Bring Your Flowers to the Table

 

So last week we celebrated the launch of Princess Monsters from A to Z with a big party at my house, complete with cake. It was an amazing day for me, feeling so much love and support as my community came out to congratulate me. People came with cards, and flowers, and they bought my book, and told me how proud they were of me. I have never received so many flowers in my life! 

Today I stood at the kitchen counter with those flowers. There were large bouquets and small bouquets and potted flowers. And I trimmed the ends of the cut flowers, and put fresh water in the vases, and admired all of these symbols of love from people who care about me. And then I had a thought: I wonder if some people felt bad about the flowers that they brought? I wonder if some people arrived with their flowers and thought that maybe I had so many flowers already that I didn't need any more. Or maybe they looked at a larger bouquet and thought their flowers weren't as nice as another bouquet, or as fancy. But to me, every flower there was just wonderful, every bouquet was beautiful.

And then I had this ah-ha moment. We all do this. We think our flowers aren't good enough. We bring our flowers to the table and then we compare them to the other flowers. Maybe they aren't as big, or they don't smell as pretty, or maybe there are so many flowers already that our flowers seem unnecessary. You see what I mean? We judge our flowers, but the host is just happy to receive them.

Our creative gifts are meant to be shared. They are our flowers. Whatever you make, it is meant to be shared with others. And we spend so much time worrying about whether what we do is good enough, or if it is too much like what is already out there, or if people will judge it. But really, I think God, or the universe, or the Great Creator, put us here on earth to share our gifts with one another. And this is our job. To bring our flowers to the table. Not to judge them or belittle them or compare them. Just bring them to the table as an offering of love.

Whatever you dream of doing, whatever you want to create, do it. And then know that you were put on this earth to make that thing, and the universe accepts your offering as a gracious host, who is just happy to see you there with your flowers in hand.

Playing with Identity

My son loves to play dress-up. It is not uncommon for us to leave the house with a giraffe, pirate, or Buzz Lightyear in tow. Wherever we go, people smile as we pass, delighting in his most recent identity.

Gabe seamlessly blends his worlds too. Yesterday he sang the Star Wars theme, followed by a Dark Crystal sword fight,  and then morphed into Yoda (or has he calls him, Master Oda). Sticks become light sabers, or Yoda's walking stick, or pirate swords. When I push him on the swings, he yells out "To infinity and beyond!"

Now all of this is not just the bragging of a proud mama, I actually do have a point here! What if we could be as playful with our identities as children? As artists, as mothers, as people, what if every once in a while we could try on something new? We all get caught in our patterns, we do things the same way, we dress the same way, because that is what is comfortable. But when we get too comfortable, that's often a sign that we aren't growing, aren't pushing ourselves into new areas.

I have a very eclectic closet from years of playing in different bands. There is everything from hippie to goth in there. So a few weeks ago I dusted off my goth gear and wore it when I took Gabe to the park. It was an interesting experiment. People weren't as excited by my experiment with identity, and I certainly didn't get as many smiles as Gabe gets. In fact, I think one mom looked at me like I was about to eat her children. But it reminded me that I have at times had different roles than mommy, and that I need to keep that part of me alive.

So I'd like to put a challenge out to you to try something different this week, something outside your routine. Whether it's playing with a new camera technique, branching into a different art form, or baking something you have never tried before, just play! And if you feel inspired to, leave a comment here about how the experiment went, I would love to hear from you!

Remember, all endeavor is art when rendered with conviction!

Have a playful day!

Joyelle

Favourite Things

Inspired by the Inspiration Staycation, I have made a list of a few of my favourite things right now.

Smelling my son’s head.

Hearing my son laugh

Watching my husband hold my son.

Dark chocolate

Vanilla coffee misto

Quiet moments alone

Girl’s night

Songs that make me cry

Discovering a new favourite music act or artist

Walking through an art store looking at all the supplies

Downloading a new CD from iTunes

Pedicures

Really good hugs

Books

And here is another image playing with Kim's Extreme Grunge texture. Funny story behind this image: My husband and I had a fantastic date on Monday going to a Bard on the Beach performance of La Boheme. I have to mention that the UBC opera cast were all amazing! Anyway, during intermission I went over and sat at the edge of the stage to get this close up of the bass, and I got in trouble from an usher, who almost made me delete this image from my camera, because apparently any images of Bard performances are copywritten. But I made it back to my seat with the one photo I managed to snag, so here it is!

Have a beautiful day!

Joyelle

Fame, or the Creative Life

One of the neighbourhood kids was over yesterday for a playdate with my son. She's 8 years old, and seemed quite fascinated with exploring our house. In particular, my microphone and Digi 003 were quite interesting to her.

"What is this?" she asked.

"My recording equipment." I responded.

"Why do you have it? What's your job?"

"Well, mostly my job is being Gabe's Mom, but I am also recording a CD."

"So you're famous?"

This one caught me off-guard. Unsure how to respond I stammered... "Well no, but I'd like to be.. Um, I mean not really famous, like those people who are stalked by Papparazzi or anything, but..." How does one explain the concept of an independent musician who creates music for love, and has long since given up on the dreams of super-stardom that may have plagued her earlier days?

We moved upstairs, where she turned her attention to a multimedia art piece I am working on. It's a tree through the seasons, with painted canvas and punched accents of leaves, flowers, and snowflakes. Again, the questions: "Did you make this?"

"Yes."

"So you're a famous artist?"

Wow. The fame thing again. And I wondered, is this just a natural response for someone who has grown up in our fame-obsessed culture? Is it assumed by today's youth that to pursue an artistic calling is really a pursuit of fame? Because I'm pretty sure that the majority of creative people have absolutely no interest in fame whatsoever, and in fact many creative people are quite introverted. Finally I found a response: "No, I'm just someone who likes to make things, it makes me happy."

And that's really what it's all about for me. I still have dreams of achieving a level of success that would allow me to make a living through my creative pursuits, but when it comes down to it, I make things, whether they are recordings, art, or otherwise, because it is what I do, because it makes me happy. My goal is to live my life artfully. Charles De Lint summed it up best when he said "All endeavor is art when rendered with conviction."

I want to make art out of everything I do, from the way I parent my son, to how I decorate my house, to how I throw a party, to how I write a song. It's all the same thing. Because at the end of my life, it is not the level of fame or not-fame that will define my life. It's whether I lived true to myself, whether I made of my life a work of art. So here is to the artful endeavor, and to all the creative people out there. May you live your days beautifully, and find joy in every creation.

www.myspace.com/joyellebrandt