Be Radically Creative!

Worried that the "good" ideas will dry up with the Merlot is you quit?
Think again.

Be Radically Creative

WB xx

Side Effects.

I love those commercial from Big Pharma that show wonderful new 'cures' and then list all the things that can go wrong - including irregular bowel movement. EVERYTHING seems to affect bowel movements

Side Effects

WB xx

Why Don't You?...... Recharge Your Batteries...

I gt it. Winter is all about Carbs and the Couch.....but there must be a better way to navigate this season and protect our sobriety..

Why Don't You? Recharge Your Batteries.

WB x

I'm Sober, Now What?

Where does the path lead now?

I'm Sober, Now What?

WB xx

The Opposite of Addiction...

Turns out that the answer is very simple...

The Opposite of Addiction, 

WB xx

The Best Ideas were at the Bottom of the Bottle.......

........but unfortunately, I could never remember them......

It's another fallacy that we cling on to to rationalize our drinking.....it makes us more creative!

A kind of "Boozey Muse"

Ernest Hemingway, a famous Drunk and Author. Or a famous Author and a Drunk (depends on your perspective) is quoted often as saying " Write Drunk and Edit Sober"

He never actually said this, and according to his daughter, NEVER wrote while he was drunk. Apparently, he rose early, wrote in a very disciplined fashion for hours every morning, and then headed off to get shitfaced in the afternoon.

Being creative (as anyone who creates will tell you) requires dedication and perseverance. In fact the old adage "10% inspiration and 90% perspiration" does actually apply.

Of course, if you drink lots (like I used to) and always wanted to be creative (like I do), then the tendency is to cling on to the "Tortured Addict Artist" stereotype, as it serves you well.

And if you don't identify with Ernest Hemingway, there's a whole bunch to chose from... Hunter S Thompson, Dorothy Parker, Raymond Chandler, Dylan Thomas, Truman Capote.... the list of revered drunkard writers is seemingly endless......who must have created their best work under the influence....surely?

It's as ridiculous as saying "I drive much better after I've had a few......"

When I drank lots of wine, I truly believed (regularly) that I stumbled on the plot of a bestseller, invented ingenious products, and had grandiose business schemes........all fading away - if I even remembered them - in the wake of next morning's hangover.

This is my 97th blog posting. Approximately 50,000 words, the length of a short novel. I've also written about 40 business blogs, and several E-books for my business, nothing to set the literary world on fire - not even a spark - but a approximately 50,000 words, 40 business blogs and several E-books MORE than I ever wrote when I was drinking.

And those fabulous ideas? The ones at the bottom of the bottle?

I remember some with embarrassment, especially if they were accompanied by drunk declarations by text or on social media......all faintly ridiculous...

I don't wait around for inspiration to strike, I just write - even when I don't feel like it. I didn't feel much like typing away tonight, but something compelled me to sit down, and this blog came together as I started to type. It was inspired by the Hemingway quote (above) that I saw on Facebook this morning, and it just stayed with me, until I started to write....


The Boozy Muse was no more than the Wine Witch in disguise.

Day 48 - A Creative Whizz? Me?

I do not have a creative bone in my body.

That has been my stance for the whole of my life.

I was not good at Art in school, or domestic science (but seriously, who IS good at this and who cares?), or woodwork (co-ed school), metal work (really? welding?) and Horticulture was a fancy word for chain gangs of truants clearing the wasteland behind the bike sheds.

I was, however, good at English Lit and I announced to my parents that I loved writing and was going to be a journalist ( I secretly wanted to be a novelist, but journalist sounded like something I could get paid for, and therefore my middle class parents would approve).

I won't bore you with descriptions of the raised voices and slamming doors, but my first job was with Lloyds Bank, and when that totally sucked the soul out of me, I became an accountant, and it was the day that creativity finally died. For me.

So I told myself that I was "analytical" rather than "creative" and I have avoided all contact with creative activities and fluffy, airhead creative types until now.

I find myself married in to a family of artists - how the hell did that happen? (misrepresentation - that's how!).

And one of these creative types was looking at my serious analytical online business and remarked that I might get a few more clients if my advertising was a bit more "colourful". Whaaatt?

The only colour decision that I have concerned myself with  recently is... "red or white wine?' so this was a completely alien concept, but I did concede that my website, my facebook page and just about everything with my business was drab and uninspiring.

So, I did something that was unthinkable about 50 days ago - I set out to learn something new.

I signed on to a free live webinar, hosted by a lovely lady in the UK who runs The Business Beautician , and got out of bed at 5.00am in the morning to attend.

What a revelation! Firstly that I can actually get out of bed at 5.00am in the morning (impossible in the non sober days), and secondly..... I learned LOTS and LOTS - how to design my own stuff, how to brighten up E-books, make eye catching advertisments...

I spent the whole of yesterday completely absorbed - it's been so long since I was so engrossed in a project that I totally forgot the time.

I posted (nervously) a couple of my creations in my online business group. "Wow", posted one lovely lady "You are a creative whiz!"