What's Easy. What's Not.

It's easy to be right.
It's not easy to be kind.

It's easy to hope.
It's not easy to know.

It's easy to be a damsel.
It's not easy to be a heroine.

It's easy to complain.
It's not easy to make requests.

It's easy to have the perfect retort.
It's not easy to listen.

It's easy to be busy.
It's not easy to be productive.

It's easy to criticize.
It's not easy to create.

It's easy to say you don't feel like it.
It's not easy to do it anyway.

It's easy to obsess.
It's not easy to meditate.

It's easy to sing your heart out when the audience loves you.
It's not easy to sing your heart out when no one is paying attention.

It's easy to wait for rescue.
It's not easy to rescue yourself.

It's easy to resent people who take up your time.
It's not easy to say no in the first place.

It's easy to make excuses.
It's not easy to take responsibility.

It's easy to worry.
It's not easy to make a plan.

It's easy to come up with reasons why someone pissed you off.
It's not easy to ask yourself how you participated.

It's easy to dabble.
It's not easy to commit.

It's easy to rail on the idiot driver behind you.
It's not easy to just move out of his way.

It's easy to read books about writing.
It's not easy to sit down and write.

It's easy to say no to bad things because you want good things.
It's not easy to say no to good things because you want great things.

It's easy to fire off an angry email or blog comment.
It's not easy to pause and breathe and clarify your feelings.

It's easy to react to an angry email or blog comment by firing one back.
It's not easy to pause and breathe and clarify your meaning.

It's easy to start your idea.
It's not easy to finish it.

It's easy to buy something cheap because it's cheap.
It's not easy to buy something expensive because you love it.

It's easy to say you don't know what you want.
It's not easy to admit what you do want.

It's easy to let a kid watch TV.
It's not easy to find ways to play with a kid.

It's easy to do urgent things.
It's not easy to do important things.

It's easy to say it's too hard.
It's worth it to do what's not easy.

by Christine Kane

Christine Kane is the Mentor to Women Who are Changing the World. She helps women uplevel their lives, their businesses and their success. Her weekly LiveCreative eZine goes out to over 12,000 subscribers. If you are ready to take your life and your world to the next level, you can sign up for a F.R.E.E. subscription at christinekane.com

It's Friday. Take Notes! Start Exploring Social Media Tools right here.

Lorelle VanFossen shares lots and lots of information about social media. Lorelle is part of the duo team of VanFossen Productions, professional nature photographers and writers. She says,

"Everyone’s talking social media, but few understood what it really is. best definition came from a comment by Alistair Shaw:  ''Tools that help connect people.' Social media tools connect people. The challenge is which one to use. "

Lorelle has written a whole series of blog posts on Exploring Social Media Tools Series.  Start with whatever topic appeals to you.  Just start!

It's Monday, it's December and "I wanna grow old with you . . ."

Today is the first Monday of the last month of this year. And yes, you are a year older than you were this time last year.

Artful Aging wants to remind you that growing older can be great. We are here for you. We "wanna grow old with you..."

Happy Monday!

(Can't see the video? Go to Artful Aging and enjoy!)

To Blog or Not to Blog...Is That the Question?

You're an Artist... You're a Nonprofit...
You're wondering if you need a blog... And what is a blog anyway?

Take Notes! while Nancy Schwartz answers your question: What is a blog ?

Blogs for Artists ... 

• 
  
  EmptyEasel gives 9 Reasons Why Every Artist Should Have Their Own Art Blog.
• 
  
  Then EmptyEasel tells you where to start: So You Want to Start an Art Blog. . . What’s the Best Free Blogging Platform to Use?

& Blogs for Aging Organizations ...

• 
  
  You don't think you need a Blog is because your audience is over 55? Carenetworks says You Must Blog Now!

• 
  
  Now read Carenetworks' 10 Reasons Why Your Blog Sucks to see what NOT to do with your blog.

If you want to develop a blog (and yes, even YOU can do it!), follow our Friday Take Notes! Posts.  You'll get lots of information and resources to help you learn how to set up a Blog--whether you are an Artist, an Aging Services Organization, a Nonprofit, or just You!
 
P.S.--If you are interested in some "in-person" help, send an email to CAAN and we'll work on putting a workshop together.

Britain Going Blog Crazy - Metro Article
Photo by Annie Mole

6 Places to Learn How to Blog

No, don't follow this shabby sign to buy or lease a Blog.  Here are six very non-shabby places to go to learn how to set up your Blog for free ... whether you are working in Aging or you are an Artist.

You'll see that these resources are all pretty much talking about Blogger as the blogging platform. Sure there are other free platforms, but, in my humble opinion, Blogger is the easiest platform to use and a great place to start. Take Notes!

1. Begin reading Tech Soup's article Ready to Start Blogging? 
2. Then go to Empty Easel's What Blogging Program do MOST Artist Bloggers Use? (Useful information even if you're not an Artist.)
3. Empty Easel will also show you How To Set Up A Free Art Blog On Blogger (In Just 8 Steps) (Again, even if it's not a Nonprofit Blog, or an Aging Organization Blog - the 8 steps still work.)
4. Still need more help? Tim Adam gives you step-by-step instructions in how to set up your Blog in his Lesson 1, Lesson 2 and Lesson 3.
5. So, now you know how to set up a Blog. Time to check out this video from Facebook for Dummies about posting a post in Blogger. (Yes, you can learn about blogging in Facebook for Dummies.)
6. Now, go read Empty Easel's article about Artist's Blogging Styles to decide what your Blog's focus will be. (And once again, this article is for everyone, not just for Artists.)

  BLOG FOR SALE OR LEASE

Photo by John Weise

Have you checked your Creative Well lately?

"The thing that makes a creative person is to be creative and that is all there is to it. "

~ Edward Albee

Kathy Caprino has written Are You Accessing Your Creative Well? for the Society for Creative Aging. In her article, Kathy shares that she let her creative activities go unnourished and hidden for 25 years and then,

"What I realized is that we cannot 'find ourselves,' or achieve a joyful, meaningful and fulfilling professional or personal life if we force these beautiful creative pieces of ourselves to go underground.

"Your creative gifts are not yours by accident. You were meant to have these gifts, and express these sparks of creativity for the betterment and enrichment of your life and others. Now is the time to access your creative well again."

Kathy shares a few tips to help you tap your creative well ...

• Identify your creative talent make it a priority.
• List everything that has held you back from expressing your creative gifts, then move forward.
• Commit to finding a forum to begin.
• Find a mentor, friend, or coach who can help you access your creativity.
• Shine the light on your creative gifts, and don't allow them to be hidden any longer.

The Society for Creative Aging in Boulder, Colorado,"ignites the excitement of creativity at every stage of life...Engaging in a creative process is a wonderful way for older adults to draw from their life experiences, discover their latent talents, explore new interests and experience the joy of being creative."

Wishing Well by Lindsay Sorensen