A Pause for Beauty:
An artist’s journal.
Chapter 1
The Journey Starts With An Expression
Of Gratitude
We are each a unique creation of a creative universe. The creative journey, the journey of celebrating, of honoring, your uniqueness has an element of the sacred about it.
Furniture-maker Sam Maloof started each day’s work by giving a quiet thanks.
“I used to tell Freda that if we could just make five hundred a month, why, that was all we ever needed. It was spiritual security that mattered. I really believed in the importance of living right and being thankful and grateful. If your mind is right, I think that all things fall into place.” - Sam Maloof
Maloof derives his strength from resorting to something outside himself, from an appeal to an honorable code of conduct, an elevated sense of order, to a deep, abiding faith. He lives an ethical, right-minded life and cites integrity as the most important part of his work and of his creativity.
Sam believes in the unseen influences that guide him. That is the source of his risk taking, of his courage to create. He gives a quiet thanks, he shows respect, he behaves in the most correct way he knows how, and then he sits down to make a piece of furniture.
- Uncommon Genius by Denise Shekerjian.
Inspired by the example of Sam Maloof, and of Steven Pressfield, author of The War Of Art, among other books, I start the day with a prayer to the Muse, to whatever Powers may exist out there.
I pray for guidance. I ask to connect with the positive energies of the universe, and serve them. I ask to express, through my work, the magnificence of creation. I ask for the courage to take bold steps, and risk failure. I ask for clarity about who I am and what I do. I ask to be open to opportunities that come my way, even when disguised as setbacks or problems.
I try to express that as well in how I live my life and create my art. I often fail, but that’s the intent. Failure needs to be an accepted and expected part of the journey. So does forgiveness.
Before Heron Dance was Heron Dance it was a book of interviews of people who lived life on their own terms: mountain climbers, people who sailed alone around the world or who worked in prisons or soup kitchens or with addicts in the inner city. Among those I interviewed was Doug Peacock. Doug was to become a friend and major inspiration in my life. I devoted issue 22 entirely to excerpts from the books he’s written, my interviews of him and interviews of his friends about him. Here’s something I often think of that he said to me in one of our interviews:
People who live close to the land attribute success not to skill or shrewdness, but to humility. The hunter should always be grateful. The emotional posture behind reason, even today, is humility.
For more from Doug Peacock interviews see Hayduke Lives! on the Heron Dance website.
What we celebrate in our thoughts and actions, what we express gratitude for, gains a special energy. The objects of our appreciation grow in significance and power in our lives. But we can’t express gratitude in the hope of getting something. The relationship is more mysterious than that. We invite rather than expect.
The universe responds however it responds. It is our role to express gratitude and be worthy.