Diadem Day 2: Creativity

Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once

he grows up.
— Pablo Picasso

You have an advantage over those in the muggle world. By being involved with the House Cup, you probably recognize how creative you are, and you have regular opportunities to let your inner artist shine. Let that creativity spill into your "everyday" life.

Explore the energy of the second chakra today, which is associated with emotions, sensuality, fluidity, enjoyment, sex and fertility, and all things creative. I love that the Sanskrit name for the second chakra, Svadhisthana, translates as “one’s own place.” We all need our own place, a “room of one’s own,” as Virginia Woolf called it. Today be mindful to move and stretch, especially if you’ve been sitting for long periods, and drink lots of water. Good yoga poses for 2nd chakra are the bridge pose and reclined cobbler’s pose. Or rest with your legs up the wall, a restorative thing to do after your workday.

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For today:

1. Schedule into your calendar an Artist’s Date—about two hours per week (or month if that’s all you can do) set aside and committed to nurturing your creative consciousness. Have you read Julia Cameron’s book The Artist’s Way? It has become a classic reference on creativity, and you can find much of it online now. http://www.theartistsway.com/pdfs/basictools.pdf. Cameron’s two basic tools are the Morning Pages (a stream-of-consciousness daily journaling exercise) and the Artist’s Date (go to page 18 on the PDF). She calls this “Filling the well, stocking the pond.” You really need to do this.
2. It’s back-to-school time. Do you have your new box of crayons? Get some! Whether you get just the classic 8-pack or the big box with the built-in sharpener, nothing smells quite like a new box of crayons. And for coloring fun, here are some printable coloring pages, including Greek muses, mandalas, goddess figures, and more.
   http://www.milliande.com/Free-Printable-Adult-Coloring-Pages.html
3. The designer Isaac Mizrahi and knit designer Michele Rose Orne both suggest this idea: create an inspiration board. Mizrahi uses a corkboard with pushpins; Orne arranges her objects on a tabletop. Over the next several weeks collect photos, scraps of pretty paper or fabric, bits of lace, feathers, leaves, pictures from magazines, found objects, postcards —anything that appeals to your eye. You may want to choose a theme—the current season, a place, a mood or flavor. Or you may just want to explore your own taste and style. Make an inspiration board to help you plan a specific project, or keep one going perpetually, adding and subtracting objects as you wish.
4. Go on a color walk. It would be lovely to do this outdoors, but you can also walk around your home or office, in the grocery store, at your local yarn shop, anywhere! Bring along a small notepad and, if possible, a digital camera. Your task is to look only at color. Do not focus on an object’s or person’s form or features. Don't apply critical judgment (a flower is not more pleasing than a toothpaste box) or give any kind of meaning to what you see. Just look at planes of color and the combinations in which you find them. Write down the color combinations you love, describing them as completely as you can, and take a picture to remind yourself later. Return to this exercise when planning knitting or crochet projects, or for sewing, beading, painting, or any other colorful art pursuit.
5. Allow yourself to have an artist studio. You may be able to take over a whole room in your house or apartment, but more likely it will be a smaller space. It could be a desk or table, or a comfortable chair with a window or good light nearby. Your studio does not have to be where your stash lives; it’s where you do your creative thinking and crafting.
   This may amuse members of your family when you say, “I’m going to work in my studio now,” and someone responds, “Wait; you’re just sitting in the chair by the fireplace with your knitting bag.” You can tell the person that as far as you’re concerned, when you’re in that spot, you’re in your studio. Feel free to post a sign: Artist at Work.

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Today’s prize is spinning fiber—3.5 ounces (99 grams) of Summer Garden (purple) and 3.6 ounces (103 grams) of Fresh Greens (greens, but a little bit of blue, too), hand-dyed by my friendly local shepherd at Four Crows Farm. The wool is Corriedale carded roving, pleasant to spin but still a tiny bit rustic.

Have a great day, Ravenclaws!