Here's to Creative Maladjustment

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“The saving of our world from pending doom will come, not through the complacent adjustment of the conforming majority, but through the creative maladjustment of a nonconforming minority.” 
~ Rev Dr Martin Luther King Jr ~

I love that quote. I find it comforting. I'm sure he didn't mean it to apply specifically to artists and vegans, but I imagine we're included, because the Reverend Doctor was a most inclusive sort of guy. I'm taking his words in today, and feeling the love. I'm letting it be okay, and even preferable to be my creatively maladjusted self. What a relief. From here I can do my job. From a place of trying to fit in with what's "normal"... well, nothing gets done.

I still have no definitive decision regarding the Flower Beads. As much as I want to turn the idea of A Year Without Flowers into a project, I'm not sure I have the stamina, or the passion it takes to do, or not do, something for an entire year. Anything less seems... weak. To me anyway. Blah, blah, blah. Living in my head can be exhausting. 

It's taken me half a month to get around to doing a Bead Giveaway. I really do intend to do this every month, and maybe next month I'll be better organized. This time around, we have only about a week to do this, because I'm going to Mexico on the 26th. I don't know what the prize is yet. Hmmm, maybe one of those Flower Beads in my stash. Yes. That's it. I'll post a pic later. For now, if you want to win, just leave a comment on this blog, or my other one, PositivelyVegan. To keep it fair, just leave one comment per post, but you can comment on as many older posts as you like, and you can comment on both blogs every day. The other way to enter is to sign up for my mailing list. If you've done that since the last Giveaway, I've already got you in the contest. I did think that far ahead! So now, comment away. And the more thoughtful, the better.

I have an ulterior motive in this. Well, two actually. I love to see the discussions that happen here when you all open up and join in. I love the sense of community. I love that you begin to get to know each other. I love the connection. That's coming from my "change the world" side. My "a girl's gotta make a living" side wants hits and comments to my blogs because it makes them more visible to search engines. On a good day I'll get around 100 hits to this blog, and maybe 40 to the other one. "Real Bloggers" get 10,000 hits and upward in a day... I'll probably never be Real, but that's okay. I promise to stay creatively maladjusted, and to keep trying to make the world a better place for all of us to live. I have beads, food, and love to offer, and that's a pretty good place to start.

Comments

  1. DianeJanuary 16, 2012 at 8:00 AM

    I have enjoyed reconnecting with you via your blog. I enjoyed the quote from the post - sometimes I think this quote represents the whole town of Taos. Have a great snowy day. Sorry, but your flower beads are still my favorites.

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  2. AnonymousJanuary 16, 2012 at 8:03 AM

    Very awesome quote! Thanks for the chance to win your giveaway :)

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  3. AnonymousJanuary 16, 2012 at 8:11 AM

    You know I love your beads. To have a chance to win one is great. Thanks, Suzie

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  4. mckinney37397January 16, 2012 at 8:12 AM

    very fitting quote-still love your flower beads would love to win one

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  5. ConnieJanuary 16, 2012 at 8:23 AM

    From SW Mo it is 59 degrees and sunny here...it should be snowing...love your beads...the one I make will never be a lovely as yours...plus I haven't made any in a year..but things are looking up...sometimes u have to rest to refresh...God is good!

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  6. knitterbJanuary 16, 2012 at 8:26 AM

    I love the quote. I don't very often comment on things I read, but I do read your blog often and enjoy it.
    I don't remember ever entering one of your give aways.
    I enjoy the beads I have purchased from you every day, as I have them hanging In my kitchen window.

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  7. DebraJanuary 16, 2012 at 8:30 AM

    Enjoy getting warm in Mexico!!!

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  8. windycindyJanuary 16, 2012 at 8:40 AM

    Thank God for a man like
    Martin Luther King...
    As the song says, he left us
    way too soon!
    Thanks for giving away your
    handmade beads.
    Cindi
    jchoppes[at]hotmail[dot]com

    ReplyDelete
  9. jaime hJanuary 16, 2012 at 8:40 AM

    I miss you when you don't BLOG!!
    Vacationing in Mexico sounds WONDERFUL! No snow here but windchill was 0 this morning!
    Jaime H

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  10. Jean Katherine BaldridgeJanuary 16, 2012 at 8:48 AM

    I am commenting here to say that quote really moved me and heading to your other blog. Positively Vegan, because I love it very much. !!!
    love, jean

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  11. HannahJanuary 16, 2012 at 8:55 AM

    I hope you enjoy Mexico! I spent some time there years ago, and would love to go back.

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  12. AnonymousJanuary 16, 2012 at 8:56 AM

    Beads, food and love, what could be better!
    Love everything that you do, but the flowers are still my favorite.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Teri SJanuary 16, 2012 at 9:04 AM

    A chance to win a gorgeous Kim Miles creation! Crossing my fingers and toes as we speak.

    And God bless the victims and families of the doomed Costa ship.

    Teri

    ReplyDelete
  14. PAJanuary 16, 2012 at 9:14 AM

    Thank you for the quote, Kim. As to beads...I truly love the flower ones. I fell in love with them years ago & have some I bought when I met you at the Santa Fe Bead Fest in 2004. I can't bear to give them away but have not made anything with them either; I just take them out often to admire & enjoy just that I "have" them. Crazy I know. But...now that I have those & some other flower ones from later years, I think I already have enough flowers. I immediately fell in love with the Laughy Taffy ones & LOVE the ones I bought. So...I can't wait to see what your creative mind & hands come up with over the next year. Have fun in Mexico!

    ReplyDelete
  15. SueJanuary 16, 2012 at 9:51 AM

    Kim, enjoy your snowy day. MLK was an inspiration to so many, it is good to reflect on his quote. A year without flowers would be like a year without air to me...maybe you can make them only when you need a good relaxing breath to strengthen you for the next phase of the creative journey.

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  16. M-EJanuary 16, 2012 at 10:01 AM

    "Creative maladjustment." I like it!! I, too, find it comforting as well as encouraging. My "day job" is in technology and I couldn't help but think of Steve Jobs, one of the nonconforming minority no doubt.

    How about modifying your challenge to "A Season Without Flowers". I don't at all think it would be weak. It's still a creative challenge and one that is surely to produce something fantastic. My Laffy Taffy beads were waiting for me after a long week of business travel and I LOVE them!! I wish I had time to create something with them before getting back on an airplane tomorrow.
    When I'm on the road, I tend to read your blogs via the e-mail update. I will try to find more opportunities to read it online so your hit count goes up. When you start seeing hits from peculiar places, it's me. :)
    Enjoy your trip to Mexico! We'll be looking forward to hearing about it when you return. Safe travels! xx M-E

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  17. JoyceKJanuary 16, 2012 at 10:21 AM

    Have a fun, safe trip to Mexico. Love this quote from MLK....good to pause and reflect on his life. Thanks once more for your generosity in sharing your beads. Would love to have one. XXX000's

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  18. SabrinaDesignJanuary 16, 2012 at 10:39 AM

    Love the Quote!
    I don't think I could go a year without making flowers. I'm 100% flower child/girl/lover in real life as well as in beads.

    ReplyDelete
  19. AnonymousJanuary 16, 2012 at 10:55 AM

    Thanks for having a bead give away. I love your flower beads -- they are like no others.
    Colleen W

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  20. AnonymousJanuary 16, 2012 at 11:14 AM

    Why not try a week or month without flowers to start. Though I am a lover of flower beads myself.
    Wendy T.

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  21. KarinJanuary 16, 2012 at 11:25 AM

    I love the beads I've gotten from you! Never mind, you can be Real like the Velveteen Rabbit!

    ReplyDelete
  22. MichelleJanuary 16, 2012 at 11:51 AM

    Dear Kim, I must tell you that our local council (here in the UK) have just decided, for the first time, to plant ~ and did last month as I watched the man in the tractor doing it, plant wild flower seeds in the park next door to us! Now I can't wait until Spring to see all the beautiful wild flowers come up and it will be like having all your beautiful flower beads to look at every day all over the grass !! xox Michelle

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  23. AnonymousJanuary 16, 2012 at 12:05 PM

    Kim, artists and thinkers who are not joiners and who don't have a political or group voice are sometimes call "The Cultural Creatives" - a term coined by Ray and Anderson in a book by that title. They maintain those 50 million CCs are changing the world. Vegans and artists are obvioiusly a part of that very independent movement. Norine

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  24. AnonymousJanuary 16, 2012 at 1:28 PM

    i completed your lovely bead giveaway in paris today. photo coming of the last one. love, katy
    and keep up the creative maladjustment. i'm there!

    ReplyDelete
  25. KrispvJanuary 16, 2012 at 3:25 PM

    You inspire me. Still trying to get to my vegetarian roots via your bead making & cooking blogs. Stay tuned.

    ReplyDelete
  26. AnonymousJanuary 16, 2012 at 4:56 PM

    Oh Kim...you're a real blogger to me. Maybe you'll never reach 10,000hits, but you have two blogs and a great artistic talent for beads (whether they have flowers or not)and Vegan cooking. I'm looking forward to what the year brings and if there are not flowers for a while that's OK, too. Never say never, just let the juices flow.
    Linda in Tucson

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  27. NanetteJanuary 16, 2012 at 5:00 PM

    I love all your beads and wear at least one daily. Love this chance to win one.

    ReplyDelete
  28. The MicheleJanuary 16, 2012 at 9:49 PM

    Don't remember how I happened upon you all those years ago (before you ever did your Lotus beads) but am glad I did. I remember chomping at the bit, trying to get a bead before it sold. I love my Snow Globe (my Christmas present to myself) with the colors of the Aurora Borealis. I don't consider you "maladjusted" at all.

    ReplyDelete
  29. AnonymousJanuary 17, 2012 at 6:15 AM

    Personally, I have always found the artists to be the most centered and well adjusted people! Thank you Kim for your generousity and consistant reminders of the importance of putting others first. Hope that you have a great time in Mexico! Diane in Pa.

    ReplyDelete
  30. YvonneJanuary 17, 2012 at 1:31 PM

    Kim, of course you are Real. Numbers are just that, but you offer so much fun and wit in your blog here.

    Thanks for an opportunity to win a gorgeous floral bead.

    Enjoy Mexico!

    ReplyDelete
  31. JerrieJanuary 17, 2012 at 8:35 PM

    Kim, MLK was a courageous man. Who would think though, in 2012, we would still be facing the vast discrimination war, especially in our great state of New Mexico?!? Being an American woman of Irish/German heritage and having two sons with my roots and their father's Hispanic roots, not a week goes by that one of them is belittled in some way or another. We are living in sad, perilous times. Thank you for making beautiful beads to give us some joy each day. J

    ReplyDelete
  32. Michelle RockettJanuary 18, 2012 at 1:43 PM

    I'll admit, I don't read your blog every day, or every week for that matter (I'm actually in a position where I can only check my mail once a week if I'm lucky), but I find your posts to be enlightening and inspiring. I enjoy them when I DO get the chance to read them. :)

    ReplyDelete
  33. Texan Zombie GoddessJanuary 20, 2012 at 4:23 AM

    A real blogger is one that cares, who is fun, interesting and keeps you coming back for more. I love both your blogs and to me, love, you are as real a blogger as one can get <3.

    Penny \IiiI

    ReplyDelete
  34. BrandiJanuary 20, 2012 at 4:16 PM

    Aunt Kim,
    Your a real blogger, real beadist, real artist and really FABULOUS. Love you : )

    Brandi

    ReplyDelete

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