Listen to the Muses

As creative people we need to learn to listen. That’s the way we get in touch with the creative well, or the universe of ideas, or our inspired self. Listening is essential in the creative process. Listening opens the door to getting in flow, a central element in the creative process.

When listening there is only now. In Buddhist practice, a bell is rung as part of the ritual. The sound instantly pulls the participants into the present moment. It’s a small reminder to wake up.

As in the good conversation, the one with the ability to listen will learn, while the one who only talks will inevitably continue to repeat himself.

If you are to draw impulses from the creative well you must become more open and receptive. You must listen. Creating is closely linked to the ability to listen. Listening to our unconscious mind, or listening to the muses, or listening to the creative power of the universe of which we are a part, or listening to our inner voice—whatever you prefer to call it.

We do not create in a vacuum or out of our little selves. We create in an exchange with something greater than ourselves. By listening to what always flows through us like an underground river of creativity, we are able to form works of art that express a deeper truth or communicate a universal, human experience. It doesn’t matter if we photograph, write, dance, act, paint, sculpture or express ourselves through other types of media. By listening, we create with an unknown strength as if we are mediators of a creative force stronger than ourselves.

In The Artist’s Way, Julia Cameron writes: “Art is not about inventing. It’s about the opposite – getting something down. The directions are important here.”

If we try to think something out, we strive for something just beyond our reach, “up there, in the stratosphere, where art lives,” as Cameron writes. This “up there” is indeed difficult to reach when we try with compulsion. If, on the other hand, we let it fall down by itself, just listening for it, there is no load attached to the process. We don’t do anything, we get. Something outside of our awareness of what is me. Instead of trying to invent, we become engaged in listening and taking it down.

The master Michelangelo is said to have stated that he freed David from the block of marble he found him in. Or as Jackson Pollack put it: “The painting has a life of its own. I try to let it show.” If you have experienced being in flow, you know the feeling that what you are creating already exists in its entirety. Our job when we create is to listen for this, see it with eyes turned inward and write it down, photograph it, paint it, sculpture it.

While the eyes and mouth can be sealed, an ear has no lid, nothing to close. It takes in what surrounds it. It receives but can’t transmit. The ear is simply present to the world.

When we hear, sounds enter the ear autonomously. Often we’re not aware of all the individual sounds and their full range. Listening is paying attention to those sounds, being present with them, being in communion with them. Though, to say that we listen with the ears, or the mind, might be a misconception. We listen with the whole body, our whole self.

Many of us experience life as if we’re taking it in through a pair of headphones. We strip away the full register. We hear information, but don’t detect the subtler vibration of feeling in the body, we don’t listen to the inner river of creativity.

When you practice listening with the whole self, we expand the scope of your consciousness to include vast amounts of information otherwise missed, and discover more material to feed your art habit. If it’s music you’re listening to, consider closing your eyes. You may find yourself lost in the experience. When the piece ends, you might be surprised by where you find yourself. You’ve been transported to another place. The place where music lives.

Lose yourself in the listening. Lose control and be nothing but receptive. Listening is the way to experiences your creative well of unknown ideas.

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Photo Workshops and Tours in 2023
These are the photo workshops I and Blue Hour Photo Workshops plan for this year.

“The Personal Expression”—a weekend in Bergen, Norway with focus on how to develop your personal, photographic expression. June 9th to 11th 2023.

”Along the Streets of Prague”—five days in the beautiful city of Prague, The Czech Republic. This is a jewel in the middle of Europe with its historical, cultural and human melting pot. September 7th to 10th 2023.

”Photo Tour in Granada”—a week in Nicaragua for the adventures. We will explore the colonial city and its extraordinary countryside. October 23rd to 31st 2023.

”On the Tracks of Che Guevara”—ten days in eastern Bolivia. This is a great opportunity to discover one of the most beautiful countries in South America. October 23rd to 31st 2023.

Are you interested in developing your photographic skills? Do you like to travel? Do you want to make your photos tell a story in a much stronger vocabulary? Find your own expression? Develop your vision and become more creative? Any of these workshops would take your photography to the next level. I promise you, you will be in for an amazing experience. Click any of the links for more info.

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Getting Across to the Other Side

Imagine yourself standing on the edge of a canyon, preparing to hike to the other side. Below you can see trees, rivers flowing through the canyon, and the beauty of the landscape surrounding it. From your privileged position, you can see the entirety of the terrain, the path down and back up the other wall of the chasm, and the ending point of your journey.

It seems so simple, and you have plenty of energy for the hike. You’re excited about the possibility of reaching the other side, and you set out on an aggressive pace. However, as you descend into the canyon, you become less certain about your position. The tall trees make it difficult to navigate, and the steepness of the decline is taking a toll on your knees.

In the midst of your hike, you can no longer see the end objective. The path that was so clear at the top is now difficult to discern. At the bottom of the canyon, you suddenly realize that you have a long, uphill climb in order to complete your hike by sundown. However, this is where you training kicks in, those long hours of practice beforehand, and you find some new energy. Finally, that is if you haven’t given up, just before the sun slips over the horizon, you step onto the ledge of the opposite site. As you turn around and glance back, you have a newfound respect for the canyon that seemed so simple and traversable at the outset.

The journey through the canyon is similar to how every creative endeavour takes shape. In his book Lourder than Words, Todd Henry tells that artist and illustrator Lisa Congdon once shared with him a bit of advice she received from an art teacher who had greatly impacted her life. The teacher told her that every creative project, regardless of what kind, has a U shape. You begin the project with a clear plan and great enthusiasm, but as you engage in the work your energy for the project begins to fade. Things that once seemed simply when you were at the top of the curve are now complex, muddy, and unclear. What appeared clearly in your mind is no longer so straightforward. This is the point where many give up.

However, if you stick with the project through the deepest part of the U, your passion begins to swell again, patterns form, you eventually find the path, and your energy level returns, perhaps even in greater measure. When this happens, the resulting work is better than ever seemed possible in the valley of despair.

Every creative project—writing a book, making a painting, doing a photo project, building a blog—follows the same U shape. If you rely solely on your emotions to guide you, it’s likely you’ll give up just as you are on the uptick again. Instead, you must be guided by a larger vision for your work, and keep the goal in sight, even when it’s obscured by complications and frustration.

The key is to remain focused on your vision and embrace the journey. As famed sculptor Auguste Rodian remarked, “Nothing is a waste of time if you use the experience wisely”. The peaks, the valleys, and the struggles in between are all useful in pointing you towards the brilliance that’s being called out for you.

Talking about canyons, earlier this month I put together a monograph of photos from one of the many canyons I have visited. I have for a long time thought about making it but finally, I got around to do. I got through the U shape of this project. The photos were taken on a backpacking trip I made a few years ago with my partner. We went with tent and sleeping bags into Canyonlands National Park in Utah, USA, in one of the most spectacular landscapes I have ever experienced.

You can get the eBook for free here: The Colours of the Earth.

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Would you like to get motivating thoughts related to the act of photographing? Every once a month I write Sideways—nuggets of inspiration on photography. Sign up to receive Sideways in your email.

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Photo Workshops and Tours in 2023
These are the photo workshops I and Blue Hour Photo Workshops plan for this year.

“The Personal Expression”—a weekend in Bergen, Norway with focus on how to develop your personal, photographic expression. June 9th to 11th 2023.

”Along the Streets of Prague”—five days in the beautiful city of Prague, The Czech Republic. This is a jewel in the middle of Europe with its historical, cultural and human melting pot. September 7th to 10th 2023.

”Photo Tour in Granada”—a week in Nicaragua for the adventures. We will explore the colonial city and its extraordinary countryside. October 23rd to 31st 2023.

”On the Tracks of Che Guevara”—ten days in eastern Bolivia. This is a great opportunity to discover one of the most beautiful countries in South America. October 23rd to 31st 2023.

Are you interested in developing your photographic skills? Do you like to travel? Do you want to make your photos tell a story in a much stronger vocabulary? Find your own expression? Develop your vision and become more creative? Any of these workshops would take your photography to the next level. I promise you, you will be in for an amazing experience. Click any of the links for more info.

Small Steps Lead to Giant Leaps

To create implies some kind of active effort. Creating means, literally, to create something. We are all struck by fabulous ideas from time to time—or maybe all the time, but if you don’t convert the ideas into something physical or concrete, you aren’t really being creative. Good intentions aren’t enough. You simply aren’t creating before you actually do.

Sometimes the challenge in creating is not that there’s a lack of ideas, but rather that our heads are so filled with ideas that we can’t quite figure out how to make the first move. Our mind doesn’t mind (excuse the pun) coming up with ideas. But it plays tricks with us when it comes to translate the ideas into action. There is a fear of failure in the equation, but also, strangely enough, a fear of success. More so, just the amount of work we believe is needed can pull us off.

We find all kinds of excuses for not doing the actual work. We insist that we need to answer all the incoming emails first or clear our desk, or convince ourselves that we need to gather more information before proceeding. But in the end, the best way to create something is simply to start. And there is no need to take a flying leap. Tiny steps are OK.

Some time ago, I lost a chapter in a book about Cuba I am working on. It was all due to lack of a backup when I deleted a file I thought was a copy (but wasn’t). The thought of having to rewrite the chapter was overwhelming, but I got around the obstacle but telling myself that I only needed to write one paragraph—or even just one sentence if necessary to get me going—at any given time. This morning I finished the rewrite, and I think the second draft is actually better than the first.

Researcher and writer Loretta Graziano Brenning says in her book Meet Your Happy Chemicals that “you don’t have to finish a job in one fell swoop, you can also chop it up into smaller pieces. One advantage is that each time you finish a piece you will be rewarded by a dose of dopamine. Each step you complete feels like a triumph and will trigger this pleasure hormone.”

Those first few strokes of the brush on a canvas, or the first few sentences in a chapter, can be the hardest, but once you commit to making them, the next stroke will be easier. With writing, it’s typing or scrawling the first word, then another, then another.

All beginnings are difficult. Why is it so hard to take the first step? According to Robert Maurer, professor of psychology, it has to do with fear. When you take on a challenge—large or small—it means you have to leave behind your safe routines. Even more so with a creative endeavour. When you create you commence on something completely new, a route you have no idea where it will take you.

That which hinders us is very physical. The amygdale in your brain (which likes clarity, tranquillity, and predictability) sets off an alarm, which, to you, feels like a block. Maurer says you can get around this by taking small steps: “Setting yourself goals that are easy to reach, like meditating five minutes each day, or clearing only one of the stacks on your desk, allows you to sneak by your amygdale on tippy toes so that it doesn’t set off an alarm.”

Little steps lower the threshold to starting something new but there is also another advantage: You can do them even when you only have little time. There are plenty of scientific studies proving that little steps can lead to big leaps. Such as a sentence or paragraph at a time can lead to chapter or even a book.

Maurer says taking small steps builds new familiar neural pathways: “You will soon start feeling less resistance to your new resolutions and it will take barely any effort. What’s more it’s quite likely that your brain will start longing for new behaviour, whether it’s regular physical exercise, ten minutes of meditation, or standing up for yourself… It won’t feel like a challenge anymore but like part of your daily routine.

So what about making your creative efforts into a daily routine? You can do it.

On a different note, but nevertheless related, this year I am teaching five photo workshops. If you are into photography, nothing gets you going like attending a workshop. This year I will teach workshops in Norway, Cuba, Prague, Bolivia and Nicaragua. If this sounds interesting you can find more information here: Scheduled Photo Workshops in 2023.

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Where Are You Going?

Have you ever heard yourself speaking or singing on a recording? I still remember the first time this happened to me. When I played back the recording I couldn’t believe how much different I sounded than I had expected. It was as if I was listening to a completely different person. Was this my voice?

Of course, this is how it feels the first time for everybody. The discrepancy is caused by the resonance created in our skull combined with the direct passage of sound waves between the oral cavity and the inner ears. The difference between what we are used to hear and what our voice actually sounds like is for many an insurmountable barrier; so much that many end up hating hearing their own, recorded voice.

I think the same dynamic plays out with many creative people’s metaphorical, artistic voice. As much as we urge for our own, distinct voice, many are unaware of how they artistically communicate with others. Worse, this lack of awareness means whatever they create is inconsistent with whom they really are—and perhaps even deeply disconnected from their passions and ambitions. They project who they think they should be, and ignore the deeper signals about who they really are.

I have often written about artistic voice in this blog. More and more I see a clear connection between developing a clear, distinct voice and your creative development. One is expressed through the other and vice versa. I also believe that being honest in your creative development will infuse a more authentic voice.

Your artistic voice isn’t something you sit down and deliberately create, like a blueprint of your new house. It comes through creating and practising your artistic skills—and simply living, the more authentic the better.

Nevertheless, according to the author Todd Henry, to spur the development of your authentic voice, you must cultivate three tings: A strong sense of identity which means doing artistic work that is rooted in something substantive and personally meaningful; a consonant vision for your work, meaning a sense of the ultimate impact you want to have; and mastery of your skills.

Identity is primarily defined by the question “Who are you?” However you respond, it would be a story about how you perceive yourself and your place in the world. In fact, your sense of identity is a collection of many stories, related to your childhood experiences, your job, your hobbies, your political views and a number of other defining characteristics. Thus, self-knowledge is a critical ingredient of identity, because when it is lacking you are more likely to compromise your true thoughts and beliefs. You must have a rooted understanding of why your work matters to you, what makes it unique, and why you believe it should matter to others.

The second part of what instigate an authentic voice, the vision, is primarily defined by the question “Where are you going?” This implies that you need to be able to articulate the kind of effect you want to have and how you want the world to be different through your efforts. You should at least have a sense of how you plan to impact them. The majority of great creators have some sense of where their work is leading and the ultimate impact they want to have. They have “a north pole” towards which to navigate, even if only in a general sense.

The final and third piece to what positively influences your artistic voice is defined by the question “How will you get there?” As you sharpen you skills you have more tools in your toolbox and give yourself more options for expression. I am often one who attach less importance to skills, but no doubt artists who sharpen their skills are better positioned to create more diverse and stronger work.

The answers to the three questions give you a map for encouraging the development of your authentic, artistic voice. Your sense of identity leads you to a compelling vision, which then illuminates the skills you need to master in order to evolve as an artist.

We have just commenced with a new year. Maybe this is a good time to sit down and ask yourself these three questions. The answers may open up new ways for your creative development and in so doing also stimulate your development of an authentic voice.

Talking about a new year, I want to wish you all the best, creatively and otherwise, for 2023.

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That Time of the Year Again

We are soon approaching Christmas. Today, in Bergen, Norway, were I am presently staying, I woke up to heavy snowfall this morning. It was really exciting and made for a perfect Christmas mood. Of course, it’s still close to two weeks till Christmas, and the snow may be gone again by then. That’s the way the winters are around here. At least the temperature is falling again, so there is actually hope for a white Christmas.

Of course, I had to get outside and photograph the winter-clad city. I enjoyed just walking around, observing people and cars and even bikes struggling to get through the massive amount of snow—at least before the snowploughs had gotten around the city.

Photographically, the result was somewhat disappointing. Nevertheless, it was still lovely to try to capture the Christmas mood, the energy and the bustling people and city. I have long accepted the fact that some days I am just not going to get any great photos. As much as I keep trying, the muses didn’t seem to hear my call. Or more likely, mentally and creatively I wasn’t present enough. I had my thoughts preoccupied with some concerns of a different kind, and that always makes it harder to unfold creatively. Today was rather a day of sketching, just enjoying being outside and not worry about whether I would capture strong imagery.

Enough of that.

Talking about seeing, and Christmas, I want to extend an offer to you, my readers of this blog. Christmas is traditionally a time of giving presents. But what about giving yourself something extra?

Until December 22nd, I’ll put my eBook “Photographically Seeing—Seeing Better, Seeing Deeper” out for sale. You’ll get it for half the ordinary price.

“Photographically Seeing—See Better, See Deeper” is an eBook about seeing and indispensable for any photographer wanting to develop his or her perception and photography. For a photographer, seeing is where it all really starts. If you don’t see anything that interests you, you won’t be able to take any interesting photos. This eBook will teach you to see what is rather than what you believe is there.

Get it now. The price is only 8 $, half of the regular price. The offer only lasts until December 22nd. ORDER HERE.

With that I will log out for this year. I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. See you again in January.

Our Own Way

How do we, who pursue a creative path, find this path, our own path or our own way through the jungle of possible expressions and possibilities? How do we navigate our way through this maze towards something that feels genuinely and authentically ours?

The question came up during a workshop I just taught. One of the younger participants expressed frustration about this struggle to figure out who she is artistically and what her path would be. As such, it’s struggle most artists and creatives grapple with or has grappled with. In fact, we all do, at some point, if not all the time. What we are try to figure out gives cause for much frustration, because the path is not visible from the onset, only when looking back after having walked it.

A week has passed since I got back from my latest photo tour. It took place in the lush and beautiful Nicaragua with participants from both Europe and USA. Always, after an intense week of organizing and teaching a photo tour or workshop, I need time to process the impressions and thoughts from the trip. Among others, has been this question about navigating our path.

My immediate response to the participant was to just walk on. Try different directions; try different approaches, even if you start out feeling blindfolded. If you come across some work from other artists that resonate with you, copy it, try it out yourself. Be open-minded for what may come into your exploration. Be curious, and don’t try to define yourself, who you are and in what direction you need to move artistically, particularly not when you are in the beginning of your creative pursuit. You won’t find your way, it will find you—if you let it.

Imagine a world of only two possible paths to travel. One is the path of reason and certainty. Well trodden, well mapped, it is a path of averages: average pleasures, average pain, average joy, average sorrow. Above all, average results. Along this road, you are certain to experience an aggregate blend, a mean, the middle of what’s possible.

The scond path is your path. Springing from within and obeying your heart’s compass, it is unique to you. Your path isn’t devoid of reason or certainty, but it’s not trapped by them, either. It’s not average because there is no data set to establish an average. Just you. At every intersection, you choose the direction using all your faculties, not just reason: intuition, instinct, heart. This might seem like the risky choice, but it’s far riskier to play it safe. On your path, nothing you do is perfect, but all of it is right. You are doing the best you can with everything you have, in tune with your authentic self. Because of this, nothing you do is ever wasted. Every experience contributes to this journey.

Life is about choices. And so is the creative pursuit. Even when we have no clue about where to go. We just have to start walking in one direction, whichever feels right or just happens to be showing up. Of course and since you don’t know what you are doing, the choice may not be the one for you. That’s OK. If you really aren’t suited to it, you are free to go back to the drawing board. But commit to finishing a few pieces of work before moving on. You will learn something about yourself in the process. Each and every step along the creative path is a step forward; there is no wrong turns for an artist, only branches in a continuing evolution as you learn to express yourself.

What matter is that you start. Start before you are ready. Start with fear. Start with uncertainty. Just start. That’s the only way to go about finding your own path.

Photos are taken during the photo tour in Nicaragua.

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The Creative Habit

Creative blocks are something all creative persons experience, no matter in what field. I wrote about it in my last blog post. One of the best ways to counteract these blocks is by establishing regular routines or habits. That’s a way to get into flow, daily, without having to even think about it.

You may have heard about Ernest Hemingway. He made it a habit to write every morning. He liked to start early, around six o’clock, sometimes not even bothering to dress. He once said, “By writing in the mornings, you make sure that writing does get done.” Hemingway would write until noon and then he could often take the rest of the day off. He wrote standing up, facing a chest-high bookshelf with a typewriter on the top, and on top of that a wooden reading board.

Also Twyla Tharp, the renowned American dancer, choreographer, and author, starts her morning with a regular routine. She wakes up every morning at five-thirty and takes a cab to the gym. And then practice her dancing routine for a couple of hours. In her book The Creative Habit she writes: “It’s vital to establish some rituals—automatic but decisive pattern of behaviour—at the beginning of the creative process, when you are most at peril of turning back, chickening out, giving up, and going the wrong way.” And continues: “A lot of habitually creative people have preparation rituals linked to the setting in which they choose to start their day. By putting themselves into that environment, they begin their creative day.”

I think both establishing habits to get started with whatever creative work one does and do so in the morning, preferable as the first think one do, will work wonders for the creative process. In fact, I have spent the last month finding a workable morning routine and making it into a habit that really gets my day started creatively.

I have always had to fight procrastination. I would often not start to do whatever work I had to do before I really needed to, maybe because of an imminent deadline. There is always so much fun or interesting things, I could rather do. Funny enough, though, when I get started with photographing, editing or writing, I always enjoy it. Still, I often have had to push myself initially. People with more psychological insight than me point to the fact that creating in and of itself means to explore the unknown and new. And we human beings don’t feel comfortable with the unknown. We are safe when we can be in a known environment. Being creative pushes us out of that safe zone.

By building a good habit for the start of the day, we are able to circumvent that uncomfortable feeling of the unknown we encounter when we want to be creative. I have noticed it myself. My new morning routine has changed it all for me. Now I am ahead of the game, tasks are done before they need to and I feel I have energy and look forward to doing more creative work, whatever it may be.

In the book Atomic Habits, James Clear writes about how to build good habits as well as how to break bad habits. He gives a handful of great and concrete tips. For instance when you want to build a new habit, try to make it attractive. You can do so by pairing something you want to do with something you need to do. You should also make it easy, for instance by make small steps in the beginning. Instead of writing two pages on your novel, allow yourself to just get started and be happy with that. After a while when the habit has come under the skin, you can increase the amount of work or steps. Clear also suggest to make habits satisfying. That could be giving yourself an immediate reward when you complete the habit.

It’s said that it takes around a month for a new habit to establish itself as something you do automatically. That’s about the time I have practice my new morning routine. I still don’t feel it kicks in without my conscious initiative. Nevertheless, I have already seen the result and the positive changes my morning routines has resulted in, so I don’t think there is a way back any more.

My morning habit has worked wonders. If you don’t have any routine, maybe it’s time to build your morning habit? Or at least give it a try?

When you read this, I will be in Brazzaville, Congo, to do a story about a woman scientist who has gained international recognition for her research in viruses, included Covid, Ebola and HIV. What she does is also very creative.

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Get Over It!

As I wrote in my last blog post, my blogging over the last year or so has been running on empty. It’s never a good feeling, feeling empty. However, all creatives will one day or another experience the well running dry. For writers it’s call writers block, but it’s no different for photographers, painters, musicians—or bloggers.

Julia Cameron, who has written the inspirational book, The Artist’s Way, calls the place from which we draw all our creative inspirations and ideas, the creative well. I like the expression and the analogue it plays with. Like a real well, sometimes it’s plenty full and we can scoop of an abundance of inspiration. At other times, it’s drained and needs to be replenished. Camero suggests treating oneself with something good and kind; if it’s just taking time to sit down in the neighbourhood café and enjoying a latte or treating oneself with a visit to an exhibition or attending a concert.

The thing is, a creative block is not a problem when you see what it actually is. It’s just you running on empty. It’s not about yourself, in the sense that you are a failure or aren’t creative enough. Creative blocks happen to us all—and there is nothing we can do to avoid them. It will happen to you.

The word block suggest that you are constipated or stuck when the truth is you are empty. I so well know from own experiences that the emptiness can destroy the creative soul, as do the shame and frustration that go with it. It can be a very depressing experience. You feel like the muses have abandoned you, or maybe just like they have given you a limited amount of creativity, maybe to do one book, or to photograph on good project, or put together a couple of handfuls of blog posts.

Just remember, they won’t last forever. Sometimes, yes, it will take time to replenish the well, but when you realize that eventually it will refill, it’s much easier not to fall head on into the empty well yourself. Accept the block and fill up the creative well again.

In her book, Bird by Bird, Anne Lamott writes: “We have all been there, and it feels like the end of the world. It’s like a little chickadee being hit by an H-bomb. Here’s the thing, though, I no longer think of it as block. I think that is looking at the problem from the wrong angle. If your wife locks you out of the house, you don’t have a problem with your door.”

Her solution is acceptance—which is something we’re taught not to do. We are taught to improve on uncomfortable situations, to change things, alleviate unpleasant feelings. But if you accept the reality that you have been given—that you are not in a productive creative period—you free yourself to begin filling up again.

As Lamott points out: “I encourage my students at times like these to get one page of anything written [Lamott is a writer and have taught writing], three hundred words of memories or dreams or stream of consciousness on how they hate writing—just for the hell of it, just to keep their fingers from becoming arthritic, just because they have made a commitment to try to write three hundred words every day. Then, on bad days and weeks, let things go at that.”

Her advice is applicable for all creative activities and all kinds of blocks.

In the beginning, when you are first starting out with some creative endeavour, there are a million reasons not to create, to give up. That is why it’s of extreme importance to make a commitment to finish sections or parts of whatever you are doing, to driving through to the finish. The discourage voice hound you—“this is nothing but a pile of shit”. What you are doing may just be practice. But this is how you are going to get better, and there is no point in practicing if you don’t finish.

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My Community

About a year ago, I decided to downsize my social engagement, included—among other platforms—my blog writing. This blog. Back then, I was running a bit on empty, and needed a break from what more and more had become an obligation—instead of the joy it once was when I started out with my blog for more than ten years ago.

The intention was not to withdraw completely, but rather to step down and just spend less time on social media, included this blog. However, I quickly lapse to just barely being able to keep my blog alive. Those of you who have followed my blog—and still have the patience to do so—will undoubtedly have notice the cut back.

I needed the break, and it’s been good for my mental health to lay low for a while. Nevertheless, I’d have to admit I have missed the regular contact with many of you in the blog sphere.

What I am saying, is that I am ready for a “come back”. It will be a slow comeback, and I don’t know what form it will take. It might not necessarily result in more posts, but I certainly will be more engaged again and go into the blog writing with renewed energy and enthusiasm.

Part of the reason I wanted to downsize my blogging commitment last summer, was the need to focus more on my professional activity as a photographer and creative artist. I felt my work had gotten stuck in an eddy, not progressing any more. I was not doing what I was passionate about any longer and I needed to infuse my professional life with exactly that again. Passion. That which I am passionate about.

That has always been my cue for any direction I have chosen, professionally or otherwise. Particularly the former (whatever I do for pleasure, is, of course, mostly pleasurable anyway). I believe in finding a way to enjoy and thrive with the work you do. Not only for money, but also for fulfilment of one’s life goals or desires. This last year, in fact longer than that, I have pushed myself out of the eddy I felt I had succumbed to. Now, I feel more inspire than in a long time, and I do more inspiring work again.

As part of my “recovery” or push forward, I have read a lot about creativity, psychology, self-efficacy, and other relevant literature. I always read a lot, but this time my reading has been more focus on these themes. One of the books I found particularly inspirational was Creative Calling by the renowned photographer and entrepreneur Chase Jarvis. He writes about his four steps—IDEA—to create a fulfilling, creative life. It starts with Imagine your big dream, what you want to become in life. Then you Design a practice that supports that dream. The third step is to Execute on your ambitions plan and make you vision real. Finally, you Amplify your impact through a supportive community.

This may sound a little too vague or generic, but Jarvis does a good job in making his thoughts concrete and executable. In fact when reading the book, I realized that for most of my life, his four steps are pretty much describing my own path. Nevertheless, I still learned a lot and was inspired to push myself even further.

What more is, I particularly found that I have not been good enough at practising the fourth step. In my whole life, I have pretty much believe in my own doing. I push myself, I mostly create by myself, and I have mostly developed my business by myself. However, reading Creative Calling, I realized I could have gained a lot by being more open for collaborative interaction.

As Charvis writes: “We’re are all social animals. We thrive on human connections. Creators aren’t exempt from this need. Whether you are an introvert or an extrovert, you get through the tough spots with the support and inspiration of people who ‘get you’. Your community.”

His point is if you are walking the path towards your dreams, but getting nowhere, go find communities of other human beings who are passionate about the same things you are and get involved. Roll up your sleeves. Participate. Collaborate. And don’t hold back.

This leads me back to my blog. I need to get back to my community. You. Among others, of course. When I look back at my blogging, it has precisely been a place I could discuss and exchange ideas with people of my kind, creative human beings. So, it’s about time to reconnect and enjoy the human connection again.

Be a Channel

In photography, as in any creative endeavour, the best we can do to ourselves is not forcing the creative process in order to become better, pushing our creative voice into an artificial direction or somehow become original. None of this will do us any good.

I believe we all, as artists, strive to become recognized or hope our work will be inspirational for others or that we one day will acquire some kind of mastery that translates into a personal expression. I see nothing wrong with such aspirations. That can be a good drive for expansion and growth. When such aspirations take a wrong turn, is when they become the goals in and of themselves, when we try to force ourselves into something that isn’t coming naturally to us. That is when we turn ourselves away from life in the hope of making our creation into a brilliant star. All, but futile.

If instead of seeing creativity as something we need to squeeze out of ourselves, something we have to invent or something we are responsible for, if rather we see ourselves as channels for the muses or inspiration outside of ourselves or whatever you like to call it, the act of creating becomes a more fluid process. It becomes a process that we no longer charge with self-consciously guarding.

I often find my ego gets in the way. I want to take my photographs. As if that is the most important part of my immersion into photography. I the creator. Often, though, instead of going out to photograph, I start to doubt myself. The ego wants to stay put where it has always been. New adventures, new ideas, new anything, is challenging for the ego. But that’s exactly what creating means. So, often when I am about to go out and photograph I hear this internal voice “it’s no point”, “you won’t find anything”, “I don’t have time”, “I don’t have a unique voice”, “I am no good”, and so on and so forth. Writers call it writer’s block.

If we rather see our creating as channelling, we become charged with being available to whatever is channelling through us. To the degree that we can set the ego aside, we can then create freely. We turn into a stream of inspiration. We allow it to flow through us. We become an “open channel”.

“The music of this opera (Madame Butterfly) was dictated to me by God. I was merely instrumental in getting it on paper and communicating it to the public”.

Those are the words of the composer Giacomo Puccini. Many an artist back in those days attributed their creations to God. I am not a believer of any godly realm myself, but I see all this as acknowledgement of channelling. Channelling gives us a gate or conduit to something outside of our conscious self, and to let this, whatever we call it—the unconscious, the superconscious, the imagination or the muse—to talk to us. Thus, being creative gives us a place to welcome more than the rational. It opens the door to inspiration.

Viewed this way—as a form of contact with something larger than ourselves—creating does not remain an ego-centred activity we are doing by our brilliantly selves. It does not remain something that must be protected from life. It becomes, instead, a part of life, a cooperative pas de deux rather than a star turn.

It is possible to create out of the ego. It is possible, but it is also painful and exhausting. Ego wants to take credit. “This is my creation”. But then it starts to flood the consciousness with all the flaws and lack of originality in whatever you create and raises fear in you, that whatever you are doing isn’t good enough. Perfect is the only standard for the ego.

If we see creativity as channelling, creativity is no longer our business. It is given, not something to be aspired to. It is, instead, a natural function of our soul. When we open ourselves to something greater than ourselves working through us, we paradoxically open ourselves to our own greatest selves.