BEHIND THE BLOG

As writer, teacher, jewelry-maker and everyday woman, I'm fascinated by the ways that clarity and clutter shape creative lives. To me, the question of how much stuff we have is far less important than how much time, freedom and focus we can bring to our creative efforts. Sure, sometimes clutter manifests tangibly, as supplies, possessions, or mementos. But just as often it appears in less physical (but no less powerful) forms: as distractions, drains, obligations, expectations, judgments, and fears that leave us no time or energy to make art or even dream dreams. My first "DeClutter Your Creativity" classes were inspired by my own personal struggle to find the balance of abundance and emptiness needed to fuel my work...and to find it again, and again, and again as my life and work evolve. This blog is another way to dialogue on the subject: written with curiosity, compassion and (sometimes) comedy from the often befuddling place where creativity and clutter meet.

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

PROPER USE AND APPRECIATION

I recently came across a quotation that really spoke to me. Writer Ruth Beebe Hill wrote: "I own my own life. And only mine. And so I shall appreciate my person. And so I shall make proper use of myself."

The words are so bracing just reading them made me feel like I had just jumped full-tilt into a still, cold lake.

Here's my truth. I don't consistently "appreciate my person," at least not if that means giving my person the things, like decent sleep and good food and time to daydream, that a worthy person surely deserves.

I don't always, or even mostly, make "proper use of myself." I'm infinitely better at it than I used to be, but I still do an awful lot of things out of fear or knee-jerk reaction or just distraction.

How about you?

Do you appreciate your person?

Do you make proper use of her—or at least try consciously to do so?
Posted by Suzanne Fox at 10:36 AM

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