Welcome to my blog page! I love writing about the healing power of the creative process. Here you will find a collection of all of my writing from all the way back to 2005! Enjoy!
I was at a woman's writer's workshop in Taos, New Mexico last year, and found myself at dinner sitting across from a riot of a feisty old woman who was talking about these children's books she'd written. Her main character is a rascal and an adventurer, a boy named...
Recently I was shopping at my local art store. Now when I go shopping for art supplies I buy LOTS of stuff because I have the excuse that I am buying all these great things for my students and classes. It's actually one of the best parts about being an intuitve...
by Chris Zydel, MA A few weeks ago I came across an astonishing lecture that was given by a woman named Jill Bolte Taylor, PhD. also known as The Singin' Scientist. The talk she gave was titled My Stroke of Insight and she presented it at the TED (Technology,...
One of the places where my students will often find themselves getting stuck or stopped in the intuitive painting process is when they encounter the common fear of ruining a painting. One moment they will be happily painting away and then they get an...
People paint for a lot of different reasons. To relax, to express themselves, to create beauty and meaning, to make money, because they have a passion to create, to gain approval, to stay sane, to make sense of the world, to play and have fun. All of the above are...
“We’re lost but we’re making good time.” Yogi Berra As I walk through my painting studio on any given day I am sure to hear at least one plaintive cry of " I hate this painting because it doesn't make any sense!" or " I can't believe that I've spent so...
Over and over again, I hear a common complaint from students in my intuitive painting classes that goes something like this... “My painting doesn't look the way I want it to because I don't have enough artistic training . I can see this perfectly formed image in my...
What is it that allows you to wake up in the morning feeling energized and inspired? The particulars are going to vary, but I think the majority of us feel most alive when we experience being aligned with some greater purpose. That purpose is often related to becoming...
Chris Zydel, MA The creative process is a journey, and like any journey there are times when things are going smoothly and you are just humming along. And then there are the times when everything feels frustrating, blocked and in a tangle. The sticky times are never...
by Chris Zydel, MA In my work as a creativity coach I talk with many, many people who want to be more creative, either as a way to deepen their spiritual practice of self nurturing or who have a specific dream that they long to manifest, like writing a book or forming...
I'm standing in my studio, watching twelve women painting in silence with exquisite focus and concentration. And the energy is just humming. All of a sudden I hear a groan from one of the women and the words "Oh no, I hate it. It's so...
by Chris Zydel, MA I came across a startling statistic recently, which is that more than 90% of all children consider themselves to be creative yet only 10% of adults see themselves as having any creative capacity. So what happened? How do so many of us lose our...
by Chris Zydel, MA How many times have you told yourself, “I want to be more creative in my life” and how many times has that ended up on your New Years resolution list along with wanting to exercise or eat better, with similar disappointing results. Well, I have good...