Welcome to the neighborhood!

I recently started reading the Artist's Way by Julia Cameron. Do I
believe there is a magical or spiritual cure for writer's block, or
flat notes, or squeaky bowing, or butterfingers on the piano keys? No.
What about those few minutes during every musician's practice time when things are not going right? Nope, no quick fix for that, either. You can't make your music be perfect, or your writing be stellar without putting in tons of hard
work... but I do believe there are things we can each do to further our artistic endeavors that have nothing to do with the time we spend at the instrument, or at the potter's wheel, or in the dance studio. I think a lot of what we bring to our art starts in our heads. That's where art goes from being a spark of inspiration to being a masterpiece, right? So if you aren't in the right frame of mind, how can your creation take wing? The Artist's Way is supposed to help re-build your creativity, teach you tricks to replenish your inspiration well, and open your eyes to the state of the relationship between you and your art.

I'm covering a lot of ground in this first post, but it sets the stage for the rest of the play. Hang on tight, and here we go!

Side note: I haven't figured out the formatting on blogger yet, so just pretend the posts look pretty and cleaned up until I get smart. Thanks.


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Mental neighborhood


Sometimes my head can be a bad neighborhood, full of criticism, back-talk, bullies, and what-ifs. Those what-ifs are good guys if you befriend them, but if they sneak up on you in a bad alley... look out. They will shoot first and ask questions later, take you down without a moment's hesitation if they can. Perception can be art, or nightmare, depending on who pulls the trigger and how you react. Interpretation can be your lover, or your mortal foe, depending on how you employ him. Inspiration runs like hell when the Censor emerges cracking his hairy knuckles and flicking a switch-blade out of his jacket pocket. Motivation is a ragged vagabond beggar, beaten down and raped by necessity and reality one too many times to get up anymore. Necessity rules with an iron fist, and his mobsters don't let anyone get away with anything without his nod. Yeah, it's that bad in my head, some days.

And yet, through the bleak grime coating the upper-stories of tumble-down dream buildings, you can catch a glimpse of sunlight glinting off of ocean waves. Seabirds wheel in a tangy fresh breeze, and once in a while, a desperate idea makes a break for freedom from the poverty-stricken streets, and winds up dancing in the halls of success!

So, I think I'm going to try to rennovate this ghetto neighborhood, and turn it into a haven for all things creative and beautiful. I think I'll put in a park with winding streams, copses of oak, rowan, ashe and apple dotting the center lush green lawns. I need a rose garden set up like a Japanese garden, wild, with bridges over fish ponds, and some waterfalls cascading over boulders, sending rainbows of light and sound dancing through the morning sunshine. oh, and I cannot forget the quiet haven to read books and drink tea with the moon casting long shadow-fingers across the pages and a fireplace alight with merry flames warming my feet. There would be a classy elegant downtown to walk through with little one-of-a-kind stores and cafes, churchbells singing in the mid-morning. children squeal and laugh as they dip their toes in the river across the street. The river has weeping willows along one bank, and boats skim across the surface in a brisk breeze. You can smell savory scents wafting from the bakery and the cafes, or warm musk from the opening door of the nearby fragrance shop. Music plays all the time, all kinds, all styles. There are instruments everywhere for you to touch and play. They welcome you like lovers, drink you in, wrap themselves around your soul, and give it back to you in song, changed, whole, redeemed. Welcome to my world.

I have a lot of work to do to turn my current mental "neighborhood" into that paradise. But at least I can envision what I want the final result to look like, both metaphorically, and realistically. Time to get started!

Your journey is your own, but this is my story as it unfolds. I haven't finished the book; I have no idea what's ahead, but I'm going to do the exercises she has listed in there, and blog about it here so you can follow and watch as I unfold my wings.

I intend this blog to be self-standing, meaning that you don't have to have read the book to uhnderstand my rambling, but it might help you as I refer to her terminologies such as "Censor," or "morning pages."

I encourage you to explore yourself and your art, too. I'll try to give one exercise (of my own design since I don't think it's right to steal hers, you can read her book and pay the copyright for that), every time I blog here. There are tons of artist way blogs online, tons of ideas and outlets for creativity. This is strictly my experience with the journey. I have not read any of these other blogs, for the express reason that I want to know my own journey, not live someone else's, or let it influence mine right now. If one of the exercises here looks like something you've done before, it might be very similar, but it's up to you to make it your own, and no, I won't steal from other blog or book suggestions without showing you where I got it, or telling you how I learned it.

Do some soul-searching before you answer. You can share the answers with me by commenting on this blog if you wish, or you can keep them under lock and key. But I'd love to hear your thoughts and ideas.

Today's exercise: Journey from your head to your heart
What is the state of your mental "neighborhood right now?" Whether you're a writer, a painter, a potter, a musician, a dancer, make the neighborhood of your head come to life for you in the hands of your art. Explore at your leisure. If it's dangerous, go armed with a few necessary weapons to save yourself should you come to harm. Chocolate, an open window with a breeze, a pot of hot ginger herbal tea, and good music in the background ground me to reality no matter how far into the dark backstreets I venture. give yourself something pleasant to come home to when your journey is over. Once you've finished, consider what, if anything, you can and should change in that neighborhood. Express that, too, in your art of choice. Paint or draw it, dance it, play it, throw it on the wheel, describe it like I did here. Share it with people if you want to, or keep it hidden in a bottom drawer somewhere, but keep the two visions in your head, and see if you can't start constructing the changes.