CREATIVE SUCCESS NEWSLETTER-VOLUME THREE-JULY 2000

Thank you all for your wonderful letters and e-mails sharing your creative
adventures. My mission for Creative Success is to inspire you to discover,
claim,and achieve your creative potential. You seem to be doing just that!

CREATIVE SECRET #3: FOLLOWING YOUR FASCINATIONS

Following your fascinations requires experimentation and risk-taking. It
means stepping off the safety of the shoreline and charting a new course.
You may get lost, but you will learn something. You will progress, but
your destination may well surprise you. Ah...that is the glory of the
creative process. But this is where many creative souls lose their nerve
and stifle their creative flow. Creativity requires a dance with your
medium(s)-whether it be pastels, a business, or a social cause. Your
creative dance may have a few standard steps. But to make it truly yours,
you have to groove to the music in your own unique brain and make a new pattern. Your creative dance will have your signature on it-as will your
final product or service. There are two kinds of risks-impulsive or
calculated. I had an mpulse one morning this week that I had to go to the
New England Watercolor Exhibit in Boston (despite my overly long
"to-do"list). So I went. Not only did I see some inspiring paintings and
learn some things about pricing, but also I met a lovely woman from Cape
Cod who gave me some info I had been looking for. On a risk continuum,
this risk was a small one but very potent for me. Calculated risks are
more planned--like researching where you want to live or taking a
course to develop your skill level to advance your creative efforts.
Obviously, some impulsive risks are too dangerous--like betting all your
money on one stock or starting a business before you've checked out the
competition. Yet, if you play it too safe, you won't discover what your
fascination is beckoning you to experience. Your intuition is a valuable
guide for these choices.

EXERCISE#3

Get a deck of index cards (mine are purple) and on each card, write down a risk that your creative fascination is nudging you to try. For example,
your creative voice might be saying things like "go to Greece", "visit an
aquarium", "start a home-based business selling beautiful notebooks" or
"talk to Joanne in marketing". Write your intuitive messages down on your
cards without evaluating them. Now put these cards into two piles-Most
Compelling and Least Compelling. In the Most Compelling pile, your cards
will represent what is *most* fascinating to you. From that Most
Compelling pile, note if the risk could possibly endanger your well-being.
For example, going to Greece alone may not be a wise choice but going with a friend or a group may remedy that. Select your top 3 Most Compelling cards and then decide how to either accomplish these 3 risks in the next 30 days or complete at least one step toward your goal (i.e. you may not be able to actually go to Greece next month but you could plan a trip for November). Following your fascinations, one risk at a time, will boost your creative confidence, and deepen your connection with your
inspirations. Have fun-but be smart about it!

NEWS ON THE 12 SECRETS OF HIGHLY CREATIVE WOMEN: A PORTABLE MENTOR

My new book has had some wonderful press this month, sold out several
book-signings, and we now have autographed copies for sale in my web storeat www.creativesuccess.com. Once again I am overcome with amazement andgratitude for having the opportunity to connect with so many creative
souls!

UPDATES ON WOMEN IN THE BOOK

Cathleen Rountree's new book, On Women Turning 30: Making Choices, Finding Meaning, can be previewed at http://home.earthlink.net/~crountree.

Dynamic speaker, Alice Aspen March, has a new Attention Factor workshop to help you release old family emotional baggage and create a new paradigm for living. For details, you can e-mail Alice at aamarch@earthlink.net.

Ginny O'Brien will be conducting a new program titled "Making a
Difference: A Professional Development Program for Leaders of Women's
Networks, Programs, and Initiatives". She is also speaking on "Power and
Vision: Gender and Generational Differences" at the National Association
of Gender Diversity Training on 9/27/00 in Phoenix. You can reach her at
coach@columbiaconsult.com for more information.

CREATING COMMUNITY

TELECLASS:

On September 7th, at 9pm Eastern Standard Time, I will be co-leading a
tele-class on creativity with Jennifer Louden. Jennifer is the author of a
delightful new book, The Comfort Queen's Guide to Life: Create All That
You Need With Just What You've Got (Harmony Books, 2000). We hope you can join us for some great conversation! Check out my website or Jennifer's website www.comfortqueen.com for the bridge phone number to call and have a teacup of inspiration while you're at it!

BOOKSIGNINGS/SPEAKING:

August 24 Borders Books in Braintree, MA at 7 PM.

September 15 Barnes and Nobles in Hyannis, MA at 7 PM

October 19 Borders in Portland, Maine at 7:30 PM.

At each of these signings, I will be doing a one-hour creativity workshop.
Come and meet a group of fabulous creative folks!

October 15 Big Apple Writing Workshop and Open House with Meet The Authors and Agents sponsored by the International Women's Writing Guild In New York City. I will be a panelist on October 15th but you may want to attend Jan Phillips' workshop titled, Making It Happen: Healing Ourselves and our World Through The Telling Of our Tales, on Saturday October 14th. Jan is a highly creative woman and endorsed my book. For more info call
212-737-7536 or email iwwg@iwwg.com.

HAPPY POSITIVE RISKING!
Gail McMeekin

Feel free to forward this 12 Secrets of Creative Success Announcement onto
your friends and associates. Please keep the whole message intact.