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Sacred Solitude
“The mind is sharper and keener in seclusion and uninterrupted solitude. No big laboratory is needed in which to think. Originality thrives in seclusion free of outside influences beating upon us to cripple the creative mind. Be alone, that is the secret of invention; be alone, that is when ideas are born. That is why many of the earthly miracles have had their genesis in humble surroundings.”
— Nikola Tesla
We’ve discussed that the heart of creativity involves following your deep inspired curiosity and divine inspiration, that spark of soul fire that is, striving, through you to share something, to share its story. You’re attempting to bring into being something extraordinary, filtered through you, that the world has never before seen. And to truly achieve this, you must enter that divine state of flow and play in the eddies the creative waters swirl around you.
That means your creative time is sacred and must be protected. Interruptions kill the flow state and the flow state is necessary to produce extraordinary work. I truly believe interruptions are the most dangerous thing an artist faces. Your family may mean well when they pop in and ask you what you want for lunch, but they may knock you out of an inspired state that you can’t get back into. The Muse is private and for you alone, and may flee if another person gets involved, you have to protect her when in the first stages of creation. Constant interruptions, especially, are dangerous because your energy starts getting diverted to the wrong things and may leave you depleted and tired when it’s time to create.
True art often requires long stretches of uninterrupted creative time in your studio, so you must set limits to protect your creative time.
An artist must have downtime, time to do nothing. Defending our right to such time takes courage, conviction, and resiliency. Such time, space, and quiet will strike our family and friends as a withdrawal from them. It is.
— Julia Cameron, The Artist’s Way
You must protect your creative time the same way. If you don't, you will struggle to master your craft and produce enough sale-able work. Nearly all of the great creatives I know treat their studio time like a 9-5 job, and those regular hours, rain or shine, inspired or not, are set aside and sacred for painting and painting only.
I'll illustrate with a story: Many years ago, my wife and I vacationed in Taos and spent a couple of days out at Wanda and Kevin Macpherson's place. They live in a beautiful cabin-inspired home halfway between Taos and Angel Fire. The views from every window are stunning. It's a perfect vacation spot. The only downside is that it's so far out that the pizza guy refuses to deliver, although Kevin once tried to convince him to meet us halfway (it didn’t work).
The first morning, during breakfast, Kevin politely, but firmly told us that while he realized that we were on vacation....that he wasn't. He explained that he would be working in his studio until 5:00 pm and asked us to please not interrupt him unless it was an emergency. His studio is a separate building within walking distance of the main house.
Since I was in the gallery business at the time, I completely understood, especially since I knew he was working on new pieces for an upcoming show at my gallery. Kevin is the consummate professional and knows what he needs to do, so we wished him well and told him we would see him at dinner.
My wife and I spent the morning biking through the mountains around his house. About 10:30 am, we arrived back at the house and realized we had locked ourselves out without a key. Wanda had gone into town. What should we do?
We stood outside Kevin's studio door for more than 30 minutes debating on whether or not being locked out constituted an "emergency"......
It would be easy to let things slide. After all, we were only in Taos for two days. A less diligent artist might have just thought "I can catch up on my painting after they leave." But, while I feel sure Kevin would have loved to have taken off a few hours and "played" with us, he protected his creative time because he knows, as a consummate professional, that creative time is sacred. It is holy. It is set apart.
And if you want to produce enough masterful, inspired works, which is what it takes to be successful, you must be just as diligent and protective of your creative time as Kevin is of his.
In this particular case, we lucked out. As we stood there debating if the situation was an "emergency", Kevin opened the studio door. He was heading over to the house anyway.....whew!
Do whatever you must to protect your creative time.
“You have to be very selfish to be original.” – Miles Davis
This piece is an excerpt from my forthcoming book, The Sovereign Artist. Inside of each of us lies a divine force - The Sovereign Artist within - a remarkable force to bring joy, peace, creativity and love back into our lives. This approach to the creative process saved me, and it can save you too, perhaps it can save us all. Connecting with The Sovereign Artist manifests as an explosion of creativity, peace, and quiet inner joy. It transforms the artist into a reflection of itself - sovereign, free, joyful and loving. If that is of interest, please click the button below to join the book’s waitlist.
Creatively,
Clintavo
Sum Ergo Creo
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I think that we sabotage our own private creative time more than any other person by distracting ourselves with 'busy work' under the guise of marketing. The phone is an intrusion both in incoming and outgoing use.
I really needed to hear this. Now, if only I can put it into practice.