Author, animator, and overwhelmingly grateful everyday to God for the life to do those things. www.JKRiki.com
Let me start at the end. “Until we treat Art as equally important as things like Science, we will never find the balance needed to produce the fullest human beings.” Now let me explain what brought me to the idea above. First, there’s something you need to understand. Until now it has been a secret of mine. Something I’ve tried to hide due to how unpopular it is among my…
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A break from the Creative/Inspiration posts today to share some art. Here are some of the Ukrainian Eggs I did for 2017. It was a tricky year for pysanky eggs, as physical limitations meant I couldn’t do my usual 50-70! Still, I did what I could, and am grateful to others for stepping up and producing a bunch for our annual Egg Show. Now that the show is over and…
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In the past few weeks I have changed in some rather significant ways. I’d like to believe that this change is permanent and for the better, but that remains to be seen. In the meantime, here are how and why those changes took place: I have been reading a number of books that challenge me to approach things in a different way. Not radically different, because a radical change is…
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Bloggers have a tough job at times, especially early on. To do good work requires a lot of effort. Many times it seems like there’s no one reading what you write. I share this because it’s something all bloggers experience. I want to let others know they’re not alone. We all go through periods where we wonder “Does what I’m doing even matter?” It’s a personal question I can’t answer…
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I came across someone on Twitter who posted that she was struggling to deal with some awful things a person said to her recently. Dealing with the aftermath of hurtful words is painful. I often wish we could find a level of peace in our world where such experiences were extinguished. However at the moment, this is where we are. There is, thankfully, a silver lining. There are two things…
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“Even if things don’t unfold the way you expected, don’t be disheartened or give up. One who continues to advance will win in the end. -Daisaku Ikeda
Last year around this time I wrote a post about the Curse of the Debut. I also had the opportunity to sit and talk with my friend Ferdinand the other day, for nearly an hour and a half, about creative projects, art, and life in general. It reminded me of something important, that I once again want to be a signpost to: This is a reminder that your dream project…
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Today is a short post to share a simple story. This morning I decided to take a few minutes to meditate before jumping into the mad rush of life. I had no specific goal in mind, nor a focus for what to think about. I simply knew it was time to schedule in a bit of quiet and peace among the craziness of the day to day. After only a…
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A lot of the posts I write about creativity exist to encourage creative folks to practice. But what if you’re “not creative?” Then we need to start from Square One. This is a beginner’s guide to creativity, and includes all the things I wish I had known from the start. Let’s just jump right in. Creativity Lesson #1: Your Potential The first thing you need to understand, especially if you…
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In our lives we inevitably come upon situations with both encouraging and discouraging responses. If you’re anything like me, you may find that you unconsciously focus on the negative replies. Here we find ourselves with an opportunity. We cannot change the responses we get. They are from outside us. But we can change our focus. This is akin to the quote by Maya Angelou who said “If you don’t like…
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