Blog
Handling the Anxiety of Art Deadlines
Here are some thoughts from working artists about how they deal with the anxiety of deadlines. Jerry explained: The thing that works best for me is to have a written calendar that I can look at all at once with all the year’s deadlines written down. If I need to...
Painting in San Francisco
If you like to paint outdoors and you visit San Francisco, I imagine you’ll pick a spot in Golden Gate Park, maybe in front of the Conservatory of Flowers, or someplace along the revamped Embarcadero, with its views of Alcatraz and the Bay, or on a bench in...
Not Tripping in the Very Same Spot
The next introduction to creativity coaching training and the next advanced creativity coaching training both begin on Monday! These are online trainings, fit every schedule, and can be taken simultaneously. To learn more and to register:...
Seizing 9 Meaning Opportunities
Our mental health depends on us having a good sense of what promotes the experience of meaning in us—that is, a good sense of what sorts of things give us the subjective psychological sense that life is meaningful. This array—or menu of meaning opportunities—is...
Which Life Will You Choose?
I was chatting with a coaching client yesterday about the difference between an “or” life and an “and” life. The people that I know—artist, writers, musicians, coaches, therapists—are confronted on a daily basis with the question, “Should I do this today or this today...
Only Thinking Thoughts That Serve You
Let’s focus on one of the most important self-help strategies you can adopt: strategically deciding to only think thoughts that serve you. This is a different idea from related ideas of cognitive therapy that you may already know. Here the focus isn’t on whether a...
9 Keys to Choosing Your Artist’s Role in Society
Last week I described 12 roles that artists can play in society. This week I’d like to continue that discussion. Most artists never think through how they want to relate to their society or what role they want to adopt as an artist. Rather, they fall rather by...
Artists’ Roles in Society — What’s Yours?
Artists are embedded in society. If we think about how artists have historically viewed themselves as functioning in their society and how they’ve positioned themselves in society, we see many different models. Let’s consider a dozen of these models. As we proceed,...
Working While in Pain
Last week I wrote that artists frequently must deal with chronic illness and chronic pain. Here is a response to that post from one artist, the Australian artist Trudie Moore (www.trudiemoore.com.au): “I read your article with great interest, and was very grateful...
Making Art In Sickness and Pain
I’m regularly surprised by how many of my artist clients (I work as a creativity coach) are suffering from chronic illness or chronic pain. Sometimes it seems as if every client is dealing with a pressing physical issue: back pain, intestinal maladies, arthritis,...
