"Consolidate. Concentrate. Be You."

There is an excellent meditation called "Patience Pays" by Yogi Bhajan that states "You need a million things? A million things will reach you- if you are stable. Established. Firm. Patient... Creation is ready to serve you, if you just BE YOU... So please, take away the ghost of your life, and stop chasing round. Consolidate. Concentrate. BE YOU..."

Artists are often regarded as eccentric, emotional creatures.  We flit. We flutter. We have moods. We have vices.  We get confused. We are sometimes late or irresponsible.  We are sometimes workaholics.  We don't always remember birthdays and don't always show up to special occasions.  We stand in an art stores and are seized with panic attacks because we don't even know where to begin.  We get ulcers because not writing a paragraph correctly can haunt us for weeks, months, some people, years! We come out of our shells and expend our energy trying to get to the top of the next hill and then come back exhausted, tired, and even more confused.  We stay up too late, often make little money, and feel disconnected from "those normal people" with "those normal lives" who couldn't possibly understand the agony and ecstasy that is our existence.

And, you are right.  you do not have a "normal life."  You are an artist.  You have a gift, and with that gift, comes a responsibility:  to make the most of that gift while you are here on earth.

Because when your life is over, it will be too late.

Look at the flame of a candle.  It is not messy.  It is not widespread.  The light it casts is widespread, but the flame ends in a very concentrated point.  It moves, it dances, it is flexible, but it never leaves the wick. It stays right there, an intense little beam of fire.

If you want to be an inspiration to others with your art, to cast your light onto your environment in some way, you must also have concentration.  This can be subjective to your own personal situation.  But in some way, if you want to capture that essence of creativity, you must eventually do some consolidating of your time and energy.  This does not have to be a CHORE.

It can mean many things.  Here are some ways to consolidate:
-quit going to things you don't want to go to just because you were invited.
-replace a junk food meal that makes you sleepy with protein and vegetables that give you more energy.
-turn off the phone while you have your creative time. There is no law that says you must answer it right then! That's what voicemail is for!
-limit the drains in your life- this could be people, activities, projects that no longer work for you, acquaintances.  Be honest with yourself about what situations you need to commit to working out (family?), and which ones you are able to free yourself of.
-ask your close friends to understand your absence. It's as simple as saying "I hope you can understand, I'll drop by the party but I can't stay the whole time..."
-Align yourself with knowing mentors... this can be an invaluable help in sorting out confusion on your artistic path.
-Give activities time limits. Do you really need to be on the internet for 5 hours every weekend?
-Exercise.  You will be refreshed, renewed, and oxygenated, keeping your brain more alert and awake to your next stroke of genius.
-Stop trying to control the universe.  It will go on without you.  (scary, huh?)

The other part of this meditation I really like is the BE YOU part.
You are the only person in this world who has had your exact life experiences.  You are the only person who will ever know them, really, truly, when you leave this life.

It takes courage to expose a part of yourself to the world.  As an artist, you are a vessel to creativity, and you are also part of it.  A peanut butter sandwich is the peanut butter and the bread.  The art can't be made without the artist.  The art is not ALL ABOUT the artist, but the two are intertwined and cannot be made separately.  A machine can replicate, it can do amazing things these days, but... it cannot create like a human because it has no soul. It takes the human to make the art.

Therefore, if you are trying to create while pretending to be somebody else, the art will come out confused.  It will not be your PURE art.  It will be forced, false, maybe boring, maybe trendy, but it will not capture that timeless essence that magnetizes people to want to experience it over and over again.

When you are honest to your work, the work will be honest.  Maybe you feel that YOU is not enough- maybe someone won't like it, or will criticize it, or will think this big shiny fabulous thing next to you is of more value.  And the truth is, that may very well happen! It happens all the time!

But it doesn't matter.  Because when you create something real for YOU, there will be someone else that it will also be real for.  And that communication is all that matters.

The goal for this week is to Consolidate, Concentrate, and BE YOU.  Drop the activities and obsessions that keep your energy pouring out into vast seas of waste.  Start fresh, right now, by taking a deep breath, and letting go.  Fall into your 5 year old self.  Be simple. And see what changes when you come into your concentrated self.

Who Are the People in Your Neighborhood?

I guess first I should say, that it's taken a long time for this post to appear, because I have been on the road with a rock and roll band since March.  Which inspires many topics for post, but this is the first one.

We went through many small towns and the way down to Texas and back up to New York.  Met many people, slept in many places, and had a variety of situations and experiences.  And I have decided while thinking about creativity and life that "getting to know the locals" is one of the most inspiring things one can do.

This picture is taken from an old-fashioned style printing shop called YeeHaw Industries in Knoxville, TN.  They use the giant presses to do mostly posters/ announcements, but also have a variety of other things for sale.  We happened upon it while killing time, and one of our band members had been there before.  We popped inside and the employees let us go in the back and observe as he ran some of the most gorgeous posters I've ever seen.

I was fascinated with the gears of the old machines, and walls and walls and walls of stamps and plates and letters and numbers.  They ranged in size from large to smaller than the tip of your pinky.  But what's more, I was fascinated with the company's size and magnitude!

Here's an art form that has long been threatened by modern technology, as who doesn't know someone with Photoshop? And yet, here they are, doing it "the old fashioned way", no doubt, at top level. To me it is a great example of people with vision making it work.

It's too easy to get lost in our own heads about how we can NOT accomplish something.  Ask yourself why you can't reach one of your goals  or desires and you can come up with 100 excuses why it can't happen.  Imagine if a friend came to you asking for a loan to open "an old-fashioned printing press?" I think most of us would try to talk that person out of it or dismiss it as an idea that makes no sense.  There seems to be a better, faster, more advanced way to do everything these days, and yet- when you really look at the inner-workings of an art form, it's not a fast process.

My roommate is an artist and has been working on a piece for weeks.  Tiny pieces of paper have been visiting our house.  They escape his room and take little journeys on our socks throughout the hallways.  I'll occasionally find them hopping into the shower, or taking a ride on the cuff of my jeans.  I don't get annoyed, because I love that I live in a house where something is going on.  Recently I asked him to explain the sculpture to me.  I was fascinated by his thought process and the work it would take to get to the finish. (I won't reveal any secrets here!)  Talking to him brought up all kinds of other ideas in me that apply to music.  My psyche was stirred.

It's worth the time, next time you have the opportunity, to take the time to see what someone's craft is, and ask questions.  Maybe you know someone who sews, knits, is a woodworker, or has some other sort of fascinating penchant for the unusual.  Ask if you can visit their studio.  Make a little field trip out of it. Remember Mr. Roger's neighborhood?  I loved the episodes where he'd visit factories and they'd explain how things worked.  Do that again!

It's inspiring to see people in their natural element, and it's good for the soul to see people at work. Find one person in your life or your neighborhood that you can visit.  Most of them will be happy to talk about what they do.  And it could inspire your next great masterpiece!