Featherstone Chronicles

  Take a few pictures of places or spaces that you find welcoming and explain the characteristics that contribute to that feeling. There is a place at work that I go to often called, "The Serenity Room". Our employers put it in place for anyone who is needs peace and quiet, a place to eat lunch, or just simply a retreat for someone who needs it, or who needs to decompress from a bad day. The room is a pastel Mint Green with a calming feel and pictures of a peaceul place. There is almost a Zen to the room and a welcoming couch and table with one window. I occasionally will invite the cats Ladybug and Cricket to come inside if they want somewhere new to rest or my company. They often like exploring since they don't go in there very often. (We have them on the training floor for socialization with our service dogs). 

  Blog Topics for Week 7.  Write on a topic and include images that inspire you. You may choose your own topic or use one of the prompts below. Take a picture of something you find inspiring. Write a few words about it. I had to take a picture of a photograph that represented today. I work at a company called Freedom Service Dogs, and our graduation for our dogs that were placed with clients was held earlier this afternoon in an auditorium. I found this inspiring because of the stories that our clients shared and how having a service dog helped improve their lives tremendously.  Being mindful of what we are grateful for can help us be more attuned to what's happening in and around lives. Capture something for which are you are grateful through a photograph, sketch, or writing. Below is a photo of a Poodle named Oakley. He was a wonderful dog (one of many) that I helped care for and worked with half of this year. He was recently placed in Florida with a woman who has Autis...

  Blog Topic for Week 6.  Write on a topic and include images that inspire you. You may choose your own topic or use one of the prompts below. Take a walk to a familiar place and try to pay attention to new details. Either photograph, sketch, or write about things you noticed that you haven’t before. My partner and I went for a walk at our favorite park (Crown Hill park). We go to this park often but it was different this time because of the peak Fall colors and bird sanctuary finally being open. The leaves were fully change, which was a different from the lush green or leafless look we are used to seeing. The ducks were extremely animated/social in the lake with each other, there were more deer in the herd of 3 that we saw last a month ago, and more baby bunnies hopping around than usual. Then it dawned on me, I don't think I had been to this area in peak Fall? This has been the most lush season I have seen in Denver by far. Probably because we got so much rain this summer. C...

  Describe a time you took a risk. How did you overcome feelings of inadequacy, fear, and/or vulnerability? What did you learn from the experience? This is very long and rambly lol but I think it will be healing to write about it.                Last Fall, I took a risk of quitting and leaving my toxic corporate job of 5+ years in order to attend school full-time. I had been trying to garner up the courage for years to leave. Being in my early 30's, I had major trepidation - as this was risky due to my need to have health insurance coverage at this age. Ultimately though, the nature of my job involved handling cases/complaints and was taking a huge toll on my mental health.    I finally reached a breaking point after my leadership wouldn't approve PTO for a break I desperately needed. I had wanted to see my family in Atlanta during the holidays  (even after explaining that I had not seen them for 2 YEARS due to Covid)...

  In what ways do you see yourself as creative? What roadblocks do you sometimes find yourself coming up against as you nurture your creativity?     I see myself as creative when it comes to doing art and paying attention to details. I have drawn since I was little, did painting in highschool, and then took a hiatus for a while to pursue another career. I also put down my hobby for this period because I didn't feel talented enough at one point in my life - which is one of my bigger regrets. Being around other artists made me my own worst critic when I was younger and more insecure.  Now however, I have re-visted and come back to art after accomplishing my other career - where it took its own course.  I still will say that other artists and designers give me a run for my money! Haha. The feeling is different now though, as it now inspires me. It is easy to compare myself to others but it does push me to improve my design, and getting feedback and constructive cri...

  What drew you to take a class on creativity? I'll have to be upfront and honest here - it was a requirement of the school. That being said, I appreciate that it is a class I need to take. I often run into creative blocks and need more tools lately to open up my mind to creative ideas. I think overall, it was a credit that is needed because I decided to go into design - specifically digital design. If I boil it down to the sole reason, creating makes me feel alive and it brings out the best in me. I feel like art is one of the few positive and beautiful things that humans contribute to this world and if it is left behind when we are all gone - I can't say that we were a total loss.   What do you do to inspire your creativity? I like to do various things. My classmate and I were recently talking about how we don't like it when we are given too broad of an assignment to come up with anything. We need it narrowed down to a theme or subject, so we came up with a word or subj...

  Visit the website  https://theindexproject.org/  (Links to an external site.)  Choose one INDEX award winner or nominee and review their profile and design. Write a comment about the design or invention.          I chose Flash Forest for my index winner. I like the idea of replanting forests and increasing the biodiversity of trees. I will argue a little known fact however. Oceanic plankton is responsible for more than 70% of our oxygen. Plus, oceans produce more oxygen than all trees combined. It would be nice to have a focus on helping preserve this in some ways. There is a chain effect in whales being important for the oceans ecosystem in order to produce food for the plankton and vice versa to feed the whales -. That being said, I still don't want to discount this idea - just want to point out that trees are considered a more minimal percentage when it comes to the amount of forest it take to remove carbon dioxide that will amount ...