~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Catalyst News and Views from AnnA
9 March 2008

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Culturally we are encouraged not to be aggressive, socially
it is unacceptable, but there are times when it can serve a
useful function and I wanted to open that debate in this issue
with a thoughtful contribution from the philosopher William Bloom.
I am always delighted to hear of my readers successes, so a
'virtual' bouquet to Angela whose story I hope will encourage you
to hold fast to your creativity and keep the true faith in
yourself.To your continued love of life, creativity, and all that
is around you. Best wishes from AnnA

IN THIS ISSUE:
- CREATIVE AGGRESSION
- CATALYST SUBSCRIBER SUCCESS
- BUY STATIONERY TO START SCHOOLS
- EARN TO THINK CREATIVELY

CREATIVE AGGRESSION
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Those of you who have bought my meditation CD will already
know the name of William Bloom, as I include with it a very
interesting article he wrote on the subject for the Journal
of Holistic Medicine. He is one of the country's leading
spiritual philosophers and combines great compassion and wisdom
with a hefty dose of common sense, which I always appreciate.

I had an email from him this week talking about what he calls
'creative aggression' and it is something he regards as something
that should be in everyone's toolbox of life skills. If your
hackles are rising, then take a deep breath and be open to how
he interprets this. Certainly those on the path of personal
development or spiritual seeking do often have great difficulty
with the concept of losing your temper or expressing anger as it
is seen somehow as 'not enlightened' or simply not something to
be admitted to. William Bloom's words are infinitely clearer
than my own - so I have reproduced his view on this for you here.

"You need clear boundaries and you need to be able to defend them
if intruded upon or abused. Also, if you are passionate about
social justice, love, equality, compassion and freedom for all
beings, there will be times when you have to stand strong and
communicate clearly about your beliefs. Sometimes you will meet
people who simply will not take you seriously unless you
demonstrate passion and creative aggression. Without creative
aggression, you may be perceived as lukewarm, cowardly and
insincere.

To erupt with anger and passion may feel uncomfortable. It may
cut across some of your high ideals concerning peace and detachment,
or even cause you shame. But there are times when it is appropriate
to be a force of nature. After these eruptions, of course, it is
right that we pause and reflect on whether they were positive and
creative events, and what we have learned and may do differently
in the future. But powerful expansion, explosive release and
stretching into new space are creative, healthy and good."

That dance of anger and passion is something that is essential
to creative work, it is a sign of life, of healthy involvement
with your creative process. Of course how you use it can make
the difference between a positive and a negative act, but don't
dismiss anger out of hand, it can be the fuel that ignites your
creative fire.

If you want to know more about William's work, then visit his
website at www.williambloom.com


CATALYST SUBSCRIBER SUCCESS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On my travels as a cruise ship speaker I have been lucky enough
to talk about creativity and writing to many different groups and
indeed many have become subscribers to the newsletter. One such
person is Angela Fox who expressed a desire to write about the
places she has visited and I encouraged her to send in her
Caribbean travel journal to the BBC. Radio is a medium that
new writers often dismiss as they think there is little
likelihood of them being accepted, and although the competition
for slots for drama is indeed very fierce there is more
opportunity in the non-fiction area.

Anglea sent her journal off to the BBC and although I had warned
her that can take up to six months to even got a reply, she
received an e-mail from them after a couple of weeks asking her
to format just one of the stories and re-send it in. This was to
be considered for a slot called 'Opening Lines' and she only had
a few days to do this before their deadline, but she did and is
now awaiting their response.

So, well done to Angela and there are a couple of lessons here
for all creative people. The first is that to get work accepted,
you have to send it out. However reluctant, afraid or supremely
confident you are about the quality of your work if you want it
to be heard then it has to leave the house! Don't think about
what might go wrong, just take action and send it.

The second lesson is be prepared to be flexible. Angela sent the
BBC a number of stories from her journal and when they picked one
she didn't go into 'that's not the best one, I wanted them to
pick xxx' but she accepted their judgement and then got on and
reformatted it as they requested. You would be surprised how
many new writers take umbrage at being asked to change something
in their work - pride in what you do is very understandable, but
if you wish to be published in any form then someone, usually an
editor, is going to want to have some input. The wise course is
to use it as a learning and from it see where they have changed
your work, what to and how it has improved/or not what you have
written.

Of course I am not suggesting you accept wholesale ripping apart
of your work, and you can always say no, but good, judicial editing
can often improve a work immeasurably.

As a ghostwriter I am often called upon to rewrite copy for
clients and I know I have done a good job when they feel it has
been improved and is still recognisably theirs. Usually what I am
doing is simply bringing greater clarity through simple measures
such as tighter language and shorter sentences. Try looking at
what you write through the eye of an editor and see where you can
make it crisper and more relevant to the reader of listener.


BUY STATIONERY TO START SCHOOLS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Whether you are a one man business or part of a large company,
everybody needs office supplies whether it is paper and envelopes
or printer cartridges and staplers. How would it be if you were
offered a complete range of over 20,000 high quality, top-branded
office products at competitive prices, with 24 hour delivery and
had the opportunity to benefit children in Africa at the same time?

You can - just get in touch with Wild Hearts in Action which has
been set up as a social enterprise by millionaire entrepreneur
Mick Jackson whose life was transformed by tragedy during a high
altitude climbing expedition. With a slogan of 'Even a Bad Day at
the Office Saves Lives', WildHearts in Action combines great
entrepreneurial expertise with compassion and philanthropy with efficiency.

Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia are experiencing their worst drought
since 1993. As a result three million children - 600,000 of whom
are under five years old - are suffering from severe food and
water shortages. Up to 42 per cent of children and adults are at
risk of malnutrition in the worst affected areas in the region.

Furthermore, Mick Jackson has committed to underwriting all the
costs of the charity through his other companies in the
WildHearts Foundation so all the profits from your office
supplies go directly to the people that need it.

For instance the profit made from one hole punch will keep a
child under five alive for a month in the current East African
famine - that's £1.67 to save a life. For longer-term relief W
ildHearts have committed to building 10 Junior Farm Schools to
teach 1000 orphans how to be farmers in Mozambique. These schools fil
l a crucial need in terms of teaching orphans and vulnerable
children about managing natural resources and food, to ensure
that they can provide for themselves, and their families.

The WildHearts farm and life schools not only provide much-needed
food for households in Mozambique, but at the same time give the
children the educational tools necessary to lead a productive,
dignified life and contribute to their communities. Just £30
pays for a child to attend a Farm School for a year. This cost
covers the building of the school and all associated fees.

WildHearts In Action can be contacted on 01667 45 88 49 or
online at www.wildheartsinaction.org


LEARN TO THINK CREATIVELY
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

One question most often asked by would-be creative people is
'where do you get your ideas from' as if there was a sort on
ideas depository that you could visit, request one in the shape
and size you fancy and it would be delivered to you. There isn't
of course, but actually creativity is a skill and you can develop
it by becoming more of a creative thinker: that is one who is
able to see concepts and connections, put random things together
and make something else from them. It's about looking below the
surface of things - one of my favourite occupations - and coming
up with new possibilities and wider options than you had before.

The following exercise is taken from Edward de Bono's great book
'How to Have Creative Ideas' and will help you 'think outside the
box'. First imagine that a murder has been committed and several
clues have been given. What you are going to do is make a hypothesis
of might have happened - oh and you are also going to create the
clues. Here's what to do:

1 Choose two random words - the first that pop into your head

2 Use those two words to create the scene, setting or story for
a murder but do not indicate how it took place of who did it.

3 Choose three more random words - these are your clues

4 Construct a reasonable hypothesis using the clues to show
how the murder might have taken place and who might have
done it.

Clear? Here's an example I made up earlier:
first two random words - chocolate and cat (no surprise there
to anyone who knows me) ... which could read 'the elderly lady was
found lying under a bush, watched over by a placid tortoiseshell
cat and with a small chocolate easter egg clutched in her hand.

Next two random words - foot and garden - hypothesis could be ...
"she had gone into the garden to hide the easter egg for her
grandson but had heard someone calling the cat. As she went to
look, she was struck from behind and caught her foot in the grass
and fell forward, but still holding on to her egg. The man who had
been watching the house, moved out from behind the tree he had used
to hide him, checked that she was dead, and made his way into the
house to steal her valuable silver collection."

Over to you, and enjoy the process.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Any creative questions, comments or criticisms? Please do
contact me either via my website:
http://www.catalystonline.co.uk/ or email to anna@creativecatalyst.co.uk


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Catalyst News and Views from AnnA
22 March, 2008

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Easter weekend, and a full moon, and a solstice: how many more
opportunities could you have for reflection and contemplation
on resurrection and renewal so that is the theme of this week's
newsletter. There have been a number of television programmes
relating to the Easter message over the past couple of weeks,
and one of them was on the Hidden Gospels. That reminded me of
something I used to reflect on a lot, and I wanted to share it
with you as part of this Easter process. To help you relax and
unwind, if you have the sort of minds that never seems to stop
whirring round, let me offer you a simple 3-step process to help
you get a good night's sleep. On the creative front, a timely
thought from the author Doris Lessing on what a writer needs most
and a seasonal exercise in remembering.

To your continued love of life, creativity, and all that is
around you. Best wishes from AnnA

IN THIS ISSUE:
- RELEASING YOUR TALENTS
- FINDING THE EMPTY SPACE
- PUTTING YOUR MIND - AND BODY - TO SLEEP
- CREATIVITY COFFEE BREAK

RELEASING YOUR TALENTS

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The discovery of the 'Hidden Gospels' of Mary and Thomas are
the subject of much controversy but for me 'Doubting Thomas'
provided a revolutionary thought that has stayed with me over
the years, though at first I was not aware of where it came from.

"If you bring out that which is in you,
that which is in you will save you.
If you do not bring out that which is in you,
that which is in you will kill you."

I make no claims for the accuracy of the quote, as there are
several interpretations of it by different scholars, but the
meaning is profound and one I empathise with.

As a human being, in order to develop we must 'bring out that
which is in us' - our talents if you like, our deep sense of
who we are. If we don't 'bring that out' then it festers, and
dies and not allowing ourselves to develop fully then surely we
'die' as human beings, even if we are still walking around and
functioning?

The big question here is what is your 'saviour': what talent
of yours needs to be released into the world and bless yourself
and others with? Perhaps easier to answer is 'what are you not
releasing': what is the fear that holds you back from expressing
your true and authentic nature?

While you nibble on an Easter egg, allow those thoughts to settle
in and wait for the answers you need.


FINDING THE EMPTY SPACE

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I have addressed the questions that writers are often asked,
such as 'where do you get your ideas' and 'how long does it take
to write a book', but the author Doris Lessing has a different
experience. She is most frequently asked 'how' she writes, whether
by hand, on a computer or word processor or typewriter and 'where'
she writes - at the kitchen table, in the garden, in her study.
She feels these are the wrong questions, and as she was recently,
at the age of 88, awarded the Nobel Prize for literature I think
she is worth listening to - so here's what she said.

"But the essential question is: 'have you found a space, that
empty space, which should surround you when you write? Into that
space, which is a form of listening, of attention, will come the
words, the words your characters will speak, ideas - inspiration."

She is speaking specifically of writers, but it applies to any
creative activity, including problem solving. If you cannot find
this space, then ideas have nowhere to flourish and creative
endeavours die before they are born. Creating a still, calm place
for you to simple be at rest in is essential and if you can't find
it in your home environment then go out and walk or sit in a park
or on a beach.

Walking is recommended as an ideal way to let the mind run free -
rather like a dog left off the leash it can explore dark corners
and hidden thickets, and when it's ready it will bring it's
treasures back to you. Though they may not seem grand or
important, they have the nugget of truth and inspiration that you
are seeking.


PUTTING YOUR MIND AND BODY TO SLEEP

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Does your head hit the pillow and you are off to sleep? If so,
you are to be envied, but for many it is a process of tossing and
turning as the mind chases round the events of the day, or worries
about the events of tomorrow. Your mind is off and running, and
your body is dragged with it so your chances of sinking into a
quick, deep sleep are drastically reduced.

If this is you, then let me offer you a three-step process that
might make a difference. In order to fall asleep, your mind must
be in the Alpha brain-wave stage, which is when you're still
conscious, but your body and mind begin to relax. It is, if you
like, the off switch to those racing thoughts and it is related
to the law of momentum. In other words, what you focus on expands
- so those thoughts tumbling around your head get bigger, faster
and more uncontrollable the longer you lie there.

How to switch them off? Take control. Your mind is just waiting
for you to give it a direction to think wildly into - not focusing
on your problems but going in another direction entirely. If you
have ever tried to stop thinking you know it is impossible, even
during meditation the most experienced practitioners have random
thoughts coming up - yes even the Dalai Lama, and it was His
Holiness himself who said so - and if he experiences it, then what
hope for the rest of us?

Actually, quite a lot: getting to sleep involves you being able
to lower your brain-waves into the alpha brain-state, which will
quickly let you fall asleep. Just follow this simple, 3-Step
process for Controlling Your Mind and the days of lying awake
staring at the ceiling or trying to force those poor sheep
through endless gates will soon be over.

Step 1: Awareness

Unless you are aware of that is happening, you have no chance
of changing it, so the first technique is one I used on my
meditation CD but that adapts well to this situation. Instead
of getting frustrated and annoyed by those thoughts racing round,
just see them floating past you on a moving screen. Notice them
in an interested, but not involved fashion. Literally say to
yourself 'there you go, I am thinking, and I just noticed that'.
If you can smile at yourself while doing it then that will also
relax you, the trick is not to get wound up but see yourself as
a detached observer of the process. The moment you do this, the
moment you become "Aware" - you are no longer a slave to your mind.
You have won. After you become aware... do nothing, just lay there
for 3 seconds and notice how it feels to be present in who you
really are, and notice that you have the power of choice - to
observe or get involved.

Step 2: Relaxed Focus

"What you focus on expands," so that now you have become aware
of your thinking, all you have to do is "direct" your mind into
a place that will bring you into a deep, deep place of relaxation.
Instead of worrying about why you are not able to sleep, in other
words what's going on in your conscious mind, try sending your
mind off into a direction that is peaceful and restful - into
your subconscious. Because if you are focusing internally,
your mind can't cope with dealing with the restless thoughts at
the same time, you are switching its focus. How are you going to
do that? By connecting with your breath. As on my meditation CD,
I suggest you just observe your breath and focus only on that
and that's what you are going to do.

Step 3: Repetition

Practice makes perfect, or in this case brings enough familiarity
for the process to be really easy. It's all about focusing on the
breath so just take a deep breath in - a comfortable one, not
straining or forcing - and then just watch your breathing settle
down. With each in breath mentally say to yourself 'breathing in'
and as you breathe out say 'breathing out', and at first your
conscious thoughts will barge that simple idea out of the way
and intrude, but gently return to that simple mantra. After about
15-20 breaths you will find your body will let go and relax as
your mind shifts from the high frequency Beta brain-waves into
Alpha brain-waves. Your subconscious mind can now do what it is
meant to and let you gently drift into sleep.

Try it for a few nights, and let me know what the result it.
If you want to know more about my Relax, Renew and Revitalise CD,
just click on this link and you will find details on that page.
http://www.catalystonline.co.uk/potential.htm

CREATIVITY COFFEE BREAK
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Not surprisingly, it's an Easter theme, because as I was munching
on a toasted hot cross bun this morning I was suddenly reminded of
a childhood Easter spent with my mother's family in Barrow in
Furness. It was a great tradition there in the week before Easter
for families to hard-boil some eggs and then paint designs on them
- usually with natural dyes from onions, coffee and cochineal. The
local houses were solid terraces with sash windows, and once the
eggs were decorated they were proudly displayed in the window for
all to see. On Easter Sunday they were taken to nearby Furness
Abbey,where there was a gentle slope, and the eggs rolled down it
and raced by cheering children and adults to the bottom.

What are your childhood memories? Could you go back there and
inhabit that place again to write about something that happened
then? Who was there? What were you wearing/eating/doing?

Over to you and, as always, enjoy the process.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Any creative questions, comments or criticisms?
Please do contact me either via my website:
http://www.catalystonline.co.uk
or email to anna@creativecatalyst.co.uk

 

top