Round Umpteempth: You vs. Art vs. Inspiration - Know When to Let Go and Stop Fighting

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"It is through our mistakes that we grow and learn."

- Jessica Peill-Meininghaus, The Gnome Project

How many times have you been banging against the same door only for it to never open? Or, you don’t want to accept that, then try to force your way onto things. You grab whatever “crowbar” you’re working with and try to pry that creative door open so you can make it work just to get inside. 

(Exasperated sigh…) 

This is how I feel sometimes when working on something over and over and over again and it’s just not coming together, no matter what I do. Where do you go from there? Can you take a deep breath, step back and let go? Sometimes I find that hard to do and continue bulldozing through.  Do you even know when to let go and walk away? Or, when you need to put distance between you and what you’re working on and return sometime later? I don’t always know and keep running that lap to nowhere with end results of shaky legs and pure exhaustion. No benefits.

I try to experiment on top of the mistakes. Sometimes that work. Sometimes it doesn’t and becomes a monumental disaster. I read somewhere we never fail. We only discover new ways how NOT to do something. I like that. I give space for these words to roam around in my mind, freely fromping around in their robe and slippers, kicking back, just “being”, relaxing, no care in the world, completely centered in itself. It seems to ease the frustration that is pressure cooker-ing (yes, I know it’s not a word but one of my many that I make up) inside me anytime those disaster gremlins are hanging around. Or, as Elizabeth Gilbert shares in her book, Big Magic, Inspiration is an actual identity, not much different from you or me, and says Inspiration just didn’t come to visit you on that day. When Inspiration does visit, magic happens. You can see it and feel it. It’s partnering with you.

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Well, I didn’t have any visitors today which is evident in my work…this is basically my work minus the smile. I am currently sporting a completely defeated attire.

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Wouldn’t it be great if Inspiration permanently moved in? I’ll begin to clear out the guest room…

Book Review: The Gnome Project by Jessica Peill-Meininghaus

Photo Courtesy of The Moon Goat

The Gnome Project is about one woman’s journey in creating a daily practice to get unstuck from the habit of not finishing what she starts, only to discover the many gifts it brings along the way and how it anchors your life. It’s that golden thread that weaves your days together. It becomes a comforter and a cathartic channel to purge your emotions. It is your challenger and holds you to task. In the end, it’s what you turn to and say, despite everything that happened, I accomplished this one thing today.

This book was very interesting and held my attention so much so, I finished it in a day. It made me think about my own daily practices and the comforts they bring. It also inspired me to try creating my own journey for a year and see what yields from my harvest. Regardless of what daily practice you choose, her choice to make a gnome a day for a year was intriguing. There is something about gnomes that bring mystery and fun to the forefront. Definitely made the book a lot more interesting because it wasn’t filled with scientific data and jargon and blah blah blah stuff that bores you to death. Fun read. I do plan on reading it again. Hope she releases another book similar to this style.

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I purchased this book through Amazon and was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”