It’s always scary to leap into the new, which is why I always suggest looking for role models. Those who have gone before give us inspiration, provide a map of courage, and prove to us that it can be done. My biggest Creative Ancestor is Sylvia Beach, the subject of my novel.
Sylvia went to Paris in 1917 and opened a bookstore with a $3,000 check from her mother. She kept the bookstore alive until 1942, when the Nazi Occupation of Paris forced her to close her doors. Sylvia devoted herself to helping writers, selling their work, hosting readings at her store, and connecting people when they came to Paris to live the writer’s life. Her friend Ernest Hemingway said that she had ‘a God-given gift for friendship.”
You can see why I draw inspiration from Sylvia – her courage to move to France and become a businesswoman (and that was not a common thing at that time!), her ability to form a community of people who loved literature, and her sense of service to help others.
Creative Ancestors can be dead or living. A few of my living Creative Ancestors include: Ani DiFranco, Julia Cameron, and Natalie Goldberg. These are creative women who do their work well and inspire others.
Who are your Creative Leap Ancestors and why do they inspire you? Inspire others by sharing them in a comment below.
Psst…
Your journey takes you beyond your expectations.
Great question. The first one that came to mind was Gertrude Stein–just because she dared to be so outrageous and had all those wonderful salons. I always have dreamed of being at one of those salons….I would also name Natalie Goldberg, who writes and paints and meditates and seems to keep it all together and who inspired me to get back to writing after many years of not…Helen Frankenthaler, an amazing artist and woman who changed my outlook on art and painting when I discovered her work….Judy Chicago, who made me laugh and cheer and say you go, girl, back when I was studying art and it was pretty much still a man’s world out there in gallery and museum land….and then there’s Mary Oliver, the poet, who just inspires me with her incredibly lovely view of the world and who shares my landscape and ideals….wow, thanks for this little moment of gratitude to all these wonderful women! Woohoo!
You named a few of my ancestors! Natalie Goldberg is responsible for me being able to write at all. I fell in love with Helen Frankenthaler when I saw one of her paintings in NY last year. And Gertrude Stein makes an appearance in my novel!
Thanks for sharing, Mary!
I would like to offer a ritual from my new book the Power of Rituals for Women. The ritual is entitled “Ask Your Ancestors”. It brings together women who are poised to take a leap of faith and the process to help and support that leap entails calling forth the strength and determination of your ancestors. My grandmother travelled across the ocean with all of her wordly belongs in a small trunk that now resides in my living room. She didn’t speak the language, knew only a few people but sailed on to this new scary world. She built a life for herself here, had children, one of which was my mother, and never spoke about the “old world”. I wrote the ritual for the book but have yet to practice it and I need to because I can’t even muster up enough hustpah to move across town.
Our ancestors, especially the baby boomer ancestors, had grit, determination, spirit and let-nothing-stand-in-my-way attitudes. They also lived in an era of history that provided so many opportunities for people to be heroic, resourcesful, creative and courageous.
Linda Ann Smith
Thanks Linda! Here’s the link to Linda’s site where you can pick up your copy of The Power of Rituals for Women http://www.powerofrituals.com/
I challenge you to take the Leap and do that ritual. It sounds beautiful and I will look it up in my book.
I’ll do it before I take my leap!
Thanks for sharing this!