Hi Everyone! I hope this post finds all of you well and happy. I have been concentrating most of my energy on my business and writing, in many places and for many reasons, my book, blog posts on my different sites, writing prompts and with my writing group. Mom has been here for nearly three months now, getting her health in order and feeling better. It has been a good summer, overall. I will be sad to see it go. As I do most summers, I don't feel I got in enough hiking or camping.
As many of you know, I am forever on a quest to learn more about myself and others, and investigate what makes people tick. What is "normal," in whatever way that exists, for myself and other people? I have been reading an interesting book called Daily Rituals: How Artists Work, by Mason Currey, about the rituals and routines of famous artists of different types, writers, composers, painters and the like. I mostly see similarities among all people, with some definite eccentricities thrown in here and there, and some things I think artists more than others share.
There are some known eccentricities. Mark Twain designed his own shirts with buttons down the back. Emily Dickinson only wore white and would not expose her handwriting, having her sister address letters. Poe wore only black.
Some artists are very disciplined and work(ed) only during specific times or in specific places. Some are very spontaneous and/or superstitious. Some work best in the early morning, though some get up early and some stay up all night and sleep during the day. Some are very religious and some not at all. In this way artists are no different than the rest of the world's population.
Artists enjoy working in their art and many have to work other jobs to support their passion, at least until their passions support them. I think one who knows his or her passion and is working toward achieving support with that work is a very lucky person. Toiling away resentfully will never a happy person make. I don't think everyone can see that work and play can be the same. I know it can be and there is not much that can compare! I am living a dream, teaching yoga and meditation and living in a beautiful place. It will be nice when it becomes more profitable, but I can be patient.
I also see, through the profiles in the book, that many artists, like me, need a great deal of alone time. Though many do enjoy a rich social life, it must be balanced with that alone time. But, of course, that only makes sense to me. It is difficult to create a work of art, or to write book or a symphony when one is with others. It is also difficult for me, and many others, to restore my well in the presence of others with whom I have to engage, even though that doesn't always mean I must be alone. Reading a book or knitting in a somewhat noisy coffeehouse can sometimes work wonders.
I can see myself in many of the artists profiled in the book, but today I read about Tchaikovsky. I like his compositions, though I know from experience that they aren't the easiest to play on a piano. I like him even more since reading about him. We kept a similar schedule, starting work at 10:00 a.m. is the best time for me, too. He wrote about how it felt when he was walking (he walked for two hours every day) and inspiration hit him. "It would be futile for me to try and express to you in words the boundless bliss of that feeling which envelopes you when the main idea has appeared, and when it begins to take different forms. You forget everything, you are almost insane, everything inside you trembles and writhes, you scarcely manage to set down sketches, one idea presses upon another." That, I recognize in me.
May boundless bliss envelope you.
Love and blessings,
Julie
