...i am part of a composite

by that lady who did the really trash "Eat Pray Love"? I did. I tried it because the cover was so bloody gorgeous, all that purple! And I have been reading creativity books for inspiration. And you know what? This was a good one. No really. Now, as per usual with white folks, she manages to find inspiration in an mostly white canon of creatives; and as per usual the greeks and the romans are invoked as the beginning of creative history (insert eyeroll. And there is a story about Bali priests at the end that reads to me like she is defending cultural appropriation (its the way she talks as if there isn't a valid reason for concern in the situation that eveolved, even if in that case, it didn't work out the way it usually does when poc have something white folks are interested in). And I really dont agree with her that art is essentially useless and not that important to our survival. (She basically thinks that physical stuff like doctors nurses etc are important to our survival, while art is something that we choose to do but can live without. I find that her dismissal of art's catering to our mind's needs to be really weird for someone who is deep into spirituality. For me, art is just as necessary as the physical stuff. Not just bread but roses too, ya'll or in this case not just bread but art.

But the rest of it? Spot on. She takes the myth of having to suffer to create art to the woodshed. She talks about making creative work a devotion in a way that really synced with me. She addresses the idea of genius, and success and how if you are lucky to have one of your ideas take off, how to deal with the fact that nothing else you make is likely to be be as successful as that one idea (the answer: face that, acknowlege it and work anyway. Try to stay away from the idea of working towards success and try to embrace the actual creative process itself. She talked about working to support your art and how that helps to not put so much pressure on you to perform. (Though I started thinking about the many ways in which capitalism emands that you work so much that many folkd can't even get a minute to practice art at all and that's why a dream of many folks is to be able to make art that sells, cause they'll have some goddamn time to do so! ) And she talks about the fact that whatever path you choose, there will be associated shit that you will have to deal with. So pick the path. if you can, that has jewels that shine so brightly for you that you will dig thru the shit to get at them.

Her writing was lovely, light and casual and inviting. I really do rec this book!