“Sometimes you've got to let everything go - purge yourself. If you are unhappy with anything . . . whatever is bringing you down, get rid of it. Because you'll find that when you're free, your true creativity, your true self comes out.” TINA TURNER

Allowing ourselves to truly let go of old beliefs and values, often limiting, beliefs and values, allows us to forge ahead into new, uncharted territory, which can be terrifying.

But there is a cleansing in this.

Even if, after all is said and done, we go back to where we started, we at least then know why we are there and can move forward, confidently that we are who we think we are.

When one changes surroundings, friends, occupations, hobbies and habits as I've done in this last year, It tests one's mettle. I've learned so much about who I am by forgoing that which I thought made me who I am.

I am 3000 miles away from where I lived for 20 years, doing things that are completely different than what I ever thought I would be doing. My world, my life, my perspective is richer and fuller than ever for having done this. As a result, this is reflected in my work. I've made pieces of jewelry that I didn't know I had in me... at all! Beautiful pieces that are so outside the realm of what I ever thought I could or 'would' make. 

What have you done that has changed your perspective and how has this impacted your creativity?

“Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep.” Scott Adams.

My recent Twitter post is a quote from Scott Adams, creator of the Dilbert comics. One of my previous incarnations was in adventure programming. The basic pedagogical premise behind adventure work is that risk taking and new and novel experiences facilitate personal growth. There's a great connection for me in ART and CREATIVITY, with RISK TAKING and ADVENTURE PROGRAMMING.
While I don't actively 'use' my degree in Outdoor Education, as I recently stated to a fellow alumnus, I 'use' my degree everyday. Whenever I force myself to ask for feedback on a piece of art that is iffy, I'm risking ridicule, failure, disappointment. I'm also risking joy, success, accomplishment. My response is what determines the outcome. Growth is painful, artistically. To venture into uncharted territory is risky. But, as with all challenges, there lies, behind the door marked fear, tremendous reward and satisfaction. 

The Artist's Way

It's been over a decade since I went through the book, The Artist's Way, by Julia Cameron, with 4 other female artists. There was a crafter, a metal smith, a jeweler, a writer and me.

For 12 weeks, as laid out in the book, we met with each other once a week and reported to each other our progress with that week's activities, "Spilling onto the page" each morning, going on artist dates and the assignments, the writing assignments. This was the most revealing self-reflection I had ever done.

Often the blank page before me said as much about the answer to the question as anything I could have written. My inability to face myself at times, was paralyzing. But Julia knows this. And through the book, I was guided to gently unravel the knots that tied me in binds, preventing me from being truly free in my ability to express myself artistically. Finally I could see the critic, the censor, the naysayer, the time stealer - all internal obstacles that needed to be dealt with, then the external ones,  the blocked artists who set traps along the path. I learned to shield myself from their attacks.

I feel truly blessed to have gone through this process with four women who committed themselves to the process as fully as I did, who were fierce enough in their loving to be brutally honest at times.  We set to flames each others' denials and lullabies that kept us from acting on, reaching toward, and believing in our own dreams. We comforted each other through the painful grief of losing those very comforts.

Amid the ashes of transformation, each of us, in our own time, took flight. The crafter traveled to a cake decorating class, the writer began working for a theater, the jeweler opened her own shop, I, a singer/songwriter at the time, took voice lessons at a local music school. For three years, we held reunions in August. The growth and expansion in each woman's life fed the others.

Over a decade later, I still very much refer mentally, psychically, spiritually back to those 12 weeks. I still have the binder that holds those notes. It's a touchstone for me. 

Have you read the Artist's Way? Have you a similar experience?