Getting Advice

List the people you admire and look to for advice…

I like to get my creative advice from late artists. Not all of them are what one might call admirable in every part of life, but when I want to learn more about doing art I look no further than some of my favorites. I don’t ask with words because the advice I’m seeking is not worded. I’m looking to solve a puzzle about how to do something. I can’t often articulate my questions.. One time I was reading about dyslexia. The author who was dyslexic, explained that some people thought in pictures. Learning that not everyone thought in pictures, was a weird revelation for me. Afterwards I was obsessed and quizzed everyone I knew about how it was to think in words. I was a grownup with kids before I knew this.

I don’t know that I’ve ever been good at receiving advice. Rarely do I ask for it and I’ve never been a fan of it unsolicited. I like the brain process of reverse engineering. This has always been my best way to learn. I need to know the end product to stay focused. From letters of the alphabet to math facts, my need to understand why each step is important and where they lead has not always been helpful.

I just work with it though. Sure I was the last in my class to learn any of the building blocks of math or reading, but I got there. Now I read a lot. I don’t even think of my dyslexia as a problem so much as a different way to perceive

One time sceptical me went with my good friend to hear a guy named Michael Neil speak, I remember having low expectations, but then what he had to say got my attention. It had a strong element of simplicity and truth. Today I listened to him explain how thinking is a tool that our brains use. He told us he wasn’t going to tell us how to think, but instead point out that we use thinking in a variety of ways and that thinking is a gift.

Thinking is a tool gifted to us at birth. When used for the purpose it is intended,, we can create beautiful things. I like that. We all think differently. If our minds were a guitar or a paint brush, even if we were all musicians and artists, we would use these instruments differently. Used as intended art or music happens. Even a beginner will produce something art or music related. I don’t know. Something about that feels hopeful and good.