Creativity Tips: T.S. Eliot was wrong.

April is the loveliest month. 

Go for a walk with an open mind, an open heart and open eyes. The world is gorgeous in the spring. Look up from your phone, look up from your work. Look up. You don't want to miss it.

Friday Fun: Etch a Sketch Online

Do kids still clamor for an Etch a Sketch? They should. You should. And there's one online you can play with right now.

So why are you still here? Go play! Enjoy the weekend!

Yep. I did that all by myself.
Would you like to come up and see my etchings? ;-)

Food is Love: Betty Crocker is My Gal

Now that Kate has her own home, she and I have been enjoying Thursday night cooking/baking together in her gorgeous kitchen. Last week, she wanted to make snickerdoodles. I'd never made them before, because I would glance at a recipe and realize I didn't have cream of tartar in the pantry.

Frankly, I can't pronounce cream of tartar. And it makes me think of fish, not cookies.

All that aside, I turned to Betty Crocker for assistance and -- as always -- she came through. This recipe rocks. SCRUMPTIOUS and easy. Ovens vary, but Kate pulled the cookies out at 7 minutes and they were perfect. Enjoy!

P.S. Tonight, Kate doesn't have to do any of the work. I'm baking her favorite cake, as the birthday week celebration continues. Give it a try: Hershey's Perfectly Chocolate cake and frosting. It's perfectly delicious.

Creativity Tips: The Cure to Distracted Living

Call it distracted living. Call it squirrel syndrome. Call it monkey brain, scatterbrain or simply multi-tasking. Whatever you call it, I've got it. So, after Monday's post, several of my friends chimed in with good advice: Slow down. Set an alarm and get away from the computer once an hour. Breathe. Say no.

One friend sent a link to this fabulous post. It's about 100-day challenges and animation, not distracted living, but it included this perfect comment:

"You should be a person that cannot stand to let yourself down. Be your own boss. But always know: you can't fire yourself. So don't burn yourself out."

I have part of it covered: I am, literally, my own boss. What I need to get better at is saying NO to some of the demands of life -- hell, forget demands. I need to say NO to some of the ridiculous, self-imposed interruptions. So I don't burn myself out. So I don't let myself down.

And that brings us to the cure. You remember the stop sign approach? I use it to stop negative self-talk -- especially the kind of negative self-talk that endangers creativity. Now, I'm going to expand the concept.

The cure for distracted living is to STOP. 

Before I get in the car and drive, I'm going to STOP and see if I have my purse and my driver's license. (Yeah. I drove off without it last night.) Before I clean the stove top, I'm going to STOP and think about the burners. (Yep. Brushed those crumbs right over the hot burner. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch.) Before I put my iPhone in the car's cupholder, I'm going to STOP and see if there's an open cup of water already there. (Don't ask.)

I'm going to picture that big old glorious stop sign in my head, and force myself to halt.

And, if that doesn't work, I'll picture a sign with a squirrel in a circle, and a line through it.

I'll keep you posted on progress. Meanwhile, if you have any other cures, bring 'em on! I'll be glad to consider them. Slowly. One at a time.

Creativity Tips: Never Miss a Chance to Celebrate

Twenty-six years ago today, this amazing person -- Katherine Sophia Harness -- came into the world. 

Can  you see how her left eye is half-blue, half-brown? When she was little, we called that her eagle eye. And she told me once, "I see things other people can't, 'cause I've got eagle eyes."

Today, she still sees things other people can't. Kate is insanely, sometimes aggravatingly, perceptive. She's also smart, talented, opinionated, kind, good, stubborn, loyal, generous and ... wait for it ... hysterically funny. Kate makes me laugh all the time. She communicates more with an eye roll than most of us do in a full conversation.

My birthday wish for my dear Kate? I hope your eagle eyes see all the love that surrounds you and the possibilities that await you. I hope you see a year ahead that brings good health and happiness and unexpected delights. I hope you see a future filled with good companions, fun adventures and all the joy your heart can hold.

Keep those eagle eyes open, birthday girl, and you'll see what I see: The world is better because you are in it.

Creativity Tips: The Danger of Distracted Living

If I told you about the foolish mistake I made this weekend, you'd question your own sanity for reading the blog. Suffice it to say, the only logical response to my action was, "What were you thinking?"

And I'll tell you what I was thinking:

I can't believe it's already 8:15 at night and I haven't eaten yet and god I'm tired and I had no idea it would take so long to run those errands and is it really going to snow tomorrow and I'm not sure we have food for dinner and I hope mom is feeling OK for bingo in the morning and Kate's birthday is almost here and Mary will be in this weekend and I forgot to print my work calendar for next week and I don't remember if I have a meeting on Monday so I need to check and damn why is that driver right on my tail and oh I need to buy peanut butter.  

Let me take an educated guess: I'm not the only person with those brainwaves. We're all suffering from distracted living. 

Oy. Squirrels are everywhere. This week, I'm going to ignore them. This week, I'm going to focus. Every time I start thinking of 30 things at once, every time I get distracted from the topic at hand, I'm going to congratulate myself on recognizing the issue* and reel it in. 

Join me! Focus on focus. What do you think? 

P.S. Squirrel! (Sorry. I couldn't resist.)

*Concept stolen from Shanna, who was talking about real focus -- meditation. I'll work on that next. 

Friday Fun: Creativity Is In The Bag

You know the bags airlines keep tucked into seatbacks? You know what they're for? Yeah, well ... think again ...

Your creativity assignment for the weekend? Take an object that is "always" used for one thing -- and use it for something else. Cheers!