Then It’s Time and Money Well Spent!

I have been telling tales in this blog about the class I taught with my husband back in April. I created a sample book before our class began, to show our students what they might do with the papers we created in class. This is a gyotaku. The Japanese art of fish printing. GYO for fish, TAKU for rubbing. We utilized both plastic fish molds, and real fish to learn the process. Ink is brushed onto the fish, rice paper is placed over the ink, then rubbed gently with the palm of the hand to print all the textures of the fish. In this example I cut the print into pieces in order to include the follow quote:

Many men go fishing
all of their lives
without knowing
it is not fish
they are after.

– Henry David Thoreau 1862

We had a wonderfully mixed group, none of which had ever done most of what we taught in class. On the final day of this class one of our students came in first thing with tears in her eyes. When I asked her what was wrong, she said, “I’ve had such a wonderful time this week, learning, challenging myself, and I have created work beyond what I ever imagined I could create. I hate that this is the last day.” I gave her a big hug and thanked her for throwing herself into the learning process. It is the reaction any teacher wants from a student. It makes every part of the process worth while.

I thought back to the creative classes I have taken over the decades. Some I loved, some were horrific. Both kinds made my art what it is today. And during those adventures, I made a promise to myself to never make anyone feel foolish, stupid, unskilled or frightened in a class I might teach. I mean c’mon, people traveled across the country to put ink on a dead fish and make art out of it? Who does that? People who want to learn, grow, and be amazed. It takes courage to learn new things, to try something and fail then get up and try again. And it takes a willingness to invest in yourself to make all that happen.

It is a little like the fisherman Thoreau describes in the quote. People don’t always go fishing for fish. They need what the process of fishing provides. Just like the creative learning process. The student who had tears in her eyes, later revealed to me that she was a breast cancer survivor and a single Mom who desperately wanted to be more creative. She drove twelve hours to get to class. She furiously wrote all sorts of notes and diagrams, and couldn’t wait to get home to create more. She needed a week investing in her life, her creativity, and the peace and quiet to do whatever she wanted. I have no doubt she got all that and more.

What is it that you are doing not because you want to do THAT thing, but because that THING fills a need you can’t find fulfilled any other way? Maybe you clean to get order and control. Maybe you cook to be good at something and to bring people joy. Maybe you shop or decorate, read or write to fulfill your inner need to create. Or maybe you do sky diving. Whatever it is you do to fill that empty hole in your soul, NEVER apologize for the time, energy and money THAT THING brings. You do you, and do it full throttle. If how you spend your time and money makes you a better YOU, then it is time and money well spent.