The Write Spot Blog by Marlene Cullen

Tag: Ray Bradbury

  • Failures as Opportunities

    “Life is trying things to see if they work.” — Ray Bradbury

    Guest Blogger Suzanne Murray:

    I recently met a man in line for coffee who works for a company that offers technology for grade schools that allows learning to be personalized to the level of the individual student so each can get the specific support they need. I love hearing about such innovative practices.

    As we talked he mentioned a report about why gaming is so popular among the young. Even though they experience an 85 to 90% failure rate as they play, they learn from their mistakes and get better in the process. “It gives them a safe place to fail” he said.

    I love that idea. “That’s exactly like creativity,” I responded. It’s why as a creativity coach I encourage people to fall in love with the process. Just like the experience of gamers, when we relax and play with the process we learn and grow and that feels really good. It’s also the only way we can create something new, original and authentic.

    Our culture and educational systems teach us that mistakes aren’t okay; that there are real negative consequences to making mistakes; that we actually can fail. Yet the only way we learn is by our willingness to fail, and discover what works and what doesn’t.

    So how do we give ourselves a safe place to fail, when the world around us doesn’t support that. What if our heart and soul know the value of failure. What is the safe place to fail is the love, kindness and encouragement we can extend ourselves from that deeper place of knowing regardless of how the world sees it?

    From my own years of writing I have had countless pages of stories and poems that never really took off and were never finished. I always instinctively knew that this was part of the learning process of being a writer. Enjoying the process without being attached to a particular outcome gave me a safe place to learn and grow. This allowed me to finish pieces that gave me a deep sense of satisfaction.

    I love the story of Steve Jobs, who after being fired from Apple, went to work for Pixar films and entered into one of the most creative times in his life. Rather than seeing it as a failure he saw it as an opportunity. Can we learn to do that for ourselves? What does our safe place to fail look like? How can we create that to ourselves?

    Wishing you the joy of playing with your creativity, Suzanne

    Originally posted on Suzanne’s Blog, Creativity Goes Wild as “Giving Yourself A Safe Place to Fail.”

    Suzanne’s many talents: Creativity Coaching, Writing Process Coaching & EFT Sessions

    THE HEART OF WRITING COACHING

    Do you want to ignite your creativity and show up to your writing on a regular basis or go deeper into the process and craft?

    Suzanne offers online coaching to support you and coach you through any resistance or problems along the way. She holds the space of unconditional acceptance and support to nurturing your unique voice and work on the stories that are important to you.

    The Heart of Writing eBook

    Jumpstart the Process, Find Your Voice, Calm the Inner Critic and Tap the Creative Flow

    CREATIVITY COACHING

    Suzanne offers practical, emotional, and soulful strategies to help you uncover your creative gifts and support you in expressing them.

    EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques)
    Combining Western psychology with Chinese acupressure, EFT works to rewrite subconscious patterns and limiting beliefs that keep us stuck.

  • What nourishes you? Prompt #636

    Prompt: What nourishes you?  Write for 15 minutes. Use sensory details:  sight, smell & sound.

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    Next: Picture the kitchen in the house you grew up in. See the table and chairs, the counter, the cupboards.

    Open a cupboard . . . or walk into the pantry. Take a look around. Open the spice cabinet. Breathe deeply.

    Prompt: What food reminds you of the kitchen in the house where you grew up in? Memories surrounding that food?

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    Prompt: Take a few words from previous two freewrites and expand, or describe, using smell and sound. For example, from “The Martian Chronicles by” Ray Bradbury:

    “There was a smell of Time in the air tonight . . . What did Time smell like? Like dust and clocks and people. And if you wondered what Time sounded like, it sounded like water running in a dark cave and voices crying and dirt dropping down upon hollow box lids, and rain. Time looked like snow dropping silently into a black room or it looked like a silent film in an ancient theatre one hundred billion faces falling like those New Year balloons down and down into nothing. That was how Time smelled and looked and sounded.”

    Use sensory detail: Smell

    What does rain on asphalt smell like?

    What does a crunchy red apple smell like? 

    Mentally walk through an apple or a pear orchard where the earth has recently been plowed. Describe that earthy smell.

    What does a redwood forest smell like, deep in the grove where it’s quiet?

    It might smell old or ancient and calm. What does old, ancient, and calm smell like?

    old . . . smells like parchment paper

    ancient . . . smells like musty book

    calm . . . smells like summer rain candle

    Use sensory detail: Sound

    What does old, ancient, calm sound like?

    old sounds like coughing and wheezing

    ancient sounds like rattling breath

    calm sounds like church . . .  sitting in an old Catholic church in the middle of the afternoon with no else there. That’s calm.
    The neurological impact of sensory detail

    Imagery and sensory detail ala Adair Lara Prompt #277

    33 Ideas You Can Use for Sensory Starts Prompt #278