Silence, Solitude, and the Creative Pause

About this Episode

Many creative people embrace quiet, solitary moments as portals to being in synch with their work. Stepping away from everyday distractions is a way of nurturing your creative self, bringing you more in touch with your emotions, ideas, and the bigger picture of what you want to express. Yet true silence and solitude tend to be rare in our lives, unless we make a conscious effort to bring them in.

Most people are aware of the value of meditation and other spiritual practices like prayer as a way of calming and centering and consider it important, usually as a way of starting the day. But once you move into the main flow of a busy day, most of us never pause to find a quiet moment of solitude.

A purposeful, brief stepping back from full engagement with your work, a pause in which you take a moment to refresh your vision and can enhance your creative process by allowing you to get find your center and purpose again. It's good to take this kind of pause not out of frustration or exhaustion, but during a good flow of activity. If you stay in the moment but simply pause for a moment to look out the window, take a drink of water, or step outside, you are not likely to lose your flow. Working this type of pause into the rhythm of your process can seem counterintuitive, but one way to create this habit is to simply extend a natural pause-- taking a drink a water or washing your hands--and another minute or so to find something else to gaze at.

Solitude and silence are other ways to enhance creativity by bringing your attention inward, whether in the studio or elsewhere in life. Anything that helps you be in touch with your inner thoughts and feelings can be helpful. Consciously making space for solitude and silence in your life can be an important step to going deeper into your work

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Rebecca and Jerry launched their spring quarter on April 12th. Sessions this quarter so far included identifying compositional issues in your work, and technical information from Gamblin representative Mary Tevlin. Upcoming sessions include a painting clinic for works in progress, and much more. As always, members can join in on live sessions with questions and comments, and can benefit anytime by interacting with other members on our Members-only facebook page. With 100 recorded sessions in the member library there is always something to learn or review, with topics ranging from technical advice to visual language to guests speakers and critiques of member work.

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