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Pearls from artists* # 509

New York sunrise

* an ongoing series of quotations – mostly from artists to artists – that offers wisdom, inspiration, and advice for the sometimes lonely road we are on.

Which left me with nothing but a dazzled heart and the sense that I live in a most remarkable world, thick with mysteries. It all called to mind the British physicist Sir Arthur Eddington’s memorable explanation of how the universe works: “Something unknown is doing we don’t know what.

But the best part is: I don’t need to know what.

I don’t demand a translation of the unknown. I don’t need to understand what it all means, or where ideas are originally conceived, or why creativity plays out as unpredictably as it does. I don’t need to know why we are sometimes able to converse freely with inspiration, when at other times we labor hard in solitude and come up with nothing. I don’t need to know why an idea visited you today and not me. Or why it visited us both. Or why it abandoned us both.

None of us can know such things, for these are among the great enigmas.

All I know for certain is that this is how I want to spend my life – collaborating to the best of my ability with forces of inspiration that I can neither see, nor prove, nor command, nor understand.

It’s a strange line of work, admittedly.

I cannot think of a better way to pass my days.

Elizabeth Gilbert in Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear

Comments are welcome!


Pearls from artists* # 344

Untitled, c-print, 24 x 24," edition of 5

Untitled, c-print, 24 x 24,” edition of 5

*an ongoing series of quotations – mostly from artists, to artists – that offers wisdom, inspiration, and advice for the sometimes lonely road we are on.

I live in a most remarkable world, thick with mysteries.  It all called to mind the British physicist Sir Arthur Eddington’s memorable explanation of how the universe works:  “Something unknown is doing we don’t know what.”

But the best part is:  I don’t need to know what.

All I know for certain is that this is how I want to spend my life – collaborating to the best of my ability with forces of inspiration that I can neither see, nor prove, nor command, nor understand.

It’s a strange line of work, admittedly.

I cannot think of a better way to pass my days.

Elizabeth Gilbert in Big Magic:  Creative Living Beyond Fear

Comments are welcome!

 

Q: In January you traveled to south India to study ancient Hindu temples. Would you share some photographs from your trip?

A:  Yes, I spent three weeks in south India.  Having embarked from brown and gray New York City in winter, I was quite stunned by all of the gorgeous color.  Since I already posted many photos onto my Facebook and Pinterest pages (see links on sidebar), I will focus on Madurai, perhaps the most photogenic city I visited.

Tirumalai Nayaka Palace, Madurai

Tirumalai Nayaka Palace, Madurai

Tirumalai Nayaka Palace, Madurai

Tirumalai Nayaka Palace, Madurai

Madurai

Madurai

Madurai

Madurai

Madurai

Madurai

Madurai

Madurai

Madurai

Madurai

Madurai

Madurai

Meenaksi Sundaresvarar Temple, Madurai

Meenaksi Sundaresvarar Temple, Madurai

Meenaksi Sundaresvarar Temple, Madurai

Meenaksi Sundaresvarar Temple, Madurai

Outside Meenaksi Sundaresvarar Temple, Madurai

Outside Meenaksi Sundaresvarar Temple, Madurai

Comments are welcome!

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