Big Magic: Favourite Quotes from Liz Gilbert

I was writing this book recommendation for Big Magic to a fellow artist and writer and thought I'd include it in a blogpost for my sorely neglected blog.  So, here you go:

The treasures that are hidden inside you are hoping you will say YES. She tells a wonderful story about how she got an idea and when she lost interest, it found Ann Patchett. The similarities between the plot lines were astounding!

Whatever you do, try not to dwell too long on your failures. You don't need to conduct autopsies on your disasters.   I think the point is not to wallow and flog oneself.  Take off the hair shirt and do something else.

Done is better than good. (Liz's mother)  VASTLY different from Mum: 

If you cahn't do a proper job, don't do it all! 

So I repeat Liz's mother to myself whenever I think that I don't have time to do something or all the right materials, etc. etc.. Do something; it doesn't need to be perfect or up to "Queen Anne" standards. Growing up, "Proper job" meant perfect, and her way, and it never was. Coupled with the criticism from teachers, it paralyzed me into procrastination for important projects. As an adult, I create deadlines for myself so that I feel a sense of urgency and that it's more important to get it done than to be perfect. It's prolly why I'm such a planner nut. 

Conversely--and in addition:  You might think it's procrastination, but--with the right intention--it isn't; it's motion. And any motion whatsoever beats inertia, because inspiration will always be drawn to motion.  

If you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you. If you don't bring forth what is within you, what you don't bring forth will destroy you. ~Gospel of Thomas

People don't do this kind of thing because they have all kinds of extra time and energy for it; they do this kind of thing because their creativity matters to them enough that they are willing to make all kinds of extra sacrifices for it.

Anyhow, what else are you going to do with your time here on earth--NOT make things? Not do interesting stuff? Not follow your love and curiosity?

OK, off to create . . . something.   :-)

It's not you . . .

Scene from Seinfeld: Girlfriend breaking up with George

GF: It's not you, it's me.
George: Are you giving me the It's not you, it's me speech? Because I invented the It's not you, it's me! Let me tell you something: if anything, it's me, baby!

I heard a new one recently: it's not you, it's your patterns. Nothing personal, it's just the patterns you're running. Or are they running you? What's so automatic that you aren't even aware of it until someone points it out? And then if they do, do you see it? Or do you tell them how they're wrong? What keeps showing up in all your relationships? That's a clue.

And by relationships, I'm not just talking about people. We have relationships with everything: our house, our finances, our work, our car. What kind of patterns are you running? Do you see a common pattern linking everything?

What if your pattern is procrastination? Things pile up: laundry, dishes, bills. Your houseplants are thirsty and your friends think you've forgotten their birthday until they receive the belated birthday card. One pattern threads its way through all your relationships.

Patterns are neither good or bad. As Dave would ask: Are they useful? Dave used to say that most people are resistant to change. It's much easier to outgrow a pattern than to change it. It's much easier to update yourself than to change. How do you go about updating? The first thing is to become aware of it. As John says, Notice when it shows up. Awareness is the first step to throwing in the clutch. And then you can get curious about how to create a more useful pattern now.

These patterns are installed by our amateur parents & others as we're growing up. That's not a license to blame your childhood, just recognition. As adults, we're given consciousness so we can choose. How's it working for you? It's not you, it's your patterns. Choose a different pattern, and have a different life.

Procrastination

Procrastination is not laziness, it is an active process of delaying things until we "feel better" about them. It's a kind of perfectionism in the sense that we think everything has to be "just right," when in reality, there's no time like the present and we feel better when we have gotten something done. ~Lissa Coffey

I read this quote from a newsletter this a.m. and thought it was appropriate. Pictured above is the final product of Margot Potter's Kewpie Doll Challenge. She sent me the 2-inch doll in June where it sat and eventually got covered up with other thingies. So I finally excavated it. Initially I had thought I would do a miniature Seth Godin in a purple suit, since he has a bit on kewpie dolls. Then I thought, No! Robert Smith! A tiny version of Fat Bob! But whenever I would think about it, I wasn't exactly sure how I was going to get the hair right. So it stayed in my head, picture perfect. And incomplete.

Michaelangelo used to say that he was just chipping away the pieces that didn't belong to his statues. They were there already, waiting to be revealed. OMG! Am I really comparing my artistic process to Michaelangelo? Hahahaha Yes.

So I held the doll and looked at it and . . . daydreamed the possibilities of this sweet, cherubic-faced . . . reminds me of the baby Krishna pictures . . . and then I thought, Ooooh . . . Baby Ganesh. I fashioned the extra appendages with Sculpey, oven bake clay. I did make 2 extra arms, but I couldn't get them to fit. Did I mention he's only 2 inches???? I baked & then painted.

Back to procrastination: This is where I make a joke about buying a book on procrastination but never taking time to read it. Hahahaha Except that I did. And it was v. helpful. The key is just to start moving, because that helps build momentum. It's a physics principle: Things in motion tend to stay in motion. So the next thing is to finish my new CD--2 months after recording. Because, you know. *sigh* It's not perfect.