Creative Anxiety

     Being afraid to proceed with the next step in a project is a frequent occurrence among my friends and myself.  But what if I ruin it? is a common  lament. I recently listened to a podcast of Creative Mojo with Mark Lipinki on http://toginet.com/ (March 16, 2011 show) in which Eric Maisel was a guest. Eric is a creativity coach and psychotherapist (http://ericmaisel.com/). Eric's latest book is: Mastering Creative Anxiety.

     Creativity requires one choice after another ( red or blue? border or not? embellish? quilting motif ? ?????)  and choosing promotes anxiety.  We must learn to embrace the anxiety and not try to avoid it or our creativity will be stifled. We buy good materials to make our art and then the feeling of trying to make something excellent promotes anxiety. We need to use both physical and cognitive strategies to cope with our anxiety. Deep breathing cleansing breaths helps physically and the use of affirmations helps cognitively. The book contains 24 lessons to overcome the paralyzing fear that leads to inaction. 
    
     Another one of the reasons that we accumulate a stack of UFO's is because of the fear of putting it out into the world and incurring criticism. I plan to download this book onto my Kindle and I promise that my stack of UFO's will get a bit smaller in the next few months.

     Want to join me in conquering the anxiety?
    

Dinner at Agave

Saturday night we celebrated birthdays. Keith and Melisa were born 2 days and one year apart. Keith on April 24 and Melisa on April 26. We went to Agave in Cabbagetown for dinner. It is located in the Cotton Mill General Store and has been named the Best Southwestern Restaurant in Atlanta. Everything was delicious from the Margaritas and quesadilla appetizers to the dessert platter. More on that later.

The special was flounder and was chosen by Cliff and Melisa. I opted for the  Red Pepper Salmon Filet ...(Pan seared fresh Chilean salmon with sauteed  julienne zucchini, squash, & carrots, served over a roasted red pepper sauce with grilled asparagus) which was cooked to perfection.

Keith, the steak lover since childhood, (He ate his way across Canada and through Alaska at the age of 8 on steak.) had

Tenderloin Medallions ...Fresh tenderloin filet sliced and pan-seared over a roasted tomato, garlic & chile tequila puree, accompanied by Yukon Gold mashed potatoes, fried cayenne onions and grilled zucchini

There were six choices for dessert including flan, chocolate mousse, key lime pie, peanut butter pie, cheesecake and a flourless chocolate cake. How to choose ..... normally Cliff and I share a dessert and so do Keith and Melisa and the kids have ice cream. Well, Agave has a seventh selection: a dessert platter with 6 full size portions of all six desserts for less money than buying each one individually. Amazing!!!! We opted for the platter and everyone had a taste of everything and voted for their favorite. Key lime pie won the contest - just fabulous.

I know that I sound like a commercial for Agave but I promise that I have no affiliation with them. Just a very happy and contented customer.

Say goodbye to Sandy

Our Silver Sneakers instructor, Sandy Dickens, is moving to Florida so we had a potluck luncheon for her today. I made a quilt for her which consisted of four photos which I manipulated in photo shop. The four photos depict the type of chair that we use for some of our exercises (mostly stretches) and the 3 pieces of equipment that we use: free weights, ball, and stretch bands. I hope that she likes it.