Form is important to me in karate and yoga. But when it comes to art making, I throw away the rules and regulations, dive in and get my hands dirty. Why?
Most of us have too much baggage around creativity. And holding ourselves up to too high standards keeps us from the joy of expressing ourselves.
As my messy art making approach has made its way into my more physical formal practices, you know what's happened? I've gotten better without working so hard.
It's the art of doing less. Right up there with my work less, make more mantra.
In yoga and karate, I have to constantly remind myself to back up and back off. When I'm making things however, I don't push so hard. I switch gears, start other projects, even walk away - right in the middle of things. If I drop a bead one too many times, for instance, I figure it doesn't want to be there. I don't force it.
In a meeting the other day I surprised even myself by solving a challenge that everyone else in the room was convinced was unsurpassable. I wasn't really paying attention and was completely uninvested in the outcome. I just blurted out something that was obvious to me, and the whole issue was put to bed.
So what would happen if you didn't try so hard? Can you try it and see.
My yoga teachers at Om would ask "Can you do less?"
No comments:
Post a Comment