#WWUC @NWCreativeUnion ~Wisdom&LifeLessons

A very simple prompt today...born from sharing and conversing with fellow free thinkers in the twitterverse....I remember listening to this back in the day...hits me a little different these days and I'd love to see what comes to mind after you have a listen...perhaps you've got you're own life lessons you'd like to share...a picture of a milestone you'd like to paint...sit back...have a listen...no doubt a smile...but pour the tears into your work (yes...I grow ever softer the older I get) Let's look back...and see what we've learned as we turn our eyes towards the future...I have faith we'll make it through...

Here's how we play...

• Post your response to the above video to you  blog or site
• Copy the address of the exact post
• Click Mr. Linky below, paste your post address, enter your name, click submit...and you're in!
• Visit others who have linked up. Comment, engage and most importantly, share the good work of those who have taken the time to join us.
• And don't forget to tune into the Nexus Cafe on blogtalk radio this Thursday at 6pmEst to see just what's coming down the pipeline at NWCU...and to listen in as some amazing artists and writers gather together to share their work.

I Have A Dream #WWUC @NWCreativeUnion

One of the most moving and impactful speeches from one of the greatest figures in American history.  Often times, it's in our looking back that we finally recognize the roots of a movement...the roots of our evolution. Spend some time with MLK...feel the passion and belief in his words...and respond. Write, paint, create. Your work has the power to change the world....

When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"

Happy Birthday MLK! 

Here's how to share your response...

• post your response to your blog
• copy the exact address of your post and click the Mr. Linky Button below
• Paste your post address, enter your name, click submit and your in.
• Be sure to visit and share the good work of others linking up. Tweet, like, share, Google+1, stumble and more are ready to receive :)
• Tune into the Nexus Cafe on BlogTalk Radio Thursday's at 6pmEST to stay up to date on all Union activities! You'll find all our archived shows and reading in the player in our sidebar. Join us every week as we aim to share your good work with the world!
• Let's play!

Looking Back ~ #WWUC @NWCreativeUnion

Today...I'm stealing inspiration from NWCU coordinator Susie Clevenger  who has just released her first collection of poetry, "Dirt Road Dreams".

On her website, Susie gives us a little hint as to what her collection explores...

"I began writing poetry when I was fifteen. The introduction to Edgar Allan Poe’s work in my freshman English class sparked a desire to write. Living in rural Missouri there wasn’t much encouragement to write poetry. I spent many evenings dreaming of what lay beyond dirt roads and the freedom to express what was inside of me.

In this collection I revisit the past as well as take a walk through the present. My poetry comes from what I see, hear, and feel in the ebb and flow of life’s joy and sorrow. Part of

the work is the voice of my own experiences and part of it is the voice of others who can’t or won’t speak for themselves."

Today...in celebration of Susie's new release, and in thanks for her giving spirit (you would not believe all she does for us here at NWCU!) I'd like to invite you to venture down some of the dirt roads of YOUR past...

Where did the desire to create first hit you? When did you realize it was not something that was going to go away? Who inspired you then to explore the drive? Who keeps you inspired now? We'd love to take this opportunity and get to know you a little more...through a poem...a painting...a song...

Let's take a moment and listen to Susie share with us a little more from her collection...perhaps you'll find yourself inspired to grab your mic...




Ultimately...we are about supporting and sharing our fellow artists and their good works, and we are so very proud to call Susie one of our own. Please join us in sharing and spreading the news on Dirt Road Dreams...and grab your own copy...you won't be disappointed!
Dirt Road Dreams

Here's how to play along...

• Blog your creation. Paint it, sing it, write it, sculpt it...any form of creation is welcome. Perhaps you came across the bug on a paved road, a train track...
• Copy the address of the specific post you are sharing with us and click the Mr.Linky button below.
• Paste your post address, enter your name, and click submit...that's it...you're in!
• Visit others who have found themselves inspired by returning to Mr.Linky and clicking on their post. Comment, share and spread the love.  
• Most of all...thank YOU for your support and encouragement...share our prompt with a friend, share the news of Susie's new release with your family...and share the light that is you with the world.
• Let's Play! :)

#WWUC @NWCreativeUnion with @jesskristie

As artists and creatives, we are often granted wonderful opportunities to use our talents in an effort to help others, whether through our work directly, or through our support. As we welcome the turn to another new year, I'd like to share with you a wonderful writer who is doing just that.

Jessica Kristie's debut novel "Barbed-wire Butterflies" tackles the very real, very urgent issue of human trafficking. Not only has she used her pen to weave a compelling and disturbing tale to foster awareness, she has taken it a step further by donating 100% of author print royalties to Courage Worldwide, an organization committed to building homes for those rescued out of slavery.

Here at NWCU we are all about sharing our talents and stepping outside our comfort zones. We support team work and collaboration. Coming together to work with each other to take what we create to the next level.  In this same sense, Jessica has partnered with artist DivineHammer to create beautiful renderings of the very Barbed-wire Butterflies that are her novel's namesake. The sale of these amazing works, each unique and individually numbered, will also be used to support her mission, with a percentage of the proceeds helping Courage Worldwide.

I am so very inspired by the passion and motivation behind the "Barbed-wire Butterflies" movement. It is a cause close to my heart and an example of how by working together we can make a difference in this world.

Preorder here

Today...I'd love to give you an opportunity to share YOUR passion. Tell us how you have used your talents to do good. Share with us a cause or charity you support. Share your story of how your art has been used to inspire others. Let's kick off 2013 by sharing ways we can come together to make the world better. I'm tired of waiting for the new Renaissance to begin...let's make it happen! (and if you see a Barbed-wire Butterfly floating through the ether...be sure to share!) Here's how to play along!

• Post your story, your art, your spotlight of your supported charity or organization to your blog.
• Copy the exact post address.
• Click on Mr. Linky and paste your site link, enter your name, and click submit. Too easy, right?
• Now return to visit and share with others who are playing. Read their stories, share their work. Teamwork and cooperation...how much better could it get!
• Most of all...let's lend our focus to making the world better. Get out there and get your good deeds on!

@RhymeTime24 #WakesUp @NWCreativeUnion #WWUC

With the holiday season upon us, we're going to give you lots of ways to let your creativity run with this one.
Pat Hatt has authored many children's books and the one constant throughout these and his popular blog Rhymetime24, is just that...the rhyme.  Today, we want you to find your niche...do you have a go to form or medium that helps you bust out of your ruts? This time, we ask you to welcome the comfort zone, embrace the medium where you find your expression comes through loud and clear.  Then...take that medium, and embrace the fairy tales of old (or new) Stories with a moral have helped us teach our children the simplest of lessons.  The boy who cried wolf, bad kids dropped in the woods for the wicked witch to feast upon, or even a dragon who has yet to find his flame.

Pat Hatt, in his most recent work, brings Honk the Zagonk to life in a beautifully illustrated children's tale. Poor Honk has yet to breath the flames of his peers, but when the Frost Giant lands to wreck havoc, it is the Honk of Zagonk that saves the day. Being different isn't always a bad thing, eh?

So today...if you have little ones itching for something to read, give Zagonk a Honk and support one of our own...or tell us your own story...create the characters, write the words, where ever your imagination takes you...let it run! How can we use our art and creations for the generation coming up behind us. For the children. This time of year, they help us make the most of the season, reminding us of the magic...let's create for them.

Here's how to play:

• Post your creation to your blog.
• Copy the exact address of your specific blog post
• Click the Mr.Linky button below. Here you will be asked to add your post address and your name.
• Click submit...and you're in!
• Visit others who are sharing their work. Share, tweet, +1, Spread the love!
• Most of all...know we are wishing each and everyone a most fantastic holiday season ahead, no matter what you call it. Let light, love and peace fill your hearts...and send it back out into the world with a vengeance...we need it more than ever.

#WWUC @NWCreativeUnion with @SoulSprite

“Earth's crammed with heaven...But only he who sees, takes off his shoes.”

― Elizabeth Barrett Browning

I was contemplating using today’s full moon, called the Frosty Moon as my stepping off point for this week’s Wake-Up Call, but then another assignment came my way and somehow they seemed connected.

I was asked by the director of Temple of the Goddess to write an article for the newsletter about Patricia Monaghan who passed away this month. She was a prominent figure in the women’s spirituality movement, organic farmer, poet and scholar who believed:

In our endangered world, place seems no longer a regional literary concept, a matter for discussion among those whose poems are peopled by moose rather than pigeons. Describing the hallowed sense of place was part of the craft of storytellers from the earliest human times. We need to now recover that simple craft and tell again the stories of the many precious places we know.

Patricia was also a Founding Fellow of The Black Earth Institute, “a think-tank for artists seeking to connect social justice, environment and spirituality.” And so it is with all of this in mind that I encourage you to go outside and pay attention with all of your senses to the environment you find yourself in. Tell that place’s story in any form you are inspired to do so and then share your creations with us.

Here is a poem by a Chinese Mountain Poet that tells the story of the place he inhabited:

Living in the Mountain on an Autumn Night

After fresh rain on the empty mountain

comes evening and the cold of autumn.

The full moon burns through the pines.

A brook transparent over the stones.

Bamboo trees crackle as washerwomen go home

and lotus flowers sway as fisherman's boat slips downriver.

Though the fresh smell of grass is gone,

a prince is happy in these hills.

~ Wang Wei (699? - 761)

Ready to play?

• Prepare a blog post in the creative medium of your choosing.
• Copy the exact address of the post.
• Click the Mr. Linky button below to submit your name and post.
• Visit others through Mr. Linky  Engage, comment, share. 
• Prompt will remain open until the following Sunday.

#WWUC @NWCreativeUnion ~A Longer View

Keeping with what seems to be a running theme for the month...I'm stealing the inspiration from "The Celestine Prophecy" by James Redfield.

A collection of Nine insights, today's prompt comes from the second...A Longer View.  This insight challenges us to go beyond the common history...beyond the technological advances, beyond the trends and to the actual "thought evolution" of our history. If you could stretch your memory out over 1000 years...I think our milestones are much larger than putting a man on the moon...what made us even try? We are talking, within this physical realm, our almost "unseen" evolution.

Today, I'd like you to ponder our history. Spend some time with the quotes included. When did the shift start? Where can we expect to go from here? If you look back over the past 1000 years...where does it take you when you look towards the NEXT 1000.

all images from google

1000 years back...1000 years forward....can you feel the weight of our evolution. Are we now prepared to learn from the lessons. Where do we go from here? Our planet is dying, our societies are struggling, the line between the have's and have-not's grows ever more defined. How did this happen...how do we change? 

• Post a response to your blog in the creative medium of your choosing. Draft 1000 year timeline in charcoal, capture a renaissance in water color, write your way through the dark ages...however you are prompted, feel free to express it.
• Copy the exact address of your post. Paste to Mr. Linky, add your name and click that submit button.  Just that easy.
• Be sure to visit others who are taking part. Explore their work. Share your thoughts. Start a conversation.
• Share, tweet, tumble and pin. This is what we are all about. Sharing the good work of others in  an effort to Wake Folks Up! This is our world....let's redefine our era and make this shift happen!
• You have until Sunday morning to respond. No rush...no pressure...just some time to let your creativity flow.

Someday, after mastering the winds, the waves, the tides and gravity, we shall harness for God the energies of love, and then, for a second time in the history of the world, man will have discovered fire.

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin 

The Sounds of Silence ~ #WWUC @NWCreativeUnion 7.11.12

Hello! It’s Wednesday and time to wake up your creativity.

For today’s Wednesday Wake-Up Call we are going to explore silence. What do you hear in the silence around you? Perhaps it is the absence of electronic noise (computer, cell phone, television) or the silence of people who can’t or won’t communicate that is filling your environment. Take time to be still and listen to the silence and then create what you heard through the art form of your choice…pen, paintbrush, camera, etc.  Share your creations with us by using Mr. Linky below. 

Hello darkness, my old friend

I've come to talk with you again

Because a vision softly creeping

Left its seeds while I was sleeping

And the vision that was planted in my brain

Still remains

Within the sound of silence

In restless dreams I walked alone

Narrow streets of cobblestone

'Neath the halo of a street lamp

I turned my collar to the cold and damp

When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light

That split the night

And touched the sound of silence

And in the naked light I saw

Ten thousand people, maybe more

People talking without speaking

People hearing without listening

People writing songs that voices never share

And no one dared

Disturb the sound of silence

"Fools", said I, "You do not know

Silence like a cancer grows

Hear my words that I might teach you

Take my arms that I might reach you"

But my words, like silent raindrops fell

And echoed

In the wells of silence

And the people bowed and prayed

To the neon god they made

And the sign flashed out its warning

In the words that it was forming

And the sign said, "The words of the prophets are written on the subway walls

And tenement halls"

And whispered in the sounds of silence

Now...here's how to play along.

      1.  Post your response to the prompt above to your blog. The medium is your choosing. Words,

           color, image...however the prompt strikes you.

      2.  Copy the address of your post and click Mr. Linky below.

      3.  Paste your post address, enter your name where indicated, click submit...and your're in!

      4.  Revisit Mr. Linky to explore the repsonses of others who have found themselves inspired,

           commenting and sharing.

      5.  Our goal is community. Sharing the good work of others. Let others know you appreciate their

           work, just as you hope they let you know they appreciate yours.

      6.  You have until 9am Sunday Morning to link your response.

#WWUC @NWCreativeUnion ~ Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween!

Today let us wake the dead. Hallows or Samhain is a Celtic holy day on which people used to remember and celebrate the blessed dead and long gone ancestors. Today, many of us who follow the path of the Ancient Celts or a general Pagan path still celebrate this way.

In fact tonight I will cast a circle and sit with a picture of my father who made his transition to the other side back in 1984. I will remember him and write him a letter as I have done every year for the past 14 years.

This week’s prompt is to remember your ancestors, those recently gone or ancient. Remember them in song, in poetry, in story, in painting, in sculpting…the point is to remember them, to wake them in your own being. And once you’ve created please share it with us in Mr. Linky below. I’d love to learn more about your ancestors!

By Charles Elliott/Beautyseer

This picture is of the Ancestor Altar at Temple of the Goddess’s Hallows Celebration this past Saturday.

The following spoken word piece was performed at the Hallows Celebration:

The Dead are Never Gone

By the twentieth century Senegalese poet and storyteller Birago Diop

Hearing things more than beings,

listening to the voice of fire,

the voice of water.

Hearing in wind the weeping bushes,

sighs of our forefathers.

The dead are never gone:

they are in the shadows.

The dead are not in earth:

they’re in the rustling tree,

the groaning wood,

water that runs,

water that sleeps;

they’re in the hut, in the crowd,

the dead are not dead.

The dead are never gone,

they’re in the breast of a woman,

they’re in the crying of a child,

in the flaming torch.

The dead are not in the earth:

they’re in the dying fire,

the weeping grasses,

whimpering rocks,

they’re in the forest, they’re in the house,

the dead are not dead.

Now...here's how to play along:

1. Post your response to the prompt above to your blog. The medium is of your choosing. Words, color, image...how ever the prompt strikes you.
2. Copy the address of your post and click Mr. Linky below.
3. Paste your post address, enter your name where indicated, click submit...and your in!
4. Revisit Mr.Linky to explore the responses of others who have found themselves inspired, commenting and sharing.
5. Our goal is community. Sharing the good work of others. Let others know you appreciate their work, just as you hope they let you know they appreciate yours. 
6. You have until 9am Sunday Morning to link your response.

Wednesday Wake Up Call 24.10.12

Shades of Edgar...

It's Wednesday and that means a healthy dose of creativity and Wednesday Wake Up Call to get us going. 

I (Leslie Moon) was excited to find this haunting piece of music as I had been thinking of Edgar Allen Poe for the past several days. I was thrilled to discover that Max Ablitzer ( a delightful and very talented musician) will be performing in London at the Bush Theatre on November 3, 2012.(Wish I could be in the audience.)  His videos will the projected while he plays  his songs on the piano to enchanting poetry recited by Tishani Doshi.

Check out the link for the southasianlitfest to see what Tishani is doing.

What does the music and or video evoke in your creative mind?? It has mine going full speed!!
Enjoy today's Poe"ish" prompt

Our rules are simple:

• Post your work, be it writing, poetry, fiction, prose, painting, sculpture, anything at all, to your blog.
• Copy the address of the specific post and give Mr. Linky a click.
• You'll be asked for your link and your name. Once entered, click submit...and your in!
• Visit others who are sharing their work. Let them know you appreciate their efforts, just as you hope they appreciate yours. It's just good manners to repay kindness. Share and tweet to your hearts content. We're all about getting your good works to the masses!
• Encourage readers to click that +1 button...and let them know your Waking Up with the New World Creative Union.
• let your creativity run wild!
•  Have fun- from all of us at The New World Creative Union

@NWCreativeUnion #WWUC 16.10.12 Elemental Magic

~Elemental Magic~

It's that time of the week again, good people...when Monday feels like an eternity ago and Friday is but a dream...but we're here to wake you up and get those creative juices flowing.

Before we proceed to the prompt however, we'd like you to know that we will be issuing our Creativity Designate badge on a monthly basis now, rather than the weekly award we were giving. No worries...we'll be tracking those +1's and at the end of the month, we'll officially announce the taker of the fabulous purple pheonix! All the more reason for you to join us every week! With so many new projects and announcements, it's an exciting time indeed! 

Okay...this prattle from me will only urge you closer to sleep...so on to the prompt...

For ages, mystics and clerics the world over have spoken to the magic of the elements. Each carries various meanings in relation to spirituality, magick, wisdom.  Today, I'm asking you to be the mystic.

Will your elemental magick be used for POWER. Are you able to move mountains?

Will you use your newfound power to wipe evil from the planet, to cleanse and purify?

Will you sing a song of peace, whispered on the winds of change?

Or maybe...at the end of the day, the issues and problems created by those who walked before will require a complete tearing down. Will you set the world on fire, using your power to let her rise again?

It's the season of the witch and the ghouls are ready to take over. It's up to you to bust out the crayons, break open those pastels, and refill that inkwell. What do these elements mean to you? Ponder their power, their connection to all. It is these very things that make up our world and allow us to be here. What do they mean to you? Shhh...don't tell me...blog it, post it to the Mr.Linky below...and share it with us all! Have some fun...we're looking forward to what you're going to pull out of your  hat on this one!  

Our rules are simple:

• Post your work, be it writing, poetry, fiction, prose, painting, sculpture, anything at all, to your blog.
• Copy the address of the specific post and give Mr. Linky a click.
• You'll be asked for your link and your name. Once entered, click submit...and your in!
• Visit others who are sharing their work. Let them know you appreciate their efforts, just as you hope they appreciate yours. It's just good manners to repay kindness. Share and tweet to your hearts content. We're all about getting your good works to the masses!
• Encourage readers to click that +1 button...and let them know your Waking Up with the New World Creative Union.
• Above all else...let your creativity run wild! Have fun...and we'll see you in the ether!

                                                      

Weekly Designate for #Creativity 10.10.12 @NWCreativeUnion

New World Creative Union is proud to honor not one, but two of the brave souls who stepped up to answer our Wednesday Wake Up Call.

As we search for ways to reach out to our youth and provide them with forums to express their creativity, 12 year old, Lauren Head, who blogs at Broken Wings & Pretty Things, takes home our badge this week with her photo and quote combination that can be found here.

Fred Rutherford is a familiar face, and a very creative one at that! Fred blogs at PoeticalPsyche and Squirm, but takes home this weeks prize with a written response that can be found here.

Congratulations to both our winners! We look forward to seeing more of your creativity in free-flow and hope to see you at our next Wednesday Wake Up Call!

Every Wednesday, we'll be prompting creativity! Each week, our winner is selected by the number of +1's that are found on the post as of Sunday morning.

Wednesday Wake Up Call @NWCreativeUnion 03.10.12

Welcome to this weeks Wednesday Wake Up Call...a chance to go beyond your chosen medium, to explore the world of creation and your place in it.  Art, in all its forms, has always fascinated me. From a young age, I dreamed of performing. Just me and Dad and his old acoustic guitar, busting out Kenny Roger's "The Gambler" for any who had ears to listen. But it wasn't just the music...it was what it did to me. To this day, if I'm blessed with an empty house for a couple of hours, you can normally find me, dancing by myself.

So today, with the videos and quotes that follows, I'm hoping you'll find a rhythm to dance yourself through the midweek blues. From ballet to hip hop, there's no denying the right song, the right performance, can ignite your spirit, open your heart, heal your wounds and if we're REALLY lucky, you'll find your inner creative inspired to share here with us.

The rules are simple!

• Spend some time with the prompts. Feel the music, the movement.
• Post a response to your blog. Any medium of your choosing. If you can blog it...you can post it. 
• Copy the post address of your response and click the Mr. Linky button found below the video. Here you will be asked to include your link and your name. Click submit...and your in.
• Return to Mr. Linky to see what's been prompted from the other creators who have joined in. Comment and share to your hearts content. We are committed to a community based on sharing and caring, and the support of others' work is paramount in our endeavours
• As always, the entry to receive the most Google +1's will be awarded our Purple Pheonix to display and share on their own site.

There is it folks...now...let's dance!


                              

There is a bit of insanity in dancing that does everybody a great deal of good ~ Edwin Denby

I would believe only in a God that knows how to dance ~ Friedrich Nietzsche

We're fools whether we dance or not, so we might as well dance ~ Japanese Proverb

                                

Award for Creativity Designate 26.09.12 Laurie Kolp

Each week, through the Wednesday Wake Up Call (WWUC), the New World Creative Union (NWCU) provides the opportunity for our fellow creatives to explore mediums of expression, beyond their comfort zone.

At the end of the prompt, we tally the number of Google +1's each entry receives to determine who takes home the prize.  This week we are honored to share with you a wonderful writer, who took the prompt beyond mere words with her entry. Visit the selected response here.

Read on to learn more about this weeks winner Laurie Kolp

Laurie Kolp wishes she had listened to her inner desires and followed her passion for writing which began as a child. But she has come to accept that the twelve years she spent teaching and the numerous adventures she followed in search of happiness were mere stepping stones to uncover her true purpose in life. She has since been published in various poetry and short story publications including The Christian Communicator, pay attention: a river of stones, The Dead Mule’s School Society of Southern Literature, Skive Magazine and Christmas Miracles by Cecil Murphy and Marley Gibson, and Chicken Soup for the Soul: Devotional Stories for Tough Times.

FanPage:  Laurie Kolp, Writer & Poet

Twitter:  @KolpLaurie

Blog:  Laurie Kolp Poetry

NWCU Profile:  Laurie Kolp