Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Artistic Energy

We are back from Brasil!

We worked with some marvelous young singers, met some great human beings and artists and will forever hold that tightly.

On my final day there,  I held a seminar that morphed into a great many things about being an artist. Today, I am simply musing on that energy.

Artistic energy.

If you are an artist, you are forever one, from the moment you wake up to your last breath.  Whether you make a living making your art is a completely separate issue.

So, how you feed that artistic energy? 

Some days, the body, the psyche, the spirit simply does not want to pursue, or practice, or move.  Sometimes, we are just TIRED.  Tired from what doesn't even matter.  We are just tired. Period.

Is it okay? Of course it is.  We must remain sensitive to allow for your artistic lives to grow, and in being sensitive, we often take in more than we can actually deal with. 

On the days you are exhausted, depleted, discouraged, just don't wanna...what do you DO?

Giving yourself permission just to be where you are is difficult.  Trust me, I know.  However, the stillness is crucial to rejuvenate and replenish what we need to continue to thrive. 

We are encouraged to do something for our business each day, and for our artistry, and yes, in a perfect day that works.  But some days,  we simply need to sit still.  We need to experience NOT doing.  We need the space both physically and psychologically to allow a decompression and re-entry to occur.  This is why we often get sick.  Our energy has been over-taxed and our bodies simply say NO.  NO MORE.  You gotta sit down and nurture yourself.

It seems so simple doesn't it?  HA!  I know it all too well. 

So how can you NOT do and replenish?  Do you have your rituals in place to allow for YOU time? If it is YOUR time and YOUR choice and YOUR decision,  it will feed your soul, psyche and your artistic life.

Give yourself permission NOT to practice.   NOT to go to that audition.  NOT to sing full out at a rehearsal.  NOT to try to please all of the time!

Give yourself permission to spend a little more time sleeping, having another cup of coffee, looking at a magazine,  browsing the Internet.

Replenishing could simply mean reading a book,  looking at a painting, putting your headphones on and listening to something that simply moves you to tears, or revs you up, or calms you down. 

When we slow down enough to allow ourselves to be transported in that stillness, THIS is when the energy reveals itself to us.  THIS is when artistic energy meets artistic temperament and allows for growth, AND stillness. 

"I have no energy"  should be a red flag that you simply need YOU for a little while.  And guess what?  You is kinda wonderful. 

The artistic energy of YOU needs as much care and attention as technical behavior you are developing in your craft;  as the score you are studying;  as the monologue you are developing.  The artistic energy of YOU needs the focus and realization that you give working out passaggio, or your breathing,  or your resonance as you work the transitions of registers!

So replenish often.  Otherwise you are living on fumes.  No transformation of any kind can last on that.

Permission granted.

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