#65 - #71 Creativity Affirmations

Another group of affirmations which help me consider the possibilities...

#65 "Creativity occurs in the moment, and in the moment, we are timeless."
~Julia Cameron, author of The Artist's Way, the best book I've ever read (5 times and counting) about creativity 

#66 "The object isn't to make art, it's to be in that wonderful state which makes art inevitable."
~ Robert Henri

I wrote this a lot of times because it feels so very very true. I wonder what that compulsion is about - why exactly do I need to draw or paint the things I see which are so uttery beautiful? Why can't I just look and be content? Perhaps it's because I feel a need to capture them and bring them through my body, my brain, my soul, so they stay there forever. Is everyone like that, or is it just artists and writers and dancers and other creatives?

#67 "I just want to make beautiful things even if no one cares."
~ Felix H.

#68 "She who works with her hands is a laborer.
She who works with her hands and her head is a craftsperson.
She who works with her hand and her head and her heart is an artist."
~ St. Francis of Assisi (except for the pronouns - I changed those)

Believe it or not, there were times in my life when I got grumpy! When the kids were around at that time, they would often very kindly and gently suggest I might need to go into the studio to make me feel better. They were invariably right. Out of the mouths of babes...!

#69 "I am always doing what I cannot do yet in order to learn how to do it."
~Vincent VanGogh
and
"If anxiety, fear, desire, and restlessness have come into your life
and time, energy, and calm have left you, you are probably an artist.
Make something. 
Anything.
You will feel better."
~author unknown

"An artist feels vulnerable to begin with; and yet the only answer is to recklessly discard more armour."
~Eric Maisel

I've thought about this so often - if you think about the ancient civilizations of Greece or Rome, what do you think of? Probably the architecture or the art you know from that time. It's how we learn about the people and their beliefs and values.

Or is it? Do our artists reflect our beliefs and values? Or are they the canaries in the caves? The ones who scream with primal angst to warn the civilizations about what's happening? I think of the artists in Pre-Hitler Germany. They were beginning to address their concerns about Hitler and his policies. Artists today are creating art about global climate change. Will we listen and act accordingly? Or will future civilizations find artifacts from our artists and draw slightly false conclusions about our beliefs and values - they are warnings, not pictures of how things are - more, how they could be.

Civilizations aren't remembered by their business people, bankers, or lawyers. They're remembered by their arts."
~Eli Broad