It's time for summer baseball. Batter Up!

I never saw my dad play baseball, but I know he was the catcher on a farm team with Sunday games that drew his passion for years. I have his wool baseball uniform hanging in my closet.

No, I never saw him play baseball, but I saw my father watch hundreds of baseball games on TV. Of course, he knew the stars of all the teams and always had a good guess about who would move on.

I didn't think it would happen to me…. being a baseball junkie.  But it has happened! I just turned off the broadcast of the afternoon game. It may have shown up first with score checks with my son, Michael. Now, it is a baseball app for my iPhone. I like caring about things that people I care about care about. Michael cares about baseball. He has made a point to visit baseball parks on his adventures around the country. Only true baseball interest would stir that behavior. Of course, he supports the teams closest to his life and work, but one time he reminded me: "You can take the baseball guy out of MN but you can't take the MN baseball team out of the guy."

It's clear my people attachment is showing up. Conversations always bloom. I am often involved in conversations with the people who care about baseball. My friend, Jan, follows the MN Twins even though she lives in TN now. Yet, I know my baseball passion started with my dad. I might be listening to my favorite classical music while writing, but there is often a baseball game on the radio in the background.

As I said, Dad was a catcher. Catchers understand strategy and call the game for the pitcher. Catchers are leaders and often find themselves in long-term careers of baseball management. Or they find themselves in non-baseball management leadership roles, watching games on TV like my dad did or enjoying season tickets to their local team's games.

Dad always said baseball was good clean family fun. I am also convinced he liked the strategy and quiet calculation involved in the game. Some day I'll talk about his wit. I'm sure there is a connection. I'm also sure there is a connection to the creative strategy, which absorbs me. Some days it shows up in artistry, and some days it shows up in baseball!!

The creativity of Disney...

Recently I read a book about the life and work of Walt Disney.   It is filled with creative inspiration, and it seemed helpful to summarize it and share the heart of the work, which integrates many of the creative strategies I value.  Enjoy!

How to Be Like Walt Disney, Pat Williams with Jim Denney

"Walt was unique---and so are you!  The attitudes and traits we learn from Walt's life teach us how to be more uniquely who we are and we were meant to be.   If each of us would dream big dreams, approach life with hope and confidence, and persevere until our dreams come true, then we would not only be more like Walt, but we would become the people God created us to be."
Art Linkletter Introduction

 Lesson One: Live the Adventure

"Walt's boyhood…inspired a sense of wonder and imagination that stayed throughout his life."

Lesson Two:  Be A Salesman

1. Honesty
2. Enthusiasm
3. Confidence
4. Courage
5. Persistence

 Lesson Three: Dare to Do the Impossible

"If you can dream it, you can do it."

Lesson Four:  Unleash your Imagination

1. Draw on all your life experiences.
2. Remove the limits from your imagination.
3. Consider all possible solutions to every problem.
4. Silence your inner critic.
5. To be creative, be courageous.
6. Work Hard.
7. Ask yourself, "What if…?"

Lesson Five:  Become an animated leader:

1.     Vision

2.     Communication Skills

3.     People Skills

4.     Good Character

5.     Competence

      *     A strong track record

      *     A commitment to hard work

      *     A commitment to continual personal growth

      *     A commitment to winning

      *     A commitment to excellence

6.     Boldness

7.     A Servant's Heart

Lesson Six: Take a Risk

"Walt demonstrated that true success lies in going where no one else has gone."

Lesson Seven: Dealing with Loss

1. When you suffer a loss, let go of the need to know why.
2. If you feel guilty, learn to forgive yourself.
3. Look for the meaning in your pain and loss.
4. Be patient with yourself.
5. Learn to accept what you cannot change.

Lesson Eight: Plus Every Experience

            Give people MORE than they expect.

Lesson Nine:  Be a Person with Stick-to-it-ivity

"The risk paid off because Walt wouldn't quit."

Lesson Ten:  Become a Sponge for Ideas

"I carry ideas around in my head for a long time."

Lesson Eleven:  Ask yourself, "How about tomorrow?"

1.  Embrace Change.

2.  Identify ideas and trends that produce change.

3.  Learn to effectively plan for change.

Lesson Twelve: Live for the next generation.

     "Think beyond your lifetime if you want to accomplish something truly worthwhile."

Keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things. Enjoy a childlike curiosity.  Curiosity keeps heading us down new paths."

One hundred years from now it won't matter what kind of clothes I wore or the size of my bank account, but the world may be different because I was important in the life of a child.

Lesson Thirteen: Build complementary partnerships.

Walt was highly creative, but his brother, Roy, was the Left Brain of the family.   
Every Walt needs a Roy.   Every Roy needs a Walt.

Lesson Fourteen: Stay Focused!

"Our dreams will become reality if we remain faithful to them and never lose our focus."

Lesson Fifteen: Accept your mortality.
"Am I using the time God has given me to make my God given talents come true?"

Lesson Sixteen: Make family your top priority.

"Walt always made time for adventures with his girls.   
He didn't just love his family, he enjoyed his family."

Lesson Seventeen:  Be the Person God Made You to Be

"Walt had to gather up his talents and put them into action.   He had to take risks and persevere so that God's gift in him could be revealed."

High Notes

I am creating this page because I have to write. I love to write. Maybe you are here at the blog because sometime recently you tasted chocolate and felt my gentle nudge:) I am writing because it is helping me to focus on my goal to be more transparent with you about how I integrate creative thought into my every day life. I am sure it makes a difference in quality, fulfilled living.

I have had conversations with people recently who are in the midst of job changes. I have learned many things about life choices since I first realized that my spirit has always been creative, even before I realized it. It helps me say to self, and to those looking for their path, be watchful of yes and no. What do I mean?

Understanding and being able to list strengths and God gifts is a very important task. Everyone learns how to do many things, some very well. Sometimes these learnings are like red herrings and lead us on paths that are not fulfilling to ourselves or blessings to others. True gifts are those things that we love to do, do exceptionally well, maybe with small effort and great satisfaction.

Here's an example. I have learned to do accounting to keep track of business and to get ready for the tax accountant every year. I work very hard to accomplish this task well. I would probably never call it fun! It has always been a job that had to be done. My brother is an accountant and loves keeping track of things in little boxes. He does it exceptionally well. It happens in all families…you look around and wonder how you all have the same last name:)

This story is proof that I should never list the ability to combine data sequentially on a resume. But, thoughts and notes are different. Those I can list on a resume and must say yes about when opportunities occur in these venues. When I have said no it is about the setting and my heightened sensitivity.

Employment is not just about paying the bills. It is also about life purpose. People need to spend their days contributing to the good of the world with the gifts and talents they have been granted. So, reviewing gifts and strengths is a helpful task and not a waste of time. It does matter in the world of creative thought to use your God given passions and competencies to help steer your course.

What does it mean for me? Looking at my Pansy picture will affirm for you what gets me out of bed in the morning…color! Always the last thing I do and sometimes the first thing I do in any day is writing. My favorite bay window brings the environment to me, and this is always the site for breakfast and morning meditation. All of these realities have helped me find a way to promote my passions and skills for the benefit of Realtors who have chosen for their life work helping others buy or sell properties. Maybe they chose the positions or the positions chose them. That's how I feel. Making choices and guided.

I have said no to gigs for money that did not match my heart purpose. I have said no to opportunities that match what I have learned to do well with great work. But my greatest joy lately is enthusiastically saying yes to an opportunity I have shaped, with lots of help, to think color and design and catch the words that best describe properties. I can think about what kids need from the environment to live and learn at their highest and describe the opportunities that are close at hand.

The point is this…creative living means knowing when to say yes and when to say no and why.

Robin, Robin Redbreast

I've spotted you,
It must be spring.
Yet, snow and ice
Have a MN ring!

When it's cold
You disappear
So, your return
Says sun is near.

Circles of life
Go round and round.
Joy in all seasons
Can be found.

Build your nest,
Stay a while.
You give metaphor,
A creative smile.

Color At Last!

Spring...

Could it be...?

A coil in a bed
A skip in your step
A kangaroo bounce
A kitten pounce
Baseball in Florida
A calendar date
Trampoline rebounds
Gymnastic vaults
Random thinking

Once again I'm ready for the color of pansies.

Spring is what you make it!!

Time Marches On

I rarely watch television.  During the last two weeks I have watched basketball games.  Lots of them.   It is NCAA tournament time.  Beyond the fact that watching TV can be addicting for me…Gotta Have It….I was absolutely inspired by the focus of the young athletes and their commitment to their goals and their team.

Their drive comes from the inside.  Yes, they have a commitment to their team and love their coach, but they compete because something inside of them calls them to be better, to show up each day with the best of who they are, that day.

I have just read a book called The Circle Maker by Mark Batterson, that says we should work like it depends on us and pray like it depends on God.   Well, all of those young people surely do work like the game depends upon them, but today I know one of their colleagues was injured and they all prayed …even on the other team…like his well being depended on a higher power.  God.

So, what have I learned?   All of these games have shown me the efforts of young people who knew how to show up for the game.   Makes me wonder if I show up with the same vigor for the life game every day.   These games show me that these young people understand that outcomes are really dependent upon a higher power.  For college basketball it may be the NCAA and competition.  Makes me wonder why it often seems so logical to  me that I am responsible for outcomes as well as effort.  I probably would save myself headaches and a stubborn stiff neck if I just believed boldly that my job is to show up with energy and God given skills and talents, but my job is not to control the outcomes.  The creative spirit that I value depends on this attitude.

March Madness is really more sane than the name implies.