Heartsong Studio

Fresh Horses -

Do you keep making things the same old way ? 
If you’d like to turn humdrum into humming, and become
realer, wiser, and deeper as well, check out this article.

“Turning humdrum into humming”

Have you begun to feel that your work is pretty mediocre ? When you start on a new work, do you have a finished picture in mind for how it should look ? Do you set about the same procedure every time ?

This methodical approach is predictable, relatively risk free and safe, but also in time, can become boring as wet cardboard.

Are you ready for more excitement ? Perhaps a little adventure to change from humdrum to humming

Most people have had to drive to work, at one time or another. You usually take the same route every day. Even if you change the route a bit, it still gets you there at the appointed time.

Driving to work is about as predictable and humdrum as it gets. Sometimes your mind runs over something that happened outside work, but mostly you think about what’s happening at work today. The goal’s the thing. Pretty predictable. Just how you’ve been painting with the goal foremost in mind, and your intellect at the wheel.

Do people still take Sunday drives ? It used to be an adventure, in the days before gas prices skyrocketed. You’d jump in the car, and off you’d go with no destination in mind, , other than to discover what’s there you’ve never noticed before. . . a bird’s nest, a hidden beach, a shady path that beckons, an old horse leaning on a fence.

When you’d allowed yourself to follow all the prompts of your curiosity, you returned home refreshed, and often with a new lease on life.

You could use this model of the Sunday drive with your art. How ?

Don’t make art. 

That’s right, don’t make art.

Put aside your usual routine. Get a-hold of some cheap paper or a recycled canvas. Most importantly, forget about any goal or preconceived image. Put the idea of an end product right out of your mind.  

Isn’t that hard to do ?

Here’s a secret. . . It is hard to do, but only at first. It’s only getting started that’s different. But once you’re started, you’ll be surprised at how much fun it is. Because you’re not directing the action with your eyes and mind.

Get Lost. 

Let your paintbrush, chalk or pencil take you on a Sunday drive. Relinquish all control over to your heart. Be a back seat observer.

Suspend all judgment. For a l-o-n-g time, and even afterwards. Possibly forever.  

This is not you illustrating a Sunday drive ! ! !

Instead of focusing on achieving a finished product, keep your mind out of gear. The mind is out of its depth in understanding the unknown. It simply can’t do it.

So, give your mind a job, then it won’t feel antsy. Like you’d give your kids in the back seat a puzzle while you were driving. Your mind’s job is to be a neutral observer. Your hand and heart will direct the show.

* Let your mind be willing to be surprised by what colours your heart chooses today. You may stumble into colours that clash, or colours you hate may insist on being there. Who knows they might find new friends alongside colours you prefer.

* If you normally work fast, try slowing down to a snail’s pace for awhile. If you usually work rather slowly, try speeding up beyond your usual comfort level. Push and pull your pace boundaries.

* If you prefer your right hand, let your left hand have a turn. And, once your non-dominant hand is into the action, dare to let both hands have a go together ! Break all the rules of propriety.

Along the way, you might notice a process which is new for you. You might find you rather enjoy a new colour palette or texture. There might be a feel to the overall rhythm which embodies your individuality in a unique way.

When you’re all spent, all done, keep judgment suspended, and make no conclusions. Not yet. Then —

Try holding it up to a mirror, up close and at a distance.

Upside down and sideways.

Keep witnessing.

Tack it up at the end of a long hall, or in a narrow hall so you have to brush your nose on it to pass.

Show it to your dog or cat.

But above all — DON’T THROW IT AWAY ! You’re not done with it yet.

If you’ve managed to keep your ego mind out of the process this far, please congratulate yourself !

The next day or week or month, you could be surprised at what memories come up from your Sunday drive. What connections are there which you didn’t know you’d be looking for ?

And what you might discover, hidden there, possibly, might be a gentle little sign from deep within your heart. If you decide to discard the whole thing, you’ll squash this tender thing flat as a bug.

Sheltering a newly emerging facet of yourself is delicate, tender work, like nurturing a newly hatched egg.

The process of pushing boundaries challenges your sense of safety. It opens doors that have been shut on facets of your real self for a long time. It’s like pulling off bandaids, or scabs to let the air into old wounds, and let them heal cleanly.

 Patiently allow yourself to trust your heart, that step by step you can heal, and become even realer, wiser, deeper as you continue on your path of creative exploration.

Is it art ?

Could be it is, but chances are it won’t be “art”. But then remember that wasn’t your goal.

Could be it’s very beautiful too.

It is what it is.

SO WHAT IS IT ?

A record of a personal journey you undertook, a process you experienced, that one time.

Depending on how well you managed to turn over controls to your hands and heart, this could be a precious, one time only record.  You might be tempted to “fix” it later, to change the end result, in the light of your very particular intellect/ego.

Or, you might decide to honour your tender, tentative venture. I hope you will honour it, whatever you do. 

You can always put away your Sunday car and drive to work on Monday as usual. If you want the comfort of safety, and sameness. And no one needs to know what you did in that stolen hour. No one needs be any the wiser.

Except, you are wiser. You’ll have observed some things about your deeper self, and you can’t give it back.

Instead of judging it, accept it, appreciate it, run with it, enjoy it.

It’s you in all your perfection.

And I’ll bet you anything, it isn’t humdrum.

 

Liked the article ? Disturbed by it ? Drop me a line.

 

Celeste Varley
“Oh ! for a horse with wings.” Shakespeare
Let our hearts sing and take flight !
http://www.heartsongstudio.com