CREATIVE SUCCESS NEWSLETTER, NUMBER 14-JULY, 2001

The Positive Choices Series

ON THE ROAD AGAIN

Summer is my favorite time of year and it's perfect for traveling around promoting The Power of Positive Choices and The 12 Secrets of Highly Creative Women. I'm enjoying meeting wonderful people at my booksignings and workshops, and talking about new visions and creative potential. I'm also excited about spending a week in training at the Cape Cod Institute with Christiane Northrup and Mona Lisa Schultz on emotions and healing, and a second week with Pat Allen, author of Art is a Way of Knowing, on art therapy. Take some time this summer to feed your muse and experiment with new mediums, new ideas, and new environments. It is a time of expansion and growth! Enjoy!

STEP TWO: O IS FOR OPPORTUNITIES

Last month, I challenged you to identify and talk about your top Priorities in life. I've had emails and calls from my readers reporting that this exercise has been extremely calming to them. When we cut out the extraneous, we are better able to focus and revel in the wonder of a few cherished Priorities and feel less overwhelmed. This month, we are going to invite in new Opportunities that enhance your fulfillment. This is the Addition Factor. This is about naming your personal longings and making space for them in your life-now.

Our life choices determine the quality of our life experience. The more our lives reflect what we value and feel strongly connected to, the more fulfilled we become. What do you want more of in your life? Opportunities can be small or major league. Perhaps you'd like to have dinner as a family one night during the week and make it special. While it may seem like a small Addition, it has the potential to be transformative for everyone. Or perhaps you have a major Addition to tackle, like starting a business you feel passionate about (and leaving a job that rots your spirit).

Inviting in Opportunities opens the doorway to your truth. It helps you to discover what you really want and experiment with options along the way. Be open to clues this month about achieving more fulfillment in your worklife, your relationships, your creative process, your health, your spirituality, etc. Let the insights flow into your consciousness and enlarge your circle of possibilities.

CHALLENGE

1) Imagine that $ is no longer a motivator or an obstacle for you. What new life opportunities emerge for you as a result?
2) Review the "if-only's" in your life (i.e., if only I had gone to art school, if only I could live in Europe, if only I could be a great public speaker) and decide once and for all about them. Are they "dead" and belong in the past, or do you want to still pursue the dream or at least a part of it? You could still learn art, live in Europe for a month, or join Toastmasters, you know.
3) Make a picture collage of new opportunities to ponder. Meditate on it daily as you decide what you really want to ADD to your life.

SURVEY SAYS...
Thanks to all of you who completed the survey that Carol Frenier, featured in 12 Secrets and author of important book Business and the Feminine Principle, and I put together to take the pulse of what learning opportunities and support systems are truly working for you and what Additions you want and in what form. This survey will be a catalyst for a discussion among those of you who volunteered to be part of my Advisory Board. As the results were lengthy, this month, we're just going to share with you the results of a few questions to get you thinking.

Resources that Stimulate your Creativity, Spirituality, or Personal/Professional Growth
The top answers were:

1) books and magazines
2) meaningful contacts with family, friends, and colleagues
3) alone "thinking" time including day dreaming, long walks, etc.
4) artistic practice/classes such as music, art, and dance
5) physical practices such as yoga, exercise, and massage
6) spiritual practices such as meditation
7) consultation with a professional coach, therapist, teacher, psychic

Specific resources mentioned were Julia Cameron's books, the Continuum Movement, Creative Thought magazine, Daily Word (published by Unity Church), Lind Institute Reading (music tapes), Science of Mind magazine, PBS online courses and newsletters, and the book Orbiting The Giant Hairball.

Groups/professional organizations/conferences/newsletters/websites, etc. that connect you with like-minded souls
The top answers were:

1) groups or associations organized around some activity that is personally satisfying, like chorus, art, yoga, or mediation
2) e-groups and newsletters or websites
3) women's groups
4) small, long-term local groups
5) professional associations
6) network of friends/family
7) association with colleagues at work

Specific resources mentioned were:

Newsletters
Creative Success
Lynn Robinson's Intuition (
Oprah.com
Beliefnet.com
ComfortQueen.com
creativebusiness.com
Dear
Dreamlife.com
pbs.org
boomercafe.com
tompeters.com

Organizations (we included the ones that were most universally accessed):

12 Step programs
Unity Church
American Society of Journalists and Authors
Association of Medical Illustrators
Fast Company Company of Friends and local cell chapters
Kripaula Center in Lenox, MA
International Coach Federation
Church of Religious Science

We are still collecting data and are open to your ideas and suggestions. Further results will be in the next issue of Creative Success.

UPCOMING BOOK EVENTS

12 Secrets Events

November 6
Northeast Human Resources Association Conference in Providence, RI
10:15 AM Presentation on Creativity with Lynne Levesque
781-235-2900 or email:

12 Secrets and Creative Project Completion groups in the Boston area, with Gail McMeekin beginning in Fall 2001. Specific groups and times will be in the next newsletter.

Positive Choices Events

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 only from 3-5 PM

August 23
Borders Books in Kingston, MA
Positive Choices Workshop and booksigning at 7:30 PM

August 28
Borders in Chestnut Hill, MA
Positive Choices Workshop and booksigning at 7:30 PM

September 15
Barnes and Noble Books in Hyannis, MA
Positive Choices Workshop and book signing at 11 AM.

September 18
Borders at the Galleria Mall in Cambridge, MA
Positive Choices Workshop and book signing at 7:30 PM

September 29
Armchair Books in E. Dennis, MA
Positive Choices Workshop and book signing at the E. Dennis Library on 23 Center St. from 2-4 PM

October 4
Barnes and Noble Books Writer's Night
Location to be announced

Hope you can join us at one of these events and network with other proactive people!

OTHER CREATIVITY RESOURCES

Join Margie Davis in her six -week online memoir course called Writing Personal Essays beginning Septemeber 24. Margie can be reached at margie@writing to heal.com.

Creatively yours,
Gail McMeekin

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