creativenachos.com Blog

So, I’ve decided to take a MAJOR leap of faith and host my own online course. I’ve always wanted to try it and so here I am ….(insert freakout here). LOL…seriously if you know of anyone who might be interested in this course, please send this info along. It’s going to be a fun 4 weeks….I guarantee it! (Didn’t I just sound so much like Crazy Eddie? Remember him??)

How many times have you thought of sharing a story but stopped yourself? How often have you felt you had nothing to say? How many times have you started to write a product description you were passionate about because you knew the product you created was sensational but chose to play it down or try to “fit in” with everyone else’s lingo?

We don’t celebrate ourselves or the things we do nearly as much as we should and – as artists, writers and crafters making a presence online – it is especially important to do so. Getting your authentic voice out there and being truly proud of it takes courage. It helps to have someone cheering you on and providing the advice and encouragement you may need while working to make your dreams come true. Let me be that personal cheerleader.

“Oh the Stories You’ll Tell” is a 4 week workshop designed to recharge your storytelling and celebrate the true magic in all you do. We will tell stories in all sorts of ways from writing and art journaling to baking and photography. As we explore new and unusual ways to tell our tales, our vision of who we are and what we do will broaden allowing us to find unique ways to represent ourselves and our work in person and online.

Within this limited enrollment class, you will find fun exercises, inspiring prompts and funny videos. In addition, you will interact with members of the group and receive personal attention from Natasha. This course has been designed so that many of the activities will fit within the framework of daily life. In fact, the hope is that it allows all of us to be more present and fulfilled in our day to day lives. In the end, you will have a journal filled with memories of your storytelling journey that you can refer to anytime you feel as though you are losing your way.

If there is one thing I have learned as a writer and artist, it’s that we need to shake up routines, find new ways of looking at things, and find an inspiring and supportive community where we can share our ideas. The Thursday Sweet Treat was founded on the belief artists and writers need a place to dream, support one another and share the work they love to create. This course builds upon this philosophy.

No two stories or the ways in which we tell those stories are alike. We bring a distinctive perspective to all that we do; sometimes we just need to remember that and rejoice.

I hope you will join me on this journey. In the end, we will not only have found a way to stay true to our voice but we will celebrate it in ways that will enhance our personal and professional life.

When you sign up for the workshop, you will receive a link within 24 hours to a private site where we will be working together. I wanted to make this course affordable for all so the cost is $25. It begins on Wednesday, March 10th, 2010.

About Natasha

Natasha has been writing since the day her mom put a journal in her hand at age four. She received her MFA in writing from the New School in New York City before spending time as Marketing and Development Director for a nonprofit and later, freelance writer creating promotional materials for small businesses. Natasha assisted in creating original curriculum pieces for a private school in Manhattan before being invited to teach writing and editing workshops for some of the students. She has taught writing and photojournalism workshops for teenagers and written for publications such as Family Circle, Latina, Lifetips and MediaBistro.

If you have any thoughts, concerns or questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at natasha@creativenachos.com. If you’d like to join, simply visit this link: http://thursdaysweettreat.blogspot.com/2010/03/online-course-oh-stories-youll-tell_02.html
Once you are taken to the link, simply scroll down and click the Buy Now button. Hope to see YOU!

Last year, despite the fact that I came down with the flu right before Christmas, I considered flogging myself when I realized my Christmas cards would not make it out. It’s not as though I thought there were hoards of people sitting by their mailboxes waiting for a card from my little family. Nor did I have some hidden desire to see how many people I could infect with the flu by sending my card and licked envelope. I just think cards are a nice thing but that doesn’t explain why I was having such an incredibly hard time with it. This year, I was working, prepping for the holidays and, right before Christmas, dealing with a sick two and a half year old. Ok, so everyone was busy right? I’m not the only person who was stressed by the holidays so screw the excuses, what was my deal?

Well two things were at work. Amid all the other things that I had going on, I simply didn’t plan my time well enough to write cards. I would leave them to the end of the day after my little Doodle had gone to bed and that was not the wisest move because when she goes to sleep I’m toast.

The second thing is I realize that I don’t like to write cards out when I’m in a bad, tired or stressed mood. I have this thing – and now you are about to think I’m nuts or is it already too late for that?  – that I just don’t want to send that feeling, energy, out there. I know like there is some way my feelings can be communicated through the ink on the card – crazy but I wait to be jolly…yes, like Santa. (I know …you are now convinced I’m nuts and I’m ok with that.) Guess what though the jolly didn’t happen till the presents were under the tree which is why folks will be receiving Christmas – or should I call it New Years – cards soon.

All of this got me to thinking. So much of the stress that we feel is self-imposed, especially when it comes to time. Is there anyone holding a gun to my head telling me that my cards need to be out before midnight on Christmas Eve? No. It’s me. I beat on myself because I have set time limits in my brain and despite anything that may happen – fire, snowstorm, frogs falling from the sky – I beat myself into submission to get them done. It’s unhealthy. There are immovable time limits for things like getting the flu shot, showing up to meet people and how long you can leave a brownie in the fridge before you MUST eat it. But for the most part there is a little wiggle room for us all we just need to allow ourselves to find it.

I planned to have a project up and running by today. Well, as often happens while in mid-flight, I realized I needed to add something to it to give it a little more flavor, if you will. That has caused a slight delay and the moment I realized it would, I felt that urge to hang myself upside down by my own toenails. Now, I think this is pretty funny given the fact that the ONLY human being on the planet who knew about my start date was me; it was completely self-imposed. So, why was I being so harsh?

We all have inner clocks that we set but sometimes we need to snooze or reset them for a few minutes more.  It’s ok if those projects that you are working on are adjusted from time to time. Life happens and sometimes we need to make that modification to our plans in order to help someone, give ourselves more time to create or even just take a mental breather.

What’s your relationship like with time? Are you friends? Do you have that love/hate thing going on?

The last two days have been filled with rain. (It’s weird how that sentence makes me want to break into any number of rain songs – Rain, Rain Go Away…or I’m Singing in the Rain…can you think of any others?) So, the little Doodle and I have been playing indoors  under umbrellas (yes, we pretend it’s raining inside and no, we clearly don’t believe it’s bad luck to open umbrellas in the house – knock on wood).

Yesterday, we made a Magic Paint Bag! (Thank you, First Art!)  It’s like a home-made Etch-a-Sketch. You put paint inside a zip lock bag, lay it flat on a piece of paper and use a dull object to make designs on it. I don’t really know who was more excited about this find.

It got me thinking about rainy days. When I was younger I’d play all sorts of invented games with my brother. I loved it. Now, I enjoy curling up with a good book or a journal and a huge pile of colored pencils and listening to the rain.

What were or are some of your favorite rainy day activities??

The other day I introduced my daughter to finger painting. I placed the tray of paint down in front of her and said, “Ok, let’s play. Go ahead, put your fingers in.” She looked at me like I was nuts. I’m fairly certain she was thinking, “Who are you and what have you done with my Mom?”

 A wild giggle escaped her lips as she put her hands in sparkly finger paint and then she gently touched the paper with yellow finger tips. Immediately, she screamed with delight and plunged her hands into the big pot of soapy water I had put out for her. She repeated this process more times then I can count before she started to try to lift the bubbles out of the pot and onto the paper. Would they stay bubbles on top of the paint on top of the paper? It was an idea that needed to be tested thoroughly. Once she was satisfied that she’d found the answer, her confidence increased and she asked to put her toes in. Well, that was the highlight of this first experience.

As I watched her, I was aware of the blood coursing through my veins, my breathing, even my own mortality. I thought to myself, ‘I don’t want this to end,’ and then later, ‘I want to see her experience everything in life.’ I want to watch her face as her senses are stimulated and she discovers some new bit of magic in the world.

When I am with my daughter or using a new material to create or discovering a new way of telling a tale or grabbing a surfboard and going for it, I feel alive. I am filled with the same wild, giggling delight as my daughter. It’s so easy to get complacent; to think we know all. It’s hard to hold onto the childlike wonder and excitement we all have within but it’s necessary. It’s necessary for staying young at heart, adding joy to our lives and living the fullest life we possibly can. So I ask, when do you feel fully alive?

Now I know that in some parts of the U.S. the weather is still quite warm while in others snow has already fallen but here in the Northeast, Fall has officially arrived. There is a delicious chill in the air and rosy cheeks abound. I love this season with its colorful leaves and log burning fires (not that I have said fires in my little abode but I love walking the streets, sniffing out the buildings that do and then banging on the front doors of those dwellings with a bag of marshmallows and a smile that says, “Invite me in”.). And while I’m sure there are plenty of celebri – sorry famous people who are famous for doing nothing – that pray not to be in anything that shoots in NY this time of year so that they don’t have to don anything but their mini-mini’s and remain true to their “let’s all go commando” style, I simply live to throw on my jeans, cords, clogs and vests. I especially love this season because I get to wear my favorite “Grandma-esque” sweater.

I’m not even sure where I got the thing but I dig it. It’s not fashionable. You wouldn’t see me in this and think, “Oh that’s what I need in my life.” But when I put this on…well, let’s just say it’s the closest I get to that feeling when I am warm and snug under my comforter. And we all know I’m a woman who would wear my PJ’s around everywhere were it socially acceptable. To me, this sweater is happiness. It makes me think of hot cocoa, Central Park, earmuffs, close friends, and hot toddies (is that how you spell that?).

What’s that one thing you just can’t live without in Fall? What’s that one piece of clothing you wait each year to throw on; that one snugly piece of happiness?

Write It
Paint It
Bead It
Sew It
Sing It
Dance It
Compose It
Mold It
Take a Photo of It
  Be True to Your Heart
Be True to Your Art
 The World Needs More of You
So Create, Create, Create!

Copyright © Natasha Reilly 2009
 

I have been lost…not in a bad or scary way. I have been lost without even knowing it and sometimes, when I was aware of it, it left me feeling nothing but frustrated. Playtime was needed 

That’s the important word there – play. When I play or create, I feel better about me. I don’t beat myself nealy as much. I feel more confident. I am careful not to create for approval because I have done that. That’s something I’m learning about and changing. My goal is to create what’s inside of me.

Rowena, creator of Warrior Girl, has had an ongoing challenge that I’ve quietly been working on. Everyday I have played with no sense of direction and that has led me to a new road. This piece which is also a part of today’s Thursday Sweet Treat challenge is the first piece I am sharing from this new play space. There are more to come. This piece is about more than cheerleading it’s about remembering that we can and should play with lots of things just as we can reinvent ourselves as often as we like in an effort to move along and explore the path we are on.

I worried that the center piece on this looked like a penis at first. I assure you it’s not. It is a bottle filled with words and color just as we are. It is a candle filled with light, love, color and and words…it is all of us.

Have you ever felt lost? How do you reconnect with yourself?