Findyourwave

The first step Maggie reveals in her book about the creative process is Acceptance - the idea that we can't control anything and that if we can release resistance we allow creativity to flow. While it is a simply expressed concept, it holds many layers that can only become known and embodied through experience from the many facets of our lives. Was there ever a time you needed to convince your child to get up off the floor of the grocery store in a stale mate over whether or not to get that candy bar ... did your inner negotiation ninja rise to the challenge or did you have to use Herculean techniques? What about that time you were preparing dinner for company and your oven died, … did the culinary wizard in you transform the menu or send you on a quest for a new source of fire? If the paint brush slips out of your hand and creates a swath of color that would make Rembrandt frown, but tickle Pollock's interest, do you recalibrate your vision or start afresh? Irrespective of the choices you made in the moment, what do you recall about such experiences? For me I can recall three initial, basic steps for embodied acceptance: 1) taking a deep breath, 2) sitting in the pause or emptiness of "now what" and 3) asking a key question about the creative dilemma I found myself in - Is this something I feel I can deal with using my own resources, or do I need to reach out for help? Acceptance is reverence for the experience of resistance once revealed or encountered AND an invitation to honor where you are at, who you are and open to a different path of transformation, including the choice to walk with others to discover the ultimate outcome.

Photo & Drawing: AAthanassiadis, 2016

My inspiration for the week is how the art of origami has inspired STEM - check out this National Geographic spread:

Origami is revolutionizing technology, from medicine to space The centuries-old art of folding paper is yielding new applications in spacecraft, architecture, and even the human body.