Material Abundance

Today’s territory is trusting in material abundance.

Normally I would have held onto that gorgeous big silver bead for longer, mulling whether this was the right moment to use it…….
However, knowing that soon I’d be at the World’s Biggest Retail Bead Showz allowed me to gather that puppy right up.

Because I didn’t have to hold back from starting this necklace, but gave in to my impulse, this necklace came into being quite easily. Right at the beginning I decided that whatever I wanted to act on, I could. Big silver bead? Sure. Lots of luscious imitatives in the same necklace? Sure.

We need to cultivate trust in our creative selves. Especially us women. How weird that we do not, when you think about it!

This part of us that knows what to do, what to use, how to flow and dance in the creative process. Hampering and restricting ourselves at the beginning of making something will often backfire because it sets up a field of poverty and of mistrust in our own creativity.

Letting ourselves be guided by that tug to use or do something, on the other hand, aligns us in our creative flow. We trust the current.

Note: this is different from deliberately setting up parameters to define a project, so we can explore creative options within these limits. This can be very useful. What I am talking about today is noticing and avoiding any subconcious contraction around taking action, fearing that it will require giving something up.

Creative action is based on trust: trust that the action will enhance or expand us somehow. We trust that what we need to use, to take action, will be amply repaid by the results.

Trust in material abundance. There are many reasons to be fond of camels. Depending on the weather, they can go from 8 days to 6 months without taking in water. Imagine a camel fearing its own ability to nourish itself. Wouldn’t hardly be a camel.

Trust also in an abundance of time, energy, risk-taking, and joy.

Master your resources. Act on your intuition. Trust yourself. If a material is not right for a project, then don’t use it yet. But if you have something that is obviously perfect for your purposes, use it, let it go, make room for more.

One more lovely serendipitous example: the wooden camel in the photo.
This camel is the twin of my favorite object in the Girard Collection at the Museum of International Folk Art.
The original is behind glass getting dusty: was made by an Ethiopian carver decades ago, now stuck inside not going anywhere. Poor camel.
Now: Imagine going to a local antiques show and seeing this camel, the twin. Of course I bought it. The dealer gave me a fabulous price for it, because after five years I was the only person who’d commented on it.
She even knew the back story: that the original pair that were commissioned by a collector friend. One of the camels went to spend his life at MOIFA, the other one went to Taos for years. When her friend died she took over his collection and chose pieces to sell….And this camel entered the world again, right in front of me.
I would never have expected to have this camel myself, but not only was there more than one, there was such an abundance (okay, two) that I could have one of my own!  And another note- I only found it because I took a chance that I  had time enough to take an afternoon and explore Santa Fe for a bit, rather than buying into old ideas that there wasn’t enough time for me to take a break. Abundance of time and camels, how great is that?

So send that camel off, trusting that its journey will reward all of us – you first – and that another camel will be here when you need it.

Until then
Exploring in art and life-

Tory