Category: Creating Art

What’s interesting about exploring other people’s art… is that in so doing… you get to explore the art within yourself.

What resonates becomes a little louder.

What doesn’t fades into the background.

And after enough of that… you start to hear the tune of a different sound.

A sound you haven’t quite heard before… a sound that feels like some type of remix… a sound that feels raw, un-molded, and like a divine delivery from some type of muse or higher up.

And it’s through the cultivation of that sound… that flavor… that style…

Through the creation of your art… your remixes… what makes you proud…

That we… as feeling and seeking creatures… get heard and found.

The interesting thing about blank page and canvas, is that it invites creation.

The interesting thing about living with blank walls, is that it invites art/decor.

The interesting thing about empty furniture, is that it invites use. Tables want to be filled, chairs want to be sat in, bookshelves want to be lined…

The interesting thing about this time of the year, is that it invites us to reset our living environments. Spring is a time for cleaning, for donating, for reorganizing, for tossing, for selling… it’s a time to turn the page on how we’ve filled the blank/empty spaces in the past and invites us to take a fresh look and reflect on how we want to begin anew in creation, art/decor, and use.

Inner Work Prompt: Does your current environment feel “done” or does it invite fresh, creative thinking?

I uploaded a quote today to MoveMe Quotes that read, “Art is a safe place to explore and express all emotions. No feeling is taboo. It’s about being sensitive to what your body is telling you, then using your art to set the emotion free.”

Without some form of an outlet… our emotions continue to pour into a type of static, stale, toxicity-prone pond within.

Art is an incredibly powerful means of creating an outlet for that pond.

And slowly, slowly… as you explore and express your art… your emotions converge into more of a river and flow through your body and out into the medium of that chosen art.

Without this type of outlet, don’t you see how the emotions can swell within? Don’t you see how all of the grief, anger, frustration, loneliness, and sadness can intermix into a type of toxic stew… contaminating the whole vessel carrying it? Don’t you see how most passive entertainment and social media and news outlets only exacerbate that toxic stew…?

…Don’t you see how important it is to have an outlet?

…Don’t you see that’s what this daily blog is for me?

…Don’t you see that it’s about time you create an outlet for the inner pond within you?

Most people live reactively to their emotions.

They go about their day, have their interactions, make their choices, and then feel the feelings consequentially arise while trying to maintain the scheduled busyness of their day.

Which leads to bottling, pressurizing, and exacerbating.

And of course, once you’re all the way in your feels, you’re usually clouded, spiraling, irrational, overthinking, and knee-jerking—and it isn’t usually until much later… after you’ve said and done things you regret… that you realize you actually were any of those things.

The solution to this frustrating reality is to simply add something proactively creative or inward focused into your day.

That’s it.

It can literally make all the difference in the world.

Simply block some journaling into your morning routine. Or some drawing into your lunch breaks. Or some music creation or dancing into your evening routine. Or some martial arts into your after work schedule. Or some unplugged outdoor walks into your before work schedule.

The problem isn’t the emotions. The emotions are what make us human.

The problem is the bottling of the emotions—it’s in their restricted flow and continued compression.

Creative work/ inner work time allows those feelings to flow. And feelings are something you should expect daily (to expect otherwise is silly).

…It’s in this one simple act that we can reclaim our emotional calm within even our craziest of days. Don’t underestimate it.

P.s. I write these daily as a free gift to the world. If you’d like to support my ongoing work, you can buy me a cup of joe, here (you can also make it monthly now). Thanks for reading :)

A creator I follow sent a newsletter the other day that opened with, “How are you doing? What are you building? Hit reply and let me know. I’ll get back to you within few days.”

It was such a refreshing use of a space that’s usually devoted to ads, hyperbole, and clickbait.

So, I leaned in and opened a dialogue.

I told him about this blog, MoveMe Quotes, how I was doing, of course, and praised him on creating content that I’ve been consuming for years now.

I don’t usually compose or send these kinds of emails and what I noticed in myself was a sense of pride that swelled up as I briefly outlined the 14+ years I’ve been actively building MMQ and the (almost) 4 years I’ve been writing daily blogs.

I remember thinking to myself right after I hit reply that he could literally click to any post or page on either site—from any year—and I’d be happy with what he found.

…It felt like one of those moments where I was able to point him to the “pudding” and in it, he’d find the proof. No long-winded intros, pitches, or talking-some-kind-of-talk required.

And then just today, as I was curating quotes for MMQ, I stumbled on this nugget: “Your hard work is opening doors you can’t even see right now.”

…And I suddenly understood what that meant in a way I never had before.

P.s. The creator I’m referring to above is Janis Ozolins. He does an incredible job of explaining ideas visually and always keeps it uplifting, educational, and concise. Check him out here.