Stealth elements are valued

GaiaPortal

Stealth elements are valued.

Plastic life forms are exposed and dissolved.

Flames of Illumination envelope the masses.

Awakenings begin for all.

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Dark Lyrics Inspire an Animated Short

I just love this spoken song. I am convinced that the idiom “footloose and fancy free” was the inspiration for the whole thing. Many artists work this way, starting with an idea and working backwards. Here is a great animated short, “Aging Young Rebel” by Jonathan McCallum.

The Aging Young Rebel Gentle Cruelty” by Dj Food

An Aging Young Rebel
Called What’s His Name
Wanted to be different
while he stayed the same

Then he couldn’t
he just couldn’t
No matter what he would try
Told be his mother

An aging old thing
You better go see clever
You give clever a ring
Which he did
Called him up

Just so Mommy wouldn’t cry
Clever hear his story
About different and the same
You crazy
This some silly game

Oh no
Like Mommy said
I gotta straighten up my head
Clever is so clever
Is cleverness enough

Can you help this ageing rebel
Do you really have the stuff
Bet you don’t have
Bet the bread that you’ll pass the buck instead

Clever sends our hero
To a funny darkened room
Where a crowd of cunning listens
Giggles in the gloom

That’s your problem aging rebel
Don’t you really know the score
You crazy think you’re going to change this crazy world
Better see your self a shrink

Cunningly the argue about our boy
Who’s breaking down the door
Now he’s running down the dark
Diabolical awaits

Grabs him by the ankle
Ani’t it just like fate
Diabolical laughs
In an alley full of suit

Forget the same
you’ll be different now
Somewhat shorter on one side
Let go
Oh no

Would you diabolical inside
Panic in his brain pulls and gets away
Loses him a foot it’s a dark and evil day
See him running limping blood

Something soft is just ahead
Something soft is gentle
He’s fallen at her side
She comforts him with kisses
He dreams of suicide

Gentle is so gentle
Grabs the trouble by its root
Bandages his stump
Cuts off his other foot

So you see it seems to me a gentle kind of cruelty
Ageing rebels older a little wiser maybe too
Gentleness has fixed him
Does he look like me and you

Footless and fancy free
Think how happy Mom will be
Footless and fancy free
Think how happy Mom will be

New Release: Bird Seed, a rather unconventional book on social media

Just released; a book on professional social media.

If you are pursued by a growing mob of Facebook friends whom you have never met…

If you are deluged with double opt-in messages when you can’t remember a single opt…

If you find yourself confused by application upgrades that downgrade your experience…

If you are unable to see the social media forest for all the meaningless trees of content…

If you are afraid that your last precious half-hour of free time may be on the chopping block of Twitter…

If you bemoan the disappearance of time, depth, and real meaning…

If you find it sad that your iPhone has replaced your dog as your constant companion…

If you suspect your wife has left you for her blog…
…then this book may be for you.

Ebook edition, soon in print.

Discover how to brand without marketing, how to promote without advertising, and how to advance your cause, yourself, or your business with professional social media.

See more here: http://parallelmindzz.com/birdseed.html

Paperback book $12.98

Kindle Edition $4.99

All other Ebook formats (pdf, epub, etc) $4.99

I Bet You That I Can Write a New Book in a Week

THE BET

I started writing this book yesterday. I bet I can finish the entire book by midnight next Thursday. For me to win, the book will have to be finished and ready to be emailed by Thursday midnight. I won’t have time to have it copy-edited, but all the text will be finished. The cover is already designed.

If I lose, I owe everyone who participated in my bet a free copy of my last ebook, The Way of Love. If I win, then anyone who participates in the bet will have the opportunity to buy the advance copy of my new book for $4.99 (a 50% discount). The book will be available on Amazon’s Kindle, B&N’s Nook, and as a beautiful PDF.

This bet is one I placed with myself: I put together an outline and started writing it on Friday, so the book is due on Thursday, July 21st. I decided to make my bet public and see if the bet will make my deadline more real to me.

THE BOOK

This will be an ebook; it is modeled on the style and brevity of Seth Godin’s book, “the dip.” It is about how to brand, market and work on social media. It’s a how-to, but it is not a technical book. I call it the “anti-social guide to social media;” it is quirky, and easy to read. I won’t disclose the title to you but the subtitle is:

“a really short, easy-to-read book that shows how to use social media to advance your cause, yourself or your business”

Here is the intro/backcover:

“If you feel victimized by nonsensical Ebay ads in your search sidebar; if you are pursued by a growing mob of Facebook friends whom you could have never met; if you are daily deluged with double opt-in messages when you can’t remember even a single opt; if you find yourself confused by application upgrades that downgrade your experience; if you are unable to see the social media forest for all the meaningless trees of content; if you are afraid that your last precious half-hour of free time may be on the chopping block of Twitter; if you bemoan the disappearance of time, depth, and real meaning; if you find it sad that your iPhone has replaced your dog as your constant companion; and if you suspect your wife has left you for her blog…

…then this book may be for you.”

——-

To see my books, including your possible free copy of “The Way of Love,” go to:

http://www.parallelmindzz.com

To participate, send me an email with the header, “BOOK ME!” to:

(fill in my name below)@gmail.com
aliyahmarr

That ought to build a real fire under me!

step-into-your-dream

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Films on Artists Creates Inspirational Documentaries About Artists

Tags

art competition, documentaries on artists

Following the success of our 2010 International, all-medium juried art show and award of the top prize of our “Artists Exhibition Package”, FilmsOnArtists is proud to announce our 2011 competition.

40 artists will be juried by our judge David Masello for a show at the FilmsOnArtists Gallery | Chelsea.

From that show one artist will be selected to have a solo show, reception and a screening of the documentary we create about their art.

FilmsOnArtists (FOA) is a new media production company based in the Chelsea district, NYC that creates enlightening and inspirational documentaries about artists around the globe.

—–

Current artist in focus

Assemblage Artist, Bill Georgenes, Santa Fe, NM

“I’m a happy chappy all the time.   I can’t walk.  I can’t run.  I can’t dance.  I can’t hike.  I just stay here and work, maybe 15 hours a day.”

This year we are asking artists to contribute 10% of sales from the show as a contribution to FOA’s Haitian Childrens Art Project

at the Maranatha School and Orphanage in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti.

The Heart Only Wants to Be Free

Beyond all personal circumstances, beyond all social structures, beyond the politics of the day, beyond the hysteria of the media, only one thing is real: your heart wants to be free. Artists taste this freedom, because they experience it in their art, but we can, as a culture, as empowered individuals claim this freedom today.

How do I know this? Because I see it in my fellow artists work; I hear echos of that freedom in the lyrics of the music I hear. I know it because personal freedom is the touchstone of my work, because the very wind whispers of it to me.

Belong by R.E.M.

(Berry/Buck/Mills/Stipe)

Her world collapsed early Sunday morning
She got up from the kitchen table
Folded the newspaper and silenced the radio
Those creatures jumped the barricades
And have headed for the sea, sea

Those creatures jumped the barricades
And have headed for the sea
She began to breathe
To breathe at the thought of such freedom
Stood and whispered to her child: belong
She held the child and whispered
With calm, calm: belong

Stood and whispered to her child; belong
She held the child and whispered
With calm, calm: belong

These barricades can only hold for so long
Her world collapsed early Sunday morning
She took the child held tight
Opened the window
A breath, this song, how long
And knew, knew: belong

Moby Deploys His Art to Help Save the Poor

Tags

Destroyed, Moby, The Day

Here is an example of how artists can make a difference. Watch this music video, and tell me if you aren’t moved.

Moby has teamed up with MoveOn.org by starring in and lending his new single “The Day” off of the forthcoming album “Destroyed” to a hard-hitting video that protests attacks on America’s most needy. In the “The Day — Moby and MoveOn Protest Budget Cuts on the Poor”, the artist explains why he joined over 30,000 Americans in a fast to protest against the budget cuts that could disproportionately hurt the most vulnerable in America.

The effort comes as the President and Republicans in Congress agreed to a budget that could severely impact the lives of the poor. Republicans are preparing even steeper cuts in their upcoming 2012 budget, including a proposal that would hand Medicare over to the insurance companies. The Republican 2012 budget is expected to come up for a vote in the House by the end of this week.

The fast was first launched by Reverend Jim Wallis of the Sojournors, and Ambassador Tony Hall. As word spread, more than 30,000 Americans joined thefast, as well as 28 members of Congress.

Dear Woman,

This video speaks volumes.

Based on the “Manifesto for Conscious Men,” a collectively-written document from a number of men who feel that a new definition of masculinity can help redress the imbalances of patriarchy and welcome a new era of loving appreciation between men and women. A group of these men speak from the heart and offer a collective apology, on behalf of their gender, for past abuses of men against women.

Real Time Delphi Global Art Project

Following is an email I am posting here on Parallel Mind for the benefit of my readers. Do I mind that they are using the same term — conscious creativity — that I coined in my book, Parallel Mind, The Art of Creativity. No, not really; after all, who knows who was the first to use the phrase. Check it out: this seems to be a worthwhile endeavor.

On behalf of the newly formed Arts/Media Node of The Millennium Project, we
have the honor and pleasure to invite those who are experienced and interested in the future of arts, media and entertainment to participate in a Real-Time Delphi at www.realtimedelphi.org
Please register, and then when it asks for the code put: arts

The results will be published in the 2011 State of the Future report. The results will also be emailed to you.

The Arts/Media Node plans to use the results as inspiration to create and implement existing and future art forms to address global challenges. Just as the Florentine Camerata (an arts “think tank”) invented and produced the first European Opera in the late 1500s, the Arts/Media Node seeks to help invent and inspire the future of the arts, media, and entertainment – but this time on a global basis.

So, please go to www.realtimedelphi.org and let’s help invent the future together.

All the best,

Kate McCallum, Chair Arts/Media Node
Joonmo Kwan, Co-Chair Arts/Media Node
Jerome Glenn, Executive Director, The Millennium Project

http://www.millennium-project. org/millennium/future_arts_ delphi.html

Art Lives on Your TV

ArtLive.Tv is a pilot project that offers broadcasting to artists with a service that is built on the communication and support of the art community.

ArtLive wants to help artists recognize their potential and impress upon them that it is the belief in their work’s value that creates it worth. We will also use our platform to inform our viewers about the creative process that artist undertake when crafting the final result . We want to give the artists exposure to an international audience and support the marketing potential they may already have in place.

http://artlive.tv/index.html

Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/ArtLiveTv

Two Dogs Dining

Two dogs are served their meals in “restaurant”, but in spite of waiting patiently for the waitress to return, never get anything to drink.

Some things just never need any additional explainations.

Creative Inspiration for Your Ears

Click Image or Text Link Below to Play Audio File

[blip.tv ?posts_id=4943413&dest=43968]

Aliyah Marr speaks with Rhonda Smith about individual creative empowerment and social change. Aliyah states that there are more creative geniuses on Earth now than at any other time in the history of mankind. She says that if we rallied our individual creative power, we could change the world virtually overnight, eliminating pollution, crime, and inequality.

The Secret Desire of Fear

Tags

Conscious Creative, creative freedom, dealing with fear, facing fear, Transformation

The doctor interrupts the clown's fun.

I enjoy watching old episodes of Star Trek Voyager. A couple days ago I saw one about people the Voyager crew found imprisoned in stasis.

They were scheduled to wake up four years earlier. The crew finds out that the minds of the people in hibernation were kept active inside a virtual reality run by a computer. Something had gone horribly wrong: instead of providing a pleasant environment for the people in stasis, the computer generated a circus filled with characters that tortured them with the fears generated by their own imaginations.

Their minds were kept eternally awake in a virtual circus-like world dominated by a clown character representing fear. The people in stasis had not woken up on schedule, and in fact, two of the five had died of massive heart attacks brought on by the extreme stress generated by the circus of fear.

To rescue her people and the aliens caught within this world, Captain Katheryn Janeway, projects a hologram of herself as a substitute hostage.

Janeway's offer is flattering to Fear

Fear doesn’t know that Janeway is a hologram, and therefore not influenceable by the environment or by the characters in the virtual circus of fear. He is relishing the prospect of torturing someone of Janeway’s caliber and is willing to give up all the others in exchange for her. The clown is highly entertained by the idea of someone “choosing” to be with him. But when he finds out that Janeway is just a projection (like him), he begins to become afraid, knowing that he cannot live without a mind to live within.

Janeway tells him that she knows his secret (desire): she knows that Fear wants to be conquered. Fear needs to surrender to love/knowledge/acceptance/recognition/awareness/consciousness. Because Fear — knowing only fear, battle, war, and separation — cannot understand the higher concept of surrender, it has to be “conquered” — as if it is in a battle — by love.

Janeway is telling us that Fear exists to be defeated; that it’s “raison d’être” is to experience love through the unimaginable act of surrender — Fear unconsciously desires to be reunited with its polar opposite; in doing so, Fear achieves its real goal of surrender in order that it may become whole.

“I’m afraid,” Fear says just before he dissolves.

Janeway whispers, “I know.”

Copyright 2011 Aliyah Marr

Can We Evolve Our Society Consciously Following the Pattern of Nature?

Tags

Conscious Creative, creative freedom, inspiration, life path coaching, life-coach coaching, social change, Transformation

Visionary, futurist and proponent of conscious evolution Barbara Marx Hubbard talks about self, social and planetary evolution on this interview. She asks, “How did Nature climb up the ladder of greater complexity when the tendency is for entropy and disorder?”

Here’s a quote from the interview: “Natural evolution is non-linear, exponential–interactive connectivity of that which is novel, mutation, innovative. If Nature has been jumping to higher order for billions of years by this non-linear, very rapid connectivity of novel innovation/mutations; what if we do that purposely. What if we learn from the billions of years of Nature to evolve a system right now that can map, track and connect what’s working.

Claudia Wells calls this ‘evo-mimicry.’ Mimicing Nature’s evolutionary process of creating a higher evolutionary order. Take part in the operating manual for planet Earth. Find a way to rapidly connect the creative gift  that is in every one of us now from the simplest child all the way up to the most amazing innovations.

Our job in the next few years is to map, track and connect in a non-linear, exponential way on internet and in person that which is creative in us.”

To hear the whole recording, CLICK HERE.

A Kinetic Sculpture that Moves on It’s Own

Tags

kinetic art

Artist Theo Jansen makes kinetic sculptures powered by the wind.

Kinectic Sculpture © Theo Jansen

http://www.wimp.com/kineticsculpture

My Adventure in Publishing: Getting a Book into Print & on Kindle

Tags

Kindle, POD printing, self-publishing

I get many questions from authors about publishing and promoting, so I decided to write an article about my experience in the hopes that it can help other authors. I write on the power of creativity, both for individual development and for social change. I use my books as a support for my workshops and seminars.

I have now 3 books on Kindle. My first book, “Parallel Mind, The Art of Creativity,” has been in print for about 2 years now. I put it into Kindle first. That was relatively easy. Here is the print version (all print books are also on Amazon and other booksellers):

Parallel Mind on Kindle.

Next, I put my recent title, “Pocket Parallel Mind,” a 365 inspirational day-quote book for creative people on Kindle. This was a formatting nightmare, both in the print version and the Kindle version, due to the design of the book — I made a page for each quote, and designed the print edition with beautiful large light gray initial caps. In the print edition, I ran into trouble because the quality of the interior pages wasn’t up-to-snuff with the default line screen (an abismal 120 ls for those design techies out there). So I had to “manually” fill every initial cap and gray text with a Photoshop-generated fill. This resulted in a very unusual and subtle effect which I like very much. Designers and other creative folks really like the look of this printed book. The final results can be only seen in the actual print, but you can get an idea here:

http://parallelmindzz.com/pocketparallelmind.html

I was able to approximate the design of Pocket Parallel Mind in Kindle by tweaking the code of the document. Of course, it can never be as beautiful as the print edition, but it costs the user a lot less. It looks really different than any other books on Kindle, though.

Pocket Parallel Mind on Kindle.

Next, I took my blog, and made a new book out of it. This was the easiest of the three books on Kindle. All I did was design the cover (I am a book designer too) and load the entire text into an HTML document with page breaks.

Celestial Navigation on Kindle.

However, the PDF version of Celestial Navigation is taking me much longer. Why? Because I have decided to illustrate it with my artwork–a painting per article. That is a huge task, but I am enjoying it.

Celestial Navigation in PDF format

Another LinkedIn user in a different group complains that he lost “thousands” of dollars with Kindle when they allowed users to share his book with other Kindle users. It seems that you cannot turn off the share option.

However, I view Kindle as a way to sell my print and my beautiful full-color books. So, I have made two advertising pages for my website with my books on the Kindle version: a page in the front of the book and another page in the back. The ad says something like: “If you like this book on Kindle, you should see it in full color (or in print).”

The other cool thing about Kindle is that you can update your book very quickly. I recommend that authors who have something to say try saying it as many ways as possible. If you have a very expensive book, then don’t put the whole thing on Kindle: instead put an “introductory” book to your information on Kindle, and use it as an advertisement for your actual book, which they buy directly from you on your website or on Amazon. If you have made a PDF version, the profits are 100% yours!

I write on creative development, and am a creative development coach. I help authors, designers, and other creative people achieve their dreams, whether it is to create a business, get published, or fulfill some other dream.

http://www.parallelmindzz.com
http://www.aliyahmarr.com
@parallelmind (twitter)

Love in the Afternoon

Tags

love quotes, quotations about love, romance, valentine's day

Download my newest book: The Way of Love, 365 Ways to Say I Love You. FREE to subscribers of this newsletter. (donation requested)

An Interview with Trust Art by Tracy Candido

Public art is for the people. Whether object-based, performative, or interactive, public artworks are created to enhance the landscape of a public space by giving communities something out of the ordinary to reflect on, consider, and engage with. Trust Art, founded by Seth Aylmer and Jose Serrano-McClain, is an organization and philanthropic initiative that is not only invested in public art, the artists that create it, and the communities that share it, but also in finding ways to sustain the lifeline of public art projects. Trust Art has developed a three-year cycle that involves “shareholders,” community members that invest money, time, and other resources into public projects in exchange for “shares,” which are redeemed upon the project’s auction at the end of the three-year cycle. Currently Trust Art is producing and supporting the growth of 10 public art projects in New York City and around the world, all of which are invested in by “shareholders,” community members, and a network of artists. I recently sat down with Seth and Jose of Trust Art to discuss the history of the organization and their current pursuits.

—–

JS: The idea of Trust Art goes back to our first driving question and problem, which is that there are people who have fame and social capital, and people who need it. Five years ago, when we first formed our partnership, Paris Hilton was the most notorious media story/non-media story. It seemed like we had reached a new level of absurdity with the distance between the people who had attention and the people who didn’t have attention who could use attention—people like us, people like our friends who have something to give. In a way, we started this as a documentary to create a fictional celebrity out of thin air.

SA: It’s called Fame Game now; it’s an online business and media site. It ranks people rising and falling in the media, and it has advertising, which brings in revenue. We don’t work at the company anymore, but Trust Art came out of that.

READ MORE…

Final Blurbs for Pocket Parallel Mind Are In

Pocket Parallel Mind, 365 Days of Creative Inspiration in Your Pocket

Thanks to those who took the time to review my book and submit an advance review. Stay tuned to this blog for the free gift that I promised way back in October (this took longer than I thought!).

Here are the advance reviews of Pocket Parallel Mind that made it into the book just before going to press:

“A stunning example of non-invasive brain surgery.”—Mark Blanchard

“Creativity Booster: Pocket Parallel Mind takes you on a walk on the right side.  Use it as  light reading to turn on the light in your creative right-brain.”—Nacho Villoch

“I think the multi-talented creative people who are my clients will love this book…if they can stop coming up with new ideas long enough to read it!”—Lisa Rothenstein, The Da Vinci Dilemma

“Consumed daily, these tidbits of brainfood will improve your creative output, all without that annoying fish-oil burp.” —Michael Plishka, ZenStorming Solutions, LLC

“Warning: this book is dangerous, now my brain is pestering me with creative ideas.” —Thornton Sully, A Word With You Press

“The better of my two minds is thinking up a storm somewhere in a parallel universe.” —Salvatore Buttaci, Flashing My Shorts

“I had no second thought’s on reading this book! Which in a parallel mind would total four. Therefore I read it twice.” —Paul Fitzgerald, Founder UGotStyle.Com

“Mr. Hyde recommended I read this book, now I’m beside myself with bizarre ideas coming from my Parallel Mind.” —Dr. Jekeyl, M.D.

“Can I have my crayons back, now?” —Thomas Sully, Portrait Painter

“Read this and you’ll have the creative, brilliant and witty brain that I originally intended for my creation.” —Dr. Frankenstein

“Day 22…There’s the rub!” —William Shakespeare

“I’d like to comment, but I’m a little pressed at the moment.” —Guttenburg

“Sautée the left brain with onions. Whip the right with cream & sugar until stiff peaks form. Serve warm.” —Julia Childs

“E=MC2 was only the beginning. With this book, you can come up with a new theory of relativity that will blast my little theory out of the (parallel) universe.” — Albert Einstein

Sybill: “I’m of two minds about this book.”
Sybill: “No you aren’t.”

“I recommend reading this book: don’t insert this book in your shoe, it’s uncomfortable.” —Dr. Scholls, M.D.

“Best book I’ve read in a very long time.” —Methuselah

A Story of Love, Faith, and Healing

One of the most enjoyable things about having your own blog is that you get to post whatever you want. This story really touched me, so I thought I’d share it with you.

Freedom and I have been together 10 years this summer.

She came in as a baby in 1998 with two broken wings. Her left wing doesn’t open all the way even after surgery, it was broken in 4 places. She’s my baby. When Freedom came in she could not stand and both wings were broken.

She was emaciated and covered in lice. We made the decision to give her a chance at life, so I took her to the vets office. From then on, I was always around her. We had her in a huge dog carrier with the top off, and it was loaded up with shredded newspaper for her to lay in.

I used to sit and talk to her, urging her to live, to fight; and she would lay there looking at me with those big brown eyes. We also had to tube feed her for weeks.

This went on for 4-6 weeks, and by then she still couldn’t stand. It got to the point where the decision was made to euthanize her if she couldn’t stand in a week. You know you don’t want to cross that line between torture and rehab, and it looked like death was winning. She was going to be put down that Friday, and I was supposed to come in on that Thursday afternoon.

I didn’t want to go to the center that Thursday, because I couldn’t bear the thought of her being euthanized; but I went anyway, and when I walked in everyone was grinning from ear to ear. I went immediately back to her cage; and there she was, standing on her own, a big beautiful eagle. She was ready to live. I was just about in tears by then. That was a very good day.

We knew she could never fly, so the director asked me to glove train her. I got her used to the glove, and then to jesses, and we started doing education programs for schools in western Washington. We wound up in the newspapers, radio (believe it or not) and some TV. Miracle Pets even did a show about us.

In the spring of 2000, I was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma. I had stage 3, which is not good (one major organ plus everywhere), so I wound up doing 8 months of chemo. Lost the hair – the whole bit. I missed a lot of work. When I felt good enough, I would go to Sarvey; and take Freedom out for walks. Freedom would also come to me in my dreams and help me fight the cancer. This happened time and time again.

Fast forward to November 2000, the day after Thanksgiving. I went in for my last checkup. I was told that if the cancer was not all gone after 8 rounds of chemo, then my last option was a stem cell transplant. Anyway, they did the tests; and I had to come back Monday for the results. I went in Monday, and I was told that all the cancer was gone.

So the first thing I did was get up to Sarvey and take the big girl out for a walk. It was misty and cold. I went to her flight and jessed her up, and we went out front to the top of the hill. I hadn’t said a word to Freedom, but somehow she knew. She looked at me and wrapped both her wings around me to where I could feel them pressing in on my back (I was engulfed in eagle wings), and she touched my nose with her beak and stared into my eyes, and we just stood there like that for I don’t know how long. That was a magic moment. We have been soul mates ever since she came in. This is a very special bird.

I never forget the honor I have of being so close to such a magnificent spirit as
Freedom.

Hope you enjoy this.
Jeff

Here are more photos of Jeff and Freedom.

Do You Have a Creative Event? Post it on Parallel Mind.

I will post selected announcements such as workshops, exhibitions, events, etc. related to creative development. Simply leave your entry as a comment on one of my posts; if I deem it to be of interest to my readers, I will post it. Photos may be requested from you via my email response, so be ready to supply any visuals that may help clarify your announcement.

Please read this blog a bit first to see if your announcement will fit the genre of creativity, art, and personal development.

Architecture for Humans

Here is a book that just came to my attention, A Pattern Language by Christopher Alexander. Since my first introduction to architecture and human design in art school, building buildings to reflect a healthy lifestyle has been one of my core interests. Why not use our creativity to design buildings that enhance our energy and make our lives better?

Here is a reader review:

it isn’t about architecture, April 29, 2000
By Philip Greenspun (Cambridge, MA USA) – See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)
Amazon Verified Purchase(What’s this?)
This review is from: A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction (Center for Environmental Structure Series) (Hardcover)
Nominally about architecture and urban planning, this book has more wisdom about psychology, anthropology, and sociology than any other that I’ve read. Nearly every one of this volume’s 1170 pages will make you question an assumption that you probably didn’t realize you were making. In a section entitled “Four-Story Limit”, Alexander notes that “there is abundant evidence to show that high buildings make people crazy…”

… Many of Alexander’s arguments are against the scale of modern systems. Public schools spend a fortune on building and administration precisely because they are so physically large [I’ve seen statistics showing that our cities spend only about one-third of their budgets on classrooms and teachers]. If we had shopfront schools and fired all the school system personnel who don’t teach, we might be able to get student-teacher ratios down to 8 or 10:1 without an increase in cost. Similarly, Alexander argues for smaller retail shops, smaller factories (or at least identifiable small workgroups within factories rather than hundreds of faceless cogs) and more master/apprentice instruction.

What if you like the depredations of modernity and aren’t interested in a utopian world where basic human needs are met? Can you learn anything about architecture from this guy? Absolutely. You’ll learn that light is everything. Your bedroom has to have eastern light so that the sun wakes you up. Your best living quarters should have southern light. All the rooms should have light from at least two sides, otherwise there will be too much contrast and you’ll just have to draw the shades. If you’ve got kids, make them sleep and play in their own wing of the house. Build a realm for yourself and your wife on a different floor. Meet the kids in the kitchen.

To avoid cluttering my apartment, I give away virtually all the books that I buy these days. I’m keeping this one and plan to re-read it every year.

Inspiration Found in Lyrics

How many times have you been inspired by lyrics? I have been working non-stop for four days now, and am exhausted. Paul Simon, Born At The Right Time, comes on my internet radio,

Never been lonely
Never been lied to
Never had to scuffle in fear
Nothing denied to

The lyrics remind me that no matter how difficult life may be, we should approach the world as if we are just born.

This is the way of the artist, to be as if just born, to be what we are, no expectations and no fear. A blank canvas. We are all “born at the right time” if we have the courage to be what we are.

——

Paul Simon, Born At The Right Time

Down among the reeds and rushes
A baby boy was found
His eyes as clear as centuries
His silky hair was brown

Never been lonely
Never been lied to
Never had to scuffle in fear
Nothing denied to
Born at the instant
The church bells chime
And the whole world whispering
Born at the right time

Me and my buddies we are travelling people
We like to go down to restaurant row
Spend those euro-dollars
All the way from washington to tokyo
I see them in the airport lounge
Upon their mother’s breast
They follow me with open eyes
Their uninvited guest

Never been lonely
Never been lied to
Never had to scuffle in fear
Nothing denied to
Born at the instant
The church bells chime
And the whole world whispering
Born at the right time

Too many people on the bus from the airport
Too many holes in the crust of the earth
The planet groans
Every time it registers another birth

But among the reeds and rushes
A baby girl was found
Her eyes as clear as centuries
Her silky hair was brown

Never been lonely
Never been lied to
Never had to scuffle in fear
Nothing denied to
Born at the instant
The church bells chime
And the whole world whispering
Born at the right time

Surfing The Sea of Change

I think that many of us are experiencing a lot of changes right now.

Change is uncomfortable, but it becomes easier if we relax. My good friend Dan tells me that the secret of surfing is to relax, and so the same is true about change. Relax, enjoy the ride, and be OK with not knowing. Not knowing where you are going, the outcome of your journey, or most especially “why.”

The two most useless words to ask at the juncture of change are the words “why” and “how.” Why me? Why does it have to happen this way? How am I going to cope? How will our family survive? How will I find a new job?

The best question to ask is “what do I desire?” Then pay attention to that little internal voice of intuition that tells you when and where you can place yourself to be closer to where that desire can easily manifest.

An artist specializes not so much in generating art as he specializes in generating desire. The secret is not trying to create what you desire; instead, you merely need to focus on the desire itself. What you desire is then pulled magnetically towards you by the energy (e-motion) of your desire.

Relaxing and accepting change is key to finding a sense of ease and enjoyment no matter where you are in life. Opposing change is like fighting the ocean — it’s pointless and it’s exhausting. Accepting change means that you can surf  the greatest wave of change effortlessly, using the power of the wave to carry you along, and enjoy the sometimes scary, sometimes exhilarating ride.

Copyright 2010 Aliyah Marr

Words of Wisdom & Humor

In ancient Greece (469 – 399 BC), Socrates was widely lauded for his wisdom.

One day an acquaintance ran up to him excitedly and said, “Socrates, do you know what I just heard about Diogenes?”

“Wait a moment,” Socrates replied, “Before you tell me I’d like you to pass a test. It’s called the Triple Filter Test.” ‘Triple filter?” asked the acquaintance.

“That’s right,” Socrates continued, “Before you talk to me about Diogenes let’s take a moment to filter what you’re going to say. The first filter is Truth. Have you made absolutely sure that what you are about to tell me is true?”

“No,” the man said, “Actually I just heard about it.”

“All right,” said Socrates, “So you don’t really know if it’s true or not. Now let’s try the second filter, the filter of Goodness. Is what you are about to tell me about Diogenes something good?”

“No, on the contrary…”

“So,” Socrates continued, “You want to tell me something about Diogenes that may be bad, even though you’re not certain it’s true?”

The man shrugged, a little embarrassed. Socrates continued, “You may still pass the test though, because there is a third filter, the filter of Usefulness. Is what you want to tell me about Diogenes going to be useful to me?”

“No, not really.”

“Well,” concluded Socrates, “If what you want to tell me is neither true nor good nor even useful, why tell it to me or anyone at all?”

The man was bewildered and ashamed. This is an example of why Socrates was a great philosopher and held in such high esteem.

(It also explains why Socrates never found out that Diogenes was messing around with his wife.)


Sealife Stories, The Illusion of Boundaries

Recently, I had the honor to meet J.E. Bannerman, who expresses poignant love and sorrow for her native home, the Gulf of Mexico, in her blog, Seawrite.wordpress.com,

“Nobody tells you this, but it is true: There is absolutely no place where the earth ends and the sea begins. There are no two things. To you it may seem that here there is this solid earth and there is that insubstantial liquidity called water. But the boundary is an illusion, and even the seashore of illusion is always changing. What happens here, will touch everything that is there. And what is there, far away, will someday be here, close up. Look up into the sky and breathe in the breath of all the waters of all the oceans on this little planet. By your breathing, you enter into the rhythm of tides and mists, into the world of delicate sea birds plunging into water, into the minds of prehistoric turtles lumbering back from a night beach, letting go of their feets’ need to touch bottom. . . . ”

Read more at:

http://seawrite.wordpress.com/2010/06/12/hello-world/?blogsub=confirming#subscribe-blog

I encourage you to sign up for her postings via email.

The Unbearable Lightness of Creative Freedom

The creative attitude is one of limitless opportunity. Think of an open space, a clear horizon representing endless possibilities. A creative person is standing at the center of the universe, with infinite paths going in all directions; the unknown is exciting, and the path chosen is simply one of personal predilection.
— excerpt from Parallel Mind, The Art of Creativity, by Aliyah Marr

© Aliyah Marr

Creativity in any form is married to the ability to make decisions and carry them out. As a creative person involved in a creative medium you make literally thousands of tiny decisions in every piece you create. The practice of art in any form is a great way to develop and refine your ability to make incisive decisions, which naturally leads to a more creative, and empowered life.

Think about the times when you felt creatively blocked — did it seem that you couldn’t make a decision or that there wern’t any good choices to make? Did it feel that you were trapped in indecision?

Now think about the times when you felt creatively empowered; did it feel as if you had incredible lightness and freedom?

When you make a decision to change your life, suddenly things that were formerly cloudy become crystal clear. You suddenly become prepared to do whatever it takes to achieve your purpose — your actions become aligned with the intent of your life’s purpose: you become what I call “ruthless;” you can make instant, unerringly right decisions based upon pure instinct and intuition. A movie editor is ruthless when he cuts out extraneous parts of the movie. Artists are ruthless when they can see a better solution in their mind’s eye, and instantly act to execute their inner vision.

Original mural image © Aliyah Marr

Recently, I made a ruthless decision: I edited a mural I had made some years previously, cutting out a full 1/3 of the picture. I knew that the painting would be better because I could “see” it first in my mind’s eye. I have probably made millions of similar sweeping decisions in my artistic life. When the decision is right, I feel it immediately; I see that the image is more powerful without the unnecessary clutter and parts that are extraneous to the integrity of the piece.

The practice of art gives me the ability to make good decisions in my life, guided by the intuition that comes directly from my heart. You can apply the rules of ruthless editing to everything that you want to create in your life:

1. decide to become ruthless and distill everything down to just the essentials.
2. focus on the freedom you will feel without unnecessary things weighing you down.
3. make sure your life and art have integrity and are aligned with your heart and your inner vision.
4. invest your energy just on doing what makes you happy, rather than in any future happiness or goal.

When your heart is unencumbered by the past, by unnecessary things, and by negative, disempowering emotions, you will find that it is the most amazing wise guide to your new life — let your heart speak and it will always tell you true. You no longer need any goal and you will no longer have to delay your happiness. Instead you will be living the life of your dreams, flying through a landscape of incredible beauty with the bird of creative freedom as your companion and guide.

Copyright 2010 Aliyah Marr

Slow Money Offers a Creative Solution to Social, Economic Problems

Tags

corporate social responsibility, creative freedom, creative solutions, CSR, ecology, economic change, enterprise, entrepreneurs, environment, social change, social investing, Transformation

We’ve all heard too much about the structural problems of our economy, and too little about a new vision, a fundamentally new vision of economic, social and environmental health. Slow Money envisions a way to transition from an economy based on extraction and consumption to an economy based on preservation and restoration… READ MORE

This year, Slow Money will host a second annual gathering June 9-11 in Vermont. They’ve confirmed an inspiring group of speakers, including Bill McKibben, founder of 350.org, Stonyfield Farm’s Gary Hirshberg, Robert Zevin, the ‘father’ of the socially responsible investment movement, and Joel Salatin of Polyface Farm, made famous by Michael Pollan’s Omnivore’s Dilemma and the film Food, Inc.

Readers of this blog can receive a 20% discount; enter code “aliyahmarr” to register for the gathering alone or ” aliyahmarr+dinner” if you would like to attend the Friday evening farm table dinner celebration. Register with this code through the following link:

http://www.slowmoneyalliance.org/national-gathering.html

New Classes in Social Media and Promotion

Tags

author, author promotion, book promotion, book publishing, branding, Conscious Creative, creative freedom, creativity training, master social media, personal branding, social media

It’s taken a couple months, but I’ve finally updated my website, AliyahMarr.com. There are still a few glitches, but finally I have a place where I can offer consulting, classes, and a range of creativity products.

In response to requests by my clients, I am giving classes and workshops on business tools and applications to make your creative promotion easier.

ONE-ON-ONE WORKSHOPS / CLASSES

Master Social Media
Personalized one-on-one instruction helps you set up your social media campaign on Twitter, LinkedIn, & Facebook. We will cover as many programs as you can handle, so take notes!

Promotion Secrets for Authors & Publishers
Personalized one-on-one instruction helps you learn how to promote your book using free resources and applications online.

Aliyah Marr to Moderate Panel Discussion on Creativity (almost)

I was asked to moderate this panel discussion on my favorite subject — creativity — at Media Bistro in New York City. Unfortunately, I had a schedule conflict and couldn’t go. However, I think this would be worth going to if you find yourself in New York City this week.

—–

Finding the Creative Spark: A panel discussion about how to drive creativity and innovation in your organization

3M had the 15% rule back in the 50’s, and Google has a 20% rule today – a rule that states employees spend 20% of their time on their own projects, working on ideas that have nothing to do with their job’s mission. The goal? Innovation – new products and services that drive growth.

Many companies are looking outside their businesses to find inspiration for innovation, and in the process are turning to design firms and creative individuals. The challenges are in finding the time to innovate, hence the 20% rule; and in allowing their employees the freedom to think like designers. “Design Thinking” is about openness, a free exchange of ideas in that lead to creative problem solving. How can companies benefit from applying design thinking to their approach?

This panel places the emphasis on driving creativity in the workplace. Special guests from design, advertising, and interactive agencies will discuss how to create an environment for innovation, processes for idea development, and how individuals can find – or, reignite – their creative spark.

WHEN
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Doors open at 6:00 pm
Presentations begin at 6:30 pm sharp
Meet the panelists at our cash bar reception immediately following at 8:00 pm

WHERE
Comix, 353 West 14th Street, New York, NY 10014

WHO
Anyone interested in workplace management, design, creative services, business development, innovation/R&D, marketing.

PRICE
$30 ($25 for )

—-> more on panel discussion

Parallel Mind Cover Revised & Now Back in Print

The title Parallel Mind, The Art of Creativity was put on hold with the publisher while the cover was revised. Those who ordered books during this period had their orders put on hold temporarily. This hold stretched out longer than initially intended.

The good news is that the new bookcover is much better than the old cover, with which I was never very happy. I apologize for the wait, but hopefully, it is worth it!

New Parallel Mind Review on Amazon

Review of Parallel Mind, The Art of Creativity by Thornton H. Sully, Editor-in-Chief, A Word with You Press

Parallel Mind is not about self-help–it’s about self determination. It is immediately appealing as a motivational guide because it does what few self-help books even attempt: it treats the reader as if they had a brain.

A right and left brain, to be more precise.

According to author and artist Aliyah Marr, the two halves don’t always make a whole. They seem to have conflicting agendas.

“The right brain–intuitive, holistic, and none verbal–is analogous to our definition of the inner child. The left brain–rational,linear and verbal…is the adult persona.” As long as the right and left brain bicker for dominance, we’re a cat chasing our own tail. Albert Einstein would seem to agree: “The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind the faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift.”

Through specific exercises and provocative insight, this accomplished artist/author empowers us to open up the dialogue between adult and child, left and right. With the kind of mathematical surprise that would have delighted Einstein, she helps us discover that when the two halves work in tandem, one half plus one half equals infinity, and our capacity for creative thinking becomes limitless, and, more to the point of this unique guide, joyful!

Aliyah Marr has her own “E=Mc2” equation, and it is this: “Vision + Passion= Manifestation.” For those with a vague awareness that something is missing in their lives, she makes a compelling case in this nutritious read that personal change is possible, and the rewards immeasurable, that joy and abundance is a nano-second away.

This ain’t for couch potatoes, but Ms Marr isn’t asking you to get to work–she’s inviting you to come out and play. “Creativity is play with purpose.” Who wouldn’t want to join her?

Read all the reviews on Parallel Mind, The Art of Creativity on Amazon

Creative Freedom: An Idea Sent Around the World

How long does it take for an idea to circumnavigate the globe these days?

Let’s spread the idea of the unalienable right of creative freedom to our neighbors and friends. We can think for ourselves, and create a new world with prosperity for all, but first we have to know that we can function independently.

It won’t happen overnight, because true change will involve a lot of introspection into our lives. Creative freedom means that one must examine every part of what is for what actually is necessary and good. We must refine and better our creative lives by stripping out the dysfunctional elements that weigh us down, and don’t contribute to a better society.

Once everyone has the kind of self-esteem that comes with creative and mental freedom, crime and war will disappear.

There are some incredible creative individuals today: I would venture to guess that the sheer numbers of creative genius’ today far exceeds any time in history. Imagine what would happen if we combined forces and spoke out for creative freedom, freedom from the yoke of collective fear, from the yoke of dysfunctional governments and organizations.

Worldwide, the creative capital of this globe could be applied to solve our economic, environmental and social problems. We don’t need to support the wars or products that gain a few people more property at the detriment and death of innocent people, and that despoil the environment.

Q. What would happen if our money and energy is instead channeled towards the good of all?

A. We would have Heaven on Earth.

It is in our hands, on the collective horizon, it is in our hearts. Only a few more people need to wake up to their own power.

~ anonymous

(Share the idea of creative thought-freedom and let it spread around the world. Feel free to copy this manifesto, put it in an email, put it in your blog, or tweet it.)

Redesign of Parallel Mind Bookcover

I have long wanted to properly design the bookcover, not happy with the first cover since it was first published last year. So here it is. The rest of the book is unchanged. Check it out and let me know if you like it!

By the way, the 2 for 1 sale on Parallel Mind is on for only two more days. Your books will have the new bookcover.

The Healing Art of the Clown

Tags

Gesundheit Institute, Patch Adams

“Wearing a rubber nose wherever I go has changed my life. Dullness and boredom melt away. Wearing underwear on the outside of your clothes can turn a tedious trip to the store for a forgotten carton of milk into an amusement park romp. Humor is the antidote to all ills. People crave laughter as if it were an essential amino acid. I believe that fun is as important as love.”  — Patch Adams

In the days when kings and queens ruled, free speech was a rare thing. Only the court jester could get away with voicing a true opinion. Dressed in absurd clothes that set him apart, the jester whispered jokes and banter into the king’s ear; because of his position and his hilarious clothes, he was safe, even if sometimes the truth was a bit too close to the funny bone. After all, he was just a fool, and who would take a fool seriously?

No one else dared to say what they thought, for fear of reprisal, but the clever jester had an enviable impunity. Often, the court fool was an adviser that was valued above all others by the king, for his daring observations and honest opinions. The clown or “contrary” is an archetypal figure that shows up in nearly every culture. He holds up a mirror to society and speaks the truth by turning things upside-down and backwards.

In Lewis Carroll’s Through The Looking Glass, Alice steps into the mirror to discover a world that, although appearing backwards, reveals truths about the social-political world of her day. The author’s opinions and insights were disguised under absurdity and under the cover of children’s literature; so they were published and survive to this day.

Humor is an art form that approaches a sacred stance in different parts of the world. The “holy fool” of Europe whose words were taken as truth straight from heaven; the “sacred clown” or contrarian of the Lakota Indians was a teacher who taught people by changing their point of view. Here is a quote from Wikipedia:

“Heyókȟa are thought of as being backwards-forwards, upside-down, or contrary in nature. This spirit is often manifest by doing things backwards or unconventionally — riding a horse backwards, wearing clothes inside-out, or speaking in a backwards language. For example, if food were scarce, a Heyókȟa would sit around and complain about how full he was…when it is 40 degrees below freezing he will wander around naked for hours complaining that it is too hot.

The Heyókȟa symbolize and portray many aspects of the sacred. Their satire presents important questions by fooling around. They ask difficult questions, and say things others are too afraid to say. By reading between the lines, the audience is able to think about things not usually thought about, or to look at things in a different way.

Principally, the Heyókȟa functions both as a mirror and a teacher, using extreme behaviors to mirror others, thereby forcing them to examine their own doubts, fears, hatreds, and weaknesses. Heyókȟas also have the power to heal emotional pain; such power comes from the experience of shame–they sing of shameful events in their lives, beg for food, and live as clowns. They provoke laughter in distressing situations of despair and provoke fear and chaos when people feel complacent and overly secure, to keep them from taking themselves too seriously or believing they are more powerful than they are. “

Can there be anything more important? Humor is an art form that saves us, over and over again. What is it saving us from? From our own emotional baggage, from our thoughts, and most importantly, from our limitations.

Humor allows us to see the rigidity and structure of the world from a different perspective: suddenly we are called upon to see how easily we can overturn even the biggest obstacle in our path. We break up this obstacle with our laughter; in the process, we heal ourselves and become more like children.

“See what no one else sees. See what everyone else chooses not to see; out of fear, conformity, laziness. See the whole world anew each day.” — Patch Adams (the movie)

Patch Adams challenged the medical establishment, and called upon our humanity with his creativity and humor. I challenge you to spend a little time today being a clown or fool; turn the world upside-down and make someone laugh.

Help build the Patch Adams Teaching Center & Clinic

Copyright 2009 Aliyah Marr

Twitter Directory of Creative Visionaries Who Are Changing the World

I am making a directory of creative thought leaders on my other blog, Fresh Asylum. This is a replica of the Twitter list I have started to develop called Creative Thought Leaders. I have found nearly 80 people on Twitter since yesterday whom I feel are helping to change the world for the better. I have included their bios, handles and links. It’s a very interesting and inspiring read, especially when you might feel that things may be not going so well.

Please feel free to add anyone you think is influential or who is simply interested in promoting and creating socio-environmental change. Just include their — or your — Twitter handle in the comment area on either this blog or FreshAsylum.

Directory of Creative Thought Leaders on Twitter

Some Twitter Ideas for Creative People

Tags

marketing, social media, social networking, viral marketing

For some creative examples of how other people use Twitter, you might want to read what I just posted on my blog on design and marketing, FreshAsylum:

http://freshasylum.wordpress.com/2009/09/29/how-do-creative-people-use-twitter/

These examples tend to be slanted towards marketing and self-promotion, but I have used Twitter to publish poetry and to Tweet excerpts from my book, Parallel Mind, The Art of Creativity.

Please Excuse Our Dust

I am trying to improve the email postings to those of you who have subscribed to the Parallel Mind newsletter by changing carriers. So, please let me know if this newsletter is coming in better or worse than before. The new newsletter is delivered by MailChimp; this newsletter has the MailChimp logo at the bottom.

Email me your thoughts at:

parallelmindbook [at] gmail dot com

I read all email and comments.

Celestial Navigation

We all have an internal guidance system: our intuition and our emotions. We have the choice at all times whether to listen to the voice of our intuition and pay attention to our emotions, but they will be there whether we do or not.

If you are like me, it is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore the combined force of these internal tools. If you choose to make a decision that goes against the gentle advice of your intuition, you have a strange price to pay, in the emotions that result from your actions.

At one time, I couldn’t hear the voice of my intuition. It was a tiny voice that was often drowned out by the combined voices of my mind and my fear.

Slowly, I found ways to access my intuition and subconscious. I had a great resource and tool in the multiple art-forms in which I could engage. My art taught me how to know the landscape of my emotions, and gave me feedback on how I was feeling, and on what I was really thinking.

I learned that my emotions were a guidance system par excellence; if I held a potential path in my mind and felt bad, or felt good, I knew which was the better one to take. One day, my developing intuition delivered an amazing insight: that emotions are what we use to help us create whatever we want. They are the catalyst in the creative process that helps bring something into existence faster. This insight was such a gift for me that a year later, it formed one of the basic premises — Chapter 5, Emotional Wisdom — of my book, Parallel Mind, The Art of Creativity.

If you were an explorer in unfamiliar territory, you would use a compass to help you find your way. In the same way, why ignore two of the most powerful tools that you own?

With the guidance of the compass of your intuition, you can navigate through the ocean of your emotions, and arrive at that wondrous destination that you envisioned long ago. You can do whatever you want: a field of pure potential waits for you on the horizon of your imagination, brought to you through the willing collaboration of your mind and heart.

Copyright 2009 Aliyah Marr

Aliyah Marr Discusses Parallel Mind, The Art of Creativity

Aliyah Marr discusses Parallel Mind (Aug 31-Sept 11) on Library Thing. Come by to join in!

http://www.librarything.com/topic/72128

——

Welcome to my author’s chat. Some of you have my book, via Library Thing’s book review giveaway. I invite you to discuss the book and creativity in general.

In my “other” life I am a Life Path coach and Creative Projects Advisor, which means that I help people with their creative goals in their life or business. Parallel Mind, The Art of Creativity explores some of the basic concepts of how creative development can help in all aspects of one’s life.

I also invite you to follow my postings on Twitter — daily quotes from the book: http://twitter.com/ParallelMind

And my blog/newsletter: https://parallelmind.wordpress.com

Aliyah Marr

The Wisdom of the Butterfly

I had a wonderful childhood. My mother was an early environmentalist who had a talent for making everything interesting. She had a way of viewing the world that was totally unique. I remember laying stomach-down on an ocean pier with her and examining all the stuff growing on the trash under the wooden deck and on the pilings under the water. She said, “Look how Nature beautifies everything.” And it was true.

She was a great and wonderful teacher. She allowed us to capture animals and keep them on our back porch. We would try to feed them. If they didn’t eat, we would let them go. At any point, we had a real menagerie out there: toads, frogs, snakes, etc. We were taught to be afraid of nothing. We were taught to see the beauty in everything and to see how each creature fit in to the larger natural landscape.

One time she brought in a chrysalis of a Monarch butterfly for us to study. They say that a caterpillar’s body goes through a radical transformation inside the chrysalis: its body actually liquidates in order to reform into a completely different insect. I’ll never forget the moment our Monarch hatched from its shell. It seemed to take forever, because it had to expand and dry its new wings.

In nature there is a time for everything and a process. This process cannot be hurried; if the chrysalis is forced open from the outside, the butterfly will not evolve and it will die half-formed.

I know now that a real personal transformation happens only when we have dissolved our former selves, or rather, we have dissolved what we think of as ourselves. We have to first start with our beliefs, then examine and discard the thoughts that engendered those beliefs, and finally, we can detach our emotions from those thoughts. Once we do this, we are ready to emerge as a different person, expand our new wings and fly away.

Copyright 2009 Aliyah Marr

—–

Aliyah Marr is a Life Path Consultant and Creative Projects Advisor available for private consultations and transformational readings.

“What do you want to create today?”

LIFE PATH CONSULTANT
I coach artists, designers, authors, and entrepreneurs. With a solid background in marketing, design, coaching and writing, I help individuals throughout the entire creative process all the way from developing their personal vision to establishing their personal brand and marketing their product/service.

CREATIVE PROJECTS ADVISOR
If you have a creative project that you want to develop, market, or promote, contact me through my website: http://www.aliyahmarr.com References are available upon request.

ALT.PICTURESHOWS ’09 Films at MCASD

ALT.PICTURESHOWS ’09 Thursday, August 27 > 7-10 PM MCASD Downtown Free MCASD Members; $5 General Part cinematic funhouse, part short-film festival extraordinaire, the seventh annual alt.pictureshows returns as San Diego’s premier short-film showcase with a new collection of stunning and innovative live-action and animated short films that are sure to delight and surprise viewers. “Physical channel surf” your way through the galleries to experience a range of different short films as they screen on a loop throughout the evening. More . . . MCASD’s Film Program is made possible by grant support from The James Irvine Foundation, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, and contributors to MCASD’s Annual Fund Campaign. Institutional support for MCASD is provided in part by the City of San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture.

www.mcasd.org

| 858 454 3541

Proof that Inspiration is Right in Front of You All the Time

Tags

inspiration, lyrics, poetry

Do you have writer’s/artist’s block? Don’t forget to check the supermarket tabloid ads for inspiration.

Listening to one of my favorite internet radio stations, Radio Paradise, I found this little gem of inspiration:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ByomIJf5n9w

Here are some choice excerpts from the lyrics:

Step Right Up — Tom Waits

Step right up
Step right up
Step right up
Everyone’s a winner, bargains galore
That’s right, you too can be the proud owner
Of the quality goes in before the name goes on

That’s right, it fillets, it chops
It dices, slices, never stops
Lasts a lifetime, mows your lawn
And it mows your lawn
And it picks up the kids from school
It gets rid of unwanted facial hair
It gets rid of embarrassing age spots
It delivers a pizza

Please allow thirty days for delivery
Don’t be fooled by cheap imitations
You can live in it, live in it
Laugh in it, love in it
Swim in it, sleep in it
Live in it, swim in it
Laugh in it, love in it
Removes embarrassing stains from contour sheets
That’s right

And it entertains visiting relatives
It turns a sandwich into a banquet
Tired of being the life of the party?
Change your shorts
Change your life, change your life
Change into a nine-year-old Hindu boy
Get rid of your wife

Step right up, step right up, step right up
C’mon, c’mon, c’mon, c’mon, c’mon
Step right up
You can step right up
C’mon and step right up
C’mon and step right up

Call to Artists! Juried Show at Rogue Gallery in New York City

INTERNATIONAL
JURIED SHOW
Judged by art critic David Cohen

January 14th – January 30th, 2010
Opening Reception: Thursday, January 14th 6-9pm

Following the success of our recent series of group shows and glowing article by Joe Bendik, columnist of Chelsea Clinton News,  Rogue Space Chelsea, will start off the new year with its International Juried Group Show. The show is open to all media and will be judged by David Cohen, renowned Art Critic and Contributing Editor of The New York Sun between 2003-2008. Best In Show will be awarded an Artist Package – a film created about the artist and their work, as well as, a gallery opening reception/solo show and film premiere.  For details, see our site FilmsOnArtists. Please see our entry form for specifications and to register online.

526 West 26th Street, 9E  New York, NY 10001 347.342.8787 GroupShow@ChelseaGallerySpace.com www.chelseagalleryspace.com

A Tool for Personal Development

I have always admired the work of Rene Magritte. One of my favorite things about his work was how he titled his paintings. They always seemed a bit random, as if he pulled them from a hat.

I was interested in how the impact of my paintings could change by applying different titles. Since I worked as an interactive designer, I thought that I could program a game to randomly choose text to match the image. What traditional game is based upon images and randomness? A deck of cards! Specifically Tarot cards, which have some really arcane imagery.

Since my imagery is a bit surreal, and could be described as arcane, I thought it might be a good idea to apply traditional Tarot card meanings to my paintings and see what happened. So my Transformational Tarot was born. You are invited to check it out:

http://www.radi8.org/exhibits/exhibit_8/

All the cards and their meanings are here:

http://www.radi8.org/exhibits/exhibit_8/tarot/readings/index.html

People tell me that they get good readings from it, and I have started comparing it to other tools that help foster creativity and intuition. I find it speaks about things that my subconscious wants me to know, but may have been suppressing. It allows me to access my intuition as well, because the purpose of the deck is to help the player get to a more self-aware state. Play the game and see what you think. Is it a tool for personal transformation?

Copyright 2009 Aliyah Marr

——

Transformational Tarot CD
$19.95, including shipping ($4.95 USPS)

Parallel Mind, The Art of Creativity
$19.95, including shipping ($4.95 USPS)

Transformational Tarot Game on CD and Parallel Mind, The Art of Creativity book (shipped in one package)
$34.95, including shipping ($4.95 USPS)

If you are interested in having a signed copy of this game on CD, a signed copy of my book or both, just email:

parallelmindbook [at] gmail [dot com]

Can a Movie Turn Around a Town?

Help turn around Paterson, one of the largest and poorest cities in New Jersey, 180 degrees in 365 days.

See the post on my other blog, FreshAsylum:

http://freshasylum.wordpress.com/2009/08/15/time-to-impact-turn-around-paterson-one-of-the-largest-and-poorest-cities-in-new-jersey-180-degrees-in-365-days/

Neither Your Thoughts or Your Emotions are You

Does life seem unfair to you? How many times have you seen someone receive unjust rewards while another person goes hungry for love, money or simple appreciation?

I’ll never forget the day that I discovered the three principles of emotions: that all emotions are valid, that they are supposed to flow freely, and that it is better to not to judge yourself for having them. Soon after, I found a very effective way to step out of them. When I felt myself get tearful, I would simply state quietly, “Ah, I am emoting,” and it would stop me long enough to step outside of my habit, so that I could observe the emotion and its trigger.

This little in-the-moment detachment technique proved very effective; it allowed me to break the habit of emotional reactivity. Now I understand that I have the power in any circumstance and in every moment to choose my thoughts and my emotions.

The nicest thing about my solution was that I created it out of my own need to both express my emotions and detach myself from them. You can choose a different way to step outside of your habits, and give yourself a chance to change. The act of creating a solution tailored to your own personality and needs is just as important as the technique’s ultimate effectiveness.

If you find this too difficult at this time it means that you do not have enough energy yet to make such a big change. So just focus on a negative thought the next time one arises. The emotional charge connected to the thought has made it noticeable; one may say that it shines, like a light in the dark.

Just sit with it, and feel it as energy in your body. Don’t think about it, just put your full consciousness on the energy; follow it as it leaves your body. Be aware of it as energy, meditate without thinking, and you will gain immediate relief from the negative emotion.

Copyright 2009 Aliyah Marr

Breath Meditation for Stress or Panic Attacks

“The purpose of life is to be happy.” — the Dalai Lama

The Breath Meditation
Focus on your breath as it goes in and out of your lungs. This simple exercise is one used by many people as a meditation technique and it is very useful for people who experience stress as panic attacks. Breathe out first, concentrate on emptying your lungs fully, visualize it like a balloon that has been emptied of all the air.

When fully deflated, your lungs create a vacuum that will fill with air naturally when you allow yourself to inhale. The intake of air that follows should feel very good; make both the inhalation and exhalation very full and slow.

Now focus on your abdomen: it should grow in size when you inhale because as you do so your diaphragm is filling this cavity in your body. When you exhale, the diaphragm moves up:  imagine it compressing the lungs to help you exhale. A baby is a good model for the right way to breathe: when she inhales her belly enlarges as her diaphragm lowers, it flattens as she exhales; her diaphragm pushing up into the chest cavity to empty the lungs of air.

Don’t do too many deep breaths, no more than ten at first. As you feel the air enter your lungs you can practice any kind of visualization you want; my favorite is to think that all of nature is nourishing me through my breath, and I, in turn, provide carbon dioxide for the plants around me when I exhale.

This makes a good exercise to do upon awakening before you even get out of bed. It sets a good tone for the day. You can then graduate to trying your breath meditation at intervals during the day. If you are feeling ungrounded or nervous, trying this little exercise can help you regain your composure. Eventually, simply remembering to do it becomes a mindfulness exercise in itself.

Copyright 2009 Aliyah Marr

What is Your Theme Song?

Tags

creative freedom

For those of us who are dreamers, there is an abundance of wisdom in the art that surrounds us. If you are like me you find inspiration in the lyrics of certain songs.

What songs would you want played at your funeral? What message of wisdom would you leave for those who follow you? I have had them picked out for a long time.

Somewhere Wonderful
by Israel Kamakawiwo ‘ole

Somewhere over the rainbow
Way up high
And the dreams that you dream of once in a lullaby

Somewhere over the rainbow
Bluebirds fly
And the dreams that you dream of
Dreams really do come true

Someday I wish upon a star
Wake up where the clouds are far behind me
Where trouble melts like lemondrops
High above the chimney top
That’s where you’ll find me

Somewhere over the rainbow
Bluebirds fly
And the dreams that you dare to
Oh why oh why can’t I

Well I see trees of green and red roses too
I’ll watch them bloom for me and you
And I think to myself
What a wonderful world

Well I see skies of blue and
I see clouds of white
And the brightness of day
I like the dark
And I think to myself what a wonderful world

The colors of the rainbow
So pretty in the sky
are also on the faces of people passing by
I see friends shaking hands saying
How do you do
They’re really saying I, I love you

I hear babies cry and I watch them grow
They’ll learn much more then we’ll know
And I think to myself what a wonderful world
world…

Someday I wish upon a star
Wake up where the clouds are far behind me
Where trouble melts like lemondrops
High above the chimney top
That’s where you’ll find me

Oh somewhere over the rainbow
Way up high
And the dreams that you dare to
Why oh why can’t I…

——

The Abundance Card, Transformational Tarot © Aliyah Marr

Imagine
by John Lennon

Imagine there’s no heaven
It’s easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today…

Imagine there’s no countries
It isn’t hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace…

You may say I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world…

You may say I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will live as one

—–

I Hope You Dance
by Leanne Warwick

I hope you never lose your sense of wonder
You get your fill to eat
But always keep that hunger
May you never take one breath for granted
God forbid love ever leave you empty handed
I hope you still feel small
When you stand by the ocean
Whenever one door closes, I hope one more opens
Promise me you’ll give fate a fighting chance

And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance
I hope you dance
I hope you dance

I hope you never fear those mountains in the distance
Never settle for the path of least resistance
Living might mean taking chances
But they’re worth taking
Lovin’ might be a mistake
But it’s worth making
Don’t let some hell bent heart
Leave you bitter
When you come close to selling out
Reconsider
Give the heavens above
More than just a passing glance

And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance
I hope you dance
I hope you dance
(Rolling us along)
I hope you dance
(Tell me who)
I hope you dance
(Wants to look back on their years and wonder)
(Where those years have gone)

I hope you still feel small
When you stand by the ocean
Whenever one door closes, I hope one more opens
Promise me you’ll give faith a fighting chance

And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance
Dance
I hope you dance
I hope you dance
I hope you dance
(Rolling us along)
I hope you dance
(Tell me who)
(Wants to look back on their years and wonder)
I hope you dance
(Where those years have gone)

(Tell me who)
I hope you dance
(Wants to look back on their years and wonder)
(Where those years have gone)

—–

I hope you follow your dreams even if they lead you over the rainbow Maybe you’ll join me in my dream; a place where everyone has creative freedom. Whatever you do, I hope that when you have a chance, you dance.

Aliyah Marr

Freedom From Limiting Beliefs

Dream Vortex © 2005 Aliyah Marr

Here is  a creative exercise to achieve freedom from limiting or highly-charged beliefs:

1. Isolate your negative belief.

2. Express your negative reality in art: write a poem, paint a painting, compose a musical piece, write a play or short story. Allow it full expression, paint the darkest picture you can.

3. Write the essence of the belief (and history) you want to dump on small pieces of paper.

4. Keep these papers with you. Look at them every day.

5. Embrace your beliefs — and emotions about your beliefs — for a full week. Really embrace them, as if they were a person you loved that you knew was going away soon forever.

This step is the most important one, because, at an unconscious level these beliefs represent a fragment of yourself that has an emotional reality. This self has a message to give you. By bringing it up to the surface first through art, you have allowed it to deliver its message. But if you don’t honor the self that brought you this gift of insight, it won’t allow you to discard it. The ego that holds this fragment self in form thinks that the change you want represents its death and it does not want to die.

6. Just before the end of the 7th day hold a private ceremony in a quiet place. Assemble your pieces of paper, a candle, small bowl and a few matches or lighter. To go forward, you must dump your history, but you are not going to dump it like yesterday’s trash. That would amount to mistreating yourself, because your history is you, and at heart you cannot allow that. Instead you are going to honor it first and then ask its permission if it is OK for you to no longer hold this belief. Once you no longer hold an emotion about it, it will be easy to change, but you cannot if you are emotionally attached to your limiting belief.

7.  State the belief written on each paper, hold it in your mind for the final time, ask if it is OK for you to let this belief go forever, and then once you no longer feel emotion when you read the words on the paper burn it. The burning symbolizes that you are now done with your history of negative beliefs and limitations, and represents a commitment to a new life of freedom.

Copyright 2009 Aliyah Marr
All rights reserved.

——

Aliyah Marr is a Life Path Consultant and Creative Projects Advisor available for private consultations and Transformational Tarot readings.

“What do you want to create today?”

LIFE PATH CONSULTANT
I coach artists, designers, authors, and entrepreneurs. With a solid background in marketing, design, coaching and writing, I help individuals throughout the entire creative process all the way from developing their personal vision to establishing their personal brand and marketing their product/service.

CREATIVE PROJECTS ADVISOR
If you have a creative project that you want to develop, market, or promote, contact me via email. References are available upon request.

Email me at:
parallelmindbook [at] gmail dot com

Give Yourself Permission to Play — Part 2

Detail of "Jump" - Creativity Card, Transformational Tarot © Aliyah Marr

The function of play in our own internal development cannot be overemphasized. But I am convinced that play does not have to stop when one becomes an adult. In fact, it becomes even more important to our own on-going personal evolution. Those of us who discover this secret, seem to live charmed, interesting lives.

But whether they are successful business men or happy gardeners, they have one thing in common — they have learned how to continue to play as an adult, they have learned to relax and enjoy the journey of their lives, moment to moment. They have learned to do what I call “follow the energy”– the thread of creativity in their lives that leads to happy pursuits. Joseph Campbell calls this “following your bliss”.

life lived with creativity is like one long recreation period. In this aspect of ourselves as creative beings we mirror the sublime and are most like our essential being. As Cat Stevens wrote in the lyrics  his song “Morning is Broken”, the day is “God’s re-creation, light of a new day”.

An eminent anthropologist wrote in Scientific American that what distinguishes us from other mammals is not our hands or language or toolmaking ability, but our unique drive to create art. I find it very apropos that art in its purest form has no “function”. It does not clothe us or feed us; often it doesn’t make money, in fact it consumes it.

Copyright 2009 Aliyah Marr
(all rights reserved)

Give Yourself Permission to Play — Part 1

Detail of “Jump” – Creativity Card, Transformational Tarot © Aliyah Marr

People a lot talk these days about “creative problem-solving.” But to many artists, creativity isn’t really much about problem-solving at all. Pure creativity (non-commercial art forms) is not about fixing something, but about creating something that wasn’t there before.

In the sphere of pure creativity there are no problems at all — problems are in the realm of those misguided left-brained individuals who are merely trying to think creatively. As Einstein says “you can’t solve a problem with the mind that created it”.

The operative word here is “problem”. In order to truly think creatively, one must return to the mindset of a child. Children play. There are no problems in the world of play, only fun and imagination.

Creativity is play without purpose. Creativity is essentially free play, play free of judgments, free of mental constraints or goals.

This idea is frightening to that part of us — the “adult” self — which is guarding us from the evil of the world, the rigid protector or guard that doesn’t understand that it is no longer functioning as a benign guardian and is actually slowing killing that which it is trying to protect. How many of us feel trapped by our own minds? Isn’t this ennui the real reason for desiring the temporary release that drugs or sex can give us?

Going back to the example of the child playing — is failure even an option? Is success even a goal? Of course that is ridiculous — there is no purpose or goal to play. And the reward is simply the pleasure in the doing.

Fortunately, we can remember what it is like to play, and make it a big part of our lives. Adults, once they are set again on the path of creative play can suddenly feel that the world just suddenly “goes their way” and serendipitous things just start to happen. Somehow, just by allowing oneself to do what one loves, one automatically becomes more skillful at the endeavor.

I have noticed this time and time again when coaching others. The blockage is there only when one regards what one is doing as odious work. Once it is regarded as play, it becomes interesting: once a certain skill in the subject is learned, it even becomes fun.

In the life of a creative child, she wakes up in great anticipation of a day spent playing. She doesn’t anticipate problems or worry about how she will play or arrive at any solutions. She doesn’t plan her play, time it, or even organise it. She just starts. Any decision that she has to make is instantaneous, sometimes unconsciously innovative, always imaginative.

If her decision doesn’t work, she just makes another one. If she had a more specific idea and it doesn’t work out in the way she had foreseen, then she is just as happy to play in a new way suggested by the turn of events. (see “happy accident”). In a world of creativity, the point isn’t any goal or solution, the biggest decision amounts to what one wants to play with next.

Copyright 2009 Aliyah Marr

Author Chat With Aliyah Marr August 31st

Library Thing will host an author’s chat with author Aliyah Marr starting August 31st and ending on September 11th, 2009. She will discuss the premise of her book, “Parallel Mind, The Art of Creativity,” and will offer creative coaching online during the chat. The chat will be here on August 31st.

http://www.librarything.com/groups/authorchat

Preceding this event, the author is giving away 99 copies in exchange for book reviews. Please join to get your copy of the book and participate in the chat.

The Search for Meaning

Gertrude Stein was on her deathbed, friends gathered around to hear her last words. She whispers, “What is the answer?” Her friends, concerned, anxiously ask her what she is talking about. It’s a few minutes (I imagine) and she says, “Then, what is the question?”

Are You Destined for Greatness?

We all have certain ideas about what success means and how it appears. At one time, I thought that one measure of success was how you deal with stress. Since stress seems unavoidable, happier people seem to have figured out a way to alleviate or even eradicate stress.

So, you could say that I equate success with personal happiness. As for greatness, I know that we can all be great. We all are. Greatness is not a matter of superiority over others, but an internal matter. It is a knowledge that we either have or don’t have. I guarantee that no great genius ever got very far if he thought he was useless and stupid. No, they got there because they knew they were great.

Greatness is not a wish or a desire, it is a deep knowing. A way of succeeding where others might fail. Why do great people do great things? Because it is natural to them. They don’t have a doubt about their abilities. However, their knowledge is not based upon past performance or upon accolades or even upon encouragement from outsiders, although these things can certainly help. When they begin, they have none of those things. None of us do. We all start the journey of evidencing our greatness from the same place.

We don’t have to prove we are great because greatness is natural to our creative selves. Anything that is natural doesn’t have to be proved, it only evidences itself over time. Deep inside all of us is the potential for greatness; you just have to decide to allow yourself to be that which you naturally are. As for success, that is easy once you have that inner knowledge. That knowledge doesn’t come from your brain, but from your heart.

You are great when you listen to your heart.

So I want you to listen to your heart about what makes you great. Never mind that your mind does not believe it, remember it tells you lies all the time about how bad or unsuccessful you are all the time. It has said these things for so long that you have come to believe it.

I am not requiring you to believe me — belief is not important, because belief stays only on the surface of your mind. And because the heart is so much more powerful than the mind, I am talking directly to your heart. Repeat with me:

“Greatness is not my destination, it is my reality.”

Don’t ever be afraid to be good enough to be great.

Copyright 2009 Aliyah Marr

Are We There Yet?

The following phrase just popped into my head as I was driving today, “If you are afraid of hitting bottom, you aren’t there yet.”

They say that sometimes you have to hit the bottom before you can start going up again. Maybe you will never hit bottom, but if you ever do, you will have to know that you are there in order to be able to go in another direction. The only way you will know that you have hit the bottom is if you are no longer afraid of hitting it.

Zeno’s paradox says that you can never get to your destination since you can never be halfway there, since “halfway there” is not a constant. Getting halfway there involves an infinite number of operations. One Flash developer used this paradox in mathematical form to make an element move slower and slower on the screen; the graphic never quite got to its destination since it is programmed to only go halfway every time the program goes through its (infinite) loop.

There is a classic underground cartoon character, named Zippy, who was an escapee from a circus. He was the classic “Fool of God,” easily amused by such things as watching the clothes go round and round in the commercial dryer at the laundry mat. While we find it incomprehensible that this might be amusing, is it any less insane to be impatient for your destination.

So I’ll pose the question to you, because it is one that I think occurs to all of us, at least on the unconscious level:

“Are we there yet?”

Maybe it would be better to ask, like Zippy, “Are we having fun yet?”

Copyright Aliyah Marr

The Way of Love

Tags

love, poetry

The Way of Love

Simple, gracious, Lovely in itself;
Love comes in unexpected moments
Slips inside like the hand of a small child
Love is trust in the moment
Tiny and large at the same time
Love is without expectations
Love is without desire
Love is requited and never wanting
Love is a garden of never-ending delight
Love is all sensation
Love is consumed by the eyes
Love is held in the heart
Love is the only thing that can be multiplied and divided endlessly.

Copyright Aliyah Marr, September 11, 2006

The Garden of Earthly Delights, Hieronymus Bosch (c. 1450–1516)

The Last is First, The First is Last

A couple years ago, I was interviewed by Renderosity‘s online magazine by email. Dee Marie, an editor from the magazine, sent me a list of questions. I answered them, attached some pictures, and sent the email back to her.

Recently, I looked at the interview again, and remembered that the last line in the interview became the last line in my book. Strange to think that I might have written the last line of my book first.

Here is the excerpt from the interview that contains the final line from my book:

Dee Marie: Thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedule to allow our readers to get to know you. As a last questions…what advice can you pass along to artists wishing to make a living at their craft?

AM: Well, don’t be shy of doing whatever you can to survive in this crazy world. Then turn around and use it in your art. For example, I had an acquaintance who had a master’s degree in English Literature, who was bemoaning her fate when she had to take a job as a secretary at the World (wide) Wrestling Foundation. I thought: What an amazing opportunity for a writer: the stories you could collect! Everything that happens to you is an opportunity; just be aware of it, and use it to make art. Your experiences are the paint, the skills you gain are your brushes, and your life is your canvas. The art you create is you.

It’s still true for me today. The daily challenge is to see everything as being right and whole, right now. Live in the moment, notice everything, because the moment is your creation and everything is a tool for your art.

Copyright 2009 Aliyah Marr

The Voice of the Muse

The Greeks and Romans believed that goddesses inspired the artist. Those goddesses were called Muses. Here is the Wikipedia definition:

The Muses (Ancient Greek: perhaps from the Proto-Indo-European root *men- “think”) in Greek mythology, poetry, and literature are the goddesses or spirits who inspire the creation of literature and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge, related orally for centuries in the ancient culture, that was contained in poetic lyrics and myths.

Trying to force inspiration is like trying to fit the moon in a jar. Inspiration is more like a state of grace, not a state of mind. You cannot arrive at it through willpower, desire or by force.

Inspiration has to be invited, enticed  in, like a shy animal or child. It will not come to those who wish to use it for any purpose, although the ideas that inspiration leaves behind are often useful.

Like the moon, the face of inspiration is a mirror. As the moon reflects the Sun’s light, so inspiration mirrors the mind. What mind does it reflect? This depends on the artist’s focus. If focused narrowly, inspiration reflects a single mind, but if focused on a larger, cultural basis, it reflects a collective consciousness.

How do you entice the muse of inspiration to speak to you? First, open your mind up to original thought. How do you open your mind? Clear the clutter of non-original thought. Most of our thoughts are not original. They are thoughts that we have had many times before. They may be inherited from others around you, from your parents, siblings, friends, culture, or media. This clearing of old, limiting thoughts is the only real discipline that an artist needs to follow.

When the clutter is clear, all of a sudden, like a tide original thoughts rush in. The muse sits over your shoulder, like a friend or a lover, whispering sweet nothings in your ear. When will you listen to the voice of your muse?

Copyright 2009 Aliyah Marr

——

Aliyah Marr is a Life Path Consultant and Creative Projects Advisor available for private consultations and transformational readings.

“What do you want to create today?”

LIFE PATH CONSULTANT
I coach artists, designers, authors, and entrepreneurs. With a solid background in marketing, design, coaching and writing, I help individuals throughout the entire creative process all the way from developing their personal vision to establishing their personal brand and marketing their product/service.

CREATIVE PROJECTS ADVISOR
If you have a creative project that you want to develop, market, or promote, contact me through my website: http://www.aliyahmarr.com References are available upon request.

Reviewing the Reviewers

Book reviewers seem to abound online. I was searching for * serious * reviewers for Parallel Mind, and found these two diamonds shining in the rough. See what you think.

The first is a blog called Biblioklept. “Klept” for kleptomaniac, no doubt.

“And so well with the help of Jenny Sterlin’s narration and my handy-dandy portable mp3-playing device, I finally made it through Zadie Smith’s 2000 novel White Teeth, and, having digested all of it, am now fit to declare it hilarious in places, larded with moments of intensely brilliant prose, wildly ambitious…”

This reviewer has a razor wit sharp enough to cut a blade or a new author’s teeth on (yes, I know that this is bad English, but I couldn’t resist).

I really like his About You page of survey questions that quickly gets rather too personal. Here are some of my favorites:

1. Have you ever stolen a book? If you’ve never stolen a book, go ahead and skip down to question 3.

3. Do you intend to lie or misrepresent yourself on this survey?

4. Did you find question 3 to be a little belligerent in its tone?

9. Do the remnants of your shambolic youth taste like batteries in your mouth?

10. Are you neurotypical or do you somewhat suffer?

17. Isn’t this a lucky number?

15. Is it ever okay to eat large amounts of cold sour cream directly from the plastic container, perhaps with a large metal spoon, and if it is ever okay to do such a thing, when is that time?

13. When you were a child were you plagued by recurring nightmares that miniature werewolves in torn blue jeans were slowly nibbling all the flesh from your toes as if they were Maine lobsters (your toes, here likened to said lobsters, not the werewolves), nightmares that were attended by actual somatic tingling of the extremities, and possible bedwetting?

——

On a more serious note is the blog Great New Books at Blogspot. Peter N. Jones has an interesting background himself: he is a social scientist and publisher out of Boulder, Colorado who specializes in Native American culture. Check out his most recent review on a novel called Atmospheric Disturbances by Rivka Galchen.

That’s my short review reviewing the reviewers. How did I do? Make sure you fill out above survey.

Leap of Faith

I have always loved some phrases, in fact, I often use them as titles to my paintings. I have yet to use “Leap of Faith” as a title, but I think it is a concept I have seen as an image more times than I can count.

How often have you felt that you were jumping off that proverbial cliff? Do you feel you are doing that now? Perhaps you are starting a business or you suddenly find yourself without a job. This is the time of transition when you see the end of one thing very clearly — a solid past to which we often desperately cling — and the beginning of the future that seems shrouded in mystery. The cliff at your back is a solid rock while the castle of your dreams hovers in the air before your eyes. Between the two is a frightening chasm.

These times of uncertainty are the most poignant moments in my life. The last time it happened I had just come to California. In the midst of my feelings of insecurity and adventure, I had an image that I kept on seeing with my mind’s eye. An image of eagle wings, flying. Just wings outlined against a brilliantly blue and cloudless sky.

Then I had another image that became a feeling in my body.

I saw / felt myself standing at the edge of a bottomless cliff, with my back to the empty air and with my heels on the edge. I saw / felt myself topple over the edge, and with my arms outspread fall towards the ground far, far below.

There was that heart-stopping moment when my heart felt as if it had left my chest, and then I realized that my cliff had no bottom. I was resting on a cushion of air, on a pillow of faith.

My dream was not the illusion. The fear that went before my fall was the illusion. Fear creates the cliff and the idea that if we jump off the cliff of reason we will die, but instead what happens is that when we jump off the cliff of fear we end up in our dream, and that dream is bottomless.

Copyright 2009 Aliyah Marr

—–

——

Aliyah Marr is a Life Path Consultant and Creative Projects Advisor available for private consultations and transformational readings.

“What do you want to create today?”

LIFE PATH CONSULTANT
I coach artists, designers, authors, and entrepreneurs. With a solid background in marketing, design, coaching and writing, I help individuals throughout the entire creative process all the way from developing their personal vision to establishing their personal brand and marketing their product/service.

CREATIVE PROJECTS ADVISOR
If you have a creative project that you want to develop, market, or promote, contact me through my website: http://www.aliyahmarr.com References are available upon request.

Recommended Reading

One of the better books on the Law of Attraction is Penney Peirce’s “Frequency;” practical guide to the idea of living an intuitively-guided life.

Frequency

Recommended Green Blog

Tags

green

As easy on the eyes as a deep green forest:

http://naturallygreen.wordpress.com/

Living in Passion

The sincerity of real passion is something terribly magnetic. People are drawn to someone with passion. When I came to Southern California with nothing but the burning desire to learn to surf, it seemed the way just opened up for me. People came out of nowhere to help me achieve my simple dream. Boards were given to me, someone gave me a place to live on the beach, I found surfers who were willing to teach me. A year later, I was talking to a surfer from the East Coast; he told me that he didn’t like it here. I asked him why, and he said that he didn’t find the people too friendly. I was stunned; it was so different from my experience.

A similar thing happened to me when I went to New York to pursue a career in design, and earlier to Paris to study art; the way just opened up before me. I now believe that it is my passion that has always sustained me through every  adventure. Moreover, it is the sincerity of my passion that other people respond to; they can’t help it because it speaks to their soul. Everyone craves passion in their life; most are afraid to live their passion, but they appreciate it when they see it in another. More, they want to be near it; passion is a fire that provides warmth to all it touches.

When others see that it is possible to live a life with passion, sometimes they suddenly change direction, wake up, take action. Often they find themselves doing something that they otherwise may never have dared. It occurs to them that they have always wanted to travel, do art, take up music, build a new career, or design their own house. Life for them is no longer a collection of habits, a nest of outdated ideas, but instead an exciting horizon of possibilities.

When you take that proverbial leap of faith off the cliff of security and familiarity, your courageous act generates an enormous surge of energy; this energy comes back to you tenfold. Extreme sports addicts are a good example of this: just the adrenaline rush alone is enough to addict one to taking risks. But one doesn’t have to run a rapids or jump out of an airplane to get the surge of energy that empowers you to change your life forever. Find out what feeds your soul, what makes you feel free, what you desire in life. Then just go for it. It is as simple as that. Go for it with full passion, unafraid of what others may think or say.

The best safe deposit box for your passion is not another person, not an organization, or a cause, but something that you alone can create: a passion that can hold and sustain your interest, teach you and elicit your excitement your entire life long. It doesn’t matter what you choose; if you master the art of sustained desire and non-objectified interest, you may find yourself on the most extraordinary journey. You may continue in the same medium or you may find yourself exploring avenues beyond your wildest dreams.

Make love to your passion, everything that you create in the proper mood of passion is good because of the absolving and purifying power of your love. If others respond to your work and think it good, that is just icing on the cake. You already have your reward in the work, in your sustained passion, in the organismic moment of creation. As you invest time in your interest, you will naturally gain the skills and the control of your medium that others mistake for art, but you are already an artist. Within the tiny seed exists the whole tree.

<—–>

“Action is the path in the dark forest of life, and passion is the light that illuminates our way.”

— Copyright 2009 Aliyah Marr

Aliyah Marr Interviews Marc Zegans, Creative Development Advisor

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In this audio segment, Aliyah interviews Marc Zegans who advises artists from all walks of life on their creative development and careers. Marc works with artists of all kinds and at all stages in their careers. He reveals how his work as a life coach and advisor is deeply satisfying because it is a creative process that helps others achieve their dreams.

Aliyah Marr Offers New “Creativity at Work” Seminar and Workshop

Aliyah Marr, author of Parallel Mind, The Art of Creativity offers a new seminar on “applied” or practical creativity. She will show participants how to apply the creative principles to specific problems and situations at work.

Following is a copy of the abstract:

<——>

PARALLEL MIND, CREATIVITY @ WORK

Do you have a need for creative thought or innovation at work? How do you generate truly out-of-the-box ideas?

This seminar leads you down the rabbit-hole of creative thought. Author and creative director Aliyah Marr brings in her experience as designer, artist and author to bear on the practical aspects of the creative experience.

“Creativity at Work” is a seminar on how to think creatively, even while under the pressure of a deadline or intense competition. True creativity and innovation cannot be achieved by staying within a rigid problem-based structure. This seminar enables you to escape the structure so you can do your thinking outside the box.

Aliyah Marr has engineered a unique “envisioning process” that is a key component of her free-style form of brainstorming. In addition, she has a more analytical approach that enables participants to take the techniques that she demonstrates and implement them immediately for fast results.

Marr teaches creativity from an experiential standpoint: members have the opportunity to participate in an “envisioning session” and brainstorm a solution to one or more of the members’ actual problems. She uses a unique and fun visual and metaphoric approach to define and describe the creative process, which help to cement the process in the minds of the participants.

Topics:

• The envisioning process
• Levels and kinds of applied creativity
• General principles of practical creativity
• Practical creative techniques
• How to apply the right kind of creative thought in every situation
• How to facilitate a brainstorm session
• How to create an internal think-tank

Benefits to Members: Members of the conference will be able to think outside the box at will, discern which kind of creative thinking is needed at what time, and how to apply a brainstorm process to a problem at hand.

This seminar is for business people and entrepreneurs who wish to understand the nature, value and process of creativity; for those who, while they may not need to be creative themselves, need to understand how to evaluate, hire, and nurture creativity at work.

Biography: Aliyah Marr is the author of “Parallel Mind, The Art of Creativity.” She has taught design and marketing for over 15 years at top design schools in New York City: Parsons, The New School, Pratt Institute, and The School of Visual Arts. Marr has led seminars and corporate training events for over 10 years. She has produced tutorials for Nautilus CD Magazine, and Graphics.com/learning, and authored articles for trade magazines on self-development, design and marketing. Currently the creative director for an action-sports TV show, she has worked in print, video, film and interactive media for a Fortune 100 client list.

Aliyah Marr
author / speaker / imaginator
creative consultant and coach

Author of “Parallel Mind, The Art of Creativity
www.parallelmindbook.com
www.freshasylum.com (design firm)

Aliyah Marr on LinkedIn
Facebook: Parallel Mind

For more information, contact Aliyah Marr at:

parallelmindbook [at] gmail [dot] com

Parallel Mind Creativity Seminar on iTunes Video

Click HERE to see the show on your iTunes player (will open iTunes application):

RSS feed for show:

http://parallelmind.blip.tv/rss/itunes/

Parallel Mind, The Art of Creativity Seminar at San Diego Chat Club, Section 2

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Aliyah Marr talks on her new book, Parallel Mind, The Art of Creativity. In the second section of her seminar, she talks about the process of creative thought and about how we are all natural creators. She traces the path of a thought through the entire creative process, showing how any inspiration can become a reality.

Parallel Mind, The Art of Creativity Seminar at Chat Club, Section 1

[blip.tv ?posts_id=1781287&dest=43349]

Aliyah Marr talks on her new book, “Parallel Mind, The Art of Creativity.” In this first section of her seminar, she talks about her background and the science of the brain. This section is about the psychology of the creative development. She introduces the concept of “pure” v.s. “applied” creativity, and discusses the dual nature of human brain; the inner child and adult self.

This video was originally shared on blip.tv by thetawave with a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 license.

First Seminar for Parallel Mind at the San Diego Chat Club Jan 23, 6:45pm

PARALLEL MIND, THE ART OF CREATIVITY

Are you ready to live the life you were meant to live? Do you dream of a life filled with magic and adventure? Whatever you can dream is available to you, but first you must know how to use your creative potential.

This lecture is for a broad audience: from the professional creative to thecount person who would like to be more creative in their daily or professional lives.

Artist, designer, poet Aliyah Marr has produced the world’s first book on the process of creativity told from the standpoint of the visual artist. Parallel Mind, The Art of Creativity reveals how you, as a creative individual, can mold your life with the power of your thoughts and how those thoughts can be used to create whatever you want in life.

Art is so much more than mere self-expression or an exploration of mental/emotional issues. Author Aliyah Marr introduces the revolutionary concept (to anyone else but an artist!) that art can serve not only as a tool for personal self-development, but it is humanity’s preeminent tool for the evolution of consciousness.

This lecture introduces key concepts in the book, Parallel Mind:

— innate vs. conscious creativity
— pure creativity (non-commercial art) vs. applied creativity (everything else)
— the four bodies of the human energy field and how they work to create health or disease
— the science of creativity

Aliyah Marr’s lectures are like her art: spontaneous, joyful explorations of the moment. Her teaching method is at once gently playful and fun. Expect to be invited to explore some of her concepts through deceptively simple in-class exercises that will bring you to a new point of view, inspire the flow of creative thinking, unblock your blocks and transport you to the next level in your own development. We will explore the power of creative thought and see how it can impel you to excel in any medium, in any field, or any subject.

This lecture gives you the tools to achieve your dreams, whether you are a creative professional, a student of art, or someone interested in personal development; it answers some essential questions, the most important being: what is creativity, and how can it bring me freedom and happiness?

So I ask you: when will you allow yourself the life you deserve? A voice is whispering in your ear: today is the day.

Parallel Mind, The Art of Creativity can be found on Amazon, Barnes and Noble and at: www.parallelmindbook.com. Copies of the book, and the author’s Transformational Tarot interactive game will be available to attendees.

Educated at the famous École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris, France, Aliyah Marr is a multimedia artist, graphic designer, and educator. She has explored painting, design, artistic gymnastics, sculpture, music, dance, poetry, prose, theater, and improvisational humor. As a visual artist, she works in a variety of mediums from painting and sculpture through to interactive art and video art.

A graphic designer with a stellar client list of Fortune 100 companies, the author is a creative consultant for companies and entrepreneurs. As an educator, she has taught graphic design, art, interactive programming, and new media at three top design schools in New York City.

Aliyah Marr
author / speaker / imaginator
creative consultant and coach

Author of “Parallel Mind, The Art of Creativity
www.parallelmindbook.com
www.radi8.org (artwork)

http://www.linkedin.com/in/aliyahmarr

Articles
http://freshasylum.wordpress.com
http://selfpromotion.wordpress.com
http://alteverything.wordpress.com

Parallel Mind Website Offers Advance Copies for Sale

Aliyah Marr’s book on creativity, Parallel Mind, The Art of Creativity is now on sale through the website: http://www.parallelmindbook.com

The site offers ebook version for immediate download, and advance copies (allow 4 weeks for delivery).

New Bookcover Design for Parallel Mind

Dedication Page for Parallel Mind

		            I
         	      wish
   	           to express
	      thanks and
	  appreciation
	to all my
 	innumerable
 	    teachers, but
	        first and fore-
	           most to my
	          parents — to
	      my father who
	   taught me
	 how to think
 	  and to my
 	    mother who
	       taught me how
	           to feel. I wish
		 to say to those of
		    you, who like me,
	           always felt “different,”
	        but didn’t know why:
	    you’re probably an artist —
      you have a license to be free.
 Start the incredible journey.

New Preface for Parallel Mind

Below is an excerpt from the book Parallel Mind:

“Are You Up To Your Destiny?” — Hamlet

Preface

Are you ready to live the life you were meant to live? Life should be lived passionately, joyously, fearlessly, and creatively.

This book is about how to live a creative life: not how to paint or draw, but how to think like an artist, and how to find a joyous, complete life as a result. The power of creative thought can impel you to excel in any medium, in any field, or any subject.

Many people are creative in their daily lives, others would like to be more creative, still others would like to experience the magic that they have seen only from the outside until now.

This book answers some essential questions, the most important being: what is creativity, and how can it bring me more freedom and happiness?

However, the real value of this book is not in the questions that it attempts to answer, but in the questions that it poses. These questions are traditionally asked under the cover of art, but I ask these questions here so that you may ask them of yourself.

I started out as a fine artist, and entered the fields of illustration, graphic design, video art, and interactive design. As I developed my commercial skills and artistic craft, I learned that there is a difference between pure creativity and applied creativity. Pure creativity is an activity that has no predefined destination or purpose, while applied creativity is an activity that always has a goal or application in mind. Pure creativity can be seen as a kind of play, while applied creativity is usually seen as work.

Examples of pure creativity include (but are not limited to): a painter who paints from his heart, a musician who creates a symphony while toying at the piano, a writer who bases a screenplay on the people he knows at work, a scientist who discovers a new law of the universe by playing with raw materials and outlandish ideas.

Examples of applied creativity include (but are not limited to): design, architecture, scientific inquiry, technological innovations, copywriting, and business development.

One form of creativity is not superior to the other. It is just easier (and more fun!) to learn pure creativity before attempting to apply that creativity to a purpose. Applied creativity can be fun and playful too. However this book focuses on the importance of play to our development as a complete, creative individual, and so it is about pure creativity.

Parallel Mind reveals how a creative individual can mold their lives with the power of their thoughts; how your thoughts can be used to create whatever you want in life.

~~~
Chapter One, Creativity, defines and outlines creativity: what is it, how can we use it, where does it reside?

Chapter Two, Double Vision, is about the source of creativity — our inner child — and how we, as adults, encase this pure self in a cage of fear and limitation.

Chapter Three, Body & Soul discusses the relationship of the body to the mind; how to use your mind creatively to create the body you want.

Chapter Four, Shaking the Tree explores more deeply into the mind, how to change limiting beliefs, how to overcome fear, and encourage original thought.

Chapter Five, Navigating a Sea of Emotions is about emotions: why do we have them, how to choose your emotions, and how to use them effectively.

Chapter Six, The Secret of Sex reveals how to marshal the twin forces of passion and desire to supercharge and sustain your creative vision.

Chapter Seven, The Conscious Creative shows how the practice of art brings the artist increased awareness and personal power.

Chapter Eight, The Infinite Self brings together the concepts introduced in the former chapters, and shows how they can lead the artist to creative freedom.

Included in every chapter are quick in-text exercises intended to help you activate the principles you have just read. The exercises provide a break in reading, and allow you to move from passive to active participation.

1 Record Your Internal Dialog — What did you say?
2 Internal Wisdom — Access your subconscious
3 Bottoms Up — Change your point of view
4 Recall Your Child Genius — Your thoughts as a child
5 Remember Your Dreams — Keep a dream diary
6 Rise and Shine — Visualize health
7 Change the Subject — Make a lens
8 The Medium is the Message — Change mediums
9 Chain Reaction— Tracking thoughts and emotions
10 Touchbase — Allowing yourself to feel
11 Objective Observation — Pure observation
12 Play With Syntax— Syntax and context
13 Happy Accident — Plan an accident for inspiration
14 Gather and Float — The art of doing nothing
15 Practice Naivete — Dare to ask a naive question
16 Simpify & Reduce — Simplify, simplify, simplify
17 Shift Focus — Change focus
18 Notice Negative Space — Understand negative space
19 Form Groups & Families — Group for understanding
20 Direct Attention — Use accents and structure
21 Arrange a Marriage — Force a new relationship
22 Go Gestalt — The psychology of perception

~~~
Whatever you can dream is available to you, but first you must know how to use your creative potential. An artist is not defined by his work, but by the power of his creative thought. This book gives you the tools to achieve those dreams, whether you are a creative professional, a student of art, or someone interested in personal development.

Becoming an artist does not require a mastery of technique, great skills or advanced degrees, it only requires that you take the time to be an artist. Art is about change, exploration, and about the courage to know yourself.

Often we don’t accept a challenge because we fear change. Often we don’t accept a challenge because we fear change and commitment. Perhaps we are afraid, because we know deep down that a life like this takes unconditional passion, courage, and dedication. To live a consciously creative life, you have to show the forces that be that you deserve the life you want by consistently displaying these qualities. This is what Joseph Campbell calls the Hero’s Path. Make no mistake, if you follow a path of conscious change you are walking in the very footsteps of giants.

So I ask you: when will you allow yourself the life you deserve? A voice is whispering in your ear: today is the day.

New Additions to Manuscript of Parallel Mind

This week I have been up very late making changes to Parallel Mind. The changes are in the realm of some great additions to the book: illustrative diagrams and additional in-text exercises. The tenor and tone of the book have not changed, but these additions make the book more accessible. Below is an excerpt from the preface, which explains the book to the new reader.

Amit Goswami requests Parallel Mind Manuscript

I have sent press releases, sample chapters and the ebook version to various names in the fields of personal development, psychology, creative development, and science. My list of recipients of my manuscript now numbers over 100 people. Yesterday, noted theoretical nuclear and quantum physicist, Amit Goswami requested a copy of the Parallel Mind manuscript.

Amit Goswami is best known for his interview in the movie “What the Bleep Do We Know?” and for his book, “The Self-Aware Universe.” He is one of the scientists whose work I admire, and who’s philosophy most matches my own.

There are others on my list who have networks that extend to other interviewees on “What the Bleep” and to the movie “The Secret.” Another contact knows someone who works with Jack Canfield, and another knows someone who worked with Tony Robbins.

Michael Port, marketing guru and author of “Book Yourself Solid™” has added his blurb to my book.

Ah, viral marketing at work. My book is a virus, or rather, the premise of the book is a virus; everyone is creative, we just have to learn to develop and use our power of creativity for positive change. Let’s all catch the creative influenza!

Advance Reviews for the Book Parallel Mind

“Aliyah Marr has clearly and eloquently tackled the subject of creativity. I am particularly impressed with her understanding of attention and its fundamental role in the creative process. Her book will serve as a fundamental text in the field of creativity.”

— Les Fehmi, Ph.D., author of The Open-Focus Brain. www.openfocus.com

“As a marketer and creator of the Book Yourself Solid™ system, I know the value of creative thinking; it can make or break a business. “Parallel Mind” contains invaluable information on how to release the mental and emotional blocks that most of us encounter in creating a new business and in marketing ourselves. Highly recommended.”

— Michael Port, author of Book Yourself Solid™ & Beyond Booked Solid

“An enlightened, engaging and provocative look at how to blend creativity and personal pursuits for a truly fulfilling life. Must reading.”

— David Heenan, author of Flight Capital and Double Lives: Crafting Your Life of Work and Passion for Untold Success Stories of Extraordinary Achievement

“This book is about the life-changing power of the creative spirit, but it will also be relevant to those who primarily work with their left brain. As Marr shows, we all have deep reserves of creativity that we can draw upon to transform not only the way we interact with the world around us, but also the very thoughts and emotions that determine our reality. Aliyah Marr’s ideas are provocative, even challenging, but she presents them in vivid, accessible arguments supported by an eclectic assortment of quotations from philosophers, theologians, and other famous figures. Parallel Mind contains the rare gift of a new, necessary angle on contemporary life.”

— Benjamin Kessler, playwright and managing editor of Graphics.com

“As a person with autism, my visual thinking mind finds unexpected associations that help me invent new ideas. Parallel Mind will give you lots of new ways to look at old problems.”

— Temple Grandin, author, Thinking in Pictures

“Like a master weaver, Aliyah has gracefully woven together all aspects of ourselves — the child, the adult, our emotions, our unacknowledged feelings, and internal vision. With a masterful blend of science, metaphors, wisdom, quotes, and storytelling skill she brings the magic carpet of creativity to life. When all is integrated we become the creative masters of our lives.”

— Sharon Lund, Author and International Speaker, The Integrated Being: Techniques to Heal the Mind-Body-Spirit

Thanks to the Readers of Parallel Mind, Book in a Blog

I wish to thank the readers of this blog for their interest and support.

It has been exciting to publish my book online as I wrote it; I know that many people were following my blog, reading my book as I wrote it. I thank those readers for their patience as I took entire chapters down, edited and rearranged the content. During this year of writing Parallel Mind, it was my intention that the reader have a peek into my life as an artist. After all, it is a book on creativity, why not let the reader see the creative process in action? I thank you for your interest and hope you enjoyed reading the book as much as I enjoyed writing it.

I hope you will come back to see the progress of Parallel Mind as it goes to print. I will keep you posted. Meanwhile why don’t you play my online Tarot?

Transformational Tarot by Aliyah Marr

If you decide to buy Transformational Tarot on CD, and you mention that you heard of the Tarot through the Parallel Mind blog, I will ship a signed copy of Transformational Tarot to you.

Parallel Mind in Final Chapter — Read it Online Now!

Readers have less than a week to read the first six chapters of the online book Parallel Mind before the book is taken off-line for editing and publishing.

Personally, I like to read books in print, and I assume that most of you feel the same. After all, who takes a computer to the beach or curls up in bed with it? I have always preferred to read books myself. However, it has been exciting to publish my book online as I wrote it. It is my wish that everyone enjoy the creative process of writing this book as much as I do.

Parallel Mind Nearly Complete

Now in the final chapter of the book that began nearly nine months ago. Magic numbers, 7 and 9. Seven for magic, nine for birth. With the completion of Chapter Seven, and with the end of the year 2007, I am already planning a new book, this time about creativity in the business environment: how to set up the proper structure that allows creativity to flourish in the work place.

— copyright Aliyah Marr 2007

publishers or businesses interested in my concepts or writing, please email me at:

myfullname@gmail.com

All Chapters of Parallel Mind Have Been Edited And Reposted

Parallel Mind, Aliyah Marr’s book about creative manifestation is going through final rewriting in all chapters posted up until now. Read it soon: as soon as Chapter 7 is posted, the other chapters of the book on the blog (which are available to read for free) will be reduced to excerpts. The book will then be available for sale first as an e-book, then in written and audio form.

— Aliyah Marr, author of the online book on creativity Parallel Mind. Read it in the pages to the right —>

Chapter Five of the Book Parallel Mind by Aliyah Marr Now Posted

Having covered the physical side of the whole person in Chapter Three — Body and Soul, and the mental side in Chapter Four — Shaking the Tree, Parallel Mind explores the emotional landscape in Chapter Five.

All chapters of Parallel Mind are being edited weekly with new content. Please read the book in the pages section to the right.

Major Online Revision

Seven to five; five to seven. This book has an elastic quality: I started out with an outline of seven chapters in May; I condensed it down to five chapters in July; now I am back to seven in September. As a result, some of what you have already read is now in future chapters, and new information is in chapters you may have already read. True to my spontaneous nature, I am revising the outline as I write the book. Sometimes the book leads, sometimes the outline does. It is difficult for me to be linear, so I have written pieces of every chapter before finishing the first one. Stay tuned, and please don’t get confused by my changes.

What Is The Book About?

Parallel Mind is a book about the relationship of creativity to wholeness and health. The purpose of this book is to serve as an essential guide to enable people to reawaken their inner creative child; learn to free themselves from limiting beliefs, overcome fear, rediscover limitless play, and find within themselves the adventure of living full, passionate, prosperous lives.

I fully believe that people can learn to create their own tools for self-realization, and discover their own inner guides. Addressing the needs of the full person: the physical, mental, emotional states; and clarifying each one allows the natural individual to freely explore his or her creative potential. I teach people how to be the creative architects of their own lives, so that they can build, and then live inside their own vision of joy, abundance, and well-being.