Discovering a Sense of Adventure (Part 1 of 3)

I did something spontaneous the other day – I bought a tray with a picture of a brightly painted girl. I had just dropped the kids off at Grandpa and Grandma's for an overnight visit. On the way home there is a small, (very small) antique store. I stopped because there were no children to distract me. So anyway, this was very out of character for me to purchase something of this nature. The warm, bright colors captured my eye first. Then the idea of it possibly being old stole my heart. Then the price tag was less than $3. SO, I purchased it. I’m not sure if it is old because it looks to just be a paper overlay and could have been soaked in water at one time. Anywho, I’m starting to like it and will probably always like it because it was purchased on spontaneity.

As you continue along on my journey through Walking in This World by Julia Cameron you will find this week to be adventurous.


Week 4 – Discovering a Sense of Adventure (Part 1 of 3)


Adventure

“Too often, we think we know what we love. It is more accurate to admit we know only some of what we love, and that the ‘sum’ of what we love can grow larger. This requires an open mind.” True, true, true.

“Adventure is a nutrient, not a frivolity. When we ignore our need for adventure, we ignore our very nature. Often we do exactly that, calling it ‘adulthood’ or discipline’”. I know some dear people who need to take an adventure in life and not be so adult-like. Be spontaneous!

One thing that the author brought to light is when “we avoid risk, we court depression.” This has been true for me. When I let others tell me “how it should be” and not let myself live freely as my inner-self tells me, depression quickly sets in. Along with it, comes resentment. I haven't taken the risk.

“If we remember that we need to court, woo, and romance our creative selves, we begin to have a notion of what sort of risk best serves us.” I took a small risk and bought the girl tray. :) I'm happy now. I feel more creative today.

Make your adventure fun, exciting and not overwhelming. If it becomes too large to manage, your imagination can become stifled and foggy instead of clear and imaginative.

Take yourself lightly and the more serious your work will become. The more difficult we are on ourselves, the less creative we feel. Our work will suffer from being stifled.

We don’t have to create “perfect” art to be a real artist. We don’t have to be a famous artist to create. Just create!

“An original is a creation motivated by desire." ~ Man Ray

Sometimes as creatives, we play around with our art and people will say we are really good. We have talent, we should make it a career. What happens? We get serious and make it a career. The play turns into perfectionism. We lose our playfulness. Our creativeness begins to suffer.

“Anything worth doing is worth doing badly. How we hate that idea. We know that as beginners but forget it as we advance. God was humble enough to just doodle, to just noodle, to fool around – why are we so serious?”

“It becomes about perfection and other people’s perception, not the joy of creation, the play of ideas. The greater your appetite for adventure, the more adventuresome the creative elements at hand when you turn to working on something. It does not take much to spark the imagination, but just what will do it is always the question, and the answers can be very queer indeed. Do not be too hasty to name your soul’s delights.”

“There is not a sprig of grass that shoots uninteresting to me. ~ Thomas Jefferson