Adrienne Cress, LLC

“There is no life I know to compare with pure imagination” – Willy Wonka

Recently I made the promise to you all that I would share a bit about my “creative practice.”

I wonder what you began to imagine my “creative practice” to be?

Did you begin to imagine me in an art studio akin to something you’ve seen on Instagram, starting each day sipping coffee, sun shining on my face, surrounded by well-tended tropical plants in a stained denim apron, leaning into a printing press with a look of deep satisfaction on my face? ✨

Whatever you imagined, if you imagined anything at all, is a great example of my creative practice.

That is to say, a huge part of my creative practice is just that, imagining.

    Imagining painting my entire house pink

    Imagining (with my 8- year-old) giving a name to each and every green bean on his plate.

    Imagining a future where my kids can say they enjoyed their childhoods.

Now if I’m real with you, many of my imaginings do not become a reality

    My house is not yet pink

    We dropped the whole thing after only three green bean names: Larry, Fred and Bob.

    As for my kids’ childhoods, let’s circle back to that in another decade. 😊

Imaginings will do that, though.

They come like clouds that change shape or transform into rain or your humidifier water and then there they go, back up to join the other clouds. ☁️🌨️☁️

But clouds don’t ever really disappear for good, just as your imaginings and creative ideas never disappear for good.

“Art is a circulation of energetic ideas. What makes them appear new is that they’re combining differently each time they come back. No two clouds are the same.” -Rick Rubin, The Creative Act: A Way of Being

The more you imagine, the more you engage with this energetic cycle of ideas, tapping into the infinite stream of possibilities.

Sometimes parts of Self can show up in the process with (usually unhelpful) commentary about your idea’s “feasibility” or the “likelihood” of your follow through, maybe hopelessly attached to the outcomes, or with warnings about how it will be perceived (do neighbors not like pink houses?).

I’m certain I’ll be writing more about all that commentary in messages to come.

For now, we are just in the business of giving yourself permission to dream a little.

To “entertain ideas”, is to delight in the process of imagining.

Let your imaginings make you laugh. Warm your heart. Perplex you. Excite you.

You can even try imagining with others. Co-create and see how it connects you. 💞

 INVITATION 

1. Look at a piece of art or any object that appeals to you and take a nice deep breath.

2. Imagine the art/object becoming animated. Notice how it moves.

3. Imagine that an element from the art begins to interact with another art/object in the room.

4. Allow yourself to feel entertained! Rinse and Repeat! 🥹

And remember, “Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve” (Napoleon Hill).

❣️ Adrienne

P.S. Please know that reading my messages is not “homework”. You will not be tested or even asked about it. Think of it as an offering that you can engage with or disregard altogether. It is not intended to overwhelm you or give you one more thing to do. If it ever feels like a chore that isn’t serving you or is affecting you negatively, please unsubscribe from the emails and then do a celebration dance for your successful act of self-care.