Vitamin We #2: Do We Seek Art, or Does Art Seek Us?

A warm welcome to everyone who has just joined us - We are overjoyed to have you onboard! 🥰

We often hear people say, “Art is the journey, not the destination.”

“Smell the roses. Enjoy the process.”

These are narratives from the lens of humans; What if we see the world through the 👀 of a blossoming rose?

Like, in this journey where we are interplaying with art and creativity, are we seeking art, or is art seeking to be expressed and manifested via us?

Possibly both??

The 2 feature stories we have chosen for you this week illustrate how sometimes when the Right Timing strikes us, we’ll know, and if we follow the calls of our inner guidance, the path will unfold naturally at our feet.

Enjoy!

When it comes to the energy dynamics of work, productivity can be expressed very differently.

“Masculine” productivity cares about efficiency & time management - it’s action-oriented, linear and predictable.

“Feminine” productivity cares about energy investment & regeneration - it’s flowing, dynamic and explorative.

Flow happens when we get into a state of immersiveness with everything around us, as if we are melting into it. We drop our plans & “shoulds”, forget about techniques, and allow our hearts & bodies to take the lead.

We open up to life’s invitations (environment, people, intuitive messages etc) to co-create with us for our next movement or action. Very much like crowd-funding for ideas ❣️

There is a hidden momentum going on underneath the surface that our brains can’t comprehend yet. It’s unpredictable, hard to explain with words, doesn’t contain a formula, and that’s why it’s dynamic!

When we are in flow, we lose track of the past & future (Sometimes we forget to eat too).

We are softening into our beings. There is no rush, and nowhere to arrive.

Our five senses are amplified. Maybe the 6th sense too.

Plus there is an underlying trust that we are well taken care of, that it is safe for us to explore and move along with the inner clues of what we want to create, nourish, and express.

How often do you allow yourself to FLOW in your creative process?

“I remember drawing being my refugee as I grew up as an only child in a big city. It was my favorite thing to do, but as adulthood arrived I left it behind.

Got a Clinical Psychology degree, worked corporately for many years, but art never stop calling me back. I went into an Expressive Arts Therapy training and rediscovered the power of arts to reconnect and heal the human soul. Meanwhile it was my husband who encouraged me to start selling my art and become a better illustration artist.

We left our office jobs and everything in the city to keep creating near nature, moved to the jungle and since then we haven't stop making art.

Feel thankful for having the opportunity and clarity to pursue this dream, now I integrate what I feel most passionate about: creating my own colorful art + helping others on their inner transformation journey through arts and psychedelic assisted therapies (+ I'm also a happy mom and wife).

NFT space has been a new joyful world to me, getting to make the art I want as other medium to share my thoughts and feelings about inner transformation, spiritual growth and love as an answer for all questions. It's been an incredible first year inspired and supported by so many amazing artists around the globe everyday. Respect and appreciate this community.”

“I’m Lisa from Massachusetts (US) — a graphic designer by day, digital collage artist by night.

I’m 100% digital and incorporate animation in my work. I’m fairly new to collage, I consider myself an accidental collage artist.

When the pandemic hit in 2020 I lost all my clients immediately. To prevent a depressive spiral during a year-plus in quarantine, I bought an iPad and started drawing on Procreate.

Drawing was fun, but I didn't connect, I felt it was more like doodling. I started to experiment with collage -- it helped me work out the emotional rollercoaster, exploring themes and pushing boundaries.

I knew I was in my zone because I couldn't stop making them. My themes are built upon the portrayal of women in 1950s-60s advertising (where they had no voice), and manipulate them into stories of strength & power. I also write about the collage community on Substack.

This piece I'm sharing is called 'Solitaire'.”

Idea #1 On courage & fear:

See fear & creativity as conjoined twins born from the same womb that still share some vital organs. Commit to building an expansive-enough interior life with lots of space for them to coexist peacefully. She even had a welcoming speech (P.25) prepared for fear which she’d deliver right before embarking upon any new project or big adventure! (Such a cool idea!)

Idea #2 Treating creative inspirations as a life-form:

She wrote,

I believe that our planet is inhibited not only by animals and plants and bacteria and viruses but also by ideas. Ideas are a disembodied, energetic life-form. Ideas have no material body, but they do have consciousness, and they most certainly have will. Ideas are driven by a single impulse: to be made manifest. And the only way an idea can be made manifest in our world is through collaboration with a human partner. (P.35)

Sometimes, ideas can be like door-to-door salespeople who knock on everyone’s door seeking to be manifested (think when several people got the SAME NEW IDEA almost at the same time), and we are not obliged to say Yes to every idea :)

And if we do say yes, we and the idea enters a contract, and as partners, we work together towards something intriguing and worthwhile, and commit to cooperate with it until our work together is done. Ideas could leave us and find another human collaborator if we are not ready or available to deliver though, and that’s okay!

Idea #3 Giving ourselves permission to show up: 

Defending oneself as a creative person begins by defining ourselves.
Claim our identity as an artist, a singer, a writer, a creator, an inventor, an entrepreneur, a chef etc; This proclamation of intent and entitlement is something we are going to do daily, constantly reminding ourselves, and our souls, that we are serious about this creative living no matter the outcome, nor our anxieties and insecurities.