Just the Fruit

I was talking with a friend of mine recently, about being creatives; mostly about the pushes and pulls of ideas, and how joyously overwhelming it can be to have so many of them.

I’m going to write poetry for 30 days straight!

It might be time to outline my Tedx talk...

Maybe I should try painting seascapes, or grasses...or fruit!

And then there’s the (yawn) reality of time and responsibility that puts us back in check; the mama voice that asks, “So? Which is it then? You know, you can’t do them all. You’re not a superhero after all...”

Aren’t I? Because last time I checked, I kind of feel like one.

I mean, isn’t it the greatest, most awe-inspiring creative endeavor possible, that we’re here at all? When you think about it, it’s a freaking miracle! Hearts and breath and cognition; emotional intelligence and uh...consciousness!

So who’s to say we can’t “do them all”?

Now, I for one know I can. But I’d drive myself in and out of batty delirium the whole way through. So I have frequent check-ins, to be sure that what I bite into next is what’s really calling me; what needs my collaboration the most.

And I do this by asking myself one thing: will this ignite aliveness?

It was advice I got from my coach, Alicia Dattner, a couple years ago (among the generous and beautiful insights she gave me) and it nestled into my heart and stayed there. I use it almost every day as a guide.

Poetry for 30 days: aliveness?

Tedx talk: aliveness?

Newsletter #23 about creative capacity: aliveness? (clearly, yes)

Sometimes, it helps suss out the brighter, more energetic ideas and helps me let go of the others. Sometimes, it’s an exercise in prioritization. Either way, checking in through my aliveness mantra is a chance to converse with my heart and head before I decide what’s next.

Because we can have the seascapes and the grasses and the fruit. But if aliveness is in just one of these genres, maybe -- for a while at least -- we just paint the fruit.

For now? Just. The. Fruit.