Creative Opportunities

I was dropping off some work today at The Lucky Dumpster in Edison, WA, and talking with the proprietor about the nature of work and life. Heavy stuff, I know.

We were both talking about the way we move through the world. He has a curiosity about things that serves him well in most situations. In a very few situations, it paralyzes him. Which I can completely understand.

I was talking about how I do the same thing, in a way, but with a little twist. Whenever I have a gut reaction to something...food, art, writing, or a flower, for instance, something that I love, like, or hate, I ask myself why. I have found that when I know why something moves me, it is easier for me to make decisions regarding the people, places, and object with which I fill my life.

I learned this going through critique training in art school. Students are taught to look at work and recognize why something is or isn't working formally, and also, why they might be having a gut reaction to the work. The reason it is important to know this, at least in an art context, is so that the artist knows how to approach their own work.

As I transferred this learning to my own life, I was able to make decisions regarding big and little things much more quickly and easily, and distance myself from any emotional reaction or stimulus that might be steering me the wrong way. It was a great way to speed up my decision making and encouraged me to own every decision I make, right or wrong, and give me a framework with which to handle the results of each decision. 

In this, I have managed to make the decisions that have lead me to this sort of dream life I am living. I am very happy writing, making, teaching art and living in a simple way in a beautiful place. The ability to step back and recognize that I am truly happy with the decisions I have made is gratifying, especially because for so long I wondered why I kept making the same stupid decisions over and over, and why I seemed to be choosing suffering for so long. 

If people took the time to study what they love, what they do not love, and think about why, strictly based on their own feelings around those things, then base a decision making framework upon that alone, there would be more joy in the world. As it is, we are trained to be manageable, profitable, and in need of fixing, repair or some other type of costly service that is truly unnecessary. Many of us look up in middle age and wonder, "my god, what have I done?!?!" (Shout out to David Byrne and the Talking Heads on that one.)

There is space for creative opportunities everywhere in our lives if we are brave enough to acknowledge and take advantage of them. It takes a lot to move away from the norm, but the rewards that await are just unbelievable. 

#Creativity #Creativelifestyle #artislife #lifeisart

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