Even members of the creative community can succumb to the prevailing sentiment that one must keep busy, though often little distinction is made between being busy and being creative.

A recent piece in the NY TIMES “Is Anyone Happy Anymore?” was a reminder of the importance of taking time to pause, reflect on and be grateful for the moment – like the farmer, Michael, who’s questioned by the author:

Because Michael seemed to be working on the land all day every day, into the fall of darkness and beyond, and never complained, I once asked him if he ever took a holiday.
“A holiday?” He looked at me like the innocent I was.
“I mean, what do you do to be happy?”
The question was a novelty to him and he considered it from all sides before answering.
“When I want a holiday,” he said at last, “I go over the road as far as the meadow. I go in there, take off my jacket, and lay down on it. I watch the world turning for a bit, with me still in it.”
He smiled then, and held me in his blue Atlantic eyes, full of the ordinary wisdom of a well-lived life, a wisdom that saw the many failings of the world but our still breathing and dreaming in it, and with a conclusive nod that defeated all arguments said, “That’s happiness.”

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Freelancer's Union founder Sara Horowitz reflected recently on the eve of her moving on about her guiding philosophy which, not surprisingly, is relevant to all of the creatives her organization represents:

I have this eternal faith that good people are going to keep struggling. There’s this beautiful phrase, which is something to the effect of “You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to desist from it."

The baton’s passed to you, you run as fast as you can, then you pass it to the next one. Whatever is difficult in our world, we have the obligation to try really hard.

Fresh Air's Terry Gross recently interviewed filmmaker Martin Scorsese and, when she asked him his thoughts about what he thinks happens after death, Scorsese referenced the mental state one has as an artist in the midst of creating:

There's something that happens that's transcendent. I'm talking about trying to find a moment of that. I think it approaches sometimes when we create something and we feel something from what we create that gets us close, I think, to a sense of transcending the material.

A dominant theme of these posts has been about the tension that exists between intellect and emotion in creating art.

We’ve featured many observations by artists who, consciously or unconsciously, allow the emotional component of their creative vision to inform the work, like songwriter Allee Willis.

Willis, who recently passed away, penned many hits, most famously with the band “Earth, Wind & Fire” and she credited band member Maurice White with her success. She describes here, succinctly and poetically, what he taught her about the proper relationship between intellect and emotion:

I learned my greatest lesson ever in songwriting from him, which was never let the lyric get in the way of the groove.

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Artists seeking a path to express a unique vision typically discover few guides.

So it's not surprising when they conclude that, though the results may be messy at times, the journey must be respected:

For what it’s worth: it’s never too late or, in my case, too early to be whoever you want to be. There’s no time limit, stop whenever you want. You can change or stay the same, there are no rules to this thing. We can make the best or the worst of it. I hope you make the best of it. And I hope you see things that startle you. I hope you feel things you never felt before. I hope you meet people with a different point of view. I hope you live a life you’re proud of. If you find that you’re not, I hope you have the courage to start all over again.

                                                                                                –– F. Scott Fitzgerald

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Here's another excerpt from that recent NY TIMES Op-Ed about beauty, this one from author André Aciman:

All beauty and art evoke harmonies that transport us to a place where, for only seconds, time stops and we are one with the world. It is the best life has to offer.

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A recent NY TIMES Op-Ed inquired of artists, writers and designers "Why Is Beauty Important To Us?"

Here's an observation suggested by actor Constance Wu:

When we become aware of life’s beauty, that’s when we are most alive.

We’ve been fans of cartoonist Lynda Barry since coming across her unique perspective on the world way back in the 80’s and purchasing her unforgettable poster: “Poodle With A Mohawk.”

A recent and well-deserved recipient of the Macarthur “Genius Grant”, Barry has offered advice about harnessing the creative process for decades, including this observation:

….there are two working languages in human life. One is sort of top of the mind, what we’re conscious of. The other is this unconscious stuff that we might not know about or have access to. The way we access it is usually through this thing we call ‘the arts.’ Unfortunately, that has gotten removed from the regular daily experience of human life. What I’m trying to do is to show that there is a way that they can come together, and that you can make things in a way that makes you actually feel alive and present.

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When asked by an interviewer about the motivation for his work, Kiowa Indian author and poet N. Scott Momaday quoted fellow writer William Gass:

I don’t write for myself, that would be self-serving
I don’t write for an audience, that would be pandering
I write for the thing that is trying to be born

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Whether you succeed or not is irrelevant — there is no such thing. Making your unknown known is the important thing — and keeping the unknown always beyond you.

                                                                                                            –– Georgia O'Keefe

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