Creativity and Adventurous Spirits

Living isn’t about technical skill, it’s about creativity:  to take risks – to face the unknown – and to linger a moment in the dream.

I am currently buried in a chaos of drawing paper, pencils, eraser dust and a zillion ideas floating through my personal space. My pencil is flying, my light box is glowing. I forgot how heavenly it is to be fully absorbed in creativity.

Here are some of the things I’ve been working on:

"'Streaming by the River " - Book version and colored version

"Airstream Heaven" - Book version and colored version

These are likely candidates for my next creative coloring book: Vintage Gypsies. The pure excitement comes from the fact that I rarely know what will manifest. Often, I have an idea that gets me started, but the final outcome usually takes on a life of its own. That’s the way it is with creativity.

All of life should be like that too. You might start with an idea, but once you take your first step it takes on a life of its own. Resist the urge to stay with ‘the plan’ just for the sake of staying with the plan. Go with the possibilities as often as you can, for that is where your juicy creativity is.

Ask yourself “What if?” as often as you can – Oh the places you’ll go…….

And don't forget - everyone who subscribes to this blog will periodically receive free pages for you to color YOUR way, (plus other goodies as my creativity allows lol). Just look for the sign-up box at the top of the right hand column.

SHAMELESS BRIBERY

Gypsy Dancer by Zan Packard

How do you like the new Blog banner? Kinda says it all about me....creative, adventure seeking Airstreamer, right?

Greetings to all!!! You can see that I am back into drawing and coloring mode. I’m very happy to announce that my very first coloring book for grown-ups, The MindfulJourney, is on its way to making many, many Mothers (and Grandmothers too) very happy next Sunday.

I have started on my next book which, as most of you can guess, is about the gypsy lifestyle a la Airstream living. Yes, my vintage ’ ‘Stream will be delivered in less than 2 weeks and dreams of renovation as well as lifestyle are in high gear right now.

So what’s my shameless bribery? Weeeeell, I am working on getting a publishing deal, and to do this, I need a larger readership of this blog. So my offer to you is this: Everyone who signs up for email alerts (and that includes current loyal subscribers), will periodically  receive private emails of PDF coloring pages, special book pricing, and the chapters of my next book: The Other Side of Wild – which focuses on my personal journey from stuck to Gypsy. 

Sound good to you? Just add your email address in the box in the upper right column, activate your subscription when you are prompted to in a separate email from Feedburner and you’re in!! Nothing more to do than sit back an wait for your goodies to be delivered to you. (Seriously, wouldn't it be fun to get your very own (uncolored) coloring page of Gypsy Dancer?  How would you embellish it?).

And if you’re worried about being inundated with emails, don’t be….I’m way too busy to bother you without good reason. Currently I am planning on publishing new posts every Saturday. Each post will focus on one of several topics: Airstreams, Adventure and Creativity….all designed to inform and entertain you. And if you know my posts, you know most of them are short and sweet.

BUT YOU DON’T WANT TO MISS OUT, 

SUBSCRIBE NOW!!!!

Please join me. You can be a HUGE part of my success just by subscribing to this blog - how easy is that?…Come Color, Adventure and Create with me!!! See you next weekend :-)

Organic-Vintage Gypsy-Adventure Loving Life Ahead

OKAY, I’ve never been much of a vegetable gardener - that’s what farmer’s markets are for, right?  But I find myself  researching organic gardening these days. Mostly for health reasons, but I can feel some primal call to the wild that makes me dream of plucking herbs and vegetables for my simple meals.

Nothing wrong with that, of course, except that this is coming on the Eve of my Airstream Adventure Days – seems a bit incongruous now doesn't it? But I accept that I love a good challenge, so I’ll just have to figure out a way to grow light and grow vertical.

There must be a way, and that is just one of the pieces of this gypsy-life puzzle that I am looking forward to solving. 

PS, if you have a suggestion or a solution I would love to hear about it. I’m soaking up a whole new life and loving the adventure. 

AIRSTREAM WANTED

I’ve been doing so much exciting research and planning for my Airstream that it’s sometimes hard for me to remember (ahem) that I don’t have one yet. The first thing I do every morning – even before coffee!! -  is to check all the Craigslist posts from San Diego to Seattle, then I check eBay, then I grab a cup of coffee and cruise around the internet to see what others have done to renovate their personal Airstream pride and joy.

I love getting ideas from the creativity of others, don’t you? But I have to admit, right now the biggest issue I have is the dichotomy of  my intellectual love of serene, slick, simplicity….

Airstream sleek and serene

and my purely gut attraction to the bohemian. I trust simplicity (it doesn’t take much emotional energy, does it?)…bohemian, on the other hand, is more quirky, more flashy and more primal - and that speaks to a part of me that rarely gets heard.

Airstream Bohemian Gypsy

One thing I know for sure – my imagination sees my Airstream in the middle of a field a-la-gypsy-caravan….and that shouldn’t be denied much longer.

Decor, after all, is just stuff and stuff can always come and go. An adventurous, passionate attitude, on the other hand is far more intoxicating….who knows, maybe I’ll find a way to marry my two opposite sides into one quirky-yet-simple gypsy Zan who follows the call of her own Wild.

Damn You GPS

Is it just me or does Madame GPS sound like she's NEVER made a wrong turn?

Today's Creation

You are infinitely powerful

You are full of life

You have unexplored depths

Like the tides, you have a natural ebb and flow

You are Source . . .

The Only Adventure that Matters

Adventure isn’t so much about what you do or where you are going, adventure is about the attitude you bring to the everyday with.

Attitude

Eight little letters that can change your world . . .

Adventure is an attitude of joy and willingness to seek the unknown with confidence that whatever happens can be handled. To embrace and stay focused on the journey yet be willing to let go and change directions as needed; To question status quo and seek alternate perspectives; To risk being wrong; To view failure as a beginning and not an end.

An adventurous mind seeks, questions and is willing to go where it has never gone before – so I constantly ask myself – “where is my discomfort?”, because that is usually my next step. If you ask yourself the same question, where you will go next ?  

PS – it’s perfectly O.K. to recognize where you need to go next and not take action. Sometimes it needs to percolate with your other thoughts for a while.