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    Dear Creative Self: The letter of your life
    Dear Creative Self: The letter of your life
    Dear Creative Self: The letter of your life
    Ebook185 pages1 hour

    Dear Creative Self: The letter of your life

    By Amanda Marie Viviers and Kellie Parsons

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    About this ebook

    Dear Creative Self is a book written for those who want to change their relationship with creativity. It gives you tools, creative dates, letters and insights for innovation, by articulating seven important spheres of the creative process.

    Amanda’s faith journey takes you all over the world with stories of her co-creation with God. S

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherAmanda Viviers
    Release dateFeb 1, 2020
    ISBN9781684544004
    Dear Creative Self: The letter of your life

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      Book preview

      Dear Creative Self - Amanda Marie Viviers

      Cover.jpg

      Previous titles by Amanda Viviers:

      Capture 30 days of inspiration

      Capture 30 days of desperation

      Dear Single Self

      New Days

      Pause

      Reset

      Embracing Slow

      Seeking Clarity

      Dear Creative Self, the letter of our life

      Copyright © Amanda Viviers 2019

      Published in Western Australia all rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without prior written permission of the author.

      All Bible quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, The Passion Translation, The Message Version, NRSV, ESV and NLT. Copyright 1973, 2016, 1993, 1989, 2001, 1996.

      All enquiries regarding this publication and speaking engagements:

      [email protected]

      www.amandaviviers.com

      Public Facebook Page: @amandaviviersperth

      Instagram Feed: @amandaviviers

      Internal Book Design by: Kellie Book Design

      Front Cover Illustration by: Rachelle Dusting

      Edited by: Em Hazeldean

      Dedicated to

      The 3am poets and washing line philosophers.

      The half-asleep business owners and the miracle making bookkeepers. To the leaders just having a go and creative makers fielding their next mistake. To the artists looking for their things because they were lost in their heads.

      To those who are burdened by the weights of responsibility and the mums desperate for one moment of peace.

      To those longing for a clean house if only in their minds. For those who have become parents again to their parents.

      May the inspiration be found waiting in the bottomless hope of your coffee cup. A moment of freedom found as you walk the shopping aisle late at night. May your Internet speed be ever flowing and your hearts full of wonder.

      Remembering that sometimes the greatest seasons of growth are found in the awakening of imperfection.

      God rewrote the text of my life when I opened the book of my heart to his eyes.

      Psalm 18: 24

      (The Message)

      Contents

      Introduction i

      Emotional Wellbeing 1

      Reframe The Messages We Send Ourselves 1

      The Scaffold of Creativity 6

      Holding Space 10

      Learning to Say No 15

      Connection & Collaboration 20

      Gather the Creatives 21

      Diversity in Action 26

      Comparison is a Thief 30

      The Story Keepers 34

      Don’t Domesticate 38

      Rest & Sleep 41

      Doing Nothing 43

      Turn Off the Computer 47

      Embrace Silence 51

      Go To Sleep 55

      Technology 59

      Digital Detox 60

      Unoffendable 64

      Chase Dreams over Platforms 68

      Nothing New Under the Sun 72

      Innovation 76

      Ruminate 77

      Collect Memories 81

      The Boredom Basket 85

      Ask Great Questions 89

      Read Widely 93

      Pioneering 97

      Be Curious 98

      New Eyes 102

      Marred By Dust 106

      Take More Risks 110

      Get Feedback 114

      Spirituality and a Sense of Purpose 119

      Nurtured By the Sea 120

      Rhythm and Grace 124

      Liminal 128

      The Sacred Secret Place 132

      Epilogue: the letter of our life 135

      Dream 138

      Acknowledgements 139

      Endorsements 140

      Introduction

      This moment will never come again.

      It is irreplaceable.

      I’m not sure where you are right now with this book in your hands, but we together are having a conversation. Ideas will collide, opinions will be shared and our collective imagination will bring a moment in time.

      We are both on the precipice of change. It is a moment of transformation as our worlds come together. We could be doing anything right now, but somehow, a random set of events has bought us together.

      At the same time, at this moment there are crowds of people in foreign places, taking steps towards their future. Some are opening their laptop to begin a manuscript, others are pressing send on an email to a publisher hoping a contract will ensue.

      Some people are holding smartphones in their hands consumed with the lives and details of others. Maybe they are binge watching television stories trying to dull the noise of the messages they are sending themselves.

      There is a force that sits between us all and it is the power of transformation. I believe this force is the beauty of creativity. My definition of creativity is, The transaction made through the transference of ideas.

      Every creative idea begins somewhere.

      Whether it’s in a hot shower or birthed on a train platform with the question, There has to be another way? Maybe it’s out of frustration when an ingredient that is needed cannot be found in our cupboard or a work deadline that looms.

      Frustration, desperation, inspiration and collaboration collide, bringing forth something that has never been seen before. Creativity is a powerful force; each and every person uses it daily.

      It is the potential to create something from nothing. Creativity is a propeller that creates legacy and conversation and moves us toward the possibilities in our tomorrow.

      Right now you are imagining the concepts that I am conveying from this formation of letters and words. I am talking to you through this simple vehicle—a collection of paper—and we are creating a conversation, a dalliance together and hopefully, it ignites an encounter.

      Every person has a unique DNA that impacts the way that we see the world. The stories, the grief and the betrayals we have all experienced combine to impact the voice we speak into the world.

      Whether we realise it or not, our life is a letter. People are reading it every single day. There is a story within our everyday, ordinary lives that plays out upon the pages of history.

      This book is a collection of letters that I have written to my creative self. Ones that I have had to dig deep into the layers of difficulty to find, new words that impact the outcomes of creativity in my world.

      Each chapter is a layer of story and outcome that has either held me captive, or reformed the way that I live out my ideas, to continually grow in creative capacity.

      As well as a letter and a story, I have included a creative date to apply the lessons I have learnt from this layer, to bring freedom into that part of Your story.

      I have been a part of the creative industry for over twenty years and across this time I have seen that there are seven spheres that I encounter everyday in my creative process. These spheres profoundly change the way that I speak to my creative self. I have found that great scaffold and creative process within these spheres change my relationship with creativity.

      The Spheres of Creative Process

      Emotional Wellbeing

      Connection and Collaboration

      Rest and Sleep

      Technology

      Innovation

      Pioneering

      Spirituality and a Sense of Purpose

      Throughout this book I use historical quotes and scriptures that have been collected across history. These Bible stories have impacted my creative dialogue significantly and have encouraged me with great insight.

      I wholeheartedly believe that somebody needs your story, and that creativity has the capacity to bring a great reformation to our world. As we explore the spheres of creative process, your story, my letters and the messages we send ourselves, my prayer is that you would discover a freedom that was prepared for you since the beginning of time.

      Your life is a letter that is being read every single day. This narrative is a direct result of the way that we speak to ourselves about creativity and our place on this planet.

      You are enough and you have something to say that has never been heard before, simply because it is filtered through the sheer tenacity of your own story.

      Let’s go on a journey together and find ways to transform the way that we speak to ourselves. In turn, changing the way that we allow our stories to bring great revelation to the people who desperately need them.

      Emotional Wellbeing

      space, time and refreshing is an integral part of the process of reflection.

      Reframe The Messages We Send Ourselves

      The way that we speak to our creative self shapes and forms a powerful narrative in our creative worlds.

      How are you speaking to your creative self?

      I was six years old and I was a part of a local theatre show. The lights, audience and creativity coming alive completely took my breath away. I can still smell the dust in the air and the sparkling temptation of the lights.

      My mum was an actor and loved the power of a good story. She had just arrived in a small coastal town and was looking for a place to belong.

      We went along to an audition and from that moment on, we were in two to three shows a year for the next twenty years. We found belonging in a powerful way. This community impacted my sense of identity and creative prowess.

      Celebrations of life transitions, parties and birthdays were shared with our theatre crew. It was this part of my life that bought great story and community to my childhood.

      From musicals to plays, I have constantly immersed myself in storytelling. I loved to watch people sing on stage and the way musical theatre compelled people in their imagination and creativity.

      The opening night of my first show was one filled with so much excitement and emotion. I was only in Year One at school and my favourite doll accompanied me everywhere I went.

      As the curtain rose and the song floated out to the audience, my little heart was beating so fast. I slipped away from my Mum backstage and found the hallowed ground. I can hear the chorus chanting as I remember this memory from over thirty-five years ago.

      The makeup table called me and the mirror surrounded by lights shined brighter than a Christmas tree. (Enter angelic choirs) Without anyone noticing I fixed up my makeup, with blue eye shadow on my forehead and red lipstick on my cheeks. I drew all over my face with eyeliner and then slipped back into my position, running onstage to do my part.

      I could hear sniggers and laughs throughout the audience but I loved it. I was hooked. There I was made up like a clown—a little blue-eyed show pony—and my heart raced at the conversation between the audience and the creative on stage.

      We all have a story from our past that we are telling ourselves. This informs the letters we write to our creative selves. Often we want to walk away from the mess we have created and never remember those dialogues again.

      I have found, however, the story that we are telling ourselves today is formed and shaped by the experiences that we have had in the past. This narrative completely changes the way we access our own unique voice and creative identity. It changes the letter that we express to the world. The way that we speak to ourselves colours everything we produce.

      The

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