Open to Possibilities
#15 of 26 Simple Ways to Nurture Your Creative Life

Imagine what the ethersphere offers you in unlimited possibilities.•

Fortune Cookie Message Maker
Do It Yourself Fortune Cookie Messages

Fortune cookies inspire me. It's not that I believe in oracle desserts, but I can't deny the playful and often wise way their post-meal presence lifts me after a hearty helping of chicken fried rice and crispy egg rolls.

Unbuttoning my jeans, I'm still reassured:

You are important to many people.

Of course, fortune cookie messages are great targets for a healthy sense of humor, ala the cliche “That wasn't chicken” and “"Help, I'm a prisoner forced to type little messages for these cookies.”

A couple years ago I had a riot brainstorming a bunch of phony messages for my April Fool's Fake Fortune Generator, and found the limited lines, characters, and spaces of the fortune format a fun creative prompt to play with for short, low-pressure pieces of writing like Haiku (3 lines; 5,7,5 syllables):

cookie crumble breaks
short white message emerges
lady feel secure

Want to have some fun making up your own fake (or real) fortunes, little stories, or haiku? Play with Creativity Portal's new Fortune Cookie Message Maker to generate and print a whole sheet of your own made-up crumby things. •

“Fear is an imagine airy thing.” ~ Chris Dunmire

An Unbelievable Teasing Audition Story (Humor)
Free Printable 'Happy Six-T' Birthday Card

Have you ever struggled with sorting out competing creative ideas in your head? If so, you might consider auditioning them for the part to see which one does the best to meet your needs. More »

Steve Jobs' 2005 Stanford Commencement Address
Apple Co-founder Steve Jobs, 1955 - 2011

Three inspiring stories from a college dropout who helped change the world. Especially poignant to his story are these items from story #3 about life and death:

“No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.

“Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” — Steve Jobs

In addition to all the other things he had a hand in, Steve's taking up calligraphy by following his intuition led to a fascination with typography that resulted in huge innovative shifts in the field of graphic design to desktop publishing. Read the entire transcript here. •

October 1: National Make a Mistake Day!
Excerpted from C-P's 10/1 NewZine

Did you know that October 1 is National Make a Mistake Day? Isn't that awesome? Imagine A WHOLE DAY devoted to sanctioned mistake-making that we get to be proud of!

So what mistakes are you going to make today? What guilt, shame, or frustration over not-being-perfect can you let go of? What intended gaffe will make you laugh? Let's celebrate our mistakes! And let's make 'em good!

Enjoy making your mistakes today. And tomorrow. And the day after. You're allowed to and in unlimited amounts. Let go of the pressure of trying to be perfect. Relax and laugh more. This is life — right here — in all its imperfect glory. Let's celebrate!

National Make A Mistake Day (NMAMD) is brought to you by unofficial order and not-so-serious delegation of Creativity Portal® (www.creativity-portal.com). NMAMD celebrates the inevitable happenings, instances, and events of being human, including, but not limited to: mistake making, blunders, gaffes, and measuring once, but cutting twice.

© 2011 Chris Dunmire. All rights reserved.