Several weeks ago ( a little before Christmas) I joined an illustrator group run by Johanna Fritz. Although - like most things in my life- it was done on a whim...there was an element of synchronicity* that is undeniable.
I have been in the art world for *ahem* many years, writing, painting, sculpting, teaching, even taught illustration for the past several years. While I sent out sporadic book ideas to publishers - there wasn't any accountability. That changed with the introduction of the Fritzi Flock into my world.
Daily challenges, weekly assignments, challenging homework and a group of like-minded artsy business people to fly with has been an amazing adventure - one that feels so right and so perfectly me that I wonder what happened. Where was I?
I am practically known for reinventing myself. It's a joke, something people laugh at me about.... *shrug* I don't really care. I love what I love when I love it and love to jump in with both feet - if I fall, I fall.
I admire those in my life - some who I have known since grade school- who have followed a slow and steady pace. They do their thing, cautiously and without fanfare. Their social media accounts are clean and predictable. When I see them in person, I know what to expect.
This is not me. I have followed "the path of the hummingbird" as Elizabeth Gilbert calls it. A slightly mad path, flitting here and there - always quite sure of myself, and often quite puzzling to those around me.
Working with this artists group feels like I have "come back" to who I really am....after much too long of doing what others tell me I have to do. The way they tell me to, regardless of how inauthentic it feels to me. No more. Stopping the madness to pursue my own madness.
One more thing - in the process of flitting to and fro, I lose people. And I miss those people. Regardless of whether or not we ever connect again, their stories and muse-like qualities are part of my soul. Creating with a muse is another concept Elizabeth Gilbert spoke about in a TED talk, but if I remember correctly, her muse was more mythical than mine. All the same though, a muse is a muse and I thankful for mine.
More info, just because ....
Synchronicity
One of Jung's favourite quotes on synchronicity was from Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll, in which the White Queen says to Alice: "It's a poor sort of memory that only works backwards."
"The rule is,
jam to-morrow and jam yesterday—but never jam to-day."
"It MUST come sometimes to 'jam to-day,
'" Alice objected.
"No, it can't," said the Queen. "It's jam every OTHER day: to-day isn't any OTHER day, you know."
"I don't understand you," said Alice. "It's dreadfully confusing!"
"That's the effect of living backwards," the Queen said kindly: "it always makes one a little giddy at first—"
"Living backwards!" Alice repeated in great astonishment. "I never heard of such a thing!"
"—but there's one great advantage in it, that one's memory works both ways."
"I'm sure MINE only works one way," Alice remarked. "I can't remember things before they happen."
"It's a poor sort of memory that only works backwards," the Queen remarked.
