Only by challenging ourselves to try new adventures do we discover who we are and what our limitations and opportunities are. Are you challenging yourself to learn something new? There are physical challenges, mental challenges and creative challenges. On what level are you challenging yourself? You must learn to step outside your comfort zone and find new beginnings.
Have you ever lost yourself in your art and woke up wondering how you created what you did? I have sometimes written for several hours only to read what I wrote days later and be surprised by what I wrote. Something happens where I seem to disappear into the writing process and am only partially conscious. Yet through the process of writing I have also been able to heal myself and in the process find myself. Creativity is a mysterious, mystical and spiritual process that brings us closer to who we are meant to be. If you have experienced the creative process, then you have been blessed with a gift. Give thanks for what you have been given.
Art at its core is about communication, about talking — carrying on a conversation with people today and tomorrow. It is like a time machine that carries us from the world in which we live into some distant future where we inspire the lives of others. What are you talking about in your art? What is the conversation that you are having? What messages are you sending into the future?
Is the conversation that you are having clear and concise? Do people understand what your message is Do you know what your message is?
"Painting and art cannot be taught. You can save time if someone tells you to put blue and yellow together to make green, but the essence of painting is a self-disciplined activity that you have to learn by yourself."
People often say that painting and writing cannot be taught by others. The best way to learn to write and paint is through painting and writing. We discover who we are as creative leaders by doing. And while there is a lot of truth to this, I believe one can learn from others. Not that one needs formal training, but rather the observation and interaction with others. Those who have been painting or writing for years have much to teach the young if they are willing to listen. But when the teaching is over, the student must still paint or write what is in his heart. He must create what his heart sees.
Great writers and artists make mental leaps that often leave others baffled. They make connections between what seem like very different things. For me, this mental leaping often happens at a subconscious level and only occasionally spills over into the conscious world. I make leaps while writing poetry that I know don't come from my conscious mind. One way of increasing this unconscious leaping is to be constantly feeding information into your mind and and letting your subconscious connect the dots. Even if you don't understand the connection in your rational mind, trust your subconscious because it understands the relationship better than the analytical mind.
Writing is in the sharing of details. Even the smallest detail helps to create the story. Writers are cautioned again and again not to tell, but to show. If you tell, you are placing judgement on the story. If you show, you are allowing the reader to make up his own mind. And I think the same is true of painting. The goal is not to show the moon hanging in the sky, but to see it reflected in the plants and trees. Painting is about light and shadow. You know the sun or moon is there even if you can't see it. You see the light on the leaves. Dig deep and reveal the details. The story is build on the details.
Do you accept your world as it is or are you willing to change it and make it better? As creative leaders we have a choice — to make things better or leave them as they are. If you are unhappy with your life, then change it. If you are not happy with your art, then change yourself. Practice more. Study more. Create more. Life is about choice. Don't waste time blaming others. Don't blame your parents. Don't blame God. Don't blame your education. The choice is yours. Choose to be a winner.
Sometimes we make the world too complicated. We need to learn to simplify our lives, our work and our creative expressions. What can you leave out of the painting that will make it stronger? What can you leave out of your short story that will make it better and more meaningful to your readers? What can you leave out of your poem that will make it more powerful? Strive to achieve simplicity in all that you do.
Who have been your mentors? Who have helped you along the way? I believe we must from time to time stop and acknowledge those who have assisted on our journey through life. Most people start with their parents and move on to their teachers. My parents gave me a start by paying for my college education. I was the first in either my mother's or father's family to graduate from college. So I have much to be thankful for. And my teachers have been numerous, whether in the classroom or in books or in day-to-day living. And don't forget your children and grandchildren. They teach us parents so much. They help us to return to the passion of our youth. How about the person who hired you into your current job. They saw something in you that others did not. I could list hundreds of people who have touched my life from beggars whom I gave a handout to the Presidents of companies. And don't forget your neighbors. The person who mowed your yard when you were sick. The minister who married you. The banker who loaned you money. We have so much to be thankful for. Yet, how easily we forget and feel we have nothing. It is time to develop an attitude of gratitude. Give thanks today.
"One of the things I learned the hard way was that it doesn't pay to get discouraged. Keeping busy and making optimism a way of life can restore your faith in yourself."
— Lucille Ball
American Actress
1911 - 1989
It is very easy for creative leaders to become discouraged and depressed when their ideas don't work out. Yet what good does it do to wallow in self-pity and discouragement? We become less productive and might even stop creating all together. The challenge is to find ways to keep our chin up and to keep moving forward. Having spent the first 35 years of my life as a pessimist, I know it takes work to become an optimist. And it is easy to backslide. Being down on ourselves does us no good. We need to keep the faith. We need to believe in ourselves.
Here's part one of a documentary of Lucille Ball's life.
Change and growth require commitment. People dream of changing their lives but usually they lack the deep commitment to do so. Change takes hard work and follow through. Nothing changes overnight. Many in the American society expect instant change. Not happy with your body weight, take a pill or have surgery. Not happy with your body, have plastic surgery. Change takes commitment and patience. It is better to lose weight slowly than quickly. Becoming a writer doesn't happen overnight. It takes years. Actors often are labeled an overnight success — a success which took ten or fifteen years. Harrison Ford, the actor, spent 15 years in Hollywood before he got the break in Star Wars that made him famous. Creative expression is a lifetime commitment. Don't give up.
We all face challenges in life. How we handle these challenges helps to form our character and our soul. Sometimes these challenges will knock us off our feet and leave us lying face down in the mud. We must find the strength to climb to our feet and regain our courage. Only in distress do we learn who we really are. What challenges are you facing today? Have the challenges knocked you down? Have you picked yourself back up? What are you learning about yourself?
Here is Dr. Bernice Johnson Reagon performing Old Ship of Zion. You have to hear this.
People today are often told to target their audience and write what their audience wants to read. The same applies to artists and other creative leaders. Young singers on American Idol are encouraged to know the audience their music most appeals to. And there is some truth in this philosophy. You can find success writing, singing and painting for a particular audience, both financially and personally. And as creative leaders we do want success.
But great writers and artists create for themselves and wait for their audience to find them. Because if you are not satisfied by what you create, you will ultimately disappoint yourself. You will feel that you betrayed your gift to secure the almighty dollar. Your job is to satisfy that deep need within yourself to create what you choose to create.
I have written poetry for over 35 years with little commercial success. Yet I have written what I wanted and needed to write. And maybe some day long after I am dead, my writing will find an audience. And maybe it won't, but at least I have been true to myself.
"These difficult times have helped me to realize how infinitely rich and beautiful life is. And that so many things one worries about are of no importance whatsoever."
Sometimes we let the difficulties of living block our realizations of how beautiful life actually is. Even in the worst of times, there are positive things happening. The sun does come up every day, even when all we see are clouds. Many of our worries never come to pass, yet we allow ourselves to spend thousands of hours imagining what could happen. Most things that we worry about don't happen and when they actually occur, there was nothing we could have done to prevent them from happening. So stop worrying and start enjoying the beautiful life that is in your hands. Besides, what is the worst that could happen — we might die. Then our worries will be over.
Creative individuals must create. Whether you write, paint, draw, sing or dance, your soul demands that you create. If you don't, a part of you will die. Unfortunately, our society says if don't publish and sell your work you are not successful. This is far from the the true. Success exists in the process of creation, not in publication or performance. Don't give up because no one has bought your paintings or that you can't make a living from your writing. It's okay to take a job to pay the bills and then spend those spare moments creating. Creative work is what our spirits need and demand. Don't deny your spirit.
"Creativity arises out of tension between spontaneity and limitations, the latter forcing the spontaneity into various forms which are essential to the work of art or poem."
Rollo May
American Author/Psychologist
1909 - 1994
I spent seven years writing and studying haiku. The 5-7-5 three-line form is seen by some as very limiting. Yet, there is freedom and spontaneity within the limits of the form. Do you want to challenge yourself? Then impose some limits on what you create. After I moved on from haiku, I created my own 7-line and 20-line poems. I limited how much I could say by the number of lines. Online you can find the six word story. The challenge is to tell your story in six words. Another blog publishes fiction that is 25 words long, composed of 5 sentences with each sentence being 5 words long. It is called 5 X 5 fiction. The same can be done with painting. There are artists who commit to painting a painting every day. That is a major limitation. Here is a link toAngela's blogwhere she posts a new painting every day. What limitations are you challenging yourself with? Remember limitations can increase the creativity.
"As one gets older one sees many more paths that could be taken. Artists sense within their own work that kind of swelling of possibilities, which may seem a freedom or a confusion."
When I begin to write a short story, I see many paths for the story to take and I have to make choices. The excitement comes in the choosing. Sometimes the path ends and I have to retreat and find another path. Sometimes the path branches and again I have to choose which direction to go. The same is true when I start a painting. So many paths. So many possibilities. And the same is true of life. So many paths. So many choices. Some become paralyzed by having too many choices. After I graduated from college, I was paralyzed because I did not know what to do with my life. Too many choices. Or in my mind, too few choices. Once I made a choice, the path began to take shape and I followed it where I needed to go. And I arrived where I was supposed to be.
Like many people, I have for much of my life tried to be perfect. The perfect student. The perfect son. The perfect employee. The perfect husband. The perfect writer. The perfect father. The perfect speaker. It took me years to understand that I would never be perfect. That my character contained flaws, many of which I could not see or understand. Perfection is impossible. I can never be perfect in the eyes of others. I can only be me with my unique strengths and weaknesses. I have come to the point where I don't have to spell every word correctly. I don't have a panic attack when I send out an email with mistakes. I don't worry when I slur my words when I speak.
How about you? Have you kicked the perfection habit? Or do you beat yourself up every time you make a mistake? The next time you screwup give yourself a pat on the back. Celebrate the fact that you are human. Treat yourself to a massage. And most of all, forgive yourself.
Are you passionate about you create? Are you passionate about your subject matter? Are you passionate about your medium? Technique without passion is cold and empty and rarely touches the hearts of people. Passion without technique still has the power to bring people to tears. Passion with technique is great art. Have you perfected your technique? Have you encouraged and cultivated your passion? What are you passionate about? What keeps you awake at night? What fills your spirit with love?
You and I live in a very negative world. Just listen to the news on TV, read the daily newspaper and listen to the people around you. If we want to remain positive amidst this negativity, we need to give ourselves daily doses of motivation. We need to daily feed our minds and our hearts with inspirational words. We feed ourselves food daily because we are hungry. We take baths regularly because we become dirty. The same is true for our spirit. We are in charge of what enters our minds, our hearts and our souls.
The reason this blog is called Daily Inspiration is because each of us needs to feed positive energy into our spirit. So how can you use the the positive quotes I share with you everyday? Here are some ways to daily feed your soul.
Memorize each quote and repeat it to yourself throughout the day.
Write the quote down and reread it throughout the day.
Share the quote with others and tell them what it means to you.
Meditate on the meaning of the quote for 10 - 15 minutes.
Keep a journal and write down what the quote means to you and how you will apply it to your life.
"Face new challenges, seize new opportunities, test your resources against the unknown and in the process, discover your own unique potential."
