The importance of transformation and growth cannot be over-estimated as a creator. Turning life’s experiences into growth experiences is not only intelligent, it is imperative in today’s world. Most artists have tremendous growth through their work in the studio.
It’s not the intention in this statement to go into these particular transformative possibilities, however each of us has experiences in our studios that form our own individual transformations. This can happen by making spectacular jumps in perception, through being alert to the accident occurring in your work. It’s important to learn from your experiences in life. A unique way has been found personally through both creativity and by developing an inner awareness. In order to have a form of creativity that is largely free of self-obsessive angst and tragedy, it has been necessary personally to work on my own growth. This has been tremendous through resolving issues that are essentially outside the creative process.
Developing a sense of personal awareness has opened the doors to be able to create art that has positivity at its core, art, which has the ability to share a transformative message for others on a global level. This wouldn’t have happened, or it would have taken many years longer, had I not consciously worked to come to terms with some of the issues that were faced, realizing that at one point it was up to me alone to find an inner resolution.
To paint a picture about the inner processes, here’s a metaphor:
“A woman goes to the doctor and complaints about everything hurting, when she touches all parts of the body, it hurts. She touches her ankle and it hurts, she touches her hips and that hurts, she touches her belly and that hurts and she touches her head and it hurts. The doctor has a good look and says; “I think I have really good news for you.” – And then says. “Your finger is broken.”
The answer is not always found on the outside. The greater shifts in perception happen within. Suffering is not in the fact; it is in the perception of the fact.
On a deep level, creating wealth for example, is adding value. A state of not being divided internally will automatically attract a state of prosperity, you could call this a state of ‘Oneness’, and for a creative person this state has to be paramount for success.
From time to time it’s important to identify the state you are in and how much of you is in conflict with yourself and how much of you is in a state of completeness within yourself. How is your health? How is your state of prosperity? How are your relationships? Which part of your consciousness are you aligned to – the higher or the lower?
With creativity, you need to have a very strong intent. Intent is different from desire. It is desire with tremendous passion. Intent possesses you. You are obsessed. You are driven. You also need to know where your intent is sourced. Is your creativity rooted in what will benefit humankind as a whole, or is it more of a selfish pursuit? This is not a value judgement. They are questions that are important for to you to consider and to address. If your intentions are misaligned, your creativity will always be misguided.
To prompt yourself into action you need to have a strong enough intent. You need to make sure that your effort is mutually nourishing and is essentially beneficial to others. You need to know that you’re capable of putting in constant effort and preferably have this effort be inspired over a long period, and then you will see the results of your effort.
A further metaphor helps to explain this concept:
There is a boy with a dream to be a doctor. He became a great student, but failed three exams for universities out of his fear and nervousness at the last moment in the examination room. He and his father were on a train to the last university, the fourth university, where he was going to sit for his fourth exam and he was worried. There was a man sitting in the carriage of the train and they got talking. The man found out all about the boy’s desire to become a doctor and how good he was as a student and that he just had nerves in the exam.
The next day, when the boy and the father went to the interview, the boy was very nervous. As he opened the door to go into the room to meet the headmaster, he looked up to see that the headmaster was the man that was on the train. As a result, the exam went well because he felt comfortable and relaxed and he received an entrance into the university. This boy went on to become one of the country’s greatest physicians and helped countless people.
Another story describes how a child was on the beach building sandcastles. He’d gotten almost to the end of his constructions and found himself coming across a giant rock, which he tried moving and tried building around until he knew he needed to move the rock. After many attempts to move the rock he collapsed onto the ground and cried. The father noticed the boy crying and went over to him and said, “What’s wrong son?” and the boy said, “I can’t move the rock” and the father asked, “Did you use all your strength?” And the boy said, “Yes I did.” The father said “No you didn’t, son, you didn’t ask me to help.” Then the father ended up helping the boy move the rock together and the boy was able to complete his project.
You can use that story as a metaphor about tapping into the higher consciousness. You’re not using all your strength unless you use the higher consciousness. It is important not to lose your path, whether you are a gardener a soldier, a businessman or an artist. Whatever it is you do, you need to discover the inner nourishment that brings fulfilment to your life. One time an interviewer asked the Australian painter Brett Whiteley; “What is more important for you art or life?” He responded by saying: “That’s simple, life is”.
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A man goes to the spiritual master and says he can’t hear. He was gradually loosing his hearing. The master asked him, “Do you have a grandchild?” And the old man responded, “I didn’t come here about my grandchild, I came here because I can’t hear.”
The master said again, “Do you have a grandchild?” and the old man said, “Yes” and the master said, “Buy two ice creams and sit together underneath and old trailer and eat the ice cream.” The old man goes home and finds his grandchild and they find a place to eat their ice creams and they enjoy it so much, talking, listening to each other and making plans for the next adventure. They end up spending more time the next day running around finding different things to do and miraculously as this is happening, the old man’s hearing gets better and better.
The old man had found his childhood again. Why he stopped hearing others was because he went into the army at a very young age and became a soldier and took up a position of responsibility. Later in life he ended up taking positions of responsibility in his own company and got used to not hearing people, only giving orders. He got used to ignoring what other people were saying because of his position of responsibility. He lost his childhood, so this experience with his grandson ended up changing the way that he approached life and as a result he started hearing again.
The artist’s journey has many rewards, some obvious and some quite hidden, only to be miraculously revealed towards the end of a career. Through attention to core issues at the beginning of the journey and continued focus throughout a lifetime of being an artist, where clear renewed definition of yourself as a professional in your field, has provided you with the confidence needed to envision your future without fear, you will see these rewards come your way. With this necessarily precise attention, you will always see results. You will not only see your career take massive strides ahead, you will also experience an alignment occurring with your own personal transformation.
This inner alignment will help you to understand that when you connect with higher consciousness you access infinite intelligence and wisdom. If you don’t use the higher consciousness you’re not using all your strength.
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After thirty active years in the industry, there has been a discovery that being an artist comes with a certain territory that is anathema to most other occupations and careers. This unique territory is singular for each artist and provides its own opportunity for revelations. Certain key elements have surfaced, with hindsight, as major factors in life and the career. These revelations have been enormously beneficial in shaping an artistic world as the next thirty years are approached.
Artistic revelations are a regular occurrence for all creative people. The opportunity for revelations to appear for an artist, as their individual creative territory is explored, is immense.
Artists in many cases have certain issues or life’s experiences that may affect their ability to live a ‘normal’ life and desire ‘normal’ jobs. It’s not that they are not able to take on run of the mill jobs, it’s often just that they may have had a constant need to do something more ‘edgy’, things that have more possibility – and greater risk – than merely mowing lawns all their life or serving drinks behind a bar.
By providing personal examples of influences and revelations, there is the hope of offering deeper insight into the complexities of the artist’s journey and deliver glimpses into the reality of the artist’s career.
The artist’s career walks the fine line of marriage between the material and the spiritually creative planes.
This career will, on the one hand, include inventiveness, income generation, awareness of the ego and a willingness to seek financial support, perhaps in the form of patrons and benefactors – and, on the other hand, a remembrance that there remains the importance of romance, sensitivity, meditation and the maintenance of a balanced spiritual life.