When we walk, the two halves of our brains converse.
Agendas tend to drain the life out of relationships.
So much of an artist’s career hinges on the sense that we are going somewhere, that we are not just trapped by the four walls of wherever we are. For creative sanity, I must believe that if I just do the next right thing, a path will unfold for me.
It is all too easy as an artist to allow the shape of our career to be dictated to us by others. We can so easily wait to be chosen. Such passivity invites despair. To remain healthy and vital, artists must stay proactive in their own behalf.
When we are on our right path, we have a surefootedness.
Our moods and insights are transitory. This current is a flow of grace moving us to our right livelihood, companions, destiny.
To write is to right things. A path will emerge.
You are asked to keep a ledger – a small notebook will do – of money in and money out. Counting brings clarity, and clarity is one of the first and finest fruits of prosperity.
There is no such thing as being done with an artistic life. Frustrations and rewards exist at all levels on the path.
It is my experience both as an artist and as a teacher that when we move out on faith into the act of creation, the universe is able to advance. It is a little like opening the gate at the top of a field irrigation system. Once we remove the blocks, the flow moves in.
Nothing dies harder than a bad idea. And few ideas are worse than the ones we have about art.
When I went in, my editor said, ‘I hope you don’t think you’re a writer.’ And I said, ‘I hope you don’t think I’m a journalist.’ And, uh, turned out we were both right.
Sometimes, in order to go forward, you must first go back.
Making art is a rite of initiation. People change their souls.
If you want to write a novel, it’s the Divine mind wanting to express.
Writing-and this is the big secret-wants to be written. Writing loves a writer the way God loves a true devotee. Writing will fill your heart if you let it. It will fill your pages and help to fill your life.
Apologies are the art of spiritual housekeeping. They help to put and keep our lives in order.
As an experienced artist, I carry my work like a secret pregnancy. I am always aware of inner life and the need to protect it.
Workaholism is a block, not a building block.
All too often, it is audacity and not talent that moves an artist to center stage.