Artist's Way- Recovering a Sense of Possibility

I have slowly still been going through The Artist's Way. This is one book I am determined to finish before I return home. It haunts me.  I know it requires so much of me, and I don’t always make time for it.

                           

This week’s Topic Recovering a Sense of Possibility

The author talks about how we continue to choose to stay blocked as artists because we are scared of what we might possess. She states that with God as our source of creativity our creative reservoirs are unlimited. “We decide how powerful God is for us. We consciously set a limit on how much God can give us or help us. We are stingy with ourselves. And if we receive a gift beyond our imagining, we often send it back.”

I have a hard time believing God cares about creativity. As I have slowly gone through this book, I have found that I becoming more confident and whole as a person. I do believe that God wants me to create. Creativity brings about something that has been lost in most people’s lives. Because I didn’t come out painting masterpieces in middle school or high school then I believe it is not possibly for me to be an artist. But isn’t art the manifestations of our creations? It is teachers and textbooks that make art an exclusive category. I am not saying there is not room for certain genres, but we should understand that the field of art is broader. Why wouldn’t we encourage one another to create? Are we too scared they would be some sort of competition?

The author claims that as we become connected with the one who has given us our creativity we become less harsh with ourselves, more trusting, less fearful, and more open. We start to depend on Our Source instead of trying to meet our needs through people, places, and things.

When we choose to stay blocked we are without this connection. We don’t often take the time we need to cultivate our creativity. One obstacle she suggests is our niceness. We put others before us so often that we are left with no time to ourselves. This lack of time keeps us blocked, our true self begins to whither away. “Virtuous to a fault, these trapped creatives have destroyed the true self, the self that didn’t meet with much approval as a child. The self who heard repeatedly, “Don’t be selfish!” The true self is a disturbing character, healthy and occasionally anarchistic, who knows how to play, how to say no to others and “yes” to itself.”

“Nobody objects to a woman being a good writer or sculptor or geneticist if at the same time she manages to be a good wife, good mother, good-looking, good-tempered, well-groomed, and unaggressive.” –Leslie M, McIntyre

Some questions

1.What would I try if it wasn’t too crazy?

2.What would I do if I weren’t too selfish?

3. The reasons I don’t believe in a supportive God.

4. Ten ways I am mean to myself.

5. What is your favorite creative block?

6. My payoff to staying blocked is…