Category: Body & Spirit
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Is Stoicism Creative?
“Health is generally preferable to illness and wealth to poverty, depending on how they’re used, but neither is of any value whatsoever when it comes to judging whether someone has lived a good life, according to the Stoics.” ― Donald Robertson, Stoicism and the Art of Happiness: Ancient Tips for Modern Challenges. Since creative work…
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The Stoic Writer: Ancient Wisdom for Modern Creativity
“Learn something new every day.” I’ve lived by this charge since graduating university more than a decade ago, determined not to let my brain atrophy amid the numbing routines of adulthood. Raw curiosity (and research for my novels) usually keeps me in good stead, but to supplement my cognitive nutrition, I always have a page-a-day…
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Stoicism: A Kinder, Gentler Model for Creativity
When I saw Piotr Stankiewicz’s Does Happiness Write Blank Pages: On Stoicism and Artistic Creativity appear on my social media feed, I had a dramatic reaction: “No! Piotr, no. It is unhappiness that writes blank—very, very blank—pages.” I was, of course, talking about me (as a creative does—me, me, me). And, I was, of course,…
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The Creative Stoic – An Artist’s Adventures
It’s in looking back and reflecting that one’s life journey is sorted and makes sense. Marcus Aurelius knew this. The entire first book of Meditations is a review of the people that shaped him. A process in which he expresses sincere gratitude to family, friends, colleagues, and teachers. What is creativity? Creativity is a fundamental…
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9 Stoic Principles Every Creative Needs
“Most people don’t understand what a Stoic is. They think that a Stoic wants to sort of be robust, no positive nor negative emotions, get rid of [their] attachment from the world…My definition is a Stoic Sage is someone who transforms fear into prudence, pain into transformation, mistakes into initiation, and desire into undertaking. Someone…
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Stoicism Basics for Creatives
I assert that “stoicism is stupid.” To be clear, what I mean is, common English usage, lower case “s” stoicism is a pretty poor strategy for cultivating happiness while building a life worth living. Meaningful living and work, without question, involves challenges, misfortunes, and invitations for shame and suffering. And “keeping a stiff upper lip”…
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Stoicism 101: An introduction
Simply put, Stoicism helps you live your best life. It’s like ancient self-help, which has been tried and tested for generations, and is still relevant today. Practicing Stoicism tends to produce all sorts of positive effects (e.g. reduces negative emotions, increases positive emotions, enhances performance and promotes life satisfaction). And it’s easy to learn. Stoicism…
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8 Limbs Of Yoga Drive Creativity
To liberate the potential of your mind, body and soul, you must first expand your imagination. You see, things are always created twice: first in the workshop of the mind and then, and only then, in reality. I call this process ‘blueprinting’ because anything you create in your outer world began as a simple blueprint…
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Yoga to unlock your creativity
Because our future selves depend on it. By balancing your svadhistana chakra through yoga postures and stilling the mind through meditation and breath control, you can harness your awareness and invite clarity into your consciousness which, as a result, unlocks your creativity. For two decades I have moved in my favourite two realms: yoga and…
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Yoga Meets Creativity
In Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention, psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi presents “flow” as integral to the creative process. He describes flow as an experience involving risk and novelty in which an individual embodies an “almost automatic, effortless, yet highly focused state of consciousness.” Second to focus, this fluid attention so conducive to…