Mary Frank

"There are times when I can't work, can't do anything.  I can't concentrate, I get scattered, feel I'm dying . . . ."

— Mary Frank

English Artist

1933 -

Being a creative leader is very challenging and many times we work against ourselves.  Our minds find excuses why we can't work.   What we don't realize is that this down time is actually good for us because it helps us create.  We need the down time even if we feel guilty about it.  For a five year period after I was diagnosed with prostate cancer, I was very productive, often writing two poems a day or more.  The last two years I have seen my productivity dwindle.  There are days now where I don't write a single poem, but that is okay because my mind and heart need to replenish themselves.  Sure, sometimes I feel guilty, but I know one day I will return to work.  I have had years where I have written 700 - 800 poems and other years where I write 40 - 50.  Am I being lazy?  No, I am recharging my creative batteries.

Mary Frank

Photo by Kate Joyce

"Decisions are like butterflies.  Their tongues are like springs, coils.  Butterflies go from one flower to the next looking for nectar, extending their coils, testing every flower.  I'm looking for nectar, too."

—  Mary Frank

British Artist

1933 - 

Do you have decisions that you have delayed making?  Are you riding the fence, not sure which path to take?  Making decisions is rarely easy.  Most of us struggle to make the right decision.  Yet maybe, we should be like the butterfly, flitting from one flower to next, testing every decision and not worrying about whether we make the right one or not.  Every decision will take us somewhere; and I believe that no matter what decision we make, we arrive where we were meant to be.  So be off with you now.  Go seek the nectar of the flowers.