JoDee Luna

Professional Creative Eclectic

Refrain from the Identical is a self-help/creativity book for people who simply cannot commit to a single form of creative expression. Author JoDee Luna proudly describes herself as a “creative eclectic,” and draws from a lifetime of artistic pursuits to offer hope, encouragement, and advice for others who, like her, thrive on myriad artistic expressions.

“This book is so freeing for those of us who need to be encouraged in the busyness of life to let our creativity soar!” – Donna Mast

“I cried while reading your manuscript. For the first time in my life, I knew there wasn’t anything wrong with me. I may be scattered and love doing different kinds of art, but now I know that I’m ok. I’m a ‘Creative Eclectic!’” – Carrie Fisher

“JoDee Luna is a strong, passionate woman who not only enjoys the arts but also wants to use them to be able to give back and build foundations for those people who have not been given the same opportunities.” – Mary Kramer  Director Production
Walt Disney Television

 

Author Bio

“I’m lost in a love affair with portrait painting.”

Although JoDee’s current passion for figurative painting is all-consuming, her creative journey traces back to childhood.

Raised with a paintbrush, crochet needle, or sculpting dough in hand, JoDee inherited her creative temperament from her Italian mother, who JoDee sees as a master of living comfortably with shifting creative rhythms.

JoDee’s own creative shifts took her to the Netherlands as an early adult, where she worked as a leader with a creative arts urban mission. Her artistic quests led and comforted her through a divorce, a long period of single parenthood, a journey back to school, a career as a teacher, and then an instructional coach for the Lancaster School District.

During her free time today, when she isn’t painting portraits, you will find JoDee gardening, blogging, dabbling in mixed media, crafting hand-made masks, writing, shooting photos, arranging flowers, dancing, or collaborating with her daughters on any of the above. When she’s not creating, she is most likely sleeping…and dreaming about the next project.

Here are some excerpts from her book:

Refrain from the Identical: Insight and Inspiration for Creative Eclectics

by JoDee Luna

 “I marvel at your delicate prose and the soft eyes that you appreciate life with.” – Camille Cox

“Why can’t you just focus on one thing?”

If anyone can empathize with the frustration of this question, it is author JoDee Luna. A career educator, Luna has spent a lifetime dabbling in a wide variety of creative endeavors. Trouble is—she finds it difficult to “just choose one,” often to the chagrin of friends and family.  “For those blessed with a creative mind (and it really is a blessing, trust me), the idea of zooming in on just one thing is an anathema. We just can’t do it—nor do we want to!”  Luna shows the reader another option: Embrace your eclectic, rabbit-trail-chasing personality, and even learn the benefits that your creative mind offers.

 

Becoming More Creative

Refrain from the Identical is filled with helpful hints, journal prompts, and ideas for nurturing your creative juices.  Luna offers tips like these—

• Remind yourself that loving so much of life is not a bad thing. While others walk right by a blossoming rose, you take close-up pictures. 
• Creativity begets creativity. Hang around with other creative souls and your imagination will grow. 
• Proactively deal with your disappointment over not having enough time.. Instead, take stock of wasted moments… We can harvest lost minutes for our imaginations when we resist “just one more reality show,” and the tendency to live vicariously through others’ creative adventures.

 

Celebrate your creative self, grow in your gifts, and learn to manage a personality that tends to shift wildly from one interest to the next.