What Creative Expression Means to Me
Images in this post are my photos of Dale Chihuly's sculptures at the Atlanta Botanical Garden's 2016 exhibition.
Completing my first Fresh Squeezed Creative Juice workshop!
Shout out to those who joined me last week in The Juicery—I had SO MUCH fun with y'all digging in to what excites us creatively. Thanks for being a crucial part of my creative experiment.
As I was designing the program I was in the weeds, focused on making everything relevant and useful for artists—based on some early feedback I think I largely succeeded. In the beginning of the workshop I outline its purposes, one of which is "unleashing the power of our creative expression." When we reach this point, I ask to hear from participants what's most meaningful to them about creating. During my rehearsal, I posed this question to myself and I was surprised and excited by what came up. I absolutely love hearing others share what they find meaningful about artistic expression, so I figured some of y'all might enjoy hearing my answer. If so, keep reading.
Another one of my takeaways, thanks to some generous feedback: it can feel quite vulnerable to share creative thoughts and ideas in a group that you don't know well. Some people love that kind of thing; if that's you, I'd love to have you in the next workshop on Monday, July 15th from 8:00-9:30 ET / 5:00-6:30pm PT.
If that's NOT you, I'm offering private Fresh Squeezed workshops for groups of 3 or more. If you're an artist, I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess that you talk about art with your peers (if you don't then please come to this workshop... you'll love it). Aren't you curious what you might discover by doing that together in The Juicery?
Grab 2 friends and sign up for a private workshop here:
"New visions do not come from blueprints inside our heads that are shaped by past experience and old habits of thinking. They are born as we interact with our world, and receive fresh sensations and perceptions. And for that we need Earth and body, the stuff out of which we are made. They remind us that we are not brains on the end of a stick, but an organic, integral part of the web of life."
- Joanna Macy, World As Lover, World As Self p.84
What is meaningful to you about creative expression?
The first place my mind went is Toni Cade Bambara's declaration, "the role of the artist is to make the revolution irresistible." I believe that we have within us visions of better, more life-affirming worlds that do not yet exist in physical reality. When we create expressions of those worlds, we bring them one step closer into being. We also give others a chance to perceive them—and perhaps find them irresistible.
As I kept looking at this prompt, the next thing that came up for me was love. I've found that people are at our best when we are feeling and expressing love for whatever lights us up. This is a simple practice that brings us joy, which not only feels good (important!!!) but also gives us precious energy we can use in a number of different ways. We bring ourselves this joy by making art; we can also get it from experiencing art made by others.
At the same time, as We Are The Great Turning reminds us, we cannot have our love without our pain. They are two sides of the same coin. If we are moving through the world with our hearts open (which is the only way that interests me), there is no path that skips over pain, heartbreak, and grief. To paraphrase my mentor Jess in WATGT, when we allow our hearts to break and allow ourselves to feel our rage, grief, etc., we make it possible to love our world with even more generosity and courage.
Creating offers us countless avenues to express these emotions rather than clinging to them in ways that alienate us from ourselves and from each other. We might create something, or somewhere, that others can connect with. We might open up a space in which they can feel some overwhelming, often painful feelings. They might see/hear/feel that they are not alone. They might even experience their pain alchemizing into something else.
Another piece of the workshop asks participants to choose something created by someone else that inspires them, and then I present prompts for a guided reflection. Here's what I chose to use in my rehearsal: You Are Who I Love by Aracelis Girmay (shout out to masterful creator Ally Ang for putting me on!)
I'd love to hear thoughts, questions, responses to any of what I've shared here. Seriously! What's meaningful to you about creative expression? What's something creative you've encountered recently that has stuck with you?