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.

Andrew Wyeth

Late Fall
(1981)

"I prefer winter and fall, when you feel the bone structure of the landscape — the loneliness of it, the dead feeling of winter.  Something waits beneath it, the whole story doesn't show."

— Andrew Wyeth

American Artist

1917 - 2009

What is your favorite season.  My favorite, autumn, is coming to an end.  Most of the leaves have fallen from the trees.  The squirrels are burying the last of the nuts.  The geese are flying south.  Bare branches now reveal the sky.  Death hides around the corner — waiting for winter to pounce.  We have had a good autumn.  Warm, gentle and full of life.  Not too much rain, just enough to keep the creeks flowing.

How do the seasons effect you and your art?  Do you produce more creative work in one season or another?  Do the seasons enrich your art?  Can you taste the winds of autumn?  Are you counting your blessings?  Has the harvest been abundant?  Are you thankful for what you have?

Photo by Harley King
(2011)

Thomas Cole

(1846)

"The sky is the soul of all scenery.  It makes the earth lovely at sunrise and splendid at sunset.  In the one it breathes over the earth a crystal-like ether, in the other a liquid gold."

— Thomas Cole

English Painter

1801 - 1848

Arch of Nero
(1846)

Have you stopped to look at the sky lately?  There is so much to see.  So many stories to hear.  So much beauty to enjoy.  The sky changes how we see the world.  On a cloudy day people feel down.  When the sun breaks through, our hearts take a leap.  

Have you ever stared at the white fluffy clouds and imagined various creatures.  Have you ever been above the clouds looking down?  Wouldn't it be fun if we could actually ride on the clouds?  How about those storm clouds that light up the sky with lightning and thunder.  Maybe the angels are crying or having a fist fight.  

How about a clear blue sky without a cloud to be seen!  And the various shades of blue.  I love a winter sky, especially at sunrise.  The colors seem so brilliant.  Or the sky as seen from a farm on a cold winter night with the stars glittering and no city lights destroying your view.  The sky is truly the soul of the world.  A place we long to call home.  

Charles Kuralt

"The everyday kindness of the back roads more than makes up for the acts of greed in the headlines."

— Charles Kuralt

American Journalist

1934 - 1997

Most of the stories one finds in the media create a very negative image of people as greedy, corrupt and immoral.  The truth is that only a small segment of society fits that image.  Most people are by nature kind and generous and go out of their way to help others in their time of need.  

Given the stories that we hear every day, it is easy to lose faith in people and the institutions they manage.  Yet, for every corrupt, greedy person, there are thousands of kind, caring people who shovel the sidewalks of their neighbors, serve food to the homeless and share car rides to work.  Remember most people have good hearts and give of themselves to help others.  Don't let the greedy few distort your view of the world.

Here is an update to one of Charles Kuralt's famous stories about the Chandler family.

  

Pierre Alechinsky

"When I paint, I liberate monsters . . . They are the manifestations of all the doubts, searches and groping for meaning and expression which all artists experience . . . One does not choose the content, one submits to it.

— Pierre Alechinsky

1927 -

Belgian Artist

Do you choose the content of your creative work?  Or does the content choose you?  This is probably one of those chicken and egg questions that we will never know the answer to.  Most of the time my content chooses me.  I sit down and start writing.  I don't have a plan.  And the content appears out of no where.  Rarely, do I make a conscious choice about what to write.

Does your creative work liberate the monsters within your heart and spirit?  For me it does.  We all have a dark side whether we want to admit it or not.  Most of us most of the time keep this dark side under control either through drugs, religion, sports, creative work or sheer will power.  Yet I am amazed at some of the monsters that emerge from my writing.  What monsters have emerged from your creative work?  Here are a couple of my short poems.

Saviour

Sometimes while alone

in the corner of my cell

I have second thoughts

about the recent return of Christ

and how I could have saved her

from the outpourings of his wrath

if she would only have rocked me in her arms.

Nightmare

A hand reaches out of the closet

and slits the throat

of the young man with black hair.

We all fall upon his body

like scavengers picking tidbits

from the evening garbage.

I slurp his brains from my cupped hands.

(Quote source:  The Painter's Keys)

Chuck Palahniuk

"We all die.  The goal isn't to live forever, the goal is to create something that will."

— Chuck Palahniuk

American Writer

1962 - 

No one lives forever no matter how much we try.  No amount of plastic surgery, pills or prayer will keep us young.  When we die, we will live on only in the memories of those who knew us and one day all those with memories will be gone.  As artists, writers and creative leaders, our creative work is the key to keeping our memories alive.

(Quote source:  Goodreads.com)

Cornelia Funke

"Stories never really end...even if the books like to pretend they do  Stories always go on.  They don't end on the last page, any more than they begin on the first page."

— Cornelia Funke

German Writer

1958 -

Story is the essence of life.  Story is what makes us unique?  Story is what gives life meaning.  Do you know your personal stories?  Do you share your personal stories with family and friends?  How do your personal stories impact your art, your writing or your acting?  


(Quote source:  Goodreads.com)

Claron McFadden

"The human voice: mysterious, spontaneous, primal.  For me, the human voice is the vessel on which all emotions travel — except perhaps jealousy.  And the breath, the breath is the captain of that vessel.  A child is born, takes its first breath — and we behold the wondrous beauty of vocal expression — mysterious, spontaneous and primal."

— Claron McFadden

American Musician

1961 -

When I was fifty years old, I finally realized that my voice was a gift.  No, I am not a singer.  I can't even carry a tune.  As a child, I was given the speaking parts in church plays because I had a loud voice.  My gift is my loud voice.  And about 90% of the people in my audiences like it and 10% don't.  I have people tell me they could listen to my voice all day and others who wish I would shut up.  

Remember your voice is the vessel for your emotions.  Take a deep breath and let it out with power, passion and persistence.  Be yourself.

Now, listen to Claron McFadden talk about the human voice and demonstrate its power.

Robert Frost

"In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on."

— Robert Frost

American Poet

1874 - 1963

In the fall of  1967, I was a freshman in college and felt the world about to come to an end.  The Vietnam War raged on and on.  Riots were occurring in the streets of big cities.  The world was burning and I was convinced that it would all be over in five years.  But like Frost, I have learned that life does go on.  

Some people today feel the world is about to end.  We face economic upheaval and poverty, political corruption and stalemate, as well as religious hatred and global warming.  Will the world still be here in five years?  I have learned that life goes on.  Or in the words of another cliche: This too shall pass.

Don't despair because your writing was rejected by yet another publisher or an art gallery refused to carry your work.  Life goes on.  This too shall pass.

When Robert Frost was 86, he was asked to read a poem at the inauguration of President John F. Kennedy. He was the first poet to read at a presidential inauguration.  In January of 1963 he died from complications from prostate surgery.  In November 1963, Kennedy was assassinated.  Some thought it was the end of the world, but life goes on.

Here is Robert Frost performing The Gift Outright at Kennedy's inauguration in 1961.  He recited the poem from memory.

(Quote Source:  Goodreads.com)

Terry Pratchett

"Stories of imagination tend to upset those without one."

— Terry Pratchett

English Novelist

1948 - 

Poets, writers and artists are scary people.  They turn the common everyday world upside down.  They hold up a mirror and reveal the reality of who we are to ourselves.  In many societies throughout history, creative leaders have been honored and despised, loved and hated, worshipped and jailed.


Our imaginations can be a threat to those who are insecure and unhappy.  Our imaginations create worlds that expose the weaknesses of our world.  Some consider our imaginations dangerous and wish to destroy us.  As creative leaders, our role in society is very important.  Without creative leaders, society would stagnate and drown under the mundane.  Celebrate your imagination.  Celebrate the worlds that grow inside your head.


Watch this interview with Terry Pratchett.

(Quote Source:  Goodreads.com)

The Planet We Call Earth

An inspiring video of the earth from 240 miles above it.

Earth | Time Lapse View from Space, Fly Over | NASA, ISS from Michael König on Vimeo.

C. S. Lewis

"You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream."

— C. S. Lewis

Irish Writer

1898 - 1963

When we stop dreaming, we start dying.  Life is about discovering our dreams and embarking on a journey to achieve them.  Colonel Harlan Sanders was 65 when he began his journey to build the fast food restaurant chain, Kentucky Fried Chicken.  Immanuel Kant wrote one of his best philosophical works at the age of 74.  Grandma Moses picked up a paintbrush at age 76 and painted over a thousand paintings during the next 25 years.  Jessica Tandy won an Oscar at age 80 for her role in Driving Miss Daisy.  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe finished Faust at 81.  Henry Roth published his first novel when he was 28 and his second when he was 89.

What dreams have you given up on?  What dreams have you not yet dreamed?  Is it time to set another goal?

(Quote source:  Goodreads. com)