Welcome September

Pictured: A painting by Jill Badonsky, process described below.

The process of "Put This Behind the TV" was set in motion by asking questions. In the Kaizen-Muse Creativity Coaching training the importance of asking questions is reiterated over and over. Why? Why are questions so important in the creative process? The reasons are too many to mention in the small space of the newsletter but they are fascinating and powerful. Questions ignite subconscious creative forces. Great creative thinkers often state that the questions are the most important part of the process. One reason questions are vital when moving someone including our self out of a creative block is that in the creative process often we become rebellious and resistant. Resistance can be a characteristic of the creative sphere - to be compliant is to stay within what already exists. To create is to defy what's here. Rebellion toward accepted ways of doing things can mean invention of the new. But sometimes we rebel against ourselves by not showing up or not doing something specifically because we've told ourselves to do it.

Creative Problem Solving.
The Problem: I had a wall in my house that was bare so the room was unbalanced and everything (including myself on a bad day) was visually rolling to the right.
The wall "in question" is a recessed wall on the left side of the fireplace. The fireplace has a framed print I love hanging above it on a wall we've sponge-painted in golds, oranges and yellows. HAnging another picture on the recessed wall might compete with the framed-print-I-love hanging beside it. So I inserted two QUESTIONS into my subconscious for awhile:
The obvious ...What will take away the empty look of that space?
Something extra ...What would be unique and fun?

My eager intellect offered up some solutions like a hanging mobile, plant or candles- none of which met the need for unique and fun on a solid level. I walked around in stores to see if anything connected - no luck. Then my intuition sent up rockets plus I started laughing which I consider a good sign. So I painted the picture you see above. It solved the empty space problem, it makes me laugh every time I see it, it's different, it took a half an hour to paint, it was inexpensive. Plus it's quirky, uninhibited, and endearingly odd (at least to me), and those are voices I like to cultivate in my art and writing.

Your Artistic Voice
Make a list of adjectives that describe the voice you want to convey in writing,music, dance or art. If you're not sure of all of them, ask yourself what you like when you read or view the voice of other writers or artists? A list of favorite movies also reveals voices you like. Here are examples of some of my favorite voices: defiant, funny, intelligent, endearingly odd (at least to me), inspirational, parody-like, complex. Not every work of art or writing I create has all of those, but when I feel something is dry or too usual, I check with my list of voice-reminders and try to "Jill-i-fy" a piece by adding an aspect of that voice to my project.

Questions ?????
When stuck with a creative problem.. explore a variety of questions and let your intuition pick the one or two that give you the most energy. Ask several times daily -know subconscious forces specifically in the hypocampus will come up with answers with patient attention.
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CLASS AND WORKSHOP SCHEDULE

EVERY TUESDAY AT NOON Drop-in Creative Writing Workshops at E Street with Jill Badonsky and Jennifer Farr-Jones. http://www.estreetcafe.com/
Just bring pen and paper. Inspiration is provided, writing becomes easy as we use prompts, prods, lists, unfinished sentences, muse-gimmicks and caffeine to start the flow for two or three writing pieces. All levels, creative boosts for all kinds of writing. No critique, creative freedom.
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FRIDAY AND SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 8 AND 9, 2006
Hiawatha, Iowa ...Prairiewoods Retreat Center Presents JUICE, SPARKS, AND BUBBLES: A Creative Workshop with Jill Badonsky Friday, September 8, 5:30 - 8:30 pm includes a dinner party
Saturday, September 9, 9:00 am - 4:00 pm includes lunch
Juice, Sparks and Bubbles is a weekend set on the beautiful retreat grounds of Prairiewoods Spiritual Retreat Center. It is designed to stretch your imagination, impart new creative tools to foil fear and self sabotage, and to liberate you to express yourself at a deeper creative dimension. You will be spiritually fortified and amusingly inspired with presentations by Jill Badonsky, Sue Messer, and Megan Froelich. Be ready for workshops, journal writing, movement, Muse readings, entertainment with a ventriloquist and storyteller, and the construction of a Spirit House. Register now at http://www.prairiewoods.org/scripts/events_details.asp?Events_Id=68

SEPTEMBER 10th, 2006 Unity of Cedar Rapids
Talk 10 am and Afternoon Workshop (1-3 pm) with Jill Badonsky's Nine Anti-aging Potions (and a Spot-Remover) Learn about ten concepts in the guise of metaphorical potions that contribute to staying, thinking and feeling younger. An afternoon workshop lets us experience the power of the potions in action. http://www.unitycr.org/

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 20th Teleconference: Recipes of Wonder
An active experience of writing prompts from Jill's Muses
Eliciting art and writing ideas by doodling
Recipes for unexpected and effortless genius
Thinking tools you can reuse to add wonder and imagination to all of your creative pursuits. (You'll never again grapple with how to come up with a new idea!) All over the phone in the comfort of your own humble hovel.
More details and Sign up here: http://www.artellawordsandart.com/workshops.html#wonder

SEPTEMBER 21-23, 2006 UNLEASHING CREATIVE BRILLIANCE: KAIZEN MEETS THE MUSES Come to San Diego for a three day dynamic workshop: Doubletree - Del Mar Jill teams up with UCLA's author, psychologist and international seminar leader, Dr. Robert Maurer (www.scienceofexcellence.com) to present a dynamic three day workshop on Kaizen-Muse techniques to break through creative blocks and feel filled with new idea. This is the Muses latest state of the "arts" ingenuity in what truly works to make creativity an effortless life-long habit. You will establish new ways to easily banish the fears, overwhelm, lack of focus, and perfectionism that frustrate you in the creative process. Additionally, Dr. Maurer will be doing a three-hour workshop on Overcoming Self Sabotage, Jill will present a three hour guided imagery intensive, and there will be a like-minded tribe member idea exchange and creative expression . Registration is limited for this special event so register early. Click here for details or request info from info@themuseisin.

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 22 7-9 p.m. the third Thursday Drop-in Writing Workshop Moves to Friday at the Doubletree in Del Mar this month. If you are interested in joining us me email info@themuseisin.com to sign up.

OCTOBER 4 - 9 Join me at ART AND SOULin Portland Oregon,
Art & Soul is a paper, fabric, beading and fiber arts retreat taught by internationally recognized instructors. We are thrilled to bring such a wide variety of skills and artistic talent together for a 4th year! This time with a Parisian theme. http://www.artandsoulretreat.com/portland-artists.php#BadonskyJill http://www.artandsoulretreat.com/portland2006.php Sign up for this workshop ends September 14th.

NOVEMBER 1-4, 2006 Muse Facilitator Training at Petite Auberge in San Francisco
THIS IS THE LAST IN PERSON Muse Group Facilitator training taught by Jill Badonsky-Take your own creativity deeper in this four day intensive as well as receive step by step instruction on how to spread the joy of creativity and add a new stream of income by leading dynamic, playful classes and workshops. Included in the cost is a private room and a full breakfast each morning at a French bed and breakfast (Petite Auberge- Ranked one of the "TOP 75 Hotels in the USA" -Conde Naste Traveler) in the heart of San Francisco. This is an experience that will last a lifetime. To reserve a room at Petite Auberge you must sign up by Friday, September 8th 2006 (send an email to info@themuseisin.com ).

January 16 - April 18th, 2007 Next Kaizen-Muse Creativity Coaching Training
http://themuseisin.com/coaching.html email info@themuseisin.com
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WANT TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT CREATIVITY COACHING? Creativity Coaches in training are now taking clients for low cost sessions. Don't miss this opportunity to explore moving forward in a way that respects the resistant nature of the creative person and the non-linear nature of the creative process unlike life coaching or self-berating tactics. Break through blocks, self-sabotage, procrastination, frustration in not getting to your dream, fear and low self-confidence with Kaizen-Muse Creativity Coaching - Every phone call is a designed experience one small step at a time. For a free e-letter on what Kaizen-Muse Creativity Coaching is and whether it is something that might help you stay true to your dream, please email info@themuseisin.com .
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The "Altered" Reality Show Soundtrack

When our minds begin to turn on us (with incessant reruns about what we SHOULD have said, about what we really SHOULDN'T have said, about unwanted facial hair, embarrassing age spots, ring around the collar, etc.) we need to take control - same mind, different channel. HBO has some good stuff but the language can be really bad. Actually we have different channels in our very own brain-installed neural network. We rarely broadcast many of these channels and yet their programming can be long-running Emmy winners in the world of brilliance, grace and contentment. These networks of thinking can regularly promote our creative purpose, they just may not have the right sponsors to make it to our consciousness regularly and are often canceled from lack of viewing. So consider running a pilot this month on a new neural network. If you enjoy it, you're AWARENESS can sponsor it more regularly and make it a habit (like many TV shows have become).

I think September is a good month to alter realities. The Muses deem September, Altered Reality Month Show (ARMS) - (It really should read: Altered Reality Show Month but that doesn't spell anything). It's almost a new TV season so our heads are conditioned for new series - why not make it something that can help us creatively?

New altered reality TV pilots will be introduced for the next three Muse-letters. Here's the one for this month:
Channel One, Altered Reality Show Soundtrack

Now that we have access to ipods and other MP3 players – we can download our favorite music and play it through high quality headphones that make music sound like it's playing from inside of us. Music, for many of us, can inspire new ideas or relax us enough to see the ones already floating around trying to get our attention. Just sitting and listening with undivided attention to a song is rare indeed in this era of multi-tasking and impatience. Yet, given our own variety of personally inspiring music, we can transport ourselves to worlds that defrost frozen ideas and trigger the connections that result in new directions or at the very least a moment of unearthed delight. We may even meet up with theta waves, brain waves where the kind of creativity that forms dreams, intuition and deep learning preside.

Tune into this altered reality channel by exploring a variety of different kinds of music. Listen from your gut to choose your songs. Find some time to get comfortable and let the music become the soundtrack to a movie that forms in your head or take some idea you have and see where it wants to go as you listen to various music. With repetition this skill becomes more fluent in idea generation that emerges from behind daily thinking that just isn't very interesting. And as is a rule with practice in any creative realm, the skill you acquire from visualizing ideas with music will serve you in other spheres of your creative life.

The one activity that you can pair with your music in order to optimize creativity is movement. Running, walking, painting, scribbling, dancing, even just shadow puppetry paired with music plugs in switchers that broadcast novel concepts.

One of my most creative times of the day is when I run on the treadmill to favorite music. I wouldn't be running on the treadmill at all if I couldn't be listening to music that transports me from the rigor of this exercise to the feeling that my life is pulsing inside of a favorite rhythm. As oxygen, endorphins, and stirring music course through my veins, effortless ideas just show-up – physical and mental well-being merge for peak experiences brought to me by

During an exceptionally difficult time of my life (yesterday) I was able to transcend emotional pain by running on a treadmill to a song with crescendoing acceleration and triumph inducing qualities of guitars, percussion and brass. - Mason William's Classical Gas. The music's power gave me a feeling of invincibility over an emotional trauma that was beginning to break my spirit. I saw myself running through an imaginative representation of this harsh reality to a scene of welcoming joy – it was creative thought at its most healing high at least for me and it arrived unplanned simply with the combination of a favorite uplifting song and the vitality of repetitive, hypnotic exercise.

I wish this power for you. It's the power of our imagination, it's there for our use and we are foolish not to access its potential to ease or elevate the journey we are making through this difficult and wondrous life. And no, you don't need to run on a treadmill to access it. A little departure from the complacent indifference of comfortable ruts to an exploration of the power of music - even if it's in 5 minute increments - can provide the transformative experience real TV rarely affords. It's mental programming we can easily design to serve our potential. Consider exploring your altered reality music pilot this month. We all respond to different music - a recommendation I make may sound pretty goofy to you – find your own personal soundtrack - but feel free to share what you've discovered. Stay tuned for Channel Two of the Altered Reality Show Soundtrack next month, brought to you by Snap, Krackle and Marge.

ANTI-AGING NOTE: By the way, listening to music while exercising covers three of the Muses' Anti-aging Potions: Creative Enthrallment, Mind Expansion, and Body Blissmass and a Happy New Rear. Stay tuned for more information on Anti-aging Potions..
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Through the Looking Glass - More Prompts

Lost and Found
What kind of classified ad would you write if your metaphors and imagination could be involved?

Make a Collage called "Lost" and one called "Found."
What kind of images does that conjure up for you?

Lost and Found Articles from my Tuesday Drop-in Writing Workshop
Lost :Sense of Wonder
Was last seen at the corner of Highway 101
and E Street in Encinitas, California.
Owner had previously been seen daydreaming,
window shopping and gazing at daily sunset at
Moonlight Beach up until said item was lost.
Owner is desperate to find item as she now
is staring blankly at TV screen and has lost
the ability to think original thoughts.
~Dana Bristol-Smith
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KAIZEN-MUSE CREATIVITY COACHING'S INTRODUCES LAURIE HAWLEY

Sixteen coaches are working independently to complete the course requirements for the first two Kaizen-Muse Creativity Coaching Classes. Congratulations to Laurie Hawley, who has met all the requirements and is now the first Certified Kaizen Muse Creativity Coach. Laurie is an excellent representative of the caliber of KMCC graduates and to give you some proof on that testimony here are some of her thoughts.

Laurie's Coaching Mission and Target Market:
Muse Mystique (the name of Laurie's company) has a mission is to help people ignite, kindle, and realize their creative dreams.

Muse Mystique targets:
1. Writers, musicians, thespians, dancers, painters, and others who need support in their artistic pursuits.

2. Mid-lifers who are dealing with the issues that mid-life raises and who want to realize their fullest potential in the second half of life.

3. Professionals, business people, homemakers … who have suppressed their creative spirits but long to reconnect with them

4.Anyone who wants to be more creative or feels creatively stuck.

Laurie's Favorite Kaizen-Muse Coaching Tools:
I love doing guided imageries. They provide such a wonderful opportunity to be creative and to address a client's specific needs.

Mind sculpting blows me away. It is amazing that mind sculpting can help us bypass fears related to being a beginner, making changes, undertaking our creative dreams. I am fascinated by the biochemistry and physiology of our brains. (In psychology graduate school, I spent endless hours researching the biochemistry of depression and loved every minute of it.) It's not just mind-sculpting - but small questions. I use small questions everyday. The most fun - I write a small question and put it under my pillow at night. Feeding our subliminal minds in this way taps all sorts of creative juices. (I even used small questions when I delivered my mother's eulogy at the memorial service last week. My mother loved to celebrate life and to bring joy to others; the service was a celebration of her life. At the end of the eulogy, I said: "So how do we honor my mother and her wonderful life? She would want us to fully embrace the present and to treasure every moment. And I think that she would give us the following advice: When you get up each morning, ask yourself "What small thing can I do today to celebrate life, and more importantly, how can I celebrate it in a way that brings joy to someone else?"

I can't tell you how many times small steps have helped me to get started on something when I was feeling too overwhelmed to do it. I have used them for everything from cleaning the kitchen to researching my book to starting a big project. Quick listing is another favorite.

What Positive Effects KMCC has given Laurie:
KMCC has had many positive effects on my life. Probably the most important is learning to exercise self- compassion. I have always been a perfectionist and very hard on myself. Two anchors I use frequently are: "I am doing the best I can," and "My goal is to improve, not to be perfect."

Laurie lives in Denver Colorado and is also a Certified Muse Group Facilitator. Here are some of her upcoming classes:

September 23 (Saturday Workshop, 12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.)
Wouldn't You Rather Be Writing, Composing, Singing, Performing ... Than Living The Blues?
In this fun but life-changing workshop, Creativity Coach Laurie Hawley will provide powerful tools and exercises for kindling the creative fire and surmounting roadblocks to your creative dreams. $50/$48 (member), plus $6 materials fee. For more information, please contact Swallow Hill Music Association at 303.777.1003.

and
October 10 - December 12 (10 week Muse Group, Tuesday evenings, 6:30-8:30 p.m.)
Autumn's The Time For Awakening Creativity!
In this playful and compassionate but profoundly transformative environment, Certified Creativity Coach and Group Facilitator, Laurie Hawley, will help you to awaken your creative brilliance, reconnect with your inner child, and discover your authentic voice. You'll get an introduction to ten powerful principles (in the guise of nine whimsical muses and their bodyguard) that will facilitate breaking through your creative blocks and diminish your fears around the creative process. . Move past procrastination, lack of focus, time and money issues, and discover how the Kaizen-Muse principles are effective in maintaining long lasting joy in life, relationships, and work. $250 if payment received by September 27; $275 thereafter; $50 materials fee (does not include book). For more information, please contact Muse Mystique at 303.322.3562 or lmhawley27@msn.com

and
Igniting Creative Sparks!
November 18 (Saturday Workshop, 8:30 a.m.. to 12:30 p.m.)
In this compassionate circle of like-minded souls, you can transform your life with powerful tools and exercises for unleashing your creativity. Come play with Creativity Coach Laurie Hawley, and learn how to discover your passions, reconnect with your inner child, overcome obstacles, and realize your creative dreams. $50, plus $8 materials fee. For more information, please contact Colorado Free University at 303.399.0093 or www.freeu.com.
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Kaizen Muse Creativity Coaching

KAIZEN-MUSE CREATIVITY COACHING:
Reaching Your Dream One Small Step at a Time

The next 14-week Kaizen-Muse Creativity Coaching certification training program runs from January 17th to April 18th, 2007.

September 21-23, 2006 Attend the Kaizen Meets the Muses 3-day Workshop with Jill Badonsky and Dr. Robert Maurer to experience the power of Kaizen Muse tools to gently break through patterns that get in the way of your creative pursuits.

The KMCC training program is an accelerated program for with experience in coaching, therapy or human relations as well as in their own creative process. The program is taught by Jill Badonsky and Dr. Robert Maurer. For more information or to apply, please write info@themuseisin.com

The Kaizen-Muse partnership takes Kaizen, rooted 2,000 year old wisdom that employs a one-small-step-at-a-time tactical approach to resolving the neurological and psychological realities of the mind and combines it with Muse 'Technology', a whimsical but profoundly practical way of liberating creativity, awakening slumbering talents and finding pathways to authentic living. Kaizen-Muse Creativity Coaching is the brainchild of creativity experts, Jill Badonsky, M.Ed. and Dr. Robert Maurer of UCLA Author of: Kaizen – One Small Step Can Change Your Life:The Kaizen Way.

KMCC coaches-in-training are accepting clients wanting to to break through frustrating habits and GET TO their creative passion for four Kaizen Muse creativity coaching sessions at a reduced cost. Sessions take place over the phone and are easy, non-threatening and designed keep the resistances and sensitivities of creative people in mind.

Please email info@themuseisin.com for more information on the KMCC training, the September workshop or being coached.

Events by Trained Facilitators in Houston and Cambridge, MA

Good-bye for Now

Thanks for joining me this month. Hope to see you or hear from you soon,

Just Floating,
Jill

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(c) 2006 Jill Badonsky - All the contents of this newsletter are copyrighted. Please do not duplicate without written permission. Carry on. Picture: Cloud woman by Jill Badonsky

In This Issue:

Writing in Restaurants - Alphabet Soup

Take the following words in any order -add more and write a poem, prose-piece, super short story, something different, or stream of nonsensical consciousness. Try using nouns or verbs as adjectives, write from a different point of view, don't use punctuation - you have creative license.

hiccup, nowhere,much, trumpet, notwithstanding, fence, elbow, dally, damsel, dapple, fingerprint, link, noise, passage, planet, resemblance, double-take, blithering.

Composition Ambush

This collage began with an outline of a composition from the master painter, Braque. Then it was "ambushed" by the person, Jill, with stamping, cut out doodles, water soluble crayons and other extraneous media according to the whim dujour.

Making Muse Houses

Come to Portland in October and join me in making a hanging wood Muse House (6" by13" ) with a little visual journal as a door. Papers, paint, pine and passion come together for something you can hang. You can add little visual collages, quotes, writings, doodles to the visual journal door all year long. Sign-up for this workshop ends September 14th.

Click here and sign up today. Portland is filled with creative energy.

"Muse Houses make excellent house warming gifts and unique Holiday presents."

I hate it when my foot falls aseep during the day because that means it's going to be up all night.
~Steven Wright

You know, Hobbes, some days even my lucky rocketship underpants don't help.
~Bill Watterson

Fine art and pizza delivery: what we do falls neatly in between.
~David Letterman

Coloring

ten crayons
outside the box
arranged with care
onto a canvas of crumpled paper
found in an old pocket of childhood dreams
hidden within his toybox of time

a crayon for each of her fingers
each tracing a separate crease of wisdom
coloring possibility
and slanted rays of sunshine
warming toes hidden beneath hairy strands of soft grass
yet grounded like the spine of a sturdy oak
painted with flexible uncertainty
by strong playful hands
each finger touches a different color
of unwritten hues
as the crumpled paper begins to come alive
within the freedom of childish abandon
on a desktop of shared understanding

~cyndy

Cyndy's poetry