Winston Churchill once said that writing a book goes through five phases. In phase one, it is a novelty or a toy; by phase five, it is a tyrant ruling your life, and just as you are about to be reconciled to your servitude, you kill the monster and fling him/her to the public.

Do you have a monster you need to kill? A piece of writing or work of art that you need to “fling” to the public? Or perhaps a project you need to launch? If so, I’d love to hear about it.

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The photographer Ansel Adams said:

“There is a deeper thing to express — the return of humanity to some sort of balanced awareness of the natural things — some rocks and sky. We need a little earth to stand on and feel run through our fingers. Perhaps Photography can do this — I am going to try anyhow.”

And,

“I hesitate to define just what the qualities of a true wilderness experience are. Like music and art, wilderness can be defined only on its own terms. The less talk, the better.”

Writers, artists and creative types are some of the most vulnerable people I know. To put yourself out there, to risk criticism about your work and dare to create in a culture that doesn’t always value creativity, is hard. But despite this predicament, Brene Brown ( a very left brain scientist/social worker/researcher) believes that this vulnerability may hold the key to deep, soulful living. Recently, she gave a 20 minute TED talk on The Power of Vulnerability that I think is compelling and courageous for someone in her field.  This was part of her appeal for me. Her conclusions are something you would expect from artists and poets, not people who come to the conclusion through documented, left-brained research. The link is here if you have twenty minutes to spare in order to watch.

She says on her website:

When I stand back and look at the work I’ve done over the past ten years, I can clearly see that the heart of my work is about the very human need to live with authenticity, love and belonging, and a resilient spirit. I call this WholeHearted living. I have dedicated my career to studying difficult topics like shame, empathy, and vulnerability because I want to know, in my head and in my heart, why we’re all so afraid to let our true selves be seen and known. I want to hear and tell the stories that inspire us to be real, imperfect, and powerful. The core of WholeHearted living is connection.

And then later:

I recently wrote a piece on my blog about my journey to live authentically and soulfully. I received several emails asking me what I meant by living authentically and soulfully. For me, the soulful piece is about living in the spirited space that connects my head and my heart (which is a huge challenge for a head person, like me). Trying to come up with a definition for authenticity forced me to tap deep into my research to find the words that capture what I’ve learned in my work and reflects what I’ve actually lived. Here’s what I came up with:

What about you? Would your life look any differently if you chose to live it authentically and soulfully? How would this effect your writing,  art, and creativity? As always, I’d love to hear from you.

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A few weeks ago I watched an eleven minute video called Miwa Matreyek’s Glorious Visions on TED talks and it was so fresh and compelling that I can’t seem to get it out of my mind. Her work is incredibly innovative and has expanded what I have come to think of as art. What Miwa Matreyek is doing is indeed an art form that is both ancient (story-telling) and a product of the 21st century. If you’re interested, I hope you’ll watch it and let me know what you think.

From TED:

Why you should listen to her:

Miwa Matreyek’s work blurs the line between real and unreal. In live works that integrate animation, performance, and video installation, she explores how animation changes when it is combined with body and space (and vice versa). In her video projects, animation takes on a more physical and present quality, while body and space take on a more fantastical quality.

On one hand, Matreyek’s performance can be viewed as a cinematic experience taking place on a screen. On the other hand, what is seen on the screen is a collapsed product of multiple layers of animation, objects and body. Her work exists in a juxtaposition of illusion and nonillusion. Matreyek is also a founding member of the performance media group Cloud Eye Control, which makes theatrical productions with cleverly integrated animation projections.

The piece Matreyek performs at TEDGlobal 2010 is an abridgement of the work “Myth and Infrastructure.”

“She seamlessly combines the would-be-separate mediums of performance art, animation, sculpture and music to create a simultaneously whimsical and intricate experience.” FineArtsLA.com

P.S. Seeking Sara Summers is available on Kindle, as well as iBooks and Barnes and Noble (on the Nook).

I recently stumbled upon Meryl Streep’s commencement address given in May 2010 at Barnard College. I include the link here.

It is twenty-eight minutes long and I definitely think that it is worth the time it takes to watch it. I found her speech to be without hubris and exquisitely authentic. She starts us off laughing and then we realize that this woman is not fluff. She really has something to say.

Here is an excerpt from the transcript that is toward the end of her speech.  Enjoy! And if you feel compelled, please let me know what you think.

…You know, I gave a speech at Vassar 27 years ago. It was a really big hit.  Everyone loved it, really.  Tom Brokaw said it was the very best commencement speech he had ever heard and of course I believed this.  And it was much easier to construct than this one.  It came out pretty easily because back then I knew so much.  I was a new mother, I had two Academy Awards and it was all coming together so nicely.  I was smart and I understood boiler plate and what sounded good and because I had been on the squad in high school, earnest full-throated cheerleading was my specialty so that’s what I did but now, I feel like I know about 1/16th of what that young woman knew.  Things don’t seem as certain today.  Now I’m 60, I have four adult children who are all facing the same challenges you are.  I’m more sanguine about all the things that I still don’t know and I’m still curious about. 

What I do know about success, fame, celebrity would fill another speech.  How it separates you from your friends, from reality, from proportion. Your own sweet anonymity, a treasure you don’t even know you have until it’s gone.  How it makes things tough for your family and whether being famous matters one bit, in the end, in the whole flux of time.  I know I was invited here because of that.  How famous I am, how many awards I’ve won and while I am overwhelmingly proud of the work that, believe me, I did not do on my own.  I can assure you that awards have very little bearing on my own personal happiness, my own sense of wellbeing and purpose in the world.  That comes from studying the world feelingly, with empathy in my work.  It comes from staying alert and alive and involved in the lives of the people that I love and the people in the wider world who need my help.  No matter what you see me or hear me saying when I’m on your TV holding a statuette spewing, that’s acting. 

Being a celebrity has taught me to hide, but being an actor has opened my soul. 

Watch the video here.

May we all find that true thing that opens our soul.

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This week I offer two quotes on art that I love. One by Pablo Picasso. The other by Thomas Merton.

Does one resonate with you more than the other? Do you have another favorite quote about art that you’d like to share?

ART WASHES AWAY FROM THE SOUL THE DUST OF EVERYDAY LIFE -- Pablo Picasso

ART ENABLES US TO FIND OURSELVES

AND LOSE OURSELVES AT THE SAME TIME -- Thomas Merton

(Artwork by Picasso)

www.susangabriel.com

Hello Susan,

Interesting that I should receive a blog from you on children’s literature.  It has been suggested to me that I convert one of my poems into an illustrated children’s book.  I always get something from you that is timely for me.  My favourite children’s book is “The Rainbow Goblins” by Ul de Rico.

 

A good friend gifted me with that book soon after I had been burglarised and raped at knife point in my apartment.  It was just a kind gesture on her part, stemming from a desire to “do” something, for me. Of course I did all the police follow-up and received counselling on ending violence effectively, and it’s years later now, and I am fine.  I’ve even given talks to women’s groups about protecting oneself and staying safe.

  

I must say, however, that the book, “The Rainbow Goblins”, was most instrumental in helping me to get back on track.  The story said to me that it is  less important that there are people and forces or circumstances beyond your control that can, and do, sometimes, come in and take things from you or hurt you;  But, more, that you can overcome them or defeat them.

  

It is brilliantly illustrated as well.  Sometimes, children’s books are even better and more meaningful for adults.  Shel Silverstein is another favourite children’s author of mine. (was, he is deceased, though his works live on)  Thank you for the piece on Margaret Wise Brown.  I am embarrassed to admit that I’d never heard of her, but I will be looking her up. That’s for sure!  I am also a fan of Lesléa Newman.

There is a part of me that, like “Peter Pan”, in a way, will always be a wide eyed girl of ten or so, and I like it that way.  She keeps me from growing old, which is different from aging, and she never lets me take myself too seriously.  We have a lot of fun.  :-D 

 

The Rainbow Goblins

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Would you be happier if you spent more time discussing creativity and the meaning of life — and less time talking about the weather? According to a blog post at the NY Times, a study has shown that deep conversations make people happier than small talk.

I love deep conversations. I am fortunate enough to have some really good friends, and a mate, who I have deep conversations with quite frequently. I realize what a blessing this is and I have a lot of gratitude.

I would even go so far as to say that a really good novel, really good non-fiction, or a really good poem is a deep conversation between the writer and the reader.

It may sound counterintuitive, but people who spend more of their day having deep discussions and less time engaging in small talk seem to be happier, said Matthias Mehl, a psychologist at the University of Arizona who published the study.

We found this so interesting, because it could have gone the other way — it could have been, ‘Don’t worry, be happy’ — as long as you surf on the shallow level of life you’re happy, and if you go into the existential depths you’ll be unhappy, Dr. Mehl said.

But, he proposed, substantive conversation seemed to hold the key to happiness for two main reasons: both because human beings are driven to find and create meaning in their lives, and because we are social animals who want and need to connect with other people.

By engaging in meaningful conversations, we manage to impose meaning on an otherwise pretty chaotic world,” Dr. Mehl said. “And interpersonally, as you find this meaning, you bond with your interactive partner, and we know that interpersonal connection and integration is a core fundamental foundation of happiness.

Are you happiest when you have a deep, meaningful conversation? In a weird way, that’s what I try to do with this blog. Talking about creativity, courage and soul, among other things, is my way of putting something that has meaning (to me, at least) out into the world.

Click the comment button and let me hear what you think!

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I am currently in the middle of the revision process for my seventh novel. I like to think of this part of the process as an alchemical process. One of the definitions of alchemy is:

any magical power or process of transmuting a common substance, usually of little value, into a substance of great value.

The concept of alchemy is usually associated with Carl Jung who used it to describe how we develop the potential in our personalities.  

Not that I think there is anything “magical” in doing three to six months of revisions. It’s hard work. The first drafts of manuscripts, like the personalities of the chronically unaware, are raw, unrefined messes. To put first drafts out into the world is not only naïve but careless. They are almost always ineffective and even embarrassing when read a few years down the road. (You can also over-revise, but that’s another post.) It is only in the subsequent drafts, where the true gold of a piece can be found. 

In writing, excess words must be cut in order to get to the ultimate clarity of a sentence and an idea. Characters must be developed and given interesting, vital lives. Plot must be unearthed and honed into a rhythm that can sustain and carry a reader along for two to three hundred pages. 

I have been writing for fifteen years. At this point I have a solid level of craft behind my revisions, as well as clear knowledge of my strengths and weaknesses. I’ve been to countless workshops on writing and taken creative writing classes at the university level, in addition to putting hundreds of hours into the actual process of writing. I also get the feedback of my first readers (those three or four trusted writer/friends who I let read early drafts in order to get feedback), as well as feedback from my literary agent. 

The revision process is one area of my life where I am fearless. And if you are really serious about being a good writer, maybe even a great one, I think you have to be fearless, too. I have been known to throw out entire chapters if they aren’t moving the plot forward. I get rid of characters without a whiff of sentimentality if they aren’t compelling and holding up their end of the bargain. I change tenses if more immediacy is needed. I add new characters if they offer something unique. I add a surprise or two, perhaps a twist of fate. I do this because I am always striving for excellence when I write a story, as I am always striving for excellence in my life. I want a story to grab my readers, inspire them, and entertain them from the first to the very last page. 

When I first started writing I complained a lot about the revision process. It is like putting your work onto the analyst’s couch, baring its soul to find out what is genuine and what is fake. But now—and I never thought I’d say this—it is one of my favorite parts. It requires a skill set that is developed by practice, by actually writing day after day, year after year. It requires reading books on craft and going to writer’s conferences with the intention of learning how to write (instead of only choosing the workshops on how to find a good literary agent). Sometimes this skill set can be developed by taking classes on writing and perhaps even belonging to a really good writer’s group. (The really good ones are hard to find, by the way, and may require some searching out.)    

The revision process is where the most potential lives for the writer and artist, just as increasing self-awareness is where the most potential is found in our personalities. Revising is about becoming a master at your craft and learning how to tell a really good story or writing a really good poem or creating a really good concerto. (If you are a writer and you hate revising, then at the very least you must find yourself a really good freelance editor. If you are a person whose life could use some “major editing,” you may want to invest in a good counselor.)

The revision process is where something ordinary and mundane is transformed through the writer’s own skillful efforts into something extraordinary and lasting. Whether you’re revising a piece of writing or music or some non-artistic yet still creative project–or your own life–keep the faith and don’t give up. Remember, you are the alchemist of your creation.

P.S. I revised Seeking Sara Summers at least twelve times over a period of eight years. I am much, much quicker at it now. A new novel now takes within 6-12 months to complete. Check out Seeking Sara Summers, if you haven’t already, and get a free sample chapter.

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