Wow! The Diversity of Body Art

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Body art is art made on, with, or consisting of, the human body. The most common forms of body art used to be tattoos or body piercings… but the ever-innovative art world has evolved a long way from just this form.

For me body art must be tasteful–I will highlight three different forms of body art that have awed me of late: 1) Digital body art inspiring natural beauty 2) Healing tattoos and 3) Mimicking body art transformation

Look closely–the following is digital photography art composed entirely of the nude human form. Cecelia Webber is a multimedia artist who spent much of her childhood outdoors. Her website states: “Her deep appreciation for nature, along with her scientific background, give her a deep awareness of organic forms that she draws upon to concoct pieces bearing a unique interplay between colors, shapes, and models’ bodies.”

It is Webber’s flower series (using naked people!) that inspire me most.

Sunflower

Ink flower

White Dandelion

Jungle pink

Rose

My second example is Brian Finn, a tattoo artist who is helping others turn traumatic scars into symbols of strength. Finn who is from Toledo, Ohio, “gives forward” by inking over people’s scars from domestic violence, human trafficking or self-harm—for free.

A tattoo done on scars as a result of self-harm.

A skull and pistons, done on a survivor of domestic violence

Finn is booked with appointments to transform scars. His volunteer work is genius and to be admired–to this the humble artist says, “it’s simply the right thing to do.” He explains that he does it all to help others feel empowered. “It’s just something I can do that won’t take much time that can make a big impact on other people. A tattoo can help disguise the scars, so … it’s like a new chapter.”

My third selection of body art is body painting, which has been around for thousands of years. Every tribe on earth has used clay and other colorful natural pigments to adorn themselves–often in ceremonies. This has evolved into our modern use of cosmetics and makeup, albeit in a more conservative way.

Since the 1960’s there has been a revival of body painting due to changing attitudes of how we view our bodies. My next selection is simply elegant and enchanting–not to be missed!–by Johannes Stötter.

Johannes developed his unique bodypainting technique of his own accord without others’ influence. He joined the international bodypainting community in 2009 at the World Bodypainting Festival in Austria, where he competed in the world championship for the first time. He became world champion in 2012, and the awards (and his originality) just keep coming.

The creativity of the human being and spirit–and the beauty of our bodies–never ceases to amaze and thrill me. What new art forms have you recently discovered that inspire you? Rock on art world into 2017–more originality to come!

Thank you for reading my post. My core message of ‘everyone is creative’ resonates with people of all ages and walks of life. I invite all to become–the best version of themselves and find true meaning by pursing long term creative quests–in my recent book and website.

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What I loved about 2016 and What Not So Much

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Wow, 2016 was an ever-eventful year. I want to share with you what awed and delighted me the most… and what did not.

My #1 delight of the year was: It was a five-year journey to our solar system’s gigantic planet of Jupiter, but NASA’s Juno spacecraft stunned us by nailing it right on time! To celebrate its accomplishment, Juno entered Jupiter’s orbit on U.S’s independence day–July 4th. Juno will probe beneath the obscuring clouds of Jupiter for the first time and study its auroras. I was in awe as I watched this event in real time online–along with the scientists at NASA–the tension in the room was palpable and so was the sheer joy of Juno’s unbelievable performance seen in this AWESOME VIDEO:

The returning data and images of Jupiter to Earth will keep scientists busy for many years. What will we learn about Jupiter’s origin and what will it mean for Earth? Jupiter already sucks up monumental space junk so that it does not slam into us, what else will we learn about our friend?

This is why I love King Jupiter so much: Earth is a nice place to live precisely because of Jupiter’s overbearing gravity. It acts as a super-sized gravitational shield to planet earth. It keeps incoming space junk, like comets, away from our inner solar system. Just think about what that asteroid did to the dinosaurs 65 million years ago!

The whole world was watching when Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 fell apart and its pieces crashed into Jupiter in 1994, leaving Earth-size scars that lasted a year. That’s Jupiter doing its cosmic job–better it than us!

It was high time we visit our fearless BIG, BIG-brother whom protects us from many spooky cosmic thugs–hip, hip hooray to NASA for this in 2016!

My #2 delight of the year was: Another NASA launch, which happened on Sept. 8 that could revolutionize our understanding of the early solar system. This one is the FIRST asteroid sampling mission called the Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx). The spacecraft (with the very un-sexy name) is designed to reach the asteroid Bennu in August 2018, and then return a sample of it to Earth in 2023.

Why should we care about Bennu? Bennu was selected from over 500,000 known asteroids by NASA’s selection committee. It was chosen due to its close proximity to Earth, the low Δv required to reach it, an orbit with low eccentricity, low inclination, an ideal orbital radius, and it has loose dirt on its surface. Asteroids smaller than this typically spin too fast to retain dust or small particles.

Whittling down from 500,000 to only 5 asteroids: Finally, a desire to find an asteroid with pristine carbon material from the early solar system, possibly including volatile molecules, organic compounds and amino acids reduced the list further to just five asteroids. Ultimately Bennu was selected between these five due to its potentially hazardous orbital impact to Earth. So YES Bennu is one special asteroid! Very COOL NASA VIDEO follows this journey:

My #3 delight of the year was: NASA in 2016 formally started an astrophysics mission designed to help unlock the secrets of the universe. Called the Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST), it will aid researchers in their efforts to understand–by far the biggest secrets of all–dark energy and dark matter.

WFIRST will also discover new worlds outside our solar system– known as exoplanets. This is because NASA is STILL searching for another planet like earth, which could be suitable for life. Will they ever find it is the question–they have verified 1,284 exoplanets to date–none of which are the least bit hospitable. This artist’s concept depicts select planetary discoveries made to date by NASA’s Kepler space telescope. Credits: NASA/W. Stenzel

Regardless of absolutely no success to date to find an earth look-alike, NASA scientists won’t give up searching for life outside our solar system. They analyzed the Kepler space telescope’s “planet candidate catalog” and identified 4,302 potential planets to investigate. You go NASA–if they find one it will be the greatest discovery in all of the history of mankind!

Those are my top 3 WOW things to happen in 2016. NASA is by far the coolest government agency in the USA. Not only do they explore the galaxy and probe the heavens, they develop innovative technology and collect data on climate change. NASA has put a man on the moon and helped launch the collaborative International Space Station. Their mission is WOW: To “reach for new heights and reveal the unknown for the benefit of humankind,” and so far they are doing a stellar job.

What’s on top of my list for the lousiest of 2016? The death of facts: Regardless of your political affiliation, I think we can all agree that politicians have thrown out “facts” in favor of who can spread “delusions” or straight out lies the most effectively. The worst U.S. political election process I’ve ever witnessed in my years, my mom agrees and she is 88 years old. We can only hope an election that yucky is never repeated again here or anywhere!

Second on my list of not so great: 2016 saw the ranks in rock ‘n’ roll heaven quickly swell, as David Bowie, who died at 69 after a secretive 18-month battle with cancer, had just released Blackstar, the album that would serve as his final LP; Keith Emerson, the outsized co-founding keyboardist in Emerson Lake and Palmer, committed suicide at 71 in March; Leonard Cohen, one of the most acclaimed songwriters of the rock era, died in November at the age of 82. He had just released You Want It Darker, the 14th album in a career; Prince, whose full name was Prince Rogers Nelson, died April 21 at age 57, after being found unresponsive in an elevator at Paisley Park, his home and recording studio in Minnesota; And British superstar George Michael was found dead in bed on Christmas day–just to name a few. RIP rockers, we LOVE you and the music you created!

Third on my list of not so great? America is deeply, deeply divided about serious issues–and certainly about what kind of leader(s) we need. Who will help us to find common ground? If you live here you know what I am talking about. For the first time since I can remember I’m looking at 2017 with more consternation than hope… but I still have hope. Yes by these three shall I abide: Faith, Hope and Love. I end this 2016 reflection with–the greatest of these three is Love. God bless you all!

Thank you for reading my post. I am a writer and consultant living in the mountains of Santa Fe, New Mexico with my husband and dogs. My core message of everyone is creative resonates with people of all ages and walks of life. I invite all to become the best version of themselves and find true meaning by pursing long term creative quests.

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Commitment: Photographers, Writers & Ants get it!

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Today I want to ponder the idea of “commitment”. William Hutchison Murray (1913 –1996) was a Scottish mountaineer and writer surviving and enduring during the World War II era. I love this quotation by Murray about commitment, which occurs near the beginning of his book, The Scottish Himalayan Expedition (1951):

“Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back–Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth that ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Begin it now.”

The first draft of Murray’s work was written while imprisoned on the only paper available to him – rough toilet paper. His manuscript was found and destroyed by the Gestapo. Murray’s response to this loss was to start again–despite his near starvation diet–and his belief that he would never climb again. His rewritten work was finally published in 1947. His book is credited with helping to inspire the post-war renaissance interest in the mountain climbing sport… and he did climb once again.

Jimmy Chin, Adventure photographer

So what does Murray, photographers and ants have in common? COMMITMENT. Ants are my metaphor for commitment as they are true survivors: They are as old as the dinosaurs, have already survived a mass extinction event, have conquered almost the entire globe, their total population make our 7 billion look weak… I could go on–but you get the idea–they have survived and thrived through their persevering “social” ant colony commitment.

Bridge by Andrey Pavlov

Andrey Pavlov is a Russian photographer that takes photographs of ants in stunning poses along with some help of props that make the images more fantasy-like. Have you seen his ant photographs before? They aren’t artificially rendered using Photoshop or CG software. They were created through patience and COMMITMENT, waiting for the right moment when the ants would move into the desired position.

Statue of Labour by Andrey Pavlov

The photographs in this picture gallery may look like they have been Photoshopped or assembled with dead insects, but the ants in these images are very much alive. Pavlov spends hours setting up fairy-tale scenes. He studied ants, and saw that they all follow a very specific path when they’re working. So he put his props on their trail, and photographed the insects interacting with his miniature ‘stage sets’.

Do not interfere with the driver! and more Photos by Andrey Pavlov

Andrey says: “I chose ants because I respect them and their way of life. They care about their children and look after the elderly.”

What does commitment mean to you–from a head, heart and gut aspect? Please share! I hope that you enjoy these photos and the photographer’s commitment it took to create them. They certainly give me creative inspiration and enjoyment… and make me ponder “commitment.”

Thank you for reading my post. I am a writer and consultant living in the mountains of Santa Fe, New Mexico with my husband and dogs. My core message of everyone is creative resonates with people of all ages and walks of life. I invite all to become the best version of themselves and find true meaning by pursing long term creative quests.

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Vincent’s extreme empathy to his end

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My favorite painter is Vincent van Gogh. I speak to 6 different patterns of creativity in my recent book, which flow from our head, heart and gut intuition. We all have a dominant center of creativity, a supportive center and a 3rd center, which we use less confidently in our creativity. I believe Vincent’s brilliant pattern was: A “Dominant Feeler” (heart center) and this was supported by his rapid intuition (gut center), followed by his third center of “thinking” (head center). Vincent van Gogh is an exemplar of this pattern. I explain why in my book and include a short excerpt here.

Born in the Netherlands, he was a preacher’s son. He followed in his father’s footsteps and became a preacher himself. Vincent soon realized he was too empathetic to work with the poor immigrants he was ordained to serve. Instead, he became one of them (heart domination).

He did not begin painting until his late twenties, completing many of his best-known works during the last two years of his life. In approximately a decade, he produced more than 2,100 art works (heart/gut pattern). His swiftly painted impressionist work was notable for its rough beauty, emotional honesty and bold color. He said, “As we advance in life it becomes more and more difficult, but in fighting the difficulties the inmost strength of the heart is developed…”

Vincent lived his “extreme empathy” pattern out his entire life. I believe until his last dying breath. History dictated he committed suicide–but did he really?

New research indicates Vincent did not commit suicide in the end, but was likely shot on July 27, 1890 by a neighborhood bullyboy by accident. Researchers believe a sixteen-year-old boy named Rene Secretan, whose tormenting of van Gogh included buying him drinks, fired the fatal shot. The research questions whether the artist, who was known to have spent time in an insane asylum, could have gotten a gun. Police never found van Gogh’s painting gear or the gun at the wheat field (which was one mile from the lodge) where he said he shot himself. Van Gogh had also written he considered suicide “sinful and immoral.”

This was only four days after Vincent had written his beloved brother of his renewed and determined interest in painting. The new theory is Vincent tried to protect the merciless boy and cover up the shooting by saying, “Do not accuse anybody, it is I that wished to commit suicide” (Adeline Ravoux, 1956). Vincent’s doctor, Paul Gachet, confirmed he was in a good period and had improved psychologically in the very end. He grieved at his funeral and said admiringly, “an honest man and a great artist… who had only two aims, art and humanity.”

So close was Theo’s legendary relationship to his brother that he “fell gravely ill” almost immediately after his death and was dead some months after. His body is buried next to Vincent’s in Auvers.

Pin it

This theory contradicts old ones that Vincent went mad. As does Adeline Ravoux’s account of his last months, “He never drank alcohol. I insist on this point. The day of his suicide, he was not in the least intoxicated, as some claim. When I later learnt that he had been interned in an asylum for lunatics in the Midi, I was very surprised, as he always appeared calm and gentle in Auvers. He was well respected at our place. We called him familiarly ‘Monsieur Vincent.’”

Vincent died in the Ravoux’s second floor bedroom. Read Adeline Ravoux’s personal account of how Vincent died on the sad night of July 27, 1890. There is still no consensus on how Vincent died, as experts “cannot yet agree” with the new research conclusions about the painter’s death.

What if—van Gogh had developed or emphasized his “hidden” (or less used) rational center earlier in his creative life—or was able to get help for his mental health? We can only guess what the results would be. Why does he touch me so deeply? His confident command of color and commitment to painting the beauty he saw (in the moment) was genius; his magnificent paintings profoundly hit all three of my centers. He transformed the pain of his tormented life into ecstatic beauty. He said he did this by, “…a succession of little things that are brought together.” He ultimately transcended the negativity of his inner “head” critic. This mysterious, utterly humble, and wild man who roamed the fields of Provence makes me cry. He is a true hero whom I can always draw inspiration from.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxHnRfhDmrk[/youtube]

Thank you for reading my post. I am a consultant living in the mountains of Santa Fe, New Mexico. My core message of everyone is creative resonates with people of all ages and walks of life. I invite all to become the best version of themselves in my recent book and website, and find true meaning by pursing long term creative quests.

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Velcro and Teflon Creativity

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Which of your three creative centers–head, heart or gut–are you being negative to?

The secret to creativity might be summed up in a cheesy neuroscience joke: “The neurons that fire together, wire together.” When we disrespect what one of our intelligence centers is saying to us by automatically responding negatively to it, we are shutting that source of creativity down:

“My gut is always wrong, I never listen to it.”

“Listening to my heart will only cause severe pain and bleeding.”

“I think too much, I shouldn’t listen to my head but only act.”

“It’s a classic saying, and it’s widely accepted because it’s very true,” says neuropsychologist Rick Hanson. “We’ve got this negativity bias that’s a kind of bug in the stone-age brain in the 21st century,” he says. “It makes it hard for us to learn from our positive experiences, even though learning from your positive experiences is the primary way to grow inner strength.”

There are consequences of our highly interconnected head/heart and gut intelligence centers. Scientists believe our brains have a built-in “negativity bias.” The reason is pretty simple. Since we evolved over millions of years, dodging sticks and chasing carrots (rewards), it was more important to notice, react to, and remember sticks than it was for carrots. It was a tough environment for our ancestors. If they missed out on a carrot, it likely would not kill them; but if they failed to avoid a stick, such as a predator, a poisonous plant, a natural hazard, or overly aggressive fellow caveman, then BAM!, fat chance to pass on their genes.

Our negativity bias shows up in lots of ways. For example, studies have found in a relationship, it typically takes five good interactions to make up for a single bad one. People will work much harder to avoid losing 100 dollars than they will work to gain the same amount of money. Painful experiences are much more memorable than pleasurable ones.

The brain is like Velcro for negative experiences, but Teflon for positive ones. It is said approximately 80 percent of our (up to) 70,000 thoughts per day are negative. This is good and bad news for creativity. Our brains are tilted against lasting contentment and fulfillment. This means our memory banks are full of underlying expectations, assumptions, beliefs, and especially our moods—which automatically move in a negative direction. Mother Nature only cares about passing on genes; she doesn’t care if this means painful suffering in the process. Suffering includes subtle worries to intense feelings of sorrow, worthlessness, or anger and creating suffering for others. Naturally being wired to acquire negative experiences over positive ones, can make us more anxious, irritable, and blue. But these “sticky” emotions also create a deep well for us to draw upon and funnel into creative outlets. Such lack of contentment can result in a felt need and a motivation to create.

“I have the memory of an elephant. I can forgive, but I cannot forget. It is better to light a candle than curse the darkness.” Eleanor Roosevelt

Perhaps the Velcro theory is why Eleanor Roosevelt’s famous elephant quote about her philandering husband makes sense. We are wired to hold onto the negative experience, even if we willfully (from our gut center) try not to. Mrs. Roosevelt exemplifies our need to take the negative and create something new. This is exactly what she did after discovering FDR’s first affair with her own private secretary. Her personal journals expose from this point forward, any remaining intimacy left their relationship. Up to this point she was willing to be a traditional wife, mother of their five children, and homemaker. After this very painful breach of trust, Eleanor established a separate house, and increasingly devoted herself to becoming a human rights and social justice entrepreneur. This included being a pioneer in the womens’ suffrage and African American Civil Rights movements. She was no ordinary first lady–I believe the most entrepreneurial one of all!

Eleanor knew how to make lemonade from potent lemons in her life

Perhaps an even more severe example of “making lemonade” is shown in the video below. This one will blow your mind for sure!

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=8&v=IqV-egZOS1E[/youtube]

However, on a day to day basis, many of us don’t stay with our positive experiences long enough for them to be encoded into neural structure (meaning there’s not enough wiring and firing going on). On the other hand, we naturally tend to fixate on negative experiences. Positive and negative emotions use different memory systems in the brain, according to Hanson, and positive emotions don’t transfer as easily to long-term memory.

So we easily filter to see the tough parts of life. We can learn to bear negativity by intentionally tilting towards healthy creative outlets. This will lift our energy and spirits and use our resources. But we have to intentionally fill up our cups because positive experiences will wash through us like sieves. Please see a previous post on how to fight ANTS (automatic negative thoughts).

The more we get our neurons firing on positive facts, the more we’ll be wiring up positive neural structures. Intentionally focusing on “taking in the good” is a brain-science savvy and psychologically skillful way to improve how we feel, get things done creatively, and treat others consistently. By taking the positive in–from our head, heart and gut centers–and filling ourselves up with them, we will increasingly feel less fragile or needy inside, and less dependent on external supplies.

How good are you at creatively making lemonade from all the negative lemons in your life? Please share your insights on this, we all have “ANTS,” (mine can build huge mounds in my mind if left untended!)

Thank you for reading my post (excerpts from my recent book). My core message of everyone is creative resonates with people of all ages and walks of life. I invite all to become the best version of themselves in my book and at my website and find true meaning by pursing long term creative quests.

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Are introverts or extroverts more creative?

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I could review numerous research studies of the most common personality traits of creative people. Numerous researchers have analyzed, studied, and found the magic “personality formula” for being most creative. I won’t highlight such studies because I don’t believe them–everyone is creative. However, one of the most important personality attributes, from a creativity standpoint, is to seek out time for self.

Being creative means accepting and honoring our unique personality and gifts. Also we want to honor our extroversion or introversion pattern. It is important to know that whether your dominant creative center is your head, heart or gut center that you can be introverted or extroverted. Our intelligence centers do not discriminate between being extroverted or introverted–our dominant intelligence center can be a full range of “E” versus “I” on this continuum.

Author Susan Cain says, “Studies suggest that many of the most creative people are introverts, and this is partly because of their capacity for quiet. Introverts are careful, reﬂective thinkers who can tolerate the solitude that idea-generation requires. On the other hand, implementing good ideas requires cooperation, and introverts are more likely to prefer cooperative environments, while extroverts favor competitive ones” (2013, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking).

Most comprehensive personality models include the introversion/extroversion concept in various forms. According to Carl Jung (the pioneering psychologist who wrote Psychological Types in 1921), extroversion is a primary personality orientation to things, events, and persons external to oneself. This is a basic attraction leading extroverts to prize “facts,” social networking, and commonly held values.

Introversion, on the other hand, is a primary orientation to, and interest in, one’s own conscious insights, feelings, intuitions, and logical conclusions. According to Jung’s theory, introversion and extroversion are coordinated in various degrees with four basic personality functions. He emphasized, “There is no such thing as a pure extrovert or a pure introvert. Such a man would be in a lunatic asylum.”

According to studies by psychologist Hans Eysenck, introverts require less stimulation from the world in order to be awake and alert than extroverts do. This means introverts are more easily over-stimulated.

People falling near the middle of the spectrum are called “ambiverts” and are equally extroverted and introverted. The important thing is that one is not better than another. Steve Jobs, an extrovert, invented Apple with Steve Wozniak, an introvert. Both famously creative, both honoring and using their temperaments to their advantage. It is very likely that extroverts will do better in high arousal environments than introverts. Each type needs to be cognizant of their preferences in order to enhance their own creativity.

I am pretty sure that Leonardo da Vinci was more extroverted along this spectrum– sorry Susan! Many Meyers-Briggs personality experts agree with me, with their definition being whether someone prefers to focus on the outer world or their own inner world.

Leonardo is widely considered one of the greatest painters of all time and perhaps the most diversely talented person whom ever lived–yet he is also famous for a vast number of uncompleted creative works. His interests were very diverse including–but not limited to–painter, sculptor, architect, musician, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist and writer. His preference for mental stimulation (head center dominant) shines through loudly! The small number of his paintings that survive is due to his constant, and frequently disastrous, experimentation with new techniques, and his chronic procrastination. The last sentence of a mathematical theorem in Leonardo’s notebook states: “Perche la minesstra si fredda.” This translates as, “Whatever – the soup is getting cold.”

So–what do you think creatives, are introverts or extroverts generally more creative? I guess that all depends on whether you think you are an introvert or extrovert!

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Dogs’ Creativity, Woof!

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“If dogs ruled the world” humans would play fetch, too! Wouldn’t you agree? In fact “fetch” would become a national and Olympic sport. The whole world would turn into a never ending dog park… with lots of good belly rubbing and tug-a-war included too.

If dogs ruled the world, all pertinent data would occur in a matter of seconds, no more tedious searching on the internet!

In my home our dogs DO rule our world. We photographed them as “Sheriff Finn” and “Deputy Bella” recently because that truly is who they are.

Both are weimaraner rescues: We adopted Finn first, a larger than normal male at a year old, now over 100 pounds and nine years old. We can only guess his name comes from the huge size of his paws. He is sheriff to us all. We must adore and obey him because… well he is King Finn, the lap dog after all.

Then there is deputy Bella, the all adoring (of Finn, we come second) and submissive deputy of eight years. If we don’t follow Finn’s orders she backs him up 110%–get with it you guys pronto!

Bred in Germany originally for hunting in the early 19th century they were used by royalty for hunting large game such as bear and deer. Later they were used for hunting smaller animals like birds, rabbits, and foxes. At our place they hunt for all these, also astute and quick at catching lizards, mice and flies. They are indeed flexible!

Weimaraners are not an independent breed and love to be with their owner, never leaving them alone–aka, “Velcro dogs.” When asked, “Do you allow them to sleep on your bed with you?” I reply, ‘oh yes, but mostly they are under the covers,’ I note we are in good company with William Wegman who responds likewise.

Weims (for short) were made famous by this photographer William Wegman, born in 1943. Wegman originally intended to pursue a career as a painter–that is until he got his dog, Man Ray. The two began a long and fruitful collaboration. Man Ray is known in the art world for his endearing deadpan presence… along came many more weims after him.

https://youtu.be/G9w22XdkE1M

Photo credit, William Wegman; Wegman’s dogs joyfully appeared in TV show Sesame Street (video)

Sure if dogs ruled, we’d be known as “dogs best friends…” But there is something more about dogs that can’t be pinned down… that deep bonding, “soulful” thing… captured in this video by Wendy Francisco.

My theory is that no one can empathize with us the way our dogs can due to their uncanny ability to read our body language and attune to our energy. Ask any dog trainer and they will tell you it’s far easier to teach a dog a behavior using a hand signal than using a spoken word. Why? Dogs are masters at reading our body language. For centuries, dogs have been carefully watching us to understand and anticipate our movements. This evolutionary effort got them the most food, helped avoid danger, and ensured they stayed on humans’ good side.

Honestly what wouldn’t your dog do for you? Evolutionary anthropologist Brian Hare speculates, “that the ability to read human body language was one of the traits selected when dogs were being domesticated,” (along with I’d say a severe “cuteness” factor). Those dogs best at reading people were more likely to be nurtured by humans and, therefore, be successful and reproduce. Scientifically this makes sense to me but still–does not explain that soulful unconditional (and unspeakable) bonding factor.

There are many kinds of service dogs, including guide dogs, hearing dogs, mobility dogs, seizure alert/response dogs, psychiatric service dogs, autism dogs, military dogs, drug and cancer sniffing dogs, the list goes on… I know many ex-vets that would not want to go on living without the dog (or dogs) that enable them to cope emotionally on a daily basis. Again one wonders… what can’t these creatures do? They certainly reach down into our souls the way no others can!

How is your dog goofy, fun and creative? Please share how they make you more creative!

Thank you for reading my post. My core message of everyone is creative resonates with people of all ages and walks of life. I invite all to become the best version of themselves in my recent book and at my website and find true meaning by pursing long term creative quests.

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Is Music Art?

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A very strange instrument, “a marble melody,” is currently captivating the internet. The artistic piece is called a “Wintergatan”–a musical instrument built using 2000 marbles!

It was built by Swedish musician named Martin Molin, 33, lead musician of Swedish band, Wintergarten. He created a wooden music box powered by marbles, yes marbles! He has accomplished this feat by employing pulleys, levers, and gears.

Molin turns a hand crank that moves 2,000 marbles around on tracks and through funnels (3000 parts!) The marbles then travel around and come in contact with other instruments like a kick drum, a bass guitar, marimba, cymbals, a vibraphone and bass. It can play ANY style of music.

Be prepared to be utterly delighted and inspired by these videos.

[youtube]https://youtu.be/IvUU8joBb1Q[/youtube]

The artist made this marvelous music-making machine in just 14 months. Find out how he did it in the short video below.

[youtube]https://youtu.be/NQ0nj6wrjyA[/youtube]

I ask you creatives’ to confirm, is music art? Please share your favorite quotes.

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How are you creative? Free Self-Assessment

Emotion, colors, Art & survival

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Did you know there is a color wheel of emotions?

bae081f5-d5de-4977-b8f0-d374da7d8513_post

Psychologist Robert Plutchik’s psycho-evolutionary theory of emotion is a very influential classification approach, shown above. He considered there to be eight primary emotions—anger, fear, sadness, disgust, surprise, anticipation, trust, and joy. Plutchik proposed these “basic” emotions are biologically primitive and have evolved to increase reproductive fitness over time. He argues each is a trigger of behavior for survival, such as fear inducing the fight/flee/ freeze response.

Plutchik’s theory considers all other emotions as mixed (or derivative states) of the eight primary emotions. In his model, all emotions vary in their degree of similarity to one another. Also, each emotion can exist in varying degrees of intensity or levels of arousal. He developed his “wheel of emotions” color wheel model in 1980.

His suggested eight primary “bipolar” emotions are: joy versus sadness; anger versus fear; trust versus disgust; and surprise versus anticipation are shown in the second circle. The inner circle shows a higher level of intensity of these emotions. The outer circle shows lower levels of intensity of these emotions.

I think the metaphor of a color wheel is effective because like colors, primary emotions can be expressed at different intensities and can mix with one another to form different emotions.

Artists have been using colors to reveal emotions and moods for eons… feeling “blue” (down, depressed), light blue can suggest calm, seeing “red” (rage, danger, even pulsating life), “green” has been used to show “growth” and black used to show grief, evil, or penitence. Emotions and colors are closely tied together. Plutchik’s model is creative and enlightening. It shows feelings according to intensity (strongest in the center, weaker as the flower blooms outward). However, there are some emotions still missing.

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Ramiro Puentes is an outstanding artist, photographer, painter, sculptor and poet who uses color to express his moods. He’s risen from crippling poverty and used art to save himself and reimagine the streets of Skid Row in downtown LA, California. Skid Row contains one of the largest stable populations (between 3,000 and 6,000) of homeless people in the United States.

Ramiro explains which colors he identifies with and why in this VERY INSPIRING video.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ISzbISheiM[/youtube]

Our emotions have indeed evolved over time for our benefit and the survival of our species. The color wheel attempts to depict this (no model is perfect). The business world has certainly capitalized on our color/emotion connection in their marketing strategies. When we feel compelled to buy something, color can play a major role. Analytics company KISSmetrics created an interesting infographic on the science of how colors affect our purchases. Clearly, every one of these companies is seeking to trigger a very specific emotion that will result in our buying their product.

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Our heart’s higher purposes of “connectedness” and “relatedness” to others have helped us to survive and thrive (as Ramiro’s video shows). We’ve also learned the value of “transcendence.” There are times when certain emotions must be set aside so we can pursue a higher dimension or purpose. Artists and creatives have learned how to express whatever emotion they need to–in whatever colors–in order to transcend to the next level… and we all get to learn in the process.

What colors match your emotions? How do you express them creatively? Are there some colors you naturally gravitate to? I know when i go to my closet and put on black, its because I’m mellow, peaceful (not depressed).

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Emotion, colors, Art & survival