Author: Amber Willingham

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/3hd4tcmddwa2kmwcxvqnr/Amber-Willingham_1.mp4?rlkey=829mmqhuhlvzfk9c2dx6168o7&st=89pt1bzl&dl=0

Hey everyone! I hope you had an incredible holiday full of peace and love and blessings beyond counting.

Just prior to the holidays I had the incredible opportunity to collaborate with David Silver of Silver Artistry and Laura Edmondson of Third Rate Productions on this promotional video. These two are the real deal—I had an absolute blast during the interview! They made me feel like I was just chatting with friends, which, in a way, I was. Yet, they somehow turned our friendly conversation into something professional. Thanks David & Laura for making me look like I know what I’m doing! Click the link and enjoy!

I absolutely adore this Christmas tree! I stumbled upon it online and can’t wait to recreate it as soon as I get home. I have a feeling this might turn out like those yoga pose comparisons where the expert yogi looks magnificent, toned, and graceful, while the amateur ends up looking like a deranged cat attempting ballet.

Nevertheless, Christmas is the perfect time to unleash the creativity we all have hidden inside us and try our hand at something we wouldn’t normally do throughout the year. Like baking cookies and decorating them with icing and sprinkles—would you do that in August? Never! Or crafting Christmas ornaments to hang on the tree. I’ve always dreamed of having one of those Christmas trees with perfectly matching ornaments that look like they belong in a Macy’s display. But every December, my “creative” side kicks in, and my kids and I end up making our own decorations. Sometimes, I buy ornaments throughout the year from places we visit or ones that represent something my kids did that year, like a sport, an instrument, or now, college.

Whatever the endeavor, letting that creativity loose has always been good for my soul. I never really thought of myself as “creative,” and honestly, I still don’t. But Christmas somehow allows me to dream the impossible dream and let my moment of inspiration shine. It’s displayed on my dining room table for all to see for a month until it gets cleaned up and packed away in a bin to be stored in the attic until next year when I’ll use my pent-up creativity to make it look even better.

I hope you have the best most creative Christmas ever! Enjoy the holidays and allow yourself to create whatever is on your heart this season.

I had the pleasure of sitting down with my friend Laura Edmundson of Third Rate Productions and answering some questions that readers have asked about Bliss Creek. The question-and-answer session was such an eye opener and a blessing. Many of these questions made me contemplate the book and my career in ways that I hadn’t considered before, so THANK YOU. I learned that some takeaways from Bliss Creek were not something I even considered while writing the book.

I find it so interesting that what we get out of a book is often times a by-product of our life experiences and background, ultimately resulting in different views of the same book. We don’t all have the same perspective, and perspective can change the takeaway. I feel this way when doing podcasts as well. I am asked existential questions that make me go beyond the story, beyond the words that are on the paper and ask myself why. To say I am often surprised at my own answers would be an understatement.

I hope you enjoy the Q & A as well as the Podcast on True Life with George Monty which was posted earlier this week. Finally, thank you. Thank you for reading, thank you for keeping me grounded, thank you for making me think, thank you for taking me out of my comfort zone.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Mahalo