Today I started rereading some of my imaginary visits to my Dream Studio, where I can consult my Older Self. She's in her eighties at least, still going strong - radiant and fully alive, making art every day. Looking back at some of my questions and her replies, I began wondering why I keep looking for coaching anywhere else. Her answers are terrific!
Here are some quotations from Older Cathy:
"I don't listen to the news. The news of what flower is blooming today is more important."
"I don't stop energy from flowing through me, so it doesn't accumulate as fat anywhere."
"The time something takes doesn't matter that much. What matters is how alive I am as I make it. I prefer eternity to dollars per hour."
"...I find that my work flows best when I'm not reading. It's as if not reading creates a vacuum, an open space, into which my own creativity flows. Whereas reading fills that space - often very nicely - with someone else's creativity."
"Aliveness is at the center. And art is usually the most alive thing I want to do."
"Any trap you make, you can escape."
"A lot of your information clutter is about the past. As long as your resume is current, your finances current, your correspondence current - what more do you need?"
"Trying to leave too many options open drains your energy. It's like leaving all the doors and windows open and wondering why the house doesn't get warm even with the heat on high."
"You have to believe your life matters, that being alive now matters. Then making art naturally matters because it brings more aliveness."
"Hurrying up and trying to earn your right to live, just makes your life a sort of living death."
"Day off? Off from what? I want to be on, not off."
4:40:35 PM 
|
