Exploring Life was launched in January 2021. The articles are organized into five categories. Within each category you can browse articles by topic. Subscribe to the monthly newsletter to be notified of new articles.
1. Creative Living
Creative Living is the foundation for deep creative work. Deep creativity begins in the space between the thoughts, feelings and intuitions of inner life and the situations and circumstances that form our personal life space in the outer world. The essence of a creative life is the quality of engagement and interaction we bring to the experience of being alive. In this sense, a creative living is a firm decision to turn directly into the full force of your own life and create something beneficial for self and others at the same time.
Quality of Engagement
The Art of Aging
- Aging is a Fierce Advisor
- Aging: A Frontier of Belonging
- Aging: The Art of Acceptance
- Reclaiming the Right to Become Old
- Time is Your Most Precious Resource
2. Ideation
Ideation is the foundation of a creative practice. Ideas provide the essential raw material for creative work. Ideation begins with a firm intention to create something of value in the world. It is the process of ideation, not the result, which matters most. We facilitate ideation by developing skills including concentration, focus, discernment, pattern recognition, incubation, awareness, mindfulness, and meditation.
Transformative Journal Writing
- Transformative Journal Writing
- Problems with Journal Writing
- The Life of Words
- The Space Between Words and Life
3. Practices
Practices infuse ideas you value most with intention and potential. They provide a space to experiment and improvise with ideas you value. The essence of a practice is quality of engagement with creative work and the experience of flow. Genuine creative work infuses your spirit with an innate sense of purpose, energy, and fulfillment. The product of outcome of a practice is secondary to the creative experience, but the results of your work are always shared with others. In this sense, a creative practice is a bridge between your inner life and the outer world.
Creative Agility Practice
- Creative Agility Practice: Introduction
- Creative Agility Practice: 1. Optimal Breathing
- Creative Agility Practice: 2. Relaxation
- Creative Agility Practice: 3. Visualization
Life Inside a Pandemic
- Inside Pandemic Stress
- Isolation: A Faculty for Understanding
- The Liminal Frontiers of COVID-19
- Anxiety as Faithful Companion
- What to Remember About Mental Health
- Refuse a Return to Normal
- On Enduring Difficult Situations
4. Collaboration
Collaboration brings your creative work out into the open and provides a way to connect with others. In a deep sense, creative work is about cultivating relationships. This demands the courage to share your work in the spirit of building an expanded sense of community in your life. Genuine collaboration grounded in the spirit of friendship not competition. In its highest form, collaboration culminates in the wisdom of belonging.
Interview: An Artist’s Journey Series
5. Wisdom
The culmination of a creative practice is the development of personal wisdom. Deep creative work constantly broadens and expands the experience of being alive. Against this backdrop of constant personal growth, we recognize that our time here is fleeting and fragile. The most we can hope for in life is to leave something valuable and practical in the hearts and minds of the loved ones and friends we must leave behind. Our body becomes compost for the earth, but the spirit of our presence can contribute to the lives of our loved ones that continue without us.