Creativity is Wisdom

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“Humans are not ideally set up to understand logic; they are ideally set up to understand stories.” Roger C. Schank, Cognitive Scientist

I am an Austrian-Californian multimedia Artist, educator, author of 5 art-related books, podcaster, coach, creative advisor and former Newport Beach CA arts commissioner. Fluent in German and English.

I’m an outside the box thinker, who is a passionate creativity/awareness researcher that looks for true values of humanity outside of any man-made system. I have discovered a paradox: 95% of worldwide artists are existing around the poverty level, but they love to create so much they are proud to be poor. But without creativity there are no man-made systems, there would be no world as we know it. 

The solution: I discover patterns within Art that foster creative communication and identify art values outside any systems which always raise our human potential.

Michaell  MICHAELLM.com #TheSmartofArt

https://michaellm.com/self-aware-art-education

Contact Michaell on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest

PodMatch

This episode is brought to you by PodMatch, the dating service for podcasters. They introduced me to Michaell Magruche, and I’m so glad they did. I hope you’ve enjoyed our conversation and remember that if you have a podcast or something to share with the world, check out PodMatch at my affiliate link at PodMatch and tell them Lucinda sent you.

Patreon

I’m so passionate about stories that I created the Story-Power podcast and Patreon communities so I’d have an excuse to talk story with other story lovers. If you’re passionate about stories too, and want to talk about what you’ve learned from your favorites, come join me at patreon.com/StoryPower.

Fear is Killing Us!

“The Lord is my light and my salvation – whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life – of whom shall I be afraid?” ~ Psalm 27:1

“Fear is the path to the Dark Side. Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering.” ~ Yoda in Star Wars

“He who is not every day conquering some fear has not learned the secret of life.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. The fearful are caught as often as the bold.” ~ Helen Keller

“Fear is the Mind Killer.” ~ Frank Herbert, Dune

I’m heart sore. Actually, I’ve felt that way to one degree or another for the last six years. It seems that violence and attacks on human rights have escalated to such a degree that not a day goes by when there aren’t news reports about some new incident. I haven’t really known what I could do to help make a change in our society. I’m just one person after all. But for some reason these last few shootings of people who were just in the wrong place at the wrong time made me realize what’s causing all the upheaval. It’s fear.

We’re swimming in fear and it’s killing us. We carry guns because we’re afraid of others. We start wars because we’re afraid that we’re losing power and prestige. We try to control everything on the outside because we’re afraid to live anywhere but inside the little boxes we’ve made for ourselves. Frank Herbert was right when he wrote in Dune, that fear is the mind killer.

I don’t know about you, but when I’m afraid, my mind whirls and I am unable to make a decision. My brain is on autopilot and I’m not thinking, I’m reacting. However, I’ve been doing lots of personal and spiritual work over these last few years and here’s what I’ve learned. To stop our fear, we need to stop and consider that maybe we’ve been wrong. Maybe the world is not a dangerous place. Maybe it’s friendly. When we break the cycle of feeling fear, we can think of the consequences of our actions and hopefully avert tragedy.

Fear makes us think that we can control every dangerous situation we might face. That’s illogical. We can’t control anything outside ourselves! The only thing we can control are our own thoughts and feelings. But it seems there is a large part of the population that either doesn’t know that, or is unwilling to accept that fact.

Albert Einstein said, “There are two ways to live: you can live as if nothing is a miracle; you can live as if everything is a miracle.” We get to choose. Do you want to suffer, as the quote above by Yoda says? Or do you want to be showered with miracles every day? I choose to experience miracles.

I’m convinced that we feel so much fear because we’ve been told stories about the dangerous world around us. But that’s only half of the story. We hooked our logic, emotions, and free will to a huge lie. There are two sides to the human story. It all depends on where we place our attention. For those who are religious, do your scriptures encourage you to trust in God or not? Trusting God is to declare that we live in a friendly universe and that we have faith that we will receive God’s grace and blessings. 

My first B.A. degree was in religious studies. I was there for the stories about humans interacting with God, or Higher Power if you prefer. And what I remember most were the stories of miracles. The miracles that Moses performed to free the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. The miracle of Sarah conceiving the child Isaac, with Abraham, even though she was past child bearing age. All the miracles that Jesus performed. I believe that there are so many miracles in the scriptures of every single religion, but for some reason many of us choose to ignore those wonderful, heart warming examples. I could go on about all kinds of miracles that have happened in history too, but you get the idea of what I’m advocating. You have to look for miracles, not the danger.

I choose to live a life seeing the good in others and seeking out new and wonderful experiences every day. And because I chose to do that at a young age, I’ve had an amazing life so far. 

What do you choose to experience? Is crushing fear something you want to live with every day?

I reach out to my family, students, podcast guests, and even my social media circle because I want to cultivate positive connections. I write this blog for the same reason. I hope to connect with all of you. Every creative thing I do is because I love hearing the stories of others and sharing them and my own with others. That’s where the miracles happen, in positive human connections.

I pray lots of miracles are happening for you at this time. 

Blessings,

Lucinda Sage-Midgorden © 2023

Saving the World One Story at a Time

The world is in such chaos right now that sometimes we need to get a perspective on what’s happening. I designed this course on Ûdemy for people who are looking for a way to get a better understanding about what it means to be a human being. Stories are one great way to walk in the shoes of the characters, connect with them emotionally and learn from their mistakes. Then taking what you’ve learned and use it out in the real world. It’s learning in a fun way! If that sounds like something you’d be interested in, I hope to see you in class.

The Space Between Time

Lucinda is the author of The Space Between Time, an award finalist in the “Fiction: Fantasy” category of the 2017 Best Book Awards.

Have you ever experienced life shattering events? Yeah, after the last few years, most of us have. In The Space Between Time, Jenna Holden gets slammed by her fiancé walking out, her mother’s untimely death, and losing her job all in one week. But she receives unexpected help when she finds her three-times great-grandmother’s journals and begins the adventure of a lifetime.

The Space Between Time is available in all ebook formats at Smashwords and for Kindle at Amazon, or you can find the ebook at iBooks or Barnes and Noble. If you prefer a physical copy, you can find a print-on-demand version at Amazon. Stay tuned for news when the audiobook version is published.

Lucinda is also the host of Story-Power a podcast where she and her guests discuss their creative endeavors, and/or the stories that have changed their lives. It’s available here on Sage Woman Chronicles and on Apple, Google, and Spotify podcast apps. Please rate and leave a review. It helps people find me.

Story-Power on Patreon

I’m so passionate about stories that I created the Story-Power podcast and Patreon communities so I’d have an excuse to talk story with other story lovers. If you’re passionate about stories too, and want to talk about what you’ve learned from your favorites, come join me at patreon.com/StoryPower.

PodMatch

If you are a podcaster, or have a message or fantastic product you want to share with the world, I encourage you to check out PodMatch. Use the affiliate link and tell them, Lucinda sent you. Then contact me so we can set up a Story-Power chat.

Feeling Two Things at Once

“Participate joyfully in the sorrows of the world. We cannot cure the world of sorrows, but we can choose to live in joy.” ~ Joseph Campbell

“When we quit thinking primarily about ourselves and our own self-preservation, we undergo a truly heroic transformation of consciousness.” ~ Joseph Campbell

We experienced a death in our family early Easter morning. Needless to say all of us who knew her have been deeply affected by this untimely event. I don’t want to give more details than that. But I would venture to say, everyone who reads this understands grief on one level or another.

I’ve felt two ways about grief and loss throughout my life. I don’t know exactly how I developed this point of view, but when a loved one dies, or I’ve lost a job, or the ending of a relationship, I do feel broken hearted. At the same time, there is a part of me that knows something else or something better is coming just over the horizon. My sister reminded me this week of the idea that there is always a gift in a death. 

I do like to look for the gift in any seemingly devastating situation. For one thing life would be so boring if nothing ever changed. Can you imagine going to work everyday and doing exactly the same thing over and over again? They make horror movies about situations like that. Human beings are not robots and as much as we would love to avoid the pain of loss and sorrow, the world is not set up that way. I believe we are meant to deal with the pain rather than stuff or mask it with some substance. Denying grief and pain only makes it grow.

I try to embrace change when I feel it coming if I can. Sometimes bad things happen that are a shock, but even in those kinds of situations, I allow myself to feel the pain and sorrow so they lessen and I can look for the gift.

Most of the time in my family, the death of a loved one brings us all closer together. I feel that’s what will happen this time too. We were all together last summer, now we get to be together again to embrace and remember the good times. 

This death in our family has made me think of events in the wider world. The human race has gone through so much turmoil in recent years. So much hatred, greed, lies, the pandemic, tragic deaths and events have worn us out. Lots of people are shell shocked. When I feel that way it’s hard to see how the human race can change course and make things better.

Everything is in such a tangle. But how do you unravel tangled threads? You loosen the knot, you pull out one strand at a time until eventually, the threads are straight again. Looking for the gift in shocking and tragic situations is kind of like that. I don’t try to untangle all the threads, only the ones I can affect and trust that other people will untangle their own threads.

Another thing I do when I’m feeling overwhelmed is to help someone else, to just be there for them. My paternal grandfather was not well known to me, but I discovered he was a great man. I only met him a couple of time before his untimely death a few months after our summer visit. I was 9. Years later I attended the church sponsored college in Lamoni, Iowa about an hour and half south of Des Moines, where my grandparents lived when he died. At homecoming I met the parent of one of my fellow students. When she heard my name she asked, “Are you related to Jim Sage?” I told her he was my grandfather. “Oh, I have to tell you a story about him,” and she proceeded to tell me about a time when there was a death in her family and my grandfather came to their house, along with many other church members. But unlike the others, he didn’t say much. He just sat silently, weeping and holding them until the initial grief had passed. “That was the best ministry anyone could have given us at that time,” the woman said with tears in her eyes. I had tears in my eyes too. I never forgot that story. Sometimes the best gift we can give is offering empathy and connection to someone who needs it. We benefit by the love and caring that passes from us to them as much as they do.

The events of these past few years have confirmed one thing to me, love is much stronger than the hatred and all the other negative things that humans do that they think will protect them. There is evidence, if you look for it, that a shift in thinking away from the negative toward love and caring for each other is happening. Thank heavens!

I’m just planting seeds here. It’s hard to give up the familiar ways of doing things; the idea that life is hard and then you die. I’m with Joseph Campbell, and so many other teachers of recent years who say that love and joy are our natural states. I believe that to find joy in the sorrow is my purpose here on this planet at this time. So, when the family gathers to honor our lost member, I want to just sit with my family, to cry, and listen to all the great stories about her. It’s weird to say, but that will be a blessed and joyous time.

Welcome new followers. I hope everything in your life is going well. If not, I hope you have a great support system to help you through the rough times.

Blessings,

Lucinda Sage-Midgorden © 2023

The Space Between Time 

Lucinda is the author of The Space Between Time, an award finalist in the “Fiction: Fantasy” category of the 2017 Best Book Awards.

Have you ever experienced life shattering events? Yeah, after the last few years, most of us have. In The Space Between Time, Jenna Holden gets slammed by her fiancé walking out, her mother’s untimely death, and losing her job all in one week. But she receives unexpected help when she finds her three-times great-grandmother’s journals and begins the adventure of a lifetime.

The Space Between Time is available in all ebook formats at Smashwords and for Kindle at Amazon, or you can find the ebook at iBooks or Barnes and Noble. If you prefer a physical copy, you can find a print-on-demand version at Amazon. Stay tuned for news when the audiobook version is published.

Lucinda is also the host of Story-Power a podcast where she and her guests discuss their creative endeavors, and/or the stories that have changed their lives. It’s available here on Sage Woman Chronicles and on Apple, Google, and Spotify podcast apps. Please rate and leave a review. It helps people find me

Story-Power on Patreon

I’m so passionate about stories that I created the Story-Power podcast and Patreon communities so I’d have an excuse to talk story with other story lovers. If you’re passionate about stories too, and want to talk about what you’ve learned from your favorites, come join me at patreon.com/StoryPower.

Saving the World One Story at a Time

The world is in such chaos right now that sometimes we need to get a perspective on what’s happening. I designed this course on Ûdemy for people who are looking for a way to get a better understanding about what it means to be a human being. Stories are one great way to walk in the shoes of the characters, connect with them emotionally and learn from their mistakes. Then taking what you’ve learned and use it out in the real world. It’s learning in a fun way! If that sounds like something you’d be interested in, I hope to see you in class.

PodMatch

If you are a podcaster, or have a message or fantastic product you want to share with the world, I encourage you to check out PodMatch. Use the affiliate link and tell them, Lucinda sent you. Then contact me so we can set up a Story-Power chat.

If a Blind Man Can Do it, What’s Your Excuse?

This post contains affiliate links.

Maxwell Ivey grew up in a family of carnival owners. He started losing his vision to retinitis pigmentosa at an early age becoming legally blind by junior high school and totally blind by the time he graduated from college. He did graduate from traditional schools, achieved the rank of Eagle Scout, and worked in the family business until his dad’s death forced the closure of their small show. Needing something new he started helping people sell surplus rides. He had to learn so much including how to hand code html, recruit clients, set fees, build an email list, manage social media, and more. People were inspired by his willingness to take on difficult challenges and encouraged him to share more about being a blind entrepreneur. That led to a second site as the blind blogger, with three books out so far and a fourth due any time. He’s promoted himself through podcast interviews appearing on over 200 shows as well as public speaking where he has shared his inspiring story with local organizations and national conferences. He helps other creative entrepreneurs grow their brands through online interviews. He loves to sing, travel, and find new adventures. If you have questions, just ask. 

Max’s Website, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest, his podcast: What’s Your Excuse? See his website for information about his books and speaking engagements. (First book: Leading You Out of the Darkness Into the Light.)

Midwaymarketplace.com, the place to purchase carnival equipment.

wyexcuse.com, podcast website

InVision all-in-one online collaborative whiteboard

“Better Together”, Luke Combs on the album, What You See is What You Get, Amazon Music

“The River”, Garth Brooks

“I Will Always Love You”, written by Dolly Parton, performed by Whitney Houston in the movie, The Bodyguard (1992)

Leap to Shine, “Enabling Quality Education for Underserved Children”

Maura Sweeney, The Ambassador of Happiness

Yoda Quote: “There is no big or small. There only is.”

Dave Jackson: School of Podcasting on Apple podcast

Cochise College, Cochise County, Arizona

Tom Sullivan, musician, actor, writer, music department

“Humans are not set up to understand logic; they are set up to understand stories.” ~ Roger C. Schank, Cognitive Scientist

PodMatch

This episode is brought to you by PodMatch, the dating service for podcasters. They introduced me to Max Ivey, and I’m so glad they did. I hope you’ve enjoyed our conversation and remember that if you have a podcast or something to share with the world, check out PodMatch at my affiliate link at PodMatch and tell them Lucinda sent you.

Patreon

I’m so passionate about stories that I created the Story-Power podcast and Patreon communities so I’d have an excuse to talk story with other story lovers. If you’re passionate about stories too, and want to talk about what you’ve learned from your favorites, come join me at patreon.com/StoryPower.

Saving the World One Story at a Time, Course on Ûdemy

The world is in such chaos right now that sometimes we need to get a perspective on what’s happening. I designed this course on Ûdemy for people who are looking for a way to get a better understanding about what it means to be a human being. Stories are one great way to walk in the shoes of the characters, connect with them emotionally and learn from their mistakes. Then taking what you have learned and use it in the real world. It’s learning in a fun way! If that sounds like something you’d be interested in, I hope to see you in class.

Emotional Training

Heart Connection (by Alisa Looney)

This post contains affiliate links.

It’s my contention, after being a public school and college instructor, that the emphasis on education in the U.S. is all about expanding student’s minds and making sure their physical bodies are strong. However, there is very little education about how to manage emotions as evidenced by bullying and other public school drama that goes on.

I’d very much like to see a resurgence of support for the arts and humanities in all our educational institutions. The arts and even the study of history, cultures, and religions, are about the exploration and affects of human emotions on what was and is going on out in the wider world. I mean, on a macro level, if Adolph Hitler had had a different upbringing and could manage his paranoia, would he have tried to conquer the world? On the micro level, would we be able to understand that when our boss yells at us, it might be because of something going on at home? If we can figure that out, then we can go home we won’t yell at our family members in turn.

Emotions are like dominoes because we’re magnets, to one degree or another, for the emotions of others. Unfortunately our culture doesn’t make room for expressing big emotions in public. Even big displays of joy make people uncomfortable. So what we do is apologize for our individual laughter or tears. Those kinds of emotions are okay when it’s a communal experience like when watching a funny or sad movie with other people or when we’re in church, but it’s almost always taboo when something makes us happy or cry when no one else is feeling it.

So, how do we fix this situation? One answer is simple, consume as many stories as you can and try to understand all the emotional stuff that the characters are going through. That’s one great thing about novels. We get to hear the character’s inner dialogues. We get to see where their prejudices or conditioned responses from past experiences trip them up, which makes it so satisfying when they realize their mistakes. But you can’t stop there. You have to compare yourself to the characters to see if you can relate to anything they are going through.

Using stories as personal growth tools, is one of the reasons I created my podcast Story-Power and Ûdemy course, Saving the World One Story at a Time. I want to help people learn a measure of emotional intelligence, which is the ability to manage our emotions. I mean you could go for therapy to learn emotional intelligence, and sometimes that’s the best course of action when you’ve gone through something extreme. But identifying with characters with similar problems to yours is one way to take a step back to see how they handle their troubles. And then possibly emulate them.

I’m writing this post because of all the world wide turmoil going on right now, and because of some stressful things going on in my extended family. Emotions are running high in lots of different sectors of the world. If we can’t manage our fear, sorrow, cynicism, and even hatred, the human race could be in big trouble. 

I have faith, though, that even though things look bad right now, I believe that there are lots of people who are taking a step back and examining how what’s going on in the world is affecting them. They’re taking time to examine their emotions. That’s a really good thing.

Welcome to my new followers. Thanks for joining us here. I hope all of you who follow are doing well.

Blessings,

Lucinda Sage-Midgorden © 2023

The Space Between Time

Lucinda is the author of The Space Between Time, an award finalist in the “Fiction: Fantasy” category of the 2017 Best Book Awards.

Have you ever experienced life shattering events? Yeah, after the last few years, most of us have. In The Space Between Time, Jenna Holden gets slammed by her fiancé walking out, her mother’s untimely death, and losing her job all in one week. But she receives unexpected help when she finds her three-times great-grandmother’s journals and begins the adventure of a lifetime.

The Space Between Time is available in all ebook formats at Smashwords and for Kindle at Amazon, or you can find the ebook at iBooks or Barnes and Noble. If you prefer a physical copy, you can find a print-on-demand version at Amazon. Stay tuned for news when the audiobook version is published.

Lucinda is also the host of Story-Power a podcast where she and her guests discuss their creative endeavors, and/or the stories that have changed their lives. It’s available here on Sage Woman Chronicles and on Apple, Google, and Spotify podcast apps. Please rate and leave a review. It helps people find me

Patreon

I’m so passionate about stories that I created the Story-Power podcast and Patreon communities so I’d have an excuse to talk story with other story lovers. If you’re passionate about stories too, and want to talk about what you’ve learned from your favorites, come join me at patreon.com/StoryPower.

Saving the World One Story at a Time

The world is in such chaos right now that sometimes we need to get a perspective on what’s happening. I designed this course on Ûdemy for people who are looking for a way to get a better understanding about what we’re going through, and what it means to be a human being. Stories are one great way to walk in the shoes of the characters, connect with them emotionally for a short time but not have to live there. Not to mention it’s a pleasant way to learn. If that sounds like something you’d be interested in, I hope to see you in class.

PodMatch

If you are a podcaster, or have a message or fantastic product you want to share with the world, I encourage you to check out PodMatch. Use the affiliate link and tell them, Lucinda sent you. Then contact me so we can set up a Story-Power chat.