John Ruskin

John Ruskin
Painted by John Everett Millais
1853-54

"The highest reward for a person's toil is not what they get by it, but what they become by it."

— John Ruskin

English Author / Art Critic

1819 - 1900

The pursuit of the arts is not about what we get but what we become.  While we realize that we create the paintings and the poems, what we don't realize is that the act of the creation has an impact on whom we become.  Painting changes the artist and writing changes the writer.  The art of creation allows us to workout our demons and our angels.  Some writers give too much to their writing and are destroyed by what they create.  Others find themselves in their writing and become better people.  Which are you?  Has your creative work made you a better person or has the creative process destroyed the humanity within your spirit?  Are you better today than you were a year ago?  Ten years ago?  How will you be different tomorrow?

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Charles Kuralt

"The everyday kindness of the back roads more than makes up for the acts of greed in the headlines."

— Charles Kuralt

American Journalist

1934 - 1997

Most of the stories one finds in the media create a very negative image of people as greedy, corrupt and immoral.  The truth is that only a small segment of society fits that image.  Most people are by nature kind and generous and go out of their way to help others in their time of need.  

Given the stories that we hear every day, it is easy to lose faith in people and the institutions they manage.  Yet, for every corrupt, greedy person, there are thousands of kind, caring people who shovel the sidewalks of their neighbors, serve food to the homeless and share car rides to work.  Remember most people have good hearts and give of themselves to help others.  Don't let the greedy few distort your view of the world.

Here is an update to one of Charles Kuralt's famous stories about the Chandler family.

  

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Naomi Shihab Nye

"I love the solitude of reading.  I love the deep dive into someone else's story, the delicious ache of a last page."

— Naomi Shihab Nye

American Poet, Novelist

1952 - 

One of the great joys of life is reading novels.  From the first page to the last, I enter another world and explore the lives of people who I don't know.  From a very young age I have enjoyed reading novels.  And as Nye says, sometimes I don't want to close the book after I finished the last page.  I don't want the novel to be over.  

I believe we ought to applaud anyone who finishes a novel whether he publishes it or not.  Writing a novel is a lot of work.  I spent four years working on a novel that I have never finished.  John Cheever spent over twenty years writing his first novel.  Some novelists can turn out a book or more a year.  Piers Anthony, author of 36 novels in the Xanth series, works on three novels at the same time.  He is outlining one book, writing a second book, and rewriting a third book.  Are you working on a novel?  Please share your experience with others who read this blog.

If you are not a reader of novels, I would highly recommend it.  In the right hand column of this blog, you can find fourteen of my favorite novels.  Dive into one of these novels and experience the joy of entering another world.

Here is Naomi reading her found poem, One Boy Told Me.  Don't skip this.

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John Quincy Adams

"If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, you are a leader."

— John Quincy Adams

American President

1767 - 1848

Leadership is about influence.  As a creative leader, do you inspire others through your art, writing, music or storytelling?  For me life is about our relationships — the people we meet, the people we help.  As a creative leader do you mentor other creative people?  We each have a responsibility to pass on what we have learned to those who come after us.  We have a responsibility to teach our skill to others — to help other become better.  

Creative leaders often are not aware of the lives they touch.  As a speaker, I speak to many groups of people and often I don't even get to know the audience.  And unless people follow-up with you by letter or email, you never learn whether you touched their lives.  And in many respects the same is true of writers and artists.  Someone may look at your painting and be inspired to try painting himself.  Someone may read your book  or story or poem and be inspired to be a better person.  We often don't know the lives we touch.  

We also don't know who is watching us, observing us.  How we behave impacts people's lives.  I know of speakers who say one thing on stage and do something else in their private lives.  They don't practice what they preach.  And, believe me, people see this.  As a creative leader, you need to walk your talk.  

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Lucian Freud

Self-Portrait

(1985)

"A painter's taste must grow out of what so obsesses him in life that he never has to ask himself what it is suitable for him to do in art. . . . The painter's obsession with his subject is all that he needs to drive him to work."

— Lucian Freud

British Painter

1922 - 2011

When I graduated from college in 1971 with an English degree and no job, I wanted to be a writer, but I didn't know where to start or what to write about.  In college, I had written poetry but no short stories or fiction.  I wanted to write but I had not subject.  I had no obsessions.  During a four month trip through western United States and Canada in 1972, I came up with an idea for a novel.  I decided to write a historical novel about John Kaufman, a Mennonite sleeping preacher in the early 20th century.  Kaufman would go into a trance and preach a coherent sermon.  People stuck needles in him to see if he would wake up.  While in Oregon I did some research.  When I returned in early November to Goshen I continued the research.  When I reached my hometown of Roanoke, I tried to interview some people who knew Kaufman and I was told to cut my hair and find a job.  I let the novel slide into my subconscious. 

Sleeping Head

I have taken years to figure out what my obsessions are.  In looking back over the more than 5,000 poems that I have written, a key subject stands out:  my relationship with God.  I write to understand God.  Even forty years ago when I wanted to write a historical novel, my subject was God.  I have been told by atheists and non-believers that I should not write about God.  And conservative Christians are often offended by what I have to say about God.  Yet write I must.  I am obsessed.

What are you obsessed with?  What drives you to paint and to write?  What wakes you up and inspires you to pick up your paint brush or pen?

Here is a video showing several of Lucian Freud's portraits and includes interviews with some of the people who had their portrait painted.

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Eleanor Roosevelt

"Beautiful young people are accidents of nature, but beautiful old people are works of art."

— Eleanor Roosevelt

American Speaker, Author, Political Activist

1884 - 1962

In one sense, we all are artists.  We create the lives we lead.  While we may not have any control over what happens to us, we do have control how we respond to what happens to us.  And how we respond creates the person we become.  When you reach the end of the road one day and you look back at your life, what is the legacy you have left behind.  What kind of person have you become?  Will you be a grouchy, grumpy old drunk or a kind, caring matriarch?  Will you dance with laughter or worry and fret over the fact that your husband never puts down the toilet seat?  We all make choices in life and those choices create the lives we lead.  

Our lives are a work of art.  What color are your memories?  How many wrinkles line your dreams?  Do your hopes have arthritis?  What are you doing today that will create your legacy tomorrow?  What decisions are you making today that will form the core of your character tomorrow?  Life is about growth and change.  What lessons are you learning that will change your life?  Your life is a canvas.  Pick up your paint brush and start painting.  Live the life today that you will be proud of when you are 103.

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William Makepeace Thackeray

"The world is a looking glass and gives back to every man the reflection of his own face."

— William Makepeace Thackeray

English Novelist

1811 - 1863

This is a very profound statement.  The world that we see is a reflection of ourselves.  I tell a story in my seminars about a little girl who lives in the mountains with her parents.  One day the little girl has a fight with her mother and she runs out of the house.  When she reaches the edge of the cliff, she stops and yells at the top of her voice: "I hate you.  I hate you."  To her surprise she hears a voice shouting back at her:  "I hate you.  I hate you."  This frightens the little girl and she runs back into the house and tells her mother that someone out there hates her.  Her mother realizing what happened tells her young daughter to go back outside and shout, "I love you."  The little girl tiptoes back outside and nervously tiptoes to the edge of the cliff.  She calls out: "I love you.  I love you."  Echoing back out of the valley, she hears the words, "I love you.  I love you."  The message is quite clear:  what we send out is what we get back.

What we expect to find in the world is what we find.  If we think the world is a negative hostile place where our competition is seeking to destroy us, we will find examples to prove our world view.  If we think the world is helpful and supportive, we will find examples to prove our vision of the world.  The world we see is a reflection of the person we are.  Have you looked in the mirror lately?  What kind of person do you see?

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Louise Nevelson

"Another thing about creation is that every day it is like it gave birth, and it's always kind of innocent and refreshing.  So it's always virginal to me, and it's always a surprise."

— Louise Nevelson

American Artist

1899 - 1988



Sky Cathedral

(1958)



Does your creative work surprise you?  Do you find yourself full of joy when you are working?  Are you excited about the possible outcome?  Creative work should be fun and bring us moments of happiness.  If it is a struggle for you to create, then you need to work on freeing the creative juices.  These days I can sit down at my desk and write without hesitation.  I just start writing and don't worry about the outcome.  And most times I have no idea where the story will go or what the characters will say.  The same with art.  I pick up the pen and start drawing.  I have muzzled that voice inside that always wants to criticize and tell me how terrible I am.  I don't give him a chance to scream at me.  I am learning to enjoy the moment.



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