Planting Seeds As Creative Process

Planting seeds in the creative process is a major responsibility. It is the core essence of any endeavour that involves creation. Every effort is significant and paramount for further steps.

It’s also an act of faith. It’s believing that a small idea that was born in the abstract can turn into a tangible form for the world to use or experience.

However, the process itself is invisible to your eyes. The seeds you plant today will grow at their own pace and in the darkness. Brian Eno, musician, composer, record producer and visual artist, has an invaluable take:

My kind of composing is more like the work of a gardener. The gardener takes his seeds and scatters them, knowing what he is planting but not quite what will grow, where, and when.

Quote taken from improvisedlife.com

Not knowing is the aspect that causes the most uncertainty. This is the part where it’s tempting to abandon a creation and move on to a different endeavour. It’s difficult to continue when conditions are, at first glance, discouraging.

While the seeds metaphor is subject to multiple interpretations, the common denominator is to remind the gardener or the creator that growth will take place sooner or later. Every little step compounds to a result, and the waiting process can be satisfying and joyful.

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20 great things about 2023

A great year is ending. Since 2020, I’ve been posting 20 things that have been making my year wonderful.

I’m really pleased to see that there’s a little bit of everything. This time, even food made it. Whoa. At the end of the day, experiences are what matters most. I’m glad I could capture most of them.

So here’s 20 great things about 2023.

  1. Celebrating my son’s second birthday
  2. Having my mom around for two months
  3. Creating art with my mom
  4. Playing my mom’s favourite childhood game with her
  5. Writing 100 pages of my new book
  6. Having fun in my writing classes and meeting some great and inspiring women.
  7. Seeing Depeche Mode live for the third time in my lifetime.
  8. This specific video from the concert. You can actually hear me scream!
  9. Enjoying Memento Mori, especially My Favourite Stranger and Soul with Me.
  10. Reading Eva Luna by Isabel Allende
  11. Reading Untamed by Glennon Doyle
  12. Getting to know Kurt Kobain through his personal diaries
  13. Trips to the zoo on Sundays
  14. Paul McCartney’s lyrics
  15. Tuna and salmon poke bowl
  16. Janet Jackson’s music
  17. Rediscovering some old songs I’ve always loved: Happy Together, Kiss the Rain, I Can Dream About You, The Hustle, Reasons, Hold Me Now, Don’t You Forget About Me.
  18. Sade’s music. Anything she sings is powerful.
  19. Alicia Keys’ music
  20. Discovering Neo Soul and Nu Urban Jazz.

Producing Your Most Impactful Work

This Instagram post made me thoughtful and nostalgic at the same time:

Why does it feel like that layout made us more productive?

Maybe it’s because it felt more personal and inspiring. There were still a lot of analogue elements to interact with. These days, technology is more minimalist. Plus, work is result oriented and less fun oriented.

What are your thoughts?

Things that made my year – 2022 edition

We’re getting closer and closer to the end of 2022. Where did the time go? Funny how time flies when you’re having fun.

Here’s a list of things that made my year:

  1. Celebrating my son’s first birthday.
  2. Having my mom around for two months and celebrating my son’s birthday with her.
  3. Publishing my debut novella Kaleidoscope Eyes.
  4. This interview about my novella.
  5. Realizing that, as independent author, learning takes place every day, and it’s scary and fun at the same time.
  6. That it’s important to focus on the step in front of me, not the entire staircase.
  7. Learning about Amazon Ads for authors.
  8. Writing #LetrasDesnudas.
  9. Joining Té de Querer for some great writing workshops and making new friends.
  10. Publishing three articles on Excélsior (Mexican newspaper, all available in Spanish): Carta para la niña que se convertirá en mujer, Promesas de hoy para un mañana seguro, and Urge modelo de salud con perspectiva de género.
  11. Discovering the Curious Fox podcast.
  12. Rediscovering The Chase Jarvis Live Show.
  13. A great podcast in Spanish, Hablemos Escritoras.
  14. Joining Good Reads as an author.
  15. Learning that Depeche Mode is releasing an album next year.
  16. Finding joy in writing my newsletter.
  17. Listening to some great artists: Neo Soul, Toni Braxton, Sade, Tom Jobim, The Human League, Spice Girls, and Alicia Keys.
  18. Castella tarts.
  19. Tuna and salmon poke bowls.
  20. Janet Jackson’s album “Control”.
  21. Learning the meaning of surrender.
  22. Tara Brach’s talks and meditations.
  23. Waiting Game by Junior Boys.
  24. Toda Tercafeira by Soul Quality Quartet.
  25. Deciding that my new NFL team is the Seattle Seahawks.

 

Grateful for all the lessons learned. Grateful for the wonderful people who walked with me every step of the way. Grateful for all discoveries. Looking forward to 2023!

Seeking a balanced life: you can’t have it all at once

Thoughts on slowing down have led me to consider the meaning of a balanced life.

What does that exactly mean? It looks different to each one of us.

This poem by Kenneth Koch, though, is a game changer at least for me.

What’s true is of these three you may have two and two can pay you dividends but never may have three. These are the strongest verses in my opinion. It’s a hard pill to swallow, and if you think about it, there’s truth in it. You can’t have it all at the same time.

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Post-pandemic world: readjusting priorities

As days go by, and as we feel that it’s a little safer to go outside, the post-pandemic world brings a few questions to mind. What’s really going to change for us? What if we’re more comfortable in my personal space than in a public one? What if some of us don’t want to return to the office and share a desk with others?

New realities require changes, but every person and every company is going to take a different approach. And that’s fine. However, we’re free to choose our own way according to new priorities.

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Thinking in decades to track our growth

Lately, the idea of thinking in decades has been resonating more than ever. More thoughts have triggered after finding this quote:

Days are long, but decades are short.

I haven’t stopped reflecting on this ever since I read it in this article. I’ve been thinking what it means to me, and if this is going to change the way I live my life.

On the other hand, perception of time also enters the equation. Sometimes, days feel too short, and we wish we had more than 24 hours to do all the things we want to do.

In a different scenario, we wished certain days ended faster. Headaches and other issues that pop up make us beg for less hours so that the struggle goes away. Some days are really difficult.

Time is relative, but it’s one of the resources that doesn’t renovate itself. The way we spend our days determine the things we accomplish in decades.

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20 things that made my 2020 interesting

An unforgettable year is ending. In spite of all the terrible events that took place around the world, I found value in highlighting 20 things that made my 2020 interesting in my personal life.

This exercise gives me a sense of accomplishment, and it’s also a great way to practise self-reflection. From now on, I’ll do it every year to see where my focus has been and celebrate my own efforts.

Here’s the 20 things that made my 2020 interesting:

  1. Reconnecting with myself through therapy. Yes, this was the year I finally realized I needed help to solve issues from the past. The pandemic moved all my emotions and decided to pay attention to what was happening. Fortunately, I’m in a much better place right now.
  2. Knowing that my family has been supporting me throughout this process. I wouldn’t be able to do it without them.
  3. Discovering the orange book on Twitter. This account was quite the discovery in the middle of my personal crisis. Whenever I read this person’s tweets, I always get new ideas and feelings about life. It’s simply that powerful.
  4. The 99u conference. This year, it adapted a digital format and anyone in the world could access it for free. In spite of the circumstances, it was wonderful to gain knowledge in every conference and meet the brilliant speakers who make things happen. My two main takeaways were: an hour of your time can make a difference to nurture your creative self, and noticing the world around you can fortify your creativity.
  5. Writing my first book! I’m taking the self-publishing route and, if everything goes well, I’ll publish it next year. Whoa.
  6. Speaking of self-publishing, my personal journey is allowing me to learn other aspects of writing. The editing process is crucial, and it’s important to invest in it and learn what kind of editing you need.
  7. Rediscovering bossanova music. Every difficult moment got better as soon as I listened to happier and more energetic tunes, such as Magalenha by Segio Mendes.
  8. Music always makes a difference under any circumstance. Here’s a more specific list of songs that defined the sound of 2020 for me.
  9. With strange highs and strange lows, these things helped me find light in times of darkness.
  10. Learning about compound knowledge. It’s a mindset worth adopting, and something tells me it’ll define how 2021 will unfold for me.
  11. Watching Sailor Moon with the same enthusiasm as my six-year-old self.
  12. Joining Tim’s listening party on Twitter when A Certain Ratio was featured. I missed the one with Friendly Fires, though.
  13. Speaking of Friendly Fires, “Sleeptalking” is one of their most perfect songs.
  14. In terms of music albums released in 2020, Petals for Armor by Hayley Williams and Freeze/Melt by Cut Copy were outstanding.
  15. Getting to know María Félix through her movies.
  16. Blogging in Spanish again.
  17. Paying off student loans.
  18. Deciding to diversify my personal library. From now on, I’m reading genres I had not read before. Here’s a list of books I’m hoping to get next year.
  19. Getting Live Spirits by Depeche Mode delivered to my home after waiting for it for six months.
  20. Being able to create my e-newsletter.

The sound of 2020: tunes that helped me get through the year

What’s the sound of 2020? I recently discovered a fantastic online time capsule of music. It’s called “2020 IS A SONG“, and it has a simple objective: sharing with the world the one song that got you through this crazy year.

While it’s hard to choose only one song, for this time capsule I decided that mine had to be Sleeptalking by Friendly Fires.

I’ve written about the importance of noticing the world around. In an attempt to explain to myself why certain songs helped me more than others, I’m sharing a list of the tunes that brought me solace, peace or joy and why. Here’s the sound of 2020 for me.

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Life lessons from the mysterious Orange Book

What else can we say about 2020?

It’s going to be an unforgettable year. It’s hard to visualize what 2021 has in store for humanity, but all we have is the present. This moment.

There’s still a lot to do to reshape our mindsets and move forward and navigate turbulent waters.

One of the sources that kept me grounded was the Orange Book on Twitter. The person who owns this account is brilliant and mysterious at the same time. No one knows who he or she is, but every thought that he/she posts is deep and meaningful.

I want to share how these posts helped me know myself better.

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