The Creative Sandbox Way

by Melissa Dinwiddie

Want to live a full-color life? Need a boost in your momentum and confidence? Life is too short to not express the innate creativity inside of you and The Creative Sandbox Way is your path to living a more creative life than you ever thought possible. Filled with paradigm-shifting lessons and stories, journal questions, thought-provoking creative prompts and coloring pages, The Creative Sandbox Way will help you take the fear out of creating and bring back the joy. An excellent antidote for creative burnout, as well as a primer for anyone just getting started with creative pursuits, whatever your form of creative expression and expertise this playbook for creative living will help you learn to be comfortable with and embrace your own, authentic creativity, while offering a compassionate approach to dealing with your demons. You’ll In short, The Creative Sandbox Way is a new approach to your creativity that will transform how you relate to it forever. Whether you’re stalled by perfectionism, impostor complex, or any other form of resistance, this book will help you move forward, learn to play again, create more work, and infuse your life with more happiness as a result. ENDORSEMENTS “It's one part field guide, one part creative practice—and I loved it. The Creative Sandbox Way is an adventure packaged as a book.” -CHRIS GUILLEBEAU, NYT best-selling author of The Happiness of Pursuit and The $100 Startup “If you think you're not talented enough, witty enough, or practiced enough to play in the creative arena, think again. At Melissa's Dinwiddie's playground everyone is welcome to test things out and get messy. The Creative Sandbox Way offers a joy-filled path for all of us to recover what she calls a truly life-changing our creativity.” -JEFFREY DAVIS, author of The Journey from the Center to the Page and Coat Thief “You will love her spirit and her many useful suggestions!” -JENNIFER LOUDEN, author of The Woman’s Comfort Book and The Life Organizer , founder of The Oasis “This is a path more of us desire and need to follow. It’s time. And Melissa is the right guide.” -PATTI DIGH, best-selling author of Life is a Verb , Creative is a Verb , and 6 other books “ The Creative Sandbox Way belongs on the bookshelf next to Annie Lamott’s Bird by Bird . I love it that this book is so encouraging; even in your darkest moody places, you will not be able to escape the encouragement. My favorite “Just start anywhere.” My favorite “The path of imperfection is the path of joy.” All through the book I found “keepers” to help me on my creative path. And I love Dinwiddie’s drawings. Buy three one for the bedside, one for your desk, one for the bathroom.” -DAVID ROCHE, inspirational humorist and author of The Church of 80% Sincerity “Melissa gently and enthusiastically guides you along your creative path, no matter what your particular path is. You can't help but get pulled in to play in this sandbox.” -DAVID BLATNER, author and co-publisher, CreativePro.com “Engage with Melissa in her Creative Sandbox and allow her to whimsically reconnect you to the creativity present to children. Have fun, be surprised, and PLAY!” -MARY ANNE RADMACHER, author of “Courage Doesn’t Always Roar”

204 pages, Paperback

Published October 21, 2016

Reviews

[Carolin M. Hafen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ich habe das Buch gelesen, aber noch nicht alle Aufgaben bearbeitet. Nach jedem Kapitel kommt ein „Writing Prompt“ und die Aufforderung zu doodeln. Ich habe den Blog von Melissa Dinwiddie vor einigen Jahren schon entdeckt und ihre abstrakten Doodle-Bilder sprechen mich sehr an. Bei jedem Motiv denke ich wehmütig: Ich wünschte, das wäre von mir. Auf Instagram schaue ich mir immer wieder ihre Videos, die sie „Doodle-Cam“ nennt, an. Das ist quasi Meditation auf Papier. In ihrem Buch setzt sie sich ausführlich mit dem „creative hunger“ auseinander. Ich übersetze das jetzt mal ganz plump: Kreativer Hunger. Also das Bedürfnis sich in irgendeiner Form auszudrücken. Damit einher gehen aber auch Ängste: nicht gut genug/wer will das sehen? So in der Art und mehr. Ich kenne das sehr gut. Ich will ja, bin aber manches Mal blockiert. Melissa schildert also die Probleme und schlägt Lösungen vor, damit umzugehen. Auch da holt sie mich vollkommen ab. Aber es ist ja nicht damit getan, ein einzelnes Buch zu lesen, und dann hat man nie wieder Probleme. Sie schreibt das auch so: Das ist eine lebenslange Aufgabe. Das zu wissen hat etwas sehr Tröstliches, ich lerne das gerade: Wenn ein Bild/Text/Kreativ-Dings vermeintlich missraten ist, dann blättert man eben um und fängt neu an. Nicht jedes Werk, dass man anfängt, wird ein Meiserwerk. Aber wenn man nichts macht und die „Gremlins“ gewinnen lässt, kommt auch kein Meisterwerk dabei rum. Dranbleiben bedeutet: Üben, besser werden, umgehen lernen mit dem eigene kreativen Hunger. Und dabei hat mir dieses Buch sehr geholfen. Das gibt es leider nicht auf Deutsch, aber es liest sich so sympathisch und leicht, dass ich auch die englische Ausgabe herzlich empfehlen kann.

Start fresh!

[Doug · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book inspired me and I am not easily inspired. Here's a two-part question - what if you did something creative for 15 (or 5) minutes a day? What's stopping you? Melissa Dinwiddle explores the idea of the "Creative Sandbox" - allowing you to create, even if it is crappy stuff, for a short time each day. She makes a good case for it, and presents 12 "guideposts" to help clarify what she means, and how to be successful. The book is in the form of a workbook, so you can practice and reflect on each guidebooks. At the end, there is a thoughtful list of further readings, so you can delve deeper.

The writing style is wonderful, it is inspirational without ever being patronizing. And there are plenty of personal stories and good anecdotes that I'll be citing to friends.

My plan now is to try "the way" for a month and then reread from cover to cover.

[Angela L · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. There are a ton of great exercises that you can either do in order or jump around to try. That said, if you read cover to cover the book still has a great flow. I will be returning to this book over and over for the exercises to spark creativity and instill artistic courage.