Art As A Spiritual Practice

We live in the era of remakes: old films, old TV shows, old music, and old ways of thinking are all being redone. It's almost as if society has lost its creativity. But maybe it's more like people have become lazy , too lazy to put the work in, in order to be creative. This is where your practice comes in. Life is a spiritual practice Realization . It's a key to moving your art forward, to finding your own voice. I think a lot of people just go through the motions, or are really not aware of what they are doing. There is no purpose to their actions. This can be seen in all the copycat work out there today. Instead of taking responsibility for their own actions, too many people seem to want to build off of what someone else has done.  It's important to be clear and cognizant about who and what you are. Let me repeat that: It's important to be clear and cognizant about who and what you are. Who are you? You need to ask yourself this everyday. You need to def...

Minutiae. The infinitely small things in life. These are the things that attract me most. I realize that many people are attracted to the grand gestures, the larger than life experiences. But for me, I find the small gestures most profound.  When I'm working with music, it is often the small sounds, the subtle nuances, that I seek. Frequently, I try to play as quietly as possible. Anyone can play loudly and basically assault people with their music. But I find it much more interesting to play softly, subtly, even almost imperceptibly, in order to draw people in, to have them lean forward and focus on what I'm doing. I also find these small sounds to be the most fascinating. The Subtle Experience There is no such thing as an empty space or an empty time. There is always something to see, something to hear. In fact, try as we may to make a silence, we cannot. - John Cage Exercise #1 : Sit comfortably and imagine doing your art. Close your eyes and look out a...