by Kerry Zagarella
Hello 2024. Of course there are always several year end promises to live a more healthy life in the upcoming year. I often surf through the workout video circuit from my couch to see what exercises might best suit me. You do not want to waste physical energy trying them out, simply watching others work out can let you know if the video is right for you or not. I know I will find the perfect match, but it does take time, research and sometimes a nice New England hazy IPA, and a bowl of cheez-its! Self help ideas are best sought after while in pjs hypnotized by others doing things on your handheld internet rectangle camera computer phone.
We are constantly bombarded with ideas of how to improve our health. Because I got drawn into rabbit hole reels on my phone, I now know how to make my own antioxidant, cold fighting, inflammation reducing elixir out of boiled ginger skins and orange peels. I can make soap (you can too, melt soap and pour it into a mold), and by the way, white vinegar mixed with baking soda is not just for school project volcanoes, add lemon juice and you can clean just about anything. I can make garlic hot honey (you can too, put garlic in honey and let it sit for three months). I can make candles, reusable waxed fabric food wraps, and I learned a handy way to remove a stripped screw. All my gratitude goes to the DIY movement and young folks trying to figure out how to make things out of the scraps we have left them. So, yes, to recycle and upcycle. Also get the good health, cleaner living resolution out of the way, and move on to some real change. Go deeper.
2024 is the year to explore your own self expression and expose your creativity. You got this; it's in there! This year, at This Works, we have been talking to artists about their creative process on our new adventure SPARK Cafe. In these many conversations we have found commonalities among the creatives. If you exercise your creative muscle, you may open a portal to transcendence. An expressive experience that can surprise you, heal you and connect you to a greater something outside/inside yourself.
Many of the artists we spoke with shared their feelings about being ‘in the zone’ while creating a piece. They were not able to pinpoint where these new ideas come from, except that as they sang, wrote, composed, painted, molded, sculpted…created, they knew that the origin was beyond their conscious mind. Musicians often shared the magic found in the collaborative nature of jamming together and witnessing the birth of a riff, or a groove that didn’t exist until they all let go of controlling the “product” and embraced the process. It certainly takes trust and mutual respect…which might be the same thing. Solo artists describe similar feelings when painting, writing, or composing anything new. All recognized that this fleeting intangible process is somewhat indescribable. Some artists used the word, “holy”, while others described it as an ethereal revelation. For me, I am always simultaneously in awe and comforted when these expressions present themselves effortlessly in a fury of typing. When words appear on the screen, or a character says something that I didn’t consciously plan on, thereby changing the direction of their arch, I feel quite blessed.
Many times I have sat down at the keyboard, trying to process feelings of anger or sadness, by writing a scathing rant to explore, identify and magnify these feelings in order to understand them better. Often, these rants, against my original motivations, transform into highlighting my countless blessings. It seems that I am unwillingly dipped into a realm of goodness, and that is quite reassuring. I do not know how this happens. But, this is my 2024 resolution: to exercise the muscle of creativity (that we all have) and to get lost in it…. No control…no intentions, just expression.
So yes, get healthy for your body, get creative for your mind. The best thing is, you can’t do this on your phone, or on the couch. You are the entertainment. You are the force. You are the star in this shared constellation we inhabit in this brief celestial moment. Go broad and go deep.
Check out our interviews with artists talking about creativity.
SPARK! Season 1
Episode 1: Interview Dick Martin, Al Peterson, James De Crescentis
Episode 4: Interview: M.P. Carver and Eliz McKimm
Episode 5: Performance: M.P. Carver and Eliz McKimm
Episode 6: Interview: Adria Smith and Mike Mele
Episode 7: Interview: LaMP with Russ Lawton, Ray Paczkowski, Scott Metzger
