On the Storytelling Trail: Moundsville and Benwood-McMechen

Today I presented two entirely different programs. The first was a creative writing workshop, as part of the Get Creative! Summer Reading theme that is being used at many West Virginia libraries.


For this program I created small journals with writing prompts. We used some of the prompts today, and the rest are for students to take home and write whenever they feel the urge. We wrote list poems, acrostics, flash fiction and a nonfiction piece about how we got our names.

I also had some "five senses" items on the tables--the participants could touch, smell, taste, or see the objects; the hearing part was our discussion of each item. The items included a glass ball that belonged to my parents, a small Navajo pin that was my grandmother's, a jar of cinnamon, one of dried dill and one of pickling spice, a velvet burnout scarf, an appliqued dishtowel from the 50's, a small wooden vase given to me by my sister Theresa, and several kinds of candy.

There were some talented writers in the group, and I hope they continue to use the journals and find opportunities to write.

We left Moundsville and headed up the Ohio River to the communities of Benwood and McMechen. These little towns adjoin each other so closely it's difficult to know where one ends and the other begins. The children at the program could tell me quickly, however!

This program included storytelling with puppets, including my two Create-A-Puppets that make the most bizarre monsters. Two boys made monsters prior to the program and we used them in a cracked version of City Mouse/Country Mouse. (City Monster/Country Monster!). We told two other stories with puppets, and almost every child in attendance was able to be part of at least one of the stories.

After the stories, it was puppetmaking time! We made a grand and glorious mess with felt, yarn, pompoms, sequins, feathers, jewels, peel-and-stick foam sheets, and other craft supplies.

Look at them working!

And here are a few results of their efforts: these, I was told, are a chicken and a squirrel. Who am I to argue?

The group of middle-school-age kids got crazy with the yarn and made "hairy" puppets, with lots of feathers. Creative? Absolutely.

So now I'm home again and getting ready for the next performance Friday night. I'm excited about this one too, a program of Celtic-Appalachian stories and songs with two musician friends for a Celtic Festival at Prickett's Fort State Park. Stories and music--can there be a better combination? (Well, kids and puppets come a close second in my book.)

It was a wild, snowy day, with bursts of sun and a hard wind that drifted the snow artfully along the road.

On such a wild day, finding things to do indoors is a good idea.

I've been wanting to try making lavender face scrub, and today was just the time to do it.

Here's what I used:

about 1 cup oats (I used quick-cooking variety because we have some that need to be used up)

about 1/4 cup light olive oil (again, because it's what was on hand)

about 5-6 drops of lavender oil

Everything went into the blender, except the lavender oil,

and it looked like this after blending on "liquefy) for one minute.

Then I added the lavender oil, let it blend a little longer, and put it into a jar. My measurements are all "about" because I didn't actually measure the ingredients, I just dumped things in the blender. I doubt it needs to be exact; consistency is what is important.

When I used the final product, oh my. My face feels smooth and soft, and so do my hands just from applying the scrub. I rubbed it gently over my face, then washed it off.

I used probably 2 or 3 tablespoons for my face. You can see how much I have left. Now I'm wondering if it should be refrigerated between uses. Anyone know? Wonder what it would do for my winter legs?

This is inexpensive, quick and a pleasure to use. All that adds up to a keeper in my book. I'm thinking gifts for daughters-in-law next Christmas...

Book Review: Stoking the Creative Fires

Stoking the Creative Fires: 9 Ways to Rekindle Passion and Imagination
Phil Cousineau
Conari Press, 2008
ISBN: 978-1-57324-299-8
16.95

A book that begins with a fable will get my immediate attention. Phil Cousineau, author, film maker and screenwriter, introduces his work with a story from Leonardo da Vinci: a rock complains when it is struck again and again by a flint. The flint advised the rock to be patient and see the result. In time, after many attempts, beautiful fire burst forth.

Surely that is the summation of every artist's life. To try and try and try, and eventually, strike fire.

As a storyteller and a writer, I draw on many things around me for inspiration: nature, the people I meet, small surprises met along a day, and sometimes when I feel brave enough, deep emotion. Often I find what I need in my daily life. But then there are those other times.

If you write or create in any way you know what I am talking about. I am talking about those days, weeks and months where no creative, original, lyrical idea enters your mind or fingertips. Everything is rote, mundane. At these times a creative person can feel desperate because we thrive on spontaneity and inventiveness. To not be able to create is to not live fully.

I have been through those gray valleys a time or two. Once it was following a period of grieving when all I could write about was death, loss and sadness. At least I was writing, but in honesty I must say those words were mainly for myself. And I did not get that "yes!" feeling from having written them.

How then does an artist regain the spark? And how does someone who does not consider themselves creative find the inspiration for expression? Years ago I did a few workshops on this topic. My approaches were simplistic and fun. But Cousineau takes a spiritual, thoughtful approach that provides a path that fosters a deeper and probably more abiding sense of what it means to be creative, and how to feed that creativity to keep it nourished and vibrant.

The nine steps are divided into three parts: inspiration, perspiration, and realization. Bring a person who likes projects broken into manageable pieces, his approach appealed to me immediately--particularly the honesty of "perspiration." Think you'll attain you goal without work? Think again!

Simple exercises guide each chapter. For example, reverie: take a book from your book shelf, open it to any page and write down a line or two. Think about those lines for the rest of the day. While Cousineau finds this exercise a way to sink into reverie, it also encourages focus. Focusing on one small thing often leads to large philosophical ideas. In that process, the thinker wanders into old and new places, remembering and wondering. Which leads to new ideas.

Simple ideas to nurture creativity are found on almost every page. One that appealed to me with a sense of recognition was the "cabinet of wonder." What is in the cabinet? Your souvenirs, passions, things that you have collected because they speak to you in some way. My home is filled with such "cabinets"--my kitchen with its vintage tools, the box of small items found in the log cabin we moved, beads and bits that I have found in odd places in a little bag in my dresser drawer, memory boxes of letters and cards, etc. Each time I visit one of these "cabinets" I am reminded of the stories each item contains. Each item can send me into reverie, and often to writing.

For those seeking a path to inspiration, Stoking the Creative Fires might be the guide you need. For those already inspired, you will find more ways to develop your creative spirit. Cousineau provides a generous bibliography at the end of his book. Will you need those additional resources? I doubt it.

Creative Thoughts on Creativity

There are days when I am barely able to think, let alone be creative. Today was certainly one of them. Two meetings sapped the energy of the day, leaving me frustrated, drained and aggravated.

Then I get home and I want to write. But how to write with such negative emotions still swirling around in me? One way to still them is to read the good thinking of others, to let their words soak into me and cleanse away the badness of the day. Here are some of my favorites about creativity:

One of the advantages of being disorderly is that one is constantly making exciting discoveries.
-A.A. Milne, author (ah, Pooh! So wise!)

Angels fly because they take themselves lightly.
G.K. Chesterton, author (my favorite saying, I think. Now to just remember it on days like today)

You cannot govern the creative impulse; all you can do is to eliminate obstacles and smooth the way for it. -Kimon Nicolaides, artist born in 1892

If I create from the heart, nearly everything works; if from the head almost nothing.
-Marc Chagall, artist (I understand this. It's the intuitive drive that creates)

Creativity is the sudden cessation of stupidity.
-Edwin Land (I like this guy!) invented Polaroid camera

Flaming enthusiasm, backed by horse sense and persistence, is the quality that most frequently makes for success.
-Dale Carnegie (Ah. Not the other flaming thing...)

You need chaos in your soul to give birth to a dancing star.
-Nietzsche (got plenty of chaos, where's the star?)

I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody.
-Bill Cosby, comedian (Amen, Bill!)

God will not look you over for medals, degrees, or diplomas, but for scars.
-Elbert Hubbard, author (Okay, this makes sense. Plenty of scars to show.)

Eighty percent of success is showing up.
-Woody Allen, actor and author (Hmmm. I'd rather be creative than successful, I suppose.)

The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources.
-Albert Einstein (bad Al!)

"I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world."
–Albert Einstein (the man is a poet)

"If you are out to describe the truth, leave elegance to the tailor."
-Albert Einstein again (well, he was one creative dude, but I sort of hunger for elegance.)