An Ode to Creativity
Story by couragemylove
Published on April 13, 2010 in This Handmade Life
Madelyn Mulvaney, a.k.a. couragemylove, is a writer and photographer who lives in a house by the sea, with open windows filled with art and music, a boy and a girl, a bunny named Pancakes and a dog named Roxy. She loves morning coffee, film, poetry, vinyl records, old movie theaters, cobalt blue and peonies, Guinness beer and chips, scribbling in notebooks, and wandering and wondering.
And hats. She loves hats.
And hats. She loves hats.
"Obsessed with the making..."
"If a poet is anybody, he is somebody to whom things ‘made’ matter very little — somebody who is obsessed with the Making. Like all obsessions, the Making has advantages: for instance, my only interest in making money would be to make it. Fortunately, however, I should prefer to make almost anything else, including locomotives and roses. It is with locomotives, not to mention acrobats, spring electricity, Coney Island, the 4th of July, the eyes of mice and Niagara Falls that my poems are competing. They are also competing with each other, with elephants and El Greco."
— e. e. cummings
— e. e. cummings
Photo by Darlene Kreutzer
When I am in the midst of "the making," my soul literally vibrates, time is timeless and I have not a thought nor a dream of the "sky-aiming" outcome. I am so in the moment and I am here, I am present in a way that is so beautifully alive and beguiling for, oh, all sorts of reasons. Really, even when I have the most stunning photo or lyrical piece of writing as proof of my creative outburst, it can never replace the wonder of creation. After all, my makings also compete with each other, elephants and El Greco.
Creativity for me is a foray of wandering, wondering, gathering and bringing home different things — my ways of beholding the invisible dragons or chimera around me. It is intensely spiritual, and my rooted connection to nature (where would I be without the sea?) is a vast wellspring of poetic figments and inspiration.
Photo by Madelyn Mulvaney
Each evening at twilight I walk along the crescent-shaped beach where I live by the sea. At a beautiful curve of land near the old pier is a home, large and opulent in its design — often filled with people when I glimpse through the windows. Outside this home on its property facing the sea, is a small one room glass studio. Inside is a piano, a large comfortable chair, stacks of records, books and CDs on an old oak desk. Often I glimpse by the solitary glow of a very faint lamp in this room, a man playing the piano in a reverie of solitude while his large opulent house buzzes with generous activity close by.
Make room, I am reminded, make space, gather time for yourself and your art. It is necessary.
Photo by Madelyn Mulvaney
"Contradictions."
I have a newfound passion for Polaroid film, and my foray into this old fashioned analog expression is changing my photography as I transition into a closer resemblance of the poetry I wish to express. I have never been happier with my work, and yet, these images are less popular with viewers than my previous work. I feel art is a dialogue once it has been birthed, and we all desire affirmation and love for our work as well as ourselves. So how do I reconcile these polarities of feeling?
Art is to be shared, there is room enough in the universe for all of us to support and give one another our time and assistance. I believe with all my heart and soul that every single person alive on this planet is an artist, whether they realize this or not. We all have a story to share, an intimate and beautifully unique way of seeing. I have discovered it is so true that when you teach, you learn.
A final thought: The heart is what matters most of all — creativity is an act of love. Amen.
Visit Maddie's personal website, Persisting Stars, to learn more about her story and her beautiful work.
What inspires your creativity? How do you balance following your creative impulse versus what others seem to respond to in your work? Tell us in the comments!
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