Creative Every Day

Creativity, Sacredness, and Bravery

August 13th, 2008

I love the project that Kelley of Dragonfly Reflections has created for herself. She decided to combine the essence of Creative Every Day 2008 and Sacred Life Sunday and do 100 days of sacred art. I mentioned to Kelley that the whole Creative Every Day project has made me much more aware of how the act of everyday creativity is a sacred act, as is art-making for me. It's all about slowing down, connecting with your still small voice, becoming aware of your surroundings, tuning into your life, and creating something from it. That something doesn't have to be grand. It might be farm fresh tomatoes that you sliced with care on a cutting board lined up with bits of goat cheese that you put together for a snack. When you can slow down enough to notice the blood red tomato, it's tight, but fragile skin, and pulpy interior, it connects you to life itself. You create an arrangement on the cutting board that is pleasing to the eye, you enjoy the taste and texture and feel grateful, you make some small impact on the day, which may be simply pleasing to you, but may ripple outwards in its effects in untold ways.

Every awareness and bit of creation seems to remind me of our impermanence. Is that the point? I certainly know that it is helpful for me to be reminded of my own and my loved ones mortality. Sometimes life can seem endlessly long. Life is full of mundane moments, each piled on the next and it's so incredibly easy to get caught up and lost in them. Another bowl of cereal for breakfast, the laundry needs to get put away, the litter needs cleaning, you have some family bbq to go to, you forgot to get stamps, you stub your toe, it's raining, you can't find your keys, someone is rude to you, life speeds by like this.

In the past, it's often things going wrong, some kind of crisis that wakes me up and reminds me how short and precious life is. It's a beautiful realization that can often lead to changes for the best, changes that were hard to make when stuck in the should's and have to's of a life that seems infinite and linear. The trick is to remember. It seems that once the crisis blows over, it's all too easy to fall back into old patterns and ruts. Perhaps life can't be lived full tilt, 24/7. I don't know. I've not managed it long term. But I wonder. Is it too much pressure to live each moment as if it were your one and only? It certainly takes a certain recklessness, abandon, and big time bravery. But the rewards are amazing.

One way I've used to wake myself up in the past is to imagine what I would do if I had a year left to live, and then do my best to do those things. It's a good exercise to think about and if done honestly can help direct you towards those things that make your heart sing. In my early twenties, my answers included that I would travel to the Caribbean and swim in crystal blue waters, spend more time with family, tell those I loved how much I loved them, and make lots of art. I did those things and I'm so glad I did. I've been considering doing this exercise again because of Patti Digh's challenge to think about what you'd do with 37 days left to live. This is the premise of her blog which led to the book, Life is a Verb, that has just been published. I think many of my answers would be the same now as they were in my twenties. I'd still want to spend lots of time with loved ones and express to them how much I love them, I'd still want to make lots of art (though I probably wouldn't be nearly as concerned about wasting materials or conserving paint or canvas. I might get a bit bigger and looser and more experimental with my brush strokes. I might paint with more abandon. I might paint with my whole body and soul and I'd certainly not give a crap about what any one else thought about it. Now, wouldn't that be liberating?), I'd also want to finish up, in some format, my book about living a creative life, which has been floundering a bit. I think I could pull out a handwritten version of the book in that month. Something collaged together to leave behind for others on the creative journey. 37 days wouldn't be enough time to have children. But that's something else I'd like for my life.

Wow, 37 days seems incredibly short. I know I'd be very sad. I'd want to sit by the ocean at night and look at the stars and write notes to my loved ones, give away my art to people I think would enjoy it. I'd cry and kiss the hubster and sleep in his arms with the kitties around us. But I'd also laugh and dance and sing and be silly. I wouldn't want to spend those 37 days depressed. I'd have an ice cream sundae for lunch and french toast for dinner. I'd draw on the walls. I'd take a long bath and walk around in my underwear or whatever was comfortable and freeing. I'd get my body painted and take cool pictures. I'd go on my favorite roller coasters and scream. I'd to on a whale watch. I'd visit the hollow tree near where I grew up and stand inside it, tuck a note into its branches. I'd cry some more and laugh some more and then leave this life in peace. What do you think you'd do with 37 days left to live? Is there anything unexpected that comes bubbling up when you think about it. Sometimes we don't know when our 37 days has started. Life is unexpected like that. What will you do with the knowledge of what having 37 days left means to you?

Well then, I wasn't expecting to go off on this when I started this post. I write posts like I make art, letting it flow. For more on this topic, I'd highly recommend Patti's book of course, and also Mark Nepo's Book of Awakening, which is excellent. It seems like all our challenges, being Creative Every Day, Sacred Life Sunday, Be Brave and many others are all about the same thing in a way. Living. Being. Creating. Outrageously, fully, with all our heart and soul, drinking it all in, and expressing all that is within us while we're here.

Above is something I was working on last night that ended up far away from what I originally imagined. I had started with the idea of sea creatures within an oval, but once I did the pattern in the background it was clear it was a face! I think I'll cut the face out and use it in a future collage, maybe the face of a mermaid.

 

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