Bright Sparks: Creative Practices to Light Your Way

Do you often feel we don't have enough time for your art, whatever your art form is? If you use the power of cross-training, your practice time and inspiration soar! All without spending an extra minute of time or ounce of worry 🙂

Learn how to use cross-training in today's Bright Knowledge Instant from Sofia, Bulgaria (I'm cross-training right now!)

Hi, this is Diana. Bright knowledge instants give you one thing you can do today to move your creativity ahead. And today I'm in Sofia, Bulgaria. Sofia is one of my favorite places to be. This is where I got my PhD in music. And it's Bulgarian music that inspired me to learn harp in the first place. When I'm traveling, I consider it a form of cross training, and that's what I want to speak about with you today.

We oftentimes feel like we don't have enough time for our art form. So what if we started using the other things that we're doing in our lives as well to help our art form? When I am traveling, I get a lot of inspiration from my a...

We’ve been focusing on decluttering so that you have more space for your creativity. Today we take it to the ultimate decluttering! How guilt-free breaks support your learning, memorization and artfulness.

Hi, this is Diana. Bright knowledge instants give you one thing you can do today to move your creativity ahead. And today I want to give a quite unusual recommendation. I want to recommend that you take a break and you take a break without guilt. Why is taking a break any good for your creativity? Well, there are four things that I can think of right off the top of my head, and I'm sure you can think of more.

There are great benefits in taking a break. Number one, as my friend Shoshana pointed out, you regain beginner's mind. And this is huge. As creatives, we need to be in touch with beginner's mind all the time, because as Suzuki said, in the mind of the expert, there are few possibilities. In the mind of a beginner, there are many. So when we are in beginner's mind, we are muc...

Last week’s BKI 24 was my favorite space decluttering tip, giving your creativity room to grow. Now let’s learn how to declutter your art so that it becomes even more powerful! We’ve been having a fascinating conversation within BK Harp Circle about “less is more.” It’s amazing: by simplifying our art (removing busyness), we GAIN so much:

• more expression

• better technique

• more room for experimentation

• more room for connection/communication

• more space to listen • more mental space to think

• more peace

• more joy!

Why simplicity is sophisticated When you pare back to essentials, you reach the essence of what you want to say. As creatives, clearly delivering our message (whatever our art form) is beautiful. Simplicity is no compromise; instead, it is profound.

Hi, this is Diana. Bright Knowledge Instants give you one thing that you can do today to move your creativity ahead. Last time, we talked in bright knowledge instant 24 about decluttering and how declutt...

Let’s start our New Creative Year with a fresh creative space! In the Northern Hemisphere we’re in Harvest season, the perfect time ​to make space for the creative bounty waiting to pour out of you. In the ​Southern Hemisphere it’s Spring - think of this as creative spring cleaning time!

While the notion of creativity = messiness is common, de-cluttering actually makes space for your creativity by:

• reducing distractions, so you can focus more

• removing obstacles, so you can progress with ease

• opening your space to new energy flow, new ideas, new inspiration!

• making your space inviting and attractive, meaning you’ll want to be there more often

Decluttering with Joy Tidying up sure doesn’t sound like the most exciting way to spend time. But try this method: I believe you’ll find it a revelation!

(Bonus: it works for your entire house)

Hi, this is Diana Bright Knowledge Instance give you one thing that you can do today to move your creativity ahead. Today I want to...

As creatives, we can always start again, at any point. Let’s think of September as a new creative year for each of us! And there’s no better place to start than YOUR most pressing issues: Please share: What are YOUR big creativity questions right now? Perhaps you’re stuck in a rut and need a jumpstart? Maybe you’re feeling inspired yet struggle to stay disciplined? Are fears diminishing your joy in being creative and sharing your vision? Whatever your challenge, know we’ve all experienced similar things: we want to hear from you. Here’s the beauty: in facing our challenges courageously (with heart, not judgment) we grow! Challenges tell us exactly where to focus our energies next. What would it feel like to reframe challenges as allies? How would “mis-takes” look in this light? Growing together: share YOUR current creativity challenges via email/in the comments.

Hi, this is Diana. And over the past few weeks we've been doing a type of review, sort of getting ready for back to school...

Being creative is a brave act. It feels vulnerable to be creative, to express yourself fully in this world. So it’s crucial to support our creativity with confidence. A major part of confidence is Resilience: the ability to bounce back from life’s inevitable ups and downs. Can we cultivate Resilience, or are some people just born with ‘grit’ while others aren’t? Good news: Resilience is a skill that you can grow! Grow your confidence and Resilience daily, using the tip in this video.

Hi, this is Diana. Bright knowledge instants give you one thing you can do today to move your creativity ahead. And today I'd like to talk about building resilience. And as artists, we need resilience. You know, we're sensitive souls, and as we create and put ever more genuine work out there, it is a vulnerable place to be. And so we want to consciously build resilience. And it can be done.

And how it can be done is not no pain, no gain. It's actually by logging your positive experiences, by having a ...

Being kind is a beautiful human quality. Did you know being kind also encourages your creativity?

Grow your creativity with this small act of kindness today.

Hi, this is Diana. And Bright Knowledge instants give you one thing you can do today to move your creativity ahead. Today I'd like to talk about kindness. By inhabiting a space of kindness, we get to inhabit heart energy. We feel good about ourselves, we feel good about the world. When we do a random act of kindness, this helps us feel the world is a safe place and we want to feel safe in order to create.

It's actually very hard to create if we feel shaken to our core, if we feel insecure. On Maslow's hierarchy of needs, for example, having safety, physical safety is such a crucial thing to build all the other pillars of life, all the other layers of life, without having this sense of safety, then it's very hard to reach those higher levels. So by cultivating acts of kindness, you create an environment of safety.

And what I...

One of the main desires we have as creatives is expressing our true voice. Our ‘voice’ is the authentic expression of our deepest selves.

Finding your voice in the first place may seem like a long or advanced process. Not so! The clues to your unique style surround you at this very moment.

Uncover the clues to your authentic voice.

Hi, this is Diana. And Bright Knowledge instants give you one thing you can do today to move your creativity ahead. And today I want to talk about finding your style. When we talk about finding our voice, which is a very common thing in music, in writing, finding your style of painting, your style of dancing, whatever word we use for finding that essential essence of yourself, it can seem kind of elusive how to actually find your voice.

Here's the thing. There are so many clues out there already right now for you. And those clues are, what are you attracted to? What do you love? As you notice what you love, those things together make your style. So f...

Feel like adding some July juice to your Practice?

Today's super-short Instant (just over 1 min!) gives you the small yet mighty tip that sets you up for focused and joyful Practice.

Meaning, you can learn better PLUS feel more creatively inspired, all leading to greater motivation long term!

Enjoying these tips to advance your learning?

These tips all come from the Bright Way System I developed over decades of teaching, performing and researching. Bright Way Harp Circle teaches you the proven System for how to learn better, faster, deeper.

Learn to be your best teacher! Whatever your level, genre or style of harp, building the core skill of learning is key to progress and confidence.

Hi, this is Diana. Bright Knowledge Instants give you one thing you can do today to move your creativity ahead. And today I would like to speak about gratitude to you. When we approach our practice, no matter what art form we have from a space of gratitude, we both learn better and we're more...

Harpist and multi-creative Lisa Cumming shares how recognizing that social learning is her preferred learning style has skyrocketed her creativity, motivation and confidence. Discover how Community can be your primary source of learning and expressing your creativity. Social/Community is a valid learning style, and perhaps the original learning style! Be sure to watch to the end to hear Lisa’s empowering message of how all people can tap back into their creative spark!

Read Full Transcript

Welcome to Bright Way podcast. Thank you. Thanks for having me. And where are you right now? I am in Alberta, Canada. Fantastic. And can you tell us a little bit about your creative journey? Well, my creative journey started in maybe 10 years ago. I was in a therapy class and I did the yoga, which was amazing.

Then I did the writing. I did the art, which I was terrible at, and I'm not being negative. I'm being honest. I did something else, which I can't remember. And they offered Harp. So we got...