Creativity

Ever feel like your thoughts are all competing in a relay race but you never actually manage to hand off the baton from one to the next? Instead you keep dropping the baton and going back to pick up another? This busyness can be caused be an excess of creative ideas, an overly long to-do list, the crush of worry and anxiety about anything and everything or just the sheer flood of information that comes your way every day.

I have found 5 activities centered around creative expression that ca…

At the beginning of the year I started a new livestream series on YouTube called Painting in your PJs with Minette. 3 to 4 mornings a week I make art live and share what I'm thinking about, reading or working on. I frequently work in handmade art journals and I enjoy all kinds of mixed media art, especially intuitive collage.

For the summer I wanted a project that would be simple and sweet and not take hours to complete. I happened to see that Michael's was having a buy one get one 50% off …

About 10 years ago, I got really serious about my creative practice. I started to explore painting and mixed media. I've always been a writer and adding the visual arts to my regular creative practice changed my life.

For the past decade I have been using visual and verbal arts as a means of self-discovery and a powerful tool for personal growth. I've learned so much about myself on this journey. A few years ago I asked myself what might be possible if I put art at the center of my life ins…

Something interesting and predictable tends to happen to women in midlife. You find yourself yearning to reconnect to your creativity. In fact, this longing is so common that it is essential to one of the stages of the Heroine's Journey as described by Maureen Murdock in her popular book The Heroine's Journey: A Woman's Quest for Wholeness. She calls this stage an "urgent yearning to return to the feminine" which includes reconnecting to our desire for authentic creative expression.

While t…

Tapping into my own creativity over the last decade has changed my life in more ways than I can count. It has shifted the focus on my life's work and brought me hours of fun, connection and adventure. Now I have regular daily creative practice that nourishes and sustains me. I call it my MAAP process and I will share more about that in another post. Suffice it to say that I cannot encourage you enough to explore a variety of creative outlets and see what sticks.

Below you will find 7 of my …

Ah, midlife! The time when we women find ourselves at the intersection of wisdom and fine lines. It's a phase that comes with its fair share of challenges, from juggling career and family to contemplating the mysteries of gravity and wrinkle creams. But fear not, my creative friends! In the midst of this delightful chaos, there lies an opportunity to reignite our dreams and rediscover our passion.

First and foremost, let's address the elephant in the room—our ever-evolving bodies. Yes, we m…

This is part 3 of a 3-part series on the 9 essential qualities of a midlife renaissance. You can find part one here and part two here.

The final 3 qualities are vitality, spiritual life and visions and goals.

When you combine all 9 of these qualities and take time to review your level of fulfillment in each area, then you are living a midlife renaissance instead of being caught in a midlife crisis or even worse the icky, soupy messy middle after a crisis and before you have clarity on wh…

In part one of this 3 part series, I shared the first 3 qualities that are essential to a midlife renaissance: creativity, adventure and connection.

Today is July 4 here in the United States, a day to celebrate freedom and independence. I think these are two qualities we are seeking to recover in our midlives and why a renaissance is necessary. Midlife is a period of life, especially post 50 years of age, when many women find themselves seeking reinvention and reconnection to their authenti…

I've been thinking a lot about midlife recently and wondering what would most help others to go from midlife crisis to midlife renaissance. I have come up with 9 essential qualities for a midlife renaissance and will share them over the next few days so there's not one overly long wordy post. I'm wordy enough as it is!

When we feel completely fulfilled in each of these 9 areas of life, we will find ourselves enjoying a midlife renaissance. Below you will find a description of the first thre…

I recently had the opportunity to host a leadership training for a small group of women from a local company. I was asked to come in with some creative and playful ways to look at what it means to be a leader in this company.

One of the topics I always cover is inspired by the brilliant and popular work of psychologist Carol Dweck. She was the first to popularize the idea that people generally tend to have either a growth mindset or a fixed mindset. 

I’ve always prided myself on having a…

I like to think of a midlife renaissance as a coming of age for the mature adult. All of your trials, challenges, gifts and talents have primed you to step into a new role of your choosing.

A midlife renaissance feels like a brilliant sunrise after a long and tranquil night. Just as the sun rises, casting its vibrant hues across the sky, a midlife renaissance represents a period of renewal and awakening. It signifies the emergence of a new chapter in your life, where your passions, desires,…