Archive for November, 2009
012 Creative Journey
by Charles on Nov.27, 2009, under Creative Journey Blog
Hello my friend,
Welcome to the 12th installment of The Creative Journey, the experience of one Charles Yerkes, Eadarian Poet, perpetuator, and otherwise mildly creative and excessively modest personage.
Well my friend, we are approaching a landmark day in this Eadarian Journey. December 2 is the day I will be recording the audio book, of my book. Yes, when people get my book in audio form, it will be my voice that they hear. They will hear me, the storyteller, telling his tales.
This is so exciting. The studio is booked, the hotel booked, the time off work scheduled, funds available, car prepped, the whole 9 yards. I can hardly stand the excitement.
Yet, all this excitement is a dual edge sword that not only is providing joy and clearing the way for great things to come – it is also poised to cut my feet right out from under me. Allow me to explain.
Why is it that the more exciting something becomes, the easier it is to get distracted from what matters most by that which matters least… or at least less?
With less than 1 week to go until I’m actually recording my book – when I need to be focused on knowing my stories so well and have articulated them so often that the delivery is natural, in perfect time and rhythm, with exquisite intonation and subtlety – I find that as the excitement builds, the more the desire to do more also builds. I want to be doing more. More fiddling, more photos, more new story writing, more building networks with other storytellers – more… more…. More!
All of which are honorable desires, yet they are not what should be of principle concern just now. The book, which in many ways is the corner stone of what is being done, must be the top priority for the next week or so. Then priorities can shift. But knowing this has not helped keep the priorities in their proper places.
Perhaps the more excited a person gets the more he wants to do that at which he’s best; so that a creative person experiences a drastic increase in the desire to create, to create and TO CREATE. Even though the focus needs to be on finishing that which the creativity has started.
Another distraction is the whole exhaustion factor. Where all you want to do is take a break, to rest. Because you have pushed so hard, gone so far, finishing some things and starting others (at the same time very often) it is easy to get tired physically and mentally; so that the temptation is just to stop and rest. To do nothing and just take a much needed well earned break.
Many in number are the legitimate distractions from finishing well.
One of the annoying nuances of life, at least that I have found, is that of maintaining balance. The annoying part is that once you have achieved it, and have what you think is a life full of balance – you look and suddenly there are new depths of meaning to balance that you did not know of before. And as a result, there are many things that you discover you have not brought into balance. Levels that until now, you never knew existed. One of life’s, other than small, annoyances.
“There is a time and a place for everything…” as the ancient proverb goes. Finding these times and places is turning out to be the journey of a lifetime….
Until next time my friends,
Live Nobly, Live Well
Charles Yerkes
Eadarian Poet, Perpetuator, Photographer, and Fiddle Player
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To choose a past installment(s) of The Creative Journey click here. To view a Quote of the Week, click here.
011 Creative Journey
by Charles on Nov.15, 2009, under Creative Journey Blog
Hello my friend,
Welcome to the 11th installment of The Creative Journey, the experience of one Charles Yerkes, Eadarian Poet, perpetuator, and otherwise mildly creative and excessively modest personage.
Recently it has come to my attention that there is a great need to be giving. While that will conjure many different images to many different people, here I’m specifically thinking of the need of art to be more about giving than receiving… whatever it is the artist seeks to gain from the production of his art. Be that monetary compensation, public adulations, or simply the immense satisfaction of having created.
Now – while receiving any of the above is well and good, and indeed to be desired, there needs to be motivation which simply involves the act of giving something to others – for no other reason than the sake of giving to others.
I know, I know – we’ve all heard this, or something like it many times before. Yet it is one of the simplest lessons to forget and the easiest to overlook. And when the central focus is only on what can be received, the art looses its soul. It looses the very thing that made it special and unique to begin with; that takes it from being from merely a good work to something that greatly inspires and draws others to it.
The crazy thing is that the more you focus on giving and relegate the receiving to a trust that it will be there, you will receive what you need – in greater measure than what you initially thought you would. Though you cannot give with this as your goal, you cannot give in order to receive, it must be for the sake of others, to give simply to be giving.
I can hear the objections now, “But I’m not going to give away my art! How will I ever make any money that way?”
I never said anything about giving away what you do, but in what you do, what are you giving to others. There must be more that you give, more that is of worth to others, than you receive.
Why do I suddenly hear an ancient kung-fu master saying, “Balance grasshopper, must have balance.”?
Oh well…
Until next time my friends,
Live Nobly, Live Well
Charles Yerkes
Eadarian Poet, Perpetuator, Photographer, and Fiddle Player
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To choose a past installment(s) of The Creative Journey click here. To view a Quote of the Week, click here.
010 Creative Journey
by Charles on Nov.05, 2009, under Creative Journey Blog
Hello my friend,
Welcome to the 10th installment of The Creative Journey, the experience of one Charles Yerkes, Eadarian Poet, perpetuator, and otherwise mildly creative and excessively modest personage.
Well I’m at a crossroads. Do I spend or do I wait?
In investigating the idea of adding gift cards and prints to a storefront I am building here at Eadarian.com, I’ve been presented a quandary. The company I’ve found, whose samples and pricing have led me to want to use them as my supplier, require my art work be submitted in a digital color format my current photo software is incapable of converting my files to and photo shop can do so. So do I drop my limited resources on photo shop now – and then only be able to utilize this company (with the quantities, quality and rates that I find attractive) or do I wait and try to find another company who can handle the color profile I’m using? I have found a couple that can do so, but not with pricing as good as the first company.
The quandary is I want to do both. Buying photo shop ill let me use the company I want – but then I won’t have money for a product for a couple of months. Waiting and using another company, right now, will mean quicker product acquirement; by a vastly more limited selection of product… well some is better than none… right? Though that selection will be very limited.
Decisions…decisions… and to make this choice harder – I’ve made poor investment type choices in the past and don’t want any repeat performances. Yet if the time is right, to no choose the risk could prove hazardous as well.
Well, with photo shop I get superior editing, superior tutorials, superior support, superior file management, and the ability to submit an image to any printer in the world.
But it is pricy and would leave me drained of capitol for a couple of months. Couple this with the trip I must take in less than a month to record my book…. What do you know, a peaceful decision has just been made.
It’s back online to look for another company. When things start to click a little and more funds are in, I can always go back to the first company.
Thank you my friend,for helping me to make my choice.
Live Nobly, Live Well,
Charles Yerkes
Eadarian Poet, Perpetuator, Photographer, and Fiddle Player
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To choose a past installment(s) of The Creative Journey click here. To view a Quote of the Week, click here.
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Worth Quoting
Never be so libelous as to call a man perfect; once a person is so labeled it is too easy to tear him apart for being what he is, a human being.
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