Flow State
In the Studio as training for life
To work in the flow state is to enter an agreement with the mysterious unknown.
The challenge for an artist, seasoned or emerging, is to pause the critical mind, the judgement or fear of perceived failure, and trust the intuitive knowing has all the information it needs in that moment. To allow for the possibility that it will lead to a better outcome than one could have perceived in the thinking mind alone.
This place of inner knowing is not a solo expedition. It is a collaboration between the artist and the influence of each individual who offered instruction or inspiration along the way, whether formal education or YouTube video.
It is legacy work, as each generation of artists contributes to the learned knowing of the next.
It is Spirit work, the flow of the mysterious that brings with it more than the thinking mind could possibly conceive on its own.
It is powerful to step into that current of all who came before me, all who exist within me, all who will be, infused with a Spirit that is beyond me but also dwells within me. It is humbling to acknowledge the presence of more than my individual body standing before my individual canvas.
How much easier to enter this state in the studio than in life; letting go when it is merely scraps of paper and glue, a necessary training ground.
Ego would have me believe I’m in it alone.
To release my attachment to the outcome is to accept my limitations with hands held ready to receive, not as a beggar hoping for a morsel that might sustain him through the night, but as cocreator, equal contributor, standing waist deep in the infinite stream.
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