PLANNING FOR THE DOWN TIMES IN OUR CREATIVE CYCLES
Last winter we had snow. Hardest in our garden were the succulents particularly our beloved aloe vera plants. Out of the six or seven large healthy plants only two survived. One that was in a pot in the patio which we brought inside and another that was planted very close to our back wall.
Snow is highly unusual where we live but the winter was already proving very cold and with a bit of foresight it wasn't that difficult to see that snow was a strong possibility. With some advance planning we might have been able to save more of the aloe vera plants - either digging them right up and over-wintering them in pots inside or looking for some way to create protective coverings over them to stop the jelly inside the leaves freezing and stacking up mulch round the base to keep the roots warm.
Likewise with our own creative cycles, we have to know that there WILL be times when our confidence is at a low ebb or our productivity slows almost to a standstill and be ready with strategies to protect our fragile creative egos so that they survive the winter ready to bloom again when better weather comes. These strategies are very similar to those we use for our delicate plants - protection, feeding and sometimes a gentle pruning.
Protection
Protection means a controlled environment where we feel safe. For some that means the privacy of our journal or our studio where we can doodle and play; for others it is the supportive environment of a group of fellow creatives (on-line or round the corner) or even a combination of both.
Feeding
There are many ways to feed and fertilize our creative souls which vary hugely from person to person. For some it is time spent out in nature, for others it is out on the town. For some, immersing ourselves in other people's creative work does the trick, for others the exact opposite is true and what we need is to just be still and listen to our own creative voice. A rest or a holiday when we don't expect anything of ourselves creatively may produce the desired result or it may be frenetic activity or a tight deadline that gets our creative juices flowing again. Only we can know the answer to what cures and heals us and fills us up and its up to us to determine the correct recipe and feed it to ourselves.
Pruning
When the health of a plant is threatened sometimes it is best to prune it back so the small amount of energy it does have isn't dissipated in trying to repair dying branches. Likewise when our creative energy is at a low ebb, it is often beneficial to cut back on our expectations and responsibilities, identifying the projects that we could stop working on right away with no serious consequences and so freeing ourselves to concentrate more consistently on just a few things.
Watching our own creative cycles we can learn to recognize the danger points and plan for lapses in our creative confidence and productivity in the way we plan for extreme weather conditions in our garden. Its no use just hoping for the best and leaving vulnerable plants out in the snow!
Next week: Transplanting to a bigger pot - but only by a waning moon!
WEATHER - part 2: Aloe Vera in the Snow
HOW TO VISUALISE YOUR CREATIVE BLOOMS: Or what GTD and the picture on your seed packet have in common
Have you ever planted some seeds straight into the garden without really being sure you will be able to identify the plants when they are grown? Then, a few months later, you go out to look to see whether the seed is coming up only to find the whole patch covered with weeds. Or are they weeds? Could it be that some of those unrecognisable sprouts are actually the plants you are waiting for?
This scenario has a lot in common with David Allen's GTD concept of "What does DONE look like?" Its not that we need to know literally exactly what our creative projects will look like when they are finished but we do need to define their genus by setting goals andmaybe parameters for the project.
One of the biggest reasons creative people get blocked is because we start out every piece with the wish that it turn out a 'masterpiece' and as soon as it begins to look like this might not be the case, we block.
Its not too difficult to recognise what's happened: We've set ourselves unreasonable expectations because we have no easy way to recognise when our project is completed, not that unlike planting those unfamiliar seeds in the middle of that patch of weedy soil. Fundamentally this has the same effect as not setting any parameters or goals at all.
How much better then, when we set off to plant those seeds, to diligently weed the soil first and then to carefully put aside the seed packet with the photograph of the fully-grown plant on the front so that when the seeds start to mature, we've got a photo to help us tell them apart from any stray weeds that still come up in the same patch.
Likewise, if we set ourselves specific goals within our creative projects - e.g. I am going to paint apicture in colours I don't normally use - and resist the temptation to clarify these goals with unrealistic expectations - such as that it will be a 'brilliant' picture - then its a lot easier to see when our particular plant has matured and bloomed. We know when we have finished our project and can enjoy a sense of success at accomplishing our aims.
Nispero, Mango or other Sweet Chutney
Ingredients
1/2kg fruit
Up to 1 cup vinegar
1/2 cup water
1 tsp chilli powder
400-425g sugar
4 tsp salt
2 tsp chopped ginger
2 cloves garlic
3/4 tsp cardamom seeds/powder
Peel and remove stones from fruit and cut up into small chunks.
Cook fruit, garlic and ginger in water on low heat. When tender, add sugar, vinegar, chilli, cardamoms and salt and stir until thick and golden. Remove from heat and leave to cool. Put in airtight jars or jars previously heated in oven.
THE ONE EQUALS THE MANY - Same work, more benefits!
One of the principles of Permaculture - according to its founding father, Bill Mollison - is that in a sustainable garden system, all elements should fulfill at least two, if not three, different functions. One example would be a fruit-bearing tree that gives fruit to eat, rinds for compost, leaves for mulch, twigs for kindling, and shade for humans, animals and other plants; Or chickens which provide eggs, meat (if you eat it), manure, feathers, carbon dioxide, methane and heat for other nearby life forms. (They also promote vegetation by dispersing seeds, pollinating plants and eating insects so probably time to get some chickens!)
I started to wonder what else this could be applied to in life and to
analyse some of my daily activities in the light of whether they fulfill more than just their one, primary function. To my surprise, the three activities I picked off the top of my head all had a lot of hidden value: Creative pursuits - such as art-making in my case - provides not only a product to enjoy, share or sell, but also gives me spiritual fulfillment and relief from stress. Likewise, going to a fitness class - as well as the obvious health benefits you would expect - also provides me with social interaction (which counterbalances a lot of time working alone) and also a degree of learning. Then, of course, there is gardening which, as well as providing an aesthetically pleasant place for myself and my partner and our friends/family and pets to enjoy, gives me multiple health benefits as not only do I get to eat more tasty, home-grown, organic food but I also get exercise and relaxation into the bargain!
The perceived value of our regular activities can really go up when we analyse them in light of the varied benefits they give us and - in these days of overflowing inboxes and hectic schedules - this might help us in our daily lives to sort out where our energies are most usefully spent...Just as it does when we come to planning what to grow!
For more insight into Bill Mollison and Permaculture watch: In Grave Danger of Falling Food
With thanks for additional information for this article, to:
Permaculture-Sustainable Farming/Ranching/Living
About Permaculture
Chuck the Green Tomato Chutney?
Because we live in a continental zone where the summers are scorching and all but the hardiest plants withdraw into themselves, our best time for tomatoes is actually autumn when the days are still balmy and the night-time temperatures don't fall too low. As a result we are able to still pick fresh tomatoes for salad right into November. Unfortunately this year at the end of November it was very cold and bucketing down with rain and salads had really lost their appeal to be replaced in our affections by steaming bowls of hot broth or curry. As a result the tomato plants were left languishing. It was too wet for any but really hardy types - of which I am definitely not one - to go out in the garden anyway, so although I had that nagging feeling of something left undone, I consciously pushed any thoughts of dealing with the tomato plants to the back of my mind for 'When it stops raining.'
Now, almost a month later, the rain has finally stopped and we are able to return to the garden to assess the benefits and damage this unprecedented rainfall and unseasonable cold snap has had on the plants.
At first sight the tomatoes looked a sorry sight with their leaves wilted and many tomatoes on the ground but closer inspection revealed a great number of healthy tomatoes - albeit green ones - still on the plants. I decided to dismantle the tomato patch ready to plant something else when we return from holiday after New Year and at the same time salvage as many tomatoes as possible. It was easy to spot any that had frozen as they had a sort of transparent appearance but in fact there were extremely few of those and apart from that there were a number which had been burrowed by insects but not that many given we don't use any pesticides. The final count of the haul was a hefty two and a half kilos - not bad for an abandoned tomato patch in at the end of December!
Had we been staying at home I would have taken some of the green tomatoes into the house to redden - done in the dark on newspaper contrary to what common sense might dictate - but since we are going to be away I decided that haul was best turned into chutney. Since I am a hopeless addict of Indian food, I scoured the internet for an Indian green tomato chutney and after rejecting a few for containing ingredients that are expensive or difficult to obtain here in the Spanish hinterland or that ones I'm allergic to - I finally settled on one which I found at The Cooks Cottage which is a site worth visiting just for the visuals!
Unfortunately the recipe proved to have way too much vinegar (or, perhaps it was simply that malt vinegar is much less sharp than the wine vinegar I used? We don't have malt here.) and the result was less than happy. I scoured the internet for solutions to getting rid of the vinegary taste and was slightly comforted to find that this had happened to many more people than me and with a variety of chutney recipes from across the web. 
Solutions included everything from adding the same amount of ingredients again - minus the vinegar, of course - to adding fresh coriander, more sugar, apple juice or more apples. I tried just about all of them and also added some more chilli and bay leaves...
The result? Well, its touch and go. I've bottled it and decided to leave it for a few months to see how it tastes then. Will I chuck the chutney? Watch this space!
Whenever I come across an article that isn't about nature or gardening but uses one of them as a metaphor, I just have to go and take a peek! Here's a few worth sharing that I've come across this week:
In Rotating Creative Crops, multidisciplinary artist and creativity coach, Cathryn Hrudicka talks about the effects of mixing different creative disciplines in varying sequences and the effect this has on both her clients and her own creative output.
Again on the subject of creativity but with a his own gtd slant, in Do You Have an Idea Garden? creativity and productivity coach Charlie shares his system for capturing article writing ideas.
Last but not least is not a blog post but Heather Blakey's intriguing advent calendar, The Rookery where each day a new bird flies in to sit in the tree and tell their story. Each 'bird' is a valued member of the Soul Food Cafe, an online writing group for artists and writers from around the world.
Washing Pots
As I go about the garden, I see empty posts scattered here and there unwashed and abandoned after the plants they contained have long since been transplanted to new homes or have left the land of plant life to go to the great compost heap in the corner. I know that what I need to do is to gather up the pots and take them to the sink to be scrubbed; then to leave them to dry in the sun and tidy them away in an easily accessible place ready for use when something next needs potting up. But while I am rushing around, busy with the myriad of gardening tasks that must be done, I find no time for washing pots.
One day, however, a hiatus comes: The seeds are all planted, the weeds have been hoed, the bushes and trees pruned and its not yet time for the next season's work. Or, perhaps, it is simply that I feel tired or lethargic...I sit on the front step and feel the warm sunlight gladden my face and my soul. I should do something, I think...I decide to wash pots.
While I wash, I daydream about what I will plant next year, the new path I'm going to make, the pergola my partner is building...I wash and enjoy the sun and soon all the pots are washed and drying. Soon after they are stacked and put away ready for use.
Washing pots is what we do when we don't really feel like doing anything and, in not really doing anything, we find that after all, we have done something very important.
Image adapted from photo courtesy of stock.xchng free stock images
Join the Largest Movement in the World
I'm trying desperately to find the time to explore more of what's going on at one of my favourite sites, WiserEarth because every time I visit, I find myself so stimulated by the broad range of discussions and information on offer that I end up bookmarking more things to revisit than I can ever hope to catch up with in a lifetime.
WiserEarth - according to the site itself - is "an online community space for NGOs (non-governmental organizations) and those that support their work: businesses, government agencies, funders, social entrepreneurs, students, organizers, academics, activists, scientists, and other concerned citizens of the world. (i.e. everybody - ed). WiserEarth provides the tools to help these 'communities of action' find each other, make connections, share resources, and build alliances."
The vision for a WiserEarth originally came from environmentalist, entrepreneur, journalist, and best-selling author, Paul Hawken who is the author and co-author of dozens of articles and papers, as well as six books including Growing a Business, Blessed Unrest: How the Largest Movement in the World Came into Being, and Why No One Saw It Coming and The Ecology of Commerce. In The Ecology of Commerce he introduced the 'comprehensive outcome principle' - taking account of the entire result of an event or process to all parties, not just the immediate participants - which was to be extremely influential in the eventual emergence of the concept of the ecological footprint and triple bottom line standards for sustainability.
Since then he has dedicated his life to changing the relationship between business and the environment, and between human and living systems in order to create a more just and sustainable world. His work includes starting and running ecological businesses, writing and teaching about the impact of commerce upon the environment, and consulting with governments and corporations on economic development, industrial ecology, and environmental policy.
One of the things that makes WiserEarth so unique is that it functions both like Wikipedia, where any registered user can create and edit content, as well as like FaceBook where you can use social networking tools to connect with others. Because of this interesting mix of approaches, there is a lot of really fascinating content to be read and discussions to take part in for anyone interested in environmental and social change.
It was WiserEarth that first led me to define WhatWeGrow as an 'Ecopsychology' site, as I had never heard the term before, and one of the areas that fascinates me most is the stimulating discussions going on about the relationship that exists between our minds and bodies and the environment and societies within which we live and the connections that exist between these and cultural and educational practices. If this sounds like your cup of tea, integralecoawareness.org are offering a three day course in Berlin in December which promises to 'open pathways to empower the individual to creatively engage in change' through a very broad range of methodologies ranging from somatics/bodywork, to permaculture and nature awareness. Unfortunately I won't be able to make this one but I'm looking forward to feedback on how it goes :-)
Paul Hawken credits a Native-American for teaching him that the division between ecology and human rights is an artificial one, that the environmental and social justice movements addressed two sides of a larger dilemma; that the way we harm the earth affects all people, and how we treat each other is how we treat the earth. If you want to find out more about Paul Hawken, about ecopsychology or about the largest movement in the world, why not join me over at WiserEarth?
Sources: WiserEarth, Wikipedia and Integral Eco Awareness.org
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