The Genius of Creative Mornings

Readers of this blog know that I’m head over heels in love with a group called Creative Mornings.

It’s an international group with 188 chapters all over the world.

The Creative Mornings Palm Beach chapter is the one I’ve gotten to know and I try to make as many of their monthly Friday morning meetings as my crazy schedule will permit. I never leave feeling anything other than motivated and inspired. In today’s stress filled world, you can’t put a price on the value of inspiration.

The most recent Creative Mornings was held at Old School Square’s Crest Theatre… a venue near and dear to my heart. I got married in the Crest, gave a few “state of the city” speeches on the stage and have seen some amazing performances over the years ranging from Roger McGuinn of The Byrds and Delray’s own Joe Cotton Band to memorable speeches by former Irish President Mary Robinson, winner of the Presidential Medal of Freedom and Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. It’s a magical place.

So I am always excited to be at the Crest. It feels like home.

The guest speaker at Creative Mornings this month was Sean Scott, a founder of Subculture Coffee. He was very interesting.

Each month, the international body of Creative Mornings comes up with a topic that speakers all over the world address. Sean’s topic was “intention.”
He left me and others thinking about the word and the role intention plays in our lives.

He started with a provocative question: “Do you have an intention for your life?”
It’s quite a question if you think about it.

Because in a fast paced society we often rush from event to event. The months fly by: “Wow, I can’t believe its August already.” Pretty soon years fly by, then decades and you wake up and your 40, 50 or 80 for that matter.

If our lives are devoid of intention we might find that life slips by and those things we had dreamed of doing are suddenly out of reach.

Sean reminded me of that possibility; the very real chance that without intention you can lose time that you cannot ever recover.

He also gave us a valuable perspective on intention.

First, there are ingredients to a life of intention. They include truth, humility, transparency and integrity. If you combine those four traits, you get a good human. He also reminded us that intention is immune to success or failure, which makes sense if you think about it. If you have an intention in life success is a way station and failure is just a hurdle to clear.

But my favorite piece of advice was this: “intention is a long game.”
I love that line.

Intention is a long game.

If we are strong in our intentions we stick with them. It’s not something we instantly achieve or discard.

Creative Mornings is full of people who live creative lives of intention. In a harsh and fast paced world, it’s good to be with people who give a damn. Those words are straight from the Creative Mornings manifesto.

I’ve included the manifesto here with the hopes that I will see you one of these Fridays. I promise you will leave inspired and energized.

Everyone is creative.

 

A creative life requires bravery and action, honesty and hard work. We are here to support you, celebrate with you, and encourage you to make the things you love.

 

We believe in the power of community. We believe in giving a damn. We believe in face-to-face connections, in learning from others, in hugs and high-fives.

 

We bring together people who are driven by passion and purpose, confident that they will inspire one another, and inspire change in neighborhoods and cities around the world.

 

Everyone is welcome.