Giving Myself an A for 2003
Last week my printer broke down so I had to make a trip to the nearest CompUSA for an exchange. I was upset about taking the time to do this, but I kept thinking "maybe something good will come out of this." After I exchanged the printer, I stopped at the nearest bookstore to browse. The first book that attracted me was a little paperback, lightweight and inexpensive yet somehow radiating "quality." The title was "The Art of Possibility," by Benjamin Zander and Rosamund Stone Zander. I was attracted by Benjamin Zander's role as orchestra conductor and music teacher. I knew with just one glance inside the book that I'd find this book nurturing to my art life. I bought it without further consideration.
This book turned out to be more than enough to compensate for any costs of the trip. I read it in two evenings. Yum!
Here's a link to the book at amazon, where the book costs $11.20 in paperback,or $15.75 in hardback, or $22.00 as an adobe reader e-book to download. I actually bought the book at Barnes and Noble, but I see that online it's a lot less expensive at amazon.
You can zip over to Benjamin Zander's website at www.benjaminzander.com, and read a bit about Rosamund Stone Zander (who's a painter as well as a psychotherapist) at http://www.fastcompany.com/realtime/monterey/mentors/rzander.html and at www.rosamundzander.com.
So I'm using The Art of Possibility, ch. 3, "Giving an A"....
Most years, by November and December I get morose and discouraged because I haven't been productive enough as an artist. I've had some zero-bowl years, and some one-bowl years, and some "I worked on one bowl all year and still didn't finish it" years. So most years, I give myself an F for the year. Then I work hard to find ways to encourage myself to try again (harder, of curse [sic]) so I won't get an F for the following year. It's as if I dig a deep hole for myself, jump in it, then start climbing from the bottom of the hole.
Ben Zander tells some inspiring stories about having his advanced music students write letters at the start of a two-semester course, telling him why they earned an A for the course. He asks them to emphasize what sort of person they've become. Of course the letter is dated 9 months later, and written in the past tense. The A grade is given at the start of the course - so it's just up to them to write (in advance) how they earned it.
Here's my letter: how I earned an A for 2003
It's December, 2003, and I have received an A for my bowlmaking this year. I received this A because I have become a person who trusts her hands. I allow my hands to act on their own, to lead the way. I let my mind follow my hands instead of trying to control my hands. Indeed, my mind has come to enjoy living this way. It throws my mind into what I've called That State of Mind (TSOM) - that feeling of relaxation and excitement, of following a feeling instead of a visual design or instructional voice.
I have also learned to trust my feet - so that I've become more like the four-pawed creature I truly am. I let my feet feel the way to move. I trust my feet to keep me in balance - and to lead me into new directions that my mind might consider foolish or stupid.
In this way, I have become warm and passionate - in artmaking and in life - with warm hands and feet! My blood flows freely and passionately through my body, just as creative power flows freely and passionately through my feet and hands. From being a woman who withholds herself in fear - I've become a woman who's a passionate giver. By trusting my hands, then my feet, I've become a woman who trusts the Great Process. Again. I've become restored to myself, and restored to life.
3:15:21 PM 
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"The World Egg is Opening"
