by Eileen on August 1, 2011
Some systems in nature are perfectly designed to nurture…
Humans breathe in oxygen and breathe out carbon dioxide. Plants breathe in carbon dioxide and breathe out oxygen.
Ahhhhhhh.
Could you imagine a more beautifully symbiotic system?
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The greenest place on earth…
All that photosynthesis produces green, and a lot of it. Available for visual enjoyment perhaps nowhere more than the Emerald Isle, Ireland.
Saint Bridgid, one of the patron saints of Eire, knew that nourishing the body was a critical component of nourishing the soul. Her legend involves many tales of helping the poor and hungry, and she is loved to this day.
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Of course…
You can never get enough of what you don’t really need.
–U2
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But there are so many ways to feel nourished…
Music is a lady that I still love because she gives me the air that I breathe. We need all sorts of nourishment. And music satisfies and nourishes the hunger within ourselves for connection and harmony.
–Cat Stevens
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Speaking of connection. (and, ahem, being green)…
Maybe Kermit says it best…
What’s so amazing that keeps us stargazing?
And what do we think we might see?
Someday we’ll find it, the rainbow connection,
the lovers, the dreamers and me.
The most important things that nurture us are universal–loving and dreaming.
by Briana on July 6, 2011
Ready for another round?
:::tosses token:::
They might say you’re a dreamer…
But you’re not the only one.
After all…
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Anybody (everybody!) could buy into the suspension.
As an actor, Jeffrey Wright knows about getting an audience to suspend their disbelief long enough to come along for the storytelling ride.
Now he’s taking that understanding to Sierra Leone where his nonprofit is developing a new vision of community building.
The idea in theater is that we’re gonna refashion reality.
And perhaps when you go outside the theater, it’s possible for you to reshape that reality, too…
Instill a sense of faith, really, in those things unknown, that the vision will be realized…
Suspension of disbelief is critical to pressing forward and realizing a new reality.
You could put on a play. Or…
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You could just play.
The first airplane was a toy. That’s what made it safe to “fly”.
According to Dr. Stuart Brown, play let’s us experiment, innovate, discover new ways of thinking and doing and being. WITH our feet safely on the ground.
But when you’re ready…
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Who knows where playing will lead?
It is the greatest shot of adrenaline to be doing what you have wanted to do so badly. You almost feel like you could fly without the plane.
–Charles Lindbergh
Almost.
And for those moments when it seems impossible, when you’re sure the obstacles are too big?
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Don’t worry, you’ll think of something.
When struck with the worry that comedy was a dead end because there is, after all, a limited amount of material, Steve Martin came up with this homegrown solution to soothe himself:
Comedy is a distortion of what is happening. And there will always be something happening.
–Born Standing Up, A Comic’s Life
So whether you’re writing music or making a movie or creating a life, it’s reassuring to remember: The raw material is endless.
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Play along?
What could you do if you suspended your disbelief?
What one thing needs to be true so that everything else falls into place?
How could you play with one element, in a safe, contained space, in order to innovate and discover enough to create something magical?
Let us know?
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{Credits: Stage photo by alancleaver_2000. Vintage toy airplane photo by anyjazz65. Skydiving photo by wonderjunkie.}
by Eileen on June 20, 2011
It’s heeeere!
We are unbelievably excited to present the first episode of our podcast, Overheard at the Distillery.
This feels like an extra sweet launch because the podcast is just who we are. It’s the essence of the Distillery: Briana and I talking, with no script, just the unique sparkling energy and insights that seem to get fired up whenever we get together.
This inaugural episode is about Creative Jealousy: sometimes you love something so much that, well…it kind of hurts. We talk about why, and better yet what to do about it.
We hope you like listening in.
Overheard at The Distillery Episode 1: Creative Jealousy
{click to listen in browser, right-click to download}
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First time at the Distillery?
Thanks for stopping by! Can we brighten your inbox with our monthly postcard?
by Briana on June 6, 2011
So what’s this all about? Every month we’ll open a new thread, prompted by the Postcard. And then we’ll just riff and a bunch of our conversation will happen right here.
We’ll probably throw in some businessey processing and light-hearted accountability. And maybe even a little dream analysis to keep things interesting. It’s an experiment of sorts — We have no idea what it might turn into, and we can wait to see!
This month’s postcard is here. To get the postcards conveniently delivered to your mailbox every month, go here.
……
It’s funny– before Eileen got all minty-fresh with the postcard, I committed to playing along with Elizabeth’s Shiva Nata experiment for the month of June. And specifically in connection with giving fresh eyes to some old patterns of mine that have been getting kinda trigger-happy.
At first I was really resistant to dealing with the stuff at all. I have worked hard-core on these patterns for a long time, and I kept getting stuck wondering how I ended up here again.
But the thing I keep getting more and more clearly is that there’s really no such thing as back here again. Instead I’m discovering new insights about old things and letting old patterns transform themselves into new possibilities.
Geez– it sounds really cheesy, but that’s the way of a minty-fresh insight.
Sometimes the thing that’s causing me to meltdown is just in need of some… melting down.
Does anything in your life need some freshening up?
Is it a new way of looking at an old thing? Or taking apart something old and putting it together in a new way? (Sorry, deconstruction on the brain– did I mention all that Shiva Nata? : )
Oh and hey, while we’re here–what’s up with you this month? What are you working on?
What’s next for you?
