Creativity, mindfulness, and your 3 core human needs No matter who you are, no matter what you do, there are three core human needs that drive you. Connection, making a difference, and meaning. At a fundamental level, both mindfulness and creativity share this in common: They are tried and true paths for fulfilling these three […]
[VIDEO] Creativity and Bay Area Innovation, Part III: The Weather Factor
If you are able to sit down at a restaurant with your friends and loved ones, order seasonal foods reverently prepared and sip, perhaps, a few lovely, mind-lubricating wines, if you are able to do all that, you may be unable to control yourself; you may be absolutely and completely unable to keep your creative […]
[VIDEO] Creativity and Bay Area Innovation, Part II: The Great Cultural Mashup
The Bay Area sits at the westernmost edge of Western culture and the easternmost edge of Eastern culture, setting up a cultural edge condition that fosters creativity and innovation. Culture and Creativity Last time in the “Creativity and Bay Area Innovation” series, I talked about the influence of the Asian system of Feng Shui on […]
[VIDEO] Creativity and Bay Area Innovation, Part I: The Feng Shui Factor
The Bay Area is hands down the single most creative and innovative region in the United States, receiving a whopping 32 percent of all the venture capital invested in the United States. Introduction to the “Creativity and Bay Area Innovation” series The Bay Area is hands down the single most creative and innovative region in the […]
What do horses have to teach us about creativity?
Click here to enter to win a FREE year-long subscription to The Sun Magazine. This week I was one of the facilitators at the Creativity Symposium at The Thatcher School in Ojai, California. The Thatcher School is famous for pairing each incoming freshman with a horse, a horse the freshman learns to ride and take […]
The Childlike Artist Within YOU
“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.” – Pablo Picasso Picasso once said, “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.” What does this really mean, and how can we use Picasso’s wisdom as a means […]
Release, Receive, Return Anew: The Creative Power of The Labyrinth
Want more creativity in your life? Download your FREE copy of The Creator’s Cheat Sheet today! The labyrinth at Grace Cathedral has been one of the most important portals for both creative insight and healing in my life. It seems strange that a single path winding about 11 concentric circles could be so powerful. Now, having walked them […]
Creativity, Destruction, and the Power of Fire
This week, one of the most important and tranquil retreats for Bay Area dwellers, burned in a massive fire two hours north of the San Francisco Bay. For well over a hundred years, Harbin Hot Springs had been a sanctuary for healing, rest, and rejuvenation, and with its loss, many of us who took refuge […]
Deconceptualize Your Concept of Time
Conceptual time, our ability to uses watches and calendars to schedule, plan, and carry out those plans, is one of our most powerful tools for organizing our lives. It is essential in manifesting our creative insights. But it can also be a trap, preventing us from experiencing our lives directly by feeling either bored (too […]
[VIDEO] Creativity, Cosmology, and Communion: A Buddhist View of the Sacred Significance of Psychedelics
Austin Hill Shaw is interested in exploring the peculiar ability of psychedelics to root out both the karmic challenges and opportunities of the individual who ingests them, and their powerful way of delivering messages that, when seen in the appropriate light, allow an individual to move forward in life with a deeper sense of meaning, […]