Category Archives: Creativity

Narratives in Medical Curriculum

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“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.” ~ Maya Angelou 

Writing medical histories through the narrative form is currently being incorporated into curriculums in medical schools in many parts of the country. Medical students are learning how to better assess medical conditions through more intensive listening to the patient, and recording what they hear into narrative forms. The goal is to make healthcare decisions for the patient based not only on statistics and tests but by also “reading” a patient’s unique personal story of how they are feeling and their own symptoms. 

Why is the addition of the narrative form being incorporated into the way medical schools have traditionally taught students to diagnose illness? Empathy for the patient has been missing in this age of highly developed technical medical testing. Listening to a patient’s story leads to a better understanding of the whole picture of a person’s medical situation. A person’s emotions and spirit about the way they are feeling is part of the overall report, too. 

Daniel Pink’s book, A Whole New Mind, http://www.danpink.com/whole-new-mind explains how our society is on the brink of a whole new age of thinking. We have gone from an agricultural age (farmers) through the factory age (industrial), to the information age (business based on knowledge workers) to the emergence of right thinking business people, who are creators and empathizers. Surprisingly, we are moving into an age where more Americans are beginning to work in fields such as arts, entertainment and design than those working left brain fields (accountants, lawyers, insurance adjustors). In order to be accomplished in these growing fields of work, right brained thinking skills must be used and developed. 

Prosperity and abundance has brought a whole new need for fulfilling emotional, aesthetic and spiritual needs. Jobs in the “caring professions” counseling, nursing, healing are surging, too.  They are not jobs that can be decimated by workers overseas who can work faster and cheaper.

To read more about this movement toward the new conceptual age and right brain thinking that Pink claims will change the world, pick up A Whole New Mind.  Many libraries have it and it is a Business Week best selling book. It’s a fascinating read.

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To Every Thing…A Reason and A Purpose

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Last week, I watched more TV than I have in a long, long time. I happened upon two shows on Rocky Mountain PBS that were, indeed, “well worth watching.” Both of the shows reminded me that God provides all of us with special gifts. Talents are latent for an entire lifetime for some people, and are never discovered at all. For others, revelation is by way of accident. Sometimes, natural endowment is recognized at a very young age giving opportunity for a life time of developing and fulfilling a person’s giftedness in one or more areas of multiple intelligences that Howard Gardner has identified in his studies. http://bit.ly/cNMRPe. 

Unlocking the Mystery of the Musical Mind, on the PBS Nova series, highlighted 4 rare instances of musical masterminds that were discovered through unusual circumstances.

  • A blind and severely autistic man, unable to count to 10, is discovered to be a musical Cervantes.
  • An orthopedic surgeon, after having been struck by lightning, becomes an extraordinarily gifted and obsessed composer and musician.
  • A man realizes drumming helps to control his completely debilitating and self-destructive tics caused by Tourette’s syndrome. http://bit.ly/dqgFbr.
  • It is determined that a woman has a condition called amusia. She is helping researchers understand this brain defect that is marked by the inability to recognize melody, pitch and musical harmony. 

On the other PBS show, Great Performances, a little girl whose soprano voice is so exquisitely developed at 10 years, she goes on stage at the Ringling Museum in Sarasota, Florida. http://bit.ly/kdWesi. She is accompanied by 17 time Grammy award-winning composer and pianist David Foster. Jackie Evancho is now a 4th grade recording artist. Her first album, Prelude to a Dream, has already sold over one million copies. 

The contrast between each individual left me with a sense of wonder. How can each of us be so uniquely genetically wired by our Creator? In the instance of the autistic man and the man suffering from uncontrollable symptoms of extreme Tourettes syndrome, they have been given musical talent clearly intended to help themselves with their deficiencies. Others are sharing their personal compositions for the understanding and enjoyment of others. 

St. Francis DeSales said it best. “Be who you are and be that well.”  I believe our interests and passions in life were given to us as a way to discover our natural gifts, talents and qualities.

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Advocating for the Arts

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“The degree to which the arts are included in our educational curriculum is totally inadequate. The arts are just as important as math and science in an education and just as important as any other endeavour in our lives.”.         ~Ken Danby 

Good Morning! My blog today is going to be short, but it is about a real concern that I have. Yesterday, I received an email from the Americans for the Arts Action Fund and it seems that a bill has been introduced to end federal support for arts education. 

My response to this is “what about the children who are not particularly academically wired but are artistically and creatively gifted?” School curriculum without art education will leave those children behind. Increased drop-out rates will come as a result of kids not being able to excel and prove themselves in non-academic areas. 

Don’t let bill HR1891 terminate federal support that is needed to continue arts education in schools. All this talk of “creative economies” will be for naught! Children who excel in the arts, are the future of creative economies. Many of them will lead the way in finding innovative ways of doing business that will ignite our country. 

Parents, arts groups, teachers, and business people who depend on hiring the “creatives” need to speak up now, and oppose HR 1891. As a country, we need to be fulfilling our obligations to educate children who think outside the box, too! 

For more information on the Arts Education Fund or to donate for the continuation of arts education, please visit http://www.artsactionfund.org/.  To voice your opposition to these cuts in arts education, please go on line now and respond by emailing

advocacy@artsusa.org. 

Thanks for listening, thanks for responding!  

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What is Your Currency?

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“Live out your imagination, not your history.” ~ Stephen Covey 

Creative economy has been the buzzword here in Colorado and in pockets all over the United States. It is about making a living artfully through our passions and living with purpose in all that we do. 

More and more, people are realizing that there is great personal value in fulfilling our lives with what we love to do, rather than just existing to make the almighty buck. Individuals are beginning to realize that the vicious circle of working lots of hours just to have, to spend, to accumulate and keep up with the Joneses does not necessarily make sense. It is not a sustainable way to live. It is hard to enjoy and live healthy lifestyles when we are stuck on the treadmill of working more hours just to be able spend more. 

Relationships, community, volunteerism, thinking beyond our selves and our material needs are beginning to take priority in people’s lives, as this slow economy has forced us to see that there are other ways of being. And that is not a bad thing! I love hearing stories of people who are successfully recreating themselves and their businesses in these times of economic hardships. 

There was a story this week in the Steamboat Today newspaper about an artist who decided to act upon his longstanding interest in the fabric arts. Now, he is winning international acclaim for his creativity and artistic talent in making quilts. To read his story, please visit http://bit.ly/l58Ad0. For those who are unable to travel to see David Taylor’s quilts, I hope some day he will independently publish a book and sell it on the world-wide-web, with images of his fabric creations and his thoughts about using his creative talents for personal fulfillment. 

Do you have creative currency that has been dormant? Believe in yourself and dare to expend energy on making a new life for yourself through your passions. Write it, publish it, sew it, knit it, cook it, paint it, mold it, build and grow it – what ever IT is!

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Making her Debut

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“Our aspirations are our possibilities” ~ Samuel Johnson 

Happy Flag Day, everyone! 

Next Tuesday, a week from today, the arrival of Summer will be sharing the day with another debutante in town. Her name is She Writes Steamboat. This new meet-up group has been organized to provide networking opportunity for independent writers and publishers, filmmakers and musicians. Providing support and fostering independent publishing success is the goal. 

Steamboat Springs is a good a place as any for www.SheWrites.com to make an introduction. The town has a great number of women who love to read, write and create! People arrive at this gateway to Routt County for all different reasons and from a variety of places all over the country and the world. Some come seeking refuge from their extraordinary lives elsewhere and others are simply looking for a fulfilling existence in a small town community of diverse, well-educated and energetic people. 

The pathways that have led people to this resort mountain town are as varied as the people themselves. Each person seems to have a unique story of their current life or of times elsewhere. In this community there are bountiful tales to tell of women living purposeful and faithful lives. 

This is an open, friendly community, and today on this Flag Day, I will hang a banner on this website to welcome anyone who wants to learn more about the fast growing and dynamic industry of independent publishing. Women wishing to move in a positive direction to bring personal fulfillment, career advancement and increased visibility for themselves and their businesses are encouraged to attend. 

 Author Mary Kurtz will be sharing her newly published book  At Home in the Elk River Valley: Reflections on Family, Place and the West at our first She Writes Steamboat meet-up event!  Join us at the Bud Werner Library www.steamboatlibrary.com on Tuesday, June 21st at 4pm to celebrate with Mary and other members of She Writes Steamboat!

Spread the word and bring a friend!

Steamboat!

 

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e-Conomies. What Does it All Mean?

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“I look for what needs to be done. After all, that’s how the universe designs itself.” ~ Buckminster Fuller

e-Commerce, e-Books, e-Publishing, e-Marketing. http://rww.to/aiuHxb. You’ve heard the terms a lot lately, haven’t you? But what does it all mean? It means entertaining new ways of doing things! 

Let’s face it – our economy needs a kick in the pants! We need independent spirited folks to take ideas and run with them. Brain power, our most available resource, surrounds us everywhere. It is not located in any one place. We need people who are tired of sitting around waiting for something to happen, to make things happen! 

Right here in Steamboat Springs,CO there is a group of people who want to have their say, they want to be heard, and they want to be seen. Right now! They are not willing to play the game of waiting on someone else to create their future for them, or not! 

She Writes Steamboat is a newly-formed meet-up group that will come together for the first time at 4 pm on June 21st at the Bud Werner Memorial Library. www.steamboatlibrary.org.   Independent publishing is one economy that is on the fast track and it is gaining momentum every day. Business people, non-profit organizations, parents, teachers, children and very ordinary folks with unique stories to tell are pumped. Internet and media technologies have changed so greatly over the past 10 years anyone can jump on the train and tell their story, inform, educate and inspire others through all independent film, music or books. Entertain that thought! 

Further, the internet has provided a way for independent publishers to become visible all over the world! Are you ready to share your voice? Join Us @ She Writes Steamboat – click here http://on.fb.me/lbnPms.

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Helping to See

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 “Inside myself is a place where I live all alone and that is where I renew my springs that never dry up.” ~ Pearl S Buck 

My husband thinks I am blind. So many times, when I am looking for something, I can’t find it and yet, when he comes to my aid, he finds it right there in front of me.

The other day, something happened that made me think perhaps, there may be some merit to his words that “I must be blind.” We were driving on Route 40, a major thoroughfare in Steamboat Springs, Colorado that I travel almost daily and sometimes several times a day. As I passed by a strip of buildings, there was a store that I had never seen before. My thought was “why hadn’t I ever noticed that before and how long has that been there?” In a time when some stores are closing due to difficult economic challenges, I was quite surprised that someone would start a new endeavor . Perhaps the owners of the business  feel safe that they have something to offer that others need.

The store has a very interesting name! It is called “Come and See.” It also has the symbol of a fish on the sign. What’s  the deal? Do they want passerbys to come see the biggest fish that has been caught this spring on the Yampa River that flows through town? After all, this is fly fishing haven or heaven!

Perhaps I ought to act on my intuition. I had better stop in.  I am always on the look-out for fulfilling things.   Maybe I can find something worthwhile inside like some really meaningful books and gifts. I don’t know though,  from the name of the store, they may be handing out hope and healing for those who are blind and can not see.  I’m there! http://bit.ly/mdsLii.

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Film Friday – “A Guerilla Artist?”

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“Summer’s filled with breaking the rules, standing apart, ignoring your head, and following your heart.” ~ Unknown

Arriving in theatres across the country, just in time for kid’s summer break from school, is “Judy Moody and the Not So Bummer Summer.” This PG rated movie is based on Megan McDonald’s popular book series. 

Judy Moody (played by Jordana Beatty), pegged as a “guerilla artist,” creates her summer of a life time along with her brother Stink and Aunt Opal, who arrives on the scene when Judy’s parents take an unexpected trip to California without the kids. Judy’s vivid imagination takes the audience on a summer ride to remember, of calamity and  hilarious antics, for a fulfilling, fun-filled cinema release for both parents and kids. Just how the term “guerilla artist” comes in to the overall scheme of things is for the audience to discover. 

To watch a trailer of this soon-to-be released summer film, Judy Moody and the Not So Bummer Summer,  visit Reelz Channel http://bit.ly/mFEA9S. 

P.S. I would remiss if I didn’t mention that today, June 3rd is Free Hug Day, so embrace your favorite filmmaker – they are the folks that keep us entertained through the power of film. I am sending a hug through the internet to my favorite film editor at Reelz Channel.

Will return on Monday with more independent publishing news. See you then.

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Coming to the Art Scene

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 “Nature’s own masterpieces will never go away. If I am able to cast just a few of them in favorable light, and convince you, the viewer, to look at them again with greater appreciation and perhaps a fresh perspective, then I have succeeded as an artist.” ~ Scott L. Christensen 

Tomorrow is the First Friday Art Walk in Steamboat Springs,CO. I particularly enjoy this ski resort’s monthly art walk when it is warm. It is more conducive to strolling from gallery to gallery when I’m not faced with bitter temperatures and falling snow.

This week, an exhibit arrived at the Steamboat Art Museum http://bit.ly/l9on0C  that  is on my list of “have to see.”  The work of landscape painter and Wyoming native, Scott Christensen, will be featured until October 15. I have been aware of Scott’s work for many years now, and I am very excited at the prospect of seeing his work, first hand, rather than in print in art magazines such as American Artist, Wildlife Art, Art of the West, Southwest Art and Images West.

Scott’s work has graced the walls of the most prestigious museums in the country such as the National Museum of Wildlife, the Gilcrease Museum and the National Cowboy Museum in Oklahoma City. His paintings have won awards at the Arts in the Parks Competition and Prix de West, just to name a few. The Scottsdale Art School, Disney Animation Studios and the Fechin Institute have all been honored to have him as guest artist teaching his painting techniques.

The Steamboat Art Museum never disappoints in bringing some of the finest artists in our country to this small town of 10,000 people. A jammed, packed schedule of events is on tap here in Steamboat this summer and fall. Remember to put the exhibit of Scott Christensen’s magnificent landscape paintings on your list of fulfilling things to see and do.

Can’t get to Steamboat this summer? Order the book “The Art of Scott L. Christensen” or one of his instructional DVDs. For more information, please visit http://bit.ly/jcVZXz.

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Safe Harbor for She Writes Steamboat

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“Dwell in Possibility” ~ Emily Dickinson 

On last Friday’s blog, mention was made of Chicken and Egg Pictures, a non-profit organization supporting women independent filmmakers. The tag line of this non-profit “Incubating and Hatching All at Once” well represents what I have been feeling about She Writes Steamboat http://on.fb.me/lbnPms  over the past few months. I have been envisioning and growing in my mind, a meet-up group that will provide networking opportunities and support and foster independent publishing success. 

I have decided the time is NOW to hatch the group and support a group of women who have stories to tell, but are still in the incubation period and want to actively hatch and grow their desires. 

For those just starting down the road to independent publishing, beginning can be a scary thing! Women are good at supporting and communicating with each other in their efforts to succeed. What independent publishers have in common is a real and pressing need to inspire and entertain others through storytelling or to educate and inform all through the power of the written word. With independent publishing, there is no competition because everyone has an individual and unique narrative to tell. 

So my thoughts are “why not get together, meet-up and all be there for each other.” Our first She Writes Steamboat meet-up will be Tuesday, June 21 at 4:00 pm at the Bud Werner Library Hall. 

Ladies, feel free to invite others who are in any stage of publishing or those interested in learning more about the independent publishing process. At our first meeting, we will be discussing what time we should schedule our future meetings, how often we chicks should gather. We will be laying the groundwork for a group that I hope will be a safe harbor so independent publishers will not feel as if they are all alone in their publishing efforts. 

Join Us! There is nothing to lose and everything to gain in learning more about the dynamic industry of independent publishing. There are no membership fees. By the way, this group is affiliated with www.SheWrites.com.

 

         See you then!

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