Notes from the Ink of the Lotus Blossom
Trust your perception. Listen to your intuition.
Tune into yourself.

Issue #1
September 2002

Hello! This is the inaugural issue of the Lotus Ink newsletter by Silvia Foti and welcome! I've been keeping in touch with most of you, so it shouldn't be a huge surprise that I've been trying to time my first online newsletter on creativity and how to unblock it with the availability of my first mystery novel Skullduggery. It's finally out!!! And look, it's such a lucky date -- Friday, the 13th!

At this point, it is available online, and I will keep you informed of future bookreadings in Chicago. My first online chat will be Thursday, September 19th, through the America Online mystery chat. The Mystery Fiction Forum spotlights the author as an individual as well as her work. It's an open floor format, and the group is very laid back. If you're an AOL member , please join me and other mystery lovers on Thursday, September 19th, from 8 to 10 p.m. CST. Type in the keyword mff.

What's in this issue?
Do we need to explore our childhood to be creative as an adult?
Creativity Coaching and What It Can Do for You
Skullduggery and what's it all about

What's in the next issue?
Spotlight on Andre Beaudoin, inspiration speaker. He shares his childhood trauma, how it affected his adulthood creativity, and how he unblocked to become a resounding success.

Do we need to explore our childhood to be creative as an adult?

We are what we think, and so much of our thinking stems from our childhood. If our parents tell us we are children of God, we're special, we can do anything we set out to do, we tend to think these sorts of thoughts as an adult. But if we have parents who criticize us, chide us, do not emphasize that we are children of God, and do not make us feel special, we may grow up with these sorts of negative thoughts deeply internalized. These first thoughts handed down to us in our childhood, imbedded in our young subconscious, direct us for our entire life.

In my case, I often heard that a certain country in Europe was more important than life itself, was much more important than me, and I grew up believing that a blessed box of dirt from this far-off land held more magical significance than my thoughts and feelings. The verbal messages blended with the non-verbal ones. Did our parents hug us every day? Or were they too busy working for a more worthy cause? Did they attend our school plays, help us with our homework, bandage our bruised knees, tuck us into bed and help us with our prayers? If they didn't, we probably noticed.

As children, we may have heard we're sloppy, we're not perfect, we're fat, we're a nuisance, or that we shouldn't talk when adults are talking. When we grow up, we may not feel fully confident speaking before a roomful of adults. No wonder that fear of public speaking ranks higher than fear of death for most. That childhood message of no talking when adults are around is now "stuck" in our brains and imbedded in our hearts decades later. Why don't we feel worthy enough to say what we think in public?

So many of us create to heal our injuries from our childhood. We want to be noticed, understood, respected, validated---all the things we didn't get as a child, or didn't get enough of. Some of us do this consciously, perhaps after years of therapy or intensive solo work. Others do this subconsciously, perhaps not want to, or even needing to find the root causes of the lacks in their life. Yet others had a wonderful childhood, I hear, with two loving parents who were always there for them, who supported them wholeheartedly in their creative careers. Lucky them.

Either way, we know we need to take over the reins of our own thinking. If we had negative sorts of experiences as children, how do we overcome those messages in our adulthood? How do we increase our self-esteem? Make ourselves feel like we are children of God, that we are worthy to receive Spirit? How do we boost our confidence? Become authentic? Feel good about ourselves? These are questions I'll be asking of other double-life creatives, as well as myself. I'll share them with the inherent promise that there are no wrong answers, only creative ways of finding hope and faith, moment by challenging moment.

Unadulteratedly Yours,
Madame Foti :))


Creativity Coaching, and what it can do for you

This is why I have begun a creativity coaching practice. My purpose is to support and encourage other artists on their journeys toward healthy creativity. I have found that support and encouragement are in short supply for most artists who are usually faced with indifference, scorn, derision, and neglect. (And that's just from their parents!)

So many artists believe that they must face insurmountable obstacles to reach the prize of success, which usually means wealth and fame. I'm not necessarily disputing that point of view because the marketplace for artists is brutal. Yet if success could just be redefined to mean learning to manage fear and failure, while still maintaining, or perhaps even building self-esteem and productivity, the path of the healthy creative artist may be much less painful than the path of the dysfunctional creative one. To find out more about the possibilities of creativity coaching, visit silviafoti.com.

Skullduggery
ISBN: 0-88739-412-4 Paperback
Length: 252 pages
Price: $14.95 paperback
Category: Fiction
Publisher: Creativity Arts Book Company, Berkeley, CA

Supernatural reporter Alexandria Vilkas launches a feature on Crystal Skull, but is skeptical of its metaphysical powers---until the Chicago mayor dies in her arms. Now the prime suspect in the mayor's murder, Alex needs to clear her name, fast. Along the way, she begins to suspect her own mother, discovers a cigarette-selling scam that's making some city aldermen rich, stumbles into some bad shenanigans in a tortilla factory, and gets attacked by a lovelore astrologer. Meanwhile, a knock-out brawl among the town's fifty aldermen erupts in downtown City Hall and Alex desperately wonders if she'll still be alive for the next mayoral election. Can she unearth the connection between the Crystal Skull and the murder before it's too late?

Praise for Skullduggery
"A crystal skull that may have supernatural powers, Chicago politicians, a dead mayor, and an astrologist combine to make Skullduggery a fun brew. A humorous romp with a good bit of mayhem included."
---Barbara D'Amato, author of the Cat Marsala mystery series

Book Readings & Workshops
Contact me at lotusink@aol.com for hosting a book reading at Skullduggery at your favorite bookstore or book club, and for doing a lecture or workshop on unleashing your creativity.

Story ideas and letters to the editor
Do you have a question or issue on creativity you'd like Lotus Ink to investigate? Wondering what experts or other lay creatives have to say about a question that's on your mind? Send your story idea to lotusink@aol.com.

Bloom Like the Lotus!