How Full Is Your Well?
     Sent 9/19/2006

Sharing Creative Energy Newsletter
By Darla Arni

September 2006
Sharing Creative Energy Newsletter is a free monthly, or whenever Darla
can get it out, publication for clients, friends and subscribers who want to
be more creative, energetic and productive in their life and work.
Past copies are archived on our web site: www.darlaarni.com.
© 2006 Darla Arni
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In This Issue:
Welcome
How Full is Your Well?
Quotes of the Month
Mensa Moment
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Welcome to new subscribers I presented to and met at the St. Louis BJC HealthCare Communications and Marketing Conference and attendees at the Missouri Meeting & Events Magazine’sKansas City Expo!

HOW FULL IS YOUR WELL?

While I believe all of us can be creative in our own chosen fields of interest and daily life, that doesn’t mean we are always our creative best. Let’s face it, some days I have great ideas and just can’t get them down on paper fast enough and other days I need a cup of coffee or a diet Coke before the cobwebs clear enough for me to focus. Other days I am productive in many ways and can accomplish a lot but am not very creative. I have come to accept this ebb and flow and learned that there are things I can do to replenish my creativity and bring myself back.

Recently, when I spoke to a group from BJC HealthCare in St. Louis on the topic ‘The Creative Mindset’, I posed the question “How do you refill your Creative Well?” and got some interesting and useful answers. During the course of the day, I also had several asking me what I do to refill my own well and thought this month I would share what works for me combined with responses I have received from others. This isn’t rocket science; these are simple, fun, sometimes off the wall ideas that can rejuvenate you, add spark to your day and help you be your best. What works doesn’t have to be hard, it just has to work.

My top five:

1. Going for a drive: I know gas isn’t cheap and this may not be feasible for you, but because I travel to do what I do, it works for me. If I have a problem to solve or an idea that has been incubating in my brain, I can count on several hours of alone time in my car, watching the countryside go by, to come up with my best ideas. The hardest part is remembering them when I get out of the car. I’ve tried a small voice recorder in my car, calling myself and leaving a voice mail message, writing clues for myself on scraps of paper while I’m driving and pulling over at an exit to get those thoughts on paper before they are lost. If you have a better way of capturing creative thoughts while driving, I’m open for suggestions!

2. Quiet, alone time: Those close to me have heard me say this over and over till they are probably tired of hearing it. I need a certain amount of quiet time alone to feel balanced and creative. That was easy to accomplish when I was younger and single. However as a wife, mother, daughter of an aging parent, and professional speaker, it has become harder to come by. I have learned to steal snatches of quiet here and there and keep reminding myself that someday it will be quieter and I probably won’t like it!

3. Piddling: Piddling is when you have no huge goals or particular purpose or timelines looming over you and you allow yourself to do a little bit of this and a little bit of that. It can be done in your own home, it can be done while you’re shopping, or it can be done at work if you can get away with it. Piddling can be very productive and almost yoga like for me. I seem to get a certain far off look in my eye when I am pondering and piddling that scares my husband because he knows when I’m really thinking, something is about to change!

4. Exercise: Not complicated; running, walking, aerobics classes, dancing, swimming, walking your dog, whatever you like and will do on a regular basis works. It helps you physically and revives you mentally. Shake it up and change your routine to keep it fresh and keep yourself interested. I get inspired differently when I do different activities.

5. Quotes & Inspiring Articles: I love to meander through motivational books of quotes or short essays that reinforce my priorities. I am a firm believer of keeping several resources around that I can easily grab for motivation and inspiration. Some I recommend are:
-The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron
-The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz
-The Change-Your-Life Quote Book by Allen Klein
-www.quotationspage.com
-www.brainyquotes.com

More Ways to Refill Your Well:
-Take a shower-great for creative thinking and attitude lifting.
-Take time to doodle
-Take your watch off and lose track of time
-Use crayons, color pencils or colored markers for your to do lists, rough drafts, etc. to shake it up.
-Observe and play with pets or other animals
-Hang around young children-play with them, listen to them, do an activity with them. They are always original.
-Browse a bookstore or library
-Cooking-A creative outlet in itself, it can be very freeing and allows for experimentation.
-Listen to music of your choice.

Got some of your own you’d like to share? Send your ways to fill your well to me at darni@sbcglobal.net and I’ll include them on my master list to share with others.

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If you enjoyed this newsletter, pass it on or print it out!

JUST IN TIME FOR CHRISTMAS! Are you are interested in turning your “I don’t know what to do with it memorabilia” that is stacked on shelves or stashed in the attic into something useful or attractive? I’m starting a new business that does just that! Email or call me for more information or if you would like to receive a detailed brochure when they are available.
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QUOTES OF THE MONTH

I love quotes. They are more than just a line or two of inspiring words. They can be the one thing that gets me through that day, that moment, that crisis. They can be the diving board that sends me into a pool of people inspired to cause a positive ripple in other people’s lives. To me they are necessary, and if you have heard me speak you know I stress quotes as a positive method to keep our attitudes up and on track. It has been a very need-a-quote few weeks for me, so this month I’m sharing more than one. I hope they help you, I hope you pass them on.

“Until you make peace with who you are, you’ll never be content with what you have.”
Doris Mortman

“Know how to live within yourself: there is in your soul a whole world of mysterious and enchanted thoughts; they will be drowned by the noise without; daylight will drive them away; listen to their singing and be silent.” Fyodor Tyutchev

“What you discover on your own is always more exciting than what someone else discovers for you–it’s like the difference between romantic love and an arranged marriage.” Terence Rafferty
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MENSA MOMENT
Which day of the week has an anagram?
(Reminder: An anagram is the result of rearranging the letters of a word or phrase to produce other words, using all the original letters exactly once.)
Email your answer to Darla. Correct answers will be entered in our prize drawing.

Last Month’s Answer:
There is no smoke coming out of an electric train.
Congratulations to Donna Markham for being our winner. Please contact me Donna so I can send you your prize.

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Darla Arni is a Professional Speaker, Consultant and Author of Sharing Creative Energy at Home, Life Compass for Women, and the Sharing Creative Energy Newsletter.

Sharing Creative Energy
e-mail Darla
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