The Artists' Way

I went to a poetry reading today and honestly, the poet was a little weird. She wrote an entire book of poetry to this odd gourd-thing that she found on a walk. An entire BOOK of poems to a gourd baby. The name of the book (and the gourd) is "King Baby". And if that terrific review just sold it, here's where you can collect your winnings...

You should also know that this woman is likely a genius, but the room was warm, she has a soothing voice, and it was 2pm. (AKA post-lunch-coma-time) There were a few things that I really did enjoy, when I wasn't completely zoning out.

I appreciated her description of writing on a schedule. It was reminiscent of "The Artists' Way" (which, speaking of, I should really read... I'm sure it's in one of my storage bins I've never completely unpacked) where they say you should create EVERY day. What I liked about her version is that you should use the schedule that works best for you. She likes to get up very early. If you look at nearly all of my post times, it appears that 11pm is my ideal writing hour. (Not that my writing is ideal at this hour, but it's at least my preferred writing time.) Also, if it's a busy day, you can at least tweak yesterday's work, so you never get too far removed from it. Her overall concept of scheduled creativity did two things for me:

a. Make me pat myself on the back for starting a blog. While I haven't written EVERY day (c'mon! I was in VEGAS!), I haven't missed too many.

b. Make me kick myself for getting SO far removed from art. I'm getting close to making some resolution like "I'll draw something each and every day and post it here to prove it."...except that's like making a New Year's resolution all over again, and we all know THOSE are hard to keep. (Note to self: explain my 2010 Resolution in another blog entry)

The other part I liked is her description of WHY the gourd-baby inspired her and how it changed her from then on. Now you're rolling your eyes. "The gourd-baby changed her life? Jeez... these artist-types..." What she said was that finding this creature made her look at everything around her more carefully. It opened her to be open to seeing. Everything was a source of inspiration, especially when you viewed it with fresh eyes. I'm sure this resonates with all artists, designers, creators of anything. It also explains the phenomenon of how once you know someone with a MINI Cooper, you tend to see them everywhere. (Now that I've mentioned it and put it in your head, tell me it doesn't happen!)

Let me confess- I don't believe

Things happen for a reason.

I believe we bend events around to meaning

or recline with them and mystery at once.

I think we say things happen for a reason

if we don't believe the making is important.

-Lia Purpura (excerpt from "King Baby")