Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Chapter 2 - Honoring Your Inspirations



I am reading The 12 Secrets of Highly Creative Women and participating in a group discussing the book online. Amazon took a bit to get the book to me so I am jumping in at Chapter 2.

"The capacity to linger in the unknown and see what happens is the passage to your creative self."

Lingering in the unknown...

For me, learning to linger is so important. It sounds simple but it really isn't. Lingering requires several commitments that do not come easily.
  • Valuing what you are doing (and therefore yourself) enough to make it a priority.
  • Silencing the messages that come in the quiet moments.

I find it so easy to place value on other things besides my explorations (dishes, groceries, blog reading of people that are already doing it). Balance is not something that comes easily to me. Balance often alludes me. Sometimes it is so far from me that I can't even see it in the distance. I have struggled with balance big time. If it wasn't a part of your younger life, it is difficult to learn its lessons and drag it kicking and screaming into your everyday life.

Silencing messages - that is a biggy. Those thoughts of what I should be doing instead of playing in my craft room/studio, of not being good enough, of not having real talent, of just wasting time are insidious. They pop up and hit you when you least expect them and once you give one of those thoughts a platform then they all come rushing in to see if you will listen to them as well. Reading how others deal with these "gremlins" has been inspiring.

I also related to Inventing Creative Rituals and Creating A Sanctuary. Recently I have started lighting fragrant candles and listening to music in my studio. I love the smell of candles and having "oldies" music on makes going to create feel more special. The music is fun and playful and gets me in the mood to play and not take things seriously. Playfulness grants you permission to try new things and not judge. Just explore with abandon. And sanctuary - my studio is definitely that. Love it.

Chapter 3: Following your Fascinations - next week.

4 comments:

Lisa said...

Reading this, I got the idea of you playing in your sanctuary ... and it is shocking, in a very good way! I think of "sanctuary" as a place where you have to be quiet and respectful ... so I learned something quite profound from you today... thanks.

Anonymous said...

I love this. Silencing those messages is a big one for me, too - especially "what should I be doing instead of ..." and yet it's the play that really is the important thing, the thing I should be giving priority to.

Shelley said...

I'll have to check this book out! I like to light candles and play music too when I'm doing things such as editing my photos or cooking.

claireylove said...

I hope you get much joy out of your sanctuary this week, Sandi!