Shiny

Christine Claire Reed is one of my Creative Juicy Cohorts that will be teaching Writing Your Shiniest Story as part of the Creative Dig Workshop on Saturday, September 26th at Terra Vista Studio in Cleveland, Ohio. I thought it would be super fun to have a little interview with her….she completely wow’d me with her thoughtful and juicy answers!!!

Name: Christine Claire Reed, aka The Blisschick
Blog: http://www.blisschick.net
Twitter: @TheBlisschick (make sure you include the “THE!” there’s another blisschick out there — whatevs!)
Life’s Work: Writing & Moving & Being Honest

Q. What part of Creative Dig workshop will you be teaching?

A. I’m teaching Writing Your Shiniest Story. I’ve done tons of teaching creative writing to adults in nontraditional settings so this is my shtick. I find that they come wanting to write “complete” stories and novels, but what I end up teaching them is how they have to excavate through their own stuff first — before they could ever begin to write anything that is truthful. Whether nonfiction or fiction, there is still truth involved, and if you don’t know who YOU are, you will never understand a created character. Excavating your own story will help you in whatever creative medium you want to end up eventually “working,” because of this insistence on authenticity through words. To get articulate about this is to get clear about your larger life.

Q. If I am a person who has never taken Yoga or is brand new to the practice, can I still register for Creative Dig and not feel lost in your workshop?

A. OH, MY…most definitely. The type of yoga we’ll be using is of the “if you can breathe, you can do this” school. No circus freak contortions allowed. Utilizing yoga in the workshop is meant to be a means of “priming the well,” getting the energy moving. Writing is so in the head that I find there is need for this sort of balance. In other arts, you are more fully using your body to engage with the materials so physicality is already there. But with writing — moving your pen just doesn’t count!

Q. How has Yoga impacted your Creativity?

A. Let’s start here: books saved my life. Reading saved me. I could crawl into books and be safe, and later, I could expel all my crap into my journals. So, for most of my life, I have lived so in my head that I would tell people “you could cut off my body and my head wouldn’t even notice!” Yoga put me back into ME. It keeps my head connected to my heart. To say it impacts my creativity is just a small part of it. It has made me into The Blisschick. Without yoga, I wouldn’t be here. I would be holed up somewhere, still hiding from the world, afraid that it really was the scary place I was taught it was. I was so stuck in my head that I had over-intellectualized even my spirit, coming eventually to a dark and cynical atheism that is NOT at all what my essential nature craves. I am a person of faith, first and foremost, and yoga allowed me to get back to her.

Q. What is the most exciting aspect of being a part of Creative Dig workshop for you?

A. Right before Connie asked me to get involved in this workshop, I had just decided that it was time for me to step out, to take the Blisschick on the road. So when she/you emailed, I knew there were large, universal forces at work. You know, Jedi stuff! 🙂 I am totally geeked to get back out there and interact with other people who are trying so hard to access these deeper, more joyful, more real parts of themselves. These are people who will change the world! They are the creative agents, and any part I can play in nurturing that change is pure joy to me.

Q. When Creative Dig is all over, what do you hope the Artists that participated will have learned about themselves and their creativity by taking this workshop?

A. I hope they take an exuberance and a vivaciousness back into their lives. They will act like little pebbles in the pond, rippling out their new found ZEST. Really, I want people to come to know themselves better so that they might more clearly see and manifest their dream lives. I want people to leave this workshop knowing the value of honesty — even when it hurts, it is SO good for us. I want them, too, to see the value of just getting into and doing the work. I want them to leave with some tools, ya know? Tools that they can use daily.

Q. Last, I have to ask: What makes your life Creative?

A. What an incredibly difficult question. I mean, I am HUMAN — that’s what makes my life creative. I am responsible for creating this life. And if I don’t like it, that’s my own fault, it’s my responsibility to change it. So I am what makes my life creative. And I challenge myself every day, push an edge here, another edge there. Like a friend just said to me, though, you don’t have to do it all at once; little steps are still steps.

Q. What makes your life Juicy?

A. Juicy — now that is easier! — Marcy and our animals and this small house, which we call the Lilypad. The security of this place allows us to be really juicy in our hearts and minds. Writing and interacting with other writers and creatives. Yoga. Dancing. Glitter. Pink (the color!). Color in general. I am a color JUNKY! My new Moleskine notebooks that are filled with ideas for the future. THAT is some Juicy Juice, let me tell you! Also, though, quiet. Without quiet and solitude, there would be NO JUICE at all! Oh! And science fiction and wine and dreams of Paris and great yoga clothes that make me feel all Audrey Hepburn chic and pink striped hair and good food and friends who support me and us and our dreams and did I mention shiny things…

For more details and to register for the Creative Dig Workshop please visit HERE.

Peace & Love.