My brain is overflowing with ideas of what to do with canvas. Every day a few more spill out onto the pages of my drawing journal. Every day I wonder if there will be more, or if my creativity will leave me. I used to worry about this possibility. In past years this has been a reality. Months without creative ideas. I wondered if I my creativity had run its course, or if I was never creative at all, but just lucky at a few points in time. I have come to realize that these thoughts are not unique to me, but rather pervasive in the creative community. Actually, they are present throughout humanity.
But my worry, has transformed into wonder, and I can even say at this point expectation and excitement, about what will come out of the three pound organ of wonder that crowns my spinal column.
The fun thing is that my journey of worry to excitement about creativity is definable, and therefore, I believe reproducible. Quite frankly, that reproducibility is just as exciting as the creativity itself. Reproducibility means I can do it again. Reproducibility means others can do it as well.
My journey from worry to excitement has consisted of basically one thing…meditation. Meditation has a thousand different meanings for a thousand different people. To me meditation means working at thinking. Well, actually the first part of meditation is working at not thinking. It is consciously turning thinking off to clear the palette of the brain. Having a dirty pallet means your thinking is muddied and blah. Having a clear pallet allows yourself to think with clear and vibrant colors. If you have ever heard or read about someone focusing on their breath in meditation, this is what they are doing…clearing the palette.
However, that is just the beginning of what meditation (a.k.a. working at thinking), has been for me. Once the palette is cleared, clear vibrant thinking is possible. By clearing everything else out and focusing on one thing, I have gained many insights into what I think, how I think, who I am as a person, why I make the decisions I make. But, for me, the most exciting thing that has happened is the insights into creativity and specifically, into my canvas art. To clear everything else out and intently focus on one thing has opened up a world that I had always hoped and believed had existed, a world where creativity and insight are not just something I hope for, but something have come to look forward to.
