The Anti-Creative Process (or What Happens During Election Season)

Eistein once said, "A well defined problem is halfway to being solved." In the time leading up to an election the air is filled with problems and all the components that make up a problem. Who did what first, who is at fault, your solution is wrong, you did this, etc. I agree with Einstein but how do you know when you have defined the problem enough, when do you finally realize that it's not the problem we are trying so hard to define but actually the blame we are trying so hard to hide from?

There is importance in figuring out what exactly the problem is before a solution can even be talked about. That is the Preparation stage of the Creative Process. But when you hang out for too long in the Preparation stage, surrounded by problems, complaints, yelling, and blame-throwing you find yourself in limbo, fearing to move forward lest that direction elicits abuse from the other side. Stuck in a never-ending circle of blaming and retreating from blame, we regret to move forward.

You also can't be so focused on the solution that you ignore what the problem is altogether. And for some reason I get the sense that both are happening at the same time. All to often, we "know" what the solution should be and feel that hurling blame at the other party will somehow shed a positive light on us and our "righteous" solution. And I guess, we also get impatient? But this is the Anti-Creative Process, Destruction at its finest.

If the Creative Process is

1. The Drawing Board

2. Incubation

3. Eureka

4. Critique

and 5. Implementation

Then the Anti-Creative Process is:

1. The Problems

2. Skip Incubation

3. The Solutions

4. Go back and forth between Problems and Solutions a few more times

5. Skip any kind of Critique Stage

and 6. Arbitrary implementation

Unfortunately, during these election times it seems as though humans forget that we are creative being. We forget that we have tools and skills necessary to solve our own problems. And we put our faith in a handful of people to solve our problems for us. But this back and forth is solving anything except making us all feel more hopeless about our lives.

Why every Sane & Satisfied woman should have an Idea Notebook

Ideas make our world go round. Ideas are funny, sad, innovative, difficult and even offensive or scary. Ideas move our lives forward and are the first steps in creating new things. It is my strong belief that the reason many women feel unhappy or that they can't change their lives is because they've either run out of ideas or can't find confidence in the ideas they have.

Ideas are fragile. They are there, fully formed, in our minds one minute and poof, they are gone the next, without any trace they had been there at all. And if we actually do, by some magical happenstance, get them out of our heads and into the world someone is always there to tear them down.

Creativity is a Blessid Union

Wine hung in the air and on my brain as I looked around the crowded room. Waiting in anticipation for the band to come down from the loft and start the show I began to chatter like I normally do when I'm excited.

"I hope they play 'Hey Leonardo'." I leaned toward my husband, grabbing his hand like a little schoolgirl. "I know they are going to play 'I Believe'. That's, like, their most popular song."

"I'm sure they will," said my husband.

'This is so surreal,' I thought. 'Blessid Union of Souls in Oakwood, Illinois. At a winery no less.' For a second I wondered how I was going to react to seeing a celebrity. I haven't seen that many and the ones I have seen I've seen from a great distance or they weren't very big celebrities but I never know how I'm going to act around even a slightly famous person. And here I was about to be 10 feet from the lead singer of Blessid Union. I wasn't quite sure what would happen.

Make Day

As a Handmade Woman it's a bit hard to get everything made that I need for the week. I need to make things ranging from bread to toothpaste and shampoo. It's fun to make all these things but it got a little daunting for me to have everything prepared every week. So I decided to institute Make Day when I go down my list and make everything that we will be eating or using for the following couple weeks.

Knowing that I have one day set aside each week dedicated to making what I call our Home Inventory reduces the frantic making of things throughout the week. I decided Sunday was the best day to set aside because we rarely have anything going on that day.

Entrepreneur Journal: How to get organized and stay sane while starting a new venture.

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Sane & Satisfied is a lot about empowering yourself with knowledge and skills to make your life work better and move forward toward whatever goals you have. The ultimate empowerment is being able to make a living by starting your own business. I have started 4 businesses in my life and I'm currently working on 3 at once. (It gets a little crazy but that's just how I roll.)

A couple years ago I started an Entrepreneur Journal to chronicle my journey, ideas, concerns and worries, tips, tutorials and anything else that I came across in order to help me be a better Entrepreneur. Even if you don't have any aspirations of starting your own business keeping a journal for projects or just for your Sane & Satisfied Journey will help your productivity and organization (and sanity).

The Entrepreneur Journal

Obviously Entrepreneur means someone who starts a business and takes on the risk involved. I also tend to classify people who are self starters and who start projects as pseudo-entrepreneurs because they share a lot of the same characteristics even though they may not become a business owner.

Saturday Smorgasbord: DIY Cures for Bladder Infections

What is Saturday Smorgasbord?

Gurus and leading experts act like there's only one way to succeed. I believe there are so many ways to accomplish things that it's silly to narrow yourself to just one path.

So every Saturday I will list all the options, techniques and ways to accomplish various things from marketing your business to losing weight.

There is a Smorgasbord of tools at your disposal, why pick just one?

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10 SNS Steps to Being Productive

There are as many Productivity Secrets out there as there are people on this planet. But when you get right down to it they are all just tools and techniques. The trick is to get out of the quagmire of 12-step programs and secrets and simply see them for what they are. Ideas.

Stand above these things and pick them out as you need them instead of just accepting them as a package deal. Understand what each tool does, what its strengths and weaknesses are and if its the right tool for you to wield.