{"id":7995,"date":"2019-02-01T20:24:09","date_gmt":"2019-02-02T03:24:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thewritespot.us\/marlenecullenblog\/?p=7995"},"modified":"2019-02-01T20:24:15","modified_gmt":"2019-02-02T03:24:15","slug":"activating-your-creative-goals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thewritespot.us\/marlenecullenblog\/activating-your-creative-goals\/","title":{"rendered":"Activating Your Creative Goals"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Creating The Impossible<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Today\u2019s Guest Blogger is Bella Mahaya Carter. I have enjoyed her blog posts. I hope you do, too. Here is one of her inspirational stories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I was a film student in the eighties, my then-boyfriend and now-husband, Jim, and I borrowed a professional \u00be-inch video camera from school and spent a long, magical afternoon taping an interview with his beloved grandmother. When we finished we had two-and-a-half hours of raw footage that required editing, but we didn\u2019t have the equipment. One day we\u2019ll get around to this, we thought.

A few years later, after we\u2019d married and after his grandmother had died, we wanted to keep her legacy alive by sharing the footage we took of her with the family. We agreed it would make a great holiday gift for Jim\u2019s siblings, aunts, uncles, and cousins. We had it transferred to VHS, but when we viewed it, we were painfully reminded that it was raw footage. It needed to be cut. But again, we had no editing equipment, nor funds to rent it. 

Years later we reached out to John Crane<\/a>, a talented filmmaker friend who\u2019d created a beautiful video of his own grandmother, and asked if we could hire him to edit ours. He was busy at the time and couldn\u2019t take on our project, but encouraged us to do it ourselves. \u201cYou have a problem with the sound,\u201d he said. \u201cHear that background hiss?\u201d He told us it could be adjusted if we uploaded the footage to our computer. But Jim had to teach himself iMovie, and despite our best intentions, more years passed by.  

The subject of the grandmother video often surfaced right after Thanksgiving, which was our busiest time of year. Taking on a project like that at year\u2019s end seemed impossible. It was this past December when Jim mentioned the grandmother video again. I once again cringed and thought, Yeah, right. We\u2019ll whip it out in all our spare time. Impossible.

But then, a few days later, early one Saturday morning, on the eighth of December, I found myself listening to Michael Neill<\/a>\u2019s new podcast, Creating the Impossible. I\u2019d read and enjoyed his book with the same title<\/a>. For his podcast Michael interviewed speaker and author Anita Moorjani<\/a>. Their discussion was lively and inspiring. When I finished listening, a small voice inside said, What if making that video is not impossible? What if you just think it is? What if it doesn\u2019t have to be perfect? What if you can just crank it out? What if there really is enough time and you only think there isn\u2019t? 
Jim\u2019s birthday is the week before Christmas. I knew there was no greater gift I could give him than completing this project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When he woke up, I announced, \u201cWe have a busy weekend.\u201d
\u201cWhy?\u201d he asked. \u201cWhat are we doing?\u201d
\u201cWe\u2019re going to crank out the grandmother video.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He was thrilled. He\u2019d been teaching himself iMovie and had the technical, hands-on editing skills I lacked, but what I hadn\u2019t realized until we tackled this project together was that I had big-picture writing and editing skills that he needed. Although he knew how to use the software, he wasn\u2019t sure how to approach the project. I knew we had to organize the material by first logging the footage and then organizing stories by theme. 

We worked 10-hour days for four days and ended up with a half-hour tribute we both liked. And it was fun. It turned out we needed each other\u2019s skills to complete the project. But first I needed to believe this project was possible. It wasn\u2019t until I questioned my thinking, until I believed it could be done, that we accomplished this long-held goal.

Writing is like this. It takes time, sometimes years, as well as the acquisition of skills. Sometimes collaboration is necessary. Writers do well in communities, with support from teachers, coaches, and colleagues. And success is definitely swifter when you leave your limiting thinking alone. When, as Caroline Myss says, you don\u2019t invest your \u201cbelief dollars\u201d in limiting or self-defeating thoughts.

I leaned this while keeping my eye on the finish line of my memoir<\/a>. This time last year I was four months away from publication. I still can\u2019t believe it\u2019s behind me. For years it loomed ahead\u2014it was my future\u2014and now that book launch is my past.

It\u2019s nice to get to the other side of creative dreams and goals, whether personal or professional. And our success is directly related to what we believe about our own thinking.

I\u2019ve started outlining my next book about how to Find Freedom and Peace of Mind While You Write, Publish, and Promote Your Book. The other day I detected a tiny but insidious thought: Who do you think you are writing a book like this? There are many more experienced and worthy writers who could do it. Why you? As a younger, less experienced writer I may have taken that thought at face value. I might have believed it. It may have temporarily stopped me. But I quickly responded: That may be true, but it\u2019s something I want to do. It\u2019ll be fun. I may not be perfect, but who is? The fact is I\u2019m learning and growing all the time and I have tons to say on this topic. Why not me? 

Thoughts arise in the mind all the time. I\u2019ve discovered that I can amplify them with my emotions (energy in motion) and belief or tune them out and let them pass. It\u2019s my choice which thoughts to believe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

People create the impossible every day, but to do so, you must believe that you can\u2014despite the naysaying voices within and without. 

What \u201cimpossible\u201d venture are you ready to create? If it\u2019s a writing project, or if you just want to start writing again, or for the first time, check out my workshops. I\u2019d love to help you create the \u201cimpossible.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bella\u2019s Personal Story<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m a poet, author, writing teacher, developmental editor,\nand empowerment coach who believes in the power of writing to heal and\ntransform lives. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My expertise is in helping students and clients find their\nvoice on the page and in the world. I am passionate about facilitating artistic\nexpression, and my mission is to heal myself and others through creative work. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My memoir, Raw: A\nMidlife Quest for Health and Happiness<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Book summary: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an effort to cure chronic stomach problems, I adopted a\n100 percent raw, vegan diet, which eased my symptoms and produced impressive,\nunexpected perks\u2014but didn\u2019t completely heal me. So I looked to my mind for\nanswers, and discovered that unconscious negative thoughts, combined with a\nstressful, hectic life, were sabotaging my health and happiness. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anxiety and a desire to heal it holistically\u2014even before I knew what it was\u2014is at the heart of this story, which reveals my struggle to face my fears, release perfectionism, surrender things beyond my control, and find validation within for my life and work. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Divided into three sections\u2014body, mind, and spirit\u2014Raw<\/em> is a chronicle of my journey, which dragged me, kicking and screaming, into spiritual adulthood. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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