The Balcony – my positive space
I’m always thinking about creating. My future starts when I wake up every morning. Every day I find something creative to do with my life.
Miles Davis
For me, all places and spaces in my home can feel both negative and positive. For example, my favorite chair is now full of clean clothes that I have to fold into the wardrobe in the bedroom. The fact that I can sit there, read and drink coffee in the light (positive) is gone since it’s now a place I don’t want to see (negative), because I’ve got better things to do today than to fold my clothes! I can’t even sit down there right now. And that is how negative and positive in every home changes and varies (is changeable) all the time… Just like it’s with almost everything in life. When you are really sad even the sunshine can irritate you, right?
So instead of sitting inside I go out, where I don’t have to look at the clean clothes that begs me to fold them. I go to the balcony:
The piles that I move around inside the house is almost un-existent on the balcony. It’s not a big beautiful porch, but it’s a quiet place where I sit down, maybe not to create but to eat, think, read and be still for a while when the sun is out. And the being still is for me as important as meeting people and letting them inspire me. To meditate, which I do to seldom, or just to be still and browse through a magazine or look at the trees can get the creative juices flowing in a great way. I’ve been thinking about this the past week, since I’m on week four of The Artist’s Way, and Cameron says:
For most artists, words are like tiny tranquilizers. We have a daily quota of media chat that we swallow up. Like greasy food, it clogs our system. To much of it and we feel, yes, fried.
I don’t know about the frying part, but I’ve tried for a whole week to not read. I just wanted to see what would happen. I included bloglines and random surfing in this reading deprivation too, which is something that really gets in the way of my creative life sometimes. It was difficult, but doable. And the balcony is the perfect place to sit for a while, listen to the wind (and cars driving by), breathing and trying to focus on yourself. What do I want to do next in life?
And by the way, there is a lot of books about creativity out there! Marcia have read The Artist’s Way by Cameron and she is not thrilled – instead she recommends the book Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg, which is now added to my wish-I-ownd-booklist. I have read a book in Swedish by Osho (in English it is called Creativity: Unleashing the Forces Within), a book that I cam truly recommend too.
Osho says:
The really alive person is a here-now person. He does not live out of the past, he does not live for the future, he lives only in the moment, for the moment. The moment is all.
Find your own favorite books to read in your own positive space. More books about creativity here!
Posted as a contribution for Studio Friday this week: Positive spaces.
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so comfy and beautiful! i’ve got to make some sandwich now-you’ve got a yummy looking sandwich on your table!
Your balcony looks great. It looks like a perfect place to relax and just enjoy life.
I love your balcony, it looks so perfect and dreamy… you couldn’t of said this better, I think you absolutely need to step outside the clutter of everyday life to be inspired or just simply be. :)
That was so funny, I clicked on the porch to see… and realized “hey that’s mine”, you’re so sweet!
p.s. ( just in case you missed it) I left a little note for you about the Dover books on my blog comments yesterday too.
Oh wow, I looooove it!! What an awesome space to be sat in, wow!! I love your chair and cushions, so gorgeous, sigh!
I think I’d never leave again if I was so lucky to have this fantastic balcony…. :-)
What a space for collecting ideas and reading and relaxing. Fantastic!
carla pott said…
Nice work you have here.
I’ve seen your nice comment to my illustration at I.F. and came for a visit to say hello and…I could see some people are having problems connecting that illustration with reflection…;-).
But I don’t believe that illustrating reflection should be done in a way which represents something of very deep meditation.Reflection can be about stoping for simple things.I seldom have time to stop and think about everything…Illustration doesn?t need always to be obvious, it can just try to pass a feeling.
When I did that illustration it was really in a time of reflection, though it was made for a magazine,and that’s why it has that meaning for me.
Now I will stroll around your blog :-) greetings from Lisbon
I love it! Absolutly a positive, inviting space!
I’m SO jealous of this space! Although I’d probably have difficulty leaving it to actually create something! It’s actually a work of art in and of itself–really beautiful!
I just love the little haven you’ve created for yourself on your balcony! What a perfect place to regroup and have some ‘me’ time.
OOOOO… I want one. That’s a great space.
What a cosy balcony retreat…with your food & drink. It looks so inviting! :-)
I love your balcony! It looks like the perfect place to be when the sun comes out! Beautiful quilt and cushion, too!
beautiful place!! i’d like to have one like that…