Kim Hermanson's Blog, page 24

“The role of imagination is to awaken, to disclose the ordinarily unseen, unheard, and unexpected.” ~ Maxine Grene

Imagination allows us to break through habitual ways of perception and patterns of behavior. It lets us see the world as if it could be otherwise.

Our imaginations offer us space.  When you open your imagination–when you see beyond what you currently know–that feeling of spaciousness will feed you. Your world is now bigger.

You could think of the imagination as breathing room for the soul.  

Maxine Greene said, “The role of imagination is to awaken, to disclose the ordinarily unseen, unheard, and unexpected.”

“Art doesn’t come in measured quantities. It’s got to be too much or it’s not enough.” ~ Pauline Kael

“Art doesn’t come in measured quantities. It’s got to be too much or it’s not enough.” ~ Pauline Kael

 I work with many clients who have big energy. They worry about being ‘too much.’ They want to be nice and fit in. But artists can’t live from a place of ‘fitting in.’ That’s not what they’re ABOUT. 

Their GIFT is to be TOO MUCH. 

Anais Nin wrote, “You must not fear, hold back, count or be a miser with your thoughts and feelings. Creation comes from an overflow.”

Don’t be afraid of your fullness. It’s a tidal wave that will carry you into the next creative act.

Your work is a creative product. Let its form inspire the appropriate methods.

In management literature, there is something called “contingency theory”—which means that what we want to create determines our methods.

Our methods are contingent upon the unique situation in front of us. 

They will also vary according to the kind of work we do, the particular situation that’s in front of us, what we want to create, and our own personality and work style. 

Life is fluid. Business is fluid. Our methods need to be fluid as well.

Your work is a creative product. Let its form inspire the appropriate methods.

Metaphors have a way of holding the most truth in the least space. ~ Orson Scott Card

Metaphors have a way of holding the most truth in the least space. ~ Orson Scott Card

Metaphor cuts through mental chatter and confusion. 

An artist who’s involved in too many outside projects sees her work as an apple tree with ripe fruit. It’s time for her to harvest her fruit. If she doesn’t, it will fall to the ground and be wasted.

Metaphor explains complex things. 

A coach describes her way of working with clients as “Batter up!” Her clients pitch her a ball and she hits it back. She says, “Batter up” is who I am and what I love to do. Having that image of hitting a baseball has been moving and beautiful. It’s explained 10 billion times more to me than any business advice like, ‘define your target audience’ or ‘identify your niche.’”

Metaphor clarifies our needs. 

A man going through a stressful divorce sees himself as a spider with a beautiful, safe web surrounding him. The image gives him a tactile sense of space.

Intrinsic motivation in museums by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and Kim Hermanson

“One often meets successful adults, professionals, or scientists who recall that their lifelong vocational interest was first sparked by a visit to a museum. In these accounts, the encounter–with a real, concrete object from a different world an exotic animal, a strange dress, a beautiful artifact–is the kernel from which an entire career of learning grew. For others with an already developed curiosity about some field such as zoology, anthropology, or art, the museum provided an essential link in the cultivation of knowledge–a place where knowledge lost its abstractness and became concrete. In either case, many people ascribe powerful motivation to a museum visit, claiming that their desire to learn more about some aspect of the world was directly caused by it.”

 

The full article is available here: https://arts.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Csikszentmihalyi-Hermanson-1995_Intrinsic-Motivation-in-Museums.pdf

The antidote of fear is not courage. It’s curiosity.

The antidote to fear is not courage. It’s curiosity.

Pursue your own questions.

Develop your own inquiry.

Have your own conversations about what interests you.

We’re designed to be learners. We’re designed to experiment, make mistakes, try new things, fail, fall down, and try again. Take responsibility for your own learning.

Artists engage in a process that lets them touch Something that’s alive.

Artists engage in a process that lets them touch Something that’s alive.

Joseph Campbell said, “The way of the artist and the way of the mystic are very much alike, except the mystic does not have a craft.”

The creative process allows us to have a conversation with Something greater than ourselves. It puts us in touch with transcendent wisdom.

Creativity is not just a personal tool for our projects. It’s an alignment with a higher intelligence.

Spiritual callings aren’t rational or logical. It takes courage to follow them.

Spiritual callings aren’t rational or logical. It takes courage to follow them.

It takes fortitude to go against the norm and follow an inner call. 

Spiritual calls can’t be understood from the logic of the thinking mind and we typically don’t have the proper training or credentials for them.

How could we? Spiritual gifts don’t come from this world. They’re creative and off-the-beaten-path. There’s no way to plan ahead to “prepare” for them. 

Spirit doesn’t care about credentials. Spirit also doesn’t care if you feel you’re too old, tired, or not ‘good enough.’ A spiritual call will haunt you until you heed its message.

Do you think like an artist?

 

The physicist Arthur Zajonc says that our culture needs the artist’s cognitive capacities. But what is it that poets and artists do that take them beyond ordinary capacities of knowing?  

Perhaps it’s the artist’s willingness to be confused, welcoming any unlikely connection that shows up; or his or her sensitivity to nuance and qualities of beauty that others miss. Perhaps artists are more flexible and disposed to “go with the flow.” Maybe they’re more comfortable with risk-taking and are more inclined to let curiosity lead the way. 

Do you think like an artist?

When there are no words, something else appears.

When there are no words, something else appears.

When I work with clients, I don’t engage with their thinking because what they think is likely keeping them stuck.

Instead, I shift my clients to a place of higher wisdom where there are no words.

In that place of higher wisdom, they have access to deep knowing and the language of metaphor. 

Metaphor allows my clients to experience mystical states, meet their spirit guides and power animals, and connect with their true gift and essence.