OK. I know I said blogs were narcissistic. That I did not want to write about me and my life. All because I saw the movie Julie and Julia! But heck, what else do I have to share from but my personal experience? So, here's your chance to change channels!
I've been having creative issues. I've been blocked! This is nothing new for me, or you I suspect. I heard the same from a few of you. I think that as creative people we need to realize that our creativity is something to be nurtured. Like a muscle that does not get used, your creativity can atrophy!
Do you ever try to create something and it doesn't come out as you had planned? Does that lead to frustration or can you just shake it off? And what if it happens more than once? I happen to be very sensitive to what I consider failure! There are times when I ask myself "and who told you that you were an artist?" I frequently consider myself a hack! Because I frequently "feel" that I have failed! That leads to a kind of creative inactivity, which has at times gone on for years! All because of self doubt and "feelings" of inadequacy I spiral into this place where I will do anything but art. A kind of fear sets in. I know, who thinks about this stuff this much??
Friends say, "do the art for the sake of it! Have fun with it!" And while there is truth to that, if you don't try to improve or move toward where you want to go, you stay in the same place! I know that's comfortable, but I'm not sure it's a good thing. I think we should grow. Try new things. Improve our skills. But with that comes the disappointment of not getting there as fast as you thought you should. Or fighting to get something right-which can be exhausting.
And last, the idea that it should always be FUN and JOY! Well, heck, if that were really true, how many of us would ever accomplish anything? I mean really, if it were only that easy! Nothing worthwhile is ever easy!! How different the world would look if some were not striving for excellence. I think excellence is seldom a waste of one's time.
But when it works-it is FUN and JOY! And that's the payoff! Like the Olympics-we train and practice and sometimes we get a medal. Most of the time we don't even place. That's the reality. But, cliche as it may sound, its about the journey. Beating our personal best. Striving to be the best we can be! And sometimes...the only payoff is just knowing you didn't give up!
So if your not, get back in the game! Back in the saddle, back to the easel! If your already in the game, set a few goals and as one of my students said, work to beat your personal best. And remember, you cant get where you want to go if you don't know where that is!
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Sunday, January 17, 2010
The Artist's Way
The blog for this month should most certainly be about new years resolutions. Creative ones. The problem is, you've heard it all before. So how to put a new spin on an old idea was just too taxing for my 2010 brain.
Usually there is something that sparks an idea for a blog and I just run with it. This month that has not been the case. I have played with several ideas and they tanked. This blog is supposed to inspire and encourage you the reader to find the joy in your creativity. To get you out of your chair and into your studio, kitchen, sewing/craft room, or writing desk. (I'm sure I missed an outlet or two) But I'm at a loss. And because I'm at a loss creatively myself, I cannot write about it. Blogs can be very narcissistic as well. And I don't want this blog to be about me or about just my thoughts on creativity. While my experiences may be helpful to motivate others, I don't want to just put my crazy musings online to hear myself write! And are there really that many things to say about getting creative? Well, yes, since creativity is limitless, talking about it is as well! So why cant I blog?
Well, it's called the "block". You've heard of writers "block"? I'm calling it a "creative block". It happens to all of us. The reasons vary and don't really matter. Most people just wait for it to end. And hope it ends soon. But what if it's a long term block? And it's stopping a flow of joy that we get when we find fulfillment in our creative selves and work. So we should take it seriously and get back our joy!
It happens to me more often than I'd like. A long time ago I found a book called "The Artist's Way" by Julia Cameron. She wrote the book after helping countless high profile artists get past their "block". The book is filled with helpful insights and ways to move past whats stopping you and give you a jump start to get back in the game. I highly recommend it, even if your not blocked.
On her website http://www.theartistsway.com/, there is a tool tab that outlines her "basic tools" to start you on you journey. Those would be the Morning Pages and The Artist's Date. I recommend that you go there and read about it. It's for every Artist and is helpful at all times. Give it a look and let me know what you think. I know from personal experience that these tools are helpful, as are the many other exercises she writes about.
So in this new year, lets shake things up a bit. Lets find our creative self and just ooze joy! Welcome 2010!
Usually there is something that sparks an idea for a blog and I just run with it. This month that has not been the case. I have played with several ideas and they tanked. This blog is supposed to inspire and encourage you the reader to find the joy in your creativity. To get you out of your chair and into your studio, kitchen, sewing/craft room, or writing desk. (I'm sure I missed an outlet or two) But I'm at a loss. And because I'm at a loss creatively myself, I cannot write about it. Blogs can be very narcissistic as well. And I don't want this blog to be about me or about just my thoughts on creativity. While my experiences may be helpful to motivate others, I don't want to just put my crazy musings online to hear myself write! And are there really that many things to say about getting creative? Well, yes, since creativity is limitless, talking about it is as well! So why cant I blog?
Well, it's called the "block". You've heard of writers "block"? I'm calling it a "creative block". It happens to all of us. The reasons vary and don't really matter. Most people just wait for it to end. And hope it ends soon. But what if it's a long term block? And it's stopping a flow of joy that we get when we find fulfillment in our creative selves and work. So we should take it seriously and get back our joy!
It happens to me more often than I'd like. A long time ago I found a book called "The Artist's Way" by Julia Cameron. She wrote the book after helping countless high profile artists get past their "block". The book is filled with helpful insights and ways to move past whats stopping you and give you a jump start to get back in the game. I highly recommend it, even if your not blocked.
On her website http://www.theartistsway.com/, there is a tool tab that outlines her "basic tools" to start you on you journey. Those would be the Morning Pages and The Artist's Date. I recommend that you go there and read about it. It's for every Artist and is helpful at all times. Give it a look and let me know what you think. I know from personal experience that these tools are helpful, as are the many other exercises she writes about.
So in this new year, lets shake things up a bit. Lets find our creative self and just ooze joy! Welcome 2010!
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Passion
My dad served in the Air Force twenty six years. He retired when I was in sixth grade. But by then he had a bug. The travel bug. Wander lust. A passion.
My life has been full of travel. There was a week long vacation every year. We usually drove, which I have good/bad memories of! But dad always managed to get away as often as was possible. Although we were comfortable, we were not rolling in the money. But there was always an allocation for travel. We stayed in motel 6 a lot. We found way's to cut back "here" to enjoy more "there".
My mother always wanted to go to Oberammergau in Bavaria to see the "passion play" about the last day's of Jesus. It is performed only every ten years and has been for almost 400 years. The villager's have done this since praying for deliverance from the black plague and war in 1633. Dad took her on a river cruise on the Rhine in 2000 and to see the play. When she returned, she told me that although wonderful, it never occurred to her it would all be in German! But it was an experience of a lifetime, set in some of the most beautiful scenery in the world! And it combined his love of travel and her love of religious history.
I think when you have a passion, it's a force to be reckoned with. It's a drive that has it's own momentum. I think passion is the creative force in all of us. What's your passion? And how, like my dad, do you find a way to make it a part of your life-even when it isn't easy?
Don't let your passion go by the wayside because of any of the many reasons that rival it! You don't need to be rich, thin, happy, talented, retired or anything else to at least find a small space to feed your passion.
Make a pledge, promise or new years resolution to put some "passion" in your life in 2010! Plan for it. Fail to plan, plan to fail. Make it a priority and find a space, some extra $$, a bit of time to feed your passion. This will pay off in way's that cannot be measured.
So, Merry Christmas and Happy New year. But one filled with, wait-did you get it? PASSION!
My life has been full of travel. There was a week long vacation every year. We usually drove, which I have good/bad memories of! But dad always managed to get away as often as was possible. Although we were comfortable, we were not rolling in the money. But there was always an allocation for travel. We stayed in motel 6 a lot. We found way's to cut back "here" to enjoy more "there".
My mother always wanted to go to Oberammergau in Bavaria to see the "passion play" about the last day's of Jesus. It is performed only every ten years and has been for almost 400 years. The villager's have done this since praying for deliverance from the black plague and war in 1633. Dad took her on a river cruise on the Rhine in 2000 and to see the play. When she returned, she told me that although wonderful, it never occurred to her it would all be in German! But it was an experience of a lifetime, set in some of the most beautiful scenery in the world! And it combined his love of travel and her love of religious history.
I think when you have a passion, it's a force to be reckoned with. It's a drive that has it's own momentum. I think passion is the creative force in all of us. What's your passion? And how, like my dad, do you find a way to make it a part of your life-even when it isn't easy?
Don't let your passion go by the wayside because of any of the many reasons that rival it! You don't need to be rich, thin, happy, talented, retired or anything else to at least find a small space to feed your passion.
Make a pledge, promise or new years resolution to put some "passion" in your life in 2010! Plan for it. Fail to plan, plan to fail. Make it a priority and find a space, some extra $$, a bit of time to feed your passion. This will pay off in way's that cannot be measured.
So, Merry Christmas and Happy New year. But one filled with, wait-did you get it? PASSION!
Thursday, November 12, 2009
I love the fall. I love the bold warm colors. I love the crisp chill in the air. I love that the light bends farther and all the colors seem richer. I was born in the fall, so maybe I have a natural association with it. School starts in the fall, and I always got new clothes and got to start all over again in a new (higher) grade!
I like the first fire in the fireplace, the first raking of the leaves, (which, to be honest, I don’t do anymore-but I like to watch Tom!), and the first frost. That is a thing of beauty.
Although it signals the end of summer and a transition to winter I don’t feel it’s the end of summer, or the beginning of the “dreaded” winter. (I actually like winter until about February, and then you can have it back!) Instead I see change. I see the cycle of life. I remember that, “to everything, there is a season”. That unless a plant dies and drops its seed, it cannot continue. Unless the leaves die they stay green and we never see the structure of the underlying branches against a fall sunset. I know there are tropical climates where the trees never lose their leaves, but there are seasons there as well, with cycles of life and death.
Although it signals the end of summer and a transition to winter I don’t feel it’s the end of summer, or the beginning of the “dreaded” winter. (I actually like winter until about February, and then you can have it back!) Instead I see change. I see the cycle of life. I remember that, “to everything, there is a season”. That unless a plant dies and drops its seed, it cannot continue. Unless the leaves die they stay green and we never see the structure of the underlying branches against a fall sunset. I know there are tropical climates where the trees never lose their leaves, but there are seasons there as well, with cycles of life and death.
In that light, it is the death of one thing and a new beginning for another. If you think of fall like that you begin to think in terms of your own life and its cycles. Unless I let go of a thing, good or bad, I cannot grow and move on to new things. Sometimes we want to stay in a perpetual summer. (choose your favorite season) Try as you might to stay in that warm summer sun, the cycle of life has other plans. Change is the only constant in this world! But when you fight that flow, block the rhythm, stifle the natural order of things, to hold on to something you enjoy and is comfortable, you create friction.
There is a similar order to my creative world and maybe yours as well. We need to change and grow in our applications, our processes and our conceptions. We should try to view change as growth and strive to move out of the season that has treated us so well we don’t want to leave! If we keep doing the same things the same way, we don’t grow. If we don’t grow we stagnate and eventually smell! So in the end…its dies anyway! And isn’t that the whole point? It just whether you are going to fight the process or move with it willingly!
So my final thought here is this: just because you prefer one season over another does not mean you cannot find the beauty of that different season with the change and embrace it. Because the truth here is, you can’t stay there long either! Soon fall gives way to the first snowfall, which in turn is followed by the first crocus. And so it goes. I like the permanence of seasonal change! Think deeply, love richly, laugh loudly!
Friday, October 23, 2009
All You Need is Love
Creativity. What is it and how do we get it? Webster’s defines "create" as- “to bring into being; originate, design, invent, ect. 2. To bring about, or cause”. I understand that. But the deeper question for me is-where does it come from. Unless you are God, your creation doesn’t come from nothing! It starts with a thought or idea. Maybe it starts with a feeling or something you see. But my point is it starts in your mind.
Since I believe that there is nothing new under the sun, I think we re-circulate things. We may put a new twist to it, or you may have not seen it before-so it’s new to you, but the reality is in the infamous words of the Beatles:
There's nothing you can do that can't be done
Nothing you can sing that can't be sung
Nothing you can say, but you can learn how to play the game
It's easy!
Nothing you can make that can't be made
No one you can save that can't be saved
Nothing you can do, but you can learn how to be you in time
It's easy!
Nothing you can know that isn't known
Nothing you can see that isn't shown
Nowhere you can be that isn't where you were meant to be
It’s easy!
All you need is Love
Love is all you need.
It was there all along. So my theory is-stay with me here, creativity is born of love. I want you to ponder that. Creativity is born in unconditional freedom and love. Really ponder this. To really wrap your brain around it takes some thought. If we have unconditional love there is total support, total freedom, total access, total resources- just “total”, all, everything, complete, whole, whatever verbiage you need to use. There is no fear as I’ve said before, because there is no failure, no crossing the any lines. You are unlimited and limitless. That’s big, and empowering.
So, if I’m not feeling creative, or can’t seem to create (or am blocked), where does that come from? Am I feeling unloved or unloving? Could that be blocking the receptors in my brain where that endless creativity and energy come from? (I also think creativity is energy.) Or do you think I’ve lost a marble or two? It doesn’t matter, as long as you think about where your creative energy comes from. It’s a powerful tool if you think about it. Let's use our powers for good and not evil! Let’s choose love.
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