Reading - devouring - Playing Big sent me back to Point Zero. The book, not a place. And to a line (p. 12) that hit me first reading it 12 years ago, smacked me even harder now.
"I expounded on the key importance of always finishing the painting."
At the same time, Michele Cassou "cautioned them again & again to let go of product & embrace process."
Wasn't that contradictory? If she told her art students to always finish the painting, isn't that focusing on product over process?
Did I even notice that question on my first reading, at fifty-three?
The answer to me does go to the heart of process. A finished painting is the outcome of a completed - for the moment - process, not the other way around. It is the doing that matters, not the thing that is created or the action that is done.
If I had embraced the process of putting together A CREATIVITY JAM for Age Justice, everything that needs to be done would be, all the performers confirmed & locked in, all the artists working like crazy on their artist's statements & waiting for me to pick up their pieces on May 12 or 13.
BufBut give credit where credit is due - I did focus enough on the process to get the art pieces lined up, several performers on board (that's been way harder than I expected), the sound equipment is good to go & I've figured how to display the artwork without having to hang anything from the ceiling or set on easels. Yay, me!
So why am I still up 4:54 a.m. after awakening at 4:06, wondering if the place will be packed with guests for the 7:30-9:00 p.m. event or will be virtually empty? Because even on this project, I've found myself focused too often focused on the thing instead of the flow of making it happen. Am still prone to delay distraction derailment.
Breathe deep. Let go of thinking of the end, focus on fulfilling the means. Process over product. On following flow, immersed within it, braving the rapids, contemplating tranquil stretches, paddling like crazy or consciously drifting, staying with it from start to finish.
BufBut give credit where credit is due - I did focus enough on the process to get the art pieces lined up, several performers on board (that's been way harder than I expected), the sound equipment is good to go & I've figured how to display the artwork without having to hang anything from the ceiling or set on easels. Yay, me!
So why am I still up 4:54 a.m. after awakening at 4:06, wondering if the place will be packed with guests for the 7:30-9:00 p.m. event or will be virtually empty? Because even on this project, I've found myself focused too often focused on the thing instead of the flow of making it happen. Am still prone to delay distraction derailment.
Breathe deep. Let go of thinking of the end, focus on fulfilling the means. Process over product. On following flow, immersed within it, braving the rapids, contemplating tranquil stretches, paddling like crazy or consciously drifting, staying with it from start to finish.
Always finish the painting, let go of product & embrace process.
.
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