Clear/Receive/Create

ZOELAB DAY 10

When I teach my creativity classes, and when I make art at home, I like to create an environment that maximizes creative flow. The environment consists of different rituals within three basic phases. 

CLEAR

I have been focusing on cleaning and organizing lately because I have come to believe it’s an important aspect of the creative process. I’ve learned the hard way, because keeping things orderly has not been natural for me most of my life. But I have discovered that when my space is clean, I feel happier, calmer and more conscious to make a choice to either relax, or do something productive. Either way,  having a clear, open space helps me to remember to check in with myself. It’s not that I must have my space clean space in order to be creative, but having a clear desk calls me back into creativity. I am more productive in an organized space. When the space around us is messy, we unconsciously block out the mess, and the rest of the space around us, using avoidance as a refuge. When there’s less clutter we see our environment--it calls us into it, it awakens our eye, our touch. A clean space makes me want to make a mess. I want to fill it up with something new. I observe this with Emilio. When his toys are cleaned up every night, he is more drawn to them in the morning. He literally throws himself into the imaginative and curious world that his shelved toys quietly promise. 

RECEIVE

Another aspect of the creative process is the state of receptivity. In order to be in this state, we need to be relaxed, present, and attuned with our senses. I find that the act of clearing our space makes us more relaxed, and ready to receive. The receptive state can be the experience of non doing. Or it can also be an activity where we are receiving stimuli but in a relaxed, and conscious way. Some of my favorite receptive activities are: meditating, deep listening to music with headphones, taking a walk, spending time looking at nature, even reading. I think watching videos or television is not an effective receptive activity, because, although we are receptive, we are in a passive, unconscious state. Receptivity creates space--space in our imagination for images, space in our body for sensual experience, and space in our mind for ideas. This is often where inspiration happens. This is when revelation happens. This is how we hone our attention to our experience of the world around us.

CREATE

After I have cleared my space, and put myself in a receptive state, I am ready to create. Creating is the active phase of the process--this is when we actually do the work. This can be a timed or ritualized practice, or it can be a spontaneous act of expression. Because I often work multi-modally, I like to set up for this phase by creating little making stations for myself all over my room. I set up markers and paper in one corner. I put out several art books or postcards for inspiration. I set up my guitar in the corner. I have my computer ready on a desk for writing or research. I find that the creative flow comes more easily, if I have done some clearing and receiving first. 

The next phase is sharing, which is an important phase of the creative process as well. When I’m teaching, sharing happens at the end of the workshop. But at home, sharing may never happen, or it may happen months or years later. In the case of ZOELAB, though, it happens at the end of every day. I love ending the day this way. It feels complete. When I was in elementary school I had a special ritual with my best friend, Molly. Every day after school, we would meet up in the school yard and ask each other: “was today 100 percent complete?” If we both said “yes,” then we would say goodbye and go our separate ways. But if one of us said “no” then we would agree that we would have to go to one or the other’s house and create something. Usually we would create a dance routine to a popular song of the day, and perform it for our parents. After that, we felt satisfied, and we could finally put the day to rest. I’ve written a rock song about this ritual called 100 percent complete. I’ll share it with you once I have a good recording of it.

ZOELAB acts as Molly for me now. For years I have tried to come up with a daily checking-in-with myself ritual. At one point I had made a sign that said: “Little Zoë, was today 100 percent complete?” I posted it on the wall of my studio. But after a few days, I barely noticed the sign was there. Another time I made myself a daily reminder on my computer that would pop up with the same question, as well as a document with a series of questions that followed up. But after a few days, I didn’t even notice those pop up windows. This is the first time I have been able to stick with a daily ritual. And so, after I hit the publish button on iweb, everyday ends feeling 100 percent complete.

On Inspiration

ZOELAB DAY 2

To be an artist one needs courage, discipline and an ability to express truth. But to be able to continue to be an artist, one needs to be inspired. 

I also believe: if you want to be an artist, you already are.

Stubbornness helps too. I learned this from a lecture given by Anaïs Nin as transcribed in the book A Woman Speaks, published in 1975. She wrote about how a liberated woman has to be stubborn in order to live the life she really wants to live in spite of the cultural resistance. Anaïs Nin has been an inspiration to me--her intelligence, courage, intellectual curiosity, androgynous mind, aesthetic sophistication, and passion for the arts. I often remember this idea--the importance of being stubborn as a positive thing, as the great protector of the true self, so that your unique voice can be heard. When no one would publish her experimental novels she started her own printing press and published them herself. To continue to be an artist, this is the kind of spirit that is needed.

 Last night I was inspired by Bob Dylan. My husband Lucas just happened to put on No Direction Home, the documentary about Bob Dylan that cuts back and forth between two stories: his story from the beginning, which especially focuses on his musical influences, and then footage of one of Dylan’s concerts when he first went electric. His folk fans felt angry and betrayed by his turning to rock-n-roll and had no problem expressing it. When he performed, he had to block out the audience’s boo’s. He had to believe in his right to make the music he wanted despite the lack of support he received. He was being stubborn.

The last time I watched this same documentary, six years ago, was the night before an important performance where I was to share my quirky, imperfect rock songs with my classmates in graduate school. It wasn’t a music class, but a class about the power of the arts in the context of Expressive Arts Therapy. I have always appreciated music deeply, and play guitar, write songs and sing, but I am very insecure about performing music in front of others. Watching Bob Dylan shrug off the booing of his supposed fans had a powerful impact on me. I realized that I couldn’t let my inner critic who was worrying about other’s judgment prevent me from sharing my music.

When it comes to being an artist, or to self-actualizing in any way, you do what you need to do. So what I did was bring some outfits so I could do a costume change, I experimented with playing a character. I got through my fear with play and performance. That’s what Bob Dylan does, he plays the character in the song. Or the character he’s inspired by in that moment. That’s what being creative is: use of self. The archetype/sub personality enters when it is called for. 

Last night it was the younger, visionary Bob Dylan that inspired me. He inspires others because he is inspired. He was inspired by Woody Gutherie, Odetta, and many other artists, and by his desire to tell stories. He helped me to realize you owe it to yourself and the world to be who you are, and not to hold back. He had a voice he believed in, even when others didn’t. It is not up to us to question our voices. It is up to us to get our of our way so that the voice can be heard.

When I was studying acting, I was very passionate about the Meisner technique.  Joe Anania, my most beloved acting teacher, would call out to us while we did our repetition exercises “trust yourself!” and “get out of your own way!” I still hear his dramatic voice in my ear when I need to. Luckily his voice is loud and can sometimes drown out the critic’s.

Last night, after my first day of publishing ZOELAB, my inner critic had a lot of negative stuff to say about it, as he (my inner critic happens to be male) often does when I put myself out there, perform or take up space. (In this case I am taking up webspace.) I even considered shutting down the whole project. But after watching Bob Dylan, I realized this project is something I have to do. Sure it’s scary, and vulnerable, and I have no idea what it will be like or how it will be received, but I have come to believe all worthwhile things in life start out kind of scary, and usually end up being a lot of hard work, but if I commit to it, with all that I can, the satisfaction and growth that comes from it is well worth all of that because it takes me to somewhere new. 

As I wrote in my commitment statement, I want to be inspired and inspire others. According to the etymology dictionary, inspire means: "to fill (the mind, heart, etc., with grace, etc.);" also "to prompt or induce (someone to do something)," from O.Fr. enspirer (13c.), from L. inspirare "inflame; blow into" (see inspiration).” Inspiration also means breath. I like to think of it as an integral part of the creative process. In order to create you need to breathe in, fill the mind and heart with that which it loves, and then when you breathe out, you express that which needs to be expressed. A few years ago when I was trying to find a way to define myself as an artist, which felt and continues to feel, impossible, I came up with an idea of making a photoshop collage of the female artists that most inspired the kind of artist I wanted to be/already am, also reflecting all the creative outlets/media that I am most drawn to--writing (memoir in particular), music, (rock-n-roll in particular), comedy performance (improv and sitcoms in particular), social/experiential/performance art, filmmaking. I just realized there are no photographers or visual artists on there. Maybe I need to add one to the collage. I am also becoming interested in Marina Abramovic. I want to watch the documentary about her called The Artist is Present. 

(POSTSRIPT: After learning more about Marina Abromovic. I would most definitely add her to this inspiration collage.)

Here is the list:

Anaïs Nin

Bjork

Carrie Brownstein

Tina Fey

Sophie Calle

Miranda July

Lucille Ball

Shawn Marshall (of Cat Power)

The image at the top of this entry is that collage, which I called Manifest Destiny. (Postscript: Later, upon realizing the negative connotation of the term, I changed it to Womanifest Destiny.) I put it on my wall and look at it and remember what I am inspired by and therefore why I want to be an artist. After all, if I want to be an artist, I already am.  I am going to make Inspiration a theme on my upcoming Theme Page.

Tell me, who inspires you?