Look For The Element Of Surprise

Budh, Goblin Valley, Utah, 1996

I knew instantly that something new had happened when I saw Budh appear on screen. A clear outline had been introduced to the symmetries I was creating, which were previously unbounded, changing planes into volumes. While many of my images have qualities similar to environmental sculpture, this image and the series of images that it started create sculptural forms made from the environment. I didn’t know it then, but it was the beginning of a whole new series. I was working on another series when this happened. This could be a distraction or a breakthrough. So I was faced with an important decision to make, stay the course and finish what I had started, based on previous successes, or pursue a new direction, one I didn’t fully understand but might lead to new successes. Which would be the most rewarding course of action?
I walked away. I weighed my options. Though it might take some time, I could return to the other series later. This new work was unexpectedly fresh and exciting. I had a feeling that if I ignored this call I would not have been able to return to it later with the same intensity. I gave the decision some time. I slept on it. The excitement hadn’t faded. The mystery was still there. So I trusted my instincts. I moved forward and made new images. I continued to hold the question of how long to pursue this line of inquiry, until I had enough repeated successes to know it had legs. After six successes following similar lines, I knew I had made the right choice.
What I didn’t know then is that doing this new work would help me better understand the work I was developing; and much of the work I had already done; and the reason I work at all. Doing this work clarified ways of thinking and feeling that are essential to what I do and why I do it.
The landscape this image was drawn from had a presence. The symmetry more strongly suggested a presence – a living presence, perhaps one with a unique kind of consciousness. Many people see this image and feel as if the landscape is looking back at them – I do too. The working title for this piece Unseen Watcher lead to the final title Budh, the root of the word buddha, which means awake. Treating all of nature as something that is alive is my basic impulse and perhaps primary message of my life’s work. The sacred mindset this attitude brings with it increased awareness of, respect for, gratitude about, and wonder by being a part of it all.
It happens to me time and time again. I find that if I’m open to surprises and trust the process, I discover new things – properly guided, important new things. This is part of what it takes to move beyond conventional thinking and uncover new things about the world around us and as yet unclaimed inner resources.
One of the things I hear repeatedly from other artists is that the work that surprises them most is often the work that satisfies them most and the work that is most highly celebrated. The French writer Andre Gide remarked, “Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore.” The creative process is a process of discovery. You can’t have discovery without the element of surprise. As a defense mechanism we often resist surprise and try to reduce the number of times we are surprised; some surprises can be both unpleasant and unfortunate. Instead, we need to embrace surprise – and the changes it can bring. Surprises can be magical and transformative.
Questions
When is it best to pursue a new direction?
When is it best to stay with your current plan?
What can you do to evaluate the merits of both old and new directions to help you make the best choice?
Find out more about this image here.
View more related images here.
Read more The Stories Behind The Images here.

20 Quotes On Imagination


Here’s a collection of my favorite quotes on imagination.
“You can’t depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus.” – Mark Twain
“Imagination is the eye of the soul.” – Joseph Joubert
“The possible’s slow fuse is lit by the imagination.” – Emily Dickinson
“Live out of your imagination, not your history.” – Stephen Covey
“A strong imagination begetteth opportunity.” – Michel de Montaigne
“I believe in the imagination. What I cannot see is infinitely more important than what I can see.” – Duane Michals
“Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.” – Albert Einstein.
“To raise new questions, new possibilities, to regard old problems from a new angle, requires creative imagination and marks real advance in science.” – Albert Einstein
“Imagination is more important than knowledge.” – Albert Einstein
“The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination.” – Albert Einstein
“Your imagination is your preview of life’s coming attractions.” – Albert Einstein
“Without the playing with fantasy no creative work has ever yet come to birth. The debt we owe to the play of imagination is incalculable.” –  Carl Jung
“Imagination is the beginning of creation. You imagine what you desire, you will what you imagine and at last you create what you will.” – George Bernard Shaw
“A rock pile ceases to be a rock pile the moment a single man contemplates it, bearing within him the image of a cathedral.” – Antoine de Saint-Exupery
“I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.” – Michelangelo
“Imagination grows by exercise, and contrary to common belief, is more powerful in the mature than in the young.” – W Somerset Maugham
“Can you imagine what I would do if I could do all I can?” – Sun Tzu
“Anyone who thinks the sky is the limit, has limited imagination.” – Anonymous
“Nothing limits achievement like small thinking; nothing expands possibilities like unleashed imagination.” — William Arthur Ward
“Imagination rules the world.” – Napoleon
Find more Creativity Quotes here.
Discover more quotes daily in my Twitter and Facebook streams.

Green Action – Get Involved In Earth Day 2013


This past year the world faced many extreme weather events from record breaking flooding in Australia to deadly cold and snowfall in Europe and severe drought and devastating hurricanes in the US.  In the face of this extreme weather Earth Day 2013 organizers around the world are working toward a united theme: The Face of Climate Change.
Monday April 22 is the 43 annual Earth Day. It is estimated that over 1 billion people around the world will take part in an organized effort to bring this years theme to life. Together we need to call on our leaders to make key changes to protect our fragile world.
What are you doing for Earth Day?
Get involved here
View a 2012 weather timeline here
Find more resources that will help you take action now here.
Find environmental organizations to support here.