Discovering the Artist Within by First; Losing Control

Photo credit: Adam Lerner on Visual Hunt / CC BY-NC-SA

In her book Writing Down the Bones, author Natalie Goldberg provides writers with suggestions of what a writing studio should consist of. She compares a creative space to the creatives state of mind. She notes that a little apparent disorder is an indication of the fertility of the mind and that someone is actively creating. I looked around at my disorderly desk after reading that and felt as if Natalie had confirmed my suspicions. I get messy when I get a lot of ideas. Natalie says that a perfect studio can indicate that someone is reflecting their inward need for control. I immediately think of two controlling co-workers and concur.

“Creativity is just the opposite: it is a loss of control” Natalie Goldberg

Well no wonder most of us have such a hard time being creative or pursuing some form of art. All we need to do is loosen up. Now try doing that after a long day at work, the kids clamoring for your time, errands needing to be run, laundry waiting to be folded, dinner needing cooked, animals needing fed, and homes needing cleaned up. Sure, I want to loosen up too, but that extra 45 minutes it took me to get home after work today kind of messed the whole thing up! I am wound up and taut. All I need is a little push and I will unravel. Then there are all those rules.