Audacious balance, creativity and Ten Zen Seconds

If we look around we'll find there's a whole bunch of successful, producing artists who maintain a healthy balance of tender-hearted compassion and resilient toughness. They've learned to keep their hearts open to the mystery while recognizing and letting go of apathy and materialism.

Artists and others can decide to learn and practice this sort of healthy balance, first, by being aware it's possible and then by learning about and modeling the behavior - using awareness, practice, patience and maturity. There's lots of thoughtful books and guides about how to practice letting go, becoming mature people, honoring the sacred self and some suggested reading is included below. A great new book just released by author Dr. Eric Maisel called Ten Zen Seconds provides guidance on how to increase your sense of balance by following a simple, effective method of mindfulness practice. I'm excited by the opportunity to interview Eric Maisel about his new book on Friday, April 20. We'll chat about the methods described in his new book and the benefits specifically for artists and other creative people. I'll be asking questions about this practice can benefit my clients with the issues they frequently deal with in their creative work. Until now, no one has married the best of Eastern and Western thought into a simple technique that produces breakthrough results with only a few seconds’ effort. I invite you to check back with us for that interview on Friday, April 20.

Audacious balance allows artists to commit to big, audacious dreams and goals that are meaningful to them without feeling overly exposed, vulnerable or emotionally adrift. Balance provides safety in the sometimes harsh world of the arts and arts criticism. Maintaining healthy balance requires a sense of community. Community is vital for most of us. We are tribal people, all of us. Even in times when we're isolated or alone for a time, a person can hold within themselves a strong sense of community. Communities are extended family and friends, neighbors, patrons, specialized communities for the arts, as well as authentic virtual communities via the internet. The measure of a supportive community is its ability to offer the artist compassion, acceptance and respect for the artist and her work. If an artist doesn't feel part of a supportive community, deciding to find a meaningful one is a worthwhile goal. It's not so important how often the connection is made in the external physical world, as it is to feel strongly connected. Another measure of community is the self-trust it nurtures for the artist in her or his creative work.

Two complex steps in the process of building healthy balance are, first, to decide that compassion and justice matter and, second, that you and your creative work matter. Sounds simple enough, doesn't it? Applying healthy balance means being able to handle success and rejection while continuing to nurture and develop your creative work with focus and clarity. Healthy balance allows the artist to observe the changing whims of buyers and the marketplace while feeling in charge of deciding to allow or disallow these things to influence their creative work.

Artists are the carriers of important dreams for all people. Artists want to share their creative work because it's natural to want to share the special gift given to each one of by the Creator. So, it's only natural to honor our audacious dreams, give voice to mighty goals while maintaining a soft, gentle and protective watch over ourselves as we walk our creative path. We will stumble because we are human but hopefully we get refreshed and re-choose to embrace and celebrate the creative process. Artists hold a special place in society. They are the storytellers, visionaries, historians, prophets. They can choose to see with the eyes of the heart even though the depth of that vision can be challenging because they'll feel and sense things in ways other people don't.

The challenge for the artist is to honor all this while remaining humble and awed by the starlight which illuminates our path.

*****

A word about the suggested reading list. If a book appears to be directed to a specific target group, please try to ignore that fact because each of these books can offer something important. Creative people of all ages and backgrounds often say that they doubt themselves, their creative work, their wisdom and perceptions. I hope the books listed here bring you strong, affirming teachings written in many different ways to bring good things to many people. Have fun - be curious - enjoy!

(1) Ten Zen Seconds by Dr. Eric Maisel
(2) Fearless Creating by Dr. Eric Maisel
(3) The Sacred Tree - Reflections on Native American Spirituality published in Canada by Four Worlds Development Press, Four Worlds Development Project, University of Lethbridge; in the USA by Lotus Light, Wilmot, Wisconsin. (ISBN 0-941524-58-2 Library of Congress #89-63193)
(4) The Lakota Way, Stories and Lessons for Living by Joseph M. Marshall III.
(5) No Word For Time, The Way of the Algonquin People by Evan T. Pritchard.
(6) The Compassionate Rebel, interviews and stories written and compiled by Burt F. Berlowe, Rebecca A. Janke, and Julie D. Penshorn. Growing Communities for Peace. web: www.peacemaker.org.
(7) Alcoholics Anonymous by Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
(8) 12 Steps to Self-Parenting for Adult Children of Alcoholics by Philip Oliver-Diaz and Patricia A. O'Gorman.
(9) Wounded Warriors - A Time For Healing as told to Doyle Arbogast.

Freedom to break rules

When Grandmother Moon was last approaching her fullness, the peak of her cycle, I made a note in my sketchbook to acknowledge her on this blog.
Her strong soft light keeps the trees aglow at night. I haven't painted a Full Moon image recently, however, I am reminded of two New Moon paintings I sold this year. This image is one of them or view it on my web site where I intend to write a story about the process involved in creating this texturally rich painting, as well as stories about Grandmother Moon.

These New Moon paintings were both full of creative freedom and rule-breaking. I took very deliberate steps to break rules about the "right" way to create a finished watercolor painting. It's considered purely awful in traditional watercolor company to despoil the surface of the paper support. It's true that in a traditional watercolor, scuffed paper could ruin the whole painting. But to achieve the result I envisioned for my painting, I needed to dig deep and work that surface, rough it up until I could sense the depth of inky sky, mystery, darkness and black holes up there in the great big beyond. (Incidentally you need a robust and burly watercolor paper that's tough enough for this kind of manipulation. A 200lb rag paper or heavier and a type that won't fall apart on you. Be prepared to experiment and throw a few cuttings away.) Artists have to break rules to get our creative work done. We earn the right to do that as creators and artists. If we get our hands crusty with the medium we work with, we then earned the right to break the rules. Don't let anybody tell you different. Guidelines are better than rules. Guidelines are exactly that - guides to a certain practice for a reason. A rule is a rigid thing. When it tramples the creative spirit and dampens creative drive, it's a poor rule. It's true that rules are made for a reason and can be valid and important but to follow a rule just because someone said "you can't do that, it ain't right" is a poor reason on it's own. As an artist, think for yourself, make your own rules. It's the only way to deepen your creative freedom and to express your unique creative voice.

Happy creating, see you at the Cafe!

Recommended reading #1

Before I head out for a creative working session it's a good time to begin the Creativity Book List I thought I might compile here at Creative Circle Cafe. I'll revisit this list to with additional recommendations later. So, let's get off to a tremendously good start with three books I've listed at the bottom of this post. I hope they'll be a great resources for you and, for coaches and teachers, a helpful resource for your clients and students. For that special creative person in your life it's a post you can print and wrap as a gift - and buy them a book or two from the list! The material covered in these books relate to real-life artmaking and all aspects of living and nurturing a creative life.

Here's the first of the books I recommend on artmaking and creativity:

Art & Fear, Observations On The Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking by David Bayles and Ted Orland
Art & Soul, Notes on Creating by Audry Flack
Fearless Creating by Eric Maisel, Ph.D.

Blessings and happy creating!

Abstraction and "authenticity muscle"

Did you ever stop to think about how much of life comes to us via abstraction? I was thinking about this today as my artist's bio passed in front of my eyes and I caught sight of the words "figurative abstract." So I started thinking about abstraction and how our worldview is partly drawn from emotional, spiritual, mental abstraction. The personal smoke and mirrors we use, often unconsciously. When I consider what it means to create meaningful work as a painter (I spend a lot of time working and thinking around this topic in my creative work and as a creativity coach with my clients) it seems to me that much of our worldview is (an) abstraction. Today I just want to suggest that perhaps if we aren't alert to this, if we don't accept this awareness of abstractions which are alive and well in daily life, we're condemned to think in linear terms about almost everything. We will think everything is flat, black and white, linear and know-able.

I'm not an intellectual so please feel free to poke holes in my theory but it seems to me that acknowledging the abstraction in life, in our sacred personal day-by-day life, frees us from believing that everything is visible with our physical eyes. If we are alert to being romanced by abstractions, alert to being enticed away from authentic living by distractions, we will exercise our "authenticity muscle" and be free to embrace and see with the eyes of the heart while living in a mostly linear world (cell phones, television, computer, bills). If we choose carefully which abstractions we apply and accept as part of our worldview then we are free to embrace and enrich our lives by deliberately tuning into mystical, sacred, creative action. I hope you will be deliberate about selecting abstractions today and celebrate your mystical, sacred, creative Self.

I wish you all a good week and challenge you to embrace and exercise your "authenticity muscle!"

Blessings,
Pamela

Roiling creativity

Creativity is an everyday occurrence. It's happening all around us. We're enfolded every moment in the roiling wash of a blossoming universe. Being actively engaged in the creative process of our lives, influences the way we listen to and hear others, as well as how we reveal ourselves. Listen to your heart.

Step 1: Engage
Ste[ 2: Create
Step 3: Repeat !

Floorboards

What is that quote about "the longest journey begins with a single step"? This is particularly meaningful in my musings today about my work as a creativity coach and the challenges artists face in their work. Oftentimes the hardest step is either the first one out of bed onto the floorboards or else it is taking the steps necessary to go from point A (where the artist is now) to point B (the artists workspace - studio - desk - piano - kitchen table - a workshop - whatever).

There's no avoiding make the journey from A to B if we intend to be active, producing artists.

If you get stuck moving from A to B and you can see that this continues to diminish the quality of your creative work, your self esteem as well as your productivity then it is your job as a professional to target this behavior for serious but compassionate remedial work. It will be worth your time and effort to do as a gift for yourself and for your creative work.

Moving from A to B is fertile ground because it's the physical, emotional and spiritual move into your creative space, but unless we actually arrive at B ready to do our creative work, then we may find we're unable to move towards the next sacred creative place where our work requires us to go. Give yourself the gift of enlightenment about the journey from A to B. My post Recommended Reading List #1 provides resources that if applied with love, determination and regular practice will lift from your creative shoulders the weight of being barred from arriving at your creative work-space and the work itself. I hope you'll find something helpful in this suggested reading. There are good creativity coaching who can help, too, if you're interested in other tools for creative development.

Happy journeys from A to B and beyond!

Limited edition prints

There's always more waiting to happen in our creative lives. If we listen to our hearts and follow that voice, our creative movement will be meaningful and important to us. A source of joy in my creative life is the announcement of a new Limited Edition print of the painting, Honoring the Horse Nation. The drum represents a drum group who are singing an honoring song for the Horse Nation and the white horse represents all horses. The drum beat is the heart beat of Mother Earth. This archival quality reproduction is the same size as the original watercolor painting. For more information click my Home Page link on the main page of this blog.


Create!

Nurturing dreams

Yesterday (Saturday, August 19, 2006) I had the great privilege of attending the graduation ceremony for my husband, Richard Watson, who had completed school to become a licensed massage therapist and therapeutic bodyworker. The group of adults in the graduation ceremony had all recently completed their programs and are now officially joining the ranks of professional massage therapists and bodyworkers. We heard stories from some graduating students and from teachers and faculty. I was very moved and inspired by their intent to serve others, to help people heal themselves, and provide compassion and guidance to others on that journey. Some of these graduating students had experienced a good deal of hardship and performed amazing feats of self-discipline to achieve this dream of graduating from their bodywork program. Many of them cared for their families, communities and others while continuing with school. Some of them had to overcome their own negative self-talk, as well as allaying the doubts and fears of other people. But they made it through. They held fast to their dream and they kept moving forward, one class at a time. What a wonderful reminder of the many such kind and good people amongst us.

As an artist and creativity coach for other artists, I've learned this negative self-talk habit is a common trait amongst artists - as well as in the larger community. Not to say that other people don't experience this habit but, research and anecdotal experiences indicate it's especially common in artists and actively creative people. Many of my artist colleagues and friends express a real need for reminders of the grace and kindness in the world because they consciously give attention to areas that are difficult or challenging to think about, as they determine where the inspiration for their next work should be.

Well, yesterday's graduation ceremony was one of those times when, unbidden, an unexpected depth of grace and beauty slipped into my life and I was fully awake to the beauty of it. Thank you to my husband, Richard, and all those graduates for that. What a gift!

Nurture your dreams!