Last Saturday my husband and I dropped our 16-year-old daughter off at CalArtsfor a month-long program run by California State Summer School for the Arts (CSSSA). We helped her settle into her dorm room, toured the campus, and attended a barbeque and outdoor concert. But the most memorable part of the day was a brief, inspiring talk given by CSSSA’s director, Michael Fields. If his words resonated as deeply with the young thespians, dancers, musicians, visual artists, film and television students, animators, and writers as they did with me, those kids are going to have a great month! I’d like to share a few highlights I found relevant and inspiring.
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She Writes, an international online organization serving over 20,000 writers, featured this post last week. It was #4 on their “Top Content” rating, which lists their top 20 posts.
Last week, while in Claremont, California, visited Buddhamouse Emporium, a shop that carries imported ritual objects, art, music, and books. I was drawn to an oblong, polished stone.
A few weeks ago, while shopping at JoAnn’s fabric and crafts store, a sewing box at the check out counter caught my eye. I can use that, I thought, but had no idea why. Except for the basics, I don’t sew. My mom, an excellent seamstress, taught me how, but I don’t enjoy it, so I take my mending to the cleaners instead. I had no clue why this sewing box called my name; I bought it having no idea what purpose it might serve.
Spring is here and several of my writing clients (and I) are cleaning house—literally and figuratively. Spring is a time of renewal, budding life—and fresh ideas! It is a time to honor yourself and what you want. Getting rid of what you no longer use, need, or love creates opportunities for growth and for new experiences, and allows you to receive whatever is ready to come through you and take shape in the world. Clutter clearing creates both physical and psychological space, as well as clarity and focus.
Seven Tips for Creative Self-expression
1. Engage in your creative work/play every day, even if it’s only for fifteen or twenty minutes. Give yourself over to it. Have fun. Imagine, dare, and dream! Last week a beloved writing client, Patty, sent me a photo of a statue sculpted in 1941 by Gerhard Marcks. The statue resides in the Franklin D. Murphy Sculpture Garden on the UCLA campus. Her name is Maja. According to Wikipedia, a “maja” can refer to a main-belt asteroid, a boa constrictor, a crab, a mountain peak in Kosovo, a feminine given name, a river in Romania, or a traditional Spanish woman. This last reference is what I see most in Marck’s Maja—a traditional Spanish woman. Well, maybe not traditional. And perhaps not necessarily Spanish, but a hot, spicy, self-assured woman willing to stand in her glory—a woman, who like the jacaranda behind her, is in full bloom.
Last Friday was a stressful day. I found myself thinking about how I cannot control what happens, but I can control my reaction to what happens. But having that knowledge and putting it into practice are two separate things.
Every year, around Thanksgiving, I wish I could hit a fast forward button, skip the month of December, and resume my life on New Year’s Day. It’s not that I don’t like the holidays, but it sometimes makes me feel like a headless chicken—a headless shopping chicken, running amok at the mall. I lose sight of the true meaning of Christmas. I know it’s supposed to be about giving, but searching for gifts in stores or online leaves me cold. It all seems so pointless.
I recently came upon this quote by American existential psychologist, Rollo May: “Real creativity is not possible without anxiety. In many ways, it’s the price of admission to the artist’s life.”
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