A Twelve Step Plan for Restless Creatives #8

Common wisdom says, “Mind over matter.”

Now exactly what is that supposed mean when we are talking about artful living, the goal of the next step of the Twelve Step Plan for Restless Creatives?

How do you live artfully?  If your brain is artful, does that make your body artful too?  What does that look like?

So glad you are asking such fei cheong (Cantonese for extremely) fabelhaft (German for fabulous) questions.  There is absolutely an art to living well and the key to that is creating a healthy lifestyle mindset.  Without the right attitude and behavior, diet and exercise are a dreary duo to live with.  If you feel like you’re running on empty energywise and inspirationwise, here are some simple ways to follow:

8 Live artfully

- the next step in the plan.

Drink water in style

Toast your day with a glass of water in the morning.  Continue throughout the day to prevent dehydration which causes fatigue.  I like to drink water in a fancy glass with ice and a slice of lemon.  It creates the illusion that I am having a cocktail and it fools my system into thinking it is full.

Imbibe an infusion

Fancy schmancy way to say “drink tea”.  However, it is a well known fact that chamomile will soothe you, jasmine increases beta waves, which make you more awake and alert and peppermint will aid in digestion.  There are many herbal teas with a multitude of benefits.    Enjoy a cup after a meal and before going to sleep.

Embrace exercise

Burn calories!  Daily exercise, whether you are running 5 miles a day like yours truly,  taking the stairs whenever you can or walking, increases your muscle tone, diminishes your appetite and brings a tremendous sense of accomplishment.  You try getting out of bed at some unGodly hour to be out running by 5:00 am and see if you don’t feel like you’ve done something.  Trust me, your body will love you for it.

Listen to your food

Stick to foods that are good for you, eat reasonable portions, finish eating dinner early.  Balance your food intake so that your body does not have to work so hard to break it down especially later in the day.  If you feel your creative energy ebbing away, especially between three and five when most people feel a need for a doughnut and coffee, go for popcorn or a piece of fruit.  Remember what they say about databases is true for diets;  garbage in, garbage out.

OK, all of you Restless Creatives who are jumping on board, here are the steps you missed:

1 Get over yourself

2 Get off the grid

3 Get local

4 Bring on color

5 Avoid vampires

6 Read like a writer

7 Stop the frenzy

And for the rest of you, just remember, today is the first day of the rest of your body.

Get more Wow!

If you want style notes and more for people who change the world, please check out:

Getting to Wow! to feel good, do good and look good

Nonprofit Knitwear for all things knit and nonprofit

Style Notes from me, your artspy

Hoong Yee

– Subscribe and get a little Wow! every day

– Forward the link to someone you think would be interested

– Link to a post on Twitter (follow me @hylkrakauer)

– Put a link to the blog in your Facebook status update

Thanks so much! I really appreciate your help.

Word of mouth is the best way to share, don’t you agree?

– Subscribe and get a little Wow! every day

– Forward the link to someone you think would be interested

– Link to a post on Twitter (follow me @hylkrakauer)

– Put a link to the blog in your Facebook status update

Thanks so much! I really appreciate your help.

Word of mouth is the best way to share, don’t you agree?

A Twelve Step Plan for Restless Creatives #7

We are at the midpoint of the Twelve Step Plan for Restless Creatives.

Are you feeling the breeze?  Is it working for you?

Maybe what we all need is a fresh perspective on things.  Some way to shake us out of the relentless mishegas (Yiddish for craziness) we call life.  Besides being better for your skin, letting go and devoting three minutes to focusing upon something beautiful and powerful, like a midsummer sunrise, will also center you, get your energy and endorphins flowing.  Hey listen, how could you not want to do that?

It will stop the frenzy which is the next step in the plan.  Perhaps this step should have been the first one.  But if you are as distracted and overcaffeinated as I am, you will probably skip around doing these steps which I have included for you here:

1 Get over yourself

2 Get off the grid

3 Get local

4 Bring on color

5 Avoid vampires

6 Read like a writer

Go ahead.  All of you schwer arbeiters (Yiddish for hard working people like you).  Take three minutes to turn inwardly, flick the chattering demons off your shoulder, and embrace the joy of a simple and beautiful image.  This step is for you.

7 Stop the frenzy

So you need an image, maybe?  Here’s a silver sunrise on Rockaway Beach from my inner gallery.

Get more Wow!

If you want style notes and more for people who change the world, please check out:

Getting to Wow! to feel good, do good and look good

Nonprofit Knitwear for all things knit and nonprofit

Style Notes from me, your artspy

Hoong Yee

– Subscribe and get a little Wow! every day

– Forward the link to someone you think would be interested

– Link to a post on Twitter (follow me @hylkrakauer)

– Put a link to the blog in your Facebook status update

Thanks so much! I really appreciate your help.

Word of mouth is the best way to share, don’t you agree?

Get more Wow!

If you want style notes and more for people who change the world, please check out:

Getting to Wow! to feel good, do good and look good

Nonprofit Knitwear for all things knit and nonprofit

Style Notes from me, your artspy

Hoong Yee

– Subscribe and get a little Wow! every day

– Forward the link to someone you think would be interested

– Link to a post on Twitter (follow me @hylkrakauer)

– Put a link to the blog in your Facebook status update

Thanks so much! I really appreciate your help.

Word of mouth is the best way to share, don’t you agree?

– Subscribe and get a little Wow! every day

– Forward the link to someone you think would be interested

– Link to a post on Twitter (follow me @hylkrakauer)

– Put a link to the blog in your Facebook status update

Thanks so much! I really appreciate your help.

Word of mouth is the best way to share, don’t you agree?

A Twelve Step Plan for Restless Creatives #6

photo by MichaelKPhoto

A friend of mine has a repertoire of dinner questions that never fail to stir up animated conversations among his guests.  This is an example of one:

Do you want happiness or do you want pleasure?

I am told that happiness is a state of mind that is influenced by many things ranging from your relationships with others, with religion, with your aspirations to your genetic makeup.  Some factors are within your control, some are not.

Pleasure is far more intriguing to me.  A brief but blissful reaction:  30 seconds to an hour or two.  This is something you can create for yourself.

Happiness and her sidekick, Pleasure

Happiness is a lifelong journey filled with peaks, valleys and all kinds of pitfalls and pitstops in between.  While you are en route to your happiness, it is so important to take a moment to discover your own sources of pleasure in unexpected ways and in unexpected places.

To inspire you pleasure seekers, I have put together a Twelve Step Plan for Restless Creatives.  For those of you just joining us, here are steps 1 to 5:

1 Get over yourself

2 Get off the grid

3 Get local

4 Bring on color

5 Avoid vampires

Which brings us to today’s step.

#6 Read like a writer

I am forever doomed to be one of those people who read, rereads, questions, and rewrites everything on a page.  Determined to inhabit the creative moment of the author I am reading, so often wishing I had penned those sentences, this habit of mine has opened worlds not so ready to yield their secrets to the casual eye.

Do you want to be a better writer?  Read better writers.

Consider yourself a creative, not a consumer.  Big difference.  A restless creative will read to improve her craft, a consumer will read to be entertained.

A funny thing happens when you read like a writer.  You take pleasure in being a writer in everything you do.

What do I mean by that?

Being a writer in every moment is appreciating the stories that unfold before you.  The worlds behind the words, the interrupted narratives of people on their way to happiness.

Here’s an glimpse into a unique world by a writer of rare and uncensored skill:

“Oh Archie, you are funny,” said Maureen sadly, for she had always fancied Archie a bit but never more than a bit because of this strange way he had about him, always talking to Pakistanis and Caribbeans like he didn’t even notice and now he’d gone and married one and hadn’t even thought it worth mentioning what colour she was until the office dinner when she turned up black as anything and Maureen almost choked on her prawn cocktail.

This amazing rattling interior monologue bumbles on and on fueled by Maureen’s  peevish thoughts;  you can almost picture her frowning, distractedly folding her arms while gazing at him.  It is from Zadie Smith’s novel, White Teeth.

Take pleasure in the journey.

Get more Wow!

If you want style notes and more for people who change the world, please check out:

Getting to Wow! to feel good, do good and look good

Nonprofit Knitwear for all things knit and nonprofit

Style Notes from me, your artspy

Hoong Yee

– Subscribe and get a little Wow! every day

– Forward the link to someone you think would be interested

– Link to a post on Twitter (follow me @hylkrakauer)

– Put a link to the blog in your Facebook status update

Thanks so much! I really appreciate your help.

Word of mouth is the best way to share, don’t you agree?

Beach Chair Technology Tips

Looking for the ultimate beach chair?

So am I.  In fact, I am forever seeking the perfect beach experience and that journey begins with – the beach chair.

Our chairs bit the dust yesterday so today we embarked on a hunt for the best, best priced and best looking beach chairs.

What I look for

Over years of beach bumming, I have come up with a descriptive list of the perfect beach chair. It must be:

Light

Easy to fold up

Reclinable

Equipped with a place to put stuff like a water bottle, sunglasses, phone, a couple of bucks for Italian ices

Dealbreakers:

Sunshade

Insulated cooler pack

Shoulder straps

Settle?  Never!

We cruised up Beach 116th Street but the selection was not good.  Not bad for a daytripper but not good for a local.

On to Broad Channel where a guy sells stuff out of his truck on Cross Bay Boulevard.

“Chair or umbrella?”  he smiles hopping out of his van where Bob Marley and the Wailers was playing.  He had a range of chairs but his prices were all upper end and he was not interested in negotiating or handling.  I suppose if you position yourself as the Last Chance Beach Chair Stand you can charge big dollars.

We headed out to Lawrence and to Costco – the mecca of massive shopping.

“Let’s see if we can go in and get only what we came for – beach chairs.”  I gave Seth a look that could only mean Ha! Are you kidding? as I manouevered an oversized shopping cart down the aisle.  “Let the games begin!”

Luckily, my friend Edy who lives a block away from the beach was already at Costco and had told me about a great beach chair by Tommy Bahama that was on sale for about twenty bucks.  And there they were!  We quickly scanned them against our Checklist of Beach Chair Virtues and voila!  Not only were they were perfect, they also had a place to hang your beach towel and a pillow for your head.

OK, all you beach bums.  Our beach experience rocks and so can yours!

Check out the Tommy Bahama beach chairs at your local Costco and if you are able to leave with just those, let me know how you did it!

Get more Wow!

If you want style notes and more for people who change the world, please check out:

Getting to Wow! to feel good, do good and look good

Nonprofit Knitwear for all things knit and nonprofit

Style Notes from me, your artspy

Hoong Yee

– Subscribe and get a little Wow! every day

– Forward the link to someone you think would be interested

– Link to a post on Twitter (follow me @hylkrakauer)

– Put a link to the blog in your Facebook status update

Thanks so much! I really appreciate your help.

Word of mouth is the best way to share, don’t you agree?

A Twelve Step Plan for Restless Creatives #5

photo by Larry Lars

Beware of vampires.  Especially vampires who prey on restless creatives like you.

Have you ever found yourself in a conversation with someone that left you feeling completely drained with an overwhelming desire to bang your head on the wall and scream?  That is usually what happens when you have been bitten by one of these vampires.

As a “silver stake” to use against these dark creatures, here is step 5 from a Twelve Step Plan for Restless Creatives.

In case you missed the first 4 steps, they are:

1 Get over yourself

2 Get off the grid

3 Get local

4 Bring on color

OK all you night owls, this step is for you.

5 Avoid vampires

Are there people in your life that drain your creative juices, your lifeblood, your kishkes?

These are vampires that you should avoid with a vengeance!  Here are some of the most common types to be on your guard against and the “silver stake” you can use against them.

Madame Motormouth: This vampire has the unusual ability to never take a breath so you are trapped listening.

Here’s what you do:  Suddenly, make a big deal about pulling out your phone and say, “Hello, is everything OK?”  Then apologize to Madame and tell her something has come up that you must take care of immediately.  Look concerned.

Whine Steward: This vampire is merciless,  not interested in solving the problem;  he just wants to keep you captive and vent.

Here’s what you do:  Put your hand on his arm in sympathy and say,  “How you must suffer!  I hate to leave but I’m sure you have a great solution.  Ciao!”

Chainsaw Fiend: With this vampire you have to beware of sharp blades.  She will cut you down in a heartbeat to build herself up.

Here’s what you do:  Run away from her as fast you can.  If you are socially or physically trapped, do not give her the hurt or horrified look she is expecting.  Imagine what she would look like with a tail, then grin.

Bossy Flossy: This is the Know-It-All vampire that loves to tell you and the rest of the world what to do.

Here’s what you do:  It is futile to tell her you don’t need her advice so the best thing to do is to say,  “That is great advice!  I will certainly give it a shot the next time I find myself in this situation.”  She probably means well and the acknowledgment will stop her momentarily giving you just enough time to look at your watch, exclaim, “Look at the time!  I have to go.” and leave.

Get more Wow!

If you want style notes and more for people who change the world, please check out:

Getting to Wow! to feel good, do good and look good

Nonprofit Knitwear for all things knit and nonprofit

Style Notes from me, your artspy

Hoong Yee

– Subscribe and get a little Wow! every day

– Forward the link to someone you think would be interested

– Link to a post on Twitter (follow me @hylkrakauer)

– Put a link to the blog in your Facebook status update

Thanks so much! I really appreciate your help.

Word of mouth is the best way to share, don’t you agree?