We Have the Power

 

"This is the first time in history when an artist doesn't need a pedigree or permission or even a patron to create art.  The power is literally in the hands of the creator."
Chase Jarvis
Photographer, Seattle
July 24th, 2010

When I read this, it made me stop and think.  If I had wanted to be an artist when I was in my twenties, I wouldn't have had a digital camera, a computer, a scanner, Photoshop or the internet to share art through online groups and forums. 

There are no excuses in this day and age not to be an artist if that is your calling and your passion.  You have everything you need to create, and more ...

To be an Artist

I found this necklace at my favorite shop in Charlotte: The Bag Lady (Provisions for the Wild Woman). I had to have it as a reminder that it takes courage to believe in oneself and to put your creations out into the world not knowing how they will be received. So this is for all the artists out there as a reminder that what you do really does matter. Spending time creating is important, regardless of whether your work sells or not.

Matthew Fox, in his book "Creativity: Where the Divine and the Human Meet" shows how important it is to meet the world with the creativity of an artist, particularly in these uncertain times:
"What do we do with chaos? Creativity has an answer. We are told by those who have studied the processes of nature that creativity happens at the border between chaos and order. Chaos is a prelude to creativity. We need to learn, as every artist needs to learn, to live with chaos and indeed to dance with it as we listen to it and attempt some ordering. Artists wrestle with chaos, take it apart, deconstruct and reconstruct from it. Accept the challenge to convert chaos into some kind of order, respecting the timing of it all, not pushing beyond what is possible—combining holy patience with holy impatience--that is the role of the artist. It is each of our roles as we launch the twenty-first century because we are all called to be artists in our own way. We were all artists as children. We need to study the chaos around us in order to turn it into something beautiful. Something sustainable. Something that remains".

So be the artist you were born to be. The world needs you.

Writing and Faith

I've discovered that writing a book requires faith and commitment to showing up every day not knowing what the day is going to produce. Some days the words and projects flow, other days they hiccup along. I thought I was the only one who didn't know exactly what every writing day would look like. Then I found the book "Writing and the Spiritual Life" by Patrice Vecchione and I realized I was not alone.

Patrice reminded me: "To have faith in your writer-self and to have faith in God, you need faith in what is unproven and invisible. To have faith in writing is, in a way, to have faith in all that is unformed within you, in all that is unprovable but possible. You give yourself to the mystery and find a knowing sense, faith, and trust that come from within you".

I can now relax into the mystery and surprise of what will be created and birthed each day, knowing that as long as I have the faith to just show up, the rest will follow.