Find a Way...

There isn't a whole lot that I can add to the story of Diana Nyad and her 110 mile swim from Cuba to the United States.  I was excited as anyone to read about her accomplishment, an amazing feat of stamina, endurance and determination.  Within moments of her completion word began to spread and it was only minutes before her story was lighting up my facebook and twitter feeds.

I love stories of those who have overcome incredible obstacles to pursue and accomplish their dreams. I find extra inspiration in the stories great physical feats because when I read or hear them it I nearly always have the thought that if this person can do that thing then maybe I really can do this thing, particularly since this thing isn't likely to be swimming 110 miles or climbing the worlds tallest mountain or solo skiing across the south pole.  

For me this thing is finishing my BA, learning to sail, hiking Maine's 100 Mile Wilderness with friends, becoming a better dancer or living in a yurt for a year.  Compared to swimming through night and day in icy cold, jelly fish and shark infested waters my goals seem rather safe and tame.  I might lose some sleep studying for a mid-term but I'm not in immediate danger of hypothermia or having my toes nipped off.   

I will still however have to struggle with self doubt or questioning if the (time, effort, money) is worth it.  I am quite sure I will face moments where I just want to put things off or give up entirely.  I'll think I'm too old or too tired to make it.  I hope if my thoughts turn that way I will think of something Diana Nyad said in an interview with CBS This Morning:

"It doesn't matter ... what you come up against because none of it's going to be pleasant. You're hardly ever out there going, 'Oh, my God, isn't it a beautiful moon tonight?' The crew is feeling that. But you're kind of suffering through the whole thing. So my thought was, 'everything you come up against say -- and this is why people are relating to my story -- all of us suffer heartache. All of us suffer difficulties in our lives. And if you say to yourself 'find a way,' you'll make it through." 

Re-Establish a Committed Creative Practice

Last week I wrote about the list of things I want to accomplish before I turn 50 eight and a half years from now.  One of items on the list is to Re-establish a Committed Creative Practice.

Wait a minute. Don't I already have that?  I mean I write regularly, I create costuming, I choreograph dance pieces.  That sounds like a "committed creative practice" right?  Well...not really.

My current creative practice, such as it is, tends be far more project oriented than it is practice oriented.  I book a date for a show and I create something for that show.  I receive a crochet commission and I create a piece for that commission.  I create costumes for specific dance performances.  While all of this is good, it is also very limiting.  Because my creating is done with a specific purpose in mind there is very little new exploration or creation for its own sake.  There have been times in my life that I have had a regular practice, hence the re-establish, however I don't know as I went into them intentionally.

What do I hope to get out of a creative practice?  Well, there are two parts really one personal and the other more practical:

1. To avoid stagnation.  I want my creative practice to be a living, growing and changing thing.  I want it to allow for exploration and growth.  I want to have a very well fed muse.

2. Documentation. I'll be applying to MFA programs about 18 months from now.  My current educational background is in business and law.  Not your typical MFA applicant at all. When I apply I want to have a well rounded portfolio that contains the best work I am capable of doing and to also show that despite not having had a lot of traditional formal training, as one who attended art school would, I still have the same dedication to my various artistic pursuits. The admissions counselors I've spoken with said that while my case is not unusual I will need go a bit further to show that I have an established practice than would someone who already had an undergraduate degree in the arts.

How will I go about establishing this practice?  Over the past week I've given it quite a bit of thought and I found that for me a creative practice must have six parts:

1. Regular physical activity - so that my body may be strong enough to do all of the things I wish to do with it
2. Contemplation/quiet time - meditation, staring at clouds, journaling, daydreaming...time to let my mind rest
3. Time spent in nature -  keeping in touch with the rhythms of the world around me.  Reminding myself that I and what I create are both connected the universe
4. Feeding the muse - seeking inspiration through the art of others, reading, visiting museums and galleries, attending theatrical shows, etc. 
5. Collaboration - creating with other artists of the same or differing disciplines presents great opportunity to see things from new perspectives and to create art that may not otherwise come to life from the mind of only one person
6. Practice, practice, practice... - practice, practice, practice, practice...

So there it is.  My somewhat loose plan of how to change the focus of my creative practice  to be less project based and more creation based.  Now of course I need to put it into...um...well...practice.  

Wish me luck!