I recently was reminded of this while reading If You Want To Write, by the famous writing teacher Brenda Ueland. "It is our nasty 20th century materialism that makes us feel, what is the use of writing, painting, etc. unless one has an audience or gets paid for it," she writes. "If you read the letters of the painter Van Gogh, you will see what his creative impulse was. It was just this: he loved something, the sky, say. He wanted to show human beings how beautiful the sky was. So he painted it for them. And that was all there was to it." Ueland wrote these words in 1938, and they've only gained more truth in the past 60 years.

Sometimes, a communal effort can help you shake off bad habits and embrace creativity.

My friend Anne recently decided to make a career change and join Radical Change, a company that works with businesses to discover their core purpose, values and vision. Anne's passion is in enabling people to create and lead sustainable change in their organizations as well to help them live and work in a more authentic way. To celebrate her new career, Anne invited a group of us over to sample a workshop on creativity through collaging. I confess, I hadn't made a collage in years -- probably, since 3rd grade. But the experience gave me a new set of priorities, a supportive creative community, and a very tangible symbol of my dreams.

A collage party is a great way to have fun, access your creativity and support your friends in their creative journeys, amidst your otherwise busy schedule. Here's how to have one of your own:

- Bring materials. Anne asked each of us to bring at least three favorite magazines, as well as other materials -- pictures hanging on the refrigerator, catalogs on the coffee table. She supplied poster board, tape and glue, scissors, restful music, and refreshments.

- Think of a question you'd like answered. What has been on your mind a lot lately? If you had one question about your life you could have answered right now, what would it be? You might have several questions, big and small questions. Try to narrow in on one question/theme to focus on. My big question has been, what kind of environment would really express my true self? So I grabbed a bunch of Architectural Digest, Sierra, and National Geographic Adventure magazines.

- When you start the evening, make your wish and write it down. You might wish for a dream job, a mate, or, like me, the ideal home environment.

- Next, search your magazines for words and images. Cut out whatever interests you and don't censor yourself at this point.

- Review your material. Put aside the imagery/words that don't map to your theme. And, select one image that represents your creative self.

- Assemble your collage. Place your creative self image in the center of the board, and seek out word/image combinations. Arrange the board to your liking, and when you're satisfied, glue it together.

- Articulate your vision in words. Review your work by writing down your first thoughts -- for example, "I have found the job of my dreams. It is..."

- Gather as a group to share what you've learned. In reviewing my collage, I saw images of houses in Montana with horses, views of mountains, gardens -- things I hadn't thought about since I was a child. It's seemed more practical, somehow, to live in a city for the past 15 years. It's been a revelation to recognize I'm not necessarily the urbanite I assumed I was. My friend David is an artist who was recently laid off from a dot com. His collage revealed he's bridging two worlds -- that of creativity and work. Through collage, he recognized he'd like to try to live in Hawaii half the year and create art there. Anne's collage showed the importance of lifelong friendships in her life. Whatever your revelation, sharing it with others will give you support and a feeling of community.

- Find a place at home to display your dream and spend time reviewing it when you get up in the morning or go to bed at night. Look for the clues in your life to make your dream a reality. Consider delving deeper into areas in the collage you may have questions about. Harness your energy and take positive action.

Your life is shaped by the questions you ask of it. Imagine the difference in your life if your propelling question is "What will my neighbors think?" versus "How can I live an authentic, balanced life?" Spend some time formulating your questions, and your answers -- and there are many -- will come more easily.

Most of all, remember to believe in yourself and your own power to make your inner desires realities. It's easy to sell short your unique creative abilities, but as Brenda Ueland suggests, "The joyful, imaginative impassioned energy we all have as children dies out of us very young because we don't keep it alive by using it. And because we don't keep it alive in others by listening to them."

Elisabeth Keating (e-mail Elisabeth)

Elisabeth is a regular contributor to the GoodLetter. She works at Microsoft as a senior editor on the Office.NET team and has created educational Web sites and magazines for the likes of PBS, Scholastic, and Children's Television Workshop. She's known as a Cat Whisperer by her friends due to her uncanny ability to communicate with cats of all nationalities, sizes, colors and shapes. [ Check out a few of her favorite goodthings ]

[what did you think of this story?]