Archive for June, 2007
Sharing passion can be deadly.
Have you ever had a flash of inspiration for a new project, but found it had soon cooled off ? If you’ve ever had this trouble, you might find some help in this article : “Sharing passion can be deadly â€, by Celeste Varley============================================================
Do you ever talk excitedly about a hot idea until the flame goes out ? Whenever I used to blow smoke about a great new project, it would soon fizzle.
Beginnings of inspiration, like fresh sparks, need dry fuel and shelter from the wind, till wood can catch fire and grow into a blaze. Have you ever tried to light a fire with a pile of wet leaves ? If you get them started, there’s so much smoke that the little sparks get snuffed.
Recently, I was deeply inspired by images of survival in a video of 200 wild horses marooned on a tiny island in the Netherlands. I was excited to send the link to share with you in my Fresh Horses newsletter. When this turned out to be impossible, I was disappointed. . . At first.
Being blocked from sharing my passion was a blessing in disguise. Had I managed to send it, and describe in words what I found so moving, the energy would have died with the first spark.
This time, I finally got it, with the help of technology dampening my passion. I was left to focus my energies on gradually developing this spark of inspiration into a glowing body of work.
If you don’t already know it, you might learn from my experience. Don’t blow a pile of smoke, even to your mate or best friend. It’s not that others might steal your fire, but that you could easily put out your passion in talking about it.
Let your little sparks get a good start first, and then keep them sheltered awhile longer till they’re blazing hot. Focus this new passion where it needs to be to ignite the creative miracle.
Sheltering and feeding a new inspiration is like first learning you’re pregnant. You wait some weeks before you tell the whole world. It’s a very private, tender time of gestation. Once your work is well underway, and you start to see its possibilities, it will begin to take on a life of its own. Then you likely won’t need to talk about it.
While you might have enjoyed the video, my sparks would have been snuffed out before they’d had a chance to catch hold. Instead, they have caught fire and are becoming a blaze of paintings.
So I thank the Universe for once again providing me with the perfect lesson at the right time. And I offer my example that it might catch fire with you too. Now I’m more patient to know the difference between blowing out a new spark, and staying in connection within, until the tinder burns bright.
Comments are off for this postThe risk in trying to avoid blunders.
The risk in trying to avoid blunders.
Are you ever bugged by some part of your work that seems a bit “off†? How can you stop the problem parts from taunting you ? Try to ignore it, and it won’t go away. Try to cover it up, and it seems to loom larger.
What began as an unresolved area can creep up on us when we’re tired, and taunt us with idle lies like : “You‘ll never get it right… You have no talent… It‘s such a messâ€, and so on. It’s tempting to believe those voices, and resolve to avoid taking chances in future.
In each of us lives a little kid who longs for a pony for his birthday. There’s one kid whose parents watch him busily digging in a pile of manure. When asked why, the kid says: “With all this horse manure, I figure there must be a pony in here somewhere.â€
The secret lies in seeing a blunder as a gift, like manure as the promise of a pony, or at least as great compost for your garden. Blunders are inevitable. They show up in everyone’s work.Â
The promise of a gift lies at the heart of every problem; the possibility for new growth waiting to be dug out. It takes a willingness to be vulnerable. Digging in a sore spot isn’t easy, but it can be very productive.
Focus on the part of your work that seems most challenging. Go inside, and ask in your heart these 4 questions:
1. What are my successes here ?
2. What remains a challenge for me still ?
3. What unresolved area in my life might this  problem resemble ?
4. What deeper personal needs could be filled first that might release possible insights ?Give the enriched soil a chance to grow new seedlings while you treat yourself gently. Do something that gives you pleasure. Take a walk in the woods, play with your dog, chat with a friend. Even something simple, like standing to paint instead of sitting, can allow insights to stir and come clearer.
Then, with your heart softened, go back to considering your work. Any signs of a pony yet ? Did digging with the 4 questions suggest any new insights ? Can you make use of an insight in this work, or will you let it remain the fertilizer for your next piece ?
Trying to avoid blunders leads to being too careful, staying in your old comfort zone. If you succeed, you’ll have stopped growing.
Embracing blunders for the gifts they hold, creates space for growth within yourself. More than that, it gives inspiration back to the Universe, that was transformed in the earth of your work.
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