In this ever hyper-changing world, things get busy. Chaos can take control. Sometimes we can find great creative ideas in the flurry of life, but most often it takes a moment of pause to make ideas grow. The moments of pure clarity and creative power most often appear when we aren't staring at the thing that needs our attention the most. Great creative work comes when we soften our gray matter.

Who out there hasn't had a light bulb moment in the shower? Or an ah ha flash when driving to work? How about a second of clarity when doing the dishes?

Pausing is powerful, and if we are looking to be more creative, it's important to cultivate our ability to pause. That's where meditation comes in handy. The benefits of meditation include focus, patience, clarity, calmness, insight, and perspective. More can be read here on 99U "What Daily Meditation Can Do For Your Creativity."

There are a ton of great resources to start a meditation habit. One of my personal favorites is the app Headspace. It offers a lovely guide to meditation. If you, however, are looking for a simple option, my beautiful friend Renne Gauthier offers a 10-minute Pause and Reset Meditation practice on her website.

Let's get our creative juices flowing by pushing our pause button today.

Until tomorrow friends.

Creative inspiration can come from anywhere. We can be staring directly at a beautiful object or have an experience that moves us, but we don't notice. These moments can include things we see every day. The beat of traffic speeding on the roads, the way the sun drenches a field of wheat or the taste of a perfectly pink ice cream cone. We can feel a fleeting shift inside us, or a murmur from a deep place that speaks up with "Well, that's something interesting and powerful."

The number one question people ask me is where I get my creative ideas. My response is "Right in front of me." It's been a long road to understanding that creativity doesn't mean a grand idea. I use to waste time searching for the perfect thing to make or do. I have spent years procrastinating and lost my youth wondering on perfect. Because I was unable to turn on and turn out perfect ideas, I didn't take action on what could have brought me meaning. Even today, I struggled to bring this post to life because I fell into the trap of perfect. I searched all day for the creative enlightenment that would transform words into a perfect story.

I'm here to tell you perfect doesn't exist. 

Trying to create the perfect recipe, short story, business idea or set of skills is as beneficial as searching for a Yeti. We will be out in the cold for a long time looking under every twig branch and rock only to find the search for the perfect creative muse is the story right in front of us.

Until tomorrow Creative Observationalists.

Great ideas are born from simple things. We often think the more complicated the idea, the more involved the endeavor, the more payoff we will feel in the end. Our brains tend to think big and expansive on great ideas, and before we know it, the idea seems too big to tackle. It seems intimidating and unachievable. We put the idea for our book, our new business venture or the idea that will bring meaningful work into our lives away. We tell ourselves there will be another time to take on a project of that magnitude.

Nope. Not today. Today we go.

The best time to start is now, and the best thing we can do is grab a Post-it® note.

Let's write down one action word that pertains to a specific goal on a Post-it® note. Place the note in a visually prominent location for seven days. Find a place where we can see the Post-It® note several times a day. 

Every day for seven days take action and create a mini step to reaching and creating the meaningful work in our lives. 

It will set us on a path called success.

Until tomorrow Sticky Ideas.

Some of us would love to live a fuller more creative life. A long time ago we might have dreamed or experimented with moments that fed the human part of us. When we were little the slate was clear and the doors open. It seemed as if the horizon held a particular secret where we could sprint. Then life happens. We realize the things that fed our being won't feed our bellies. We take the job we never thought we would take. We settle in and rationalize our choices. It can seem as if the doors that were once open in our youth become locked as we age. The older we become life whispers to us the things behind those doors have vanished to a forbidden and lost space.

It is important to know we all hold the key.

The things that fill us are still there behind those doors. They are a bit dusty but waiting for us.

This week each day a new creative step will be presented to help us all brush up on our creativity. It might just unlock the door to something new and help us get our human back.

Until tomorrow Dream Makers.

It's important to note that sometimes it's critical just to go. When we have paralysis of analysis, we miss out on the joy of being spontaneous. To move quickly can feel wrong as there is safety in a plan. There is control knowing what should come next. 

However what if we just went, did, lived and experienced? What if we put down the phones, the books and the turned off the gurus.

What does life look like when we move quickly and from our gut?

I'm not going to think too much today and find gratitude in living a quick presence.

How about you?

Until tomorrow friends.

Like a pile of dirty laundry, Monday just keeps showing before our eyes. Monday always greets us with a shout of "GOOD MORNING IT'S MONDAY!" like a positive and upbeat super mom, it hits us with a thunderbolt. 

The good news is even if it is Monday, there is safety in numbers.

Let's huddle around, have a cup of coffee or two and discuss how we are grateful to have a day to kick around.

Nothing takes more lip and complaining than a Monday, together.

Until tomorrow friends.

We get stuck in the negative chatter that resides in our heads. The talk can chip away at us from the inside. Like kindling on a forest floor, these thoughts will slowly build and layer over time. Once the conditions are right, a lighting strike can burn our dreams until they are smoky black dust. The grove of hope built over our lifetime can seem like forgotten ash.

Until you realize, there are always Titians.

They live life large, full and wide. Their years of continual growth contain stories layered over hundreds of thousands of hours. Even in the harshest conditions, they bend and sway to their purpose. They can magically grow tall even after a blazing forest fire. Their bark, black, and chard from the fire will remain for hundreds of years. They are strong, they are epic, and they teach us we can be Titans if we just keep growing.

With gratitude and until tomorrow Titan Trees.

We can feel it in the air. She is coming just around the corner. The excitement to meet her builds like an encounter with an old friend. This last weekend she may have graced us briefly with a smile and a warm touch. Teasing us with her short stay, the scent of fresh cut grass drifts lightly through the air. We may have noticed the screen door could remain open even into dusk and the pop of soft blush peonies adorn our front yard. She may have gifted us with a big bunch of cherries, strawberries or peaches to overflow our pie tins. We may soon find ourselves thanking her for the dollops of soft serve, a cascade of fireworks, sand between our toes, beads of sweat from long bike rides, watermelon slices and lazy days.

She's summer, and she's here to bring us sunny, happy time memories.

It's hard not to find gratitude in her so let's just say thank you, make our summer bucket list, throw on our flip flops and slip on our sunnies

What is on your summer bucket list? Where will you find gratitude and joy in the months ahead?

Here is mine.

Until tomorrow Summer Lovers!

This post contains an affiliate link.

Well, hello! The July 4th holiday weekend is almost upon us. Some of us will be visiting county fairs, going to the lake or enjoying delicious backyard BBQs. Hosting a BBQ made me dream of cool, crisp watermelon. July 4th weekend always provides plenty of hot sun and humid weather. It could be said, nothing beats the heat and celebrates July 4th better than a slice of sweet, crunchy watermelon. To kick off America's birthday, let's create a summer celebration worthy drink to toast in the 240th birthday of the good old U.S.A.

Let's get this party started! Today's project is to create a watermelon boba fruit smoothie. Who doesn't love a boba or bubble drink? Let's check out how to incorporate these tapioca balls into this luscious 4th of July smoothie and make a party worth beverage without the alcohol.

If you want to check out the exact recipe, you can find it here on the "Daily Burn." I made a big batch of boba ahead of time and stored them in simple syrup. For the record, not all boba are created equal. The original bag of boba I purchase never fully hydrated. They were crunchy and awful. However, the black boba used in the video are super delicious. They can be purchased on Amazon {affiliate link}. Just remember chew your boba. They are slippery than snot!

Let the July 4th celebration begin. Cheers to you America and all you sweet watermelons out there!

Hey Creatives! Yes, you. I'm shouting out to everyone reading this post today. Yes, you. Yes you are creative and as we get deeper and deeper into this crazy experiment, I'd like to hear how you create. Let's dive deeper into what it means to create for you. In fact, I'd like to interview for this blog.

Do you have something you are working on that you would like to share? Are you a lawyer by day but a novelist by night? Let's talk about your writing. Are you a mom and bake like hell? Let's talk recipes. Do you create projects by hacking Ikea or hairpin legs? That's going to blow everyone's mind. Let's talk furniture. Are you a budding musician? Let's talk about beats and futures. Do you have parenting figured out? Let's hear some wise wisdom. Maybe you are an artist? Let's talk about your work. You opened a farm? Holy cow! Let's talk sheep. You want to create something, anything but don't know where to start?

Let's talk about creating and what means for you. Today's project is to reach out to me and get talking. Let's do an interview. You will get a cool illustration from spilling your work as well as an interesting post to share with everyone in your life. 

I'm waiting hear from you. Contact me here and let's get talking!

Day 182.5 - Hey folks. Looking at the calendar, we are halfway done with this Create & Change experiment. This blog started out as an untested hypothesis with the premise if we create everyday, we change our lives.

Honestly, over the course of the 182.5 days, there have been moments when the work has felt wrong, empty and ended in a question: what's it for? I would tell myself "Who wants to read about overnight pickles, IKEA kites and fighting resistance? This is a joke." There were moments when I wanted to throw the blog in the trash and quit. I told myself this work doesn't make a difference. There were times when I tried to convince myself that if I made the content more professional and design specific, it would do a better job of getting readership. There were times when I thought this blog was an absolute sunk cost and a complete waste of time. There were times when I made stupid typos, really stupid typos and then told myself with ridiculous mistakes like these, no one would ever take me seriously. I told myself the writing was boring and the photography was juvenile. There were days when no one commented, the blender blew up and I was sicker than a dog due to late nights. Somedays, I was just dead exhausted. Most days I told myself, I'm not good enough to do this. I will never succeed helping others create to change their lives. 

But I kept going. Why?

For you. I kept going and will keep going for everyone out there that can't bring themselves to change. This blog is for the person who tells themselves they can't do anything right. It's for the person who won't ship something until it's perfect. It's for the person who needs voyeuristic inspiration. It's for the person who wanders and the person who wonders. It's for the person who is afraid to change and who can't bring themselves to do the work they were intended to do.

Today, I ask you, to create halfway. I'll do half of the work for you. I'll blow up the blender, make ok illustrations, continue to create typos, break cameras, worry this is a waste of time, doubt the process but create projects that might inspire a next step. Your half is to take a leap of faith on yourself and jump into creating something bigger than yourself. If you weren't afraid to create today, would your life be different tomorrow?

Creating is going to keep us going and take us to the change we need to make. Together we will get halfway to somewhere we need to be. Let's take the next 182.5 days and make change in us that no one can ignore.

Let's keep going and Create & Change together.

xoxo,

Oh, hi! Well, it's officially full on summer. I was just thinking it would be great to get outside and create a project to enjoy the summer today. After going through my editorial calendar, no project was just right amount of summer. When I took a break to water the garden, I noticed some of our cucumbers were ready for the picking. Snapping off those large, green prickly veggies brought back childhood memories. Every summer about this time of year, we would make Overnight Pickles using the bounty of cucumbers from the garden. Overnight Pickles are sour, a little sweet and whole lot of delicious. They go amazingly well with every dish summer has to offer.

Today's project is to create a batch overnight pickles. That's it!

Overnight Pickles

• 3/4 cup white wine vinegar
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1 1/2 tablespoons salt
• 1 tablespoon red pepper chili flakes
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/4 cup thinly sliced red onion (optional)
• 2 medium sized cucumbers peeled and sliced thinly

Mix vinegar, water, salt, chili flakes and sugar together in a large jar. Add the red onion and cucumbers and let sit overnight. Enjoy them with a buttery ear of corn or a side of fried chicken.

Let me know how your pickles turn out and see you tomorrow, big dill!

Day 180 - You guys! It's Monday! Super!!! Awesome!!! I love Monday!!! 

Really? Nope. Yuck. I hate positive mumbo jumbo and Mondays. Who likes Mondays? Geeze. I hauled myself out of bed this morning, only to find I wanted to crawl right back to Friday. The bright spot of the morning was when I realized the upcoming weekend is a holiday. Fourth of July is right around the corner. Oh, how I love celebrating the birth of the good, old U.S.A. 

When I was in my mid twenties, I had nothing but smooth unwrinkled skin, a totally oblivious sense to danger and some extra cash. So, I took a trip with great friends to New York City over the 4th of July weekend. My friend lived in amazing part of Manhattan called Hells Kitchen in a fabulous rent controlled apartment. It was in smack dab in the middle of everything. 

After a long flight, we arrived at her apartment, and was greeted with a dreamy list of "things to do on July 4th weekend" and homemade rhubarb crumble. The list was ambitious and the crumble fabulous. What I, however, remember the most about that weekend was we checked everything off that very long list. This included taking the Q train to the one and only Nathan's Hot Dog Eating contest on Coney Island and watching the fireworks on a boat on the Hudson river.

It was a blast-it-out, crazy, amazing weekend that will forever go down in my history book as one of the best 4th of July weekends ever. What is it about 4th of July that provides such magic? Reminiscing today forced me to sit down and make a list of how I would like to celebrate this 4th of July. Today's project is to create a non-stop fun 4th of July checklist. Where will you go? What will you eat? What will you see? 

I need to get back to dreaming about Jr.'s cheesecake and adding new places to watch fireworks on my checklist. Let me know where you are headed this 4th of July and how the 4th creates magic for you. See you tomorrow great Americans!

Lemonade stand update:

5:00 Lemonade stand closes. We made $10! Little entrepreneurs can't wait to do it again. Creating on those aspirations is inspiring. See you tomorrow lemonheads. 

3:30-4:30 Lemonade stand open for business.

12:00-3:30 executive offsite.

10:30 am Product made.

9:25 - 9:45 Executive team nailed down vision. Lemonade stand business plan complete. Lemonade Inc. coming soon!

Day 179 - Hey. Sunday is here and there are buckets of lemons growing on our backyard lemon tree. Even after living in California for seven years, that fact that lemons grow in my back yard is a wildly bizarre concept. When I was a kid living in Illinois, the closest thing I got to lemonade was the powdery mix of Country Time Lemonade. Seeing real lemons when I was a kid was like seeing a Yeti. A sighting was never going to happen and if it did, there was no chance of capturing either a Yeti or a lemon.

Flash forward thirty years later and I am now in lemon heaven. Of course my kids have no idea how lucky they are to have lemons growing in their backyard. When they wake this morning, we will use the day to plan and create a lemonade empire. It will be their first lesson in entrepreneurship. In preparation for today's lemon extravaganza, I have created some lemonade printables to get Lemonade Inc. started. Go ahead and use them for any future lemonade stand pop-ups: Lemonade Banner & Lemonade Sign.

This brings me to today's project. Sit down today and start a small business. Do just one task to set your business in motion. Maybe it's sitting down to flush out the business idea or write the first word of the product name. Whatever the first step create a plan to set your aspirations in moving. Will it be easy? Never! Will you doubt you? Of course! However, put all that aside and just do one thing today to take another step to tomorrow. 

In the meantime, I'm going to keep you posted throughout the day on our lemonade stand inc. Look out for updates and photos all day today. We are going to make the juice worth the squeeze. Stay tuned.

Day 178 - Hey! Here we are again. It's Saturday and I don't want to keep you from experiencing the day dedicated to watching cartoons and mowing the lawn. For some of us, Saturday is a day devoted to kicking back, having a beer and going to the pool. In short, it's an important day to power down and party up.

In the spirit of a party, let's sketch up some party animals. Pull out your sketch book and get to drawing up a great party animal. You can keep it civil or go nuts. Your drawings can be classy or trashy. It's up to you. Remember Spuds MacKenzie from the 1980's Bud light commercials? So classy!

The bottom line is, enjoy your Saturday. Create the party time you so rightly deserve and need. See you tomorrow party animals! Go wild!

Day 176 - Hi ho! Friday is here. It's judgement day today. That is, I have entered a bake-off. If I haven't mentioned it before, I would call myself a baking maven. Am I a professional? Nope but do like to fiddle in the kitchen. Am I competitive? That's an understatement. Let's just say my family has banned me from playing Monopoly for the rest of my natural born life. What can I say? Baking and being competitive are in my blood. 

Today, I entered a bake off with two desserts submitted. The first, a monster cookie, containing all the right sweet and salty ingredients to light up the pleasure parts of the brain. The second, a homemade salted caramel that has been deemed by many "throw a man overboard and I'll take his" delicious. I spent six hours yesterday baking and perfecting these desserts.

More importantly, I have realized a contest is a great way to flex creative thinking. A contest provides constrains on creativity but opens up the mind to think strategically. For example, the contest submission today required the item to be a dessert, contain a rainbow and be on a plate. After some intel, I discovered that peanut M & M's are a favorite of some of the judges. I therefore tailored my entry based on the intel and carried the rainbow theme right down to the serving dishes. Well, it seems like creativity and strategy go well together like peanut butter and chocolate.

If you haven't guess it yet, today's project will be to enter a contest. The contest must stretch you in a creative way. It could be entering a pie eating contest at a local fair, a short story contest through a local newspaper or a national photo competition. Here are a few links to popular contests:

The Week Magazine Weekly Contest

Short Story Competitions

Eating Contests

Photography Competition

Code Competitions

Drawing Contests

Get those creative juices flowing. Go ahead and share your contest projects or any creative project up on the Create & Change Facebook Visitor's post page. It's just waiting for you to post your creative work. Well, I need to get back to deciding if the monster cookie or caramels will win. Have fun creating and see you tomorrow competitors!

Day 175 - Why hello there. Maybe it's because it's summer or the events that have recently happened in world but rainbows have been on my mind lately. What is it about rainbows that make us stop and wonder? When a rainbow appears, we run to the kitchen window, pull over the car and gaggle in delight. When a rainbow appears in a room, we take time to figure out what is creating the prism reflection. Remember the song by Kermit the Frog "Rainbow Connection"? It was an Academy Award Nominated song from 1979. Go ahead and listen to it. It's a deep and thoughtful song. In short, rainbows are powerful, supernatural and beautiful. They remind us that diversity is something we should take time out to respect and celebrate. It's a part of our humanity.

In the honor of rainbows, today's project is to make a rainbow connection. Create support and lift up diversity by creating a rainbow today. Design and wear a rainbow pin, cover your window in rainbow Post-it notes or pour your heart into making a batch of these summer fun rainbow popsicles. Whatever rainbow item you choose to create, make it visible to others and celebrate every color of the rainbow.

Rainbow Connection Popsicles

Makes approximately 3 cups popsicle base. Each popsicle mold holds different quantities so check the popsicle package mold for capacity.

Popsicle Liquid Base

• 1-13.5 oz can coconut milk (full fat)
• 4 limes juice squeezed
• 3 frozen bananas
• 1 cup frozen pineapple 
• 1/4 cup honey

Popsicle Colors

• 1/2 cup frozen rasberries
• 1/2 cup frozen strawberries
• 1/2 cup frozen peaches
• 5 fresh baby carrots
• 1 & 1/2 cup frozen pineapple (1 cup for yellow. 1/2 cup for blue)
• 1/2 cup fresh spinach
• a tiny bit of blue food coloring
• 3/4 cup frozen blue berries
• popsicle mold or shaped ice cube tray
• wooden popsicle sticks (if needed)

Step 1: Place all base ingredients in a blender and blend till smooth. Measure and pour the base liquid into 6 individual bowls.

Step 2:

For the Red color, pour the base liquid of one bowl back into the blender. Add the raspberries & strawberries. Blend till smooth. Pour a small amount of red liquid into each popsicle mold or ice cube tray. Rinse blender clean.

For the Orange color, pour the base liquid of one bowl back into the blender. Add the carrots and peaches. Blend till smooth. Pour a small amount of orange liquid into each popsicle mold or ice cube tray on top of the red. Rinse blender clean.

For the Yellow color, pour the base liquid of one bowl back into the blender. Add 1 cup pineapple. Blend till smooth. Pour a small amount of yellow liquid into each popsicle mold or ice cube tray on top of the orange. Rinse blender clean.

For the Green color, pour the base liquid of one bowl back into the blender. Add the spinach. Blend till smooth. Pour a small amount of green liquid into each popsicle mold or ice cube tray on top of the yellow. Rinse blender clean.

For the Blue color, pour the base liquid of one bowl back into the blender. Add a drop of blue food coloring and 1/2 cup of pineapple. Blend till smooth. Pour a small amount of blue liquid into each popsicle mold or ice cube tray on top of the green. Rinse blender clean.

For the Purple color, pour the base liquid of one bowl back into the blender. Add the blueberries. Blend till smooth. Pour a small amount of purple liquid into each popsicle mold or ice cube tray on top of the blue. 

Step 3: Place popsicle sticks in the popsicle molds and freeze according to the manufacturer's directions.

I'm going to get back to thinking more about rainbows. Enjoy the rainbow connection and see you tomorrow lovers & dreamers!

Day 173 - Hello There! It's officially summer. Does it feel like summer where you are at today? It does here. This week I'm trying to create ways to celebrate summer. I'm thinking about pool time, popsicles and flying kites. Who doesn't love the thrill of flying a kite? After shopping around, I realized there were no kites to be found. 

Whenever I am at Ikea, I always forget my reusable blue Ikea bag in the car. So unfortunately and fortunately, I have four or five of these bags just stuffed away in my garage. Today I found one in the trunk of my car and thought, "What am I going to do with another Ikea bag?" Well watch this video and see if you think this is a good way to recycle a crappy old bag.

Today's project is to create a little blue kite (or a brown, red, black, green, grey kite). The color doesn't matter but looking around your house for all the necessary supplies will be an important part of the creating process. Here is what you will need for your little blue kite:

• one blue Ikea blue bag or other plastic/paper bag 
• one 1/8" dowel rod cut into 2 pieces measuring 17.5" & 12" (consider using kitchen skewers with the points trimmed off)
• clear shipping tape
• scissors
• thin twine

Watch the video above and you will be set to go fly a kite up to the highest height and keep the creativity coming. Just remember to fly your kite safely and away from trees and anything deemed unsafe. Have fun flying and see you tomorrow windbreakers!

Day 173 - Hey everyone. Today, I thought I would turn over the blog and today's post to a very special guest creator, my five year old daughter. I am constantly amazed by what she creates and seeing the world through her creativity. She is constantly teaching me new ways of doing and challenges my creative self. When I handed over today's post to her, I was in awe of how much amazing creative work she generated in a short period of time. She thought up the idea, shopped for the styling, set up the photoshoot, styled the ingredients, tried different angles, insisted on shooting the photography herself and told me what to write. Frankly, her thought process was incredibly creative. I would have never thought to do half the stuff she instantly knew how to do. Kids have an amazing way of tackling life with such creative zeal. What happens to us as we grow up? Does life suck the creative possibilities right out of our brains? Well, without further adieu, let's get down to the good stuff, the secret movie munch mix.

Hi. This blog post is about a secret movie munch mix that is inspired by the movie "The Secret Life of Pets." I haven't seen the movie yet because it is due out July 8th. As you can tell, I'm super excited to see the movie. Below you can find a list of ingredients for this secret movie munch mix that I created. Today's project is to make your own secret movie munch mix. Use any ingredients that make you happy but the munch mix must include popcorn and you must secretly sneak the snack into the movie theater.

Secret Movie Munch Mix 

1 serving

• 1 cup popcorn
• 1 package "The Secret Life of Pets" fruit flavored snacks
• 1/4 plain M & M's
• 1/4 cup freeze dried cinnamon apple slices
• 1/4 cup Rolled Gold Butter Snap pretzels

Place ingredients in an airtight container and shake. Enjoy during your favorite movie.

Goodbye and enjoy your snack mix. Have fun at your movie! My mom will see you tomorrow pets! 

Day 172 - Oh, hello. Monday is here and to be perfectly honest, today I'm not sure what to create. Maybe the first day of summer has made my brain crave a reboot. Or maybe I just need a day off. Either way, don't we all wish our brains had a refresh button? Imagine hitting refresh and instantly ideas would present themselves to us on a perfectly reloaded page. Doesn't our very own refresh button sound amazing, efficient and very android like?

My Brain Trying To Refresh

Well, since we are humans and not androids, lets be human and have fun today. Let's create a refresh button even if it's silly. Maybe draw a simple reload doodle on a Post-It note. Use some tape and cardboard to develop a 3-D reload button. Use a serious sketch book and draw up reload button. Sometimes stepping away mentally from what we need to do and creating something completely different refreshes our brains.

Well, I'm going to keep drawing my refresh button, hope my brain refreshes soon and kick off summer a great creative idea. Now, go reload your brain too and see you tomorrow humans!