Hello and a warm welcome to the 9 new subscribers to Jump!
Can you believe it's November already? Not long until Christmas. This year seems to have flown by and my what a year it has been and it's not over yet! Who would have imagined that I would have made certain decisions that have changed the course of my life and here I am now writing this e-zine. Who indeed would have imagined that? Well I did for a start, and that's only the beginning ;-)
This month I've been giving some thought to our ability to imagine, and where that imagination can lead us. I strongly believe in the power of human thought, and the human potential for imagination. We are born with this natural ability to imagine, to be creative. Sadly somehow along the was as we grow older, into Western civilised society, and we forget about this ability (how uncivilised is that?!).
Many moons ago, at the tender age of 15, deciding what to do as a career, I imagined myself as a graphic designer. By 23 I was working in central London, UK, as a qualified graphic designer, living the London life. I also imagined I would be working for myself and owening my first property by 25. Okay it took 2 more years before I got to that but the point is I did see myself, imagined myself being and doing that in the first instance, and then made it happen. I imagined myself being my own boss, bneing a coach, travelling the world, owning my own property and then some. Dreaming if you like. After all imagination is the stuff of dreams. And these dreams became a reality. All starting from a lilttle imagination, a little dreaming.
Sometime, we get so swept along with the doing, the achieving, the everydfy life admin, that we loose track of where we are at, where we are heading and we forget to dream, to use our imagination. It goes on hold, in sleep mode. And then we sometimes wonder how we got here, or how we got off track and we struggle to remember what it is we striving and working so hard for in the first place. This month's feature article takes a peek into re-awakening our imaginative, and therefore getting in touch with our true creative selves.
Until next month, be sweet, be peace, be true, be you,
Recommendations and offers
Website:
http://www.monday9am.tv
This is a great little website
to hook up to on a Monday morning.
It’s a great way to be inspired at the start of the week. Nic Askew the film-maker interviews people from various walks of life, some fairly known, creatives, ordinary folk like you and me (ok ok we’re not ordinary, we are all actually pretty special and extraordinary!) alongside some lovely music he makes as well, often on topics that asks you thought-provoking questions that generally lead you down the path of imagination as you get an insight into the minds of some extraordinary people, visionaries that have used the power of thought, that have used their imagination, and share with us through these films what they’ve learnt and experienced on the road of self-discovery, of life so far. And it’s free to view the movies.
I’ve laughed, I’ve cried, I’ve been in awe and wonder, inspired and motivated by each and every single one of these little documentary style movies and I look forward to it every Monday. They only last a few minutes long but wow what a powerful few minutes! And what a great little idea too. The thing is Nic isn’t a professional film-maker, never held a camera until last year, and made the movies using a MAC and imovie initially. Nor is he a musician nor web designer. And this started as a little something and looks to be growing into a bigger something! Don’t take my word for it, check it out or yourself. And hey, this started out in someone’s imagination ;-)
And no I don’t know Nic personally or have any connections with him but I will probably bump into him next year. Enjoy!
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Featured Article
Re-awaken Your Imagination
Firm imagination is of course not the only requirement to achievement, it is one of them, and firm imagination is a very good place to start in your journey to achievement, possibly the best place to start.
Everything that has been achieved has at one stage, usually in the early stages, come from someone’s imagination. What did you once imagine that then came into being? Did you see yourself, imagine yourself riding that bike as a child?
I suspect we all have thought about doing, being, achieving such things. But before you get caught up and say “Hey Sam, yeah yeah all very well imagining, it’s just a dream though, not reality, blah negative blah self-sabotage blah cynical critical blah…”
Bringing a block of stone to life
Did you know that, arguably, the most famous sculpture in the world came into being from the imagination of a mere human being? Michaelangelo sat and simply stared at a piece of marble for months and months. He was asked by a passer by “What are doing staring at that piece of marble for?” He replied “Working”.
What he was doing was imaging what he was going to carve, and probably how to. He was visualizing it as an image in his head. The most famous sculpture in the world, the Statue of David, which took him four years to complete, started, yep as you guessed, a figment of his imagination. Impressive hey? There are countless more examples of what we as mere humans have achieved, that came from our imagination. We all have a spark of genius in us to imagine and create.
Including you. Yes you have – just think about it for a moment. It could be something as simple as making up a recipe as you go along, imagining what it would taste like if you added that specific ingredient. Or what great adventurous travel destination you wanted to, and did go explore – sailing in the Whitsundays maybe. Or did you at one time, thought that you could become an arts administrator, or a business owner, designer, photographer, teacher, artist…and you did, you are?
What else can you imagine being, doing, having, making? What do you want to imagine, and bring into being?
TAKE ACTION: If you’re finding it a little challenging to think of something to imagine, something to visualize in your mind’s eye, here’s a few tips to get you started:
- Play with children
Kids are great at imagining things. Spending some time playing with kids, and really getting involved in their imaginative world can help you reconnect with your own imagination. It is said to be good at something, to learn something, surround yourself with those that are experts at it – kids are experts at imagination, read with them their fairy tale books, get into their world, watch and learn from them.
- If I had a million dollars…
Get a cuppa or a glass of wine, stick on some background music or be out in a quiet spot in the park or garden. Take out a piece of paper, and free flow write starting with the line “If I had a million dollars I would…” Now you know what I’m going to say next, yep, that’s right - let your imagination run wild! If you are feeling blocked and you sit staring at that piece of paper, then write ANYTHING – just START! Surely you can think of ONE thing you’d like to do, be, have, try out, experience, go if you had a million dollars?! It doesn’t matter how mad or unrealistic it seems, this is simply an exercise to get that part of your brain, the ideas muscle into action.
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Get Stimulated!
I’m talking mental stimulation here – get into the world of fiction – the imaginary world through, book and films, theatres, photography/art exhibitions, conversations – anything that that helps you to put yourself in another person’s place or situation. To imagine well you must feel something for it then the imagination will start to flow.
Isn't this imagination stuff great?! (Are we having fun yet?!)
Go forth and explore, play, IMAGINE!
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Note this quote
“There is nothing that cannot be achieved by firm imagination” Japanese Proverb
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Creative Capture
OLIVIER SORRENSON – VISUAL JOCKEY http://www.anyone.org.uk/
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Born in L.A., Oli Sorenson AKA VJ Anyone started performing in 1997, at Tiga’s club in Montreal (Sona). Based in London since 1999, he has delivered sound reactive video performances alongside top players across the music industry (from Tiesto to Darren Emerson, Goldie to Riccardo Villalobos) all over the world (from Ibiza to Tokyo, Miami to Dubai). |
In 2006 Oli has been awarded a place amongst the top 10 VJs in the world, for the third year in a row. Other highlights this year include headlining visual festivals like Lux 2006, Urban Art Forms, State of the Image and Nokia Trends Europe. He was commissioned to produce audiovisual remixes for Meat Katie (MTV Singles), Manga (Tetsujin28), EA Games (Need For Speed Carbon) and more.
What
inspired your decision to become a VJ?
Ten years ago I was studying Interactive Media in Montreal. At the time I was going clubbing every weekend, and becoming friends with some DJs and promoters. They knew what I was doing and asked me if I wanted to play some of my videos during any club nights. They said if I could give them a few tapes, I could get in for free. That made the decision much easier to make, then from positive feedback to another, I was invited to do this live, and more often, and now, here I am!
What are your toughest challenges?
Always having to deal with a schedule at the opposite to all my friends and family. As a night-time entertainer, you have to work when everyone else is either sleeping, or on holiday.
How do you handle these challenges?
You just accept it. Every job has a ‘dark Side’. You just have to get on with it. This is what I love doing. Therefore, this is what I do, end of story...
What is the single most important thing you learnt from these challenges?
I try not to focus on the negative sides of my job. This is actually really easy, because so much more positive things come out of being a VJ. You also need... To read the full article click here…
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Sharing Soul Sentiments
I have been dying to share this with you. It came to me at a particularly interesting time in my life right now, on the verge of yet another chapter of life, a new era. And it couldn’t be more appropriate. You might find it as calming, as quietly uplifting for the soul as I have. Any words I write here will not do this feeling I’m trying to articulate much justice, that is the feeling this will leave you with…
http://video.thesecret.tv/quicktime/secrettoyou.mov
To view it, you will need to download QuickTime Player for free, if you don’t have it already.
It will take you a few minutes of your time (honest!), but warning: it may leave a much longer lasting impression!
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About Sam Leongtave
Sam Leongtave is Creativity Coach for life and business, and is a fully qualified Graphic Designer. She coaches creatives, professionals and entrepreneurs to be empowered to be their best self, to live a life that more fully expresses their choices, who they truly are, personally and professionally. She is the publisher of the Jump! and founder of Noodlecrayon Coaching™ |
