When I was in Coromandel, well to be more precise, on the Coromandel Peninsula in New Zealand, recently, I had coffee at a place called Colville.  What’s at Colville then? Well not much actually – a Post Office, a General Store which seconds as a petrol station and this little coffee bar called the Green Schnapper Cafe  .Now I had to look it up on line and there seems to be a little controversy over the spelling of Schnapper.  Is it Snapper or Schnapper?  Well we always spelt it Schnapper when I was a wee tyke – a spelling age type tyke that  is. Seems there are even forums out there debating on the correct spelling. So I guess just take your pick.  I think the ‘Sch’ variety is a little more interesting.

Green Schnapper Cafe

Well, you might be thinking – what’s so great about this place?  Well a few things actually.  They have Great Coffee and fab food as well. Now these things are probably the most important things on most people’s list – well ambience is good too, right?

So they have all that and what I really love about this place, is what they have done with their chairs!

Creative Cafe

Not only fancy chairs, but a mural too! Very creative!

Sunshine Chair

They’ve used old school chairs and put mosaics on them.  Really original and gives the place a very unique look. I think this next one is my favourite!

Cup Cake Chair

So if you are ever up that way – be sure to stop in and check them out.

Red & Yellow Flower Chair

This Weeks Question: What is the most interesting coffeee bar you have ever come across?

I came across a great idea over at the Life Is Art Blog this week. Karen had gone to a wine tasting where she came across a wonderful substitute for a palette. These would be ideal as back up

palettes in the studio when the students forget theirs – which my frequently do! Look at this handy little thing. Pop on over and find out more about it from Karen’s post 

This Weeks Question: What other things can you repurpose for use in the studio?

Every once in a while a great book on the art and process of an artist comes along. This book by Eden Maxwell is one such book. If you are on the path of being an artist already, or even if you think it is something you might like to be doing, Eden’s book examines the place we need to be in our hearts and minds to hang in there for the long haul. Eden says,

‘”This book is for the true artist. Anything less than true won’t do. Halfhearted is exactly what it sounds like. To triumph over rejection you must feel—not think about—that divine fire in the belly, a flame that can only be extinguished by you; no one else has dominion over your work. Did you think otherwise? Remember, failure isn’t when someone rejects your art; failure is when you give up on your own self.”
The book is really about dealing with rejection and how we must be within ourselves in order to do that. Of course every artist and really all of us in one way or another must learn to deal with rejection.

This Week’s Question: How do you deal with rejection?

I guess the problem with our achieving success, whatever that might look like for us individually, the biggest problem, when all’s said and done, is ourselves! Which is not something most of us want to hear.  After all wouldn’t it be nice if someone would give us a magic formula and we could just implement and hey presto – Success!!

Unfortunately life is just not like that. The only thing that is stopping you from being successful is YOU!

Why? you might ask.

The simple answer is that it actually comes back to the universal laws of manifestation. Whatever is showing up in your life right now is EXACTLY what you are focused on, or have been focused on in the recent past. This is true, regardless of what profession you have or don’t have. If you are getting work as an actor, or if you can’t seem to land that book deal that’s just out of reach, if you are having group exhibitions and are the only one not selling your work….. ALL OF IT is because of where your heart and head are at.

When you get into alignment with what you REALLY want then it can come to you. If you don’t believe me, think back to a time when you really wanted something with all your heart. You were passionate about it – you thought about it often and when you thought about it, you felt really great. Did that thing show up in your life?

Now think about an opposite experience.  Is there something you often used to think and FEEL negatively about ? And did that end up showing up in your life also? I can think of several instances of this happening for me.  You know the best advice I have heard on the subject states that no matter what you want, your first job is to get in a place where you are feeling happy.  What brings JOY into your life?  It is different for all of us.

The joy and wonder of a ferris wheel

Make a list of JOYFUL things and then go and do one of them.

THIS IS REALLY IMPORTANT. Why? because when you are happy you are in a space that allows those things your want to flow to you. So if your success is not happening look to how you can bring more joy into your life.

This Weeks Question: How are you going to contribute to your success this week?

Last post we were discussing the roll of play and success. I asked you to think about some reasons why we might not play enough as adults,

Here are some ideas I came up with….

I think some of the main reasons we don’t engage in frivolous play as adults are:

• We care too much about what others think of us
• We don’t want to appear to be silly
• We consider it is not important enough to warrant spending our precious time on it
• Or we think it is just a plain waste of time!

Well I’m afraid that all of these reasons are really  just plain nonsense.  The more research there is being done into creativity the more apparent it is becoming that PLAY is THE MOST FUNDAMENTAL element in nurturing one’s creativity.

And yet we are afraid to play.

Some people – famous people even, really get the play thing – two that spring to mind immediately are -

Johnny Depp as the loveable rogue Jack- Sparrow

And

Richard-Branson – Millionaire Adventurer

Both these men understand the value and importance of play and actively demonstrate this in their own lives.  Both of them are hugely successful in their own fields.

Fun frees our Creativity. Its like adding oil to a squeeky wheel.

So what are some of the important elements of an activity that might stick it into the ‘PLAY’ box for you. Here are some ideas about that

• It is FUN !!!! REALLY, REALLY important
• It is something you want to do
• It may be challenging
• It makes you laugh and feel happy
• It might be exhilarating
• It is not something that you HAVE to do – there is no feeling of OBLIGATION involved

Play can make you feel free, exhilarated and happy all at the same time!

This Weeks Question: Can you make a list of 5 play activities that you do regularly?

 Next Week Look For: Success and Attitude

To continue with thoughts on success I’d like to take a look at something that might seem the opposite of moving toward success. Let’s explore the concept of Play and it’s contribution to success.

I have a question for you….. how often do you let yourself play just for the sheer fun of it?  And perhaps even more importantly, can you answer this question?  What Is Play For You??

Now that’s a bit of a curly one isn’t it? Is play interactive – how do we even define play? All of which are very sad questions because ……. Why?

The very fact that as adults, we have to even THINK about what play is and how we might do it, shows that we have lost a huge amount of insight that we had as children.  Sure kids get bored and you get the perennial, I’m bored, I don’t know what to play type exclamations from your young ones, but have you ever watched children engrossed in play.  They don’t need fancy toys from Matel. My kids got more hours enjoyment from a big old fridge box than most of the ‘toys’ I ever bought them. That box became a chameleon – some days it was a castle repelling invaders and others it became a time machine landing on different worlds, or a pirate ship navigating the high seas.

Ahoy ye scurvy sea dogs!

Some how as adults we seem to think we need a ‘couple of wines’ in order to begin playing – why is that?

Well ‘a couple of wines’ allow us to lower our defences, to not care so much about what other people might think of us.  We suddenly become risk takers, and jesters…….. a whole new world opens up to us.

This weeks Question: Can you think of any other reasons why we don’t engage in ‘frivolous’ play as adults?

Next week: A deeper look at how this relates to art and success.