Cherished shared wisdom that help mentor

[razz]

I have had different wise perspectives that have helped me over the years.

We can probably all think of some wisdom shared that made a difference and that is also timeless and used by others. What are some you value?


Source:jamesclear.com
"Agnes de Mille had just achieved the greatest success of her career, but right now the only thing she felt was confusion.

She was a dancer and a choreographer. Early in her career, de Mille had created the choreography for a ballet called Three Virgins and a Devil. She thought it was good work, but nobody made much of it.

A few years later, de Mille choreographed a ballet named Rodeo. Again, she thought her work was solid, but it resulted in little commercial fame.

Then, in 1943, de Mille choreographed Oklahoma!, a musical show from Rodgers and Hammerstein that enjoyed nearly instant success. In the coming years, Oklahoma! would run for an incredible 2,212 performances, both around the nation and abroad. In 1955, the film version won an Academy Award.

But the success of Oklahoma! confused her. She thought that her work on Oklahoma! was only average compared to some of her other creations. She later said, “After the opening of Oklahoma!, I suddenly had unexpected, flamboyant success for a work I thought was only fairly good, after years of neglect for work I thought was fine. I was bewildered and worried that my entire scale of values was untrustworthy. I talked to Martha.”

Martha was Martha Graham, perhaps the most influential dance choreographer of the 20th century. (Although not as well-known by the general public, Graham has been compared to other creative geniuses like Picasso or Frank Lloyd Wright.)

During their conversation, de Mille told Martha Graham about her frustration. “I confessed that I had a burning desire to be excellent, but no faith that I could be.” [1]

Graham responded by saying,

“There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is nor how valuable nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open.”

[SteveinMN]

Interesting, razz; thanks.

I don't tend to take pictures of people -- I prefer other subjects to portraits or"street" photography and I've never felt I was good at capturing the essence of a person in a picture. But two pictures I've taken of people probably have been seen by others more than all my other pictures combined and I've gotten a surprising amount of praise for the emotions those image convey about those individuals. It's a bit of a mystery to me that it's worked out that way. Pictures that I just kind of tossed off -- and yet those are the ones people talk about. I will take more pictures of people. Apparently I can do it better than I think I can.

[catherine]

I love that! I do believe we are all channels of our work and that sometimes it doesn't even feel like it's us doing the work. It just gets done.

I have so many examples of wisdom I find inspirational I don't know if I can pick one good example but I'll think about it.

The course I have embarked on in 2020 is all about wisdom and optimizing life, and actually Atomic Habits by James Clear has been on this list of required reading for it! Thanks for sharing that great passage from it!

[iris lilies]

I like that view of artistic creation, too. Nurture your artistic self, create the works, and put them out there. They will float on a wave of approval, or they will fall and fade into oblivion. They will do what they do.

[happystuff]

I always felt that artistic endeavors were so very personal to the artist and that should come first. The "public" and individual opinions will vary with each person, but I always felt the artist should be creating for themselves, first, whether they move on to share the work or not. (Hopefully, I explained that well enough for understanding) LOL

[catherine]

I always felt that artistic endeavors were so very personal to the artist and that should come first. The "public" and individual opinions will vary with each person, but I always felt the artist should be creating for themselves, first, whether they move on to share the work or not. (Hopefully, I explained that well enough for understanding) LOL

I agree--my DS is a songwriter, and he is very frustrated by the fact that he hasn't found some fame and fortune through it, but I told him not to even think about that. The fact that he can't NOT write songs is enough. He writes compulsively. He is actually in Nashville as we speak trying to leave his vinyls with some record labels, and I'm hoping that his "soul work" will have the opportunity to reach others.

[JaneV2.0]

I agree--my DS is a songwriter, and he is very frustrated by the fact that he hasn't found some fame and fortune through it, but I told him not to even think about that. The fact that he can't NOT write songs is enough. He writes compulsively. He is actually in Nashville as we speak trying to leave his vinyls with some record labels, and I'm hoping that his "soul work" will have the opportunity to reach others.

I've seen mini-bios of Diane Warren, and her complete obsession with song-writing; she practically sleeps at her piano.