Mark Twain

"A successful book is not made of what is in it, but what is left out of it."

— Mark Twain

American Writer

1835 - 1910

Do you tell everything in your stories or do you leave somethings to the readers imagination?  The best writing does not tell everything.  The best writing allows the readers to read between the lines.  The same is true of art.  A painting shouldn't tell everything.  Some things should be left to the imagination.  What are you leaving out of your creative work?  Do you know what should and what should not be left out?

Otto Dix

Self-Portrait
(1913)

"Everybody thinks they know what art should be.  But very few of them have the sense that is necessary to experience painting, that is the sense of sight, that sees colors and forms as living reality in the picture."

— Otto Dix

German Painter

1891 - 1969

I am fascinated by the artist's ability to see the world in terms of shapes and colors.  It is like having a second sight.  What is even more remarkable is that the artist is then able to reproduce on canvas what his mind sees.  For a writer, the equivalent may be his ability to hear words and how they flow together to form a story.  Or maybe there is no equivalent.  How do you see the world?  Through the eyes of an artist?  Or through the eyes of a writer?  Can you see shapes and colors when you look at the world?  Do you hear the words in your mind as you put them on paper?

Parents of the Artist
(1921)

Stanley Spencer

Self-Portrait
(1959)

"I love to dwell on the thought that the artist is next in divinity to the saint.  He, like the saint, performs miracles."

— Stanley Spencer

English Painter

1891 - 1959

Do you perform miracles with your art?  I think creativity is a miracle of the highest order — to be able to create something that previously did not exist.  Creative leaders are rare people who generate new worlds and variations on existing worlds.  Creativity is composed of spiritual energy.  Every time we put brush to canvas or pen to paper, spiritual energy flows through us.  We are in touch with a power greater than ourselves.

Tecumseh

"When you rise in the morning, give thanks for the light, for your life, for your strength.  Give thanks for your food and the joy of living.  If you see no reason to give thanks, the fault lies in yourself."

— Tecumseh

Shawnee Chief

(1768 - 1813)

This week someone in one of my audiences expressed concern about all the negativity we hear  in our society.  She was concerned about the future.  And it is easy to see why she feels that way.  We live in a time when many of our leaders gravitate towards the negative.  Turn on any news channel and all you hear are negative stories and even worse — negative opinions.  Much of what passes for news today is actually opinion.  Read any newspaper and your heart fills with dread.  It takes a lot to remain positive and thankful in this negative world.  And yet thankful we must be for we are still alive.  Thankful we must be for we woke to see the sun again.  So give thanks every day this week that you have been given another day to write a poem, paint a picture or write a story.  No one knows if he will wake up tomorrow morning.  Be thankful that you can see another sunrise.

Stanley Kubrick

"The very meaninglessness of life forces man to create his own meaning."

— Stanley Kubrick
American Filmmaker
1928 - 1999

Do you sometimes feel that life is meaningless?  Do you ever wonder why you have been born into this world?  Do you know what your purpose for being is?  The creation of artistic work is one way that we can find meaning in our lives.  We can find hope and meaning in our writing, painting and storytelling.  

Rudyard Kipling

"I always prefer to believe the best of everyone; it saves so much trouble."

— Rudyard Kipling

English Writer

1865 - 1936

Do you look for the good in others?  Or are you a fault finder?  Do you point out the weaknesses of others?  Or do you pay them compliments?  Do you believe in people or do you think that everyone is out for himself?  How we view others impacts how we live our lives.  If we learn to find the good in others, we will be happier and more successful.  If we spend our lives finding fault with others, we will be unhappy and cyncial.  The easiest thing to do is to find fault in others.  It is much harder to look for the good.  Sometimes we have to dig deep.  So spend the day looking for the good in the people you meet.

Jim Henson

"My hope still is to leave the world a bit better than when I got here."

— Jim Henson

American Puppeteer

1936 - 1990

Everyone should desire to leave the world better than they found it.  For me that is why we are here.  We are here to help others in their time of need.  How are you leaving the world better than you found it?  Did you plant a tree?  Give someone a ride?  Write a story that made someone cry?  Paint a picture that touched someone's heart?  We will all reach the end of the road some day.  What is your legacy?  How will you leave the world a better place?  What gifts have you given back?  Did you make someone smile today?  Did you give someone a hug?  Did you listen to someone who needed to get something off her chest?  Did you say thank you to your parents, your mentors and your friends?

Thomas Carlyle

"A strong mind always hopes, and has always cause to hope."

— Thomas Carlyle

Scottish Writer

1795 - 1881

Hope is a crucial ingredient to leading the creative life.  Without hope we have no reason for living.  There is little meaning to life.  Hope is the breath of life.  Breathe deeply and you will live a much happier life.  In these troubled economic times it is easy to become discouraged.  Read some history and you will learn that this too shall pass.  Nothing stays the same; everything will change.  In the 1970's with the emergence of a united OPEC, gas prices soared higher than they are today if you take inflation into account.  We lived through a period of years of high inflation with interest rates running in the teens.  Today you can get a mortgage interest rate of under 4%.  This too shall pass.   Have hope.  Believe in your future and the world's future.  Read the history of the Great Depression and/or the novel, The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck and be grateful that you are living in these times.  Cultivate an attitude of hope.

Anais Nin

"Throw your dreams into space like a kite, and you do not know what it will bring back, a new life, a new friend, a new love, a new country."

— Anais Nin

French Writer

1903 - 1977

Dreaming is an important technique for creative leaders to master.  We need to master both our sleeping dreams and our waking dreams.  Our dreams have so much to teach us about ourselves.  Your sleeping dreams have a number of origins.  Some of these dreams come from the events of the current day, things that happened to us.  Our minds are reliving the day.  Some dreams come from the problems and challenges that we are facing.  If we learn to interpret these dreams, we can often solve our problems.  Other dreams come from our future and often will predict things that will happen to us.  And still other dreams will have a spiritual source.  Do you study your dreams?  Do you keep a dream journal?  Success comes from mastering the art of dreaming.

Margaret Atwood

"Writing is an act of faith: I believe it's also an act of hope, the hope that things can get better than they are."

— Margaret Atwood
Canadian Writer
1939 - 

Does your creative work give you hope?  Does your painting give you hope that your life will improve?  Does your writing give you hope about the progress of the human race?  I believe creative leaders have to have lots of hope.  Why else would they struggle for years with no prospect of success?  Every time a writer sends his short stories, poetry and novels to a publisher he is full of hope that this time it will be accepted.  A painter may paint for years and never sell a painting, always hoping that the next one will sell.  Never give up.  There is always tomorrow.  Have faith.  You will succeed.

Eileen Goudge

"I will always have a story to tell.  I take elements from my life and throw them in a pot and stir the pot and see what happens."

— Eileen Goudge

American Novelist

1950 -

We all have a story to tell, but we do not have to tell it through memoir.  We can tell it through short stories, novels, songs and even paintings.  What we have to learn to do is learn how to change our story.  The story does not have to be factual.  Our story is only the beginning — the starting point.  The emotion should be true, but not the facts.  We may have been born in a small town in Illinois, but we can change it to a coastal town in Oregon.  Our grandfather could have died when we were fourteen, but we can change it to our father when we were ten.  We should take elements from our lives and make story soup.  For some of us changing the story is easy.  For others, it takes patience, imagination and hard work.

Here is Eileen Goudge talking about how she wrote her way out of poverty.

Robert Persig

"Finally you understand that the real motorcycle you're working on is yourself."

— Robert Pirsig

American Author

1928 - 

In the final analysis, life is about growth and self-development.  We become who we are meant to be through our work.  In essence we are working on ourselves.  Everything else is a tool to help us become who we are meant to be.  Whether you paint, write or speak, you are involved in a process of self-development.  Are you learning the lessons that you are supposed to learn?  Or are you having to suffer through the same experiences over and over.  One of the best examples is the relationships that people develop.  How many women or men choose the same type of partner over and over again only to be hurt and rejected in the end?  Remember the person you are working on is yourself.  The only person you can change is yourself.  

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance took Pirsig four years to write and was rejected by 121 publishers before it found a home.  Because Pirsig had a day job writing computer manuals, he wrote the book between 2 am and 6 am.  More than 5 million copies of the book have been sold.

Louise Bourgeois

"It is a great privilege to be able to work with, and I suppose work off, my feelings through sculpture."

— Louise Bourgeois

French Artist

1911 - 2010

 

I want to take this one step farther.  I believe that it is a privilege to be an artist.  What we do as writers, storytellers, painters, actors, sculptors and musicians is very special.  Most people are not willing to risk themselves or make themselves vulnerable as artists must if they are to be successful.  We must open ourselves up and reveal our innermost feelings if we are going to touch others with our creative work.  That does not mean that we have the answers.  In fact, many creative people live difficult painful lives and often emotionally harm the people they love.  If we are lucky, our creative work will heal our wounded spirits.  But if we don't heal our wounds, people will be confused by the multiple personalities within one body.  They will not understand how a mean-spirited drunk could write such lovely prose or paint such a beautiful picture.  For some of us, our creative work heals us and we are stronger for it.  For others, the creative work destroys them.  They give up their lives for their art.





Maman



John Burroughs

"The lure of the distant and the difficult is deceptive. The great opportunity is where you are."

— John Burroughs

American Writer, Naturalist

1837 - 1921

The grass is not greener somewhere else.  We need to build our life where we are at.  If we live in a farming community, we are attracted to the sounds of the big city.  If we live in a big city, we seek peace and quiet in the country.  The pied piper is singing and we will follow him anywhere.  Don't be taken in by the flash and glammor of somewhere else.  Find comfort in the familiar because there you will do your best work.  If you live near a cornfield, paint cornfields.  If you live near mountains, paint mountains. 

Harley Brown

"Making art is the most relaxing, joyous, therapeutic stimulating way to spend your time, as you unleash the part of your brain that's been itching to get at it."

— Harley Brown

Canadian Artist

1939 - 

Unlike like writing which sometimes can be difficult, painting for me can be very relaxing and fun.  I become lost in the process and sometimes wake up several hours later only to realize that I had disappeared in the work.  I experience some of the same feelings when I write long-hand and do not use a computer or a typewriter as in the old days.  There is something about putting pen to paper that makes a difference in how one experiences the process.

Are you eager about your creative work?  Do you wake up in the morning anxious to go to work?  Or do you find excuses to avoid going to work?  Do you stare at the canvas or paper unable to lift brush or pen?  Do you enjoy the process of creating or do you agonize over it?


Here is Harley Brown talking about his art.

Jimi Hendrix

"I'm the one that's got to die when it's time for me to die, so let me live my life the way I want to."

- Jimi Hendrix

American Musician

1942 - 1970

When it is our time, it is our time.  No amount of begging, praying or demanding will delay the shade of death from stealing a soul.  No amount of laughing, crying or forgiving will prevcnt death from pushing his way into our lives.  No amount of preparation, prevention or power will keep death at bay.  When it is our time, it is our time whether we are 57 or 28.  May my sister rest in peace.

Clarissa Pinkola Estes

"It's not the failure that holds us back but the reluctance to begin over again that causes us to stagnate.

— Clarissa Pinkola Estes

American Poet, Psychoanalyst

1945 -

Anton Chekhov

"I have the feeling that I've seen everything, but failed to notice the elephants."

— Anton Chekhov

Russian Writer

1860 - 1904

Deepak Chopra

"The less you open your heart to others, the more your heart suffers."

— Deepak Chopra

Indian Author/Speaker

1946 -

Seneca

"Nothing is more honorable than a grateful heart."

— Seneca

Roman Writer/Speaker

54 BC - 39 AD

Gratitude is not a new attitude.  It was not invented by the pilgrims at Plymouth Rock nor by the legions of motivational speakers who ride circuit and preach from the pulpit of love.  Gratitude has probably been with us from the beginning of man's time on this earth — from the moment someone offered to share her drumstick or her fur or her fire.  

Gratitude is not a one day act of thanksgiving, but a way of life.  Do you have an attitude of gratitude?  Do you wake up with a smile on your face and love in your heart?  Or are you like most of us who need to cultivate an attitude of gratitude.  Try this  exercise: every day write down ten things that you are grateful for.  Slowly, you will develop an attitude of gratitude and learn to stay focused on what is important.