CREATIVE SUCCESS NEWSLETTER, NUMBER 11-APRIL 30, 2001

HELLO AGAIN!

Happy Springtime to you and your creative ideas. As your garden needs
tender loving care this time of year, so does your creative spirit. What
can you do to fertilize new creative growth and formations this season? I
feel called to jazz up my window boxes and paint some furniture as well as
write. It's also time to harvest my upcoming book The Power of Positive
Choices, which will be in bookstores in June. Take some time to listen to
your inner voice and see what springtime beckons you to be or do this
season.

AMAZON ACCOLADES

The press has been kind to me this year. In addition to a recent write-up
in the Christian Science Monitor, we are now celebrating the news that two
of Amazon.com's official reviewers gave high praise to The 12 Secrets of
Highly Creative Women in the past few weeks.

Gina Hind's review says: "This is a book that I would give an A++++, it is
just an incredible book, with so much insight on each page...This should
be a required book for all young women, I'm going to share my book with my
oldest daughter."

For the male point of view, Top Ten Reviewer Robert Morris says: "This is
one of the most thoughtful and thought-provoking books on human
fulfillment which I have read in recent years."

Thank you, Gina and Robert for helping to make this book an enduring
classic! As we approach Mother's Day in May, a time to celebrate the
feminine energies of all women, your gift of 12 Secrets to all of the
special women in your life affirms our collective creative potential. You
can order directly from my website at http://www.creativesuccess.com,
Amazon.com, or find copies at your local bookstore.

SECRET #11 SUBTRACTING SERENITY STEALERS

I can scarcely believe the magic of this past year and that together, we
are up to Secret #11 already. Yet the timing is perfect, as Subtraction
is a key component of spring-cleaning! As you weed out your closet, it's
time to seriously weed out your life to make room for new creative
sprouts. To clear your creative channel, you must get rid of the things
in your life that don't work and that compromise your creative power.
This includes anything from old clothes to outmoded dreams. What are the
weeds in your body, mind, and spirit that pollute your life? These toxins
are your personal Serenity Stealers. How much negative stress are you
feeling in a given week? What/who is causing it? Make a list of all of
your personal Serenity Stealers-those things that rob you of your
centeredness and peace of mind-- and then set about subtracting them.
When confronted with a Serenity Stealer, you always have 3 choices. Ask
yourself these two key questions:

CAN I AVOID OR CHANGE THIS SERENITY STEALER?
IF NOT, THEN WHAT NEW COPING STRATEGIES CAN I EMPLOY TO MINIMIZE THE
IMPACT OF THIS NEGATIVITY?

Most Serenity Stealers can be avoided or changed if you remember that YOU
are in charge of your life. If your boss is unsupportive, you can try
negotiating with him/her and if that doesn't work you can change
departments or jobs. You almost always have options if you value your
health and well-being. If you never have time/energy for your creative
project, you can subtract something of less value from your life, like
friends you have outgrown, committees you don't want to be on, or
housework. Look at what you can give up or delegate and then take action.
You have more power in almost any situation than you utilize.

If you are dealt a card in life that you don't have a choice about such as
a chronic illness, an unstable family member, or dyslexia, you have to
deal with it. But you still have choices about how you cope with it. You
can join a support group to help you with your illness, you can choose not
to get too tangled up with that family member, or you can buy software
that will help you with your spelling. The worst choice is to be passive
and not advocate for yourself and the quality of your life. If you feel
stuck, reach out for a different point of view or support. Learning to
release Serenity Stealers is a lifetime process. Begin wherever you can
and with each success, you will be better able to tackle the really tough
ones.

EXERCISE #11

What are your top 3 Serenity Stealers? Identify them and then keep a
journal about them during May and note your patterns. For example, if you
have a hard time saying "No" to people's requests for your precious time,
examine what criteria you are using to make decisions and the results of
these choices. If it's your Aunt Mary, your secretary, and your friend
Leslie that manipulate you on time issues, then you can focus in on how
they push your buttons and plan your defense. What beliefs do you have
about the value of your time and what you are entitled to protect in your
life. By studying how you operate, you can free yourself up to generate
new life governing policies that reflect what you truly want. For the
next 30 days, see if you can eliminate one of your Serenity Stealers from
your life for good. If not, select one new coping strategy to try to
minimize the negative impact of this Serenity Stealer. Always remember
that you are the creator of your own life experience. Free yourself from
the weeds and your creativity will flourish like the flowers in springtime.

12 SECRETS SUPPORT GROUPS

Rochester, NY- Gifted therapist Dijana Winter will be beginning a 12
Secrets Group on Thursday evenings beginning May 3rd from 7-8:30 PM.
Dijana can be reached at 716-377-3797. I am honored that Dijana has joined
the group of 12 Secrets facilitators.

If you are beginning a 12 Secrets support group, let us know so we can
help you to get the word out!

UPCOMING EVENTS

12 Secrets Events -
May 21
Learning Annex in NYC

12 Secrets Workshop from 6:30-9:30 PM
Call 619-544-9700 to register

Positive Choices Events -
July 10
Barnes and Nobles Books in Braintree, MA
Positive Choices Workshop at 7:30 PM

July 24
Boston Learning Society in Needham, MA
Positive Choices Workshop from 7-9 PM
Call 781-453-9800 to register

July 31
Learning Connection in Providence, RI
Positive Choices Workshop from 7-9 PM
Call 401-274-9330 to register

August 4
Yellow Umbrella Books in Chatham, MA
Booksigning from 3-5 PM

September 15
Barnes and Nobles books in Hyannis, MA
Positive Choices Workshop at 11 AM.

CREATIVITY RESOURCES

Talented prolific Lucia Capacchione has two new creations for us! Her new
book Living with Feeling: The Art of Emotional Expression will be released
in May by Tarcher/Putnam and is expected to become the premiere book on
the subject of integrating all the arts as a therapeutic tool and catalyst
for creativity. Her intermodal model includes the use of many media:
dance, visual and 3-D arts, crafts (mask-making), music, poetry,
story-telling, etc. I can't wait to read it myself. Lucia has also
teamed up with Narada Recording artist Jessie Allen Cooper to produce a
set of 5 CD's called The Sound of Feelings as a companion product to her
new book. Lucia can be reached LuciaCapa@aol.com.

Lynne Levesque, a member of the Boston Book Marketing Group that I
co-founded, just published a book called Breakthrough Creativity:
Achieving Top Performance Using The Eight Creative Talents (Davies-Black,
2001) which describes how each of the eight talents works and contributes
to the creative process, and highlights how each talent can improve
decision-making, team building, strategic planning, and thinking. Lynne
and I will be presenting a workshop on creativity together at the New
England Human Resources Association conference in November in Providence,
RI.

Check out Harold McAlindon's gem of a book The Little Book of Big Ideas
(Cumberland, 1999) which always engages my love of visioning and surprises
me with new twists for brainstorming. It is short, yet potent.

AN OPEN-ENDED INVITATION

As I expand my vision for my business Creative Success, I am looking to
pull together an Advisory Group of people committed to creative potential.
This group will begin a brainstorming process and then meet together at a
retreat site to work on a specific project. If you are interesting in
participating, contact me at gail@creativesuccess.com and let me know
about your interests, creative talents, and personal goals.

In closing, cultivate your inspirations and release from your life that
which you have outgrown or no longer reflects your dreams.

Creatively yours,
Gail McMeekin

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

We also welcome your comments, which can be sent to
gail@creativesuccess.com.