The artist is a receptacle for emotions that come from all over the place: from the sky, from the earth, from a scrap of paper, from a passing shape, from a spider's web. The problem is not that there are problems. The problem is expecting otherwise and thinking that having problems is a problem.
Interpretation
Artists absorb emotions from various sources, and the real issue lies in our expectation of a problem-free experience.
This quote by Theodore Isaac Rubin emphasizes the role of the artist as a vessel that receives inspiration from diverse elements of the world. It suggests that creativity stems from embracing emotions and experiences, while also highlighting that challenges are a natural part of the artistic process and not something to be avoided or deemed problematic.
In practice
In an art class, to inspire students to embrace their struggles as part of the creative process.
I must learn to love the fool in me the one who feels too much, talks too much, takes too many chances, wins sometimes and loses often, lacks self-control, loves and hates, hurts and gets hurt, promises and breaks promises, laughs and cries.
Kindness is more important than wisdom, and the recognition of this is the beginning of wisdom.
The problem is not that there are problems. The problem is expecting otherwise and thinking that having problems is a problem.
Health is relative. There is no such thing as an absolute state of health or sickness. Everyone's physical, mental, and emotional condition is a combination of both.
Invest in the "process" rather than the product. Process living neutralizes the depleting and impoverishing effects of chronically living in anticipation. Even when impossible goals occasionally are reached, satisfactions derived from them are invariably disappointing unless the process has given ample satisfaction along the way.
Sometimes the routes leading to feelings of anger are so convoluted and circuitous that it takes enormous skill to discern their original source, or fountainhead. But regardless of the reason for or the source of the anger or the relative ease or complexity in perceiving either the anger or its source - everybody, but everybody, gets angry.
Now I realize that from '72 through to about '76, I was the ultimate rock star. I couldn't have been more rock star.
Having a soul, they say, is like taking sadness and turning it into something beautiful.
Footballers can be like artists when the mind and body are working as one. It is what Miles Davis does when he plays free jazz - everything pulls together into one intense moment that is beautiful.
My ex-wife was trying to be nice once, so she took me to a concert in Los Angeles. I went with her to Symphony Hall, and the orchestra was playing. When the show started, the spotlight was sharp on this one man (Andres Segovia) and he had sombrero on and his guitar propped up like this and, oh man ... he was a master ! - I really heard it. That one guitar sounded like a whole orchestra to me.
All the senses awaken and fall into harmony in poetic reverie. Poetic reverie listens to this polyphony of the senses, and the poetic consciousness must record it.
I wanted to write about what we were doing at the French Laundry, the recipes and the stories.
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