Octavio Paz

"I don't believe that there are dangerous writers: the danger of certain books is not in the books themselves but in the passions of their readers."

Octavio Paz

Mexican Poet

1914 - 1998

Speakers are often evaluated and rated by their audiences.  While 90% of the audience may enjoy the presentation, there is often 10% who didn't like it.  Usually the problem does not lie with the speaker, but rather the audience member.  Either the person is angry at his boss who make him come or he is upset about something that is happening in his life.  

When people label books or paintings as dangerous, corrupt or incendiary, the problem lies not with the books or paintings.  The problem is in the passions of the audience member doing the labeling.  When a person is afraid of his own desires, he blames that which is outside himself instead of blaming himself.  Sometimes when someone condemns something too loudly, he is hiding his own desires.  

Don't let the negativity of others bring you down.  The problem rests with them, not with you.  Stand up for yourself and your creative work.  Believe in what you create.

Here is a poem by Octavio Paz.

Last Dawn

Your hair is lost in the forest,

your feet touching mine.

Asleep you are bigger than the night,

but your dream fits within this room.

How much we are who are so little!

Outside a taxi passes

with its load of ghosts.

The river that runs by

is always

running back.

Will tomorrow be another day?

Lillian Hellman

"Nothing you write, if you hope to be good, will ever come out as you first hoped."

— Lillian Hellman

American Playwright

1905 - 1984

Often what we create does not match our expectations of what we imagined we would create.  Creation takes hard work and the process of re-creating again and again until we come close to capturing our vision of what we thought we wanted to say.  Rarely, though, does the end product match what we imagined it to be in the beginning.  The process of creation changes the vision and perfects its limited and narrow perspective.  Our imagination gives us the seed necessary to start us on our journey, but hard work is the rain that the seed needs to help it grow into a beautiful rose.  Be patient with yourself.  Don't quit just because reality does not match your dreams.  Keep working.  Keep learning.  Keep growing.  Some day what you create will be what you want it to be.

Robert Rauschenberg

"I've not been cursed with talent, which could be a great inhibitor."

Robert Rauschenberg

American Artist

1925 - 2008

Estate

(1963)

Sometimes being blessed with too much talent can have a negative impact on a person's creative output. If painting or writing comes too easily, the person may quit out of boredom.  Or he may not work up to his potential because it requires so little effort.  He doesn't push himself.  Or if the talent is recognized early, expectations may be set so high by the powers that be that the person can not live up to the expectations.

If a person has to work hard to achieve great works of art, he may appreciate his accomplishments more.  He knows the amount of effort that went into the work.  He knows the obstacles he had to overcome.

So the key to success is not talent, but desire, hard work and persistence.  If you have the desire, work hard to perfect your skill and keep going long after everyone else has quit, you will be a success.

Rita Coolidge

"Too often the opportunity knocks, but by the time you disengage the chain, push back the bolt, unhook the two locks and shut off the burglar alarms, it's too late."

— Rita Coolidge

American Musician

1945 - 

Has opportunity passed you by?  Are you so busy protecting yourself from the world that you have missed opportunities when they came calling?  Opportunity often requires that we move fast.  If we hesitate, we lose.  And sometimes we miss opportunities because we are waiting for the perfect opportunity to appear.  No opportunities are perfect.  They are all filled with risk.  And sometimes opportunity leads to failure.  But the bigger failure is to not to have tried at all.  And when we are open to opportunity knocking, we will be surprised by how one opportunity will open up other opportunities.  So get off your couch and open the door.  Opportunity is visiting and he doesn't like to be ignored.

Here is Rita Coolidge singing Superstar.  Enjoy as you contemplate your opportunities.

George Bellows

"The ideal artist is he who knows everything, feels everything, experiences everything, and retains his experience in a spirit of wonder and feeds upon it with creative lust."

— George Bellows

American Painter

1882 - 1925

Dempsey and Firpo

(1924)

Do you experience the world in a spirit of wonder?  Are you surprised by the things that happen or have you become cynical and negative?  A creative leader must be like a young child soaking up life and enjoying every moment of it.  Everything that happens to us — good, bad and indifferent — is fuel for our creative lust.  I don't believe artists and writers experience the world at a deeper level then other people.  It's more they have learned to use that experience to feed their creativity.

Creativity is both sexual and sensuous.  When we are painting and writing, we have a deep desire to create, to give birth.  We can feel the lust in our loins, the joy in our hearts.  How powerful is your desire to create?  Can you feel it deep within your body?  Does every part of you tingle with excitement?  Can you taste the lips of your lover?  

Paulo Coelho

"And, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you achieve it."

— Paulo Coelho

Brazilian Novelist

1947 -

When one door closes, another one opens.  There is a method buried within the madness of the world.  The universe wants us to succeed, to find our way home, to taste the fruit of the vine.  Yet most of us do not listen with our hearts.  We hear only the shrill sounds bombarding our ears.  To be successful, we must first understand the power of desire.

Do you have the passion to be a creative leader?  Do you desire to write?  Then write as if your life depended on it.  Do you desire to paint?  Then paint as if your heart will explode if you don't put paint to canvas.  When our actions are aligned with our passion, then the universe opens and we are lifted into the heavens.  We are able to find beauty in the mundane like a jar of pickles, a can of tuna or a bottle of orange juice.  

When one door opens, another one closes.  The end can be found in the beginning.  We all travel circles within circles.  And nothing changes but what must remain the same.  So believe that your gift of creativity is yours to share with the universe and accept that the universe is a flower within your heart.