Creativity Success Story

Soul Food Cafe

A bountiful banquet and creative sanctuary for artists & writers

By Heather Blakey

As a child, under southern skies, my days were spent in imaginary worlds, soaked in mythos, reading, writing and riding on the back of the winged Pegasus. It was during those hours of solitary dreaming, within the safety of my private universe, that the seeds of the cyber writing sanctuary, The Soul Food Café, were sown.

The Soul Food Cafe as it exists today is a product of imagineering, born of a creative dreaming and dogged persistence. The fantasy world of Soul Food emerged as I strove to prove that it is enough to simply write. It sprang from a mission to make writing accessible to all who desire to write, from a need to break down the myth that the only real writer is the published author.

I entered the New World of cyber space when I pulled up my sleeves and applied the technology that computer geeks had invented. When I applied their tools to promote writing I observed an alchemical shift. The web became a calling and I created the kind of community that computer people like to talk of, but which is, in reality, as rare as hens teeth.

As time has passed The Soul Food Café has gained a life of its own. It has become a true oasis in a desert, a place where the tired and thirsty come to drink of the creative waters, sing their personal songs and, in so doing, re-invent themselves. The Soul Food Cafe has become a sanctuary, a delicious, divine release from reality, a place where the weary and the thirsty can feast upon myth and nourish creativity.

Within these magic, virtual, walls lies an atmospheric haven where fragile, sometimes timid writers can publish, share their knowing, express their deepest fears and reclaim their imagination. Within the fantasy world of Lemuria there is fellowship, yet, for so many, this world feels like it has been created especially for them, tailored to meet their individual needs, built so they can live out their private mythology in a private garden of Eden.

How did this transpire? At what moment did I transcend my dream and create a vibrant, safe, creative cyber community where the creative congregate?

I transcended my dream and began to live my vision at the moment when I claimed the Raven as a totem. Throughout time the Raven has carried the medicine of magic. Today the Raven is the courier that carries energy flow from my keyboard to the world beyond. It is the Raven who guides and directs me, who has named me and provided direction for my web design. Astride cyber waves we carry energy, seek energy, make links to rich powerhouses, tap gently on chamber doors and tempt more and more of the thirsty to come for a glimpse of the silken magic, mythos, ambience and mood that is so much a part of the Soul Food Cafe.

I transcended my dream when I reached within the deep loam of a powerful creative force known variously as Duende, Pakaramdam, Nommo, Mana, The Dreaming, or the Muse. I surpassed my wildest expectations when I felt the heat of this creative force conspire to build a magnetic doorway, whose energy draws kindred spirits to enter, seemingly by chance.

These days I look in wonder at what Soul Food is becoming. I now choose to soak myself in mythos, write, read and ride the wings of a blue-black, iridescent bird amid a flock. There is plenty of space out here in this exciting cyber world! You too can clamber astride the wings of this magical bird and share the fellowship. You too can reclaim your dreams within the safe, non-judgmental environment of Soul Food and, in so doing, actively live out your wildest creative vision. •

© 2005 Heather Blakey. All rights reserved.

Soul Food Cafe at www.dailywriting.net caters to artists, writers, bloggers, journalers, and other creatives by providing a rich banquet of imagination-inducing prompts, spiritual activities, and interactive forums. Both Heather Blakey and Soul Food Cafe have been featured in Creativity Portal's spotlight and continue to astound and inspire Web travelers far and wide.

11/25/05