The Two-fold Inspiration of Blogging

In my first of two anniversary posts, this being the second, I wrote about the stage that blogging offers us and how its benefits resonate in our daily lives. The inspiration found in blogging works in much the same way. It comes as a natural outcrop of creating. The more we create, the more we are stimulated to create and the more easily new ideas flow.

I take photographs. I look at them on the computer and I see more than I saw before. The images bring me closer to the subject. I learn and want to share. And because I have a stage, I am inspired to do just that. Changes in awareness and confidence are a natural result of that creating. So the next time I write a blog post, send out queries for a book, tell a story to my neighbor or embark on a new endeavor, newly honed skills emerge from my creative library and add sparkle to what I do, often without me even noticing.And that brings me to the second aspect of blogging inspiration, my fellow bloggers. Creating stimulates more creating. And seeing what others have created pumps you with new ideas, encourages by example, and gets your creative juices flowing even more.So, by way of celebration, I want to name and thank three fellow bloggers who have particularly inspired me during this past year. Julie Zicklefoose, who freely uses her inner world to infuse humor and depth into stories that leap right into our hearts. Toni Kelly, whose generous sharing of sketchbook designs and studies stir the urge in each of us to get busy with our own. Debbie Kaspari, whose amazing documentation of field observations and sketching makes us all want to get out there and brave the unknown.

And to each of you, readers and fellow bloggers, a special thanks for being part of this blogging community and making this a fun first year. A parting note about shyness: Passion, determination, practice--whether experienced individually or in combination--all trump shyness.

Photos from top to bottom: A Carolina wren begging to be painted; tufted titmous; American goldfinch; pine siskins on a crooked birdbath (I think I'm celebrating my birdbath too); golden-crowned kinglet sketch.

Celebrating One Year of Blogging

It was one year ago in January that I created my blog and published my first post.
And as our calendars flip over to February, it’s clear that the date itself, January 13, wasn’t particularly remarkable for me. But knowing the anniversary was passing caused me to look back and reflect. And as I did, I was reminded of how simply it began, as a desire to display photographs and art and write about nature. And I see what it has now become, an interactive community of mutual sharing, learning, mentoring and inspiration.

And so to celebrate my first year, I want to highlight for you, in this post and the next, two aspects of blogging that have become particularly important to me and inseparable--the stage and the inspiration it provides.
The stage of course is the blogging platform, a place to "perform", to publish your writing, your photographs, your artistic endeavors, whatever they may be, to an audience that remains largely anonymous but that can span the globe. It makes the sage advice, “You make your stage. The audience is waiting”, spring vividly to life.Every stage we create has something to give us. We step forward, find our courage. We practice and make our mistakes. We change and we get stronger, not just on the blogging stage, but in every aspect of our lives. We learn as we create and we learn as we experience the stage, whether it's this stage or any other we have selected.I was recently talking with a friend who is a published author and artist, and said, “I haven’t done one thing toward publishing my novel. It just sits there along with the writer’s market books that are stacked on my buffet and I do nothing.”
“Well, why not? Why aren't you getting it out there?” he asked.
“Umm…avoidance, I think. I’m shy.”
“You’re shy? What do you mean you’re shy? I’ve never seen that in you.” We stared at each other. I finally spoke.
“I don’t look shy. It’s what we sometimes call counter-phobic in the mental health field. Everything I love requires that I be on stage. So I push myself out there until I make it look easy, but it’s really not.”
And that is one of the many ways this stage has become important to me—practice. We create, we let the world see what we have to say and then we’re stimulated to create again by the very stage we dance on. It’s an energy that feeds itself. We get some feedback and we have some control. But most of all, the more we practice the more courage we have to say what it is we have to say and to show the world who we are through our passions and creations.
Next post: The inspiration in blogging

Photos from top to bottom: Greater sandhill cranes at Bosque del Apache (more in an upcoming post); Golden-crowned kinglet in watercolor (also upcoming); possible female rufous or broad-winged hummingbird in New Mexico; a stack of writer's market books; me (right) with Natalie Goldberg (2008), who doesn't like photos, but isn't shy about her teachings; writing and hiking buddies in the Santa Fe National Forest in New Mexico (2008).

Back to Watercolor

Having devoted the earlier months of this year to finishing my novel, I have neglected painting and sorely miss it.
So, I’m treating myself to a week with Ann K Lindsay and catching up with art friends at a cozy B&B in New England. This is like ‘old home’ week for me, since it’s my eighth such trip. Add together home-cooked meals, a homey atmosphere and all-day painting and it feels like pure pampering to my soul.

Ann is an intuitive instructor. And what I love about intuitive art, the art of creating what is wholly your own in a process that leaves behind the opinions of others, is that you express what is uniquely you. You begin to recognize in your own creations, who you are and what matters to you. And that strengthens.

This involves a rocky crossing, one that moves you through fear and self-criticism to that place of intuitive freshness on the other side. But because you show up and keep moving, you eventually arrive. You have created. And as time goes by, you begin to notice that what you have learned in making art touches every aspect of your life.

Creativity

“Do not doubt that you are born to create. Do not believe for a minute that the realm of art belongs only to others. Do not believe what you have been told or think you heard: that you are incapable, unimaginative, not artistic…. If you have believed these things and woven your garment from doubt and fear, disrobe and look within. Find what brings you joy and go there. That is your place to create, to move with the spirit, for the Muse lingers near the home of your joy.

Creativity is of the inner realm. Each of us becomes our own expert….In our creating, we ourselves are created, added to, enlightened. What matters is the movement, the union with spirit, that subtle drive that wakes us from our sleep, takes us from our dreams, and invites us to become the dream expressed.”
--Jan Phillips, Marry Your Muse

Creativity and Time

"...you are here to co-create the world, to add your vision, to make visible what is not yet seen, to manifest that which is within you. This is the gift you have for the world. It is precious and worthy of your time."--Jan PhillipsBlue Dasher (male), a species of dragonfly in the skimmer family that inhabits ponds and other still wetlands. Abdomen position helps to regulate body temperature.

Out Loud

“If you ask me what I came to do in this world, I, an artist, will answer you: I am here to live out loud.”--Emile ZolaAzalea

We are all artists. We come into this world to create. To create our lives, to crack our doubts wide open, to live our stories. There are no mistakes. There is no time wasted. There are no failures. There is only our becoming and our dreams and our stories. So take a deep breath. Lift your voice high and live out loud.

A Tribute to Writers

"Remember life is an ongoing process of creation. You are creating your reality every minute. The decision you make today is often not the choice you make tomorrow. Yet here is a secret of all Masters: keep choosing the same thing....over and over until your will is made manifest in your reality."
--Neale Donald Walsch, Conversations with God
viburnum

My priority today and until it is complete, is finishing my novel. This commitment, that the time is now, has given me a new kind of respect and admiration for published writers. It is enough to choose this priority over and over again midst the trials that life throws your way and among other daily demands. But then there is the eye strain and the aching joints from too much stillness and the mind-numbing reading and re-reading.

I've always loved reading and writing, but this experience has given me an even deeper appreciation for those who have gone before me. And so I continue, repeating this phrase in my head over and over again--"every single day, choose the same thing, choose your novel."

Morning Pages

“Morning pages are non-negotiable. Never skip or skimp…. Morning pages will teach you your mood doesn’t really matter….[they] will teach you to stop judging and just let yourself write. So what if you’re tired, crabby, distracted, stressed?” --Julia Cameron, The Artist’s Way.

I’ve been writing morning pages for ten years. You don’t have to be a writer. It’s a tool for everyone.

“Three pages of whatever crosses your mind—that’s all there is to it. If you can’t think of anything to write, then write, “I can’t think of anything to write….”

Your morning pages will stand by you through thick and thin, through joy and sorrow. They will clean out the clutter and stop the foolishness. They center your integrity and solidify what’s important. They become your best friend. And then you become your best friend.

Seeing Possibilities

When I created this painting, I left the space for the rocks white, blank--saved for last. Even with the photo I was using for reference I didn’t know where to begin. I couldn’t see a single rock, only blank, white paper. Seeing possibilities is like moving past blank paper, creating one shape at a time, even if you don’t know what you will do next. From that one shape, that one step forward, you begin to see a faint something. And little by little, one decision at a time, the rock you wanted to create appears.

One Decision at a Time

One decision at a time, a painting is formed.
One decision at a time, a life is lived.
The name of this painting is “Pink”. It began as a wash of pigment brushed on wet paper with nothing in particular in mind, except to see what a bit of rock salt sprinkled here and there would create. The next step was to define something, a shape, a form, a suggestion. The first time I tried this, I struggled. My mind was blank. I saw nothing. Nothing came to me, except frustration and the feeling, maybe I can’t do this. Maybe I hate this.
I revisit that place from time to time, where desire and doubt butt heads. Desire wins out with a little perseverance. And the next thing I know something magical has happened and I created it—me and the water and the pigment and the Universe--one decision at a time.

Let Loose

“When it is my time to create, and I fear that what I have to say will be worth nothing to anyone, I think of these artists who have moved me so deeply….they have, through the years, held me up, sustained me, moved me forward, nourished me, healed me. And this, not because they attempted to fire up the spirit of anyone else, but because they dared let loose their own."
--Jan Phillips, Marry Your Muse

Life's Journey

“Many of us venture out into nature looking for signs of life with our cameras. We’re moved by something and we shoot, unaware that there’s more to the image than meets the eye, that it contains, perhaps, an answer to a question, a clue for our life’s journey.” --Jan Phillips, God is at Eye LevelI think about this intimate look at a crabapple blossom, how exquisitely delicate it is and, yet, how very, very tough; how brief its small life, yet, how everlasting its influence on the tree and other life forms that visit the tree. Is this not the same for all of life?

We sometimes make art, write, photograph, in order to hold time still, to capture a single moment of what we feel in our hearts so that we can revisit it over and over again, so that we can always remember.
These images were taken on day 6, following an entire day of fierce winds, a tornado watch and pelting rain. And still the blossom is beautiful.

Creative Possibilities

I had no idea I would get so caught up in this project, the changes, the variations in light, the softness captured by the macro feature of the camera (Canon Rebel Xi). It's been a study of light and of seeing--endless possibilities, endless discoveries, as if painting without a brush.

Lots of irregular shapes and leafing out in day three images.

Drippy Crabapple Blossoms

I so enjoyed this yesterday. In only a few hours, everything had changed. Gone were the airy petals of the morning. The storm left the blossoms drippy with rain. A March wind remained, shifting the clouds, changing the light, making the limbs sway and blossoms shiver. I was glad I took the time to visit. I would have seen the tree, but missed these amazing blossoms.

Crabapple Blooms and Satisfaction

"No artist is ever pleased. There is no satisfaction whatever at any time. There is only a queer, divine satisfaction, a blessed unrest that keeps us marching and makes us more alive..."
--Martha Graham Shimmering sunlight on damp petals, the energy of a thunderstorm--I enjoyed both this morning. The crabapple in the front yard opened its blossoms this week so I payed it a visit. I wanted to know it better and also see what my camera could do. There is softness in the photos, but not the clarity or detail I want. And so I'll play with it again when the rain is finished. It's funny how that works. There is no plan, just a series of interactions. And when you're finished, you know more than you did before. But you also know there is more, that you have not quite reached what is possible. This sort of dissatisfaction is enjoyable. It's intimate, energetic and alive.

Confidence

“Listening to the siren song of more, we are deaf to the still small voice waiting in our soul to whisper, “You’re enough.” -- Julia Cameron, The Artist’s Way

Creativity

"I've always felt one starts a painting and it's finished by a higher power; the inspiration, the freedom, the flow, even the color can be a surprise."--Ceacy Henderson Hailey

When we let go of our fears and focus entirely in the moment, there is a flow that happens, that connects us to something beyond what we know. We lose our sense of separateness and become one with our creating. It is a dance of sorts, wholly gratifying and mysterious, one that drives us to create, over and over again.

Wildflowers

Delicate, pale, delicious
wildflower blooms and whispers
come gently, come closer
Lie down beside me
on my damp bed Earth
and behold her blush

Vickie Henderson, 2008

I would not know the name of this Slender Toothwort without the help of my camera and my good friends Jack and Dot Carman. It is a treat to know people who enjoy nature as I do. Jack's book, Wildflowers of Tennessee, is my favorite among wildflower references. Focused on flowers of Tennessee, it is organized by plant families and includes excellent photos to aid identification. Because Tennessee's diverse terrain and geology produce such an abundance of flora, the species described in this book cover the eastern United States, the Central and Southern Appalachians, as well as, the Ohio, Tennessee and mid-Mississippi river valleys.
--A first-choice resource for native plants.

Imagination

“So you see, imagination needs moodling—long, inefficient, happy idling, dawdling and puttering.” --Brenda Ueland

Taking It Easy

After tackling something hard, whether it’s a disappointment, recovery from illness, finishing up taxes or completing a difficult project, I like to then do something idle, something refreshing and easy.

Flowers are forgiving, rambling, delicately layered like daydreams. Sketch them, splash on color, pay no particular attention to their line or form. They offer no pressure, no deadlines, only soften the world with their hue and fragrance--and visit us ever so gently.