The Juice is in the Middle
Making Room for Spirit
The more I paint, the more I realize that while beginning and endings are exciting, the real juice of the journey is in the middle. This is because that’s where the alchemy of the creative process occurs – it occurs in the middle. And I like to think that living a good life, like painting, is very much a creative process.
When I create a painting it begins with a loose idea of something I want to paint, such as a misty marsh with watery pink flowers and loose marks. Other than that, I have no idea exactly how I’m going to paint it or what the final outcome will be. I get from point A to point B by dancing, dancing with creation that is. I have no recipe or map. It’s a free style dance. I throw out an idea or intention, grab a brush and some paint, and step onto the proverbial dance floor. I make a few moves, smearing pinks and oranges here and there. As I swirl and blend color, I lose myself in the music of imagination and the dance of the paint over canvas. It is here, in the moments when I lose myself, that universe/creation steps in to dance with me. And oh what a beautiful dance and feeling that it is! The more I let go and let creation move through me, the more joy I feel in the process and the better my painting become.
Plans work best when they allow room for Spirit
I’m pretty sure achieving our goals and dreams is meant to be the same way. Sure we can have a plan, but the plan works best when it’s malleable and allows spirit to move through us to create the best possible outcome. To do this we need to cultivate three things: action, awareness, and surrender.
ACTION – Action means picking up the brush, or the pen, or the clay and getting to work.
AWARENESS – Awareness means being aware of how different actions and choices give rise to different energetic sensations in the body.
SURRENDER – Surrender means letting go of intellectual processing (thinking) and listening with all of your being, not just your ears, to the nudges coming from creation/universe/spirit.
How to Recognize Intuitive Nudges – It’s easier than you think
Listen for the whisper of a thought that says “try that blue paint here” or the eagerness you feel in your heart when you choose a palette knife over a brush, or how the tight feeling in your body melts away when you put down the brown tube of paint and pick up the pink one. Trust these subtle sensation and nudges, as this is creation speaking through you. When you surrender to them, meaning as you listen and take action on them, the creative process becomes a dance between you and creation.
If your goal is not a creative one, but rather a life goal, the process is the same. If you want to get a better job, you need to take action. Write a resume, find opportunities through LinkedIn, let your friends know the type of work you’re interested in. It doesn’t really matter what action you take, just that you take concrete action.
Take action, then stop and listen. By listen, I mean be still and become of aware of how your body feels. Is it nudging you to take another, different action or do you have a sense that’s best to wait a bit? Sometimes, we’re intuitively told to wait because things are moving and happening in the under current and we need to wait for the right time to jump on board. Often times, when our intuition tells us to wait, the wait might mean rest or it might mean get your other affairs in order, so you when the time is right you’ll have the energy and time to focus on what really matters.
Lastly, when you do receive a intuitive nudge, for example a friend mentions a job opportunity that on the surface isn’t exactly what you wanted, yet it you feel a little ping inside, surrender to it and pursue it; even, and especially if, it doesn’t make logical sense. The intuitive/creative process is not logical; it’s magical and alchemical. Follow the nudges. Live the dance of action, awareness and surrender.
A Couple of Non-Art Examples
A personal example of this process is when I was trying to find a new home. I had moved back from Sedona, AZ during COVID and had intended to live with and rent space from my sister for just 6 months or so. However, during COVID, the housing marketing in New England went crazy with prices for both new homes and rentals going through the roof.
Periodically, I would scan real estate listings, make appointments to view houses and rentals, follow up on leads from friends, while periodically checking in intuitively for direction on what I should try next. Intuitively, I sensed kind of an empty spaciousness, which I interpreted to mean nothing was going to happen anytime soon. Yes, I found this frustrating and disappointing, but ultimately I trusted the either the timing wasn’t right yet or there were things going on beneath the surface that still needed to come together.
Fast forward to a year later on July 4th, when I woke up and felt the urge to look through the real estate listings. To my surprise a center unit in small condo development that I’ve always loved was for sale. It was in the same development that my best friend Jan lived in. While I preferred an end unit to a center unit, I made an appointment to see the condo anyway, doing my best to stay open to possibilities. Once the appointment was booked, I called Jan to invite her to see the unit with me on the coming Wednesday. An hour later, Jan called to say she bumped into a neighbor that said another of their neighbors would be selling their end-unit condo within a few weeks and he would be putting it on the market as a private sale, rather than through a realtor. Jan knew the neighbor and rather than wait, she introduced me to him that same day. And the rest is history. I made an offer and he accepted – on Independence no less. I now enjoy living in a pretty condo nestled in the woods in Stratham, NH.
A similar process occurred with decorating my new home. My goal was to create a slightly eclectic and colorful décor that would compliment and showcase my paintings. While I worked on getting the home cleaned and in move-in condition, I shopped furniture stores, fliers and predominately Facebook marketplace. I found the most delightful pieces, mostly through Facebook marketplace — a curved zebra patterned chair, a white and grey upholstered recliner chair, and pink and cream chair, a dark grey ottoman with a grey sofa. I didn’t buy the items all at once, but rather bit by bit., each find seemed to make way for the next one, and in a short time, it all came together in a beautiful way. I didn’t have a detailed plan, just a general idea and feeling of the environment I wanted to create –then I took action and followed the intuitive nudges.
The process of painting, and experiences like the ones above, remind me that I needlessly stress myself out when I fight the way things are or try to force things to a quick conclusion. When I let up on the reigns and allow creativity and spirit in, things unfold better than I could have ever planned and and I encounter many more happy surprises. So while beginning and ending can be exciting, I’m learning that the real juice, the zest of life, the real fun and dance with spirit, occurs in the middle of life and the journey. And, oh what a dance it can be!
