Tuesday, March 29, 2016

Joseph Campbell on the creative process

When we keep our minds and hearts open to the creative problem solving process, we open ourselves to the countless possibilities that would have otherwise eluded our intellectual conciseness. This is indicative of the artistic process. Pieces that are "over thought" are ridged while pieces that are allowed to evolve as inspired have an organic flow. Let your mind go and let your creativity flow!

"If you take life absolutely seriously, you must realize there’s the counter-play to it, that the world of law is simply an optional world. When you do something you create a pattern that excludes other possibilities, and there comes a time for opening up to all possibility and the creative act.

"Actually, everybody who has ever done creative work of any kind knows this moment. You make your plans in terms of what the mind can think of, and if you hold to those plans you’re going to have a dry, dead piece of work. What you have to do is open out underneath into chaos, and then a new thing comes, and if you bring your critical faculty down too early you’re going to kill it.

"There’s a beautiful letter that Schiller wrote to a young author who was having the trouble that’s known as writer’s block. This young writer had oh, so much to say, but he couldn’t write. This is a normal situation. Schiller said simply, 'Your problem is that you’re bringing the critical factor into play before you have let the lyric factor work.'

"Look what happens to us in our schools: we learn to criticize Milton and Shakespeare and Goethe and everybody else, and then the teacher says, 'Now do some creative work.' You sit down and this bit of spilth begins coming out and you think, Oh, my God! That’s nothing. Of course you can’t write like Shakespeare, but you can write like you, perhaps, if you let yourself go." By Joseph Campbell


Joseph Campbell, Goddeses: Mysteries of the Feminine Divine

“Writer’s block results from too much head. Cut off your head. Pegasus, poetry, was born of Medusa when her head was cut off. You have to be reckless when writing. Be as crazy as your conscience allows.”

― Joseph Campbell, A Joseph Campbell Companion: Reflections on the Art of Living
The quote Joseph Campbell is best known for is "Follow Your Bliss". Following your bliss is an essential element to the artistic process as well as the art of living. This is not to say that all art is or should be blissful. Following our bliss as artists guides the process of artistic inspiration and authenticity. Below is a clip about following your bliss from the incredible PBS interview Joseph Campbell did with Bill Moyers in "The Power of Myth". 


Thank you for visiting. May inspiration overflow throughout all of your creative processes.

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Aurora's "Speak Your Art Blog Hub" combines posts from seven of her other blogs: In the Flow Studios Arts, In the Flow Studios Body, I Love Shelter Dogs, Mana Keepers, PaaMano Eskrima & Performing Arts, Self-Actualization thru Women's Empowerment and Speak Your Art Poetry. It brings her organizations together and offers her readers an easier way to follow new posts in one convenient location. 


POI