20 Apr

During the Creative Process

Odd Magic

It happens. You get to feeling pretty happy with yourself. Like maybe you ARE coming into something with your creative self.
Finding your mojo.
Finally getting the big IT (whatever that is…).

Then you join an art club, enter a contest, pick up the latest art magazine, click on Facebook, swing by Instagram and suddenly…start hating on yourself. Comparing your work with what you’re seeing. Your ideas and processes with everyone else’s.
Longing to be unique and one of a kind BUT knowing all the while–being different isn’t any easier now than it was when in the seventh grade.
Wanting so badly to just blend in.  Challenged to see the oddness AS magic.

“You see this pattern over and over with many creative people: they have this little bit of magic, a spark of something that comes naturally to them, and it’s often messy and weird and a little bit off, and that’s why they catch our attention in the first place. The odd magic is what we love about them.” ~ Austin Kleon

 

Funny creatures that we are, we want to sing our own song but then quake at the thought that it IS different!

Like having a nose that is too big for our face or a crazy laugh that is contagious, it’s enlightening to realize that these very things are what distinguish us from the billion of others on the planet. Learning to see these things for what they are—not less than, not fatally flawed— but an absolute gift, our very own odd magic—is the beginning of wisdom.

What is that thing that comes naturally to you, but is messy and weird and a little off?
That’s your odd magic and that, dear one is why we are drawn to you.

The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper.   ~W.B. Yeats

“It’s a Happy Kind of Thing”
9 x 12in oil on museum quality panel

 

Dreama Tolle Perry Log
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  1. Truer words were never spoken. I have come to realize this only after many years of ‘seventh grade’ mentality. The ‘right’ people, your people , will appreciate and enjoy your uniqueness. Thanks for reinforcing this belief. What a great post!

  2. Sabine scanlon

    I tried that being normal thing. When I changed schools in grade 10, I thought I would try to be just like the other girls. The most boring two weeks of my life. I have been quite content to be ‘slightly out of step’ with everyone since then.

  3. I’m not sure what my odd magic is, but I do know I am searching for it in my paintings. I have been painting for a very long time and yet, I am still searching. I must say, with your help, that I am very close to looking at my paintings and saying, “Yes, THAT expresses my odd magic!” Thank you Dreama!!!

  4. (I’m 88), so I’m relearning how to best use them. I so enjoy your happy face , your work, and the joy and skills you share with others. Thank you for your generosity.

  5. Patricia

    I love the simplicity of your new website. It is easy to navigate. It kind of has the feel of your Timeless Tuscany page in the way it is designed.

  6. Lynn

    Well, you just helped me feel better about my crazy laugh. And so many other things. Love your heart.

  7. Barbara Busey

    If I went to Paris for 30 days I would visit all the local places that are more unknown. Capture everyday scenes of people just living their lives. I would visit with the shop keepers , people I just meet on the street or in a cafe or restraunt or hotel. I would walk everywher in order not to miss anything. Of course I would visit art galleries too and eat eat eat!

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