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Exploring Life

On the Frontiers of Creativity

Archive

ELN: Creative Agility Practice (04/21)

Exploring Life Newsletter

Exploring Life Newsletter (ELN) | April 2021 What's New? Creativity is a skill that can be cultivated and nourished. I wrote a series exploring a simple practice I use to help stimulate creative possibility: a) Creative Agility Practice: Introduction; b) 1. Optimal Breathing; c) 2. Relaxation; … [Read more...] about ELN: Creative Agility Practice (04/21)

Creative Agility Practice: 3. Visualization

Photo by Jr Korpa on Unsplash

Visualization is a skill fundamental to creative work. An artist visualizes an idea then works to express it in a compelling way. An athlete visualizes an optimal performance in preparation for a competitive event then works to bring it to life. An inventor visualizes how something works then works … [Read more...] about Creative Agility Practice: 3. Visualization

Creative Agility Practice: 2. Relaxation

Photo by Jr Korpa on Unsplash

Relaxation is the second core discipline in my creative agility practice. Deep creativity requires a relaxed state of concentration, focus, and discernment. States of mind that inhibit creative work include multi-tasking, false urgency, pessimism, inflexible scheduling, and distraction. Relaxation … [Read more...] about Creative Agility Practice: 2. Relaxation

Creative Agility Practice: 1. Optimal Breathing

Photo by Jr Korpa on Unsplash

Creative Agility Practice: 1. Optimal Breathing Breathing is the foundation for a healthy nervous system. Optimal breathing is fundamental to creative work. In contrast, suboptimal breathing stresses the nervous system and inhibits creative work. It is self-evident that optimal breathing is … [Read more...] about Creative Agility Practice: 1. Optimal Breathing

Creative Agility Practice: Introduction

Photo by Jr Korpa on Unsplash

Creativity flows from a mind that is flexible, adaptable, and responsive to context, situation, and circumstance. Creative work is about exploration and discovery, which demands constant improvement, overcoming boundaries and limitations, and consistently working on the outer edges of one’s ability. … [Read more...] about Creative Agility Practice: Introduction

ELN: Transformative Journal Writing (03/21)

Exploring Life Newsletter

Exploring Life Newsletter (ELN) | March, 2021 What's New? Transformative journal writing is an approach to journaling inspired by deep creativity. Here are the first three articles in this series: a) Transformative Journal Writing; b) Problems with Journal Writing; and c) The Life of Words. … [Read more...] about ELN: Transformative Journal Writing (03/21)

The Space Between Words and Life

What can you possibly write, After all these years Of forgetting your own words, That matters? All the abandoned thoughts Forgotten ideas Lost potential, Exiled within Graveyards of paper And writing That died too soon. You have taken the easy path As if just writing was enough, Never … [Read more...] about The Space Between Words and Life

The Life of Words

Transformative Journal Writing

Transformative journal writing is a conversation that takes place on the frontiers between inner life and the outer world. In this sense, journaling is way to integrate introspection and interaction. There is a creative space between the words you write and the ways in which we engage with the world … [Read more...] about The Life of Words

Problems with Journal Writing

Transformative Journal Writing

Many claims are made about the benefits of journal writing, including wellbeing, reduction of anxiety and depression, greater self-awareness, and an increase in happiness. Even though the precise ways in which journaling produces positive change is mysterious, it is generally accepted that journal … [Read more...] about Problems with Journal Writing

ELN: Cultivating a Creative Life (02/21)

Exploring Life Newsletter

Exploring Life Newsletter (ELN) | February, 2021 What's New? Creativity means different things to different people. In Cultivating a Creative Life, I share my perspective on the nature of creative experience. Two related articles offer more depth: a) Deep Creativity: Inside the Full … [Read more...] about ELN: Cultivating a Creative Life (02/21)

Transformative Journal Writing

Transformative Journal Writing

Not too long ago, I started losing interest in journal writing. It was an unwelcome feeling because I had always enjoyed the experience of journaling. In fact, I have been keeping various kinds of journals and notebooks for many years. However, I started to question what the purpose of all this … [Read more...] about Transformative Journal Writing

The Nature of Creative Work

The essence of creative work is the immersion of body, mind, and spirit in a state of flow. It is a form of deep engagement with an activity you are passionate about. To engage in creative work, you must enter a zone of complete awareness free from distraction. Your work and your being flow together … [Read more...] about The Nature of Creative Work

Deep Creativity

Deep creativity is the ability to make something interesting from subjective experience. It is the ability to enter a state of flow and find meaning in your life. Deep creativity is a way of working with the full force of your own life and discovering things about yourself you did not know. It is a … [Read more...] about Deep Creativity

Cultivating a Creative Life

Exploring Life is a gathering place for people interested in living a creative life. The central question of this work is, “How can you live a creative life?” The raw material used to fashion a creative life is subjective experience. Your experiences are entirely unique. No two people share the same … [Read more...] about Cultivating a Creative Life

On Enduring Difficult Situations

SometimesYou will find yourself in difficult situations,That linger, frustrate, and refuse to relent.As your anxiety intensifiesRumination, frustration, and exhaustionAre sure to follow,And gradually you become something less than yourselfUntil all that remainsIs an unwelcome stranger;An encounter … [Read more...] about On Enduring Difficult Situations

ELN: Seeking Relief from Pandemic Stress (12/20)

Exploring Life Newsletter

What's New? The COVID-19 pandemic is a source of global anxiety. These articles seek to identify sources of resilience and solace while respecting the genuine hardship and adversity caused by pandemic stress. Inside Pandemic StressThe Wisdom of ControlAnxiety as Faithful CompanionIsolation: A … [Read more...] about ELN: Seeking Relief from Pandemic Stress (12/20)

The Liminal Frontiers of COVID-19

The Liminal Frontiers of Covid-19

A liminal period arrives as foreboding feelings of uncertainty caused by periods of deep change. It is first felt as a disturbing break from the past in which a familiar way of life has been wholly lost. A key characteristic of liminality is the impossibility of retreat; that is, there is no way … [Read more...] about The Liminal Frontiers of COVID-19

The Wisdom of Control

Coping with COVID-19

Unexpectedly, you find yourself on the foreboding frontiers of a pandemic. The threat of being hunted by an invisible predator never leaves you alone. It is disinterested in your needs, desires, or hopes. It does not care about you, your family, or your friends. Everyone is prey, a potential host, … [Read more...] about The Wisdom of Control

Inside Pandemic Stress

Inside Pandemic Stress

In the beginning, it didn't seem like a serious threat. Early warning cries deteriorated into silence. It seemed too far away for me to be concerned. And then, suddenly, it was too late. With remarkable agility the unseen hitchhiker travelled the globe. My feelings of insecurity intensified as it … [Read more...] about Inside Pandemic Stress

ELN: Aging and the Transience of Life (11/20)

Exploring Life Newsletter

What's New? On the Frontiers of Aging: This month's focus on Exploring Life explores aging as a source of insight, inspiration, and wisdom. The unifying message is that aging is one of our most trusted advisors in our quest to live a life worth living. This month's articles are: Aging is a … [Read more...] about ELN: Aging and the Transience of Life (11/20)

Reclaiming the Right to Become Old

Reclaiming the Right to Become Old

Thankfully, it hasn't been a frequent occurrence. I remember the first time when, during a conversation, when I was met with the phrase, "Well, you're old." I can't even remember the specifics of the conversation but there were two different perspectives being discussed. I do know that the … [Read more...] about Reclaiming the Right to Become Old

Aging: The Art of Acceptance

aging-the-art-of-acceptance

I don't remember when I first noticed it. Ten years ago, on my 50th birthday, I didn't feel its presence. Now I do and it has caused some inner turbulence. But aging is like that. From time to time, it will remind me of how small I am, that I don't always get to choose, that I'm not always in … [Read more...] about Aging: The Art of Acceptance

Aging: A Frontier of Belonging

The essence of aging is belonging.

There was a time when I equated aging with the unwelcome process of becoming old. During my youth, becoming old was something I watched happen to my parents and older family members. I hide myself behind the convenient notion that aging was something that happened to other people. I didn't feel as … [Read more...] about Aging: A Frontier of Belonging

What to Remember about Mental Health

The Covid-19 pandemic conjures strange and unfamiliar forms of stress that destabilize our sense of wellbeing. Our world is immersed in uncertainty. Relationships with family and friends have suffered. Screens mediate participation. Feelings of isolation intensify anxiety. Many suffer unexpected … [Read more...] about What to Remember about Mental Health

Your Own Voice

Trapped inside the frantic cacophony Of modern life, Plagued by harsh, jarring sounds Of protest, outrage, and fear, You unexpectedly discover That the absence of your own voice, The one that has yet to be heard, Is a consequence of never allowing Your vulnerabilities To speak. The … [Read more...] about Your Own Voice

Isolation: A Faculty for Understanding

We are not meant to live in isolation from one another. Companionship, friendship, and belonging are essential to wellbeing. The experience of isolation conjures haunting feelings of separation, disconnection, and exile; that is, isolation is a state of suffering. In the age of COVID-19, however, … [Read more...] about Isolation: A Faculty for Understanding

Aging is a Fierce Advisor

You cannot remember when you first noticed it.What was the first sign?There was a time not long agoWhen the symptoms were not apparent,And you could not humble yourselfTo the wisdom it offered. But now you feelThe intensity, awe, and humilityOf that sacred energy moving through you.After all … [Read more...] about Aging is a Fierce Advisor

Turn Away

Sometimes you must let goOf all the usual desiresThat conspired to lead you to this placeOf contingency, false urgency, and exhaustion Nearly sixty years have passedAnd as your body begins its retreatYou are still disappointedTo find yourself on that beaten and tired pathRemaining faithful to … [Read more...] about Turn Away

Anxiety as Faithful Companion

You have always felt the tension of its presenceStrugglingWith an opposing forceAn unnamed fearWith its dark ruminationsAs it arises once again from an unseen placeDeep withinTo, once again, take possession of your senses You have journeyed through the frontiers of lifeWith your anxiety as … [Read more...] about Anxiety as Faithful Companion

Time is Your Most Precious Resource

You rush from one task to the next conditioned by a false sense urgency. The modern obsession is about getting more done in less time. The seduction of busyness and its rapid cycles that oscillate back and forth between this and that. Efficiency is the self-imposed tension of getting more things … [Read more...] about Time is Your Most Precious Resource

Refuse a Return to Normal

Now is the time for you to refuse a return to normal. You possess an innate desire for stability. You want the pattern of your life to stay the same. You strive to keep uncertainty confined. You attempt to force the unexpected into submission. You hide yourself from change. Most of all, you avoid … [Read more...] about Refuse a Return to Normal

Within Your Vulnerability is Wisdom

Vulnerability is the essence of your presence in this world. You will not live forever. You forget that time is your most precious resource. You live as though the day is disposable. You wait until all those false contingencies are resolved. You inhabit a life that is not your own. You worry that … [Read more...] about Within Your Vulnerability is Wisdom

An Artist’s Journey Series-3

An Artist's Journey: Interview with Jerry Wennstrom

The Ultimate Act of Responsibility In this third and final installment of an interview with artist Jerry Wennstrom, I ask him to explore genuine creativity, fear as a process of creative transformation, how he has learned the things he values the most. Life is Creativity Brian … [Read more...] about An Artist’s Journey Series-3

An Artist’s Journey Series-2

An Artist's Journey: Interview with Jerry Wennstrom

Outrageous Trust in Something Unseen In this second installment of an interview with artist Jerry Wennstrom, I ask him to explore the ideas of deep learning, outrageous trust, and bliss. The Artistry of Risk Brian Alger: Dan Eldon embraced, “Life as safari.” Erik … [Read more...] about An Artist’s Journey Series-2

An Artist’s Journey Series-1

An Artist's Journey: Interview with Jerry Wennstrom

The Allurement of Inspiration This is part one in a three-part series of an interview with artist Jerry Wennstrom and the frontiers of creative expression. Brian Alger: You have changed your identity and presence in a deep and fundamental way. What are the key experiences in your life … [Read more...] about An Artist’s Journey Series-1

An Artist’s Journey Series: Introduction

An Artist's Journey: Interview with Jerry Wennstrom

Art is a pilgrimage of identity. An artist is a person who lives on the frontiers of creative expression. More than a producer of aesthetic objects, the artist's life exemplifies personal growth and transformation. In this three-part interview with artist Jerry Wennstrom, I ask him to explore the … [Read more...] about An Artist’s Journey Series: Introduction

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Exploring Life: On the Frontiers of Experience

Exploring Life (EL) is a gathering place for people interested in the frontiers of creativity. We explore the nature of creativity through creative practice, ideation, projects, collaboration, and wisdom. Visit the articles page for an overview or look through the archive. You can read more about EL in the about section. If this work interests you, subscribe to our newsletter to receive monthly updates.

Past Newsletters

ELN: Creative Agility Practice (04/21)

ELN: Transformative Journal Writing (03/21)

ELN: Cultivating a Creative Life (02/21)

ELN: Seeking Relief from Pandemic Stress (12/20)

ELN: Aging and the Transience of Life (11/20)

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