Martha Graham
When we are in the midst of making something,
in the actual creative act,
we know we are who and what we are
because we forget our public reception for a minute.
We become the art itself instead of
the artist who makes it.
-Julia Cameron
This past week I took 3 days of being “unplugged” to work on a draft of a book that I had set aside for almost a year. There was a relief in not connecting to internet, making or receiving phone calls, or in my case blogging or doing social networking. There was no need to unplug from T.V. as I haven’t watched or owned one for over 15 years.
While I was in this time period the phrase kept coming up – do you really want to spend precious life moments living virtually? Instead how about dropping down into the spaciousness of creating from a place that cannot be found on the internet, but inside of a moment to moment sense oriented life experience.
Now mind you, there is an amazingly powerful use for the internet and other electronic media. However the creative muse would not have been so spontaneously present I suspect if I would have been hooked in to anything other than allowing the writing to come through me, taking breaks out in nature, and making certain that I was nourished by healthy food and movement/exercise breaks.
This sustained and planned creative process is new to me. I am used to hit and run creative ideas coming in during unsuspecting moments driving me to run for a pad of paper, or the back of a grocery store receipt, to write it down. Invariably it is as I am driving that something blazes into my consciousness, and then just try to scribble something down while watching that light about to change….and even more trying to decipher what you wrote or sketched for that latest painting idea later on. Hand held recorders are looking better and better these days!
I suspect that room for spontaneous creativity is always there for each and every one of us, but often it is buried amongst what seems like millions of bits of stimulus input that hit us everyday. As Julia Cameron says in the quote that was given at the beginning of this post, we become the art itself as we immerse ourselves in the creative process and await direction. Sometimes it is immediate and at other times we are asked to take a break and change our surroundings – which then will inspire us of course to capture the next creative spark.
12,000 words later in the 3 days I set aside I am now happy to say that I have reintroduced myself to the creative muse that has so wanted to come out and play with the me that feels incredibly alive when she is in the act of creation! We are having a great time together, and yes this book is well on its’ way to birthing itself.
It is no accident that I came across the perfect video to share with you this week. This couple who have been married for 62 years are a beautiful example of becoming the art spontaneously. Enjoy and take into consideration what Katharine Hepburn once said, “I never lose sight of the fact that just being is fun”!!
OTHER BLOGS BY GAYE ABBOTT:
WildlyFreeWoman 
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