Impulses

I lead a workshop in Paris and elsewhere called Capture the Wow. Unlike tours or classes that teach you how to paint or draw, Capture the Wow is a playful invitation to become unabashedly receptive to the delights that surround us every single day, whether at home or away. Basically, I help people lure out their inner artist in a city devoted to art. What could be better?

• Openness to synchronicity and random surprises rather than being attached to an overly-full agenda.
• Willingness to adopt a slower pace, perhaps even stopping to take things in more deeply.
• Using the sketchbook more often than your camera to capture things that move you.
• Veering off the well-worn path offered in popular guidebooks.
• Bringing out the camera selectively, perhaps using a theme or photo prompts.
• Reflecting on experiences and how they contribute to our art.
• Seeking out local artists and artisans.

This ability to tap into the wonders of the world is what allows artists to make art, musicians to compose great symphonies and photographers to see what the average person misses.
For the first time in 19 years, I took time off completely from work to go to Japan. No clients, no classes, no writing. I wrote this in advance of leaving so I could still keep my promise of sending a bi-weekly newsletter. I’ll be filling sketchbooks, writing daily haiku and making watercolor postcards. I can’t wait to see what inspiration and actions come from this time traveling with my artist.
What helps you travel like an artist? Leave a comment below.

Last year, I began teaching a new class that brought me back to the origin of my life as an artist. Drawing as Meditation had such a powerful impact, and yet it was so simple. My students showed me that there is a great hunger to slow down, savor, and feel more attuned creatively.
It’s amazing – in the true sense of the word – how our senses can offer us a new experience in any moment. Yet we allow our senses to be dulled. We fall prey to:

• Too much information
• Moving too quickly
• Doing more than one thing at once
• Overeating, overdrinking, over consuming anything

We are at the same time overloaded with input and starving for true, first-person information that really fuels us. With an abundance of sensory input, we crave depth. For that, we can start with something we all have access to anytime, anywhere: our senses.

By the end of my Drawing as Meditation class at Camp GLP, participants claimed a greater sense of freedom and permission with their drawing, and their creativity in general. The process I lead is very simple but had a big impact. I credit it to beginning the workshop with this meditative exercise.

I use this at the beginning of my Capture the Wow and Drawing as Meditation workshops. It helps us shift our state of being quickly and easily. We’re then more receptive and appreciative of what’s around us. The exercise is called Sensual Atunement.
Engaging our senses intentionally allows us to experience life more richly in any given moment. And they’re there for us always. When we attune our senses, we experience the world more vibrantly. This helps us to feel and be more creatively inspired.

Sensual Attunement exercise

Here is the exercise for you to try – it can take as long as you like and as little as three minutes. Read all the instructions first, then guide yourself though this simple process.

Before we begin, write down three words that describe your state of being. These words could be: overwhelmed, anxious, calm, stressed. No judgement, just jot down the words that describe your current state. Set that aside.
To start, find a place where you can be uninterrupted. You will be closing your eyes, so make sure you are in a place where you feel safe doing so.

The meditation usually takes up to five minutes. What we will do is go through each sense, one by one, asking two questions:

• What do you notice?
• How would you describe that?

Now, close your eyes. Start with smell. Take a deep breath in. What do you smell? Continue looking for smells, both subtle and gross. Take a minute to smell everything you can.

How would you describe that? Play with putting words to what you smell. How would you tell someone what you smell? What words would you use? Be as creative as you want.

Next, let’s go to sound. What do you hear? Tune in to the sounds in the room, outside of the room. Listen to the small sounds and the loud sounds.

How would you describe what you hear?

Now, taste. What do you taste? There might not be an immediate taste…keep exploring. What do you taste in your mouth right now?

How would you describe that?

Next, touch. What do you touch? What does your body touch? Your clothes? The place you are sitting on? The air on your skin? Feel it all.

How would you describe the touch now?

Before you open your eyes, tune in to the sixth sense. Intuition. Vibe. Energy. What do you notice?

How would you describe that? Again, be creative here.

Lastly, open your eyes.

What do you see? What do you notice that’s different from before you closed your eyes?

How would you describe that?

You can use this exercise whenever you feel frazzled, overwhelmed, confused about what to do next, or whenever you want to feel more present and grounded. It’s easy, portable and doesn’t require anything but a few minutes of your attention.

You can use free-writing to capture your experience from this exercise. Try it and let us know how it goes below.

When I lead my Capture the Wow retreats in Paris, we don’t travel in the usual ‘see that’ and ‘buy this’ way. Instead, we seek to experience ourselves and the world in new ways. Our goal is to bring our creativity to the surface.
But it’s more than that. Over many years leading this retreat, I noticed a pattern. Everyone had a part of themselves that wanted more air time: the creative part. They’d come to Paris to find her and enjoy her.
From our time together in Paris with our artists, I’ve learned a few ways to make it easy to tap into our creative side both at home and around the world. I’ve come to realize that artists travel in a certain way.
Of course, every artist is different, and it’s presumptuous to think we all travel in the same way. But I believe that artists are porous to the world in ways we can all adopt and benefit from.
Which of the following would you like to have more of in your life:

• more mental space to allow insights to land
• new connections with people, places and ideas that freshen your perspective
• reliance on your mental, emotional and physical capabilities to stretch and grow you.

There are many more benefits to traveling as an artist, but I’ll leave you to discover what happens when you slow down, savor and reflect on your experiences. Try the artist’s perspective on with the practices in my Travel Like an Artist manifesto below.

 
Remember, these practices can be used at home – no plane tickets required to ‘travel’ like an artist.
What does it mean for you to travel like an artist? I’d love to hear your perspective. Share your thoughts below!
Want the Travel Like an Artist manifesto for yourself? You can download your favorite version now to spark love between you and your artist.