Kim Wright is an experienced public speaker and presenter; her favorite subject is exploring the myriad and surprising ways creativity can enhance your life.  She offers a one-day "Creative Cafe" intensive, covering all four of the topics below and includes a workbook to help participants better implement the exercises they'll encounter during this fast-paced and dynamic day.  The topics below are also available as individual two-hour workshops. ​

Workshop Topics

Clear the Space

In order for new ideas and activities to come in,  old ideas/activities have to be cleared out.  Don't think of it as getting rid of things, think of it as releasing - as opening up to what writers and artists call "the white space on the page."  That great blank openness may feel scary, but it's the start of all real creative growth.

All clutter, whether physical or mental, represents a decision we haven't yet made.  It could be the pants in our closet we still believe we'll diet back into but it can just as easily be an idea that no longer fits.  As long as we hold on to this clutter, we can claim to be overwhelmed and thus postpone creating the sort of rituals that create a more meaningful, dynamic life.

This workshop will help you find the time and space to get lost, explore, entertain new ideas, reevaluate and even - gasp! - take the occasional nap.  Why?  Because creativity comes in through these rest beats, these still silent pauses in the day.  We will explore why some of the most productive people have stripped down, low-maintenance lives and how to simplify our own daily routines. 
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You can't get truly creative until you've found that blank white page.

​"Kim is one of the most organized, insightful, and entertaining presenters I know.  She quickly connects with participants and keeps everyone laughing as she pushes the group to see creative dilemmas from new perspectives."  
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-Kathie Collins, Co-Founder, Charlotte Center for Literary Arts

Fail It Up

​​​"I interviewed Kim for a charity literary event in Memphis before an audience of 600.  Her story was so enthralling that I became lost and forgot to ask my follow-up questions.  She's a genuine entertainer at complete ease, whether speaking to 10 people or 1000." 
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-Darrell Greene, News Anchor

​One of the major things creative people do is fail.  They fail a lot.

And here's the big secret.  They do it on purpose.

Step two in developing a more creative life is to do things we're not naturally good at.  Growth comes from learning and most especially learning something brand new - getting back to beginner's mind and being willing to explore topics that have very little to do with our stated areas of expertise.

We resist this.  We don't want to do the new stuff.  We're not good at the new stuff.  It's just so...new.

But multiple studies, both medical and psychological, have looked at precisely this issue and concluded that if you're willing to start out, Lewis and Clark style, across a great unexplored territory, the benefits can be tremendous.  Not only does it fire up your creativity, but making the switch from expert mind to beginner's mind also encourages a healthy release of ego and is the single most important thing you can do to keep your brain supple and young.
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(In fact, because of research showing that neural pathways can be created and strengthened throughout life, the FAIL IT UP workshop, which focuses on the benefits of lifelong learning, is especially relevant to groups with an interest in successful aging.  It can be broken apart from the Creative Cafe format and renamed "The Number One Secret to Successful Aging.")

Create Meaningful Rituals

​What do successful creatives have that the rest of us don't?  It isn't willpower.  In fact, most of them will tell you that willpower doesn't exist. 

Instead they've created meaningful rituals, ways to make the changes they wish to bring into their lives as automatic as brushing their teeth.  They understand that when it comes to making a major change you can't wait until the timing is perfect...because it never will be.  You can't wait until you want to do it...because the odds are you never will.  Successful creatives are masters at finding and using small natural breaks within the day,  piggybacking new behaviors onto existing behaviors, and letting our natural human tendency toward ritualization work in their favor.
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But it's not enough to have rituals if they aren't meaningful, so this workshop will also re-visualize that tired old saw "What's your core value?"  We'll dive below the surface for this one, going beyond things like "honesty" or "justice" that we know SHOULD be our core values, and using a simple but powerful technique for zeroing in on each person's individual key motivator.  That way we're not just learning techniques to implement daily change - we're making sure it's the right sort of change for each participant

"Kim was the guest speaker at our library spring author tea, the major fundraiser of our season, and thrilled the audience with her energy and insight."   
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​-Susan Ashworth, Union Country Public Library

Find Your Tribe

​"Kim is a thoughtful speaker. 
​You can count on her to be both entertaining and inspiring." 
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-Wanda Jewell, Executive Director, Southern Independent Booksellers Association

​There's a Native American phrase "A wolf can't howl until he finds his tribe." 

Or is it "A wolf can't find his tribe until he learns how to howl"?

Hmmm....Either way, it boils down to the same idea.  In order to sustain your creative growth through its inevitable ups and downs, you need a community of like-minded explorers.
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It would be nice if we could just all flash our decoder rings, but unfortunately it doesn't work like that. Finding and sustaining a creative community can be tricky, partly because the true innovators among us don't always look and act like we expect them to.  The issue is further complicated by the fact that many creatives are natural introverts, convinced they must retreat into their caves to produce work.  And there is some truth to a need for solitude and silence, but the creative life has a bit of a quest to it as well, and when setting out for uncharted territory it helps to have fellow travelers.  This workshop will focus on how to connect to creative opportunities in your own community,  participate in and even host collective activities, and best support and be supported by the others in your tribe.

COSTS:  The full-day creativity intensive is $1500.  Individual workshops are $500.  Kim's travel costs are the responsibility of the organization.   If you wish attendants to have a Creative Cafe workbook, the cost is $10 per participant.