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Exploring the Idea of Reception

Reception. The act of receiving. For many of us artists it's a difficult concept to open up to. We usually expect everything we do to come from us. But the truth is, most ideas and inspiration have a genesis somewhere outside of us. 


Devotions upon Emergent Occasions

John Donne

We are not islands. We are not creatures who are totally cut off from the rest of the world. If we were, we would have few, if any, ideas over our lifetimes. The fact that we are creative artists is owed to the flow of external ideas and knowledge that we experience everyday. This blog, and my other 2, are inspired by ideas I find in my life.

These ideas can come from anywhere, as I work to remain open to other ideas outside of myself. I'm always observing, watching, listening. I take notes of things, events, thoughts, ideas, and file them away for future use. I never know what will trigger an idea, so I remain as open as possible to outside stimuli.

Practice being open. Practice paying attention to the things around you. Sometimes it's the smallest voice that has the most to say to you. Hear it. Follow it. Learn from it. Make being open a part of your daily practice.


The Way is Through Practice



 It's a hectic world out there. And today things seem even darker and more out of control. But what better anchor to our security and sanity than an ongoing spiritual practice? And even more so for someone who is involved in the arts of some type.

I know that for me, when I feel lost or drifting, writing these words, or making music, connects me to something more. Even in the darkest of spaces there is the light of my art. In one way, writing these blog posts is a meditation. I don't just type out the words in a mechanical matter. I feel the keys under my fingers. I feel the weight of the words I'm writing. I feel the words wrap themselves around me. Often I get lost and lose track of man made time. I shift into no time.

A spiritual practice can be an island, a place where opening to uncertainty and doubt can lead us to a refuge of truth.— Joan Halifax, The Lucky Dark

Fushimi Inari Taisha, Kyoto, Japan. Photo © Matt Bettine
Writing is my island, it's my peace, it's my …

 I've been struggling to write this post for a while now. I've started a few times, then veered off into other territory, perhaps because I just didn't know how to write this one. The Practice is never easy, sometimes it's near impossible, and, sometimes it's all you have in your life. Like my life lately.

Life can often be routine and planned out. Things go along in an orderly fashion and you just go along with it. An established practice brings order into your personal chaos. You are able to focus and get things done. Then other things happen that turn your world upside down and you wonder “What the fuck is going on here?” And somewhere in that topsy-turvy world you now inhabit, you can't find anything to hold onto, until you remember your Practice. Then in that moment you realize why you've been doing the Practice all that time, because it's really the only thing you have left to hold onto.


 
Failure. Just the word can paralyze many working artists. Think about yourself, are there any projects in your history that have been left behind because you feared they would fail? I'm sure most of us can come up with at least 1 or 2. For some, we may have a whole warehouse full of self perceived failures.

Merriam Webster defines one aspect of failure as: lack of success, or a falling short. A big problem as artistic types, is focusing on this one aspect. We tend to see things as either, or. Either a great success, or, as a great failure. We rarely look at failure as something else, especially as an opportunity.

One big problem is this idea of either, or. In my experience, failure is rarely ever so black and white. It's always a matter of perspective and perception. For example, as a musician, I have had nights when I came off stage thinking I gave a horrible performance, only to be greated by people saying things like, “That was…