Week #1: Spark Week
In Week One, I gather inspiration & fuel for my work,
then, let’s talk about how to …
ignite the problem!
(what does that mean?)
“Don’t spend
so much time
putting out fires
that your own fire
goes out.”
- SB
Ok, so the “problem” is …
I have to fill a whole gallery with my work in 16 weeks.
Spark Week was about letting the sparks of inspiration fly, and I had a couple of BIG insights that helped SO much.
For 5 days in a row, I listened to an hour of free coaching from one of my mentors (I have SO many! Hey, it takes a village of mentors to run this thing (points to her brain).
Brooke Castillo started her week of free coaching talking about “PROBLEMS” (we all have them), and taught her system for working with them. I took that system and shifted it to work for my situation - and I know it may be helpful to artists (and anyone), too.
Let’s dive into Spark Week:
Spark it UP!
I’m welding one of the 7 steel hexagons that will be part of a light sculpture installation called “Tools of Navigation,” each one representing one of the 8 Creative Elements: Earth, Air, Fire, Water, Wood, Metal, Light, and Void.
Low-Quality and High-Quality Problems
Brooke had an amazing way to think about “problems”:
“There are 2 kinds of problems: Low-Quality Problems, and High-Quality Problems.”
Low-Quality Problems are things that don’t help us grow (like getting irritated at other drivers, repeated arguments with loved ones, waffling about decisions, obsessing about weight, time, money, etc.).
High-Quality Problems are the things that help us grow. For instance, instead of just constantly obsessing about weight or money, find the causes and emotions behind them, make a plan, and work on them in a deep way. The REAL problem is the emotions we have when we do deep work, because this will involve failing over and over - until we succeed!
Brooke suggest you can do 3 things with a problem:
Let it GO.
Solve it NOW. Oooor,
Make it a High-Quality Problem, and use it to GROW.
(And of course, she suggests the 3rd option!)
Here is more on how to do that:
Spark the Problem, Triage the Problem, then …
Ignite the Problem!
What am I willing to FAIL at over and over
in order to grow?
So - ask yourself:
What are YOU willing to fail at over and over in order to grow? For me, right now, it is my art. I am failing all. the. time. But I just call that experimentation, and use the emotions that would have felt like failure to spark the next phase of growth. I don’t mind the word failure. In fact, I’ve made friends with it. I have fun with it, which takes much of the negative emotion out of it.
Making it a high-quality problem and failing as I grow is better than where I was at the beginning. Nowhere. Now, I’m somewhere!
You can choose to turn Low-Quality Probs into Hi-Quality Probs. Here’s how:
1. Define the Problem: Low or High? Write it down.
2. “Triage” the Problem: So you can:
A. Let it Go - yes, just … let it GO! OR,
B. Solve it Now - OR,
C. Make it a High-Quality Problem by:
1) Understanding it - write about it, research it, identify which emotions you are feeling and what are you avoiding feeling?
2). Make it a High-Quality Problem to Help You Grow with this question:
“How can I feel MORE of the emotion I am trying to avoid by taking action?”:
Take welding:
Feel more FEAR by choosing COURAGE.
I was seriously afraid of hurting myself or blowing something up.
Feel more FAILURE by choosing MASSIVE ACTION.
It took me 3 sessions of 4 hours each to get my 7 hexagons right.
Feel more UNCERTAINTY by TRYING NEW THINGS.
I had to ask Alex to repeat the steps SEVERAL times. He was so patient.
Feel more SEPARATION by TAKING THE LEAD.
My painter friends aren’t doing welding. They are doing other things, like printmaking and ceramics, so I do feel like I’m on my own at this. And that can be lonely and isolating. But I found a new group of fellow sculpture students that have been SO helpful and kind. So now I have two groups of friends.
3. Choose the emotion you want to feel - and transform them.
I want to feel excited, challenged, and young. Believe me, art keeps you young!
4. Follow your desire for the goal.
I want to make an experience for the viewer, and learn new ways of making art. My desire for that drives me through failures!
Here’s another example:
EXAMPLE PROBLEM … (ooor, real one!):
“I don’t have enough money”:
Define the problem: Look at you bank account, not just once, but daily for a week or more, do the M.AT.H.H. (My Ability to Handle Honesty), look deeply at your money to see if it is a real problem, or just a perception problem, thought error, etc.
Triage the Problem:
Can I just Let it Go and be okay with little money?
Can I Solve it Now by finding a way to bring in more income and cut my expenses? OR,
Can I make it a High-Quality Problem by growing and feeling new emotions:
Creating a Business - something simple at first, then grow it.
Making an Offer - sell something you own to earn money, item, service?
Selling my Art - Have a pop-up show, do an Open House, offer it online, etc.
Trying something NEW?
FEAR, FAILURE, UNCERTAINTY, and SEPARATION, in order to feel COURAGE, MASSIVE ACTION, EXPERIMENTATION, BOLDNESS.
Follow your DESIRE, then Feel, then GROW - then start all over again (like in the Hero’s Journey).
So I am doing this process all the time now, and it has really helped me see problems in totally new ways, sparking new ideas to create HQPs in my life.
Here are some sparks from Spark Week:
(SEE MY LIST BELOW!)
Some images from Spark Week:
Spark Week Inspiration:
Choose a thought to guide your week (this can change, and you can borrow mine!)
Mine for Spark Week was borrowed from Robin Williams: “You’re only given a spark of madness. Don’t lose it.”
Triage Problems Quickly to make progress faster.
Spend time in Spark Energy: Travel, go to art shows, read new things, talk to new people.
Go Outward: Look at something totally new in your town you’ve been meaning to do - a gallery, museum, a new shop, a park.
Surround yourself with new music from a different generation: Be-bop, Beethoven, DubStep, Electronica, Old-Time
Do some Automatic Writing, and Automatic Drawing of your project. Notice this worked for Week Zero - and Spark Week (and ALL the weeks!).
AGAIN: Envision your project, this time with inspiration: What would you do if you COULDN’T FAIL? And, if you tried that, and you did fail, how could you grow from that “failure”? So - how could you do something new with it?
What would Frida do? (WWFD): Be inspired by ancestors or the spirit of historic art mentors.
Take a coffee break and sit quietly, find calmness. Center and ground yourself. We NEED that during Spark Week, too.
Everybody’s Taking the Survey!
Did you take it yet?
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“Wisdom is a blaze, followed by a leaping spark.”
The ancient magician Hermes Trismegistus, doing his thing in a 16th-C manuscript (make sure to use protection!)
