Posts by Linda McLean
Dreams and Schemes – The Magic of Doing What We Love
When I was twenty- eight years old I told myself I needed to stop wasting time daydreaming about being a songwriter. I remember distinct conversations with myself, talking right at my heart and saying, “Stop your moaning. Be grateful for what you have. Get on with your fabulous life.” In reality I was terrified of…
Read MoreWhat Do You Stand For?
“If we don’t stand for something, we’ll fall for anything.” It’s hard to know what we stand for. Especially, I think, because of all the self-censoring going on these days. We’re afraid to say what we truly believe. Or we’re so confused by the zillions of different ideas floating around in the strato-blogo-twitto-media sphere that…
Read MoreWe’re all Creative – but that doesn’t mean it’s easy.
We’re all creative. I’ve said it before, I’m saying it again. If you are alive and you are a human, you are a creative being. I first heard the idea in 1996 when I read Csikszentmihalyi’s Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention – our ability to be creative is what distinguishes us…
Read MoreMy 28 Day Writing Challenge – Single-minded focus
Multi-tasking versus one task. It comes easily to me. After years of working on several things at once or fitting a project into all the other responsibilities (‘Writing is what I do between the ironing.” Alice Munro) I can work on several songs at a time while moving houses. I can work on a story…
Read More4 Steps of Songwriting – You Have a Song in You
I believe you have a song. I believe everyone has a song, a unique song that no one else can write. Even if you’ve convinced yourself that you’d never in a million years write a song, I know you can. I’ve worked with so many people who were stuck in ‘negative self-talk-myself-out-of-it-talk’, only to find…
Read MoreChildren are resilient? No they aren’t.
“Children are resilient.” That was the statement I heard over and over during our years of family mediation. What does that mean? Its an adjective, an attribute attached to a noun. And words like strong, tough, hardy, bouyant, and irrepressible are used as synonyms. Children are resilient? No they aren’t. Maybe some are in some…
Read MoreThe Year of Finishing
Many moons ago, I was a mom raising three kids. I was building a house in the country. I was thinking about what to do when I grew up. I hadn’t become a songwriter yet. I hadn’t started writing books. I was about to go back to school to get a Masters degree. Recently I…
Read More4 Steps to Prime Your Creativity Pump
You do have creative bones, you just don’t know it. The problem isn’t what most non-artists believe about themselves, ie ‘I don’t have a creative bone in my body.’ The problem is we don’t learn how to tap into our creativity. When we’re schooled to do as we’re told it can be hard and scary…
Read MoreBe the Change You Want to See
Speaking of change I’m thinking of changing my name. Well, not actually changing it, just creating a new one. A name to suit the new personae I’ve been working on, a woman of no fixed address who is well on her way to becoming a bestselling author. Meet Ailla Zaeg. She’s an international woman of…
Read MoreMen Need to Read This Too
The Importance of Being Important – Men Need to Know This Too. For the past two years I’ve been writing The Importance of Being Important. The central idea of the book is simple, every one of us is the most important person in the room. It’s a notion that doesn’t sit comfortably with most people,…
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