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We were made to read Twyla Tharp's "The Creative Habit" as graduating seniors from a BFA program in attempt, I believe, to give us a head start in what would later be the hardest struggle of all: maintaining creativity. And that it is a fight, a disciple, a habit instead of merely a hobby or a gift, is absolutely true.
I am approaching the two year marker, two years since having finished Tharp's book and my undergraduate education, and Creativity and I are looking one another in the face. If you have seen the film Avatar, I would like you to have in mind that moment when Jake Sully must "choose" and "be chosen by" the beast which will later be his flying transport. It is a battle, a constant choosing and the question of whether to maintain or to jump ship must be answered eventually.
So I am beginning another such book: "The Artist's Way" by Julia Cameron. (Julie, I apologize ahead of time for all of the adjustments I will make to your program and all of the critiques I will make along the way which is simply my way of doing things.) And already I have been punched in the gut several times. Speaking about being aware of and acknowledging the movements that we make in our creative lives as if they were notes, instruments:"We are hearing ourselves as we sing our song. We are able, then, to be instrumental in our own change."
And because I don't know how to post without pictures...here is a pomegranate don't-hit-the-sidewalk-post.
