Welcome Spring!

 Humans are like snowflakes,  singularly fragile,  a force of nature en masse. 

Coming out from under an avalanche of activity, I have vowed to start Spring (the equinox occurs on March 20^th) with renewed energy and focus. Although using a word like avalanche, which conjures up a huge amount of snow, is probably not the image I should be evoking here. We begin each calendar year in a period of natural dormancy and hibernation if we live in northern climates. Most of us don’t have the luxury of remaining dormant along with the tulips, but we do spend more time indoors. If you are like me you have been diligently writing poetry, studying French and are just about ready to debut both at the first sidewalk café that puts chairs out in the sun on a warm day.

Whether you are taking your creativity to the streets or sharing very first watercolor with a close friend, it’s important to have a support system; fertile ground, as it were, where you are free to blossom, express yourself without judgement. I know that the stereotype of the eccentric, reclusive artist has not died. Even the passionate, weekend-evening creative personality faces hurdles. Who are the people in your life who support you, your dreams, or your vision? The people who come together “en masse” so that you can all be a creative “force of nature”? 

I suggest taking an inventory and engaging in a bit of creativity spring cleaning, if necessary. Identify the people who positively or negatively impact your life, creatively or otherwise. A good place to start is with a reading, or re-reading, of Julia Cameron’s, The Artist’s Way, particularly the section devoted to “crazymakers”. She describes “those personalities that create storm centers. They are often charismatic, frequently charming, highly inventive, and powerfully persuasive. And for the creative person in their vicinity, they are enormously destructive”. 

Taking the entire Artist’s Way in context is overall, a very good spring project and highly recommended. It’s an excellent creativity resource and tool, especially for people who may feel blocked and don’t yet have adequate positivity surrounding them. And, to be fair, interpersonal dynamics are complicated. As you deal with yourself honestly while taking inventory, you may find that with “some fresh compost and a little pruning” you’ll be ready for renewed creative growth.