creative cycles, journey of SELF, Theatre of the Imagination

(she was on a journey to (SELF) discovery, archival prints available here!))

I have been painting up a storm in my studio these past few weeks...overflowing with ideas... creative fires burning. Just a few months ago I was immersed in a slump and no matter what I did...I simply couldn't get into my studio and paint. Sure I worked on backgrounds and played around a bit but...
 As I mentioned a few posts back, I have been listening to Theatre of the Imagination by Dr. Estes. She talks in depth about the difference between the natural ups and downs of creativity vs. the toxic and unnatural state of polluting our creative channels whereby we don't/can't create. It is a very important distinction and extremely helpful (if you happen to be in a creative slump) to figure out the reason behind it.

Dr. Estes says that every creative cycle goes through periods of being dormant; that is natural and healthy. She equates it to a field that has to lie fallow in order to be fertile in the seasons to come. There is nothing to worry about when you are in this sort of slump...ideas are germinating and seeds are being planted...the soil is being fertilised even though we see no evidence of that.
The toxic pollution state that causes slumps, though, are a completely different matter entirely! This is where we don't create because there is a psychic injury that inhibits us from bringing our creativity to fruition. In this state...we do things like this: we don't even begin, we continually procrastinate or make excuses or...on and on.
But...here's the magical and amazing thing! Our creativity can never be killed off no matter what we do. She goes on to explain how we can use this very situation to deepen our creativity. Have I mentioned how much I love this woman? How valuable her teachings are? For those of us (myself included here!) who haven't had a mentor, an encouraging person in our childhood, a mother who passes down her innate knowledge of the feminine ...Dr. Estes is all of that...and so much more! This series is just smoking hot!

Dr. Estes talks about how everything we need to fuel our creativity is right there within our own psyches, ourSELVES. All it takes is getting out of our own way...and journey back home to SELF.

For me...it was a multitude of things that pulled me out of my slump. I had to be gentle with myself...patient. And I had to take a step back and not force things.

* now go make some art!! or...Laugh, sing, dance...go sit under the fat full moon, eat poems, lay on your back and stargaze...