Subscriber Update #4 - May 2017

Mom

This is Jesse. My mom died two weeks ago. Most people who knew her remember how much she made them laugh. She was a very bright and funny person. But beneath the surface of her personality, she was a true artist. 

Going back to my earliest memories, before I could talk, I was with my mom in her studio almost every day while she worked, and she would set up art projects to keep me busy so she could make her living. In my early life, she made pottery — she was a professional potter for 20 years. (Her mother, my grandmother, was also a professional potter.) Later, when the pottery became too physically demanding, she returned to her first passion, and devoted her life to painting. Although she made her living through art, she was always creating beauty. 

Meditation and Art

My mom claimed that she wasn’t into meditation. She joked that she was terrible at it. But I believe her art was her meditation. Her mentor taught her to quiet her thoughts as she blended the ink, paying attention to the motion, the sound, the changing colors. She transformed the turmoil of a busy mind toward a blank page, and into tranquil still life and landscapes. She did this daily, and left a massive and beautiful volume of work. 

Create Beauty

This month, create beauty. You may already have a creative outlet — music, dance, drawing, painting. If not, start today. Pick up some paper and paints, or dust off that musical instrument sitting in the corner. 

• Whatever your art, prepare your space for it. Clean up, remove any clutter. But don’t turn this into a job — you’re preparing to create, not cleaning house. Open or close the curtains, turn on or off the lights, set whatever mood you like. 
• Next, set up your creative tools so that you’re ready to use them. Instruments, paper, water, brushes, pens. 
• Become still. Sit, stand, or lie down in your space, next to your creative tools. Resist the urge to start right away. Just be in the space. Breathe, and for the next 10 or 20 minutes, enjoy the feeling of wanting to create. 
• Finally, pick up your self, your instrument, pen, or brush — and begin! Create something beautiful, something that is beautiful to you. Allow yourself to get lost in the creation, so that the beauty is not just in what you’re creating, but also in the process of creating it. 

When you feel (or see, or hear) that it’s time to stop, stop. 

This meditation, this art, is for you. It doesn’t matter who likes it or not. Share it, or keep it private. Just enjoy creating beauty. 

[Note: Patreon subscribers can use the meditation Creative Freedom with this exercise.]

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