to Deal with Multipotentialite Burnout,” Wapnick articulates how we may go “too far” in pushing the boundaries of our capacities to keep achieving.

It’s a collapse. Complete mental exhaustion. While most people experience burnout from time to time, creative people who have multiple interests are prone to hitting this point more frequently and more intensely. It makes sense, considering how passionately curious we are, and how easy it is for us to lose ourselves in our projects.”

As much as I am the proponent of creativity, it really can have a dark side – which I have also experienced. And today I would say that the key is balance – as much is for every multi-creative person of great importance to honor each part of their creative soul.

It’s what keeps them alive and empowers them. But not at the expense of health or that something else you need to sacrifice. The timing is also crucial. In my case, if I could do something differently, I would do things at much easier pace.

Often people ask me: “But, don’t you want to specialize in just one field, to become a great expert”? And I say “No. I strive for experience, for taste of something new; there is always a drive to learn something new.”

A common denominator for most of my creative outlets is research and writing. And that’s what I mostly do now, but at much slower pace..and I read a lot of poetry! 🙂

About year and a half ago, poetry silently again entered my life and many things changed for better – even my health since poetry has a healing properties for me. After some time thinking I decided to share my positive experience about poetry in this blog and explore further how it can be beneficial in our stressing work life.

So, if you recognize yourself as a multi-creative person, never neglect your needs. But, instead of ‘everything now and here’, enjoy in your creativity with ease and be compassionate towards yourself; strive for contribution, adding value in what you do, and never shy from learning. It’s a prerequisite for any type of growth.

When  you do things from your soul, you feel a river

moving in you, a joy.

When actions come from another section, the feeling

disappears.  Don’t let

others lead you.  They may be blind or, worse, vultures.

Reach for the rope

of God.  And what is that?  Putting aside self-will.

Because of willfulness

people sit in jail, the trapped bird’s wings are tied,

fish sizzle in the skillet.

The anger of police is willfulness.  You’ve seen a magistrate

inflict visible punishment.  Now 

see the invisible.  If you could leave your selfishness, you

would see how you’ve

been torturing your soul.  We are born and live inside black water in a well.

How could we know what an open field of sunlight is? Don’t

insist on going where

you think you want to go.  Ask the way to the spring.  Your

living pieces will form

a harmony.  There is a moving palace that floats in the air

with balconies and clear

water flowing through, infinity everywhere, yet contained

under a single tent.

Rumi

From a struggling creative to a thriving entrepreneur: 3 surprising aspects you need to consider

by Maja Todorovic, posted in Business in Rhyme, Write, create, innovate!

henrymoore

The truth is: you can be very good at arts or writing – creative, interesting, refreshing, innovative, but if you lack certain business skills, hardly will your art ever get real market attention it deserves. There is a snobbery feeling that surrounds the idea of commercializing arts, hence – if you want to make a living from something that you are passionate about; something that comes from creative action – you have to start from somewhere.

When you think more clearly there are certain traits that accompany both artists and entrepreneurs. Like entrepreneurs, artists usually have a vision and a necessary drive to make that vision reality. On the other hand, having your own business requires certain degree of creativity: how to make your business unique or how to attract and impress customers?

But there are three important areas that I would like to emphasize, which every creative should explore and develop in order to become a successful business owner.

1.Know your limitations

Are you a good strategist? Are you firm in your decisions? How much are you prepared of your valuable time to spend on administrating tedious bureaucratic work and how eager are you to invest in the promotion of your work? Do you like to network or you rather spend hours and hours in your secluded creative space, contemplating your next piece and not having interest in anything else? Because, how at the beginning of your entrepreneurship you answer these questions can determine the course of your business. Many talented artists that succeeded, didn’t succeed by chance – they implemented strategically developed plan and had very clear idea what they needed to do. As an aspiring creative at the beginning you are mostly on your own – how much you invest, determines how much it will pay off later.

2.Be curious and do your research

To turn their work into sellable products, creatives first must know market demands. Do you know your audience? You have to be clear if there is an interest in what you have to offer. Then, do you know the monetary value of your work? Many artists struggle with estimating price range of their products because overvaluing is as much bad as underpricing your work.

3.Build your web of collaborators.

Now, the third aspect allows you to work on the first two simultaneously. You are not the only creative/entrepreneur starting his own business. Mingle, meet & greet similar people who have skills or services that you might lack! You can exchange services and help each other move forward with building the business. You will certainly broaden your network and is also an opportunity for you to promote your products/services.

The key is to find a balance and be persistent. There will be good days, but also bad days. Ideally, as proposed by  The Design Trust creative entrepreneurs should spend around 40% of their time creating, 40% on marketing, 10% on administration and 10% on professional development. Some of these things can be quite overwhelming, but being determined in setting your goals and working on them will help you derive your priorities, day by day, project by project.