2021 Meander Challenge
Announcing: Second Annual National Meander Day and Challenge
December 21st is Official Day to Indulge Creative Wanderlust
(Atlanta, GA, October 1, 2021): Silent Thunder Press, publisher of Follow the Meander: An Indirect Route to a More Creative Life announces the 2nd Annual National Meander Day on December 21, 2021. As in its inaugural year, this one-of-a-kind event recognizes the powerful positive influence of purposeful purposelessness, spontaneity, intuition and non-linear thinking on creativity, innovation, and personal resilience. National Meander Day is a day to set process and productivity aside and to indulge creative wanderlust. The day also marks the deadline for submissions to the 2nd Annual Meander Challenge – a creative competition which recognizes the nation’s most compelling meander-inspired artworks.
“River meanders are a wonderful metaphor for the unstoppable, non-linear flow of thinking that brings forth powerful creativity – even in the face of continuous challenges and changes,” said Andrew Dietz, author of Follow the Meander. “These days the ability to personally and mentally meander can be an essential superpower. National Meander Day encourages the creatives among us to indulge that agility and let fresh ideas present themselves rather than trying to yank them forward through brute force,” Dietz added.
Suggested activities for National Meander Day: daydream, play, provoke, get provoked, ideate, stroll aimlessly, fart around, pause, improvise, meditate, jump, decide something by flip of a coin, intuit, explore, invent, be silly, find your beginner’s mind, awaken, nap, wear a clown nose, shuffle and swing, step from a 100 foot pole, dance, do a splash painting, write haiku, weave a river, break all straight lines, throw whipped-cream pies, zig-zag, zag-zig, loop-de-loop, wiggle, squiggle, try oblique strategies, adopt lateral thinking, embrace non-thinking, think like slime mold, listen to stone, see with your ears, hear with your eyes, sit like a mountain, smell flowers, hike with a dog, discover what’s missing, laugh and smile. Then, create something.
Silent Thunder Press is also announcing the second annual Meander Challenge to coincide with National Meander Day 2021. The Meander Challenge encourages participants to submit original creative works inspired by National Meander Day which best embody the ideas espoused in the book, Follow the Meander. These works may be created any time between October 1, 2021 and December 21, 2021. Categories appropriate for submission include visual artwork, writing, music, short film, culinary and related expressive works. One grand prize winner will receive a $250 Amazon gift certificate. Two runners up will each receive a $125 Amazon gift certificate. The first 25 submissions will receive a free copy of Follow the Meander and a newly designed National Meander Day 2021 t-shirt. A digital image of each submission must be made by 9pm ET on December 21, 2021. Must be 18 or older. One submission per participant. Winners will be announced on December 26, 2021. Last year’s winners can be seen here: https://www.andrewdietz.net/blog/mastering-the-meander-challenge
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For Meander Challenge submissions, contact:
For media inquiries about National Meander Day, contact:
Natalie Springfield
Creative Influence
natalie at creativeinfluence.io
404.317.1150