Author: Creatively Curious

Conversations are deep, have promises to keep! ✍️

The brook…

Email: Fiancé’s birthday. Loves nature, classic poetry. (Canada)

Happy Birthday!

I come from haunts of coot & hern,
I make a sudden sally,
And sparkle out among the fern,
To bicker down a valley.

By thirty hills I hurry down,
Or slip between the ridges,
By twenty thorpes, a little town,
And half a hundred bridges.

I chatter over stony ways,
In little sharps & trebles,
I bubble into eddying bays,
I babble on the pebbles.

With many a curve my banks I fret,
By many a field & fallow,
And many a fairy foreland set,
With willow-weed & mallow.

I chatter, chatter as I flow,
To join the brimming river,
With here a blossom sailing,
Here & there a lusty trout,
And here & there a grayling,

Here & there a foamy flake,
Upon me as I travel,
With many a silvery water break,
Above the golden gravel.

I draw them all along & flow,
I steal by lawns & grassy plots,
I slide by hazel covers,
I move the sweet forget-me-nots,
That grow for happy lovers.

I slip, I slide, I gloom, I glance,
Among my skimming swallows,
I make the netted sunbeam dance,
Against my sandy shallows.

I murmur under moon & stars,
In brambly wildernesses,
I linger by my shingly bars,
I loiter round my cresses.

—Alfred Lord Tennyson

Disclaimer

Creative lens…

Email: Are there specific daily habits to boost creativity? (Kenya)

A humble perspective. We aren’t born with an ability to create. Creativity is consciously acquired, polished, nurtured. We may think creative people just need freedom, no schedules. But, some structure actually helps. A structured chaos in the mind. Pencil in some creative time each day. Opens up energy, effort to dream, imagine, visualise, discover. Creativity needs patience, perseverance. Hence, self-belief is key as the ratio of creative expectation vs success can be as low as 80:20. Daily positive affirmations, passion pursuits help overcome critical self-talk.

We can find time to consume content that sparks curiosity. Consuming what other’s create can offer inspiration, stimulation (art, music, poetry etc). We can perceive their creativity through the lens of our own experiences, interpretations. Often, we can put our own unique stamps on definitions of creation through natural self-expressions.  

Reflecting, learning, listening, questioning, experimenting with an innocent sense of wonder are pre-requisites to creation. Curiosity is the main source of invention. Reflective free-flow journaling is an effective tool to understand daily observations, aspirations. Helps to intuitively feel motivated, intentional about creativity.

Disclaimer

Save birds…

There are 18,000 species of birds at risk of extinction. Roughly 12% are critically endangered. Worst classification before extinct in the wild.

The Kakapo or Owl Parrot is a critically endangered bird endemic to New Zealand. An oceanic island-dwelling flightless bird. Sadly, only 142 are left in the wild. Mariana Fruit Dove is an endangered bird native to Guam, Northern Marianas Islands. Residing in New Zealand, Kiwis are flightless birds, vulnerable, 1,500 left in the wild. The Hooded Grebe is native to Chilean, Argentinian Patagonia. Has earned a spot as critically endangered. Ultramarine Lorikeets live on Marquesas Islands off west coast of Mexico. Critically endangered.

Snowy Owl is vulnerable. Primarily lives north of 60° latitude line. Great Curassow is a large bird known for a lingering whistle-call. Native to rainforests of Mexico, Colombia, Ecuador. Now, vulnerable. California condor is critically endangered, only 44 left in the wild. African Grey Parrot is a majestic, endangered bird. Northern Bald Ibis lives off west coast of Saudi Arabian Peninsula, Northern Africa. 500 birds in the wild, endangered. White-rumped Vultures, critically endangered. Regent Honeyeater is native to SE Australia, critically endangered. 

These beautiful birds & 1000’s of species are critical to bio-diversity on earth. Let’s actively support organisations that work tirelessly to counter constant threats to their natural habitat, illegal pet trade, global warming.

Disclaimer

Braiding sweetgrass…

A gentle, simple, humble, beautiful edition to inspire readers about scientific knowledge, indigenous wisdom & teachings of plants. As a botanist, Robin Wall Kimmerer has been trained to ask questions of nature with tools of science. Embraces the notion that plants & animals are our oldest teachers. Braiding Sweetgrass brings these two lenses of knowledge together to take us on a journey that is every bit as mythic as it is scientific, as sacred as it is historical, as clever as it is wise.

Braiding Sweetgrass – Amazon

Shares how living beings – asters & goldenrod, strawberries & squash, salamanders, algae & sweetgrass offer gifts, lessons we’ve forgotten. Awakens an ecological consciousness to acknowledge, celebrate our reciprocal relationship with the rest of the living world. Only when we hear voices of all living beings will we be capable of understanding the grace, gorgeousness, greatness, generosity of earth.

Disclaimer