A set of cupping hands supporting life denotes the concept of stewardship at every level: economic, environmental, and personal.
“You have the right to work, but for the work’s sake only. You have no right to the fruits of work.” — From the Bhagavad Gita
The idea of ownership is overemphasized today. We’re constantly working to obtain things: a home, a career, a relationship, and all kinds of other “stuff.” This preoccupation takes us away from the real responsibility to ourselves and the world at large — that of service. Such a change in understanding requires a change in our view of the things we work with and currently possess from one of ownership to one of stewardship.
Stewardship definition:
- the position and duties of a steward, a person who acts as the surrogate of another or others.
- the responsible overseeing and protection of something considered worth caring for and preserving.
In other words, stewardship means being a good caretaker — of people, of things, of oneself. If someone should have the title of responsibility such as a producer or a director, he should be looking to do everything he can to enable the health and success of his team or staff, just as he would when looking after his family. But to do this job well, he must first look after that which is most essential, himself. The mind, body and spirit which encompasses him must be balanced and maintained if he is to be functional. A sick or weak caretaker is a lousy caretaker.
Therefore, it’s essential that each artist — if he is to honor his gift — devote some time to the total care of his entire entity. If he can give as little as 5-10% of his day to maintaining his whole self then everything else that needs to be done in the day gets not only easier, but also much better. He must sharpen the saw and do so ritually.
a) Caring for the Mind:
“The energy of the mind is the essence of life.”― Aristotle, Philosopher
Being an artist, the mind is constantly at work. Creative work is mostly a mentally-stimulating activity; it requires much envisioning, researching, analysis and decision-making. This is perhaps the reason why art can never really be mastered. Art’s a continual dance between facing and overcoming challenges, an extraordinary process of dealing with the new that makes life interesting and meaningful.
But getting enough stimulus is rarely the problem. Our lives are excessively cerebral today. Our rational mind is constantly spinning and reacting to the overwhelming set of thoughts and emotions that come our way. So, although it’s necessary to activate the mind — via art or study — we must also remember to feed it and rest it. This entails segmenting part of our day for that to happen. I like to fill my mind every chance I get and everywhere I go — looking, touching, hearing whatever comes my way. These are things unrelated to my regular everyday concerns or obligations, kinda like stopping to smell the roses. But reading is usually what does the job for me most reliably. There’s nothing like some beautiful bedtime reading or sitting with a great novel by a good chair on a lazy Saturday afternoon.
“A book is a dream that you hold in your hand.” — Neil Gaiman, Writer
As for resting, good old fashioned sleep is probably best, although quieting practices such as Yoga, meditation, or prayer are also proven to be successful. It’s important to give our brains a chance to rest completely, to empty itself, so that it can be filled again with the good stuff.
Ancient Egyptian stone carvings reveal the practice of Yoga as far back as 3000 BC.
b) Caring for the Body:
“Take care of your body. It’s the only place you have to live.” — Jim Rohn, Entrepreneur
They say the body is the vessel which carries us in our short journey here on this planet. While we’re alive, this is most definitely true. But how many of us ignore or mistreat our bodies? We eat poor, exercise (move) far too little and a lot of us don’t even sleep well or much at all. Overwork, anxiety, regrets, and excessive visual stimuli (the dark side of technology) are all part of the problem. But the bottom line is we ALL KNOW we can do better. Artists, especially those in fields of design/animation/film, spend far too much time sitting, burning our eyes out digitally and eating far too much ready-made/processed food. If we want to create good art we must take care of this vessel. A weakened body is one that performs poorly. This is true not just of athletes, but of actors and singers alike. These professionals have strict regimens as to exercise, sleep, food, alcohol consumption etc. Furthermore, a body neglected repetitively is one that takes much longer to heal. There are some people, like myself, who had to give up our careers because of physical issues. If the body stops, you stop. No amount of mind power can correct a damaged ship.
Assign 30 minutes a day minimum to move the body around. Eat better.
Healthy foods are good AND beautiful. You can never eat too many vegetables regardless of your religious/philosophical affiliations.
c) Caring for the Spirit:
“Life should be touched, not strangled. You’ve got to relax, let it happen at times, and at others move forward with it.” — Ray Bradbury, Writer
The word spirit is often associated with either religion or ghostly tales. But that’s not what we’re talking about here. Our spirit can also be the totality of our emotions, our passions and our energy. To lift one’s spirit is to be cheered up. Unfortunately, many people take either a very guarded or lackadaisical approach to managing their emotions. The excessively rational and conservative mind tries to hide it, control it or use it strategically to his advantage. He has no trust in his feelings or intuition leading to a life of uncompromising rigidity and self-righteousness. On the other side, the extremely carefree and liberal mind lives from moment to moment with no emotional balance, exuberantly passionate one moment and completely overwhelmed in fear/depression the next culminating into a life of chaos and self-indulgence. (The latter view is what our world typically assigns to artists even when it’s not true because it makes for better storytelling and marketing.)
In truth, neither approach to dealing with our emotional reality is optimal. We need balance for our creative juices to flow optimally. The successful and productive artist works hard to manage and flow with his emotions. In other words, he needs to be spiritually and emotionally healthy. But he can’t do that if deep-seeded issues remain locked up inside. Although these may drive him initially, more often than not they impede him AND his art. Testaments have shown that many great artists — such as Jackson Pollack and Ernest Hemmingway — who were once heavily attributed as “extreme or volatile” characters (as if it were a requirement for powerful work) were never inebriated when they worked. In fact, they often entered long periods of creative droughts when they struggled with their emotions and turned to the bottle or other forms of substance abuse. Why? Because this art stuff is really hard, requiring deep focus and an unburdened heart. How else could they have produced such beautifully balanced art?
Set aside times of the day or week to heal the heart. Spend more moments with things and people you love. Enjoy time with nature.
The Chinese have a single word for the spirit-heart-mind. They are viewed as one and the same.
Summary:
It’s all very simple. And it’s all common sense. Unfortunately, many of us don’t pay any heed to balancing our lives. If we want to create art and do it for a long time, then we must remedy this now, not tomorrow. We must be good stewards. Remember also, that the mind, body and spirit heavily effect each other. A crack in one seam leads to cracks in the others.
“If you push down emotional pain long enough it becomes physical pain.” — Marina Abramovic, Performance Artist.
