The Creativity Tree

Hello there!

We are all creative, right? 

Well for many of us we would deny that we are, but in fact the comment is correct.

We do indeed have the capacity to be creative, we just do not allow ourselves to be so or acknowledge our particular talents or simply do not see where we fit in the world of creativity becuase we have judged and compared ourselves with other luminaries.

So today my thoughts are on where do we fit on the creativity tree.

What are the roles? What do they do?

Here is what I think.

We are all members of the creativity tree and we number three!

1) Visionaries

Highly creative visionary types tend to live where the tree shows the most growth – at the end of the branch – the last leaf right at the end!

These types tend to be loners for long periods as they need to have a 360 degree perspective that is individualistic and yet able to see the whole. There role is to stretch and grow our society.

2) Artisans

Those who are creative but are still needing support tend to be on branches that are closer to the trunk. I call these the Artisans.

They are closer to the tree, usually less introverted and need others to support them. They need to be part of the society they live in and thery produce or translate the ideas of the artisans for the general populace. They are friends with the visionaries and a bridge to society.

3) Supporters

People who support creative types, recognise their skills and realise they need to support and keep the tree alive as a functioning organism.

Supporters are usually conformers to society in the area of creativity, but may have a hidden yen to be more creative and are learning through observation what they need to do. (I should point out here that they may have equal capacity to be the visionary in their field of expertise e.g. administration, financing etc but may not recognise their creativity in this area of their life)

Each type is essential to the whole creative world we live in, each person plays his part.

Each type has its shadow – the shadow is needed to incubate its growth and allow the glory of creative actualisation.

Enjoy the role you have in the tree and know that at anytime you can change your role, should you wish to learn other aspects of the creative process.

Till next time

Peace, love and creativity

Melody

What do you really want?

Hello there

Today I caught myself out!

It was 3.30pm, I was on the road during a busy work day and I thought longingly of my cup of caffe latte.

Yep! I thought, no doubt about it – its time for afternoon tea!

As I moved into the cafe and got ready to make my order a strange thing happened.

I stoppped and breathed and dared ask myself the question:

‘ What do you really want?’

As I did this the waitress came to take my order and I bravely said

“Water please and give me a minute I need to work out what I want.”

Sometimes our lives are on such automoatic pilot that we have no idea what we are doing, what we want, what we like or what would make us happy. we are as the rats on the treadmill, running, running but to where?

I sipped the water slowly and felt its coolness slide down my throat, easing the heated tension in my oesophagus that I did not even know was there.

My breathing and pulse slowed, my muscles relaxed.

Now I was ready to ask me – what do you really want right now?

It wasn’t caffe latte or chocolate cake, in fact it wasn’t food at all.

What I really wanted was a hug and for someone to stop long enough to say to me – ‘hey kid – it’s ok!’

Nothing too sentimental, no need for in depth conversations and analysis or asking the reason why, I simply needed a hug.

When had I lasted asked for that I thought?

When we are children we demand hugs, kisses, affection, smiles and attention. We demand it and know we deserve to get it, but during the process of maturing and becoming an adult something changes, and if you are a mother you will know this better than most. Others take over, their needs seem of prime importance and ours get pushed further and further back until we are not even aware of our needs anymore.

Authenticity is about knowing when to have your needs met and when to give to others needs.

Other people’s needs I know how to meet  – mine I am obviously still working on.

But today was a breakthrough.

No more hiding my real needs behind psuedo needs or poor substitutes.

Having found out what I want – it’s time now to go and get it!

 

Till next time

May you have love, peace and lots of hugs in your life….

Melody

Complexity – What?

Hello there

 

Today I have a question:

Is love still LOVE when it is couched in criticism or negativity?

 

Today I heard the story about a friend of mine (let’s call her Jane) who is constantly being berated by another friend of hers (let’s call her Mary), for being clumsy.

Now I have known Jane for many years and while she is not graceful in all she does, I do not find her clumsy in my company, yet Mary finds her so.

When I quizzed Jane more deeply on the dynamic of her friendship with Mary she told me that Mary is always premising her remarks with – ‘I’m only telling you this because I love you and care for you!’

So what does this dynamic mean?

What kind of relationship do they have?

Is Mary expressing love?

Is the love valuable and beneficial for Jane to experience?

And are Mary’s actions integrated with her words of love?

 

Love is not simple is it?  As an ideal it may be but in reality is it?

Surely in this Jane/Mary dynamic there are some other expressions that are impinging on any love that Jane may be feeling from Mary?

It leads me to think that love is not simple but extremely complex when viewed through the dynamics of words and actions.

So maybe the best way to judge the truth of love is to be still and silent

and see how the love from the person in questions feels.

 

Do you feel happy, upset, angry, disempowered, reduce to less than yourself?

Does being loved bring you a great sense of peace and joy?

If not – what are you doing in this relationship you are in?

Why are you staying in it? what else do you get from  it - if it is not love?

See, I told you these thoughts were complex!

But, if you are unwilling to answer the tough questions, then you are unwilling to experience a deeper understanding of love.

What do you think?

 

Till next time

In love and peace

Melody

Optimism!

Hello there,

Today I am borrowing my blog from The Cup of Coffee Challenge, because the slogan needs to be spread!

Enjoy!

Till next time

Melody

Hello there!

Tomorrow I am visiting Brisbane, Queensland to holiday with friends and to celebrate birthdays and life.

At the Gallery of Modern Art in Brisbane there is a new exhibition on called:

Optimism. The World Needs it. We’ve got it!

It struck me to my core how important those words are, not just now, but in every moment and for every day and situation.

Optimism happens when we finally take charge of what is being said to us

and refuse to buckle under the onslaught of

negativity and fear.

Optimism happens when we take action – no matter how small or insignificant it may appear to others.

Optimism is the outcome of revised action.

And in this world at present on every front we are in need of ordinary people saying no to fear and commiting themselves to action.

Are you ready? Do you feel brave?

If you are quaking in your boots fear not – so are many others – together we can come, together we can stand and together we can help bolster our puny courage and make that difference.

Choose to overcome your fear  – act from a centre of peace.

From a centre of peace change is really possible.

Stop! Allow yourself  for one moment to be optimistic – what would a whole world of peace look like?

How would the people of this world live?

What would our children of this world learn, experience and explore?

( If you wish to share your vision for the world contact me here)

I can no longer sit on the sideline.

I must act. My action is small.

A blog and $4.00 per day so that a child in a developing country can have a laptop and gain an education.

 

You know what to do…. check out www.laptop.org and follow the prompts.

Peace, love and optimism

 

Melody

To Friends Passing….

Hello there!

Yesterday a friend of mine died.

I am sad at his passing from this life and feel the loss of not seeing and hearing his lust for life with every breath.

But more even than sadness and loss I feel extraodinary gratitude.

What a privilege it has been to see first hand the interaction of this man with life and those he loved.

Was he famous? No.

Was he marked to be a man of destiny or distinction? No not particularly.

Was he talented above and beyond the average man? No.

So what makes him special I hear you say?

He was a man who showed passion for living.

 

Passion for his career as a chef, passion for his garden and house, passion for his right to exercise political opinion, passion for his family and friends and those he thought deserving of compassion and attention.

And it is this depth of passion, the breadth of his engagement with life and the complexity of his personal strengths and flaws that make him what he was – a human being who I was blessed for a short time in my life to know.

Thank you Rene, you and the way you lived your life was an inspiration though you probably knew it not.

Surely this is all that is asked of us while we are here on earth?

That we live our lives to the full,

that we open ourselves to the opportunities to love

and that we inspire others to do the same?

 

Until next time

Peace and love

Melody

Fellow Travellers…

Hello there

I was asked the other day what did I think about my fellow travellers on planet Earth.

This question was in direct response to the continuing crisis in the Middle East and I remembered a poem I had written in my book  ‘ Passion-songs and Plums’.

If you check out my website www.melodyrgreen.com you can download it for free.

Here is the poem.

Life’s tourist arrives, visits, devours 

And buys things he covets 

For they are different from what he knows

He takes them home and they fill his closets.

Life’s traveller arrives, passes through,

Buying only what he needs,

Wishing to find what he has left behind,

Cursing the strangeness he sees.

Life’s refugee arrives to stay

For as long as it is safe to do so,

Yearning for what he perceives he has lost,

Willing to create his old world in this new space.

Life’s lover arrives with curious eyes,

Willing to learn, to explore, to exchange

And give Him back to those he has learned to love

Leaving the world a better place.

Who are you Beloved?

 

Until next time

Blessings fellow travellers

Melody

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Welcome!

Hello World…

Well here I am again wishing to share my thoughts and views with you.

Imagine you were to get a postcard from a complete stranger sharing with you some view of the world that gave you joy and uplifted your life….

Would you read it or keep it?

Would you think on the message in the few words and feel uplifted and happier for having read them?

This is exactly what Postcards with Spirit is all about.

A chance to give you a moment’s heartspace; a time to make you smile and fill you with a speck of enthusiasm to get on with your day.

So take your cup of coffee or herbal tea, relax and enjoy!

Blessings fellow travellers

Melody