Expression

There’s nothing to paint anymore.
We’ve seen everything from the classical to the absurd.
There’s nothing to write anymore.
As many books are shredded as read.
There’s nothing to sing anymore.
The once avant-garde is now background music.

In a world where expression seems futile, it is hard to maintain creativity. But creativity is a primal impulse. Cave people painted on walls; everyone’s house has some image on display. Primitive scribes wrote records of their experiences; people still keep diaries. Early shamans sang; we still live with music. We cannot abandon creative expression in our daily lives, though it seems hard to come up with something new.

The only way to have fresh expression is to go deep within. In a sense, today’s extreme pluralism eliminates the obligation to do the same as others. At one time, artists, priests, writers, musicians, and craftsmen were obligated to their feudal lords. Today we are not constrained by hierarchical standards. We are free to commune directly with our inner callings.

By coincidence, this mirrors a more sophisticated understanding of the divine. We are no longer in a position of supplication with what is divine. Rather, divinity is a quality from within ourselves.

Deng Ming Tao, 365 Tao

“Every production of an artist should be the expression of an adventure of his soul.” — William Somerset Maugham

“There is a vitality, a life force, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique, and if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium; and be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is, not how it compares with other expression. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep open and aware directly to the urges that motivate you. No artist is pleased. There is no satisfaction whatever at any time. There is only a queer, divine dissatisfaction, a blessed unrest that keeps us marching and makes us more alive than the others.”
— Martha Graham

Every creator painfully experiences the chasm between his inner vision and its ultimate expression. ~Isaac Bashevis Singer

When my daughter was about seven years old, she asked me one day what I did at work. I told her I worked at the college – that my job was to teach people how to draw. She stared at me, incredulous, and said, “You mean they forget?” ~Howard Ikemoto

Yes, we do forget – once we were all artists, all expressive, all creative. Once, we were children. When I am working on an art project these days, I often feel like a kid again, just trying things until something comes together and feels right to me. This week it’s dice bags for the kids made out of some gorgeous brocade fabric I came across, last month it was the big paintings for my sister-in-law and her husband. Next month I have to change my approach to this blog. I’ve found some books I’m going to look at on creative journaling, and will probably be doing something with those.

No, I won’t give up the Tao focus, but I am going to come to it in different ways. Having followed someone else’s guide to the Tao for the last year, I feel ready to develop my own approach to it. I hope those of you who have enjoyed this daily (well, mostly daily) meditation with me will be patient as this evolves. I don’t really know what’s coming, which is perhaps the most exciting thing of all.

I think I’ll keep the basic format of the posts, since so many love the images, the quotes, and my own thoughts (including me). But I’m hoping for more of the images to be my own artworks. I’ve been looking for something to push me into doing more art, and I think the art journaling approach will help.

And if anyone wants my copy of 365 Tao, let me know. It’s up for grabs soon!