Trust the Rope, Part II
So we’re going to trust the rope.
We’re going to find stuff to rely on — people, systems, and the wacky wide wonderful universe — so that when we go off on our creative adventure we won’t feel lost or adrift or like we’ve gone over a cliff without something to hold onto.
Something like… a rope.
Your People May Love You, But…
In Part I of this series I wrote about having what Julia Cameron calls a Believing Mirror — someone who supports and encourages you — as one kind of rope. But I know that one of the issues that may come up for you as you get your artful act together is the lack of anyone in your life who can serve this function.
Believe it or not, not everyone who loves you can offer the sort of support and encouragement you need when you’re on your creative adventure. Some spouses get nervous, some children get demanding, some parents are apprehensive, some friends are pessimistic. That doesn’t mean they don’t love you. It just means they aren’t good at giving you what you need in this particular instance.
So you have to look elsewhere.
And one place to look is in the systems you’ve created for yourself as you’ve gone about living your artful life.
Systems? When Did I Create Systems?
Maybe you didn’t know you were creating systems (and, oh, I need a better word for it than that, but that’s the word that we can all at least understand) but when you empty all the junk out of your Creative Backpack and set out to view your artful landscape, that’s exactly what you’re doing. You’re beginning to define your territory and determine how you wanted to live in it.
You’re setting up your system.
And when you commit to spending regular time with your art, you’re adding to your system. And when you let your relationship with your Artful Heart grow and deepen over time, you’re adding still more.
A system isn’t a process. It’s a structure, a network of components within which the process can flow. Systems give form to your artful life. They serve as the foundation and the load-bearing walls, the stuff you can rely on.
They’re like… the rope.
Mystery and Magic
Systems don’t have to be complicated. Yours may be as simple as setting up and maintaining your routine, showing up when you say you will and letting your relationship with your art be a co-creation, open to mystery and magic.
Systems embrace mystery and magic. I know that seems counter-intuitive — you can blame me and my inability to find a more elegant word than system — but it’s true. Because even if they’re not complicated, systems are complex, just as art is complex, meaning there are elements within their workings that are beyond our ability to fully understand. That are a mystery.
That are magic.
A system isn’t a blueprint. It’s the whole living, breathing, inhabited house. The longer you live in yours, the more you adapt it to the desires of your Artful Heart, the more you can rely on it to shelter and support your creative dreams.
The more you can trust it. Just like that rope.
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