Tag: creativity
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The Used Life: An Experiment in Making Meaning
I began composing the following lines as an introduction to a (now forthcoming) post titled, “On the Eroticism of Everyday Life.” As I wrote it, the section seemed to take on a life of its own and, in its entirety, appears more like a preface to a much larger work than the introduction to a blog […]
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Flinch.
For as long as I can remember, my relationship to my creative endeavors has been marked by a strong desire to recoil. This is especially true of writing projects, past and present, and very well may include this blog post, which I might never look at again after I hit “Publish” (although, truthfully, this type […]
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On Taste
When I think of what it means to “have taste,” my mind immediately conjures images of outward refinement: a shirking of excess, an elevated coolness, and a curtailing of expression, culminating in just the perfect amount of artistic and intellectual snobbery to satisfy one’s professional and social circles. I don’t particularly like that my mind […]
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On Choosing Your Mentors
Several years ago, when I was applying for graduate school admissions, I visited a former English professor asking for a letter of recommendation. We had a nice meeting, and during our chat, he made a remark about his students that was puzzling enough, to me, to have made an indelible impression: “All of the English […]
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For the Experimenter in All of Us
It is true that the majority of wisdom is gleaned from experience. It is also true that experience is the bitterest of all teachers. But, for those of us who can’t shake the urge to continually experiment with new ideas—to take them out into the world and “test them out” or “try them on for […]
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On the Art of Entertaining
I think of myself as a maker of experiences. The most satisfying of all creative enterprises for me, acts of writing and design included, are those tailored toward giving. Those that represent a fecundity of mind and spirit and that are crafted for the express purpose of giving others a unique and memorable experience. You […]
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Finding the Challenge
I cherish those moments in which I have the final say over how I occupy my time. (Which of us, honestly, doesn’t?) I have been that way for as long as I can remember, and the biggest reason I have for wanting to control my time has to do with boredom—and my attempts to stave […]
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Darling, Forget What You’re Wearing. On Elegance.
In On the Art of Femininity, I talk at length about my vision of femininity and what it means to me, as a woman, to apply the essence of the feminine in everyday life. As that post is, at present, overwhelmingly the most liked and viewed post on this (still very new) blog, I thought it would […]
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Simplicity as Art and Spiritual Practice
It is often said that creativity manifests from chaos. I’d imagine that most creative individuals wouldn’t disagree. That chaos, whether it involves a flurry of contradictory emotions, the unrestrained proliferation of ideas, or that bizarre clashing of insight—a knowledge that far exceeds one’s years—with the playfulness of a small child, requires balance. I’ve written previously […]
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When You Have Too Much Life…
I don’t know that I believe there is such a thing as having too much life within you. I tend to think that some of us are simply more adept than others at using our energies and our intelligence harmoniously. When you are creative, or when you are a person of many interests who feels […]
The Used Life 