Astounding Stories of Love and Creativity

Astounding Stories of Love and Creativity:

Love can fuel creativity for so many reasons, creativity may appear because of wanting to impress someone or simply because you want to express the emotions running through your life. When in love and all the things around you can be a source of inspiration, from the food you eat to the things you rarely notice, clearly a new sense of awareness will appear that will help you achieve the best you want. Through the course of history many artists have created great artworks because of love.

Image by: Billy Alexander

POSITIVE EFFECT ON CREATIVITY

We are talking about romantic and familial love.

• Heightened sense of awareness, makes you feel active and you always want to do something for the world to see.
• The sense of wanting to inspire others too, the feeling that everything will be just fine.
• You feel awesome, and when you feel awesome you do awesome things!
• Love alters our thoughts

Do an experiment, when you feel bad or any negative thoughts cloud your thinking try wrapping a gift with fancy gift wrappers. Can you? But when you’re in love, in a very good mood, your thought process is so diverse that instead of using a cheap wrapper you may even create your own wrapper just to make people feel loved.

Image by: Michaela Kobyakov

In Japan, during Valentine’s Day, women give chocolates to men who they adore. But it’s not the type of chocolate we gentlemen give to them. What Japanese women usually do is cook and design their own chocolates, trying to make it look best for their man. Isn’t that sweet?

Of course you shouldn’t just believe in everything people say, many get their heart broken for believing in everything that is said. Below are examples of how love gave birth to the most creative things we now see today. If you know things like these please feel free to comment and I’ll add them on our list!

PROOF #1: THE TAJ MAHAL

For those who do not know, Taj Mahal is a tomb for Shah Jahan‘s wife. It took around 23 years to finish this marvelous construction, now famous all over the globe. It is said that Shah Jahan hid himself from the public because of his grief.

Incidentally, the Filipino term for Love is Mahal.

Image by: Vivek Chugh

PROOF #2: NYGIRLOFMYDREAMS.COM

Believe it or not love at first sight indeed works, it will turn every nook and cranny of not only your home but of an entire metropolis just to find that woman in the train station. I’m talking about a man who creatively asked the whole of New York to help him find the woman of his dreams whose name and phone number he was not able to get. How many millions of people are there in New York? Through creative and flashy thinking he asked millions through his website. It didn’t took long for someone to find the woman of his dreams, and they dated.

When I was in college I attended a conference about how to properly dress for a company interview for fresh graduates. There were two guest speakers and one of them was this pretty lady whose topic is about how to impress. She began her talk by asking “do you believe in love at first sight?” an acquaintance of mine wittily shouted from the back rows “just now!” and the guest speaker blushed. Just sharing. *laughs*

PROOF #3: SHAKESPEARE

If you know someone named Romeo chances are you have already asked him “where’s Juliet?”. Romeo and Juliet, the most famous love story which has been repeated throughout various theaters, never fails to make us realize how love can boost our powers or can make us off-guard.

On Shakespeare’s sonnets, it doesn’t really matter if you do or do not understand them in one sitting, what matters is you can’t write one if you’re not in an extremely good mood: in love.

Image by: Ralu Home

PROOF #4: SAMSTONES

“Sam was a boy who loved and played for 14 years in Richmond, Vermont. SamStones are made with love by Sam’s friends and family. Our intent with these stones is to pass on some of that love. If you have found a SamStone please feel free to keep it, move it or pass it on. We hope that you will pause and feel the love that is being passed on to you.”

Passing love to people through stones is something I will surely do. That’s why I have 9, one already placed on a perfect spot . Got them at SamStones.org. Spread SamLove through SamStones!

Another thing that you can benefit from love is that you actually can see things in a different manner, you will have a different reality. People who are in love can fearlessly express themselves, and that entails expressing it in every media possible.

It is easy to notice when people are in love (or those who feel loved) based on the way they speak, walk, move, and changes in their crafts too. If you are one of the fortunate people who have been, and are still, in love, don’t you notice how bright things are? Suddenly you see things in a brighter way, like there’s a flashlight/torch on your eyes and everything you look at becomes vivid. In relation to designing, designers who know this feeling are usually the ones who make people spell wow on their faces, these are the designers who craft super cool arts that even the audience can feel the emotions involved in the creation of the art.

Christmas Love

From Sworn to Secrecy:

Each December, I vowed to make Christmas a calm and peaceful  experience. I had cut back on nonessential obligations — extensive card writing,  endless baking, decorating, and even overspending. Yet still, I found myself exhausted,unable to appreciate the precious family moments, and of course, the true meaning of Christmas.

  
 My son, Nicholas, was in kindergarten that year. It was an exciting season
 for a six-year-old. For weeks, he’d been memorizing songs for his school’s “Winter Pageant.”
  
 I didn’t have the heart to tell him I’d be working the night of the production. 
 Unwilling to miss his shining moment, I spoke with his teacher. She assured
 me there’d be a dress rehearsal the morning of the presentation. All parents
 unable to attend that evening were welcome to come then. Fortunately, Nicholas
 seemed happy with the compromise.
 

So, the morning of the dress rehearsal, I filed in ten minutes early, found a spot on the cafeteria floor and sat down. Around the room, I saw several other parents quietly scampering to their seats. As I waited, the students were led into the room. Each class, accompanied by their teacher, sat cross-legged on the floor. Then, each group, one by one, rose to perform their song.
 

Because the public school system had long stopped referring to the holiday
as Christmas,” I didn’t expect anything other than fun, commercial entertainment - songs of reindeer, Santa Claus, snowflakes and good cheer. So, when my son’s class rose to sing, “Christmas Love,” I was slightly taken aback by its bold title. Nicholas was aglow, as were all of his classmates, adorned in fuzzy mittens,red sweaters, and bright snowcaps upon their heads. Those in the front row-center stage — held up large letters, one by one, to spell out the title of the song.  As the class would sing “C is for Christmas,” a child would hold up the letter C. Then, “H is for Happy,” and on and on, until each child holding up hisportion had presented the complete message, “Christmas Love.”

The performance was going smoothly, until suddenly, we noticed her; a small, quiet, girl in the front row holding the letter “M” upside down — totally unaware her letter “M” appeared as a “W.”  The audience of 1st through 6th graders snickered at this little one’s mistake.  But she had no idea they were laughing at her,so she stood tall, proudly holding her “W.” Although many teachers tried to shush the children, the laughter continued until the last letter was raised, and we all saw it together. A hush came over the audience and eyes began to widen. In that instant, we understood the reason we were there, why we celebrated the holiday in the first place,
why even in the chaos, there was a purpose for our festivities. 

For when the last letter was held high, the message read loud and clear:

“C H R I S T W A S L O V E” 

And, I believe, He still is.

Amazed in His presence…
Humbled by His love.

May each of you have a Merry Christmas as you reflect on His Amazing Love for us…

Have a blessed day!   Happy Birthday, Jesus !!!!!!

Love Don't Cost a Thing

The following post was written by Lindsay at the wonderful blog, Confessions of a Love Addict:

For whatever reason, since the time I was a little girl, I’ve had a knack for people giving me things for free. In fact, my mom always says “People are drawn to you and want to give you whatever you want. You’re the Queen of Free!”

Maybe that’s true, or maybe I’m just lucky? Nevertheless, growing up, I’d walk into a store with my family and some employee or owner would hand me a stuffed animal, just because. As I got older, I was freely awarded with half-off dinner for no reason, free goods, and of course, once I was legal – free drinks.

And, being a journalist – I’m constantly sent different items to review for coverage. From high-end beauty products and at-home soda making machines to office supplies and my personal favorite – attendance at some expensive, snazzy events that I wouldn’t be able to go to otherwise, one of the reasons we accept being severely underpaid is for the perks.

Recently, to celebrate my royalties, a new great friend of mine, C, and I went to a fundraiser benefit for an animal shelter. Their marketing was excellent: free booze and puppies to greet you at the door. I mean, what woman couldn’t say no to that? (Or man for the matter?)

We arrive in the meatpacking district, decked out in heels and sparkle – and to our incredible surprise, we ordered a glass of Merlot and within seconds, an adorable puppy was in our hands. Needless to say, we were both in alcohol andadorable- induced heaven.

An hour later when the puppies reached their bedtime, they cranked up themusic, and introduced a dance floor for the rest of the four-hour open bar. C and I did our rounds around the club, chatted with men from all over the world – which included South Africa, Detroit, Spain, and Rochester. We danced the night away with an array of talented dudes, including someone I’d like to call Mr. Moves, who while is far from my type, was thoroughly entertaining for the evening. We snapped pictures that even landed on a local New York website and consumed just enough wine to keep us warm and giggly.

As the evening came to a close, around two in the morning, we hobbled out of the club into the cold rain – and as expected, I sniffed some great smelling food coming from a food vendor and I managed to get a group of guys to buy both C and I munchies before we caught the train home. I believe we blew them a kiss as we disappeared into the New York night.

On the way back to my apartment, where my bed was calling my name (and a lovely air mattress for C) – I found myself singing on the train, happily satisfied with the evening I had, and more than ready to have an easy night’s rest.

The next day, after C and I laughed endlessly about the fun event, recounted stories, and appropriately downed orange juice and Advil – I thought about howso much of what I love the most…is free.

Sure, I may be given tangible things, like tickets to events, products, and food – but nothing compares to shakin’ it with a good friend or being able to laugh like little girls into the night because the Merlot made you feel merry. Or the feeling when I’m walking through the city, knowing that a moment’s notice – I could be in Rockefeller Center, Times Square, Central Park, the West Village, or Soho.

And admittedly, when Mr. Possibility kisses the side of my head as we walk (not hand-in-hand) through little shops and pop-up craft fairs. Even though we desire it so much, hope that it is meant for us, and feel like it cost us everything if we lose it – J.Lo is right, love don’t cost a thing. Not just romantically-inclined love, but the love you have between girlfriends, between your family members, between your city and yourself. And though we worry about giving our love away freely – there is no other way to present it.

While receiving goodies for free always makes my day (having a package in front of my door still excites me like a child) – what makes it even more is feeling that immense love in my soul. Feeling my heart swell up with so much cheerfulness, so much thanksgiving, so much wonder – that no material thing on this Earth could compare.

Being the Queen of Free is fine by me, but I think I’d rather call myself the Queen of Love, who has the freedom to love everything around her, man or no man, Dior or no Dior – and still be absolutely happy.