The Art of Creative Living

I'm currently reading a really inspiring and uplifting book (The Art of Creative Living) by Thomas Kinkade. Some of you may know of his stunning paintings that capture the living light of all of creation. Now this guy has a real handle on how to live a life attuned to your passion, which is an underlying theme here at WA, so I'd like to share some of his wisdom and insight with you all.

...'creative folks are convinced in their deepest being - in their "heart," if you will - that even the most profound problems at work, at home, or in relationships are fixable. They assume that the most difficult puzzle can be solved and that ultimately, success can be theirs.'

Isn't that great? To many of us here at WA, the idea of building a website, learning about keywords, SEO and promoting our products, is indeed, a puzzle; and we come up against problem after problem with glitches in our themes, difficulties nutting out plug-ins, headaches with keywords, disappearing images, impossible infographics and the list goes on. It's tempting to tear out our hair and give up. But if we've chosen our niche well - one we're passionate about - we can apply Thomas Kinkade's thinking by being unfailingly optimistic that each of these obstacles can be surmounted as they arise, and we can forge on to success. Giving up is not an option if we firmly believe every difficulty is fixable.

...'If you have this artist's optimistic heart, something inside you will always compel you to take an additional step to make things just a little better - to shape that lump of clay into a beautiful vase, to weld pieces of assembled junk into a majestic piece of sculpture, to put an extra touch or two on that business report, or to go the second mile in that relationship.'

To put it simply, to the true artist, no matter what your field of interest, mediocrity is unacceptable. The extra time spent working on a piece, the added detail and the extensive research - these are the things that demarcate an acceptable product from an outstanding one. In terms of WA, that should translate to more traffic and more sales, which in turn will motivate us to even higher levels of optimism.

'The best way to begin your quest for your great, passionate calling in life is simply to ask yourself this question: "If I could spend my time doing one thing for one week, what would that one thing be?"

I suspect that many people who struggle with deciding on an appropriate niche for their website may benefit from pondering that question. It has certainly helped me to realize that the niche I've chosen is something that I'm interested in and somewhat knowledgeable about, but I certainly wouldn't wake up every morning with a burning desire to focus entirely on that single topic. Far from it. And that's got me thinking that I need to change my niche, simplify life and get in touch with what really speaks to me. I have a passion for living an alternative lifestyle, unbounded by the dictates of society. It can be manifest in a myriad ways. I intend to start small - with the cottage industry I'm just getting off the ground - and to expand from there. I have the vision. I wake up wanting to create more items to kick-start my business, which has as a central theme the promotion of anti-consumerism - specifically to encourage others to stop giving their dollars to big business and to support local artisans instead. Recycling, green living and community co-operation are also key concepts incorporated into my overall plan. I love getting my hands dirty, making beautiful things and writing about that process. Time for a sea-change.

I thoroughly recommend Thomas Kinkade's book and presume it can be found on Amazon or at major bookstores. I'm not an Amazon affiliate yet but found my copy at a lifeline store. It's particularly interesting from a spiritual perspective, for those of you who share that particular value and I hope you've taken something useful from my prattling.

Melinda