A woman friend recovering from a serious injury that has slowed her down considerably recently told me she’s been exploring artistic self-expression and loves it! She’s discovering unknown parts of herself.
I’ve heard, time and time again, that illness, injury and loss often become the portal through which people pass to discover previously unexplored fascinations, talents and creative joys. Curtailed from our normal mode of living, we relax and give ourselves permission to explore sometimes hidden dimensions of thinking, feeling and self-expression.
Just back from a wonderful, gentle vacation in Florida, I also notice today that I feel clearer, more focused and more in touch with my creative muse. Being away from everything; letting go of my tendency to over-work and over-think, seems to have taken me back to, rather than away from, the river of creative inspiration.
Sometimes, when I read books like “Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience” by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi it seems to me that creativity is presented as something that must be WORKED at rather than relaxed into. Yet, we know that children are HIGHLY creative effortlessly.
Other people have commented on the relationship between creative inspiration and engaging in slow, repetitive work or movement. In her artist’s statement at http://www.mollygordon.com/pa/artiststatement.html, coach Molly Gordon describes how knitting is the key, the “rabbit hole” to her creative unconscious.
When it comes to creative living, the best path may be to go slow to go fast!
Posted by Linda Sandel Pettit on 06/20 at 12:42 PM in |
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