{"id":2932,"date":"2011-07-21T01:14:48","date_gmt":"2011-07-21T05:14:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/dreamgates\/?p=2932"},"modified":"2011-07-21T01:23:23","modified_gmt":"2011-07-21T05:23:23","slug":"making-creative-friends","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dreamgates\/2011\/07\/making-creative-friends.html","title":{"rendered":"Making creative friends"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

We need to avoid feedback felons (the people who bring us down by picking holes in our efforts to give birth to something new) and nourish the kind of creative friendship that supports us through change. \u00a0Feeling short on creative friends? Here’s how to announce yourself in a way that may recruit some new ones.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I came up with this approach while leading an evening introductory program titled \u201cKey Habits of Creative People\u201d. We made a fabulous beginning, in the course of which I helped people to visualize a creative project they could bring through in any area of their lives. As I guided them to turn their visions into affirmations and practical action steps, I encouraged them to check in with their bodies to make sure that their bodies believed them (the necessary antidote to all the hype about the “law of attraction”).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I had planned to open the second part of the class, after the break, by introducing the idea of the \u201ccreative friend\u201d – the person who supports you through change and offers you the right kind of feedback. When I was glommed onto by a very needy woman during the break, I made up a new game in that cause – out of sheer desperation. The needy woman complained she wasn’t \u201cconnected\u201d, didn’t know any creative people etc.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cLook around you,\u201d I suggested. \u201cThere are forty people here who have come to learn how to be more creative and are seeking creative friends. Go introduce yourself to one of them – a stranger – before the end of the break. Do this with two statements.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cFirst, tell them something about your regular life. For example, \u2018I\u2019m Jill, I\u2019m a software designer, I live inSaratoga, I\u2019m a single mother and I ride horses every other weekend.\u2019<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cSecond, make a statement about your creative project. Put it in the present tense and make it entirely affirmative. Say it so anyone hearing you might be inspired to help. \u2018I\u2019m writing children\u2019s stories and I\u2019m always looking for new ideas.\u2019 Or: \u2018I’m redecorating a barn where I\u2019m going to paint and hold weekend retreats.\u2019 Or: \u2018I’m working on improving my cooking or my golf game.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

She looked scared for a moment, and when she gathered up her stuff I wondered if she was going to quit the room. Instead, she marched over to the cutest guy in the room, sat down next to him and proceeded to introduce herself exactly as suggested. It turned out he had exactly the resources she needed to pursue her current creative project; they exchanged coordinates and promised to stay in touch.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

When we started up again, I had everyone introduce themselves to a stranger in the group by the same protocol. The listeners were prepped to offer immediate positive feedback and, if appropriate, to suggest tools and resources. The effect was GRRRREAT! Several people said they felt they had literally been \u201cblessed.”<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We need to avoid feedback felons (the people who bring us down by picking holes in our efforts to give birth to something new) and nourish the kind of creative friendship that supports us through change. \u00a0Feeling short on creative friends? Here’s how to announce yourself in a way that may recruit some new ones.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":224,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25,34,26,27],"tags":[425,424,294],"class_list":["post-2932","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-conscious-living","category-creativity","category-life-direction","category-self-help","tag-barn-raising","tag-creative-friends","tag-law-of-attraction"],"yoast_head":"\nMaking creative friends - Dream Gates<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dreamgates\/2011\/07\/making-creative-friends.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Making creative friends - Dream Gates\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"We need to avoid feedback felons (the people who bring us down by picking holes in our efforts to give birth to something new) and nourish the kind of creative friendship that supports us through change. \u00a0Feeling short on creative friends? 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He is the creator of Active Dreaming, an original synthesis of dreamwork and shamanism. Born in Australia, he survived three near-death experiences in childhood. He leads popular seminars all over the world, including a three-year training for teachers of Active Dreaming. A former lecturer in ancient history at the Australian National University, he is a best-selling novelist, journalist and independent scholar. His nine books on dreaming, shamanism and imagination include Conscious Dreaming, Dreamways of the Iroquois, The Dreamer's Book of the Dead, The Three \"\"Only\"\" Things, The Secret History of Dreaming, Dreamgates, Active Dreaming and Dreaming the Soul Back Home: Shamanic Dreaming for Healing and Becoming Whole. His most recent book is The Boy Who Died and Came Back: Adventures of a Dream Archaeologist in the Multiverse. Over the past 20 years, he has led seminars at the Esalen Institute, Kripalu, the Omega Institute, the New York Open Center, Bastyr University, John F. Kennedy University, Meriter Hospital, and many other centers and institutions. He has taught depth workshops in Active Dreaming in the UK, Australia, Canada, Costa Rica, France, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Romania, Brazil and Austria and leads a three-year training for teachers of Active Dreaming. He hosts the \"\"Way of the Dreamer\"\" radio show at www.healthylife.net. He has appeared on many TV and radio shows, ranging from Charlie Rose and the Today show to Coast to Coast and the Diane Rehm show on NPR. His articles on dreaming have been published in media ranging from Parade to Shaman's Drum.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.mossdreams.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dreamgates\/author\/rmoss"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dreamgates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2932","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dreamgates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dreamgates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dreamgates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/224"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dreamgates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2932"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dreamgates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2932\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2937,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dreamgates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2932\/revisions\/2937"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dreamgates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2932"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dreamgates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2932"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/dreamgates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2932"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}