Saturday, May 30, 2009

travel, Spring 2009

I've been doing quite a bit of traveling this spring. In this post, I'm just doing a quick listing of some places I've visited.

Montreal, Quebec - April 2009 - stayed at the wonderful Auberge de la Fontaine, dinner at Toque! which was even more outstanding than I'd expected, brunch at the insanely fabulous Cabane a Sucre of Restaurant Au Pied de Cochon, poutine at La Banquaise (of course), oysters at Maestro SVP.

New York - stayed at the Lucerne Hotel on the Upper West Side, as lovely as ever. Dinner at Le Bernardin! Chef's tasting menu is literally a revelation of perfect seafood. Glorious!

New England - in Woodstock, stayed at the Charelston House Inn - a truly perfect B&B, right in town, an easy, pleasant walk from everything. Late lunch at Simon Pearce in Quechee, dinner was takeout from the Woodstock Farmers Market - both highly recommended. On my next trip to Woodstock, I stayed at the Shire Motel, which I really can't recommend. Housekeeping needs more attention.

Lake Placid, NY - on a too-brief fishing trip to the Adirondacks, I stayed at Art Devlin's Olympic Motor Inn. Very comfortable, very reasonable, in town, fantastic views of the mountains and the ski jumps. Much quieter than I would have expected, although it was mid-May and well before tourist season. Dinner at Caffe Rustic on the road toward Saranac - yes, it's in a mall, don't let that deter you. Lovely wines, absolutely delicious seared diver scallops with ramps, lemon butter sauce and mashed potatoes. An extraordinary, simple meal. Good value, too, especially for Lake Placid, home of $30 burgers that don't even have foie gras! Humph! I can't recommend guided fishing trips through the Adirondack Sport shop in Wilmington highly enough. On a day that was supposed to be a total washout, I had a GREAT day, caught plenty of fish though not big ones, saw and fished a lot of these historic waters.

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Recently, a number of people have asked me questions that boil down to this:
"How can I start a creative business of my own in THIS economy?"
That's an excellent question. With the economy in its current state of flux, I believe that it's an outstanding time to examine and re-examine creative goals. Whatever your current level of employment, it's a great time to think about how creative process and perhaps a creative career can help you to grow. It's a perfect time to learn about managing and embracing change, and transforming challenges into opportunity. I believe that those who embrace change, who notice and act on patterns evident right now, will emerge in a much better place as the economy begins to stabilize - a place which may be much better than anything that's come before.

What have you dreamed about creating? Is this the right time to begin? What action can you take right now to move toward this creative dream?

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

WHAT is creativity/career/life coaching?

Creativity is an essential part of every person's everyday life. Although mass media and spectator activity of all sorts would have us feel otherwise, we are all creative beings. Creativity is a primary means of expressing ourselves to the world, and a primary tool for self-knowledge and personal growth. As a way of interacting with the world, it is a spiritual path in and of itself. My mission is to fully express my own creativity and to help others to grow into the full expression of their own wonderful, unique creative gifts.

My business, Foxhollow Studio, offers individual and small-group creativity, career and life coaching services as well as workshops, retreats, and seminars in creativity and the creative process. These services can benefit people interested in exploring their own creativity on whatever level,whether people who do not think of themselves as particularly creative, or professional artists who wish to jump-start or re-energize their creativity.

These services are especially designed to help any artist who is in the creative doldrums, for whom a gentle nudge in the right direction can provide a way though a dry spell. The way to higher creativity is, unsurprisingly, through practice. I've experienced enough of the doldrums to know that consistently showing up and doing the work is what gets me through, and I've found that this is a useful life lesson as well. Creative practice is a way of doing this where the risks are quite low and the potential rewards are great.

Foxhollow Studio also offers traditional and non-traditional private and group music lessons. Please ask about my one-day Music Exploration workshop for adults, which provides a full day to explore your creative process through simple, fun music activities which include drumming, singing and songwriting. Each of these workshops will be tailored to the needs and wishes of participants, so content will vary. All services of Foxhollow Studio are available with sliding scale and multiple payment options, so that they will be affordable for everyone.

transitions

I'm beginning to shift my work to more self-employment as it becomes more possible for me to do so. I only teach two days a week, and am beginning to put more time and energy into coaching and private music lessons. I'm doing more writing - both nonfiction and fiction - as well as more composing, and learning about digital music processing and recording. I think it's not a bad idea for anyone to have a self-employment option right now. The chaotic economy provides an opportunity to develop that business or work that has always lurked in my dreams. This is all still very much in process right now. Exciting, fun, and a little scary.

What do you yearn to create now?