highly sensitive power » Play

The Benevolent Love Bomb

Grace Kerina — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 07:15:09 +0000

The term “love bomb” has an iffy pedigree, an association with cults and the recruitment of love-starved loners.

I went on the offensive and love-bombed him. Sparkly sparkle charm quarks pinging out of my eyes, gosh he was the nicest man I had met all day ping ping, I would be so grateful for any help he could see his way to giving me. Ping pada ping.
~ Jessica Hines, Looking for the Big B

Too bad. Great term. Let’s re-purpose it.

Imagine the infinite uses of a benevolent love-bomb, a silly surfeit of doting, over-the-top, magnanimous, way way out there loving-up. Staff, family members, and friends gape in awe and go weak in the knees — from laughter or thrill or both.

Either way, spreading that much joy makes the giver’s day, too.

Flickr photo: 76/365 – Daddy’s lucky charm, by bp6316

Related reading: Love’s Slope, Pep Talk | Dance

Blind Dates Grow Up

Grace Kerina — Mon, 18 May 2009 07:01:50 +0000

My husband and I are both … hmm … how shall I put this? Let’s go with finely tuned and move on.

We’re also products of different cultures. (I’ve often thought of charging admission to some of our entertaining conversations: the optimistic, anything-is-possible American (me) exchanging views with the pessimistic Cold-War-era German from West Berlin.)

To cut through all of our (various, hilarious, absurd, genuine) objections to any proposed plan for having fun together, we’ve invented our own version of the blind date.

Here’s an example of how it works:

He: “Gracie, what are you doing on Saturday night?”
Me: (Shrugging) “Nothing, I guess. What’s up?”
He: “Then we’ll leave around 7:45 – right after dinner.”
Me: (Perking up) “Cool. What should I wear?”
He: “Nice, but not fancy. And dress warmly.”
Me: “You do that on purpose, don’t you? Just to torture me with too little information.”
He: (Folds his arms and smirks)
Me: “Oh, well. What do I care? If it’s a blind date, you’re paying, right?”
He: “Yup.”

Our rules are:

The person who invites pays (this minimizes objections from the invitee).
The person who invites aims to please the invitee, even if unexpectedly so.
The person who invites is not required to tell any more than is strictly necessary.
The person who accepts the invitation doesn’t complain.

We’ve both been wowed and charmed as the “blind” person in the equation, escorted to experiences we’d never have chosen – or even agreed to – had we known in advance what they’d be. And we’ve both had the gleeful pleasure of the visionary escort, crafting experiences that delight us both.

Like traditional blind dates, our version opens up possibilities. Unlike the traditional version – thankfully – we know we’ll be spending time with someone we already love.

This version of blind dating works with all kinds of relationships, not only romantic ones. Evolve it for your own best use. And report back here, would you? I’d love to know how things go.

Flickr photo: Blind Light, by Anthony Gormley, on ricoeurian’s Flickr page as within the fog…

Real Adventures with Imaginary Maps

Grace Kerina — Thu, 14 May 2009 07:15:56 +0000

Oh, maps … oops. Sorry, I had to stop and wipe the drool off my keyboard. If you want to hypnotize me or calm me down, just shove a map in front of my face. My eyes will glaze, I’ll acquire a foolish grin, and my hand will reach involuntarily toward the map.

And if the map is imaginary, I’ll be lost. I’ll gladly roam the unfamiliar world, curious to discover not only another land but another mind.

These are (so far) my favourite sources for imaginary map adventures:

Strange Maps ~ I heartily thank the apparently anonymous creator of this website for regularly making me giggle, gape, and ogle. The author wrote this in the site’s long-ago first post: “I like maps. I like weird maps, the kind you won’t find in a regular atlas. Maps of countries that never existed – or never will exist. … here are the weirdest maps I found on the internet.”

Holly Lisle’s article “How I Drew a Map and Sold Three Books and a World” ~ Holly Lisle is one of my favourite online sources of writing encouragement and resources. Make sure to click on the little pictures in the article to see larger versions of her map creation.

You Are Here: Personal Geographies and Other Maps of the Imagination, by Katharine Harmon ~ I wish this book had been produced in a larger format. Nevertheless, the variety and oddness of the maps and the analyses offered make it a captivating gem well worth exploring.

The Dictionary of Imaginary Places, by Alberto Manguel ~ Although this vast dictionary is not only (or even primarily) about maps, it does contain many maps of “the imaginary lands and cities of literature.” If you can’t quite picture a bird’s-eye-view of Narnia or the countries surrounding Oz, this dictionary will make it all clear.

Slightly off-topic bonuses:

The Agile Rabbit Book of Historical And Curious Maps, by Pepin Press ~ The maps in this book aren’t imaginary, but they’re so spectacular and strange that they might as well be.

The World of Donald Evans, by Willy Eisenhart ~ I’m a long-time fan of this odd, interesting man who died too young. He created and painted tiny, gorgeous postage stamps from countries he imagined.

Flickr photo: Early Morning Balloon Trip, by bestfor.

Related reading: Being Home, Pep Talk | Grope

Digital Art Programs by Kevin

Grace Kerina — Mon, 04 May 2009 18:27:27 +0000

In my constant quest for creativity with a wow-factor, I followed a Flickr photo search to the discovery of Kevin, a man of inspiring creativity, humility, and generosity.

Among other things, Kevin created a couple of digital art freeware programs – VEXER (left picture) and Agony (right picture). I’ve played around some with VEXER, which I downloaded for free from Kevin’s website, and am boggled by the creative options.

The gallery on Kevin’s website offers browsable albums of art from various programs and in different styles. You can also access other people’s art created using Vexer or Agony, through their Flickr Groups: VEXER – by Flikr and Agony – by Flikr. For a tantalizing example, see realeoni’s Abstract 52: The look of a flower.

The Agony program appears to have an animating option, as shown in Kevin’s flikr2542 creation.

There’s humour throughout Kevin’s offerings, and it’s a humour that suits me. For instance, if you click the Help menu in VEXER, the only option is “About VEXER,” which provides this short message:

“VEXER is a farily stupid drawing program. You are using it right now. You can contact its author by emailing: caulky@gmail.com. There is no more about VEXER.”

Call me perverse, but that makes me laugh.

Luckily, there’s an appealingly fascinating self-profile of Kevin on a Flickr discussion group (scroll down a little to the start of the long comment by “flikr” – that’s the name Kevin’s uses on Flickr).

Thanks to Kevin, doodling now touches divinity.

Flickr photo: flikr1608 and flikr1189, by flikr.

Creativity Prompt | 50

Grace Kerina — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 08:01:06 +0000

What’s your excuse?

~~~

Daily Creativity Prompts deliver a perspective-shifting zap to your creative process.

See Grace Kerina’s recently updated (book and video)
Creativity Prompts Compendium for tools to spark your genius.

Related reading: Creativity Prompt | 34 ~ A Forgiving Tale

We Are All Magicians

Grace Kerina — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 08:15:51 +0000

I’ll tell you about this book even before I’ve finished it. Carol S. Pearson, author of the best-seller The Hero Within, writes about archetypes and how they can guide and help us. She and Sharon Seivert wrote Magic at Work, referred to on the cover as “A Guide to Releasing Your Highest Creative Power.”

Magic at Work explores the Magician archetype and has me thinking a lot about sensitivity. Rather than review the book further, I’ll give you a few excerpts and let the authors speak for themselves:

“Society today is experiencing a major shift in consciousness as people switch from thinking like Warriors to thinking like Magicians. The Magician is that part of us that manifests the highest and greatest potential in any situation.”

“The Magician archetype is emerging today because it can help us thrive in a world without superpowers, stable borders, or right/wrong answers. In a time of global interdependence, it may, in fact, take miracles to help us learn to balance conflicting needs and attitudes, and be willing to learn from those different from ourselves.”

“Magicians always have been masters of the space between – times like sunrise and sunset, when the boundaries between the worlds are not firm, when gods can walk the earth and humans can touch the sky, and when the line between life and death is permeable.”

“In the In-Between, we are challenged constantly to come alive by letting go of old habits, old methods. To progress we must, metaphorically speaking, die and be reborn into new experience. If we fail to rise to this challenge, we begin to feel like the walking dead, going through the motions of life without intensity or joy.”

“We get caught in the hallway of the In-Between until we heal whatever traumas or limitations are holding us back from being truly authentic and alive. After this is accomplished, we move into the next world.”

“The magic of the In-Between holds the potential for exponential growth. The pain we feel is a result of our attachment to the old ways, even though the old world is too small and limited for what we are becoming. Magic emerges when we let go of that to which we are accustomed so that we can grow into a world large enough to accommodate who we can be.”

“Magic happens not just because of what we do but because of what we are willing to become.”

What do you want to create? Find keys to ease the process in the role model of the Magician. When we trigger the deep knowledge of archetypes we access zooming power.

Flickr photo: Street Magic, by a_whisper_of_unremitting_demand.

Related reading: Personal Symbology and Intuition

Book | Orbiting the Giant Hairball

Grace Kerina — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 08:15:36 +0000

“Why would anyone want to suppress genius? Well, it is not intentional. It is not a plot. Genius is an innocent casualty in society’s efforts to train children away from natural-born foolishness.”
~ Gordon MacKenzie

“Orville Wright did not have a pilot’s license.”
~ Gordon MacKenzie

Gordon MacKenzie may have spent the bulk of his creative career ensconced within the corporate world of Hallmark Cards, but don’t let that put you off. What he has to teach about creativity crosses all boundaries. I read the book in one sitting. My face ached afterwards, from a severe case of extended grins.

During his many years with Hallmark, MacKenzie poked and prodded his way out into orbit around the corporation (the Giant Hairball), championing creativity by all means possible. His ideas about creating within the corporate structure aptly transfer to any situation in which we yearn to create within external limitations.

Visually beautiful and artfully designed, and with chapters about dealing with teasing, thinking transrationally, and resisting the mesmerizing pull of corporate culture, this little book bristles with accessible, high-quality encouragement.

Orbiting the Giant Hairball: A Corporate Fool’s Guide to Surviving with Grace has been added to the Creativity Prompts Compendium.

Related reading: Book | Air Guitar, Talent Development Resources.

Fonts of Joy

Grace Kerina — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 07:01:47 +0000

Typography, like cartography, lures me with the promise of esoteric depths. What secrets do the seers of these realms know? A recent foray into the world of typography captivated me to the point of near-breathlessness. There are worlds of joy within even a font style.

It doesn’t surprise me that Robert Bringhurst, author of The Elements of Typographic Style, now in its third edition, is also a poet. This is from the first page of his book:

“In a world rife with unsolicited messages, typography must often draw attention to itself before it will be read. Yet in order to be read, it must relinquish the attention it has drawn. Typography with anything to say therefore aspires to a kind of statuesque transparency. Its other traditional goal is durability: not immunity to change, but a clear superiority to fashion. Typography at its best is a visual form of language linking timelessness and time.”
~ Robert Bringhurst, The Elements of Typographic Style

Another seer of the realm, John D. Boardley, channels his love for typography into his website, I Love Typography. Monitor your bottom lip as you browse this site – the inclination to drool over the contents (like this letterpress poster from Cameron Moll – scroll down to see it) may catch you by surprise. Further, the site’s links provide more worlds within worlds to learn from and ogle over.

I found Boardley’s two-part article “So You Want to Create a Font,” particularly interesting after my recent receipt via regular mail of a card that baffled me. The handwriting in the card looked like that of the friend who’d sent it, yet not. Spooky. Then I found out that she’d had her handwriting digitized into her own personal font.

You can digitize your handwriting, too, on Fontifier, or invent a font from scratch, on FontStruct. For inspiration, browse through FontStruct’s Gallery.

“Typography exists to honor content.”
~ Robert Bringhurst, The Elements of Typographic Style

Flickr photo: Ampersand, by adactio.

Diagram Prize for Oddest Book Title

Grace Kerina — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 07:01:50 +0000

My goal with this Christmas Day article is simply to make you laugh. I thought I’d tell a few jokes (What’s brown and sticky? … A stick.) and provide a few links to humorous articles.

Maybe later.

I’m too busy wiping tears of laughter from my eyes after researching Bookseller Magazine’s Diagram Prize for Oddest Book Title.

How Green Were the Nazis?, edited by Franz-Josef Bruggemeier, Mark Cioc, and Thomas Zeller, 2006 Diagram Prize shortlist
If You Want Closure in Your Relationship, Start with Your Legs, by Big Boom, 2007 Diagram Prize shortlist
How to Avoid Huge Ships, by John Trimmer, 30th Anniversary Diagram Prize, 3rd Place
The Stray Shopping Carts of Eastern North America: A Guide to Field Identification, by Julian Montague, 2006 Diagram Prize winner

Started in 1978 as a way to combat boredom at the Frankfurt Book Fair (the book fair of all book fairs, its beginnings rooted in the 12th century), the Diagram Prize honours books hovering on the edges of the publishing industry. Titles suggested by publishers, booksellers, librarians, and Bookseller readers are culled to a shortlist, which is voted on by the public via online poll.

2008 marked the 30th anniversary of the Diagram Prize, prompting Bookseller Magazine to determine the oddest book title of the past 30 years. The winner, Greek Rural Postmen and Their Cancellation Numbers, by Derek Willan, beat out Gary Leon Hill’s second-place winner People Who Don’t Know They’re Dead.

Are Women Human?: And Other International Dialogues, by Catharine A. MacKinnon, 2007 Diagram Prize shortlist
Cheese Problems Solved, edited by P. L. H. McSweeny, 2007 Diagram Prize shortlist

See Wikipedia’s entry about the Diagram Prize for a list of past winners. And now there’s a book to mark the prize’s 30th anniversary: How to Avoid Huge Ships And Other Implausibly Titled Books, by Joel Rickett.

Merry Christmas – and I mean that literally.

Vancouver Public Library atrium photo by Michael Mundhenk.

Personality Tests

Grace Kerina — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 09:05:51 +0000

To continue from the last article’s theme of hidden dimensions, how about uncovering more of your own facets? Online personality tests make self-discovery easy. Clarify what you already know about yourself. Thrill to new revelations. But, above all, have fun. You can always ignore any results that don’t make sense for you. No one is hovering nearby with a pen and a clipboard.

The links below lead to free tests that provide instant results.

Similar Minds provides enough tests to keep even the most die-hard self-explorer busy for hours.

Eclectic Energies’ Eneagram test offers two options: the classical test and the test with instinctual variant included. Use the instinctual variant option for information about your instinctual subtype.

The Art Institute of Vancouver offers a Right Brain vs. Left Brain Creativity Test. The short introduction to the test makes it clear that the Art Institute is biased toward a result of Left Brain, but don’t let that stop you from loving your own honest results – the world needs all kinds of brains.

Human Metrics offers online personality, relationship, and entrepreneurship tests, including the Myers-Briggs test (which they sometimes call a Jung typology test).

Strengths Finder 2.0 is the exception in this list of otherwise free tests. The Strength Finder test was developed by the Gallup Poll folks to help people uncover their top five natural talents. They contend that focusing on developing natural strengths results in much greater success than trying to develop weaknesses. The price of the test is the cost of the (small) book, StrengthsFinder 2.0. The insights, for me, have been well worth the price, to the point that they were instrumental in my decision to start this website, which provides me with limitless joy. It feels fabulous to focus on what I naturally love to do. I wish the same for you.

Photo by Michael Mundhenk.